Category Archives: Articles

Catching Yahweh’s Vision for Your Life

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We need vision, individually and corporately, in order to accomplish Yahweh’s will and purpose. Proverbs 29:18 says “Where there is no vision the people perish [cast off restraint]…”

Watch the entire teaching here

 

Habb. 2:1-3  I will stand at my watch, and set myself on the ramparts, and will look out to see what He will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint.  Yahweh answered me, ‘Write the vision, and make it plain upon tablets, that he may run who reads it.  For the vision is yet for the appointed time, and it hurries toward the end, and won’t prove false.  Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come.  It won’t delay.

Key Principle #1:  Yahweh already has a vision for your life.  It is specific and there is an appointed time for its fulfillment

Eph 5:14-17        Therefore He says, “Awake, you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Messiah will shine on you.”  Therefore watch carefully how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise; redeeming the time, because the days are evil.  Therefore don’t be foolish, but understand what the will of Yahweh is.

Key Principle #2:  Yahweh wants you to know, pursue, and fulfill His will/vision for your life.  You can’t pursue it until you know it; you can’t fulfill it if you don’t pursue it

Rom 8:28-30         “all things work together for good for those who love Yahweh, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

In order to walk in His way, it requires that we hear His voice. It’s not enough just to read His Word – we’ve got to know and obey His promptings and be led by His Spirit.

Yahshua said that whoever does the will of Yahweh, the same is His brother, His sister, and His mother (Mark 3:35).

Key Principle #3:  Yahweh’s will defines our calling

The apostle Paul made clear on multiple occasions that His calling as an apostle was through the will of Yahweh (see 1 Cor. 1:1, among other scriptures).  We would do well to recognize that the same is true of us.  But two questions to consider are:

Is Yahweh’s vision for your life worthy of your time and effort to discover?

What price are you willing to pay to discover it?  What price are you willing to pay to pursue it?

These are questions that only you can answer for yourself.  But when you do, and when you commit yourself to discovering and pursuing His vision for you, there is nothing else in the world to compare to it.  It is an exciting journey that will take you places you’ve never dreamed.

Key Principle #4:  You cannot accomplish His vision for your life on your own!

We all need help in the journey, and we have to recognize that help when it shows up.  Moses needed Aaron, then the 70 elders, as well as Joshua.  We must have the discernment to know who is a part of the vision that He has given us.

If we want to make a true impact for His Kingdom, we also need to realize that our impact is based on some very practical things.  In fact, we could express it this way:

Impact is a function of opportunity, preparation, timing, and taking proper action.

We must recognize opportunity when it presents itself, but we must first ensure that we’re prepared, that we’ve taken the right steps to equip ourselves.  Then we have to know when to act and what specific actions to take at a given time.

So how do we identify and catch Yahweh’s vision for our lives?  There are some simple, realistic steps we can take.

Key Practical Steps

  • Seek Yahweh’s face, believing by faith that He wants you to know His vision for you!
  • Make a list of core Bible principles/concepts that are most important to you
  • Next make a list of the people whose lives you want to impact for the Kingdom… and that you’re willing to invest the time, energy, effort, and finances to do so?
  • Also make a list of your main (ministry/biblical) strengths (i.e., gifts, anointings)
  • Identify current weaknesses/potential stumbling blocks that could hold you back
  • Who can be part of your “mastermind” group (trusted counselors, advisors, etc.)?
  • Who can you partner with to be more effective?

To help you to begin the process of identifying His vision through these practical steps, download this worksheet:  Catching Yahweh’s Vision for Your Life

Taking Charge of Your Spiritual Walk

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Each of us has a unique spiritual walk because we are all unique individuals. Therefore, it is up to each of us to “walk it out” for ourselves. What you must realize is that no one can do it for you – not your mother or father, your husband or wife, your pastor or congregation leader. While others can encourage you, exhort you, inspire you, teach you, and set the example for you, only YOU can actually do the walking… because it’s YOUR walk! Neither can you walk it out for someone else… because it’s his or her walk!

Watch the entire teaching here

Psa 86:11 Teach me Your way, O Yahweh; I will walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear Your Name.

This is a key point: it’s Yahweh’s way. But it’s still up to us to walk in it. We have the responsibility – and we have the authority – to take control of our own spiritual lives. We have to make a quality decision to do that.  And then we need to follow that up daily with consistent action.

Gen 18:19 For I have known him (Abraham), that he will command his sons and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of Yahweh, to do righteousness and justice; to the intent that Yahweh may bring on Abraham that which He has spoken of him.

Can we honestly say that our heavenly Father knows this about us, that we will keep His ways and pursue Him with everything that we’ve got?  And that we will leave a spiritual legacy behind us?

Deut. 13:4 You shall walk after Yahweh your Elohim, and you shall fear Him. And you shall keep His commandments, and you shall hear His voice, and you shall serve Him, and you shall cleave to Him.

In order to walk in His way, it requires that we hear His voice. It’s not enough just to read His Word – we’ve got to know and obey His promptings and be led by His Spirit.

Isa 30:21 And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, This is the way, walk in it, when you go right, or when you go left.

Jer 6:16 So says Yahweh, Stand by the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; and you shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk in it.

Yahweh wants to reveal His ways to us.  But that requires us to seek and to ask.

2 Pet. 1:2-13 Grace to you and peace be multiplied in the knowledge of Elohim and of Yahshua our Master, seeing that His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and virtue; whereby He has granted to us His precious and exceedingly great promises; that through these you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world by lust. Yes, and for this very cause adding on your part all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence; and in moral excellence, knowledge; and in knowledge, self-control; and in self-control patience; and in patience godliness; and in godliness brotherly affection; and in brotherly affection, love.

For if these things are yours and abound, they make you to be not idle nor unfruitful to the knowledge of our Master Yahshua Messiah. For he who lacks these things is blind, seeing only what is near, having forgotten the cleansing from his old sins. Therefore, brothers, be more diligent to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never stumble. For thus will be richly supplied to you the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Master and Savior, Yahshua Messiah. Therefore I will not be negligent to remind you of these things, though you know them, and are established in the present truth.

Keys to Overcoming Spiritual Inertia

Inertia is defined as “inertness, especially with regard to effort, motion, action, and the like; inactivity; sluggishness.”  As believers we have all probably faced this at some point in our walk. To break free from it and move forward, there are some key things that we must do.

1) Recognize the Issue and Identify the Cause

First, you have to recognize spiritual inertia and desire to overcome it.  Some causes include:

  • Spiritual laziness: “Complacency is the bane of spiritual growth.”
  • Spiritual opposition
  • Obstacles
  • Distractions
  • Lack of vision, focus, consistency, passion, commitment

2) Use the Word to Identify the Remedy

How do you stoke a hunger for the Word, for the things of the Spirit?  How do you increase your ZEAL?  There are several vital things we can and should do.

First, commit to INVESTING more time in the Word, in prayer, in praise & worship, and in fellowship.

Second, study examples of “giants of the faith” in Scripture. What was their lifestyle?  For example, Moses was never satisfied with where he was at in his relationship with the Father. He always wanted more.  It was he who said “Show me Your glory…” (Exodus 33:18).  And David, even in the midst of adversity – in the face of those who wanted to kill him – “encouraged himself in Yahweh” (1 Sam. 30:6).

3) PRAY & BELIEVE for greater zeal, focus, and consistency.

Mrk 11:24 “Whatsoever things you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive them and you shall have them”

4) Feed Your Spirit

Watch and listen to good, solid biblical teaching and preaching. This is absolutely vital.  Why? Because “faith comes by HEARING and hearing by the Word of Yahweh”.  Something powerful happens whenever the Word is preached.

Col. 3:1-3 If then you were raised together with Messiah, seek the things that are above, where Messiah is, seated on the right hand of Yahweh. Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Messiah in Yahweh.

This speaks to a deliberate, willful, purposeful act. We have free will and we have to WILL ourselves to seek the things that are above and set our mind on them. It is obvious that it won’t happen by accident.

5) Walk It Out By Faith

The final step is for us to diligently and consistently apply the remedy to our situations – BY FAITH!  If we do these things, we will move forward in our spiritual walk.

Personal Spiritual Goals and Why They’re Important

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We recently turned the page on another year on man’s calendar. Although the biblical new year doesn’t start until springtime, the entire world around us is geared to the Gregorian calendar, and now is as good a time as any to reset, re-focus, and re-commit to our spiritual walk, our relationships, our fellowship, and our individual parts in the body of Messiah. I encourage you to take some time to prayerfully develop specific spiritual goals for the next 12 months, as well as goals in other areas of your life.

Goals are important and the Scriptures are full of examples of people who set goals or had them set for them by Yahweh. Abram had a goal (given to him by Yahweh) to become a “father of many nations”. Moses had a goal to free the ancient Israelites from bondage in Egypt. Joshua had a goal to lead them into the Promised Land. Even Yahshua had a goal: nothing less than the redemption of all mankind. And His apostles had a goal to preach the Gospel to all nations and make disciples.

What is a goal? Webster’s Dictionary defines it as “The terminal point of a race; the end toward which effort is directed; aim”. This is in line with what Paul wrote to the Romans, that “Messiah is the end (Greek telos – goal, the point aimed at) of the Torah for righteousness to everyone that believes.”Your Goal

Goals give us direction and focus. There’s an old saying, “If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll end up somewhere else”. Put another way, you can’t hit a target that you can’t see. Michael Jordan is regarded as one of the greatest basketball players who ever played the game, but how good would he have been if he’d been forced to play blind-folded, if he couldn’t see his goal?

As believers it is critical that we have a vision – to know what we’re called to do – and to develop practical goals to give us the necessary direction and focus to fulfill our individual and corporate callings. Many people recommend using the S.M.A.R.T. method, that is, devising goals that are:

  • Specific
  • Measureable
  • Achieveable
  • Relevant
  • Time-bound

This is a sample Personal Spiritual Goals sheet that you can use as a starting point.

Bible Study Tools and Terminology

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The following is a list of useful Bible study tools and terminology to assist in you in your quest to delve deeper into the Word.

Terminology

  • concordance – an alphabetical index of the principal words of the Bible, with a reference to the passage in which each occurs. “Strong’s” is the most well-known concordance.
  • lexicon – a dictionary of the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek words of the Bible.
  • parallel Bible – presents 2 or more translations of the Bible in side-by-side columns
  • interlinear Bible – presents a word-for-word translation of the Bible, with one line in the original language and the next line with the translation

Some Online Bible Study Tools – there are many others. Caveat: Modern translations are not necessarily better; in fact, some modern translations are particularly bad, straying quite a bit from the original intent.

  • e-Sword – free Bible software with dozens of available translations, built-in tools for serious Bible study and sermon preparation, plus reference library with commentaries, maps, concordances; audio sermon player
  • Bible Study Tools – many English versions + many other languages
  • Study Bible Forum – includes the Amplified Bible
  • Bible Gateway
  • The Word Project – Bible in many languages, from Afrikaans and Zulu to Hindi, Persian, Chinese, and Norwegian. Also includes an “Audio Bible” feature for nearly 40 of these languages, as well as “Parallel Bible” feature for multiple languages (English + Spanish, etc.)

Special Mention:

  • A lot of people today like to read the Bible on mobile devices or the computer, and I certainly use my laptop for a lot of research and reading, but nothing replaces the feel of holding an actual hard copy in your hands.

Personal Favorites:

  • The Sacred Scriptures (Bethel, PA) – very good, accurate translation based on 1911 ASV but without the Shakespearean English and with the restored Hebrew Names of Yahweh and Yahshua. It reads very easily and is easy to use for preaching & teaching
  • Las Sagradas Escrituras (Version Israelita Nazarena) – Puerto Rico – ALL restored Hebrew names and some transliteration of some Hebraic terminology (Elohim, Pesaj…)

7 Fundamental Principles of Bible Study

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The following are seven key principles of Bible study.

#1 – The Bible is Yahweh’s inspired Word, it is true, and it provides us instruction for life:

“Your Word is a lamp to my feet, And a light for my path.” (Psalm 119:105)

“Sanctify them in your truth. Your Word is truth.” (John 17:17)

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of Elohim, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:” (2 Timothy 3:16)

“For this cause we also thank Yahweh without ceasing, that, when you received from us the word of the message of Elohim, you accepted it not as the word of men, but, as it is in truth, the Word of Elohim, which also works in you who believe.” (1 Thessalonians 2:13)

#2 – We need the Holy Spirit to truly understand Yahweh’s Word… and we need to pray for understanding.

“But there is a spirit in man, And the breath of the Almighty gives them understanding.” (Job 32:8)

“As for you, the anointing which you received from Him remains in you, and you don’t need for anyone to teach you. But as His anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is no lie, and even as it taught you, you will remain in Him.” (1 John 2:27)

“It is the Spirit that gives life. The flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and are life.” (John 6:63)

“But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of Elohim, who gives to all liberally and without reproach; and it will be given to him.” (James 1:5)

[see also 1 Corinthians 2:10-14]

#3 – Scripture cannot contradict Scripture; if it appears to do so, then there is a flaw in our understanding.

We must build line upon line, precept upon precept, using the entirety of the Bible to understand a specific topic or issue.

“Whom will He teach knowledge? and whom will He make to understand the message? those who are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For it is precept on precept, precept on precept; line on line, line on line; here a little, there a little.” (Isaiah 28:9-10)

#4 – The Principle of First Use:

The very first use of a word (in the Hebrew or Greek manuscripts) usually provides the primary meaning of that word. When it is used in other places, it helps to understand that primary meaning. This is where a lexicon can be invaluable.

#5- We must be diligent to study His Word… and APPLY it.

“It is the glory of Elohim to conceal a thing, But the glory of kings is to search out a matter.” (Proverbs 25:2)

“Study (give diligence) to present yourself approved by Elohim, a workman who doesn’t need to be ashamed, rightly dividing (properly handling) the Word of Truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)

“Now these [Jewish Bereans] were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of the mind, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.” (Acts 17:11)

“He who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much…” (Luke 16:10a)

“He said to him, ‘Well done, you good servant! Because you were found faithful in a very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.'” (Luke 19:17)

#6 – The Messiah is the Word made flesh (John 1:14).

We must look to Yahshua’s perfect, sinless example and His teachings first and foremost.  Paul and the other writers of the New Testament were imperfect men. In fact, the apostle Peter warned about misinterpreting Paul’s writings in particular:

“…As also in all of his [Paul’s] letters, speaking in them of these things. In those are some things hard to be understood, which the ignorant and unsettled twist, as they also do to the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.” (2 Peter 3:16)

#7 – We need to utilize all the tools available to us to get back to the original intent of a particular word or passage.

While we don’t need to become a Hebrew or Greek scholar to understand His Word, the reality is that some things do get lost in translation. We’re 2000+ years, 1 if not 2 languages, and half a world removed from the culture to which the Bible was originally given; do we really think we can just pick it up and read and understand everything?! Many of us have a hard time reading and understanding something written in English just a few hundred years ago (e.g., Shakespeare)!

Keeping these seven fundamental principles of Bible study in mind should help to bring clarity whenever you’re reading the Word. Put them into practice and see what a difference they make.

CAUTION:
*** Never let your study of the written Word replace your relationship with the Living Word – the WORD MADE FLESH!!!

Recommended Reading to Assist You in Your Walk

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It’s been said that there are two things that determine more than anything else where a person will be in five years: the books he reads and the people with whom he associates. This is absolutely true. We tend to become like those with whom we associate. By extension, we also ‘associate’ with the thoughts and ideas that we encounter by reading books. Perhaps that is why Scripture exhorts us:

“Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honorable, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report; if there is any virtue, and if there is any praise, think about these things.” (Philippians 4:8)

There is many good books out there that can help us in our spiritual walk. But we often aren’t even aware that they exist. To assist you in your quest for quality reading material, attached is a Book List. May it prove beneficial to you in your walk.

Ministry Opportunity – Translators Needed!

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Greetings in Messiah,

We’ve been blessed in our ministry over the years to be able to provide solid Biblical teaching and a wealth of revelatory knowledge for free to people around the world. We currently offer over 175 audio sermons online, as well as numerous in-depth booklets and a DVD. I also have several more booklets in progress that I hope to complete in the near future. All of these materials are in English.

Yahweh has put it on my heart to begin to make at least the printed materials available in other languages. To accomplish that I’m looking for others who can speak and write in other languages and are willing to lend a hand. If you or someone you know can help, please let me know. This represents a great new ministry opportunity, particularly for those out there who haven’t quite identified their calling but want to serve. Imagine – you can touch lives halfway around the world right from your own home, simply by volunteering to help translate Kingdom resources into other languages!

Please note that – because we are a small ministry with limited resources – we cannot take on the expense of paying anyone for translation work. This will be a service of the heart.

Thanks and blessings,

Matt

Baptism of the Holy Spirit

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Many churches put a great emphasis on conversion and water baptism, and for good reason; they are crucial steps in the life of the believer and are the doorway to a new life in Messiah. But not many people talk about the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Yet this special gift, given by Yahweh, is available to all believers. Though not required for salvation, its true importance is not generally understood. It represents a deeper revelation of and communion with the Father, as well as spiritual empowerment.

John the Baptist spoke of this experience: “I indeed baptize you with water, but He comes who is mightier than I, the latchet of whose sandals I am not worthy to loosen. He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire” (Luke 3:16. See also Matthew 3:11 and Mark 1:8).

Yahshua the Messiah promised the baptism of the Holy Spirit, as well: “For John truly baptized with water; but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days hence” (Acts 1:5). This promise was fulfilled only days later on Pentecost:

“And suddenly there came from heaven a sound as of the rushing of a mighty wind… there appeared to them tongues dividing apart, like as of fire; and it sat upon each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:2-4).

Was this outpouring limited to those who came together that day? No, it was not.

“And Peter said unto them, Repent and be baptized every one of you in the Name of Yahshua the Messiah to the remission of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).

In fact, there were numerous instances in the New Testament where people received the baptism of the Holy Spirit: Acts 8:14-17; 9:17-18; 10:44-47; and 19:1-7. In all of these occurrences there was evidence to prove that Yahweh had poured out His Spirit on a person or a people. While there may be many proofs of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the two initial signs identified most prominently in Scripture are speaking in tongues and prophesying.

As we already saw in the account from Acts 2, the disciples were filled with the Spirit and began to speak in other tongues. We find a similar occurrence in Acts 10, where the apostle Peter was ministering the Gospel at Caesarea to Cornelius and many of his friends:

“While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all those who heard the word. They of the circumcision who believed were amazed, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was also poured out on the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in other tongues and magnifying God…” (Acts 10:44-46).

At Lion of Judah Family Worship Center, we wholeheartedly embrace all of the spiritual gifts as outlined in Scripture, including both speaking in tongues and prophesying (see 1 Corinthians 12 and 14). Tongues can take several forms: as a private prayer language, for the edification (building up) of the one praying, in order to stir oneself up to greater faith and expression of worship; or as an utterance in the congregation as an expression of one of the gifts of the Spirit. When this happens, it will be accompanied by interpretation by someone in the assembly, so that the whole Body may be edified. Prophesying, on the other hand, is a divinely inspired utterance in a known language for the purpose of edification, exhortation, and consolation of the Body (1 Corinthians 14:3-5).

If you have never put your faith in Messiah for salvation, we exhort you to do so. And if you have, then we also exhort you to receive the gift of the Father – the baptism of the Holy Spirit – and experience a new dimension in Him. Yahshua said, “It is expedient that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Comforter will not come to you; but if I depart I will send it to you” (John 16:7). He went on to say that the purpose of the Comforter coming was to “lead you into all truth” (John 16:13). What a blessing for all believers!

Should you have any questions about this experience, please don’t hesitate to ask. You may also listen to free audio teachings on the subject on our Sermons page.

The Five-Fold Ministry

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Everything that our heavenly Father does is according to a pattern. We can see that on a grand scale in the wondrous beauty of Creation all around us; we can see it on a more personal level by considering the incredible complexity of the human body, from the operation of the circulatory system and the brain down to the sub-molecular level of individual strands of DNA.

Likewise, everything Yahweh does in Scripture is also according to a pattern. When He told Moses to build the tabernacle in the wilderness, He said, “see that you make it according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain” (Exod. 25:40). This wasn’t some vague outline but a very detailed “blueprint”. Moses built the tabernacle according to Yahweh’s very exacting specifications, and when he had finished it and everything was in place, that’s when “the glory of Yahweh filled the tabernacle” (Exod. 40:33-38).

Similarly, after his father David had given him the pattern of “all that he had by the Spirit” (1 Chron. 28:11-12), Solomon built the temple at Jerusalem. Again, it was when he had finished it and everything was in place that the glory of Yahweh filled it.

Today, Yahweh no longer dwells in temples made with hands. Instead, He dwells within His people as individuals and collectively within His ekklesia (“church”). Nevertheless, He still has a specific pattern by which His dwelling place – the ekklesia – must be built. What is that pattern? According to Scripture it is what some have termed the “five-fold ministry”.

We’re told in Ephesians 4:8 that when Yahshua ascended to heaven, He gave “gifts” to men. A few verses later, those gifts are identified, along with their purpose: “And He gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, to the work of ministering, to the building up of the Messiah: till we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of Yahweh, to a full grown man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Messiah” (Eph. 4:11-13).

The “five-fold ministry” consists of 5 ministry gift offices: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. They were given collectively to the Body for the purpose of the perfecting of the saints. Are all of the saints perfected? Have we achieved the ‘unity of the faith’ and reached the ‘stature of the fullness of the Messiah’? The obvious answer to these questions is ‘No’. Since the Body hasn’t become that ‘perfect Man’, then we obviously still need ALL of the 5-fold ministry gifts, including the apostle and prophet, functioning within the Body of Messiah.

When we build His house according to His pattern – the pattern of the 5-fold ministry – then and only then will His glory truly be manifested in all of its fullness. Only then will we become Yahweh’s glory on the earth, having prepared and readied ourselves to rule and reign with Him.

At Lion of Judah Family Worship Center, we recognize that we must build Yahweh’s house – the ekklesia – “according to the pattern” that He has given us. We fully embrace not just the concept but the reality of all of the 5-fold ministry gifts. We also recognize that, in order for the Body to become all that it is meant to be, each of us must take his or her place in the local assembly. We cannot fulfill our awesome purpose without men and women like you, people who recognize the need, understand the purpose, and desire to be a living part of the restoration of Yahweh’s order.

Come and join us in this incredible end-time work!

“So then you are no more strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow-citizens with saints, and of the household of Yahweh, being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, the Messiah Yahshua himself being the chief cornerstone.” (Eph. 2:19-20)

The Sabbath

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Why is the Sabbath day important?

A Memorial

We live in a fast-paced world, and people are working more and more hours just trying to “make ends meet”, often to the detriment of marriage, family, and even health. Our heavenly Father had a better way in mind – a way He instituted at Creation specifically for our benefit.

“And the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day Elohim (eh-low-HEEM, ‘God’) finished His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And Elohim blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it; because that in it He rested from all His work…” (Gen 2:1-3).

So our Creator rested on the seventh day, and He blessed it and hallowed it (set it apart) because He had rested on it. The simple fact of His resting created special time.

Many hundreds of years later, following their deliverance from bondage in Egypt, the ancient Israelites were reminded of this wondrous act:

“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of Yahweh your Elohim… for in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; Therefore Yahweh blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.” (Ex. 20:1-2, 8-11).

The weekly Sabbath is actually a memorial, a memorial of Creation and of redemption (see Deut. 5:12-15, for instance).

The “Jewish Sabbath”?

Many people have been taught that it is the “Jewish Sabbath”. But we need to remember a couple of things: first, there were no “Jews” at Creation! Second, the term “Jew” actually refers to the descendents of Judah – only one of the twelve sons of Israel. Third, the Sabbath is never identified in Scripture as only for the Jews. On the contrary:

“And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, Yahweh’s appointed times which you shall proclaim as holy convocations — My appointed times are these: For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall not do any work; it is a sabbath to Yahweh in all your dwellings” (Lev. 23:1-3).

So it is not the “Jewish Sabbath.” It is an appointed time (appointment) of Yahweh, and a holy convocation (gathering). In fact, all of the feast days identified in Leviticus 23 are “feasts of Yahweh.” Over and over again, Scripture tells us that there is to be one law for the foreigner and the native-born Israelite.

Messiah and the Sabbath

During His earthly ministry the Messiah had to contend with accusations from the scribes and Pharisees that He was teaching people to disobey and disregard the Sabbath. But what we find is that He did observe the Sabbath – just not according to their traditions. In fact, He told them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath’ ” (Mark 2:27).

He did NOT say that the Sabbath was made for “the Jews,” but rather for man (all mankind). Nor did He say that people weren’t to observe it any more. He never objected to the Sabbath; what he objected to were the man-made rules and regulations about it that the Pharisees and scribes had imposed upon the people.

Many sincere believers have been taught that the Sabbath was “done away with” when Messiah died. However, that’s not what the Bible teaches; on the contrary, according to Scripture there remains a Sabbath rest (sabbatismos – literally, ‘the keeping of a Sabbath’) to the people of Yahweh (Hebr. 4:9). Yahshua the Messiah kept the Sabbath, as did Paul and the disciples (see Luke 23:56; Acts 13:14, 27, 42-44; 15:21; 16:13; 17:2; 18:4, etc.).

The seventh day Sabbath is holy to Yahweh. As followers of Messiah, it holds a special place in our lives, too – a memorial not only of Creation, but also of our redemption through the Blood of the Lamb. At Lion of Judah Family Worship Center, we don’t see the Sabbath as an imposition or burden but rather as a delight (see Isa. 58:13-14) – one day a week when we can rest and be refreshed, leaving behind the cares and concerns of this world – and worship the Creator of the heavens and the earth.

If you have any questions about this subject, please don’t hesitate to ask. You may also request our free in-depth booklet entitled “A Day to Remember”.