Yeshua came to Nazareth, where he had
been brought up, and went into the synagogue on Shabbat, as was his habit. (Luke
4:16)
It
was Yeshua’s habit (custom) to go to a synagogue on Shabbat. Shabbat began at sundown on Friday and
ended at sundown on Saturday. It was the seventh day of the Jewish
week. Shabbat is a special period of time in the Jewish culture.
On the seventh day ELOHIYM (the Creator)
completed His work which he had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all
his work which He had done. ELOHIYM blessed the seventh day and set it apart,
because in it He rested from all his work which ELOHIYM had created and made. (Genesis
2:1b-3)
Remember the Shabbat
by keeping it holy. Six
days you shall labor and do all your work, but
the seventh day is a Shabbat to
YAHWEH your ELOHIYM. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son
or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any
foreigner residing in your towns. For
in six days YAHWEH made
the heavens and the earth, the
sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on
the seventh day. Therefore YAHWEH blessed the Shabbat day and made it holy.
(Exodus 20:8-11)
In
Hebrew, to make something “holy” means to “set apart for a particular purpose
or use.” One purpose of the Shabbat is to rest from work and the other is for the
teaching of the Creator’s wisdom and laws. The two places His wisdom and laws
were taught were at the Temple and in the synagogues during the life of Yeshua.
Theodotus, a Greek
historian,[i]
noted that there was an important difference between synagogues in Israel and
those outside the land. The central focus of all synagogues was to teach the
Torah – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus,
Numbers & Deuteronomy. Synagogues in Israel, however, were not “houses of prayer.” [ii]
In the land of Israel there was only one House of Prayer -- the Temple.
Synagogues
in Judea, Samaria and Galilee were “houses of study,” as well as community meeting centers. Yeshua would
have attended the synagogue in Nazareth many times during his life and would
have been well known by those attending it.
Synagogues
shared a number of things in common. The physical alignment of a synagogue pointed
in the direction of the Temple in Jerusalem. When we walked through the
entrance with Yeshua we would see that the seating was on benches, not in pews.
There was a raised platform called a BEMA
in the middle, a MENORAH (a
seven-branched candlestick), and an ARK.[iii]
The congregation faced the Temple as they participated in the services, recited
Scriptures, and were taught the Torah.
Synagogues
were also the centers of community life on the other six days. Meetings were
held and children received their basic education there. Jews traveling through
a town would stop at the local synagogue, especially on the Shabbat. Strangers would be welcomed by the congregation,
invited to eat meals with them, and some synagogues even had places where they could
spend the night. We will learn more about the synagogue in the blog.
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