*(Alt title: Shabbat & Pesach: Moedim with Elohim)*
To be read from the twilight between two festivals (Nissan 14, 5781 / 27-28th March 2021): https://anchor.fm/sy-adamah
As the sun has set with the evening and has risen with the morning, the weekly Sabbath (Shabbat) has been celebrated; and, as the night falls on the day, the annual Passover (Pesach) will begin.
The Sabbath is the Hebrew holy day occurring once every week, from the start to the finish of every seventh day. The Sabbath day starts from sunset of the sixth until dusk of the seventh, or from the twilight of the former to the nightfall of the latter.
In Jewish tradition, the seventh day, Saturday, is dedicated to commemorate, emulate and celebrate God’s original six-day act of creation, sanctified and sealed with cessation on the seventh.
“Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth and all the host of them were finished.
Genesis 1:31-2:3 (NKJV) (emphasis mine)
[…]
Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.”
As the Creator, God seeks to share this seal of sanctification with His creation on the seventh day of each week; as well as the day itself, God similarly sanctifies creation, His creatures and His covenant partners. And when God’s covenant partners choose to imitate God’s six-day creative act they also participate in His creative rhythm: the rhythm of creating for six and ceasing on the seventh; a harmonic series of six working days marked off with a sign of solemn rest on the seventh.
“And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: ‘Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you. You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to you.
Exodus 31:12-17 (NKJV) (emphasis mine)
[…]
Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD.
[…]
Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.’ “
The Sabbath is a sign between covenant partners, a seal between co-creators; it is a sign and seal of solemn rest, a signature of complete creation by the seventh day. (see A.J. Heschel, The Sabbath, p.28)
These “Sabbaths” are also known as Moedim, God’s appointed times. These appointed times serve as sacred time, holy time, and time set-apart by the Most-High and His co-creators to re-convene and rendezvous. Simply put, these are unique dates set by partners to meet once again.
” ‘Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.’ ”
Leviticus 23:3 (NKJV) (emphasis mine)
As apparent and noticeable in Chapter 23 of Leviticus, both the Seventh (of creation) and the Sabbath (of redemption) act as a biblical base upon which all other Hebraic holy days (Sabbaths) are built from; these holy days of rest, these Seventh days, these Saturdays are the source from which all other appointed times spring.
“And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘The feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts.”
Leviticus 23: 1-2 (NKJV) (emphasis mine)
These other appointed times are the biblical “feasts” written in Leviticus 23, which follow the Seventh and the Sabbath in written order, time and precedence. Through the Hebrew calendar, the feasts begin with the Passover (Pesach) and end with Tabernacles (Sukkot). On this calendar, the Passover occurs once every year, on the fourteenth day of the first month [Nissan]: the second seventh of each year.
“Now the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, ‘This month [Nissan] shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you.
Exodus 12:1-2 (NKJV) (emphasis mine)
” ‘These are the feasts of the LORD, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times. On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the LORD’s Passover.”
Leviticus 23: 4-5 (NKJV) (emphasis mine)
The feast of Passover is time considered sacred, holy and set-apart to remember, re-tell, and re-enact the origin story of Hebrew-Israelite redemption. A story about deliverance from oppressive Egyptian slavery by the God of Israel: YHWH.
“And God spoke all these words, saying: ‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.”
Exodus 20: 1-2 (NKJV) (emphasis mine)
As the Redeemer, an alternative sign of this redemption story – as opposed to the creation story – is the bloodshed of a pure and perfect lamb: slaughtered, roasted and eaten as the Korban Pesach (the Passover sacrifice) with matzah (unleavened bread) and maror (bitter herbs).
“Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: ‘On the tenth of this month [Nissan] every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household.
Exodus 12: 3-6 (NKJV) (emphasis mine)
[…]
Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year.
[…]
Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight.”
In this redemption story, the sign of innocent bloodshed is sealed with the blood-spread across the lintel and doorposts of Israelite houses to signify those who dwell with God.
” ‘And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.
Exodus 12:7-11 (NKJV) (emphasis mine)
[…]
So you shall eat it in haste. It is the LORD’s Passover.“
Because of this original sign and seal of redemption, the second seventh of each year is marked as sacred time to meet and feast with God. This holy time is rehashed year-by-year to rendezvous with the Redeemer. This time is revered and set-apart year-after-year to re-live this redemption story through the Seder – the Passover feast.
” ‘Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance.”
Exodus 12: 12-14 (NKJV) (emphasis mine)
In essence, the Seventh day acts as the primordial seal on God’s complete creation, a seal between Creator and creation. Whereas both the Sabbath day and Passover feast act as original signs & seals between Creator and covenant partner. A covenant of creation and redemption which is signed and sealed through days of rest and days to feast:
1 – The Seventh & Sabbath Day (Shabbat)
2 – The Passover (Pesach)
3 – The Feast of Unleavened Bread (Matzot)
4 – First-fruits & The Feast of Weeks (Bikkurim & Shavu’ot)
5 – The Feast of Trumpets (Yom Teruah)
6 – The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur)
7 – The Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot)
Seven Moedim to meet with Elohim, the Most-High;
The Sabbath: to be at rest, to be at peace and to be replete with God, the Creator;
“And God said, ‘See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food.
Genesis 1:29-31 (NKJV) (emphasis mine)
[…]
Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.”
The Passover: to eat, to break fast and to break bread with God, the Redeemer;
“Then came the Day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover must be killed. And He sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat.’
Luke 22:7-20 (NKJV) (emphasis mine)
[…]
When the hour had come, He sat down, and twelve apostles with Him.
[…]
And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’
Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.’ “
Seven appointed times signed and sealed with the body and blood of the Anointed One, the festive and redemptive meat of the Messiah, the Lamb of the living God.
Bibliography
(Anon.). 1982. The Holy Bible, New King James Version. Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Heschel, A.J. 1951. The Sabbath. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
McNall, Joshua M. The Mosaic of Atonement: An Integrated Approach to Christ’s Work. US: Zondervan Academic.
Pitre, B. 2011. Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist. New York: Image.
Alephbeta.org. (2021) Passover. Available at: <https://www.alephbeta.org/passover>
Chabad.org. Fast of the Firstborn. Available at: <https://www.chabad.org/holidays/passover/pesach_cdo/aid/1741/jewish/Fast-of-the-Firstborn.htm>
Chabad.org. The Fast of the Firsborn. Available at: <https://www.chabad.org/holidays/passover/pesach_cdo/aid/1678/jewish/The-Fast-of-the-First-Born.htm>
Sy 'Adamah #SageSpeaks 