Lessons from the Holy Land: Shabbat

 There were lessons being learned day in and day out, as fluidly as breathing. One of the overlying themes of our trip ( and as I am realizing it, my year) was that of Shabbat {Sabbath.} But as most journeys never start where you perceive, this one started months ago. The pace of my life was hectic, to say the least. Schedules like the every-two-hours newborn feedings, nap.play.eat of my toddler were crashing with the demands of my homework and class time, and then toppling onto the basic needs of a home ,a wife, and sleep {whats that?}. The Jenga tower of schedules had one to many resources pulled already. Though I knew the 10 commandments, the sabbath was to me the task of making sure you made it to church on Sundays, not a practice of rest.

     

Because, really, rest? In our culture what is that?

I can tell you. Rest is what the unsuccessful, the poor do. Rest is laziness, the excuse of the un-diligent wife Rest is for the losers, we need to sleep when we are 80 (or dead), Carpe Diem, live like you are dying ,24 hour convenience shops, always leaving the light on.

     A new friend of mine at the time attended a Messianic congregation, and had adopted into her family the Jewish custom of practice Shabbat. {What!?} your American conservative back pew thinking mind immediately jolted to -->  {Hey! only the pharisees did that and Jesus wasn't very happy with those dudes!}

This is the part were  we began to rewire the transmitters. The sabbath is not for Pharisee's, it is for you and for me.

"thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.

² By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. ³ Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. (Gen 2.1-3 NIV)"

So often in our culture the interaction with Shabbat is negative, because in the New Testament we point out passages of the Pharisees condemning Jesus and his disciples for picking grain and for healing on the day. But the Pharisees take the command and distort God's original purpose for it, missing the whole meaning. 

If you haven't noticed, life moves in rhythm like the waves. And Shabbat is a gift from God, a gift of time. Time to put things in order, rediscover hidden places of our heart, re-focus, re-fuel, re-connect. It's the rewind button and the play button "day" of our lives. Time to reflect on the past week, but prepare to press and play on the coming one. It's design is to ever keep our sights in focus on serving our Father in heaven.One day of complete meditation on His goodness, holiness, faithfulness. As a family, it is the gift of time and honor given to each other.

Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you. ¹³ Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁴ but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns, so that your male and female servants may rest, as you do. ¹⁵ Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day." Deut. 5:12-15 

Bold is mine

Observe. Remember.

Back to my Journey. I felt the Lord convicting me to take time for Shabbat, but I did'nt listen or bring the idea up to my husband. It was'nt until we went to Israel together and stayed with Jewish believers in Yeshua that we discovered the joy of Shabbat. They shared a special meal friday night as the sun set, worshiped together saturday morning, and wouldnt let us work {which is what we came to do!} all day. Instead, we rested, swam, and enjoyed the company and fellowship of believers and the beauty of the desert. And as the sunset saturday night, this what I wrote in my journal in regards to the day: 

"The peacefulness of no work on a Saturday makes a long week bearable because the end is always peace"

And those words keep coming up-   

 peace          joy            unity. 

Isn't that your desire for your life? 

for your family?

It is mine.

And I dare say that if we repent of this breaking of the commandment that was a gift, those qualities listed above will start to flow into Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday,  the whole week. 

I don't really want to get into logistics of how to celebrate or when or if It has to be Saturday or Sunday. I encourage you to research it yourself and can point you in the direction of many resources 

( listed below) but the point is, perhaps we keep praying and praying for something (peace, joy) and God already gave us the answer in his word, we have just ignored it. And I believe the practice of Sabbath is essential to understanding the Semantics of Shalom.

Shabbat Shalom.

Rachel

Resources if you are interested:

Verses: Gen 2:1-3, Exodus 20:8-11, Duet. 5:12. Mat. 12:12, Mark 2:27, Luke 23:56

Book: Celebrate the Feasts Martha Zimmerman