Shavuot (Pentecost) May 2020
About 1500 B.C.
[Exo 19:18-22 NASB] 18 Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the LORD
descended upon it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace,
and the whole mountain quaked violently. 19 When the sound of the trumpet (shofar)
grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him with thunder. 20 The
LORD came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain; and the LORD called
Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. 21 Then the LORD
spoke to Moses, "Go down, warn the people, so that they do not break
through to the LORD to gaze, and many of them perish. 22 "Also let the
priests who come near to the LORD consecrate themselves, or else the LORD will
break out against them."
[Exo 24:1-18 NASB] 1 Then He said to Moses, "Come up to
the LORD, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and seventy of the elders of Israel,
and you shall worship at a distance. 2 "Moses alone, however, shall come
near to the LORD, but they shall not come near, nor shall the people come up
with him." 3 Then
Moses came and recounted to the people all the words of the LORD and all the ordinances;
and all the people answered with one voice and said, "All the words which
the LORD has spoken we will do!" 4 Moses wrote down all the words of the
LORD. Then he arose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot
of the mountain with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 He sent
young men of the sons of Israel, and they offered burnt offerings and
sacrificed young bulls as peace offerings to the LORD. 6 Moses took half of the blood and put it in
basins, and the other half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. 7 Then he
took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people; and
they said, "All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be
obedient!" 8 So Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, and
said, "Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD has made with you
in accordance with all these words." 9 Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu,
and seventy of the elders of Israel, 10 and they saw the God of Israel; and
under His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky
itself. 11 Yet He did not stretch out His hand against the nobles of the sons
of Israel; and they saw God, and they ate and drank. 12 Now the LORD said to
Moses, "Come up to Me on the mountain and remain there, and I will give
you the stone tablets with the law and the commandment which I have written for
their instruction." 13 So Moses arose with Joshua his servant, and
Moses went up to the mountain of God. 14 But to the elders he said, "Wait
here for us until we return to you. And behold, Aaron and Hur are with you;
whoever has a legal matter, let him approach them." 15 Then Moses went up
to the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. 16 The glory of the LORD
rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; and on the
seventh day He called to Moses from the midst of the cloud. 17 And to the eyes
of the sons of Israel the appearance of the glory of the LORD was like a
consuming fire on the mountain top. 18 Moses entered the midst of the cloud as
he went up to the mountain; and Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty
nights.
At the
sound of the Shofar, God came to Israel. God gave them the book of the covenant
and the Torah, the law and the commandment of instruction, and the people committed
to living by it saying, "All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we
will be obedient!" Then Moses sprinkled the blood from the sacrifices, the
blood of the covenant, on the people. These events are events associated with
the Jewish wedding. With these acts, Israel became engaged to God beginning Israel’s
journey with God, a journey that ends with the Lord’s return at the end of the
age.
Shavuot 70 A.D.
[Act 1:4-5, 8 NASB] 4 Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave
Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, "Which," He
said, "you heard of from Me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will
be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." ... 8 but you
will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My
witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the
remotest part of the earth."
[Act 2:1-4 NASB] 1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they
were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing
wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 And there
appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on
each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to
speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.
[Act 2:16-21, 37-43, 47 NASB] 16 but this is what was spoken
of through the prophet Joel: 17 'AND IT SHALL BE IN THE LAST DAYS,' God says,
'THAT I WILL POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT ON ALL MANKIND; AND YOUR SONS AND YOUR
DAUGHTERS SHALL PROPHESY, AND YOUR YOUNG MEN SHALL SEE VISIONS, AND YOUR OLD
MEN SHALL DREAM DREAMS; 18 EVEN ON MY BONDSLAVES, BOTH MEN AND WOMEN, I WILL IN
THOSE DAYS POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT And they shall prophesy. 19 'AND I WILL
GRANT WONDERS IN THE SKY ABOVE AND SIGNS ON THE EARTH BELOW, BLOOD, AND FIRE,
AND VAPOR OF SMOKE. 20 'THE SUN WILL BE TURNED INTO DARKNESS AND THE MOON INTO
BLOOD, BEFORE THE GREAT AND GLORIOUS DAY OF THE LORD SHALL COME. 21 'AND IT
SHALL BE THAT EVERYONE WHO CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.' ... 37 Now when they heard this,
they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles,
"Brethren, what shall we do?" 38 Peter said to them, "Repent,
and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your
sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 "For the
promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as
the Lord our God will call to Himself." 40 And with many other
words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, "Be saved from this
perverse generation!" 41 So then, those who had received his word were
baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. 42 They were continually
devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the
breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and
many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. ... 47 praising
God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their
number day by day those who were being saved.
Jesus sent
His disciples to Jerusalem to wait for the promise of the Father. This gift was
being empowered by the Holy Spirit to be God’s witnesses even to the remote
parts of the earth. On that day the ecclesia, the Church, began and 3000 souls
were saved that day. Thus began the Church’s journey that one day ends when the
Lord Himself comes in the air to take His Bride home to His Father’s house for the
Lord’s wedding (1 Thes 4:13-18; 1 Cor 15:50-58).
Once again,
these events are associate with a marriage, the marriage of Christians to the
Lord Jesus. It is Jesus’ blood that seals our covenant of marriage with God the
Son, Jesus. And we the believers commit to living by our marriage contract, the
New Covenant, sealed in Christ’s blood. We say that the Bride price paid for us
is more than enough every time we share the bread during our sacrament of
communion. And every time we share the cup of wine we are saying yes to Jesus’
proposal of marriage.
The Lord’s
instructions to His Church through Peter were to repent, be baptized in the
name of Jesus, and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. They were to devote themselves
to the apostles’ teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and prayer. And
they went out into the world to spread the good news of the Gospel and the Lord
added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
May 29, 2020
Now we come
to Shavuot or Pentecost 2020. What might this Pentecost bring?
Many are
hearing the Lord calling His Church, His Bride, to a new level of commitment and
consecration in preparation for His coming in the air for His Bride.
Could this
Shavuot bring the Bride a new and fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit bringing
greater spiritual authority and power for the days and tasks that lie ahead?
Is the
final harvest (ingathering of souls) of the wheat fields, the gleaning of the
fields, at hand?
Is the
Father sending His servants out into the world to gather all they can find
until the wedding hall is filled?
[Mat 22:2-10 NKJV] 2 "The kingdom of heaven is
like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, 3 "and
sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they
were not willing to come. 4 "Again,
he sent out other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, "See, I
have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things
are ready. Come to the wedding." ' 5 "But they made light of
it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. 6
"And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed
them. 7 "But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out
his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. 8 "Then
he said to his servants, 'The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were
not worthy. 9 'Therefore
go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.' 10
"So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all
whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with
guests.
[Luk 14:23 NLT] 23 So his master said, 'Go out
into the country lanes and behind the hedges and urge anyone you find to come,
so that the house will be full.
Just what
will this coming Shavuot or Pentecost look like? We are living in unusual times
and seasons. Amidst the unique turmoil of our day, just how this new outpouring
of the Holy Spirit plays out might appear different than in 70 A.D. Perhaps just listening to the worship song "These Are the Days of Elijah" might give us some clues.
What many
are hearing from the Lord is that we must be listening to His voice as never
before, hearing specifically what He is saying to the Churches, and to each
person individually, for instructions for the coming days.
The coming
days will be days of intimacy with the Lord, days of renewed and zealous
commitment and consecration to the Lord. These days are to be days of
engagement in the Lord’s plans and activities as He moves to bring this current
age to an end and as He initiates a new era on the earth. Like the first Shavuot
and the Shavuot of 70 A.D., Shavuots are all about weddings and God’s Bride.
The Lord is preparing His Bride. The wedding is soon approaching. Are you
ready?
