Shavuot - The fulfillment of Prophecy
Notes
Transcript
Shavuot - The Feast of Pentecost
Shavuot - The Feast of Pentecost
Good Morning! Today we are celebrating Pentecost or Shavuot as it is referred in the Torah. Shavuot is one of the three so-called “pilgrimage feasts” observed by the Jewish people. These “pilgrimage-feast” we called this because they were commanded to observe this at the Temple in Yerushalayim.
We first hear about this holy gathering in Leviticus Chapter 23 where God sets up this holy gathering, which was to take place on Shavuot (always the day after the morning of the Sabbath, which as you may recall, starts Friday night).
“ ‘From the day after the day of rest—that is, from the day you bring the sheaf for waving—you are to count seven full weeks, until the day after the seventh week; you are to count fifty days; and then you are to present a new grain offering to Adonai.
“Jewish tradition teaches that God gave the Torah or Law to His people at Mount Sinai on the day of Shavuot.” - jewishvioce.org so the Jewish tradition celebrates this accordingly, (the giving of the Torah). This giving of the Torah basically started the Jewish faith as it gave them their unique distinctive identity as Torah-observers. By observing the Torah, Jews now were able to learn more about God, about His nature, His Character, His promises and the corresponding commandments (or mitzvot) that were required to maintain right relationship with Him. Much like we stay up all night waiting for the ball to drop on New Year’s eve, Observant Jews spend an entire evening reading Torah together and when dawn breaks, they pray together and read the 10 commandments.
The Christian Pentecost is not celebrated the same as the Jewish one because we count out 50 days from Easter rather than counting it by seven weeks from passover, but the church’s very first Pentecost was celebrated on the traditional Jewish date.
Shavuot and the Christian
Shavuot and the Christian
This brings us to the Christian celebration of Shavuot. Centuries after God gave the law on Mt. Sinai, He said there would come a time when He would write His law on the hearts of His people.
“Here, the days are coming,” says Adonai, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Isra’el and with the house of Y’hudah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers on the day I took them by their hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt; because they, for their part, violated my covenant, even though I, for my part, was a husband to them,” says Adonai. “For this is the covenant I will make with the house of Isra’el after those days,” says Adonai: “I will put my Torah within them and write it on their hearts; I will be their God, and they will be my people.
Isn’t this an amazing promise? The law of God would no longer be consigned to tablets of stone, rather it would be written on the hearts of all of His people. Then He follows up with a promise to be a very personal God. See, this is what God had originally intended for the nation of Israel- to make them a nation of priests, but they were unwilling to accept this high calling.
All the people experienced the thunder, the lightning, the sound of the shofar, and the mountain smoking. When the people saw it, they trembled. Standing at a distance, they said to Moshe, “You, speak with us; and we will listen. But don’t let God speak with us, or we will die.” Moshe answered the people, “Don’t be afraid, because God has come only to test you and make you fear him, so that you won’t commit sins.” So the people stood at a distance, but Moshe approached the thick darkness where God was.
They were too afraid of the voice of God so instead they had to settle to be a nation WITH priests. So by the time Jesus came to do His ministry on earth this was the condition in which the people found themselves. Dependent on priests and teachers to intercede between them and God. This is where we pick up our story.
The very first celebration of Pentecost following the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. Before we go into that let’s take a look at why the Apostles and disciples were together to begin with.
Now I am sending forth upon you what my Father promised, so stay here in the city until you have been equipped with power from above.”
So they were going to receive power from above. Well, we know the story, what happened next… they certainly received power from on high. They received the power of the Holy Spirit to live their lives. But that’s only part of the story. It’s important we learn the other very big reason we celebrate Pentecost together. But more on that in a bit. Let’s read the account in acts first.
Now there were staying in Yerushalayim religious Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd gathered; they were confused, because each one heard the believers speaking in his own language. Totally amazed, they asked, “How is this possible? Aren’t all these people who are speaking from the Galil? How is it that we hear them speaking in our native languages? We are Parthians, Medes, Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Y’hudah, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome; Jews by birth and proselytes; Jews from Crete and from Arabia!… How is it that we hear them speaking in our own languages about the great things God has done?” Amazed and confused, they all went on asking each other, “What can this mean?” But others made fun of them and said, “They’ve just had too much wine!”
They received power all right. But there is something quite amazing about what happened in this passage of scripture. Now remember, Shavuot is a pilgrimage festival, so the people of Israel were to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to celebrate. It’s no wonder then, that there were Jews there from “every nation under heaven!” This is also the antithesis of something that happened in the Old Testament. Let’s go there together.
The whole earth used the same language, the same words. It came about that as they traveled from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shin‘ar and lived there. They said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them in the fire.” So they had bricks for building-stone and clay for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city with a tower that has its top reaching up into heaven, so that we can make a name for ourselves and not be scattered all over the earth.”
Adonai came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. Adonai said, “Look, the people are united, they all have a single language, and see what they’re starting to do! At this rate, nothing they set out to accomplish will be impossible for them! Come, let’s go down and confuse their language, so that they won’t understand each other’s speech.” So from there Adonai scattered them all over the earth, and they stopped building the city. For this reason it is called Bavel [confusion]—because there Adonai confused the language of the whole earth, and from there Adonai scattered them all over the earth.
In the Old Testament, God scatters the people because of their pride. He came down and confused their language. But as the preacher in Ecclesiastes says:
a time to throw stones and a time to gather stones,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
Did you catch the part about stones? Now read this.
For you have tasted that Adonai is good.
As you come to him, the living stone, rejected by people but chosen by God and precious to him, you yourselves, as living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be cohanim set apart for God to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to him through Yeshua the Messiah.
Whoa! What is the significance then? Why on the one hand would God scatter people that want to walk in unity and on the other gather together others for the express purpose of walking together in unity?
Well, he tells you the purpose right there. “being built into a spiritual house to be cohanim set apart for God to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to Him through Yeshua the Messiah”. What does that word even mean? Cohanim means priests. So we are being built into a spiritual house to be priests! What was it that God originally wanted for the nation of Israel? That’s right! He wanted them to be priests! And now here He is, giving us the very same opportunity! Starting out the church in much the same way as He stared the nation of Israel, by allowing them to have a powerful encounter with the God of the Universe who would write His law upon their hearts!
Think about this for a moment church, if you have been filled with the Spirit of God, you have the indwelling presence of the one who caused the rumblings atop Mt. Sinai, whose finger penned the law of Moses onto those stone tablets. You have been granted the opportunity and privilege that God’s very own chosen people declined. That is saying something! And what about unity? What was that all about? Well, that is the second and perhaps most enduring source of power!
Unity Births mighty movements of God!
Unity Births mighty movements of God!
The birth of the church didn’t come in with a whimper. There was no stealth attack. No sneaky Christian ninjas- no sir! It came heralded by a mighty move of the Holy Spirit. It started with 120 locked up in an upper room unwilling to make a move until they got a hold of the hand of God. They sat there, they called out to the Father and said, “GOD! We will not move from here until you give us a vision! We will not move until we receive all that you have for us!” They were together. They were in one accord! They were ready to receive from God, and they all wanted it more than they wanted life itself! They had laid a foundation that God could move upon, they were ready to burst out on the world and invade it with force! They were together in one accord! They had unity! And they changed the world!!!!!
If we are to gain any kind of traction as believers, we have to live in unity. We have to be in one accord.
How do we know when we have unity?
How do we know when we have unity?
Meanwhile, through the emissaries many signs and miracles continued to be done among the people. United in mind and purpose, the believers met in Shlomo’s Colonnade; and no one else dared to join them. Nevertheless, the people continued to regard them highly; and throngs of believers were added to the Lord, both men and women. They went so far as to bring the sick into the streets and lay them on mattresses and stretchers, so that at least Kefa’s shadow might fall on them as he passed by. Crowds also gathered from the towns around Yerushalayim, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits; and every one of them was healed.
Verse 12 They were in one accord.
Verse 13 They won the esteem of the people.
Verse 14 They experienced growth
I wonder why the church of today lacks the authority, the esteem of the people? Could it be that everyone thinks that they can do it better? I have a question for them: If they really believe they could do it better, then why didn’t God give them the Church to begin with? Enough said! And why don’t people grow? Well, if you’re not growing (either a church growing in numbers, or an individual growing in his walk) then there is a core issue with division.
But let him ask in trust, doubting nothing; for the doubter is like a wave in the sea being tossed and driven by the wind. Indeed that person should not think that he will receive anything from the Lord, because he is double-minded, unstable in all his ways.
However, knowing what they were thinking, Yeshua said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not survive.
So what does all it mean?
So what does all it mean?
Well, it’s simple really. God told the people to wait until they received power, and then He gave them power! He gave them the power of the Holy Spirit to live their lives supernaturally, but he also gave them something that was perhaps even more important. The power that comes from Unity. Let’s all pray together for Unity in our land. She is crying out right now with deep seeded division that is causing her to burn and bleed. IF there was ever a time to call out to God, to scream for His power to overtake the land, it’s now!
Let’s pray.