Written by Michael Walker
There are so many things going on right now in the world, it is hard to ignore. Good is being called evil and evil is being called good. The end is nearer than it ever has been. As a body of believers, it is our duty to make sure we are holding ourselves accountable, as well as one another. If we do not do this then we are just as guilty our brother for not addressing. If we truly love one another, Scriptural/Biblical love, this should not be an issue. Unfortunately, especially in the body of Messiah, this is an issue.
That means if we see our brother/sister struggling and/or sinning, we go to them, in love to help them. This follows both Leviticus 6 and Matthew 18 protocol. This action, just as love is a verb (an action), this is exactly how we are to show LOVE to one another. SADLY, many receive this approach as critical, they then postulate in a defensive manner and do not hear/receive the love in action. Something has stuck with me since moving to the Ozarks and it quite possibly could be the reason people react in such a manner; hypocrisy.
We know that love is defined in the Bible as keeping His commands, Yahshua said “If you LOVE ME keep MY commands”. He then goes on to tell us that if we don’t love our brother, we hate them. 1 John 3 tells us that those that are not loving our brother, we stay in death; and those hating (opposite of love) our brother are murderers and everlasting life is not in them. There has always been a fine line between love and hate. There is no gray area in between, we either love or not; you either love or hate. Love inherits everlasting life; hate has not part in everlasting life.
Many people are staking their claim that they are the set-apart ones spoke of in the Scriptures. The question is how are they set apart? Is it because they wear the tzitzit, eating Biblically clean, keeping the remembrance of His Holy days? Possibly this contributes to it, but isn’t there something very particular that identifies us as set-apart?
What makes us set-apart? Keeping His commands is what leads us to being set apart. But there is something very particular that is a sign we are set apart. What truly identifies us as being set-apart is the Sabbath. Ezekiel 20:12 tells us that YHWH/YHUH/YHVH says He gave HIS Sabbath as a sign, between them (the children and Yisrael) and Him, to know that HE (YHWH/YHUH/YHVH) sets them apart.
But are we really keeping His Sabbath, to the absolute best of our ability? If the answer is no, then are we really set-apart? If we are not keeping His commands and still claiming to be set-apart, how much different are we than “the church” that claims and does the same thing? (Replacement theology) There is no difference in that logic.
I want to make this abundantly clear; I am not condemning or convicting anyone on this matter. I am the first to admit; I am and have been guilty of not keeping every aspect of His Sabbath. So this is not someone preaching down from a high place, this is a brother sharing information that has been quickened in his heart to share with everyone, so that we can all be and do better. Again, the end is near as we see good being called evil and evil called good; the last days are not far off.
The Sabbath Day
Leviticus 23: 2-3 states we are to have holy convocations (set-apart gatherings) on the Sabbath day. As was the custom of Yahshua our Messiah, His disciples and the Apostle Paul (Shaul), they were in the Synagogue on the Sabbath day hearing the words of Moshe (Luke 4:16; Acts 17:2-4, Acts 18:4). This is not optional or conditional; meaning that no matter what is going on, this is a requirement every Sabbath. Since moving to the Ozarks, a common thread among the Torah community is that at least one Sabbath a month, families spend it at home, alone, “resting”. Is this not directly breaking the command to have a holy convocation/set-apart gathering here in Leviticus 23? We are all guilty of this from time to time, including me. When I travel to Arizona I do not always attend a set-apart gathering… I am SINNING by doing so. Moving forward, I will no longer allow that to occur unless I am physically unable to attend.
It appears that far too many people willfully, ignorantly and regularly are breaking this command, thus PROFANING (making it common/defiling) the Sabbath. Constantine profaned (defiled/making it common) the Sabbath in the 4th century when he claimed he changed the Sabbath day from the 7th day of the week to the 1st, thus leading to BILLIONS, if not TRILLIONS, of people over the last 1400 years to directly disobeying YHWH/YHVH/YHUH. Exodus 20, REMEMBER THE SABBATH, KEEP IT SET-APART. Those that do not gather, myself included, as commanded are they breaking this explicit command, thus forsaking the fellowship as mentioned in Hebrew 10:25? When reading verses 19-39, we see history repeating itself now, as it was in the 1st century; the same problem going on. So this is nothing new. So the question is, if we are breaking the Sabbath commands, are we really set-apart? How are we different than the rest of the world? When taking an introspective look, there is little to no difference when it comes to profaning the Sabbath; regardless of your affiliation (Christian, Torah Observant, Messianic, Hebrew Roots, Follower of the Way, et. al)
Now we have to consider something very serious: this is willfully turning our away from hearing (shema (to guard and obey)) the Torah regarding the Sabbath day? If so, are our prayers accepted or an abomination? Proverbs 28 says the prayers of those who turn their ear from shema Torah are an abomination. We wonder why our prayers are not answered and there is little to no healing amongst the body, this very well could be the answer. HEEBS, WE HAVE A PROBLEM, and we need to TESHUVA (REPENT) immediately.
People often use the argument to say they are keeping the Sabbath by resting and not gathering, but isn’t that a direct contradiction of what Scripture says we are to do? Is the command to just rest? Or are there multiple aspects of the Sabbath that we are to keep and guard: do NO work, don’t make OTHERS WORK, rest from your common labors as YHWH/YHUH/YHVH rested from His, have a set-apart gathering. The last one seems to be the most optional one in our lives, it shouldn’t be.
If we forsake gathering together to stay home and rest, is it then OK to go ahead do our normal work on the Sabbath? YHWH/YHUH/YHVH FORBID. Do we then allow ourselves to go to a restaurant on the Sabbath day, making others work (serving us)? YHWH/YHUH/YHVH FORBID. Why on earth do people’s logic says it’s ok to rest and not gather as commanded, but it’s absolutely not ok on the work aspect (ourselves, others)? It sounds asinine, I know, but this is exactly the argument/justification people are using to break this part of the Sabbath command. It is absolute hypocrisy, by all of us who do/have done this. Using this logic is exactly church profanes their own “sabbath” by going out to lunch immediately after service, having others serve them, hypocrisy.
James 2:10 states, if we break one commandment, we are guilty of breaking all of them. sigh
Justification in our own mind does not make something right… Scripture says all men are liars (Psalms 116:11). Yahshua/Yeshua/Yahoshua/Yahushua is the Way, TRUTH and Light and His custom was to gather and heal on and shema (guard/obey) the Sabbath day. The Sabbath is to be set-apart (HOLY), not profane (DEFILED/COMMON). It is the ONLY sign between YHWH/YHVH/YHUH and us that He is our Elohim and we are His people.
Do we think this type of behavior is going to fly in the kingdom? BTW, this is not judging anyone, this is only inspection of the fruits that are being exhibited, holding one another accountable, including my own fruits. We cannot sit in the assembly one week, criticizing the Christians for keeping the Sabbath on the wrong day and the Jews for holding their traditions and customs higher than the Torah; yet we ourselves are not keeping the Sabbath set-apart ourselves and keeping to our own man-made tradition of staying home alone on the Sabbath. This is hypocritical behavior and should be eradicated immediately. WE NEED TO REPENT/TESHUVA. What did Yahshua call the Pharisees in His multiple diatribes against them; HYPOCRITES, broods of vipers, white washed tombs. I think we get the point. Yahshua/Yeshua/Yahoshua/Yahushua called them hypocrites because they did not practice what they preached. He told the people, so as they tell you to do on the seat of Moshe, but do not as they day because they do not practice what they preach. If we are being hypocrites, are we any different than the Pharisees and Scribes of the 1st century?
This stark warning from Messiah Yahshua may be closer to us than we want to believe; Master have we not prophesied and cast our demons in Your Name and done many wondrous works in Your Name, HIS WORDS follow, not mine; depart from Me, I never knew you, workers of iniquity/lawlessness/wickedness/unrighteousness – Matthew 7:21-23. When I say these words are closer to us, are we guilty of what He is saying and one day, if we don’t teshuva/repent, will be saying these our own faces???????
Healing on the Sabbath Day
Healing is supposed to be a big thing in the body of Messiah, yet we don’t witness, let alone not even asking for it. We will ask people to pray for us, but how many will come to the gathering and ASK for a laying on of hands, anointing with oil and immediate prayers for healing? There are many verses in the Brit Hadasha in which Yahshua was healing on the Sabbath day. (Matt 2:10, 12:2, 11; Mark 3:1-6, Luke 6:7, 13: 10-17, 14:5; John 9:16) Aren’t we supposed to be like Him, do the things like He did, carry ourselves as He did; be followers of HIM? How exactly are we following HIM?
We want all the blessings that come with keeping the faith and we cry out to have the gifts of anointing and healing among us but we refuse to follow the examples we are given in Scripture. How many times do we read of someone suffering from an infirmity (the woman with the issue of blood for years, the blind that were so from birth, the lame (paralyzed) from their youth, the lepers, et. al) and their faith is strong to be healed; SO STRONG many believed that just being in the shadow of Messiah or His Disciples would heal them. They did everything in their power just to be in the presence of someone who could heal them.
As a body of set-apart believers, this is something so simple we should be doing, but we’re not. Where is our weakness? Is our faith not as strong as those in the 1st century? Is our belief not as strong? If we are turning our ears from guarding and keeping the commands and our prayers are not being heard, what should our course of action be? Repentance/Teshuva – turning back to YHWH/YHVH/YHUH and HIS ways, not our own; that is the true answer. We talk about this a lot, but are the actions matching up with the words? Maybe it’s time that our actions and words start to match up. The message has always been REPENTANCE/TESHUVA; all the prophets, Messiah Himself, the disciples and Shaul all spoke on this. Our message today is the SAME.
May YHWH/YHUH/YHVH forgive us our trespasses as we are guilty and have profaned His Holy (Set-Apart) Day. From this day forward, may we walk in righteousness and do all that is in our power to keep His Sabbath sacred, set-apart, holy, undefiled and unadulterated? May He hear our prayers again as we cry out in repentance, may He lead us and guide us, may our hearts be open to keeping every aspect of His Torah. He is our Elohim and we are part of His people, it’s high time we start looking like it.