Lesson Seven
Today, Ha-Yom, Sabbath
There remains therefore a rest for the people of G-d. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as G-d did from His. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.
Hebrews 4:9-11
Introduction
- In the last lesson we finished up our look at Hebrews chapters 1 and 2 and the titles given to Messiah therein.
- Without a thorough understanding of the quotes from the TaNaKh, we are left with a far inferior understanding of Who Messiah is as described by these chapters.
- As we have seen, this book is far from anti-Judaic – it employs the very methods and interpretations common in Jewish understanding in the First Century.
- Chapters 3 and 4 are much of the same. Without a thorough understanding of what the readers’ understood, we are left with a cartoonish view of this book.
- To understand the main point of chapters 3 and 4, we must understand the Sabbath.
- Always remember the point of all this: “… the world to come, of which we speak… Heb 2:5
Faithful in All His House
- It would be a mistake to think that the topic of chapters 3 and 4 is different from the verses that start the writer’s thought process.
- Heb 3:1-2: Therefore…. Consider Yeshua… faithful in all His house.
- Heb 3:3-6: Compare (not contrast) to Moses. Moses is the house. Yeshua is the builder. The topic of the next two chapters is related to this comparison between Moses and Yeshua. Remember, just like the first two chapters compared (not contrasted) Messiah to messengers, we continue in the kal v’chomer sense. Always ‘Light to Heavy’.
- Heb 3:7-11: Quotes Psalms 95. Psalms 95 is a psalm for the welcoming of the Sabbath even today. Who does Heb 3:7 say wrote Psalms 95?
- Is David literally writing about the Sabbath?
- Heb 4:4-5: The writer is making a comparison between the Land and Sabbath.
- How does Ps 95:1-6 related to Ps 95:7-11?
- Descriptions of the Almighty:
- HaShem
- Tzur Y’shenu – Rock of our Salvation
- Ek Gadol – the Great G-d
- Melech Gadol al-kal-elohim – the Great King over all the gods.
- HaShem Osenu – HaShem our Maker
- Elokeinu – Our G-d
- The focus:
- His Name.
- His sovereignty.
- His greatness.
- He is Creator.
- Psalms 95:7-11: Insight into the incident in Num 2:1-13. What does this have to do with the Sabbath?
- Num 20:4-5: Rebellion, unbelief: Doubting G-d’s provision, His protection. Accusing Him of lying.
- Psalms 95’s connection to the Sabbath: Ex 16:11-30.
- Ha-Yom (today, or the day). Three times in Ex 16:25, speaking of the Sabbath.
- The word Ha-Yom (today, the day) became shorthand for the Sabbath.
- But David was not speaking of the weekly Sabbath – he was speaking of the Land.
- The writer of Hebrews is drawing on the Sabbath imagery to go two levels deep: the Land = the World to Come. To get all of that comparison we must understand m’nucha [rest] and the Sabbath.
- Gen 1:31b-2:3: Vayehi erev, vayehi voker, Yom hashishi…G-d sanctified time. The first thing ever declared holy was time – the Sabbath.
- Ex 31:12-17: Notice the progression: Sabbath is a sign to remind that He is the One Who makes them holy. Therefore, keep the Sabbath holy. It is an eternal covenant. Notice Ex 16 precedes Sinai. This is a separate covenant.
- How to make it holy? No mention of “meetings” or other religious things. Only one thing: rest [shabbat].
- Is 66:22-23: At the end of time… it is still there.
- Heb 4:11: The Sabbath is used as a warning and an encouragement. How does one “work hard” to enter rest?
- The weekly Sabbath has taught the relationship between works and grace since it began.
“The Sabbath is not for the sake of the weekdays; the weekdays are for the sake of Sabbath. It is not an interlude but the climax of living.” Abraham J. Heschel
- All week is spent in preparation for the Sabbath, but preparation does not bring it. G-d brings it.
- Our work does not bring about the Rest in Messiah – G-d’s grace alone brings us into that Rest.
Summary
- The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews is drawing deeply upon the Sabbath for his encouragement and warning in Hebrews 3 and 4. He wants the readers to correlate the Sabbath, the Land and the World to Come.
- Next week we will focus on the main point of the writer in these chapters: Belief, obedience and the World to Come.