Who is shalom

They act as if all is okay when, really, all is not okay. Of the increase of his government and shalom there will be no end. In these words, humanity is given a hope of a messiah.

Those living in a tumultuous, hopeless time were given hope that there will someday be one who will re-establish our perfect shalom with God. In John , Jesus was nearing the end of his earthly ministry and prepared the disciples for what lay ahead, knowing that it would not be easy or comfortable.

I do not give to you as the world gives. Shalom, true shalom, will be a restoration of the peace that existed in the beginning and will be the peace that we experience in the New Jerusalem, the New City of Peace. After the crucifixion, the disciples of Jesus were experiencing anything but shalom. They were not at peace, but were in fear, confusion, and were lacking in purpose of what they were to do next. What an encouragement that the first thing Jesus speaks over his bewildered disciples is a proclamation of peace, a reassurance of his promised shalom.

I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything , but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Not for His sake but for ours! Do we trust that God is able to do for us in 6 days what would take us 7 days to complete? Do we trust Him enough to help us prioritize our lives and live the best life He designed for us?

When we try to do everything by ourselves, we are really struggling with trust issues. We often just work harder trying to make whole the things in our lives that we have lost or that we are afraid to lose. In the long run, this rarely works. Enter the word, Shalom. What if one day a week, we focused on not just a day of rest but a day of getting our wholeness restored?

What if weekly we could completely refill our life tank in our bodies, hearts and minds? That is what true shalom does, if we allow it. When our peace is full and overflowing, we are able to trust Him to restore what may have been lost last week. We can confidently move forward in hope that we will have all that we need in the week ahead.

This is what Shabbat is for. Shabbat is for Shalom. Shabbat Shalom. Again, this is more than a greeting. At its very core, that is what Shabbat is about! If this is the way we understand biblical peace, then suddenly many verses take on a whole new meaning. The context of the Aaronic Blessing is ironic pun intended.

God told Aaron to bless Israel with peace while they were getting ready to go conquer the Promised Land. God was referring to an inner peace and completeness brought on by sharing in His countenance and His protection. That was the blessing that Israel needed! Israel was to rarely experience times of outward peace, but even in the midst of battle, they were to have an inward rest brought on by the presence of the Lord, regardless of the outward circumstances — so it should be for us as well.

It is God who was giving shalom to Israel. It was gift then as it for us today. Which will we choose? Will we focus on the conflict and stress around us or will be choose to live and walk in the shalom that is offered to us? The moment you open your eyes and see the two flames of holiness a feeling of peacefulness fills the home. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.

The seventh day of rest is celebrated by Christians on Sunday. In 19th century Britain, Sundays became an official day of rest with no work allowed. This did not take into account the Jewish workers, but they were finally recognized in an American mill in where the milliner decided to give his workers both Saturday and Sunday, so that whatever their religion, they could take their appropriate day of rest.

In , the USA officially adopted a 5 day week. This is one of the most conscious concepts that is currently being encouraged and adopted by meditators, new-age thinkers.

When we are in a mode of being we are able to connect to ourselves, to others and to spirituality. One of the main connections made on Shabbat is between family members, as for one whole day the family spends time with them as no technology, travel, housework or work is permitted.

Consequently, a whole day is spent together as a family — reading, chatting, playing , visiting friends and connecting spiritually through prayer, expressing gratefulness. The majority of passages on the subject of peace are concerned with family or communal life, that is, with internal peace among the people, and only a minority are concerned with external relations between Israel and other peoples, between nations and states.

Other sayings in the same vein are numerous. Nevertheless, alongside this sort of expression the Sages discuss the question of the relationship between peace and other competing values, of situations in which different norms might conflict with one another. In all of these instances, even where peace is given priority and tips the balance, it is viewed as an individual, partial value that must compete with other values.

Here, not only is peace made among men, but also the competing values are reconciled. Drawing upon a fine distinction between the terms used in several scriptural expressions, one rabbinic saying proposed an interesting differentiation between two types of obligation.