outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day. (Deut.5:15 ESV) It is the Lord’s Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD. (Ex.12:11b-12 ESV) Jesus declared boldly that He is the “Lord of the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:8). This means that Jesus rules and reigns over this sacred day even into the establishment of the new heavens and the new earth! Envisioning the new, global Edenic kingdom of God, Isaiah said: “For as the new heavens and the new earth that I make shall remain before me, says the LORD, so shall your offspring and your name remain. From new moon to new moon, and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before me, declares the LORD. (Isa. 66:22-23 ESV): Practicing a Sabbath commemoration allows us to set aside time for family fellowship with God himself, to worship, remember, reflect, and rest. The Shabbat Dinner is a joyful and festive meal where we begin that commemoration. The Shabbat Dinner traditionally begins with the lighting of the candles at sundown. In the Old Testament, the golden lampstand (the menorah) stood in the Holy Place of the tabernacle or temple. The Lampstand was fashioned as a tree, an artistic emblem of the tree of life in God’s garden home, Eden (Exodus 25). The lampstand and its light were a visual reminder of God’s presence. Jesus (Hebrew: Yeshua) is the light of the world (John 8:12; 9:5). We also are the light of the world because we are members of the body of Christ (Matt.5:14). The candles of our Shabbat Dinner remind us of the fact that he is present as our honored guest, and that God is with us in new, earthly tabernacles, the body of each believer and, collectively, in each believing home. We eat unleavened bread at Shabbat Dinner because the bread of Passover was made without yeast due to the urgency in preparing to leave Egypt and the haste with which that occurred. The Israelites could not wait for the bread to rise (Ex.12:11,14-20). Redemption was imminent. As Jesus is our Sabbath (Heb.4:3,9), he is also our Passover. He makes us pure and unleavened as our Passover lamb (1 Cor.5:7). We pray that he will return soon.
7 Online Touch Home