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R. T. Tippett

Isaiah 58:9b-14 - Understanding the Sabbath and taking delight in it


If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,

[10] if you offer your food to the hungry

and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,

then your light shall rise in the darkness

and your gloom be like the noonday.

[11] Yahweh will guide you continually,

and satisfy your needs in parched places, and make your bones strong;

and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water,

whose waters never fail.

[12] Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;

you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;

you shall be called the repairer of the breach,

the restorer of streets to live in.

[13] If you refrain from trampling the sabbath,

from pursuing your own interests on my holy day;

if you call the sabbath a delight

and the holy day of Yahweh honorable;

if you honor it, not going your own ways,

serving your own interests, or pursuing your own affairs;

[14] then you shall take delight in Yahweh,

and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth;

I will feed you with the heritage of your ancestor Jacob,

for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken. ס


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In verse nine, which is only the second half of the whole verse that is chosen for reading, the key term missed in translation is “from your midst,” which is the construct translation of “mit·tō·wḵ·ḵā” (from “tavek”). The NRSV translation of “among you” avoids this verse being Yahweh answering the call – pleas for help – from those in pain and suffering, telling them, “if you take away from your midst the yoke,” where the “yoke” denotes spiritual servitude to Yahweh, as his wife-soul. If you reject divine union with the Spirit of Yahweh, then you suffer. You “point fingers” at everyone but yourself as the cause of your woes. Without the “yoke” that is the soul of Yahweh’s Son (Adam-Jesus) controlling one’s actions [led to righteousness] as one’s Lord [an “adonay” of Yahweh], then pain and suffering can always be seen as self-inflicted.


Verse ten does not suggest that feeding the hungry with physical food wins any brownie points. Isaiah wrote, “and you extend to the hungry your soul,” where “the hungry” are seeking spiritual nourishment. This is why they would be crying out in pain, from suffering malnutrition of their souls, not they bellies. This is why Isaiah then was led to write about the “darkness” of despair that comes from being faced away from Yahweh and the “light” that comes when one extends the soul of Adam-Jesus from within one’s soul to within the soul of another. This is the truth of ministry in the name (either of Yahweh or Jesus) of a Messiah (or a Christ).

Verse eleven says Yahweh “will guide you” in this ministry. His presence within one’s soul never ends. All “droughts” of spiritual sustenance will be overflowing with His Spirit. Your body (or “bones”) and “soul” will be joined with His Spirit, which gives one strength and be like a well-cared for “garden.” The Spirit makes one like a “spring” of everlasting “waters,” like Jesus spoke of to the Samaritan woman at a well.


When we read in verse twelve: “Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations,” that mistranslation again takes one’s mind and directs it to the physical, as if Yahweh wanted to replant the vineyard he said he would let go to waste (in last Sunday’s readings). This must be read in spiritual terms, as Yahweh speaking to the saved soul He would send into ministry. They would be washed clean of all past sins – “shall built from among you waste places” – so all that one had destroyed of self will be rebuilt as the Son of Yahweh reborn. These Saints will become the “foundations” upon which true salvation of souls comes [Jesus would fulfill this prophecy]. The “repairer of the breach” refers to the wall shown Amos, where the plumb line showed the wall of Mosaic Law was collapsing because of the neglect of the leaders. To read of “the restorer of streets to live in,” this speaks spiritually of the “return to a path” of righteousness that is the true meaning of being an Israelite. This becomes a way of life, not a religion to memorize and quote, while never living up to anything quoted.


In verse thirteen, twice Isaiah wrote of the “Sabbath” (“miš·šab·bāṯ” and “laš·šab·bāṯ”). The literal translation says, “if you turn away from the sabbath your foot , making your pleasure on day my sacredness and proclaim the sabbath a delight , the sacred Yahweh burdensome , and will bear him not doing your own ways , not finding your own delight nor speaking words .” From this, it becomes important to realize that the first six days of Creation lasted hundreds of millions of years; so, when Yahweh declared the Creation finished and told the “elohim” to cease what they had been doing in Yahweh’s name, the “sabbath” began only a few thousands of years ago. That means (relatively speaking) the Sabbath is every day, forever more. To be so restrictive to think Yahweh meant take one day out of every seven and deem that Yahweh’s “sacred day” is the problem. The Jews attempt to honor the twenty-four hours, but Christians love the god golf and limit the honoring of Yahweh to a couple of hours each week (if that). The “sabbath” is every day; so, to not serve Yahweh in seeing every day as His “delight” for one’s own soul and see the “sabbath” as when one must stop doing one’s own “delights” or “pleasures” on a day deemed the “sabbath” (Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, depending on the religions that serve man, not Yahweh) is not good in Yahweh’s ‘eyes.’


When one can grasp that Yahweh was not telling future readers of these verses of Isaiah that He would be tickled pink if Jews would spend a whole twenty-four hours every seven days holding off on doing their own “pleasures” and whipping themselves into obedience with the Law, instead expecting all to sacrifice their own self-pleasures and self-delights to take sheer delight in Yahweh’s lifestyle (that of a Saint), the verse fourteen makes much more sense. Here, Yahweh says when one’s soul “takes delight in Yahweh,” then one’s soul has divinely wed Yahweh. When He then says, “I will cause you to ride on the earth,” where the metaphor is the white horse Jesus will come within one’s soul, as one’s Lord over the flesh (metaphor of “earth”), this says Yahweh will send His Son’s soul to make you take great “delight” in that presence, because Jesus is the love of Yahweh. It is Jesus who will “feed” one’s soul with spiritual food. The Word of Yahweh will then be placed in one’s “mouth,” as the soul of Adam-Jesus will speak the truth for others to hear. The “heritage of Jacob” – a name meaning “Supplanter” – means Jesus will supplant one’s own soul-flesh, becoming the Lord that will lead one to be named “Israel” and be a minister for Yahweh as His prophet.

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