Yitro (Jethro/Abundance)
5) Exodus 18:1–20:26 [23 TANAKH]
I came down from a mountain top experience last weekend in Colorado Springs that I mentioned last week. In this week’s portion, the Israelites are about to have their mountain top experience of encountering God at Mt. Sinai.
I’m going to drop in a little exegetical insight here that I hope will help free you to live and walk by the Spirit. But while I’ll point the way, you’ll need to do a little digging. But it will be worth it, I promise.
This week’s portion contains the first rendering of the ten commandments in Exodus 20:2-17. The second rendering of the “ten words” (as they are technically called) is given 40 years later in Deuteronomy 5:6-21. These are identical renderings, right?
Wrong.
The fourth commandment is the Sabbath command. God seems to make a big deal about rest. The prophet Jeremiah tells us in Jer. 6:16,
This is what the LORD says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.”
Yeshua gave a compelling invitation in Matthew 11:28-30 building on Jeremiah’s words that calls to every hungry and restless soul,
Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.
Beloved — how is your soul? Let’s go deeper…
Read through both renderings of the 4th commandment — the Sabbath command. Are they the same? What’s different about them?
The rationale. While the first is rooted in Creation, the second is anchored in Redemption. A fitting way to invite God’s people to be tethered to eternity by a weekly foretaste of redemptive rest designed to restore Eden-like intimacy in all Creation once again. Does your heart dare to yearn for this? Mine does.
Now look a little deeper. The rationale is not the only difference.
The Exodus version says, “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy” (Ex. 20:8). In Hebrew, the command is זָכוֹר (zachor), coming from a root word meaning “to remember.”
The Deuteronomy version says, “Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy” (Deut. 5:12. In Hebrew, the command is שָׁמוֹר (shamor), coming from a root word meaning “to guard or to keep.”
Holy means “set apart.” So, God commands us — He compellingly invites us — into His restorative rest by our remembering and guarding His Rest-Day. And this Rest-Day is a Blessed-Day.
Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. (Genesis 2:3)
Now here’s the key. Remembering something and guarding it means there is intentionality to do something about it. The very acts of remembering and guarding function to set apart and thus make holy. These acts of remembering and guarding thus function to take you across the threshold of common time and into holy time and step deeper into God’s blessing He declared in Genesis 2:3.
This is the mind of the Spirit. How different is this from getting caught up in the mind of the flesh that immediately looks to what we think God’s DOs and DON’Ts are? We naturally look to our DOing and DON’Ting to either commend or condemn ourselves or others. This is not how the love of God works. The Father’s love actually frees us to obey because His love compels us into the arms of His Son in whom we are commended because He took our condemnation. There is mystery here but beloved - let the mystery draw you closer into His arms. That is where the rest is.
Readings for the Week:
Torah: EXODUS 18:1–20:26 [23 TANAKH]
Prophets: ISAIAH 6:1–7:6; 9:6–7 [5–6 TANAKH]
Apostolic Writings: MATTHEW 5:8–20
Click HERE for the online Parashah commentary.
Shalom,
Thomas