We believe that we are living in a time of restoration. Many things are being revealed to us and restored to us. The seventh day Sabbath has been restored to us. The Biblical feasts have been restored to us. More and more, we are being taught to keep YHVH’s commandments. We, being in the Diaspora cannot keep any of the commandments perfectly. We keep Sabbath, but we can’t offer the commanded offerings; we celebrate the feasts and there also we lack. We believe that we should be observing all the Sabbaths: the weekly, the annual and the seventh year Sabbath as well. This will, likewise, be difficult to keep in the Diaspora, but nonetheless, not impossible.
There is more to the Sabbatical year that just the commandments regarding the resting of the land. We also have to release every debt. Even believers who are not convinced that we are to rest the land in the Diaspora, can release debt.
It remains part of our heavenly Father’s divine reckoning of time. We won’t be able to do it perfectly. It is about keeping YHVH’s way to the best of our ability and with a willing heart.
It is written in the Scripture that we are to keep the Sabbaths (plural).
Exodus 31:13
13 “But as for you, speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘You shall surely observe My sabbaths; for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am Yahovah who sanctifies you.
Ezekiel 20:20
20 ‘Sanctify My sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am YHVH your Elohim.’
Why are we doing this? We are doing this to show YHVH our willing hearts to return to Him and His ways. We have been asleep for a very long time. ‘We are waking up to the truth in these last days. It is said to Daniel that it will be concealed and sealed up until the end time.
Daniel 12:9–10
9 He said, “Go your way, Daniel, for these words are concealed and sealed up until the end time. 10 “Many will be purged, purified and refined, but the wicked will act wickedly; and none of the wicked will understand, but those who have insight will understand.
A time of refining is upon us. We will be purged and purified during this time. Do you understand? Do you have insight? Keeping the commandments of YHVH is a test, one of many tests we will have to pass in order to prove our obedience.
However, we can only attain true righteousness through Y’shua. Being obedient is the fruit of our salvation. Two passages come to mind (paraphrased): “By our fruit we will be known” (Matt 12:33). “Faith without works is dead.”
James 2:17–20
17 Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. 18 But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.†19 You believe that Elohim is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. 20 But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?
I recently received this very profound message from a friend. The crux of the message is: We are to wake up; we have been asleep for such a long time. We still have time to repent, but we don’t know for sure how much…. It is all about repentance!
BY: Judith Dennis
“Reflecting tonight- After about 25 years of being a Believer, a statement that the Speaker made that night still sticks in my mind and heart… “You never know you’ve been asleep till you wake up.” Think about it- you lay down, your mind wanders, your eyes get heavy and the next thing you are conscious of, you’re awake. It really sounds so simple and yet we do this every day and don’t always realize the significance of it when applied to our walk.
Why am I bringing this up? Well, because I think. I do a lot of thinking- (although that may surprise some of you out there!) And when I do, sometimes the simplicity of things seems quite simple and yet it sometimes isn’t. Allow me to explain:
Remember when we first came in to the “Hebrew Roots” movement and one of the big buzz phrases we heard was that the “church” didn’t “finish reading the Scripture!” I know it’s one thing to not read right above or right below a particular Scripture to gain the “crux” of what is being addressed but a lot of times (and we can all remember this) they didn’t even finish a whole Scripture. Case in point: Hosea 4:6.
“Hos 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.”
Remember how amazing it was to us that all of the sudden we realized that it didn’t “end” after “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge?” Suddenly we came out of our “sleep” that we didn’t know we were in and realized the importance of what had been stated. We realized that if we were going to say we were His people, then the reason we were being destroyed wasn’t a lack of common knowledge but rather a lack of the knowledge of Torah! It was like a light bulb went off! Wow! That explains it!! We had forgotten the Torah (instruction) of our Elohim- that’s why! Amazing…
Well, I hate to bust your “Messianic bubble” but I have seen something very similar happening today. We haven’t been reading the rest of another Scripture… In particular, and of utmost importance I believe, it has to do with the Sabbath… And oh, how the Messianics LOVE to believe they all keep the Sabbaths… They are the only ones doing it “right.” They are the only ones keeping it according to Torah…. and so on.
You never know you’ve been asleep till you wake up.
One of the favorite Scriptures that stress the importance of not buying or selling on the Sabbath (well, pretty much the only one that outright mentions it) is in the book of Nehemiah ch. 10 vs. 31. Here goes:
Nehemiah 10:31
31 As for the peoples of the land who bring wares or any grain on the sabbath day to sell, we will not buy from them on the sabbath or a holy day; and we will forego the crops the seventh year and the exaction of every debt.
I’ve heard this taught by many a Messianic many times. But I’ve recently noticed something. And I’m guessing most of you that have not noticed the same thing are maybe, just maybe, NOW noticing. The end of the verse.
“…and we will forego the crops the SEVENTH year and the exaction of every debt.”
Do you realize what that means? If you have not noticed it before this; and are now realizing you, too, may have been asleep- please consider allowing me to be your alarm clock.
WAKE UP!!!
Shabbat is a blessing from our Father, no doubt. But if you are keeping the weekly Shabbat and the Feasts and neglecting the *seventh year* Sabbath, then you may want to consider changing that. And you may also want to consider, at the same time you study the 7- year Sabbath a study on the Jubilee Cycles.
Believers: WAKE UP! The time is so short and we all know it. We can all sense something very, very ominous in the air. We can all see the light at the end of the tunnel is indeed, in our day, going very, very dim. It will go out one day soon.
Please, I encourage you, study these things out. They are some of the most important points you will ever discover in your search for your true Hebrew Roots- all the way back to our Father Abraham… The Scriptures verify it.
You will not know you’ve been asleep until you wake up.”
Revelation 3:3
3 ‘So remember what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you.
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