How to Celebrate a One New Man Shabbat

Before moving to Israel we celebrated Shabbat with a group of people in our home every Friday evening. We always opened our meetings with the lighting of the candles, and then had communion with my wife's wonderful (I cannot emphasize this part enough) homemade challah. After this, if God did not already take over the meeting we might worship, or talk a little about something God had shown one of us, discuss different scriptures, or even do a teaching. In one of our meetings a 10 year old boy taught us from the book of Habakkuk and what the Lord showed him it meant. Whatever we did, we never tried to put God in a box, and He always showed up faithfully every time. That is why no two meetings were ever the same.

Keeping the feasts brings blessings (see Keeping the Feasts) . We knew a man that had his own business. When he kept all of the feasts his business was doing quite well, once he stopped so did his customers. After he and I talked he realized what had happened, and came to one of our weekly meetings. The following week was the busiest week he had not seen in a long time. He now is excited about celebrating all of the feasts because he understands the difference between keeping them and not keeping them.

We want to do what the Word of God states rather than keeping tradition. We long to experience
God corporately and look forward to Him being in the midst of our meetings. We remain expectant for His presence and He never disappoints. Yet, what we did is nothing beyond what anyone else can do.

The following is just a basic guideline to help you start celebrating one of your own.

What is the Sabbath?
God created the Sabbath for all of us to rest including Himself. "On the seventh day God rested before blessing and sanctifying this day" (Gen. 2:1-3). Sabbath in the Hebrew is Shabbat, and literally means to "cease." According to the rabbis the three Hebrew letters that make up the word for Shabbat (SH-B-T) are used to remind us of these three verses:

1. God finished (vs. 1)
2. God rested (vs. 2)
3. God blessed and sanctified it making it holy (vs.3)

The Sabbath is generally observed from sundown Friday concluding on sundown Saturday.

What is the One New Man Sabbath?
God wants us to delight in His plans and His presence as spoken in Isaiah 58:13-14, ...and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable, and you shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, Nor speaking your own words, Then you shall delight yourself in the Lord, And I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth…. According to Hebrews 4:9 There remains a rest for the people of God. This Greek word for rest (Sabbatismos) is used only one time in the New Testament, and it means: a keeping of the Sabbath; the blessed rest from toils and troubles looked for in the age to come by the true worshipers of God and true believers. Therefore, we can all come together into that rest as one in Him, both Jew and Gentile believers in Adonai (Lord).

So on this day usually we greet one another with a Shabbat shalom b’Yeshua (Sabbath peace in Jesus). Expressing not only His peace, but also the full completeness of His rest.

What are the elements?
According to rabbinical Judaism we are to have three basic elements for the Sabbath: the candles, the bread and the wine. Looking at these from a Christian perspective we now see what the rabbis instituted as tradition can now become pure enjoyment. This is because these elements may be viewed as His body. One other item that may be included on the Sabbath is the shofar where this is his voice, which bellows out of the mouth of the body.

Within each of these items we will look at it from the rabbinical point of view, then from the perspective of the One New Man (ONM).

Candles
Rabbinical: In all Jewish homes that celebrate the Sabbath there are always two candles to be lit. Each representing the two commandments found in Ex. 20:8 Remember (zachar) and Deuteronomy 5:12 Observe (shamor). The candles were not originally used. The rabbis added them into the observance of the Sabbath later on. It came about because of the way the Pharisees and the Sadducees interpreted the Torah (the first 5 books of the Old Testament). The Sadducees believed that the Torah should be carried out to the very letter, leaving people to sit around in the dark on the Sabbath. On the other hand, the Pharisees still believed that the Sabbath was a day of rest, but felt that people should be allowed to kindle their lights before the Sabbath began.

Sabbath candles are lit and a blessing is recited over them no more than twenty minutes before sunset. This ritual is performed by the woman of the house, if the woman is not available then the man of the house is left to do it. After the candles are lit she waives her hands over them three times then covers her eyes before saying the blessing. As the mother waves her hands over the light it is to symbolically spread the light. Then as she covers her eyes this is to prevent her from fully enjoying the light until it has been blessed. It is at this point that the rabbis say that the Sabbath has officially started, as the mother opens her eyes to fully enjoy the lit candles and the Sabbath.

Prayer: Bah-ruch ah-tah Ah-doh-nai Eloh-hay-nu Meh-lehch hah-oh-lahm ah-shair ki-d’shah-nu bi-mits-voh-tahv v'tsi-vah-nu l'hahd-leek nair shell Shah-baht. Amen.
Translation: Blessed are you Lord our God, King of the universe who set us apart and commands us in His commandments to inflame the lamp of the Sabbath. Amen.

ONM: As the candles are lit the woman covers her eyes in reverence to the Glory of God. As she is waving her hands it is representative of spread God’s glory of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The candles also represent his eyes (Revelation 1:14).

Prayer: Bah-ruch ah-tah Ah-doh-nai Eloh-hay-nu Meh-lech hah-oh-lahm ah-shair ki-d’shah-nu b’Yay-shu-ah ha-Mah-shee-ahch or hah-oh-lahm. Amen.*
Translation: Blessed art thou O Lord our God, King of the universe who has made us holy in Yeshua the Messiah, the light of the world. Amen.*

Bread
Rabbinical: Two loaves of bread are generally used on the Sabbath called Challah. It symbolizes the double portion of manna that fell in the desert on the Sabbath (Ex. 16:22). In some traditions a cover is put over the two loaves. This represents the dew that covered the ground and prevented the manna from getting dirty (Ex. 16:14). Some of the breads have sesame seeds on it, and this is to represent some of the dirt from the ground that might have been picked up along with some of the dew. The bread is broken and not sliced with a knife because it symbolizes the day when all weapons of war will be done away with at the coming of the Messiah (Isaiah 2:4).

ONM: Yeshua's (Jesus) body is representative of the One New Man. He was born in the House of Bread (Bethlehem – Hebrew: Bet-lechem). The Hebrew word for bread (lechem) has three meanings: bread, food and grain.  Yet the root meaning is to war or fight, as in to fight over kneading the dough. So not only was He born in the House of Bread, but put into a trough where food/grain was put for animals to eat out of, and now He wars for us in intercession (Hebrews 7:25). In John He is a called the Bread of Life (John 6:48), and then He tells the disciples at the Passover to take the bread and eat it for it was His body broken for all.(Luke 22:19).
Not only is the bread twisted together three times and raised three times, but is also baked with a coating of egg. This represents the trinity, and on the third day Yeshua rose for us. The shining egg coating represents His glory that shines forever.


Prayer: Bah-ruch ah-tah Ah-doh-nai Eloh-hay-nu Meh-lehch hah-oh-lahm hah-moh-tsee leh-chehm min hah-ah-rehts . Amen. 
Translation: Blessed art thou O Lord our God, King of the universe who has brought forth the bread from the earth. Amen.

Wine
Rabbinical: The cup of wine is called the Kiddush, or cup of sanctification which comes from Ex. 6:6 "I will bring you out". The fruit of the vine has always symbolized the joy of God’s provisions in our everyday lives as told in Psalm 104:15. The blessing is recited over the cup to usher in the Sabbath.

ONM: The cup of wine represents His blood (Luke 22:20) and also represents the remission of sins (Matthew 26:28). Without blood we would not have life, and without His blood being shed for us we would not have life in Him.

Prayer: Bah-ruch ah-tah Ah-doh-nai Eloh-hay-nu Meh-lehch hah-oh-lahm boh-ray p’ree hah-gah-fehn . Amen.
Translation: Blessed art thou O Lord our God, King of the universe who has created the fruit of the vine. Amen.

Shofar
Rabbinical: According to the Mishnah (the first writings of the Oral Torah), the shofar is used for the announcing of a festival, mustering of troops for a war, warning of danger, and assembling the people in the midst of battles, and for coronations of kings and priests.

Rabbi Isaac acknowledges in the Mishnah in Rosh Hashanah 16b that “If the shofar is not sounded at the beginning of the New Year, evil will befall it the end of the year. Why so? Because the accuser (satan) has not been confused…”

Traditionally speak there are four ways the Rabbi's blow the shofar.

1. Tekiah (Blast)– one long blast
2. Teruah (Alarm) – 9 staccato notes (Should sound like someone crying - signifying a plea for mercy).
3. Shevarim (Broken)– 3 short notes
4. Tekiah Gadolah (The great blast) – This is played for as long as possible.

ONM: In Exodus 20:15, the Hebrew word for sound is "kol" (pronounced coal), and the Hebrew word for trumpet is shofar. The word kol also means voice, and God is the voice of the shofar. This is why Ephesians 6:12 tells us "…we are not struggling against human beings, but against the rulers, authorities and cosmic powers governing this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm." Therefore, we blow it (not necessarily according to how the rabbi's do it) to clear the air spiritually with His voice, yet, we also use it to welcome our Lord Yeshua’s presence into our home. 

Conclusion
The most important thing to remember is no matter how you celebrate it, never get in the way of God, and never ever try to do it a particular way every time. It is alright to go into it with an agenda, but be willing to step aside when God tells you "I got it from here."

Until next time... Shalom!


* = Walk With Y’shua the Through the Jewish Year, Janie-sue Wertheim and Kathy Shapiro; Purple Pomegranite Productions.