June 30, 2023 • 41 mins
Have you ever considered that how you spend a day of rest can be a profound act of faith?
Join host Helen Todd and Pastor Israel Iluz in a conversation exploring the spiritual roots of sabbath rest . This is not just about traditions and practices, but a deeper look into the significance of Sabbath and its essential place in the lives of believers.
Raised in a devout Orthodox Jewish family, Pastor Iluz beautifully articulates the sanctity of the Sabbath, a day that embodies rest, contentment, and divine connection. He recounts the family rituals, the communal prayers, and the tranquil resonance of 'Shabbat Shalom' that represents the blessings of peace and wholeness. As a follower of Christ, he also looks into the profound question of how Jesus fulfilled the Sabbath and the far-reaching implications this held for the Jewish people as well as the Gentiles.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
What if you had a guide who could tell you how to
bridge a gap between who you aretoday and who you are destined
to be?
What if, each week, you couldhear a story of someone who has
tried and succeeded, or perhapstried and failed but learned
something in the process?
Limitless Spirit is a weeklypodcast where host Helen Todd
interviews guests about topicsand personal stories on defining
(00:23):
life's purpose, pursuingpersonal growth and developing a
deeper faith in Christ.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
The beautiful, maybe what you have seen in Israel and
how we grew up as Jewish people, as children keeping the
Sabbath, because the Sabbath wasas inter-inner.
Remember coming from school onFriday and going to games and
playing basketball with thefriends and then, just before
(00:52):
the Sabbath entered, it wasalmost coming to and going into
the door.
The house was clean, the housewas quiet.
It was candles lit next to thewindow, the aroma of the Sabbath
(01:12):
, with the food that is beingprepared As you enter the house.
It was almost reverent.
It was quiet.
It's a demand for you torespect the time, the space.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Thank you for tuning in to the Limitless Spirit
podcast.
I'm your host, helen Todd.
Sabbath Rest is a concept thatis weaved into the story of our
creation.
On the seventh day, god,satisfied with the work of the
previous six, rested.
The nation of Israel wascommanded to remember the
(01:51):
Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
The seventh day was to be theSabbath of the Lord, their God.
What about the people of theNew Covenant, the followers of
Christ?
How do we understand themeaning of Sabbath And how do we
observe it?
How come we draw from thetraditions of Judaism in
observing the Sabbath, and whichtraditions do not translate
(02:14):
into Christianity?
I invited for this conversationPastor Israel Eluz from Galilee
, israel, who became a Christianafter being raised in a
traditional Orthodox Jewishfamily.
Together we exploresignificance of Sabbath for a
modern day believer and the wayswe're called to observe it.
Hello, pastor Israel, welcomeagain to the Limitless Spirit
(02:38):
podcast.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
I am first of all.
thank you, Helen, for callingupon me, And it's a privilege
and a blessing to be sharingwith you again.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
For those of our listeners who have not heard my
previous interview with you, youare joining us from Northern
Galilee, from Kyrieh Shmona,which is the northernmost city
in Israel, and I would love foryou to share briefly your story
how, from observing Jew, youbecame the follower of Christ
(03:11):
and a pastor of a wonderfulcongregation.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
First of all, it's a privilege to speak to you from
the region as a biblically known, caesarea Philippi, where Jesus
said I'll build the church uponthis statement that Peter have
said.
So we are from CaesareaPhilippi and it seems to me
almost prophetic that 2000 yearsago it was greeting from that
(03:38):
region And now there is agreeting from Caesarea Philippi.
Maybe the Lord is sayingsomething to all of us, by God's
grace.
Yes, i grew up in a Jewish home.
My father was a rabbi in a smalltown in the Galilee called
Maalot And grew up always,always keeping the tradition
(04:00):
keeping the Sabbath, going tothe synagogue, obviously keeping
all the kosher lowered at home,and a strict.
My father, because of who hewas, it was strict in my house
We don't put light in theShabbat, we don't burn, we don't
make fire, we don't cook, wedon't do anything on the Shabbat
(04:21):
, and it's kept holy, and mostof us were going to the
synagogue with my father andtrying to keep the law.
Obviously, it's something, andI think it's something that I
will need to share with you andthe listeners that keeping the
Shabbat and keeping Yom Kippur,always from a Jewish perspective
(04:46):
, we know that, although we'regoing into the synagogue to pray
and repent and beating ourchests again and again for the
things, for the sin that we havedone.
We always knew that we're goingto do the same thing again and
(05:07):
again.
So it was some hypocrisy withinus that unexplained.
but we are Jewish And we kindof accepted that way that every
time we come we ask forgivenessand we have kind of
understanding between us and Godas being the chosen people, as
(05:30):
Jewish people.
But this hypocrisy, obviouslyit was something that we lived
in it.
We couldn't explain it, andthat's something that actually,
when, only much later on, jesusput the finger on it.
When, later on, i came to faithin South Africa by an amazing
(05:55):
story that the Lord revealed tome, then I suppose the Lord had
to remove me out of Israelbecause we lived in an area in
the region very Orthodox, veryreligious, and the Lord had to
take us out from Israel to bringus to you, to you guys, and
(06:16):
many of us came to faith indifferent countries, among and
by Gentiles that share with usthe gospel, and that's how God
actually has promised in thebook of the Torah, in chapter 32
, when He says to Moses I wantto tell you what will happen in
(06:37):
the end days to the nation,because they will provoke me to
jealousy When they will go tothe promised land.
They will provoke me tojealousy with gods that are not
God And because of that, theywill anger me with their
foolishness.
And I will provoke them tojealousy with the people that
(07:00):
are not my people, with thefoolish nation.
I will anger them.
So it's something that the Lordhas used the nation, the
Gentiles who came to know theGod of Israel and the Messiah of
Israel to provoke us tojealousy, that they know the
Messiah of Israel.
(07:21):
And you have to understand, ofmany Jewish people who go to the
synagogue every day.
If you listen in Hebrew and youwill hear the prayer of many
Jewish people.
Some of them just read it, butsome of them in sincere heart.
In the prayer there is pleaseGod, refresh us with the Messiah
(07:46):
.
May you bring the Messiah soon,and especially in the light of
2,000 years of persecution toJewish people in the name of
Jesus by so-called Christian.
The Lord has you know.
So there is a deep cry and deeplonging for the Messiah among
(08:06):
the Jewish people, and that wasthe fact when I came to know
Jesus.
Wow, it was a big revelationfor me to finally discover that
this Messiah, jesus that wecurse, that we hate it, that we
despise, is the one that thepromised Messiah to Israel.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
I always love hearing your testimony and something
you mentioned just today made methink.
you know, god took you out ofIsrael to a foreign land before
He revealed the truth to you.
Isn't this so symbolic of thenation of Israel?
God constantly had to take themout of somewhere and move them
(08:50):
away from their comfort zone, soto speak, before He revealed
Himself to them.
whether they're coming out ofEgypt or them going into exile,
there has always been thistaking a person out, taking the
nation out of their comfort zone.
But today I want to talk to you.
I wanted our listeners to hearyour story just to understand
(09:13):
what a unique perspective youwill bring to our conversation
today.
And I want to focus ourconversation on the subject of
Sabbath because, to be honest, ithink this is something that is
taught very little inmodern-day church and even in
theological teachings.
Frankly, i don't think thechurch quite knows what to do
(09:34):
with Sabbath and how it fitsinto the life of a Christian.
And yet on my numerous trips toIsrael, i have observed aside
from what I learned and recentlyhave been studying on Sabbath
in the Scriptures I haveobserved two sides of it.
On one hand, i have observedlegalism in observance of
(09:55):
Sabbath in Israel.
that is not appealing andreminds me very loudly of the
legalism that Jesus was talkingabout.
But, on the other hand, i'vebeen invited to homes on Sabbath
.
I spent time with yourcongregation during the Sabbath
service and there is somethingincredibly beautiful in it and
(10:19):
healing and restorative for thesoul, and I felt like it is
important for us to have thatconversation and bring a
perspective on the whole idea.
Why Sabbath?
Why did God have to rest on theseventh day?
It was a very strict command inthe Mosaic Law.
It was very important andemphasized and what it means to
(10:42):
us today.
So I want us to cover on thesetopics.
So let's start with the veryfirst one.
The first appearance of Sabbathfor us is in Genesis, in the
creation story God rested.
Why does God really need rest?
What does God's rest mean?
What does it look like?
Speaker 2 (11:00):
That's a wonderful question.
And then I think, one of thethings that, as you mentioned,
in the book of Genesis, after hecreated everything, it says in
chapter one, in the last verseof chapter one, and God saw that
everything that he had doneit's good.
I paraphrase because I'mreading it in the Hebrew, the
(11:25):
English here is so small, let meread it in English God saw all
that he had made and, behold, itwas very good.
And there was evening and therewere morning.
The sixth day, so God havecreated everything in the sixth
day, everything he finished.
(11:46):
And the seventh day he rested,and that's something that we
have to understand.
He rested from creating, hedidn't rest from taking care of
his creation.
So he finished working,creating all the creation.
(12:08):
But we know one of the songsthat we sing in Hebrew, from
Psalm I think it's 121.
It's saying like this Inel LoYanum Veloyishan Shomer Israel,
the Lord who kept Israel, neverslumber and never sleep.
(12:30):
So we know that he is the onewho watches over Jerusalem.
His eyes is from the beginningof the year till the end of the
year, so we know that he's neverrest or go to sleep.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
In that sense, Right, he didn't just take a nap.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Amen, yeah.
So yes, he did rest fromcreating, but he didn't rest of
watching over his creation.
And one of the purposes we knowfrom the New Testament and the
Old Testament that this creation, that this rest he later chose,
(13:14):
is people, israel.
And he says that this rest dayit's for them to rest.
And I think I'll share with youthe beautiful, maybe what you
have seen in Israel and how wegrew up as Jewish people, as
(13:34):
children keeping the Sabbath,because the Sabbath was as
inter-in-a-remember coming fromschool on Friday and going to
games and playing basketballwith the friends, and then, just
before the Sabbath entered, itwas almost coming to And going
(13:57):
into the door, the house wasclean, the house was quiet, it
was candles lit next to thewindow, the aroma of the Shabbat
, with the food that is beingprepared As you enter the house.
It was almost reverent, it wasquiet.
(14:20):
It demand for you to respectthe time, the space And really
entering into almost a holy andreverent room.
And then we go and get dressedand go all of us to the
synagogue and pray and come back.
(14:40):
My mom would have obviouslyprepared the Shabbat meal and we
all sit down and blessing Andeverything is done in such an
honor to God.
Unfortunately, those things havebecome more tradition and
religion And we've done it forthe sake of doing it, but our
(15:03):
heart was not in it.
But it was a beautiful time ofthe family coming together And
it's something that so much ofit I took.
And even now, today, as youhave seen, we brought it to the
church And we're doing theShabbat.
It's coming together, sharingour services, sharing our
(15:24):
prayers, sharing our mealstogether in the congregation.
So, yes, it's been beautiful.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
What about the Shabbat meal?
Did it consist like the mealthat your mom prepared?
Was it a certain menu that issupposed to happen during
Shabbat?
Speaker 2 (15:42):
No, i remember we always had fish, but it was a
big meal.
I mean, you remember when wifecame we saw it's come first of
all salad and then fish and thenchicken and then meat.
It was a massive meal for theShabbat.
So it was a lot of relaxed timethat we see and we sing and we
(16:08):
eat and we drink and we talk,and it was a long meal, let's
put it that way.
It lasts an hour and a half totwo hours, sometimes having the
meal together, because it wasjust beautiful time where the
family come together.
So the brothers, everybody comefrom different places where
(16:29):
they live, sometimes with theirchildren, and we gather together
around the table with my mom.
She will open the table big andabout 15 of us, or sometimes
even more, gather togetheraround the table And I remember
it was a very special andbeautiful time around the
(16:49):
Shabbat.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
And was there a certain prayer that was prayed
as the opening of the Shabbat?
Speaker 2 (16:55):
Oh yes, we obviously praise God for the food.
We praise God for the Shabbat.
for the rest, We praise Godthat he gave us this day to rest
and praise God for the familyand for the food that he gave us
.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
And yeah and then it was a certain prayer that we do.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
It's in the book that we open and we always repeat it
And obviously in the end of themeal also, we say a prayer of
thanking God again.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
What happened on Saturday Like so this meal had
to be prepared before the sunset, and then you have the meal,
and then what happens throughthe rest of Shabbat?
Speaker 2 (17:36):
So the Shabbat, usually, as we, you know, after
the meal everybody you know goand all this day we play games
or people go into their friendsor going outside, And then on
the Shabbat so Mammam would havecooked a meal and it's called
Chamin.
It's a hot pot that stays overthe whole day of Friday and half
(17:59):
of the day of Saturday And weall go to the synagogue on
Shabbat morning and we staythere for a couple of hours And
then when we come from thesynagogue, Mammam, they meet the
pot.
That is was it's called Chamin.
It's been filled with eggs,meat, potato and wheat and all
(18:23):
sorts of other goodies that wasin that pot and some vegetables
and we eat it And that was avery heavy meal.
After that meal you go to sleep.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
You literally rest You literally rest.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
So that's it.
It was a synagogue, a meal restand about usually in the
afternoon, the Shabbat.
in the evening, early evening,the Shabbat is going, you know,
we light the candles, we saypray, we thank you again for the
Shabbat, and each one carry onwith his day.
So that was the Shabbat, but itwas a family time.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
In essence not much different from a Sunday for
Christian family.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
Yes, yes, yes, yes.
And I think that's actuallybring us, indeed, to the
question that you say why hecommanded his people to arrest
in the Shabbat, and I think forthat's one of the reasons that
we all work in it because herested from his creation.
(19:28):
We can rest from our work Andthe Shabbat is really the
meaning of Shabbat It's toglorify God, Glorify God in His
creation, to enjoy creation,enjoy family, enjoy the food and
the abundance of food that Godhas given us and shared together
(19:51):
with loved ones, with friendsand family.
That we share together Andpraise God, And I think that's
the Shabbat, the Shabbat meaningfor the Shabbat as He rested
from His creation.
And you know, in Hebrew I wish Ihad a board to show you but the
word the seven day, it's Shava,Shava, that's what it's called
(20:17):
Shavua.
The seven day, it's one weekAnd it's seven.
What is seven?
Seven it's number, Of courseseven, Shava.
But Shava means I'm full, I'mcontent, I finished.
When you finish your meal andyou are happy, you say I'm Shava
(20:39):
, I'm Shava.
Seven from the word seven, WhatGod, after all that He has done
, created, He says rested in theseven day after everything was
completed.
That was good, He was content.
So He rested in the seven day.
(20:59):
And for us, when we work sixdays I mean here in Israel, we
work all the six days And in theseven day we can really rest,
as it started on Friday evening,We can really rest and give
praise to God for all theabundance and all that He has
(21:21):
done to us, Of course even,moreover, when we believe, as
believers in Jesus Christ.
Speaker 3 (21:31):
Before we move to that why was the command of
Sabbath so strict?
Not observing Sabbath was veryseverely punished.
Why did it have to be such astrict command?
It seems like it should comenaturally.
I mean, that's how our body iscreated.
At the end of the day we haveto sleep, So we're kind of
(21:51):
programmed for that, that atsome point we need rest.
So why do you think it was sostrict, that command for rest?
Speaker 2 (22:00):
I think, Ellen, one of the purposes of God, of
resting in the seven daychoosing.
Israel as a nation to be setapart, Not to be like the rest
of the Gentiles the nation atthe time who worship God and
(22:21):
work in the seven day And heavendidn't have a law, They didn't
have God to and morals andvalues that come from God.
Each and everyone did as theysee fit to do in their own
rights, But God wanted to showand use the people of Israel to
(22:44):
be a nation set apart from allthe other nations And that
through the nation of Israelthey will see the goodness of
God the glory of God thelove of God, the wisdom of God,
And the Sabbath was one of themeans by which he said this day
(23:06):
it's a holy day for me And heset apart as the Jewish people,
as a holy nation, to rest inthis holy day for him.
And I think all of this Ialways say even to my kids the
best thing I can do for you,it's to bring you to your Father
(23:29):
in heaven.
I am your Father in earth.
I am limited, but the best Ican do for you it teach you and
guide you to your Father inheaven.
And the Shabbat is definitelyone of those that the Jewish
people were supposed to, weresupposed to, And when we read
(23:49):
the cursing and the blessing inAr-Ghia-Rizim, in Ari-Ibal if
you will keep there is 14 inchapter 28.
There is 14 verses of blessingand 54 verses of cursing.
If you don't keep So, if youkeep the covenant, if you keep
(24:12):
my law, if you keep the Sabbath,you will be first among the
nation.
You will be the head and notthe tail.
The nation around you will lookand glorify God because of you.
So that's what the purposes ofGod it's to really set for
(24:33):
himself a special people thatwill bring glory to his name and
will be as he called them to bea light to all the nation.
So, therefore, his people, whoare set apart, are holy, because
he is holy And the holiness ofGod.
(24:55):
We don't play games.
When the Lord called us and weare his and him, belong to him.
We are not anymore belong toourself.
It purges us from slavery.
Then, as a slave in Egypt,Purchase us and brought us out
(25:16):
for himself.
That we will enjoy him as thecreator of all things, And he is
the one who created us in thefirst place.
Speaker 3 (25:27):
Now fast forward to Jesus appearing on the scene and
the way that he observedSabbath.
The things that he did onSabbath constantly offended and
created friction between him andthe Pharisees.
And so how did Jesus?
(25:48):
and Jesus?
in a sense, he fulfills theSabbath.
In what way does Jesus fulfillthe Sabbath?
Speaker 2 (25:55):
Okay.
So, as we mentioned earlier,god created the Sabbath for
himself.
And that's the amazing things.
When I came to see Jesus as thefulfillment of all scripture,
as a Jew who realized that thewhole Bible have spoken about
(26:19):
Jesus, about the Messiah, thatone day to come and visit his
nation.
So when Jesus came to earth andobviously have done things,
have done things that at thetime the Jewish people, they
didn't understand, they didn'taccept.
(26:40):
You know, jesus healing in theSabbath, jesus doing things in
the Sabbath.
It's, by the way, god, it'sShabbat, it's the word Shabbat,
it's to Lishbot, it's to seizefrom working, from creating,
(27:00):
it's seize from doing the normalwork.
But we say we greet each otherShabbat Shalom.
That's how we greet ShabbatShalom.
What is Shabbat Shalom?
It's Shabbat meant to bringwholeness.
Come, jesus, who came to bringwholeness to people, come to
(27:22):
heal people, come to blesspeople in the Shabbat.
And the people who didn'tunderstand the Shabbat really
and made out of it a law andrules, they didn't understand
the meaning of Shabbat really.
That is meant the Shabbat, notthe man meant for the Shabbat,
(27:46):
but the Shabbat meant for man torest, to rest in God, to rest
in and to worship Him and topraise Him And that's bring to
me a little even story that yourlisteners will be very happy to
hear.
When Lea gave, for the fourthchild was born.
(28:10):
She called them.
Judah, Judah in Hebrew Yehuda,judah.
What is the meaning of Yehuda?
It's meaning she gave thanks toGod, she praised God and then
she called them praise, thanks,yehuda.
That's the meaning of Judah.
(28:32):
So what is the meaning of beingYehuda, being a Jew, a Jew who
is the one who praise God, whogive thanks to God.
That's what Romans, chapter 8,chapter in Romans it speaks to
us about a Jew who is a Jewinwardly.
It's not the circumcision ofthe flesh, it's something that
(28:55):
is inward, it's something thatwe really seen creation, even
enjoying the Shabbat and usingthe Shabbat as a mean to look at
and to not to look down atworks and the things that we
have to do, but to look up andto give praise to God, to
(29:16):
everything that He gave us.
It's a day that He made it forus to give praise and give
thanks to Him As the one whoprovided everything.
So that's what basically?
Yehuda, a Jew, the meaning ofbeing Jewish, and that's the
(29:36):
Shabbat is so when Jesus cameand did exactly that to give
praise, to give thanks, to bringthe people to see that they
were so blind because of theirown tradition and their own
rules and their own do and don'teat this, don't do that.
(29:58):
This is what they have done,and they turn it to be a
philosophy of men and religiousof men, instead of coming with
an understanding and pure heartto see the Shabbat for what it
meant to be really to praise andworship God.
Speaker 3 (30:17):
This is very good, because this really brings a
great parallel between Judaismand Christianity in terms of
when you allow religion to takeover, when your faith, your
relationship with God becomes aset of rules and you lose the
heart of what it's meant to be,it's very easy just to be on the
(30:40):
wrong path.
And so, from what I'm hearingfrom you, if we were to draw the
parallel between Shabbat andthe observance of Shabbat in
Judaism, the parallel inChristianity today would be our
Sunday.
You know, when we go to church,we praise God, we thank God in
our prayers, we listen to theWord of God, we contemplate of
(31:04):
the Word of God.
So is a Sunday service of todayequivalent to observance of
Sabbath in Judaism?
Is this how we are supposed asChristians?
Is this the correct way toobserve the day of rest?
Speaker 2 (31:20):
You know, we as Jewish people here in Israel,
obviously in this country here,sunday is a normal day.
So many people go to work on aSunday And for us as Jewish
people who stay here and ourchurches are in Israel in my
(31:41):
case it's in the Galilee here Sowe go according to what is the
custom and the traditions here.
But the church because ofJesus' reason on Sunday.
Obviously people want toworship God in that day and
choose on Sunday as a day ofworship the God of Israel.
(32:07):
But I don't see any differenceof the day, because Jesus says I
am the Lord of the Sabbath.
I mentioned it so many times inScripture that He is the Lord
of the Sabbath, that the Sabbathmeant for the men and not the
Sabbath for the men.
(32:28):
So I don't see no problem.
Which day do you worship God?
just worship Him in spirit andtruth.
And, by the way, don't worshipHim only on Sunday, worship Him
every day.
And I think for us as believers,we do worship God every day.
(32:49):
And when the creation that wesee is few.
Scripture that He says theheaven declare His glory, the
heaven and the stars speak ofHis goodness and His glory and
His wisdom.
So for us every day.
It's a day of Sabbath, becausewe have seeds.
(33:13):
Shabbat is meaning have seedsfrom worrying, from fearing,
from sinning, from being mixedwith the world that we live in,
because we are here for onepurpose.
We are here for one purpose andone purpose only to give glory
(33:39):
to God, to praise Him whereverwe go And to preach the good
news that Yeshua is the place ofrest, is the Lord, is the Lord
of us all, and to bring many ofus, many people, to bring to
that knowledge and save souls,as the Scripture teaches.
(34:01):
Why is this the man who savessouls?
So, in the, i can conclude thisby saying for us, it doesn't
matter which day do you worshipGod.
You choose, as a congregationto worship God.
Speaker 3 (34:21):
Do you believe that it is still important to have
that day?
You're right.
I mean, we worship God everyday.
This is the ultimaterelationship.
If you are in that personal andpassionate relationship with
Christ, how can you not wake upeach morning with the praise and
worship on your heart?
But do you feel like it isstill important that command of
(34:43):
the Sabbath remains where wecombine a day of physical rest
when we seize from our works,Intentionally because we live in
this fast-paced, busy life?
Ultimately, some people theywork through the whole week.
Is it still important to keepthe command of resting from your
(35:04):
works on the same day as youhave this devoted time for God?
Speaker 2 (35:11):
I would have said even in my past as a Jew and
even as a believer.
Now, the Shabbat it's abeautiful day.
It's a wonderful day to seizefrom work And because God made
the Shabbat before He gave thelaw and this is important to
mention He rested in the Shabbatbefore the law of Moses.
(35:34):
So the seventh day, the restingday, it's kind of almost built
into the creation, into thewhole things of creation.
For me, i think, my personalopinion, shabbat should be a
place and a time.
As we work six days a week, say, the seventh day should be a
(35:56):
day to gather together as afamily, to eat meals together,
to praise God together.
You know, we live all of us assuch a busy life.
I'm so praised God that we havethis Shabbat, because every
Shabbat my son knows he comesfor Shabbat, he lives in Tel
(36:17):
Aviv, he comes for Shabbat andeverybody comes from their
business and comes for Shabbat,even today.
So the Shabbat we have mealstogether, we praise together, we
spend time as a family together, we worship God together.
(36:37):
It's beautiful.
It's beautiful and I definitelywill, not as a law but as a
good advice for many of us asChristians, to use the Shabbat
as a day as what God says.
Rest in the day in the sevendays, because I have rested from
(37:00):
creating you, rest of workingand work to worship God.
It's a work To worship God.
It's a work In Hebrew, it'sAvodat Elohim.
Speaker 3 (37:12):
I agree with you.
I think what is missing inWestern culture, in Western
Christian culture, is thatreverence, the sense of
reverence.
Like you said, when you camefrom your Friday afternoon games
and you walked into the house,there was atmosphere of
reverence as you were preparingfor Shabbat.
And I think that this ismissing in our culture, The way
(37:36):
we treat Sunday, you know, wedon't prepare for it Saturday
night by having a special ritual, where even your house looks
different.
And so I think that element ofreverence is missing.
And I agree with you, it's not.
We're not under the law.
In fact, if we bring it underthe law, it loses its
(37:57):
specialness, you know, so tospeak, it loses the relationship
aspect, and I know that manyChristians who visit Israel,
they are just enthralled withthe tradition of Shabbat.
There is just something veryspecial in it.
So I think that maybe the idealis somewhere in between of
combining the tradition ofreverence with the meaningful
(38:21):
worship, and focus on theworship of God in the Sabbath is
the right way.
Speaker 2 (38:27):
Just an input to what you said.
Think about it.
Take this picture, for instanceyou go, you rest on the Shabbat
From work.
You come together as a familythe children to come in together
, sharing together a meal andpraising God.
And then the next day, onSunday, you all together come in
(38:49):
as a family to worship God inthe church in the wider body of
Messiah.
What can be beautiful is thatto raise our kids and our
children in this, first of all,that we are a family, but we are
also part of a bigger family,the church family.
So we have that intimacy as apersonal or family.
(39:11):
And then the Sunday we worshiptogether and praise God in the
wider context of the body ofMessiah Beautiful.
Speaker 3 (39:21):
This is very true, very true and very beautiful.
Thank you so much for joiningme for this interview.
I really really appreciate yourinput, and I know that our
listeners will too, and I lookforward to some other interviews
.
I really want to talk to youmore about the Hebrew holidays
and its meaning in our faith.
(39:42):
So let's just say till we meetagain.
Speaker 2 (39:46):
Amen.
Thank you, ellen, and just thatyou will know that every Jewish
holiday has got not only a pastmeaning, but a future meaning
for us as a believers.
Speaker 3 (39:59):
I hope this episode sparked in you a desire to dig
deeper into the subject ofSabbath rest and perhaps rethink
the ways you observe the day ofSabbath rest in your busy life.
Tune in for more excitingepisodes coming up.
My next two episodes will takeyou to the ancient land of Egypt
, where God is using theEgyptians and missionaries from
(40:24):
other nations to do somethingvery special.
If you have a heart formissions, I encourage you to
visit our website, rfwaorg.
There you will find out a lotof useful information on how to
get involved and make adifference for Christ in the
nations, including your own.
(40:44):
Until next time, I'm Helen Todd.
Speaker 1 (40:48):
Limitless Spirit Podcast is produced by World
Missions Alliance.
We believe that changed liveschange lives.
If you want to see your lifetransformed by Christ's love, or
if you want to help those whoare hurting and hopeless and
discover your greater purpose inserving Christ through
short-term missionary work,check out our website, rfwaorg,
(41:09):
and find out how to get involved.
What if you had a guide who could tell you how to
bridge a gap between who you aretoday and who you are destined
to be?
What if, each week, you couldhear a story of someone who has
tried and succeeded, or perhapstried and failed but learned
something in the process?
Limitless Spirit is a weeklypodcast where host Helen Todd
interviews guests about topicsand personal stories on defining
(00:23):
life's purpose, pursuingpersonal growth and developing a
deeper faith in Christ.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
The beautiful, maybe what you have seen in Israel and
how we grew up as Jewish people, as children keeping the
Sabbath, because the Sabbath wasas inter-inner.
Remember coming from school onFriday and going to games and
playing basketball with thefriends and then, just before
(00:52):
the Sabbath entered, it wasalmost coming to and going into
the door.
The house was clean, the housewas quiet.
It was candles lit next to thewindow, the aroma of the Sabbath
(01:12):
, with the food that is beingprepared As you enter the house.
It was almost reverent.
It was quiet.
It's a demand for you torespect the time, the space.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Thank you for tuning in to the Limitless Spirit
podcast.
I'm your host, helen Todd.
Sabbath Rest is a concept thatis weaved into the story of our
creation.
On the seventh day, god,satisfied with the work of the
previous six, rested.
The nation of Israel wascommanded to remember the
(01:51):
Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
The seventh day was to be theSabbath of the Lord, their God.
What about the people of theNew Covenant, the followers of
Christ?
How do we understand themeaning of Sabbath And how do we
observe it?
How come we draw from thetraditions of Judaism in
observing the Sabbath, and whichtraditions do not translate
(02:14):
into Christianity?
I invited for this conversationPastor Israel Eluz from Galilee
, israel, who became a Christianafter being raised in a
traditional Orthodox Jewishfamily.
Together we exploresignificance of Sabbath for a
modern day believer and the wayswe're called to observe it.
Hello, pastor Israel, welcomeagain to the Limitless Spirit
(02:38):
podcast.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
I am first of all.
thank you, Helen, for callingupon me, And it's a privilege
and a blessing to be sharingwith you again.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
For those of our listeners who have not heard my
previous interview with you, youare joining us from Northern
Galilee, from Kyrieh Shmona,which is the northernmost city
in Israel, and I would love foryou to share briefly your story
how, from observing Jew, youbecame the follower of Christ
(03:11):
and a pastor of a wonderfulcongregation.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
First of all, it's a privilege to speak to you from
the region as a biblically known, caesarea Philippi, where Jesus
said I'll build the church uponthis statement that Peter have
said.
So we are from CaesareaPhilippi and it seems to me
almost prophetic that 2000 yearsago it was greeting from that
(03:38):
region And now there is agreeting from Caesarea Philippi.
Maybe the Lord is sayingsomething to all of us, by God's
grace.
Yes, i grew up in a Jewish home.
My father was a rabbi in a smalltown in the Galilee called
Maalot And grew up always,always keeping the tradition
(04:00):
keeping the Sabbath, going tothe synagogue, obviously keeping
all the kosher lowered at home,and a strict.
My father, because of who hewas, it was strict in my house
We don't put light in theShabbat, we don't burn, we don't
make fire, we don't cook, wedon't do anything on the Shabbat
(04:21):
, and it's kept holy, and mostof us were going to the
synagogue with my father andtrying to keep the law.
Obviously, it's something, andI think it's something that I
will need to share with you andthe listeners that keeping the
Shabbat and keeping Yom Kippur,always from a Jewish perspective
(04:46):
, we know that, although we'regoing into the synagogue to pray
and repent and beating ourchests again and again for the
things, for the sin that we havedone.
We always knew that we're goingto do the same thing again and
(05:07):
again.
So it was some hypocrisy withinus that unexplained.
but we are Jewish And we kindof accepted that way that every
time we come we ask forgivenessand we have kind of
understanding between us and Godas being the chosen people, as
(05:30):
Jewish people.
But this hypocrisy, obviouslyit was something that we lived
in it.
We couldn't explain it, andthat's something that actually,
when, only much later on, jesusput the finger on it.
When, later on, i came to faithin South Africa by an amazing
(05:55):
story that the Lord revealed tome, then I suppose the Lord had
to remove me out of Israelbecause we lived in an area in
the region very Orthodox, veryreligious, and the Lord had to
take us out from Israel to bringus to you, to you guys, and
(06:16):
many of us came to faith indifferent countries, among and
by Gentiles that share with usthe gospel, and that's how God
actually has promised in thebook of the Torah, in chapter 32
, when He says to Moses I wantto tell you what will happen in
(06:37):
the end days to the nation,because they will provoke me to
jealousy When they will go tothe promised land.
They will provoke me tojealousy with gods that are not
God And because of that, theywill anger me with their
foolishness.
And I will provoke them tojealousy with the people that
(07:00):
are not my people, with thefoolish nation.
I will anger them.
So it's something that the Lordhas used the nation, the
Gentiles who came to know theGod of Israel and the Messiah of
Israel to provoke us tojealousy, that they know the
Messiah of Israel.
(07:21):
And you have to understand, ofmany Jewish people who go to the
synagogue every day.
If you listen in Hebrew and youwill hear the prayer of many
Jewish people.
Some of them just read it, butsome of them in sincere heart.
In the prayer there is pleaseGod, refresh us with the Messiah
(07:46):
.
May you bring the Messiah soon,and especially in the light of
2,000 years of persecution toJewish people in the name of
Jesus by so-called Christian.
The Lord has you know.
So there is a deep cry and deeplonging for the Messiah among
(08:06):
the Jewish people, and that wasthe fact when I came to know
Jesus.
Wow, it was a big revelationfor me to finally discover that
this Messiah, jesus that wecurse, that we hate it, that we
despise, is the one that thepromised Messiah to Israel.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
I always love hearing your testimony and something
you mentioned just today made methink.
you know, god took you out ofIsrael to a foreign land before
He revealed the truth to you.
Isn't this so symbolic of thenation of Israel?
God constantly had to take themout of somewhere and move them
(08:50):
away from their comfort zone, soto speak, before He revealed
Himself to them.
whether they're coming out ofEgypt or them going into exile,
there has always been thistaking a person out, taking the
nation out of their comfort zone.
But today I want to talk to you.
I wanted our listeners to hearyour story just to understand
(09:13):
what a unique perspective youwill bring to our conversation
today.
And I want to focus ourconversation on the subject of
Sabbath because, to be honest, ithink this is something that is
taught very little inmodern-day church and even in
theological teachings.
Frankly, i don't think thechurch quite knows what to do
(09:34):
with Sabbath and how it fitsinto the life of a Christian.
And yet on my numerous trips toIsrael, i have observed aside
from what I learned and recentlyhave been studying on Sabbath
in the Scriptures I haveobserved two sides of it.
On one hand, i have observedlegalism in observance of
(09:55):
Sabbath in Israel.
that is not appealing andreminds me very loudly of the
legalism that Jesus was talkingabout.
But, on the other hand, i'vebeen invited to homes on Sabbath
.
I spent time with yourcongregation during the Sabbath
service and there is somethingincredibly beautiful in it and
(10:19):
healing and restorative for thesoul, and I felt like it is
important for us to have thatconversation and bring a
perspective on the whole idea.
Why Sabbath?
Why did God have to rest on theseventh day?
It was a very strict command inthe Mosaic Law.
It was very important andemphasized and what it means to
(10:42):
us today.
So I want us to cover on thesetopics.
So let's start with the veryfirst one.
The first appearance of Sabbathfor us is in Genesis, in the
creation story God rested.
Why does God really need rest?
What does God's rest mean?
What does it look like?
Speaker 2 (11:00):
That's a wonderful question.
And then I think, one of thethings that, as you mentioned,
in the book of Genesis, after hecreated everything, it says in
chapter one, in the last verseof chapter one, and God saw that
everything that he had doneit's good.
I paraphrase because I'mreading it in the Hebrew, the
(11:25):
English here is so small, let meread it in English God saw all
that he had made and, behold, itwas very good.
And there was evening and therewere morning.
The sixth day, so God havecreated everything in the sixth
day, everything he finished.
(11:46):
And the seventh day he rested,and that's something that we
have to understand.
He rested from creating, hedidn't rest from taking care of
his creation.
So he finished working,creating all the creation.
(12:08):
But we know one of the songsthat we sing in Hebrew, from
Psalm I think it's 121.
It's saying like this Inel LoYanum Veloyishan Shomer Israel,
the Lord who kept Israel, neverslumber and never sleep.
(12:30):
So we know that he is the onewho watches over Jerusalem.
His eyes is from the beginningof the year till the end of the
year, so we know that he's neverrest or go to sleep.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
In that sense, Right, he didn't just take a nap.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Amen, yeah.
So yes, he did rest fromcreating, but he didn't rest of
watching over his creation.
And one of the purposes we knowfrom the New Testament and the
Old Testament that this creation, that this rest he later chose,
(13:14):
is people, israel.
And he says that this rest dayit's for them to rest.
And I think I'll share with youthe beautiful, maybe what you
have seen in Israel and how wegrew up as Jewish people, as
(13:34):
children keeping the Sabbath,because the Sabbath was as
inter-in-a-remember coming fromschool on Friday and going to
games and playing basketballwith the friends, and then, just
before the Sabbath entered, itwas almost coming to And going
(13:57):
into the door, the house wasclean, the house was quiet, it
was candles lit next to thewindow, the aroma of the Shabbat
, with the food that is beingprepared As you enter the house.
It was almost reverent, it wasquiet.
(14:20):
It demand for you to respectthe time, the space And really
entering into almost a holy andreverent room.
And then we go and get dressedand go all of us to the
synagogue and pray and come back.
(14:40):
My mom would have obviouslyprepared the Shabbat meal and we
all sit down and blessing Andeverything is done in such an
honor to God.
Unfortunately, those things havebecome more tradition and
religion And we've done it forthe sake of doing it, but our
(15:03):
heart was not in it.
But it was a beautiful time ofthe family coming together And
it's something that so much ofit I took.
And even now, today, as youhave seen, we brought it to the
church And we're doing theShabbat.
It's coming together, sharingour services, sharing our
(15:24):
prayers, sharing our mealstogether in the congregation.
So, yes, it's been beautiful.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
What about the Shabbat meal?
Did it consist like the mealthat your mom prepared?
Was it a certain menu that issupposed to happen during
Shabbat?
Speaker 2 (15:42):
No, i remember we always had fish, but it was a
big meal.
I mean, you remember when wifecame we saw it's come first of
all salad and then fish and thenchicken and then meat.
It was a massive meal for theShabbat.
So it was a lot of relaxed timethat we see and we sing and we
(16:08):
eat and we drink and we talk,and it was a long meal, let's
put it that way.
It lasts an hour and a half totwo hours, sometimes having the
meal together, because it wasjust beautiful time where the
family come together.
So the brothers, everybody comefrom different places where
(16:29):
they live, sometimes with theirchildren, and we gather together
around the table with my mom.
She will open the table big andabout 15 of us, or sometimes
even more, gather togetheraround the table And I remember
it was a very special andbeautiful time around the
(16:49):
Shabbat.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
And was there a certain prayer that was prayed
as the opening of the Shabbat?
Speaker 2 (16:55):
Oh yes, we obviously praise God for the food.
We praise God for the Shabbat.
for the rest, We praise Godthat he gave us this day to rest
and praise God for the familyand for the food that he gave us
.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
And yeah and then it was a certain prayer that we do.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
It's in the book that we open and we always repeat it
And obviously in the end of themeal also, we say a prayer of
thanking God again.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
What happened on Saturday Like so this meal had
to be prepared before the sunset, and then you have the meal,
and then what happens throughthe rest of Shabbat?
Speaker 2 (17:36):
So the Shabbat, usually, as we, you know, after
the meal everybody you know goand all this day we play games
or people go into their friendsor going outside, And then on
the Shabbat so Mammam would havecooked a meal and it's called
Chamin.
It's a hot pot that stays overthe whole day of Friday and half
(17:59):
of the day of Saturday And weall go to the synagogue on
Shabbat morning and we staythere for a couple of hours And
then when we come from thesynagogue, Mammam, they meet the
pot.
That is was it's called Chamin.
It's been filled with eggs,meat, potato and wheat and all
(18:23):
sorts of other goodies that wasin that pot and some vegetables
and we eat it And that was avery heavy meal.
After that meal you go to sleep.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
You literally rest You literally rest.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
So that's it.
It was a synagogue, a meal restand about usually in the
afternoon, the Shabbat.
in the evening, early evening,the Shabbat is going, you know,
we light the candles, we saypray, we thank you again for the
Shabbat, and each one carry onwith his day.
So that was the Shabbat, but itwas a family time.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
In essence not much different from a Sunday for
Christian family.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
Yes, yes, yes, yes.
And I think that's actuallybring us, indeed, to the
question that you say why hecommanded his people to arrest
in the Shabbat, and I think forthat's one of the reasons that
we all work in it because herested from his creation.
(19:28):
We can rest from our work Andthe Shabbat is really the
meaning of Shabbat It's toglorify God, Glorify God in His
creation, to enjoy creation,enjoy family, enjoy the food and
the abundance of food that Godhas given us and shared together
(19:51):
with loved ones, with friendsand family.
That we share together Andpraise God, And I think that's
the Shabbat, the Shabbat meaningfor the Shabbat as He rested
from His creation.
And you know, in Hebrew I wish Ihad a board to show you but the
word the seven day, it's Shava,Shava, that's what it's called
(20:17):
Shavua.
The seven day, it's one weekAnd it's seven.
What is seven?
Seven it's number, Of courseseven, Shava.
But Shava means I'm full, I'mcontent, I finished.
When you finish your meal andyou are happy, you say I'm Shava
(20:39):
, I'm Shava.
Seven from the word seven, WhatGod, after all that He has done
, created, He says rested in theseven day after everything was
completed.
That was good, He was content.
So He rested in the seven day.
(20:59):
And for us, when we work sixdays I mean here in Israel, we
work all the six days And in theseven day we can really rest,
as it started on Friday evening,We can really rest and give
praise to God for all theabundance and all that He has
(21:21):
done to us, Of course even,moreover, when we believe, as
believers in Jesus Christ.
Speaker 3 (21:31):
Before we move to that why was the command of
Sabbath so strict?
Not observing Sabbath was veryseverely punished.
Why did it have to be such astrict command?
It seems like it should comenaturally.
I mean, that's how our body iscreated.
At the end of the day we haveto sleep, So we're kind of
(21:51):
programmed for that, that atsome point we need rest.
So why do you think it was sostrict, that command for rest?
Speaker 2 (22:00):
I think, Ellen, one of the purposes of God, of
resting in the seven daychoosing.
Israel as a nation to be setapart, Not to be like the rest
of the Gentiles the nation atthe time who worship God and
(22:21):
work in the seven day And heavendidn't have a law, They didn't
have God to and morals andvalues that come from God.
Each and everyone did as theysee fit to do in their own
rights, But God wanted to showand use the people of Israel to
(22:44):
be a nation set apart from allthe other nations And that
through the nation of Israelthey will see the goodness of
God the glory of God thelove of God, the wisdom of God,
And the Sabbath was one of themeans by which he said this day
(23:06):
it's a holy day for me And heset apart as the Jewish people,
as a holy nation, to rest inthis holy day for him.
And I think all of this Ialways say even to my kids the
best thing I can do for you,it's to bring you to your Father
(23:29):
in heaven.
I am your Father in earth.
I am limited, but the best Ican do for you it teach you and
guide you to your Father inheaven.
And the Shabbat is definitelyone of those that the Jewish
people were supposed to, weresupposed to, And when we read
(23:49):
the cursing and the blessing inAr-Ghia-Rizim, in Ari-Ibal if
you will keep there is 14 inchapter 28.
There is 14 verses of blessingand 54 verses of cursing.
If you don't keep So, if youkeep the covenant, if you keep
(24:12):
my law, if you keep the Sabbath,you will be first among the
nation.
You will be the head and notthe tail.
The nation around you will lookand glorify God because of you.
So that's what the purposes ofGod it's to really set for
(24:33):
himself a special people thatwill bring glory to his name and
will be as he called them to bea light to all the nation.
So, therefore, his people, whoare set apart, are holy, because
he is holy And the holiness ofGod.
(24:55):
We don't play games.
When the Lord called us and weare his and him, belong to him.
We are not anymore belong toourself.
It purges us from slavery.
Then, as a slave in Egypt,Purchase us and brought us out
(25:16):
for himself.
That we will enjoy him as thecreator of all things, And he is
the one who created us in thefirst place.
Speaker 3 (25:27):
Now fast forward to Jesus appearing on the scene and
the way that he observedSabbath.
The things that he did onSabbath constantly offended and
created friction between him andthe Pharisees.
And so how did Jesus?
(25:48):
and Jesus?
in a sense, he fulfills theSabbath.
In what way does Jesus fulfillthe Sabbath?
Speaker 2 (25:55):
Okay.
So, as we mentioned earlier,god created the Sabbath for
himself.
And that's the amazing things.
When I came to see Jesus as thefulfillment of all scripture,
as a Jew who realized that thewhole Bible have spoken about
(26:19):
Jesus, about the Messiah, thatone day to come and visit his
nation.
So when Jesus came to earth andobviously have done things,
have done things that at thetime the Jewish people, they
didn't understand, they didn'taccept.
(26:40):
You know, jesus healing in theSabbath, jesus doing things in
the Sabbath.
It's, by the way, god, it'sShabbat, it's the word Shabbat,
it's to Lishbot, it's to seizefrom working, from creating,
(27:00):
it's seize from doing the normalwork.
But we say we greet each otherShabbat Shalom.
That's how we greet ShabbatShalom.
What is Shabbat Shalom?
It's Shabbat meant to bringwholeness.
Come, jesus, who came to bringwholeness to people, come to
(27:22):
heal people, come to blesspeople in the Shabbat.
And the people who didn'tunderstand the Shabbat really
and made out of it a law andrules, they didn't understand
the meaning of Shabbat really.
That is meant the Shabbat, notthe man meant for the Shabbat,
(27:46):
but the Shabbat meant for man torest, to rest in God, to rest
in and to worship Him and topraise Him And that's bring to
me a little even story that yourlisteners will be very happy to
hear.
When Lea gave, for the fourthchild was born.
(28:10):
She called them.
Judah, Judah in Hebrew Yehuda,judah.
What is the meaning of Yehuda?
It's meaning she gave thanks toGod, she praised God and then
she called them praise, thanks,yehuda.
That's the meaning of Judah.
(28:32):
So what is the meaning of beingYehuda, being a Jew, a Jew who
is the one who praise God, whogive thanks to God.
That's what Romans, chapter 8,chapter in Romans it speaks to
us about a Jew who is a Jewinwardly.
It's not the circumcision ofthe flesh, it's something that
(28:55):
is inward, it's something thatwe really seen creation, even
enjoying the Shabbat and usingthe Shabbat as a mean to look at
and to not to look down atworks and the things that we
have to do, but to look up andto give praise to God, to
(29:16):
everything that He gave us.
It's a day that He made it forus to give praise and give
thanks to Him As the one whoprovided everything.
So that's what basically?
Yehuda, a Jew, the meaning ofbeing Jewish, and that's the
(29:36):
Shabbat is so when Jesus cameand did exactly that to give
praise, to give thanks, to bringthe people to see that they
were so blind because of theirown tradition and their own
rules and their own do and don'teat this, don't do that.
(29:58):
This is what they have done,and they turn it to be a
philosophy of men and religiousof men, instead of coming with
an understanding and pure heartto see the Shabbat for what it
meant to be really to praise andworship God.
Speaker 3 (30:17):
This is very good, because this really brings a
great parallel between Judaismand Christianity in terms of
when you allow religion to takeover, when your faith, your
relationship with God becomes aset of rules and you lose the
heart of what it's meant to be,it's very easy just to be on the
(30:40):
wrong path.
And so, from what I'm hearingfrom you, if we were to draw the
parallel between Shabbat andthe observance of Shabbat in
Judaism, the parallel inChristianity today would be our
Sunday.
You know, when we go to church,we praise God, we thank God in
our prayers, we listen to theWord of God, we contemplate of
(31:04):
the Word of God.
So is a Sunday service of todayequivalent to observance of
Sabbath in Judaism?
Is this how we are supposed asChristians?
Is this the correct way toobserve the day of rest?
Speaker 2 (31:20):
You know, we as Jewish people here in Israel,
obviously in this country here,sunday is a normal day.
So many people go to work on aSunday And for us as Jewish
people who stay here and ourchurches are in Israel in my
(31:41):
case it's in the Galilee here Sowe go according to what is the
custom and the traditions here.
But the church because ofJesus' reason on Sunday.
Obviously people want toworship God in that day and
choose on Sunday as a day ofworship the God of Israel.
(32:07):
But I don't see any differenceof the day, because Jesus says I
am the Lord of the Sabbath.
I mentioned it so many times inScripture that He is the Lord
of the Sabbath, that the Sabbathmeant for the men and not the
Sabbath for the men.
(32:28):
So I don't see no problem.
Which day do you worship God?
just worship Him in spirit andtruth.
And, by the way, don't worshipHim only on Sunday, worship Him
every day.
And I think for us as believers,we do worship God every day.
(32:49):
And when the creation that wesee is few.
Scripture that He says theheaven declare His glory, the
heaven and the stars speak ofHis goodness and His glory and
His wisdom.
So for us every day.
It's a day of Sabbath, becausewe have seeds.
(33:13):
Shabbat is meaning have seedsfrom worrying, from fearing,
from sinning, from being mixedwith the world that we live in,
because we are here for onepurpose.
We are here for one purpose andone purpose only to give glory
(33:39):
to God, to praise Him whereverwe go And to preach the good
news that Yeshua is the place ofrest, is the Lord, is the Lord
of us all, and to bring many ofus, many people, to bring to
that knowledge and save souls,as the Scripture teaches.
(34:01):
Why is this the man who savessouls?
So, in the, i can conclude thisby saying for us, it doesn't
matter which day do you worshipGod.
You choose, as a congregationto worship God.
Speaker 3 (34:21):
Do you believe that it is still important to have
that day?
You're right.
I mean, we worship God everyday.
This is the ultimaterelationship.
If you are in that personal andpassionate relationship with
Christ, how can you not wake upeach morning with the praise and
worship on your heart?
But do you feel like it isstill important that command of
(34:43):
the Sabbath remains where wecombine a day of physical rest
when we seize from our works,Intentionally because we live in
this fast-paced, busy life?
Ultimately, some people theywork through the whole week.
Is it still important to keepthe command of resting from your
(35:04):
works on the same day as youhave this devoted time for God?
Speaker 2 (35:11):
I would have said even in my past as a Jew and
even as a believer.
Now, the Shabbat it's abeautiful day.
It's a wonderful day to seizefrom work And because God made
the Shabbat before He gave thelaw and this is important to
mention He rested in the Shabbatbefore the law of Moses.
(35:34):
So the seventh day, the restingday, it's kind of almost built
into the creation, into thewhole things of creation.
For me, i think, my personalopinion, shabbat should be a
place and a time.
As we work six days a week, say, the seventh day should be a
(35:56):
day to gather together as afamily, to eat meals together,
to praise God together.
You know, we live all of us assuch a busy life.
I'm so praised God that we havethis Shabbat, because every
Shabbat my son knows he comesfor Shabbat, he lives in Tel
(36:17):
Aviv, he comes for Shabbat andeverybody comes from their
business and comes for Shabbat,even today.
So the Shabbat we have mealstogether, we praise together, we
spend time as a family together, we worship God together.
(36:37):
It's beautiful.
It's beautiful and I definitelywill, not as a law but as a
good advice for many of us asChristians, to use the Shabbat
as a day as what God says.
Rest in the day in the sevendays, because I have rested from
(37:00):
creating you, rest of workingand work to worship God.
It's a work To worship God.
It's a work In Hebrew, it'sAvodat Elohim.
Speaker 3 (37:12):
I agree with you.
I think what is missing inWestern culture, in Western
Christian culture, is thatreverence, the sense of
reverence.
Like you said, when you camefrom your Friday afternoon games
and you walked into the house,there was atmosphere of
reverence as you were preparingfor Shabbat.
And I think that this ismissing in our culture, The way
(37:36):
we treat Sunday, you know, wedon't prepare for it Saturday
night by having a special ritual, where even your house looks
different.
And so I think that element ofreverence is missing.
And I agree with you, it's not.
We're not under the law.
In fact, if we bring it underthe law, it loses its
(37:57):
specialness, you know, so tospeak, it loses the relationship
aspect, and I know that manyChristians who visit Israel,
they are just enthralled withthe tradition of Shabbat.
There is just something veryspecial in it.
So I think that maybe the idealis somewhere in between of
combining the tradition ofreverence with the meaningful
(38:21):
worship, and focus on theworship of God in the Sabbath is
the right way.
Speaker 2 (38:27):
Just an input to what you said.
Think about it.
Take this picture, for instanceyou go, you rest on the Shabbat
From work.
You come together as a familythe children to come in together
, sharing together a meal andpraising God.
And then the next day, onSunday, you all together come in
(38:49):
as a family to worship God inthe church in the wider body of
Messiah.
What can be beautiful is thatto raise our kids and our
children in this, first of all,that we are a family, but we are
also part of a bigger family,the church family.
So we have that intimacy as apersonal or family.
(39:11):
And then the Sunday we worshiptogether and praise God in the
wider context of the body ofMessiah Beautiful.
Speaker 3 (39:21):
This is very true, very true and very beautiful.
Thank you so much for joiningme for this interview.
I really really appreciate yourinput, and I know that our
listeners will too, and I lookforward to some other interviews
.
I really want to talk to youmore about the Hebrew holidays
and its meaning in our faith.
(39:42):
So let's just say till we meetagain.
Speaker 2 (39:46):
Amen.
Thank you, ellen, and just thatyou will know that every Jewish
holiday has got not only a pastmeaning, but a future meaning
for us as a believers.
Speaker 3 (39:59):
I hope this episode sparked in you a desire to dig
deeper into the subject ofSabbath rest and perhaps rethink
the ways you observe the day ofSabbath rest in your busy life.
Tune in for more excitingepisodes coming up.
My next two episodes will takeyou to the ancient land of Egypt
, where God is using theEgyptians and missionaries from
(40:24):
other nations to do somethingvery special.
If you have a heart formissions, I encourage you to
visit our website, rfwaorg.
There you will find out a lotof useful information on how to
get involved and make adifference for Christ in the
nations, including your own.
(40:44):
Until next time, I'm Helen Todd.
Speaker 1 (40:48):
Limitless Spirit Podcast is produced by World
Missions Alliance.
We believe that changed liveschange lives.
If you want to see your lifetransformed by Christ's love, or
if you want to help those whoare hurting and hopeless and
discover your greater purpose inserving Christ through
short-term missionary work,check out our website, rfwaorg,
(41:09):
and find out how to get involved.
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