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GHT Notes
Transcript
Teaching Introduction
When it comes to the New Testament, the Brit Hadasah, everyone probably has heard and knows about the salvation and the disciples and Yeshua and even teachings on hell and stuff like that. But did you know that the Brit Hadasah has a lot to say about Shabbat? So join us in this particular teaching as we go through the Gospels and the rest of the Brit Hadasah or the aka New Testament and examine what it is that the New Testament has to say about Shabbat.
Video Start
This teaching is going to be all about the Shabbat in the Brit Hadasah or the aka New Testament. We’re going to be getting into several passages, certainly not all of them for the sake of time, but into a lot of passages in the scriptures, a lot several points of historical interest as well that might blow your mind if you’ve never heard this before. It certainly did mine. So, definitely make sure to stay tuned for that. Make sure you have your notes ready.
And if you’d like even more notes and more information than what we’re going to be presenting in this particular presentation, make sure to go to our website at godhonesttruth.com. Click on the post for this particular episode. And there you’ll be able to find the on demand video. You’ll be able to find the draw slides and the notes that we took for this subject as well as some AI research reports which are very informative as well. And you’ll also be able to find the transcript if that’s something that is of any benefit to you.
But it’s all right there on our website at godhonesttruth.com. And of course, the easiest and quickest way to get to that article page is going to be in the link that we have conveniently provided for you down below in the description. And that should be down there, whether you’re watching on a video platform or an audio podcasting platform.
Series Overview
Now, just to get started, let’s go over the overview of the series real quick, just like we did last time in episode one when we looked at Shabbat and the Tanakh. Number one, we’re going to be talking or the Bible talks about multiple kinds of Sabbaths in scripture. There’s the weekly Sabbath, which is what this series is all about. There’s also the festival Sabbaths like with the Sukkot or Pesach when you got the shabbaton or the minor Sabbath, the high day at the beginning and the end of that particular mo’edim.
Those are a type of Sabbath or sometimes called Shabbatones. You also have the seventh year Sabbath which is called the Shmita. And you would also have the 50th year Sabbath which is called the Jubilee or the Yovel. Now, the rest of these we’re not going to be really talking about or discussing all that much. We might mention them in passing, but this particular series is really focused on the weekly Sabbath.
Now, this whole series is broken up into various episodes so we can get more into detail on each different section and to make it a little bit easier to digest. And if you want to look it up later, you also got an easier way to look up these various references and information that we’re going to go over. The first episode that we did last time was the Shabbat and how it relates or what’s mentioned about it in the Tanakh. This episode we’re going to be looking at Shabbat in the Brit Hadasah or the aka New Testament.
Next time, that’s what’s really going to be informative here is when we look at Shabbat in the early centuries, specifically from 31 CE all the way up through about 500 CE, especially in the 4th century, cuz there’s a whole bunch of stuff went on in the 4th century. But next episode, we’re going to be looking at Shabbat in the early centuries. Then we’re going to be taking a look at Shabbat, the Reformation, and anything else that doesn’t really belong in its own episode.
Episode five, we’re going to be talking about arguments for Sunday, examining those in light of scripture and the historical evidence. And then finally, we’re going to be wrapping up with the lunar Sabbath, what it is, what scripture has to say, also putting that to the verses we find in the Bible as well. And of course, we’re going to be trying to have a forum between each of these to discuss it with an invited guest. Hopefully, it’s someone who is knowledgeable and we’re really hoping to have someone who has a differing opinion with what we presented previously, but that’s not always going to be able to do that, but that’s what we’re going to try for.
But yeah, this is going to be our Sabbath series as we examine the Shabbat in scripture. Now, some terminology that we’re going to go over during this series. Most of you already know this if you’re from a messianic mindset, but I do think it might be prudent to go over it one more time and just in case we have people out there who are not as familiar.
Number one, we’re going to be looking at or be using the word Shabbat. Now, what is Shabbat? Well, as we know it here in modern English, that would be the Hebrew word for our English word, which is Sabbath. So, Shabbat is the Hebrew word. Sabbath is the English word. The Sabbath as it relates to scripture is according to scripture from Friday at sundown until Saturday at sundown.
Now we see in the book of Genesis it’s evening and morning make up a single day. So therefore the seventh day would be Friday at sunset until Saturday at sunset. We’ll also be using the term Shabbaton. And this pretty much means a high day, a minor Sabbath, a festival Sabbath to be more specific. We mentioned that earlier with the first and last days of Sukkot and Pesach, etc., etc.
These are Sabbaths that are in addition to the weekly Sabbath, and they only occur during the feast days or the mo’edim, especially the mo’edim. We’re also going to be using the word Tanakh. And Tanakh is an acronym that stands for Torah, Nevi’im, and Ketuvim, which is the Torah, the Nevi’im, which is the prophets, and the Ketuvim, which is the writings. It’s also referred to nowadays in modern English terms as the Old Testament.
Then we’ve got the term Brit Hadasah, which we’re going to be using extensively in this particular episode. And Brit Hadasah is referring to the messianic writings, the writings of Paul, the gospels, etc., etc. Commonly referred to nowadays as the New Testament.
Focus Factors
So for this particular episode, there’s a couple things I’d like for you to put down in your notes and focus on as we go through this particular episode and as you go through the Brit Hadasah or the aka New Testament. Now, as we go through this particular teaching, we’re not going to be getting into a lot of the arguments or what’s referred to commonly as proof text for a change in the Sabbath because we’re going to be getting into that in other episodes. We’re basically going to be examining a lot of the other scriptures related to the Sabbath and then get into those change quote unquote change passages in a later episode.
But as you go through this particular episode and future episodes and pretty much any teaching or examination or study that you go through, try to keep these particular factors and points in mind as you go through your Bible. When examining a particular passage or doing a study itself, make sure to ask yourself, what do you know when you read a particular passage? And is what you know based on exegesis or is it eisegesis? A good way to, you know, kind of go over this particular point is try to forget what you believe about a particular passage. And that’s hard sometimes. I know. I understand. But just put it out of your mind and then examine the passage just for what it is. And then try to match that up with what you believe. And can you draw directly out of the text what you believe or is there some amount of interpretation or a lot of interpretation required in order to make your belief and scripture match up?
When you go to a passage, examine what it is that you currently believe and determine or try to determine whether what you believe is based in exegesis or is eisegesis for that particular passage. Also look at a particular passage and this is especially important with the Sabbath in the Brit Hadasah. Try to understand and think to yourself, is this particular passage a command or is it an interpretation? And especially with current doctrines and what you believe as well. Is what you believe a command from scripture or is it an interpretation that you have? I’m not going to get into the specifics of where it may have come from, whether it be tradition or your own study, your own bias, etc., etc., but is what you believe a command or is it an interpretation?
Also, is the particular passage you’re reading or trying to study, is it descriptive or prescriptive? Because this comes into play or comes to be a very important factor when looking at the subject of the Sabbath and the Brit Hadasah. Certain passages are descriptive in nature, but people take them as being prescriptive and base their entire theology and their doctrine of the Sabbath off of something that is descriptive rather than prescriptive. So, just to clear up some confusion real quick if you don’t know the difference between descriptive and prescriptive? Well, it’s sort of like making an observation versus a rule or an observation versus a command or an order or stuff like that.
Descriptive is something that explains how things are while prescriptive dictates or commands or orders how they ought to be. Take for instance the ten commandments. When it says thou shalt not commit adultery, that is prescriptive saying don’t do it. When it says thou shalt have no other gods before me, that is prescriptive telling you do not have any other gods only Yahweh. Now descriptive would be something to the effect of going along that last example, the Israelites having other gods and falling into idolatry. That would be a description of something they did, but it’s not prescribing idolatry. You see the difference there?
So, here is a good analogy that I found during this particular research. And it said this analogy goes as such. It’s like a traffic report versus a speed limit sign. The traffic report describes how fast people are actually driving. So, it would be descriptive. The speed limit sign prescribes how fast they are legally allowed to go. That would be a prescriptive example. So that’s the difference between descriptive and prescriptive. And when you’re examining every subject actually, but especially for this particular subject with the Sabbath in the New Testament or the Brit Hadasah, definitely think to yourself, is what I’m looking at is it prescriptive or is it descriptive? And we don’t base commands and what we should do off of descriptive things. Is it an example? Maybe, but it’s not necessarily prescriptive.
Contextual Curiosities
So, here’s some interesting things that I came across in my particular research that I would like to present to you that I thought was very, very interesting. And this doesn’t come from scripture. This comes from around the time of the same time frame as the Brit Hadasah. So, I thought it would be relevant to place in this particular teaching here. Did you know that before the writing of the Brit Hadasah and before the events of the Brit Hadasah that both Julius Caesar and Augustus Caesar enacted decrees to protect and allow Jewish observance of many different things but especially the Sabbath? I found this to be very very interesting.
We look at Antiquities of the Jews by Josephus. This is I found it in book 14 section 225 and it says quote I therefore this is speaking about Julius Caesar. I therefore like the governors before me grant them exemption from military service and allow them to follow their native customs and to come together for sacred and holy rites in accordance with their law and to make offerings for their sacrifices. And it is my wish that these instructions to the various that you write these instructions to the various cities. End quote. And this is Josephus recounting a particular passage or order from Julius Caesar.
Now, what was that particular order? Well, let’s look down here. This is from the decrees of Julius Caesar as emperor from the Center for Online Judaic Studies. Here is the relevant part. Quote, “Because of their refusal to bear arms or march on the Sabbath and their insistence on special foods in accordance with their dietary laws, Caesar exempted them from compulsory military service.” End quote.
Just kind of give a little bit of background. The Judeans here refused to bear arms or march on the Sabbath and that for obvious reasons made them poor soldiers within the Roman army. Now I particularly I disagree with you know this in in general because we did go over in previous episodes previous teachings about the concept of pikuach nefesh and we’ll get a little bit more into that as we go through this particular teaching. But that statement or that belief is a sort of like if I can explain this real quick, it’s a bending or a temporarily setting aside of some of the commandments for the sake of life. And I think they were not following this particular ordinance of pikuach nefesh to defend themselves on the Sabbath if they were attacked. And we’ll get into some more of that in the next episode about the early centuries. But this happened way before that particular episode.
Anyways, so yeah, Julius Caesar exempted them from military service because of their Sabbath observance. It’s very interesting also that during this research I found that Julius Caesar put forth so many or so stringent or effective decrees and stuff protecting and establishing and allowing Jewish observance of a lot of biblical stuff that when Julius Caesar was betrayed and killed there was a lot of Jews that wept for him all because of that and I find it very interesting because you well I won’t get into I’m about to get on a tangent. I’m not going to do it. Anyways, that’s Julius Caesar and there’s some more information goes along with that, but I thought this was very relevant in this Sabbath quote from about Julius Caesar and what he did for the Judeans or the Jews.
Moving on to Augustus Caesar. He did very very similar things and this comes from the ancient Jewish history edict of Augustus on Jewish rights from the Jewish Virtual Library. It says here, quote, “And that their sacred offerings shall be inviolable and shall be sent to Jerusalem and shall be paid to the financial officials of Jerusalem, and that they shall not give testimonies for appearance in court on the Sabbath or on the day of preparation before it after the 9th hour.” End quote.
So, Augustus wrote this decree or edict, I guess you could say, and he made it a I guess you say command or law that the Judeans could not be called to court on the Sabbath and even extended that to go back the day before or right before the Sabbath day, which is called the preparation day, and they couldn’t be called to court after the 9th hour on the preparation day. So, I thought that was very, very interesting as well. I didn’t know this before this particular study, I’m sorry, before this particular episode that I was preparing for and trying to add to, but I found that to be very, very interesting that both Julius Caesar and then Augustus Caesar enacted these protections for the observance of the various Hebraic principles found within scripture.
Now, another thing you’ve heard of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and what the Dead Sea Scrolls are is a bunch of writings and stuff that were preserved by a community at Qumran. And these were a sect or a group of Judeans. And they were pretty much about the same level on par as the Sadducees and the Pharisees, but they had their own particular way of doing things. And when it comes to the subject of the uh Sabbath or Shabbat, they had a lot of stringent things. And this comes from the Damascus Document in the Dead Sea Scrolls. There’s other stuff too and other fragments, but there’s a lot of relevant information here on the Sabbath as the Essenes saw it in the Qumran community.
Now, let me read a couple of these rules that they had for the observance of the Sabbath to you real quick. Number one, they say that no man shall walk more than 1,000 cubits beyond his town. Now, that sounds rather interesting because the Judeans had a concept of a Sabbath day journey. You don’t find that in scripture, but we do find a quick mention of it in the Brit Hadasah though. It’s not a commandment or a restriction in scripture, but that is something that the Judeans had, both the Pharisees and the Essenes, as we see here.
Then it goes on here in this Damascus Document on the rules for Shabbat observance. It says, “He shall eat nothing lying in the fields.” Remember that as we go through the passages in the Brit Hadasah and it goes on to say, “No man shall willingly mingle with others on the Sabbath. Keep that in mind. Put that in your notes as we go through the uh verses here in just a little bit.” Then further on down, it goes, “No man shall carry perfumes on himself whilst going and coming on the Sabbath.” Apparently, according to the Essenes, you couldn’t smell good on the Sabbath.
Then it goes on according to the Essenes. It says no man minding a child shall carry it whilst going and coming on the Sabbath. So if you have child care you cannot carry the child according to the Essenes. It goes on this is really important. Check this out. This remember this particular then they go on to say no man shall assist a beast to give birth on the Sabbath day and if it should fall into a cistern or pit he shall not lift it out on the Sabbath. Some of you out there are already thinking already putting two and two together. But for the rest of you write that down. Remember that one of the rules according to the Essenes at Qumran is that if an animal should fall in a pit, you cannot rescue it or lift it out on a Sabbath. We get into that in just a little bit.
Then it goes on to say, “No man shall spend the Sabbath in a place near to Gentiles on the Sabbath.” Qumran was out separated by itself. So they were it was pretty easy for them to separate themselves from non-believers. But yeah, one of their rules for observing Shabbat was don’t be near Gentile non-believer. And finally, an example that I’m the last example I’m going give you for this particular teaching. Should any man fall into water or fire, let him not be pulled out with the aid of a ladder or rope or some such utensil.
So, previously we read that if an animal gets in a pit, you can’t rescue them. But now, if a human being falls into water or if he falls into a fire, you cannot rescue him, if you’re going to be using a ladder or a rope or any other utensil. And that’s just what I could fit on this slide that I thought would be interesting for your perusal. There’s a lot more if you go look in the Damascus Document, all the other particular fragments. And there’s a lot more in the notes that we have provided for you on our website as well. But the things I thought was very very interesting and I want you to remember for this particular study as we look at Sabbath and the Brit Hadasah is that it shall eat nothing lying in the fields. Shall not willingly mingle with others. Shall not be near Gentiles on the Sabbath. Shall not carry a child. And especially do not rescue an animal if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath. Remember those cuz it’s going to be very important as we go forward and look at some various scriptures here in just a moment.
Gospel Survey of the Sabbath
And speaking of those various scriptures, let’s go ahead and dive into that right now. And let’s start out with our examination of Shabbat in the Brit Hadasah by looking at Shabbat in the Gospels themselves. We’re going to be starting out with Matthew 5 17-19. Do not think that I came to destroy the Torah or the prophets. I did not come to destroy but to complete. For truly I say to you, till the heaven and the earth pass away. One yod or one tittle shall by no means pass from the Torah till all be done. Whoever then breaks one of the least of these commands and teaches men so shall be called least in the reign of the heavens. But whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the reign of the heavens.
So, how does this relate to Shabbat? Well, it doesn’t specifically say Shabbat or Sabbath or anything like that, but it does relate to it because it’s part of the Torah and the prophets, part of the Tanakh that we looked at last time. And this is Yeshua stating in no uncertain terms that he did not come to destroy the Torah or the prophets. What’s something that is contained and commanded within the Torah? It’s the Shabbat. So that’s why we put it right here.
But also notice here, this is something for especially for those of you out there who are like me and you’re more of a messianic mindset. Don’t get into what Calvin has called cage stage and stay there. That’s not very good because we have a term, you’ve probably heard it before, but it’s called messy antics. Not messianic, but messy antics. And this is usually a lot of people who just first come into the messianic way of thinking. But notice here that it says, “Whoever then breaks one of the least of these commands and teaches men so shall be called least in the reign of the heavens, but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the reign of the heavens.” So it seems like to me here that even people nowadays who break the commands, even including Shabbat, and then teaches people to do so, they will still be in heaven, but they’ll be called least in the kingdom of heaven.
So this again, keeping the Torah is not about salvation. You don’t earn salvation by keeping the Torah. In fact, you can see here by Yeshua’s own words that you can break it and even teach other people to break some of these commands and still get to heaven. You’ll be at least in the kingdom of heaven, but you’ll still be in heaven. But I think it was very important to keep this in mind as we go through this particular section of scripture, the Brit Hadasah and the subject of Shabbat.
Going on looking at Mark 2 23-28. And it came to be that he went through the grain fields on the Sabbath. And as they went, his taught ones began to pluck heads of grain. And the Pharisees said to him, “Look, why do you do what is not right on the Sabbath?” And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he had need and was hungry? He and those with him. How he went into the house of Elohim, while Abiathar was high priest, and ate the showbread, which is not right to eat, except for the priests. And he gave it also to those who were with him.”
And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” So the son of Adam or the son of man is also master of the Sabbath or Lord of the Sabbath. A couple things to point out here. We looked last time about the showbread and the various things that the priests did on the Sabbath. They even had extra things to do on the Sabbath as we saw in the last episode back in the Tanakh. But here Yeshua is stating that he is the master of the Sabbath. He’s the lord of the Sabbath. Meaning that he has the top priority, the last call as it were in interpreting and dictating how the Sabbath is to be understood or interpreted.
Now, another thing that we looked at last time is that there’s very, very little dictionary definition entries in scripture, especially in this document, about what work is. We see no kindling of fire. We see the example and the command of no commerce, etc., etc., but that’s about it. We don’t gather sticks, don’t kindle a fire. And there’s a lot that goes into that, but that’s the basic two commands right there. There’s a lot left open to the gray area. And unfortunately the Judeans, the Pharisees here were having all these different things they added to the commandments in order to put guard rails and fences around the observance of various things. Sabbath in this particular context and it really put a strangle hold on a lot of people and they put it a lot of times above even the commands of Yahweh himself.
But here Yeshua is saying, “No, I have the authority to interpret correctly because I am the master or the lord of the Sabbath.” Another thing that is very important to point out here that maybe some people miss, but is definitely something to keep in mind. He says that the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. The Sabbath is not to be a bunch of rules and regulations and something that is a burden to man. We’re not here to serve the Sabbath. The Sabbath is for us. We are not for the Sabbath. It was made for our refreshment, for our enjoyment, for our rejuvenation, things like that. We weren’t made to serve it and slave over it during for 613 or 700 or however many offenses that the Judeans had.
That’s kind of the point that Yeshua is getting to here is that the Sabbath is a gift for us. We are not slaves for a particular time or period of time. No, it’s for our enjoyment, for our refreshment. Sabbath was made for us. Also notice here too what the whole conflict is about. You have Yeshua and his disciples. You have the Pharisees and they are clashing. But why are they clashing? Well, they’re clashing over Shabbat obviously and the observance of Shabbat and how to observe it correctly. But what is that whole observance thing about? Is it about which day of the week? No. There is absolutely zero conflict here about which day of the week the Sabbath is actually on. That both of them understood it. Both sides, both Yeshua and the disciples and the Pharisees were in agreement on what day of the week Shabbat was. They were just in had a different opinion, different interpretation about how to observe the Shabbat and what was allowed and not allowed. And that’s where their conflict really comes in is that the Pharisees had made up all these fences about observance of Shabbat and they were going against Yeshua, but Yeshua said, “No, no, no. Let me correctly interpret for you.” So, it’s the observance that’s in clash here, not which day of the week.
Moving on to Luke 6 6-10. And it also came to be on another Sabbath that he entered into the congregation and taught. And there was a man whose right hand was withered. And the scribes and Pharisees were watching him closely whether he would heal on the Sabbath for them to find an accusation against him. And he knew their thoughts and said to the man who had the withered hand, “Rise and stand in the midst.” And he rose up and stood. Then Yeshua said to them, “I ask you, is it right to do good on the Sabbath or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?” And looking around at them all, he said to them, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did so, and his hand was restored sound as the other.
So here is another conflict. But what is the conflict that’s going on? Well, again, it has nothing to do about which day of the week the Sabbath is supposed to be on. Everybody here was in agreement on which day of the week the Sabbath actually was. Even the Pharisees, they had the day right. Their fences and their interpretation was wrong, but they had the day right. Even the Essenes who were more strict than even the Pharisees had the correct day. So these two passages that we’ve looked at so far, there is zero conflict as to which day of the week the Sabbath is supposed to be on.
Now according to the Pharisaical interpretation here about observance of Shabbat and healing their kind of mindset was okay someone is confirmed they are sick they have a disease they can wait 24 hours come back on the first day of the week and then be healed because they would define that as work but Yeshua no he just went ahead and he healed the man on Shabbat and said this is what Shabbat is for do good to your fellow man. Now again, we’re not supposed to do work, but that’s left open hugely to interpretation. Now, certain things have been interpreted for us by Yeshua as we go through these particular passages, but yeah, doing good is one thing that Yeshua told us and exemplified for us to do on Shabbat. Do good for your fellow man. Healing, something that Yeshua did as a good thing toward his fellow man.
Moving on to Matthew 12 10-16. And see, there was a man having a withered hand, and they asked him, saying, “Is it right to heal on the Sabbath so as to accuse him?” And he said to them, “What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, shall not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more worth is a man than a sheep? So it is right to do good on the Sabbath.” Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and it was restored, as healthy as the other. But the Pharisees went out and took counsel against him so as to destroy him. But Yeshua knowing it withdrew from there and large crowds followed him and he healed them all and warned them not to make him known.
So again Yeshua is emphasizing and exemplifying doing good on Shabbat. And if you remember from our examination of the various laws that the Essenes came up with, this stands in stark contrast with what the Essenes observed on Shabbat and how strict they were. Here Yeshua is actually agreeing with a particular point with the Pharisees that if an animal is in danger on the Shabbat that they should rescue him. Both Yeshua and the Pharisees agree on that point. And he’s using that to make a greater point. Yes, but they agreed that the animals should be rescued. Essenes, no. They said, “Nope. Leave it there. It’s still alive after Shabbat. Then you can rescue it.” So this is one of the points to one of the many points actually to distinguish Yeshua from the Essenes and to know that Yeshua was not one of the Essenes.
Yeah. Yeshua again heals on the Sabbath and does good toward his fellow man. Then moving on looking at Matthew 24 verse 20. This is about the end times and the future a prophecy if you will. And pray that your flight does not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. Now, as we’ve looked at all the passages so far in this particular teaching and as you have read in your scriptures, is there any indication or is there any argument actually even from the mainstream Christianity nowadays that before this point in time that the Sabbath was changed? I don’t think so.
So Yeshua, the apostles, disciples, and everyone else up to this point, at the very least understood that when they said Sabbath, they meant the seventh day of the week. And here Yeshua is talking about the end times and especially the various trials and tribulations are going to be coming that we’re going to be having to go through and stuff like that. He says, “Pray that your flight does not take place in winter or on the Sabbath.” So here Yeshua is of the understanding that the Sabbath is continuing. The seventh day rest, the seventh day Sabbath is continuing even on up until the end times. Have we gotten to the end times yet? Nope, not yet.
So Yeshua, if Sabbath has been changed, Yeshua was not informed. He did not get the memo. Someone forgot to carbon copy him on the email. But this verse quietly dismantles the claim that the Torah would be abolished because at least one part of the Torah, the Sabbath, Yeshua understood to be continuing into the end times. And this also quietly dismantles the claim that the Sabbath observance would cease because like we just said, Yeshua understood the Sabbath to be continuing until the end times. If Sabbath observance were irrelevant if it had been done away with, then Yeshua would not mention it as a concern. I mean, ever think about that. There’s a lot that goes into this one particular verse.
But if Yeshua being who he was, he was the Messiah, the son of Yahweh, he, you know, he heard and learned from his father and he knew a whole bunch of stuff that was taught to him and told to him. However, he did not ever get the memo about Sabbath being changed. No. Instead, he knew the Sabbath was not going to be changed. If he did know it was going to be changed, then he wouldn’t have made such a statement like this about the end times. Obviously, so Yeshua assumes continuity, not cancellation or abrogation.
So moving on, looking at Luke 23 54-56 and it was preparation day and the Sabbath was approaching. And the women who had come with him from Galilee followed after and saw the tomb and how his body was laid and having returned they prepared spices and perfumes and they rested on the Sabbath according to the command. So here Yeshua has went through his life and was went through his ministry. He has been scourged and crucified and he has been killed and put in the tomb and at this point in scripture and the women who were going to go and put spices on his body, they got the spices as we looked at in the Pesach teaching and also a little bit on the Easter teaching that when he was crucified the next day was a high day. It was the first Shabbaton of the Passover week. They couldn’t do anything there. Then it was Friday, so they went out and they done their shopping. They got the spices, etc., etc., prepared those, but they didn’t have time to go to the tomb. So then they rested because it says here it was preparation day, that Friday, and the Sabbath was approaching.
So they rested according to the command it says here. And apparently the women didn’t get the memo that it had been changed either because they were still going according to what Yahweh told them in the Tanakh and that was observe the seventh day as a commandment forever perpetual commandment. They were still observing the seventh day rest. They were still observing Shabbat. So, at the very least, we see a couple things here. But number one, we see the continuation of what we saw in the Tanakh with the Shabbat, especially as far as the day of the week goes. We see that it was still the seventh day that we have not examined or seen any sort of change in the Gospels. And we also see Yeshua coming forth and putting out there correct interpretation as compared to the Pharisees incorrect interpretation a lot of times or overly stringent interpretation. And by extension that would mean that the Essenes were even more stringent. So they’d be even more incorrect on their particular laws and observances.
But I will give them this. They were doing probably the best they could. Unfortunately, they went too far with it and trying to make it binding for a lot of people, their particular interpretations, their oral law that they came up with. And that’s just really where they went wrong. They said, “Okay, well, this is our opinion. This is how we see it, but you do you.” That would have been a different situation, but that’s not how they did it. And unfortunately, there’s a lot of mainstream churchianity churches today that do exactly the same thing. They have their faith and message. They have their doctrine for their particular denomination. And they say, “You have to believe this or you’re not saved or something similar to that.” And it’s just a repeat of the same Pharisaical oral law kind of thing. But I’m getting on a tangent. So anyways, let’s move on.
We saw these passages a few passages anyways from the gospels. There’s a whole lot more there. And like always, I encourage you go forth and do your own study to increase your knowledge and your study on this particular subject and the Shabbat in the Gospels.
Post-Gospel Sabbath Study
Now, let’s move on and look at Shabbat and the rest of the Brit Hadasah after the Gospels. We’re going to be looking at first the book of Acts because there’s a lot of information there, especially when it gets into the possible or theorized change in the Shabbat, which we won’t be getting into a lot here. So, let’s go ahead and start with Acts anyways.
Acts 13 26-27. Men, brothers, sons of the race of Abraham and those among you fearing Elohim to you the word of this deliverance has been sent for those dwelling in Jerusalem and their rulers because they did not know him nor even the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath having filled them and having judged him. There’s a lot going on here, but the main part we’re going to be looking at obviously is the subject on the Sabbath. And what does it say happens with the prophets, the voices of the prophets, the aka? Well, it’s saying here that they are read every single Sabbath. What day is that? Well, they’re still under the impression here that the Sabbath is on the seventh day because that’s the only day of the week ever in scripture that has a name and that name is Sabbath.
So here it’s saying it’s giving an example, a description that the prophets, the Tanakh, these scriptures are read every Sabbath. So think about that for just a moment. Why would it only be read every Sabbath? Well, there’s probably some people back then who read it more than just on the Sabbath. They’d probably read it other days during the week, too. But a lot of people, they were going about their business. They were raising families. They were at their jobs. They were trying to raise livestock or crops or stuff like that. That’s what the other six days were for. Then they took off on the Sabbath and they got to congregate together, fellowship, and hear the scriptures read. And they were read every single Sabbath.
So, we’ve got an example here. The scriptures are read every Sabbath, or at least that was their custom back then. We do that nowadays, too. A lot of mainstream churchianity congregations do that, but especially with the Messianic congregations, we here at God Honest Truth do the three-year Torah portion. So, every single episode, every single live stream, and pretty much every single Shabbat that we’re doing this, we always do the Torah, the Haftarah, and the Brit Hadasah. So, we read the scriptures every single Shabbat. Some do the one year, and that’s fine, but they do it every single Shabbat. We’re continuing that, which was done way back then as well. So keep that in mind as we look at this next particular passage.
Acts chapter 13 13-16 verse 42 and verse 44. And having put out from Paphos, Shaul and those with him came to Perga in Pamphylia. And Yohanan having left them returned to Jerusalem. But passing through from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia and went into the congregation on the Sabbath day and sat down. And after the reading of the Torah and the prophets, the rulers of the congregation sent to them, saying, “Men, brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, speak.” And Shaul, standing up and motioning with his hand, said, “Men, Israel, and those fearing Elohim, listen.” And when the Yehudim went out of the congregation, the nations begged to have these words spoken to them on the next Sabbath. And on the next Sabbath, almost all the city came together to hear the word of Elohim.
But notice here when Shaul or Paul and his companions, they go and they come to the city and what do they do? They want to go congregate. They want to go fellowship. So they go to the congregation or the synagogue on the Sabbath day because they know everybody’s going to be there cuz everybody was congregating on the Sabbath day, on the seventh day. So apparently word still hasn’t got out that there’s been any change to the Sabbath yet. And they were invited after the scripture readings to speak if they had a word to speak. And so they did. And the people were so impressed that they asked them to come back the next Sabbath.
Now, if there had been a change or if it didn’t matter anymore, Paul and his companions could have said, “Okay, well come back tomorrow. Come back on Sunday and we’ll talk to you again then when we have Sunday morning service during Sunday school.” No, they didn’t do that. Instead, they came back the next Sabbath because during that week they had their stuff to do. They had families and they had jobs and they had crops and livestock, etc., etc., etc. So, yeah, they went on the Sabbath to hear the scriptures. They went on the Sabbath to hear the teachings of Shaul and his companions, etc., etc. It was on Shabbat. They were still observing Shabbat. Even here, I’m assuming this is probably about the same time as Peter’s vision, which was about 10 years or so after the ascension of Yeshua. So, even 10 years after the ascension of Yeshua, they’re still keeping seventh day Sabbath.
Going on and looking at Acts 15 19-21. Therefore, I judge that we should not trouble those from among the nations who are turning to Elohim, but that we write to them to abstain from the defilement of idols and from whoring and from what is strangled and from blood. And for from ancient generations Moshe has in every city those proclaiming him being read in the congregations every Sabbath. We saw the examples so far. And here they’re just restating it explicitly. We already know this because we saw it in the scriptures previously. People go, they learn from the Torah because it’s read to them every Sabbath and then they get their teaching as we saw with the example with Shaul and his companions. And that I know I learn more as I read more and I continue reading and studying. I’m sure you do the same thing. And even with hearing the Torah portions or hearing an audio Bible or whatever it is, hearing it and you learn.
This is the same thing they were doing back then. And when would they go and they would learn? When would they go and they hear it? They would learn it and hear it on the Sabbath, the seventh day of the week. This is one of the more famous passages here. And a lot of people within mainstream churchianity will point to this and say, “Well, there’s only four things that Gentiles are required to do and everything else is okay.” They may not say that last part directly, but they’re definitely thinking and inferring it. But anyways, it says here that the people coming in, the new converts are to do four things immediately when coming into the faith. And that is to abstain from the defilement of idols, from whoring, from what is strangled, and from blood. For from ancient generations, Moshe has in every city those proclaiming him being read in the congregations every Sabbath.
So the implication here if you read the entire passage is that you immediately start doing those four things when you come into the faith and then you go to the congregation on Shabbat and you listen you get taught and you learn more as you go on and on and on. The Judeans especially my monites listed out the commands and determined there were 613. I disagree with that number but that’s what’s commonly believed. So, let’s go with that just for the sake of efficiency. Anyways, to put on a new convert 613 commands and say you must learn and memorize and know and do all of these right from the get-go. Wow, that would be overwhelming and would turn people away pretty quick, I think. And it’s not about that. It’s not about enslavement. It’s about joy and freedom and salvation and assurance and confidence and stuff like that. And you can learn as you go.
Me, I’m a slow learner. I am well, I ain’t gonna say how old I am, but yeah, I’ve been learning and studying for a long time because I’m a slow learner. But yeah, I’m finally starting to get certain things and other things I’m still learning about. But yeah, the more you read, the more you progress in your faith, the more you continue in your studies, the more you’ll learn, the further you’ll get and more educated you are. And that’s the way it worked back then as well. And the apostles knew this and that’s why they came up with these four things when immediately coming to the faith and then learning as you go. What’s one of those things you learn as you go? That is Shabbat. And I would argue that they would even know Shabbat immediately because they’re being told to go to the congregation on Shabbat and hear the Torah being read. So that would almost be like five things then. But yeah, if you say with the mainstream churchianity mindset that only these four things are required of quote unquote Gentiles nowadays, then that really leaves a lot of things open to interpretation.
Number one, I was thinking about this previously and if you only go by these four things, that would open the door for bestiality. That would open the door for incest. Now certain translations says to abstain from sexual defilement or what do they call it fornication or etc etc and some people might say well bestiality and incest are included in those but well that’s an interpretation some people may have a different opinion and not consider it that but the Tanakh the Torah explains it specifically do not lie with a beast no need to interpret there you know exactly what it says says do not lie with your brother’s wife. Do not lie with your mother. Do not lie with your daughter. Specifically outlines incest. No interpretation needed. But if you only go by these four things, there’s a whole lot of gray area. And that is not what the disciples and the apostles were trying to get at. No, they said start out with these four things. Learn as you go. Progress in your faith. That’s how I’ve done it. That’s how a lot of you done it. So you know exactly where these people are coming from. You know exactly how much sense this kind of thinking makes. And that’s what the apostles were thinking here when they put out this decree at the Jerusalem council in Acts 15.
Moving on to Acts 18:4. And he talking about Shaul was reasoning in the congregation every Sabbath and won over both Yehudim and Greeks. So, was Paul on the street corner yelling and screaming and beating people with a Bible? No. No. He would go into the congregation. He would go into the synagogue. He would go fellowship. And when did he do that? What day of the week? Seventh day, which is called the Sabbath. He would do it on the Sabbath. And he would reason with them. He would probably do a teaching. He would probably have a discussion period. He would reason with them. And he won over both the Judeans and the Greeks which is absolutely amazing. So yeah, Paul Shaul, he kept observing the 7th day Sabbath here in Acts 18.
Moving on, this is really cool. Check this out. Hebrews 4 9-11. So there remains a Sabbathkeeping for the people of Elohim. For the one having entered into his rest has himself also rested from his works as Elohim rested from his own. Let us therefore do our utmost to enter into that rest lest anyone fall after the same example of disobedience. That’s Hebrews 4 9-11. The interesting part here is that very first part where it says, “So there remains a Sabbathkeeping for the people of Elohim.”
Now, some people interpret this as a rest in Yeshua, but not the Sabbath day of the week, seventh day of the week. But that’s not true. Look at the Greek here. And the word here is sabbatismos. Sabbatismos. And this is a word that occurs only once in all the New Testament. And it’s right here in Hebrews chapter 4. Now, you can go look up other examples from outside of the New Testament around the same time frame, especially with Justin Martyr and, uh, was it maybe Philo? It’s in the notes. You can go look it up in the notes, but yeah. And when they use it in their writings, they actually use it in the sense of seventh day keeping, Sabbath observing. And the word here, sabbatismos, that suffix ismos, is a suffix indicating something that is done. It makes it a verb. It’s sort of like the word you find in scripture if you look in the Greek, baptismos. Baptismos. You probably heard that during our episode on baptism. But baptismos is like the act of baptizing. Sabbatismos is the act of Sabbathkeeping.
Here it’s specifically saying there remains a Sabbath-keeping an ongoing continuous not changed Sabbathkeeping for the people of Elohim. It doesn’t say there is a first day keeping. It doesn’t say there’s a third day keeping. It says there is a Sabbathkeeping. Remains a Sabbathkeeping for the people of Elohim. That tense right there indicates that it was before and it still is. There remains a Sabbathkeeping for the people of Elohim. So, I thought that was very, very cool. And it this really gets involved because if you’re looking at a word that’s only used once in all of scripture, then you really do have to kind of dig into the weeds. But kind of stuff I enjoy. So, yeah.
Separate, Similar Strands
Anyways, let’s look at some other things that didn’t really deserve its own section here and this particular teaching, but is relevant and interesting all the same. Number one, all the gospels that we looked at and you can go further in your own studies and read them all for yourself. Do a in-depth study on your own about the Sabbath in the gospels. But all the gospels presuppose observance. They record disputes over interpretation, but they never record any kind of dispute over which day of the week it is. Nor do they record a dispute or abrogation of Shabbat.
Number two, when it comes to the Sabbath and Yeshua, the controversy was never with the Sabbath or which day of the week was the Sabbath, but rather always with the Judean interpretation or the tradition of keeping the Sabbath. We said it before, Yeshua, his disciples, and the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the Essenes, they all agreed about which day of the week the Sabbath was. Where they had their conflict was over the interpretation of how to observe it. And with Yeshua being the Lord or the master of the Shabbat, he has the final say in the interpretation of the ordinances around Shabbat.
Jesus healing on the Sabbath, as we indicated earlier, was about doing good and not about profit. That’s something for us to keep in mind nowadays especially. Here is something that came to mind as I was putting this particular teaching together. There is a conspicuous lack of controversy over which day of the week the Sabbath is. Let’s stop for a moment with the Tanakh. In the Tanakh, every single person I have ever looked at agrees that in the Tanakh, it teaches that the seventh day is the Sabbath. No other day, the seventh day. This was very very important to both Yahweh and the people. In fact, they killed people over disrespecting the Sabbath. They were sent into exile to let the land have its Sabbaths. It was very, very important to the people. The Sabbath was.
Now, think for a minute considering how important Shabbat was to the people, especially the leaders. If someone came in and said, “Okay, that’s all done away with. We’re changing it to this day.” Do you not think there would have been a huge uproar over that? I mean, it’s almost like coming in saying, “Okay, you used to believe there’s only one God, but I’m here to tell you there are thousands of gods.” That would have been stoned on the spot. And the same thing with Shabbat. If they had come in and said, “Okay, it’s been changed.” There would have been probably the very first world war at that point. It would have been a huge conflict. But there is never any sort of discrepancy or any sort of conflict recorded in scripture about which day of the week Shabbat is supposed to be on.
Another thing, too, is that if they came in and they said, “Okay, that whole Shabbat thing is done away with now that Yeshua’s here. Now that Yeshua has died, now that Yeshua has ascended, the whole Shabbat thing is done away with.” Once again, there would have been a huge controversy over that particular statement, over that particular doctrine, and there would have been something in scripture about it, but there’s nothing. There is a conspicuous lack of controversy regarding which day of the week that Sabbath was on or that the Sabbath was still ongoing. Everyone agreed. The disciples, the early believers, Yeshua, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, etc., etc., they all understood, they all accepted, they all agreed which day of the week it was and that it was still ongoing. The disagreement about whether it was still continuing or which day of the week it was didn’t come until later, and we’ll get into that during the next episode.
Also notice you also when you go through the Brit Hadasah the aka New Testament you never find a statement such as regard the first day as holy or the first day which is the Sabbath. You never see anything like that or any such thing. To back up the seventh day let’s look at what it says about that in one particular passage. We look in Exodus 20 8-11. Six days you labor and shall do all your work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath of Yahweh your Elohim. For in six days Yahweh made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore Yahweh blessed the Sabbath day, and set it apart. Yahweh blessed a certain day, which is the seventh day, which is Shabbat. Never says he blessed any other day of the week and never says any other day of the week is a regular continuous Sabbath.
They could have added Sabbath. Here you see that the weekly Sabbath is referred to in Exodus as a Sabbath. As we discussed earlier, there are other Sabbaths that’s spoken of in scripture. But never is there even discussed an additional Sabbath in the Brit Hadasah that is a regular weekly recurring Sabbath in addition to the seventh day Sabbath. We don’t even get that much. So yeah, look at what is in and isn’t included in scripture. In scripture, it calls the seventh day the Sabbath. It calls the seventh day holy and consecrated and sacred etc etc. Never does it say anything similar about any other day of the week.
And something that really sticks out in my mind and if it’s important to you too make sure to definitely put that down in your notes to remember for future use. So yeah, that is our teaching on Shabbat in the Brit Hadasah. Hopefully. Yeah, I really do appreciate everyone joining us for this.
And just to recap, we looked at Shabbat in the Tanakh, I’m sorry, in the Gospels with Yeshua and the Pharisees, the grains, the plucking the grains in the field. We look at the decrees or some of the decrees of Julius Caesar and Augustus Caesar regarding the Sabbath observance by the Jews and exemption from military service. We looked at Yeshua healing and being the final end all interpreter of Shabbat observance. We also looked at how the people of the New Testament or the aka or the Brit Hadasah continue to observe the seventh day of the week even after the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Yeshua. And we saw that there remains present tense and indicating that it came before and still is in effect. There remains a Sabbathkeeping for the people of Elohim. And that’s just the God honest truth.
Conclusion
Once again, I thank you for joining us and continuing through this particular teaching and study on Shabbat in the Brit Hadasah, our second episode in this Shabbat series. We hope that you did get something out of it. And if you did, make sure to go down below in the comments and let us know the one thing that stuck out in your mind about this particular teaching. After you do that, make sure you go and hit that subscribe button and ring the bell so that you’re notified every time we upload a new on demand video or go live. Make sure you hit that like button if you liked it. Hit that down vote button if you didn’t like it, but let us know in the comments so that we can improve future episodes.
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