When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men in a society, over the course of time they create for themselves a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it. -Frederic Bastiat
As a Store owner, what payment gateway would you prefer if you have to choose only one?
This coming week, February 6-12 (6-11 Adar I 5782), the Bible reading plan covers the portion Tetzaveh (You Shall Command).
06 Feb Exodus 27:20-28:12 1 Chronicles 9:1-34 Luke 12:41-59 Psalm 65:1-13
07 Feb Exodus 28:13-30 1 Chronicles 9:35-11:9 Luke 13:1-21 Psalm 66:1-20
08 Feb Exodus 28:31-43 1 Chronicles 11:10-47 Luke 13:22-14:6 Proverbs 13:1-6
09 Feb Exodus 29:1-18 1 Chronicles 12:1-13:14 Luke 14:7-35 Proverbs 13:7-12
10 Feb Exodus 29:19-37 1 Chronicles 14:1-15:29 Luke 15:1-24 Proverbs 13:13-18
11 Feb Exodus 29:38-46 1 Chronicles 16:1-43 Luke 15:25-16:9 Proverbs 13:19-25
12 Feb Exodus 30:1-10 Ezekiel 43:10-27 Luke 16:10-31 Psalm 67:1-7
The complete annual Bible reading plan for 2021-22 (Hebrew year 5782) is available at this link:
http://thebarkingfox.com/2022/....02/04/weekly-bible-r
The city in Revelation 21 is over 1300 miles (12,000 stadia) cubed, almost unimaginably massive. Like the Tabernacle/Temple, the specific measurements of the New Jerusalem are more than physical dimensions: 3, 4, 12, 144, etc. These aren't random numbers. They were chosen and related because they have meaning.
SHABBAT --- CONTINUE
The Shabbat in the New Testament:
Before the first century, some Jews in Palestine developed several more rules for promoting the observance of the Shabbat. Two small passages in the Mishnah are devoted exclusively to these Shabbat rules and regulations. Their main purpose is to define work by telling the Israelites what is and is not permitted on the Shabbat. Unfortunately, this led to such hair-splitting complexities and detailed Laws that Jewish lawyers often could not agree on the interpretation of certain parts of the Law. Because of this, the main purpose of the Shabbat became lost beneath a mass of legalistic detail. The rabbis themselves were aware of how much they were adding to the straightforward teaching about the Shabbat in the Old Testament. As one rabbi put it, -- The rules about the Shabbat... are as mountains hanging by a hair, for Scripture is scanty and the rules many.
Yeshua and the Shabbat
Yeshua had many confrontations with the Jewish religious leaders over Shabbat observances. From their perspective, Yeshua was a Shabbat breaker and was guilty of breaking the Law. Yeshua however, never saw Himself as a Shabbat breaker. He went to the synagogue regularly on the Shabbat -- Luke 4:16. He read the Lessons from Scripture, preached, and taught -- Mark 1:21 and Luke 13:10. He clearly accepted the principle that the Shabbat was an appropriate day for worshipping YHVH. However, Yeshua did not agree with all of the laws the Pharisees had created for the Shabbat that were not based on the Old Testament. He made this clear when He defended His disciples by appealing to Scripture, after they had been accused of breaking Shabbat tradition by walking through grain fields and breaking off heads of wheat. For the Pharisees, this was against the law because it was classified as harvesting -- Mark 2:23-26. He followed this up with a remark that took His listeners straight back to YHVH’s Creation purpose for the Shabbat: -- The Shabbat was made to benefit people, and not people to benefit the Shabbat -- 2:27. The Pharisees had exalted the tradition of the Shabbat above the people it was meant to serve, and they had robbed the Shabbat of one of its main purposes. Yeshua’s Words must have sounded uncomfortably familiar in His opponents’ ears. A famous rabbi had once said, -- The Shabbat is given over to you, but you are not given over to the Shabbat. More than anything else, the miraculous healings Yeshua performed on the Shabbat contradicted the laws of the Pharisees. The Old Testament does not forbid cures on the Shabbat, but the Pharisees thought all healing was work, which must always be avoided on the Shabbat unless someone’s life was at risk. Yeshua fearlessly exposed the absurd results of this law. He asked, how could it be right to circumcise a baby or lead an animal to water on the Shabbat, which was allowed by tradition, but wrong to heal a chronically handicapped woman and a crippled man, even if their lives were not in immediate danger -- Luke 13:10-17 and John 7:21-24? Yeshua taught that the Shabbat was a particularly appropriate day for acts of mercy and healing -- Mark 3:4-5. Yeshua, the Man from heaven, claimed that He ADONAI of the Shabbat -- Mark 2:28 and Matthew 12:5-8. Just as YHVH kept working, despite His Creation rest, to sustain the world in His mercy, so Yeshua would continue to teach and to heal on the Shabbat day -- John 5:2-17. However, Yeshua also said that one day His Redemptive Work would be complete, and then the Shabbat’s purpose as a sign of redemption would be accomplished.
Paul and the Shabbat:
Because he was alive after Yeshua’s Death and Resurrection, the apostle Paul was quick to understand the significance of the Shabbat. He did not go so far as to ban all observance of the Jewish Shabbat. Indeed, he attended many Shabbats synagogue services himself while he was travelling -- Acts 13:14-16. Jewish believers who insisted on keeping up their Shabbat practices were free to do so, provided they respected the opinions of those who differed -- Romans 14:5-6, 13. However, Paul emphasized that any suggestion that observing the Jewish Shabbat rules was necessary for salvation must be resisted -- Galatians 4:8-11. Paul considered the Shabbat to be a shadow, while Moshiach Himself is the Reality of that shadow -- Colossians 2:17. Finally, it is the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews who explains how Yeshua Moshiach fulfils the twin biblical Shabbat themes of creation and redemption. He did so by linking together the ideas of YHVH’s rest after Creation and His Redeeming Work in bringing Israel to rest in the promised land of Canaan. He then describes how both of these events relate to the present and future rest that believers can enjoy with a relationship with Yeshua -- Hebrews 4:1-11.
The Final Shabbat:
YHVH intends all His people to share His Rest and His Promises -- Hebrews 4:1. He showed this intention clearly when He brought Israel to the Promised Land, but that did not mark the complete fulfilment of His Promise. The full and complete rest that is still waiting for the people of YHVH is in heaven. Moshiach has already entered there. He is resting from His Work, just as YHVH did after the Creation. And because of Yeshua’s Redeeming Work, He invites all people who believe in Him to share that same Shabbat rest now -- 4:9.
TTN Music 
TTN Promo 
