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The Sabbath Rest

 

By Ronnie Garner

 

   

Yahweh in the beginning of creation, Yahweh established the Sabbath Rest statute with man by He Himself resting on the seventh day.

 

Gen. 2:2-3, “And on the °seventh day God ended His work which He had done, ¹ and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God ² blessed the seventh day and ³ sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.”

 

1. OT:7637 -   seventh, shebiy`iy (sheb-ee-ee'); or shebi`iy (sheb-ee-ee'); ordinal   from OT:7657; seventh:

 

2. OT:7673 -   and he rested

     shabath (shaw-bath'); a primitive root; to repose, i.e. desist from exertion; used in many implied relations (causative, figurative or specific):

 

3. OT:6942 -   sanctified  

     qadash (kaw-dash'); a primitive root; to be (causatively, make, pronounce or observe as) clean (ceremonially or morally):

 

4. OT:1288 -   blessed

     barak (baw-rak'); a primitive root; to kneel; by implication to bless God (as an act of adoration), and (vice-versa) man (as a benefit);

 

Many ministers and theologians teach that the first time the ordinance of observing the seventh day for the Sabbath was when Yahweh our God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai. Also this commandment was reserved only for the children of Israel. These hypotheses has been thrown around and argued over by many since Christ. This is truly and absolutely a cop out to cover the introduction of pagan sun worship practices into the young church of the first four centuries. The above scripture proves Yahweh had already sanctified and blessed the seventh day as soon as He completed creating the world and the universe.
 

Biblical historians have the date of Isaac’s birth to be 1896 B.C, and Abraham, Isaac’s father’s birth date to have been 1996 B.C. These same historians give the date of Moses’ proclamation of the ‘Ten Commandments’ to have been 1491 B.C, 500 years after Abraham. 

 

Gen. 26:1-5, “There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar. Then Yahweh appeared to him and said: "Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you. Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept °My charge, ¹My commandments, ²My statutes, and ³My laws."
 

    As in the first Scripture gave in this study, I looked up the definitions of some of the words in the Strong’s Concordance that I felt needed to convey my message.

 

1. OT:4687    My commandments

mitsvah (mits-vaw'); from OT:6680; a command, whether human or divine

(collectively, the Law):

 

2.  OT:2708    My statutes

chuqqah (khook-kaw'); feminine of OT:2706, and meaning substantially the same:

OT:2706  choq (khoke); an enactment; hence, an appointment (of time, space, quantity, labor or usage):

 

3.  OT:8451    My laws

towrah (to-raw'); or torah (to-raw'); from OT:3384; a precept or statute,

especially the Decalogue or Pentateuch:

OT:3384  yarah (yaw-raw'); or (2 Chron 26:15) yara' (yaw-raw'); a primitive root; properly, to flow as water (i.e. to rain); transitively, to lay or throw (especially an arrow, i.e. to shoot); figuratively, to point out (as if by aiming the finger), to teach:

 

It is plainly seen here that the laws were already established in Abraham’s time. By Abraham obeying the voice of Yahweh and honoring Yahweh’s commandments, statutes, and laws, his descendants were able to claim the promise of Yahweh. By no means an easy task, but by Abraham’s perseverance and steadfast faith, Yahweh made a covenant with him that allowed his seed to inherit the Promised Land.

      

Heb. 11:8-16, “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is Yahweh. By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude — innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore. These all died in faith, not having received the promise, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore Yahweh is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.”

 

If the statutes, laws, and commandments that Abraham adhered too were not the same as those that Yahweh, our God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai then what in world were they? Abraham served the same God as Moses and the children of Israel. All the ancient patriarchs worshiped the same God as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Yahweh was God to Moses, Elijah, Elisha, King David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and many, many more. All these people were valuable stewards of Yahweh’s laws and statutes. Every generation from Adam to the time of Christ had those who were devoted to His laws and statutes. The Old Testament is their record. They came from all walks of life and Yahweh was able to deal with them because they were adhering to His voice.

 

Deut. 5:12-15, “Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as Yahweh your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of Yahweh your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Yahweh your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by a outstretched arm; therefore Yahweh your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.”

 

The children of Israel were required to observe the Sabbath, commanded by Yahweh in observance of the fact that He had freed them from bondage in Egypt. The Israelites were to remind themselves every Sabbath that their God had freed them from Egypt’s bondage. This requirement was visual and mental reminder to the Israelites that they had the one only true God that could and did bring them out of bondage to Egypt.
 

Not only were they required to not do any labor on Sabbath, but the observance was extended also to those who were visiting, their slaves, and all who were within their camp, which really had not the same freedom or vision as the Israelites.

 

Resting on the Sabbath was not only a reminder of Yahweh’s releasing them from Egypt’s bondage, but also gave the Israelites a mental and physical action to recognize Yahweh as their redeemer who freed them from not only their past bondages, but also the redeemer of their present and future bondages or calamities that could and did come their way.

 

Israel failed to put their complete trust and faith in Yahweh, many times they murmured and complained and at times completely alienating themselves from Him. But all the while He provided and protected them; constantly correcting and guiding them to their promised land.

 

All these events that happened to Israel were a symbol or a shadow of our spiritual walk. Yahweh knew where Israel was and He knows where we are. He is using a natural happening to provide us a picture that we, as believers can learn and grow by.

   

Yahweh gave mankind His laws and statutes in order to establish boundaries and guidelines.

 

The Apostle Paul wrote several letters to the various churches he helped establish, and his ministry began after the time of Christ. He was a good example of one who was well acquainted with the Judean culture, and obeyed Yahweh’s laws and statutes to the best of his knowledge. He was well educated, had wealth and a solid foundation in the government. All of this clout and sophistication was good as long as he was not reaching for the true meaning of Yahweh’s Word. It was not until well after his trip to Damascus and his conversion that he really understood the spiritual aspects of Yahweh’s laws and statutes.

 

Over six hundred years before Paul as born, Yahweh spoke through Jeremiah the prophet of the time when He would put His laws and statutes into the minds and hearts of His people. No longer would His people strive to obey the laws and statutes of Yahweh. Because when Christ died on that cross He caused that veil of separation to be rent to enable Christ to have access into the hearts of man. By this action man now had the ability to resist the carnal desires and their own vile natures. Their access into the world of the Father was made available. No longer was man allowed to obey the laws and statutes of Yahweh simply because they were required too. Man now was able to have access through the Holy Spirit dwelling inside their hearts to where Yahweh’s laws and statutes were not only in their minds but now can be in their hearts as well. The laws were still real and in effect, but now man, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit of Christ dwelling in them, could have those laws and statutes operating in their own bodies to where the resistance to their obedience is found nonexistent. Not as before when constantly fighting and having turmoil within their bodies to obey Yahweh’s laws and statutes. 

       

saiah, a prophet of Yahweh, 700 years before the Christian era prophesied concerning the Sabbath and the worship of Yahweh:

 

Isa. 66:23, “And it shall be that from one New Moon to another New Moon and from one Sabbath to another Sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before Me, says Yahweh.”

 

Jeremiah, the prophet of Yahweh, prophesied concerning the time when the Father would speak to man and they would not only hear with their mind or intellect but also, at that time, be able to hear with their hearts as well.

 

Jeremiah 31:31-34, “Behold, the days are coming, says Yahweh, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah —   not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says Yahweh. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says Yahweh: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know Yahweh,' for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says Yahweh. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

 

Even Christ spoke to His apostles concerning the time in their future when they would not have Him in the flesh to guide and lead them; that there would be a Counselor in the form of the Holy Spirit to be their Guide and Teacher.

 

Christ was the Deliverer and redeemer that the Children of Israel so long waited for, the One that the Prophets prophesied was coming. Sad though, when He did come only a few (Children of Israel) recognized Him and not only that, but most rejected Him and hung Him on the cross.

 

John 14:25-27, “All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

 

The apostle Paul wrote to the Philippians concerning his background and how his education was nothing compared to his relationship with Yahweh.

 

Phil. 3:2-11, “Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation! For we are the circumcision, who worship Yahweh in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ, and have no confidence in the flesh, though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ   and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from Yahweh by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

 

Christ spoke concerning the laws and statutes of Yahweh as recorded by Matthew:

 

Matt. 5:17-19, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

 

The apostle Paul in no way said to quit observing Yahweh’s laws. Stand and be confident that Yahweh’s laws were put there for a purpose and all had a spiritual, as well as a physical aspect to them. All the laws combined were a schoolmaster to lead one to the reality of Christ.

 

Col. 2:16-19, “Therefore do not let anyone judge you with respect to food or drink, or in the matter of a feast, new moon, or Sabbath days. These are only the shadow of the things to come, but the reality is Christ! Let no one who delights in humility and the worship of angels pass judgment on you. That person goes on at great lengths about what he has supposedly seen, but he is puffed up with empty notions by his fleshly mind. He has not held fast to the head from whom the whole body, supported and knit together through its ligaments and sinews, grows with a growth that is from Yahweh.”

 

Rom. 7:5-14, “When we were living in the flesh (mere physical lives), the sinful passions that were awakened and aroused up by the Law [making us aware of sin] were constantly operating in our natural powers (in our bodily organs, in the sensitive appetites and wills of the flesh), so that we bore fruit for death. But now we are discharged from the Law and have terminated all intercourse with it, having died to what once restrained and held us captive. So now we serve not under [obedience to] the old code of written regulations, but [under obedience to the promptings] of the Spirit in newness [of life]. What then do we conclude? Is the Law identical with sin? Certainly not! Nevertheless, if it had not been for the Law, I should not have recognized sin or have known its meaning. [For instance] I would not have known about covetousness [would have had no consciousness of sin or sense of guilt] if the Law had not [repeatedly] said, You shall not covet and have an evil desire [for one thing and another]. But sin, finding opportunity in the commandment [to express itself], got a hold on me and aroused and stimulated all kinds of forbidden desires (lust, covetousness). For without the Law sin is dead [the sense of it is inactive and a lifeless thing]. Once I was alive, but quite apart from and unconscious of the Law. But when the commandment came, sin lived again and I died (was sentenced by the Law to death) and the very legal ordinance which was designed and intended to bring life actually proved [to mean to me] death. For sin, seizing the opportunity and getting a hold on me [by taking its incentive] from the commandment, beguiled and entrapped and cheated me, and using it [as a weapon], killed me. The Law therefore is holy and [each] commandment is holy and just and good. Did that which is good then prove fatal [bringing death] to me? Certainly not! It was sin, working death in me by using this good thing [as a weapon], in order that through the commandment sin might be shown up clearly to be sin, that the extreme malignity and immeasurable sinfulness of sin might plainly appear. We know that the Law is spiritual; but I am a creature of the flesh [carnal, unspiritual], having been sold into slavery under [the control of] sin.”

 

Like the Apostle Paul before his conversion, the people of Judea were looking for the return of the Savior. To them, the lowly carpenter’s son just did not fit the bill. After all, he was born in a manger, the place where the stock was fed, and a peasant to boot of humble origin.

 

Judea was under the authority of Rome and the leaders of Judea had to answer to Rome. But as long as the taxes were paid and the people adhered to the Roman authority the Jews were pretty much left alone to govern their lives as they seen fit. But then when Christ came with the birth of Christianity, the hierarchy of the Jewish society began to separate themselves from those Jews who called themselves “followers of Christ,” for fear of loosing the freedom they held with the Roman government.

 

Acts 8:1-3, At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. As for Saul, (who later became Paul) he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison.

 

The descendants of Israel were looking forward to the birth of their Savior, and in anticipation of His coming were taught from birth, Yahweh’s laws and statutes. Being the descendents of Abraham, the Messiah was going to be one of them. Also with the idea of being the responsible caretakers of the Law they became more or less arrogant and egotistical. This was the environment and culture that Saul was born into.

 

In reality, by Christ going through that ordeal of hanging on the cross, and being raised from the death realm, was the very method that brought redemption. He not only brought redemption to the ones who hung Him, but also redemption was made available to all mankind.

 

Saul, who later identified himself as Paul the apostle, persecuted the Christians with a relentless fury. While on the road to Damascus to persecute more Christians he had a visitation from Christ. So profound was this encounter that it changed Saul’s life in such a grand magnitude that Christians are still reaping the benefits today, almost two thousand years later. Saul, or Paul, after his conversion began to recognize all those laws and statutes in the way the Father meant for them to be seen. He did not react to them as just “laws,” but rather they became a part of his nature.

 

Honoring the Sabbath is an active recognition on our part to show and point to the time of redemption through Christ (Anointed Word) and the fulfillment of Christ in man. I believe the whole Old Testament experience was an example of a real happening in order to enable those who come after them (us included) to inherit something far, far greater and more wondrous then they!

 

In both the Old and New Testaments, the word “house” is used. There are times when this word is used it is not speaking of a wood, clay, rock, or even a metal structure. In these instances the word “house” is implying the blood lineage to the patriarchal head of house (family). King David’s house consisted of those who followed him in his family linage such as Solomon and Solomon’s son and his son.

 

Yahweh gave David’s offspring (David’s house) the opportunity to preserve the royal dignity. And if this natural house had stayed in the will of Yahweh as did King David, they would have been the Monarchs of the state of Israel. Also, the kingdom of Israel would have prospered greatly and the coming of the Messiah would have come quite a bit sooner.

 

John 7:37-42, On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Yasha (Jesus) stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him."  By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Yasha had not yet been glorified.  On hearing his words, some of the people said, "Surely this man is the Prophet."  Others said, "He is the Christ."  Still others asked, "How can the Christ come from Galilee? Does not the Scripture say that the Christ will come from David's family and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?"

 

John 14:1-4, “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in Yahweh, believe also in Me.  In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.  And where I go you know, and the way you know.”

 

We are all capable of being born again and being son-placed into Yahweh’s house and carrying on His linage, or family line. We can become Yahweh’s heirs as we mature into Yahweh’s family, thus carrying on His bloodline. We can only do this through Christ.

 

Eph. 3:1-10, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Yasha Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Yasha Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of Yahweh's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.  And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment — to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.”

 

In unbelief many turned away from the Father and became unworthy to be called His sons. Some become children of the adversary (1^st John 3:10; John 8:44) and children of wrath (Eph. 2:3). When this happens they have not the ability to hear Yahweh’s voice and have actually closed their ears to the Guide and Comforter.

 

The key is to yield our minds and body to the worship and service of the Father. Thus enabling His Holy Spirit to come into our hearts and minds to teach us and give us the ability to hear the voice of our Father. By this ability we communicate with the Father; we then are capable to unload our burdens onto His ever comforting Spirit. By us allowing the Spirit of Christ to become our Master (Christ in you the hope of glory), and by submitting to His authority, and guidance, the Holy Spirit conditions our hearts and minds to do away with that old sinful or beastly nature that we were born with.

 

It is the old nature that is our adversary and what causes us to have strife and conflict. Once we allow the Father’s Holy Spirit to enter our hearts and minds and replace these carnalities with His love, peace renews our hearts and mind with a whole different outlook on life. We no longer have the strife and conflict with our old nature and our thoughts and emotions are completely dominated by the Holy Spirit. Listen to what Christ told His disciples a little while before His crucifixion.

 

John 14:25-27, “I have told you these things while I am still with you. But the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate), the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My name [in My place, to represent Me and act on My behalf], He will teach you all things. And He will cause you to recall (will remind you of, bring to your remembrance) everything I have told you.  Peace I leave with you; My [own] peace I now give and bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. [Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed; and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated).”

 

By us submitting to the Holy Spirit of Christ and allowing that same Spirit to begin changing the heart is what usurers in the peace that Christ spoke of. The peace we attain, when all carnal thoughts and desires have been removed, and Christ has taken complete authority over our bodies, is when we have reached our Sabbath Rest. We then are son-placed into the house of Yahweh. We are in Yahweh bloodline, born again children of the King.

   

Rom. 8:13-14, “For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of Yahweh are sons of Yahweh.”

 

When we submit to Yahweh’s guidance and authority, peace comes automatically and with that peace a renewed heart. No longer will we have strife and conflict.

 

Heb. 3:7-19, “Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion [of Israel] and their provocation and embitterment [of Me] in the day of testing in the wilderness, where your fathers tried [My patience] and tested [My forbearance] and found I stood their test, and they saw My works for forty years.  And so I was provoked (displeased and sorely grieved) with that generation, and said, They always err and are led astray in their hearts and they have not perceived or recognized My ways. Accordingly, I swore in My wrath and indignation, They shall not enter into My rest.  [Therefore beware] brethren, take care, lest there be in any one of you a wicked, unbelieving heart [which refuses to cleave to, trust in, and rely on Him], leading you to turn away and desert or stand aloof from the living God. But instead warn (admonish, urge, and encourage) one another every day, as long as it is called Today, that none of you may be hardened [into settled rebellion] by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become fellows with Christ and share in all He has for us, if only we hold our first newborn confidence and original assured expectation [in virtue of which we are believers] firm and unshaken to the end. Then while it is [still] called Today, if you would hear His voice and when you hear it, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion [in the desert, when the people provoked Yahweh against them]. For who were they who heard and yet were rebellious and provoked [Him]? Was it not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was He provoked and grieved for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose dismembered bodies were strewn and left in the desert? And to whom did He swear that they should not enter His rest, but to those who disobeyed [who had not listened to His word and who refused to be compliant or be persuaded]?  So we see that they were not able to enter [into His rest], because of their unwillingness to adhere to and trust in and to rely on Yahweh [unbelief had shut them out].”

 

David’s house, or lineage lasted until Yasha (Jesus) Christ came. David’s natural lineage ceased at the birth of Yasha. Yasha being the Promised Messiah (the Seed of Abraham) ushered in, on the day of Pentecost a new covenant; a covenant between Yahweh and all men, not limited to the children of Israel. At that moment, we now all have the opportunity to become part of the house of Yahweh through the Spirit of Christ.

 

In all areas of Yasha’s life, he proved to be the son of Yahweh. Not veering one iota away from the righteousness of Yahweh. Being in the exact image of his Father, he fulfilled the righteousness of the law in every way, thus paving the way for us to do the same. He become that conduit that would allow us to enter into the House of Yahweh.

 

Through the experiences of all those who have their testimonies written down in the Scriptures, we can gleam something, hopefully draw from their experience and grow into the righteousness of the Father.

 

The following scriptures are very explanatory toward the subject of the Sabbath Rest.

 

Galatians 5:16-26

Walking in the Spirit

 

“I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.  For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”

 

What are the works of the flesh?

 

“Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,  idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,  envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of Yahweh.”

 

What are the fruit of the Spirit?

 

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

 

Hebrews 3:1-6

What is our responsibility?

 

“So then, brethren, consecrated and set apart for Yahweh, who share in the heavenly calling, [thoughtfully and attentively] consider Yasha, the Apostle and High Priest Whom we confessed [as ours when we embraced the Christian faith]. [See how] faithful He was to Him Who appointed Him [Apostle and High Priest], as Moses was also faithful in the whole house [of Yahweh]. Yet Yasha has been considered worthy of much greater honor and glory than Moses, just as the builder of a house has more honor than the house [itself]. For every house is built and furnished by someone, but the Builder of all things and the Furnisher is Yahweh. And Moses certainly was faithful in the administration of all Yahweh’s house as a ministering servant. [In his entire ministry he was but] a testimony to the things which were to be spoken [the revelations to be given afterward in Christ]. But Christ (the Messiah) was faithful over His [own Father’s] house as a Son [and Master of it]. And it is we who are [now members] of this house, if we hold fast and firm to the end our joyful and exultant confidence and sense of triumph in our hope [in Christ].”

 

Hebrews 4:1-11,

Complete faith in Christ is the key.

 

Therefore, while the promise of entering His rest still holds and is offered [today], let us be afraid [to distrust it], lest any of you should think he has come too late and has come short of [reaching] it. For indeed we have had the glad tidings [the Gospel] proclaimed to us just as truly as they [the Israelites of old did when the good news of deliverance from bondage came to them]; but the message they heard did not benefit them, because it was not mixed with faith (with absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness) by those who heard it; neither were they united in faith with the ones [Joshua and Caleb] who heard.  For we who have believed (adhered to and trusted in and relied on Yahweh) do enter that rest, in accordance with His declaration that those [who did not believe] should not enter when He said, As I swore in My wrath, they shall not enter My rest; and this He said although [His] had been completed and prepared [and waiting for all who would believe] from the foundation of the world. For in a certain place He has said this about the seventh day: And Yahweh rested on the seventh day from all His works. And they forfeited their part in it, for in this [passage] He said, they shall not enter My rest. Seeing then that the promise remains over [from past times] for some to enter that rest, and that those who formerly were given the good news about it and the opportunity, failed to appropriate it and did not enter because of disobedience, for in a certain place He has said this about the seventh day: And God rested on the seventh day from all His works. And [they forfeited their part in it, for] in this [passage] He said, they shall not enter My rest.

 

Seeing then that the promise remains over [from past times] for some to enter that rest, and that those who formerly were given the good news about it and the opportunity, failed to appropriate it and did not enter because of disobedience, again He sets a definite day, [a new] Today, [and gives another opportunity of securing that rest] saying through David after so long a time in the words already quoted, Today, if you would hear His voice and when you hear it, do not harden your hearts. [This mention of a rest was not a reference to their entering into Canaan.] For if Joshua had given them rest, He [Yahweh] would not speak afterward about another day. So then, there is still awaiting a full and complete Sabbath-rest reserved for the [true] people of Yahweh; For he who has once entered  [Yahweh’s] rest also has ceased from [the weariness and pain] of human labors, just as Yahweh rested from those labors peculiarly His own. Let us therefore be zealous and exert ourselves and strive diligently to enter that rest [of Yahweh, to know and experience it for ourselves], that no one may fall or perish by the same kind of unbelief and disobedience [into which those in the wilderness fell]. For the Word that Yahweh speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart. And not a creature exists that is concealed from His sight, but all things are open and exposed, naked and defenseless to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.”