There is a connection between the giving of the Law on Mt. Sinai and the giving of the Spirit on Mt. Zion. Both are associated with Pentecost, or the biblical Feast called Shavu’ot or Weeks (e.g., Deut 16:9-10).

In studying the Scriptures, the Jewish Sages of old concluded that the Torah (Law) was given to Israel seven weeks (shavu’ot) or the fiftieth day (pentecostos) following the Exodus from Egypt. At Sinai, Israel’s Redeemer became Israel’s Teacher. Through His servant Moses, the Almighty conveyed divine instruction to His beloved children when the fiery radiance of His Spirit came down on the mountain and wrote upon Tablets of Stone.

Ancient Jewish commentary suggests that the Divine Voice at Sinai separated into tongues of flame that went throughout the earth, so that all nations could hear: “I am the LORD your God … you shall have no other gods before me” (Ex 20:2-3).

Not surprisingly, echoes of Sinai reverberate behind the Acts account of the historic events on Mt. Zion “when the day of Pentecost had fully come” (Ac 2:1ff).

Fifty days after the sacrifice of the Passover Lamb, the disciples of Yeshua, along with the people of Israel and Jewish pilgrims from the nations, assembled at the House of the Lord to commemorate the Festival of Shavu’ot. Once again, to a newly redeemed people, the Almighty came to rest upon a mountain by the fire of His Spirit.

This time He wrote the Torah upon the tablets of the believers’ hearts – in accord with Jeremiah’s promise of a “new covenant” (31:33). As tongues of flame came to rest upon them, the Divine Voice once again gave utterance to the nations. Many heard the good news. Even as three thousand perished at Sinai due to rebellion, at Zion three thousand were added due to faith (Ex 32:28; Ac 2:41).

CHRISTIANS WHO WANT to develop the Hebraic mind of the Messiah will find it helpful to rethink the Torah (Law) in the light of the Spirit. We tend to overlook the baseline biblical truth that “the Torah (Law) is spiritual” (Romans 7:14); that our true selves delight in it (7:22); and that when we walk by the Spirit we will fulfill its righteous requirements (8:4), as did our Lord.

Historically, Christian polemics against Judaism have stressed negative aspects of the Law as that which identifies and condemns sin and brings curse instead of blessing upon the rebellious and disobedient. Here are some Hebraic principles that will help you develop a more positive attitude toward the Torah (Law).

1] The Torah is a loving Father’s teaching. The Hebrew word torah fundamentally connotes guidance and instruction – that which aims you so that you hit the mark. And the mark for the Torah always is life. The English word Law (from the Greek nomos) seldom has such a positive connotation; so you may find it helpful instead to use the Hebrew term that Jesus used, Torah.

2] The Torah is a treasure. Only in light of the above can we appreciate the Psalmist’s attitude: “O how I love your Torah!” (Ps 119:97). Psalm 119 consists of 8 verses for each of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet, and every one of the 176 verses extols the wisdom and will of God found in the multifaceted Torah.

3] The Torah is a gift of the Spirit. The Torah was written by “the finger of God” (Ex 31:18; Deut 9:10). This Hebrew idiom is found also in Luke 11:20 and explained in the parallel of Matthew 12:28. It means “the Spirit of God”. Truly the Torah – the foundational “Scripture” to which the Apostle Paul alludes in 2 Timothy 3:16 – is “inspired”, i.e., in-Spirited. It is God breathed.

4] The Torah is guidance for a redeemed people. The Law was given to Israel after they had been saved out of Egypt, not as the basis or means of their salvation. It was meant to guide the covenant people in paths of righteousness that would bring them to the appointed place of promise and productivity. As followers of Jesus of Nazareth, it is good to be reminded that these things “were written for our instruction” (1 Cor 10:11) as well.

God’s Word is truth (Ps 119:160; Jn 17:17), and Yeshua reminds us that the Holy Spirit is a Spirit of Truth (Jn 15:26). We would do well this Pentecost season to study the spiritual connection between Sinai and Zion.

Dr. Pryor is Founder and President of the
Center for Judaic-Christian Studies.
www.jcstudies.com

© 2009 Dr. Dwight Pryor and The Center for Judaic-Christian Studies. All Rights Reserved.

“What’s in a name?” Juliet assures Romeo. “That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet.”

Shakespeare notwithstanding, names in the Bible are important and meaningful. They convey character and calling, purpose and promise.

Significant life transformations are sometimes demarcated by name changes. Abram becomes Abraham. Jacob’s higher nature is called forth by his new name Israel, and Moses renames Hoshea, his young lieutenant, Joshua.

Behind the name Joshua or Y’hoshua in Hebrew is the assurance that YAH (the LORD) yoshia (will deliver or save) His people – a timely reminder, when ten of the men sent with Joshua to spy out Canaan see it as “a land that devours its inhabitants” and is filled with giants (Numbers 13:32).

Plays on words also are commonplace with Hebrew names.

At the angel’s announcement of a son, Abraham like Sarah was incredulous, and he laughed (va’yitzchak). So the son of promise was named Yitzchak (Isaac). Because God heard (ki-shama) Hagar’s afflictions, she was given a son named Yishma’el (Ishmael). Jacob grasped his first-born twin brother Esau by the heel (ba’akev); so he was called Ya’akov.

WE SEE THIS WORD-PLAY phenomenon in the Gospels with the name Jesus. An angel appears to Mary (Luke 1:31) and to Joseph (Matthew 1:21) announcing the divinely ordained birth of a son. Then he adds, “And you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

This is classic Hebraic expression and word play. In English we normally would say, “You shall name him…” or “Call him…” But the biblical pattern is “You shall call his name …” (cf. Genesis 16:11 and 17:19).

The significant name play is lost to English readers but clear in Hebrew: “You shall call his name Yeshua (Jesus) for he yoshia (will save) his people from their sins.”

The name Yeshua (Jeshua) is found thirty times in the Hebrew Bible. But what is seldom appreciated by Christians is that the name was a common one in the first century. My colleague David Bivin of the Jerusalem School of Synoptic Research has identified it as one of the five most common male Hebrew names of the Second Temple period, along with Shim’on (Simon), Yosef (Joseph), Y’hudah (Judah) and Yochanan (John).

In accordance with Jewish custom, Jesus was given his Hebrew name at his circumcision on the eighth day (Luke 2:21). In this case, it was a common name that held uncommon significance for the identity and mission of Yeshua MiNatzeret (Jesus of Nazareth).

The name, properly pronounced, consists of three syllables: Ye (the e sounding like ei in neighbor); shu (the u sounding like oo in shoot); and a (like the a in father). The accent is on the second or middle syllable.

Why wasn’t the name Yeshua transliterated as Jeshua in the New Testament as it is in English versions of the Old Testament? Because New Testament scriptures were preserved in Greek, not Hebrew, Yeshua was transliterated into the equivalent Greek letters as Iesous (with the addition of a final s for a male name). The iota (I) subsequently was rendered by the letter J in Old English, pronounced as a Y (as in hallelujah). Thus we have the English name Jesus, which in its current pronunciation seems far removed from the original sounding Yeshua.

Christ was not Jesus’ surname. He wasn’t listed in the Nazareth phone directory as “Christ, Jesus”! Christ is the Greek translation of the meaning of the Hebrew title Mashiach, the anointed one. Messiah is its English transliteration.

Christ is a title, therefore, not a second or last name. This is clear from Simon Peter’s response to Yeshua’s question, “Who do you say that I am?” He replies, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16).

The early community of faith called upon the name of Jesus (Yeshua) for salvation (y’shuah). Whether in prayer or baptism or healings, everything was done b’shem Yeshua. “In the name of” is a Hebraic figure of speech that means “with reference to” or “in association with” the person of Jesus.

His name is extraordinarily meaningful to us but it is not a magic formula. How one says it is not as important as how one carries it. To walk in obedience to Christ’s commands and to conduct ourselves in ways that sanctify the name of his Father in heaven is the biblical way to honor the name, Jesus.

© 2009 Dr. Dwight Pryor and The Center for Judaic-Christian Studies. All Rights Reserved.

How much can we really know about the Jewishness of Jesus? That’s a pretty fundamental question, since the goal of this website is to understand the Jewish background of Christianity. I’ve found some pretty important news in my recent reading, and wanted to share it here.

A common approach to studying Jesus is to use two major Jewish sources that are from slightly after his time.* The Mishnah is a record of the oral debates and decisions of the rabbinic teachers that was written down around 200 AD, but supposedly preserves sayings back to 200 BC. The Talmud (in two editions) contains the Mishnah along with an expansive commentary that was published between 200-300 years later. Many who write about Jesus’ Jewish context quote the Mishnah and the Talmud extensively. Their assumption is that oral traditions from Jesus’ day were very long lived, and that even though they were written down later, they are still useful.

Others have protested for quite good reason, because the documents came along much after Jesus’ time. Can they be used? For several decades since the 1960s, the answer of many scholars was a resounding “no.” This was especially the feeling in the mid 1970’s, when a well known scholar, Jacob Neusner, put forth the theory that Judaism completely reinvented itself after the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD. He suggested that everything written in the Mishnah was very late—all the quotes from rabbinic teachers who were supposed to have lived before the time of Jesus, like Hillel and Shammai, were fabricated later. Any scholar who tried to publish something that compared Jesus to other Jewish teachers was laughed out the door.

But in the past decades more and more research has been done to ask the question, how trustworthy is the Mishnah? Can it tell us about Jesus’ time period? And more and more are saying that with care, it actually is. In fact, Neusner himself is one of the researchers who says so. Some parts seem to be very early and very reliable, and some things appear to be added or edited later. For instance, moral tales about the rabbis contain some fanciful elaborations, but sayings attributed to them are thought to be fairly reliable. Since we know when rabbinic teachers lived, we can determine the date of a saying.

This can be really interesting. For instance, one saying that you might have heard is, “Let your house be a meeting place for the sages, cover yourself with the dust of their feet, and drink in their words thirstily.” (Mishnah, Pirke Avot 1:4) It’s attributed to a sage named Yose ben Yoezer, who lived about 200 years before Jesus’ time. If you’ve ever heard Ray Vander Laan or Rob Bell talk about “walking in your rabbi’s dust,” this is where that line comes from. It describes the tradition of teachers wandering the land, staying in people’s homes, and having disciples follow after them and sit at their feet when they taught.

In the 1970’s, scholars would say, “You can’t trust that saying — it’s from 200 AD. That describes the rabbis of then, not Jesus’ time.” (Even though it sounds a lot like what we read in the gospels.) Now, they are concluding that this saying is really from the time of the sage to whom it is attributed — 200 years before Jesus’ ministry. The conclusion is now quite different — that Jesus was taking part in a tradition known for generations before his time. This makes all the difference in the world in terms of painting the Jewish reality around him.

Another thing that scholars have decided are fairly reliable in the Mishnah are the debates between the disciples of Shammai and the disciples of Hillel, which date to sometime between 10 and 70 AD. This is also quite interesting, because their debates come up in Jesus’ ministry. The question Jesus was asked about divorce was about which side he took between the camp of Shammai and Hillel. Their debates over Sabbath observance and making vows are also recorded, and Jesus took a side on these issues too. Often the Mishnah is very helpful in understanding Jesus’ context.

This might be too scholarly of a subject for some readers, but it really is fundamental to the study of Jesus’ Jewishness. And it is true that you have to be very careful about your dating, and not assume something said hundreds of years later describes Jesus’ reality. It’s really not a good idea to assume Jesus and Rashi, who lived a thousand years later, had much in common. Or even to quote the Babylonian Talmud (500 AD) and assume it is what Jesus knew. Unfortunately, plenty of people have done that.

My reference for this is Traditions of the Rabbis from the Era of the New Testament, by David Instone-Brewer, published by Eerdmans in 2004. It’s the first in a series of six volumes that will seek to date saying from the Mishnah and some other early Jewish writings that are relevant to the New Testament era. Dr. Instone-Brewer also wrote a book called Divorce and Remarriage in the Bible: The Social and Literary Context. It examines Jesus’ words on the subject in light of the debates between Hillel and Shammai. He makes some interesting conclusions on how to interpret Jesus’ words about divorce based on his Jewish context.

*It should be said that there are other good sources for studying first-century Judaism, like the Dead Sea Scrolls and the writings of Josephus. My discussion here is just whether the Mishnah and Talmud, the traditional texts of Judaism, are admissible in discussions about Jesus.

© 2009 Lois A. Tverberg, Our Rabbi Jesus: His Jewish Life and Teaching , all rights reserved.

THE FEAST OF SHAVUOT

Leviticus 23:15-22; Deuteronomy 16:9-12; Numbers 28:26-31; Exodus 23:16
Three times a year, all God’s people were to appear before him at the place he chose. The Jewish people determined that place to be the Temple in Jerusalem, where God’s presence lived among the cherubim in the Holy of Holies. At Pesach (Passover), Shavuot (Pentecost), and Sukkot (Tabernacles), the Jews from around the world who were faithful to Yahweh went to the holy city on pilgrimage. The joyful crowd, speaking the languages of the countries from which they had come, crowded into the city. Throngs of people singing, celebrating, making arrangements for their religious obligations, and finding places for their families. The city was alive with the passion and joy that only a religious festival could provide. The modern celebrations of Christmas and Easter pale in comparison to the magnitude of those great religious festivals. Their meaning and ceremony were deeply rooted in the past, but they also provided hope for the future as people were assured of God’s continued care for them. It was no accident that those feast days were the times God selected for the great redemptive acts of Jesus, the Jewish Messiah. On the festival of Shavuot, he revealed his presence in a whole new way.

THE NAME OF THE FESTIVAL

This feast had several designations in the Bible. In Hebrew it was called Shavuot, meaning “weeks” (Ex. 34:22; Deut. 16:9,10), from which the English “Feast of Weeks” was derived. This designation was taken from God’s command to celebrate “seven full weeks” after the Sabbath of Passover week (Lev. 23:15), placing the festival in the third month of the religious year, the month Sivan. Greek-speaking Jews referred to the feast as Pentecoste, meaning “50 days” (Acts 2:1), from which the English “Pentecost” was derived. This name was based on God’s command that a special offering of new grain was to be made on the fiftieth day after the Passover Sabbath (Lev. 23:16). It was also called “the day of firstfruits” (Num. 28:26). (This is to be distinguished from the Feast of Firstfruits, which celebrated the beginning of the barley harvest (Lev. 23:9?14.) This name was based on the offering of new grain and two loaves of bread baked from new grain as thanks for the wheat harvest. The name Feast of Harvest (Ex. 23:16) was based on the same harvest season.

CELEBRATION IN THE TEMPLE

The people observed Shavuot by bringing gifts to the temple in Jerusalem and presenting them to the priests. An offering of new grain was presented as a gift of thanksgiving, along with two loaves of bread, baked from the finest flour made from new wheat grown in the land of Israel (1). According to tradition, each loaf was about 10 inches wide and about 16 inches long. In addition, a basket of the seven species of the fruit of the land was brought to the Lord by each family (Deut. 8:8).

Special sacrifices were made on the fiftieth day after Passover Sabbath. These included seven male lambs, one young bull, and two rams (Lev. 23:18) as burnt offerings. One male goat was offered for a sin offering and two lambs for a fellowship offering. Even the best thank offerings (the grain, the two loaves, and the baskets of the seven species) were affected by sin and required a sin offering seeking atonement and a fellowship offering seeking renewed relationship with God. These symbols and their meaning form the background to the events of the Pentecost on which God sent his Spirit

Following the ceremony of offerings, the Jewish people spent the afternoon and evening in a great festive meal, to which they were to invite the poor. This was both to rejoice in the renewed fellowship with God and to keep God’s commandment to provide for the poor. Since true thanksgiving was demonstrated by a generous spirit toward those in need, God commanded the Israelites, “When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and the alien” (Lev. 23:22; see also 19:9,10).

These special ceremonies took place after the normal morning sacrifice and worship service in the temple, which began at dawn and ended in midmorning. A great crowd of pilgrims would gather in the Temple courts, filling the massive courtyard, during the morning prayers. As the offerings were presented and the sacrifices were made, portions of the Bible were read. According to Jewish history, those portions were Exodus 19:20 (the story of God’s presentation of the Torah, including the Ten Commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai) and Ezekiel 1:2 (Ezekiel’s vision of God appearing in fire and wind). The fact that these activities occurred around 9:00 in the morning had great significance for the celebration the year Jesus died and was raised. As God had met the Israelites on the “mountain of God” (Ex. 24:13), on Shavuot he met them on the Temple Mount, “the mountain of the Lord” (Isa. 2:3, 66:20).

SHAVUOT AND MOUNT SINAI

Sometime before Jesus’ birth, a new emphasis was added to the harvest festival of Shavuot. The rabbis determined that this feast was the time when the Law (the Torah, including the Ten Commandments) (2) had been given to Moses on Mount Sinai. Though the Bible does not specify the time of God’s appearance to Moses, there are biblical reasons that indicate the rabbis’ decision was probably right.

Shavuot, celebrated 50 days after Passover, is in the month Sivan, the third month. The children of Israel reached Mount Sinai “in the third month” (Ex. 19:1). Since Passover and Sukkot were linked to the Exodus experience of Israel, it seemed right that the third pilgrim festival must be as well. At the very least, the giving of the Torah occurred in the third month, the month of Shavuot (3).

Torah taught that “man does not live on bread alone” (Deut. 8:3), so it was appropriate to celebrate Torah on Shavuot, which emphasized God’s gift of bread (the grain harvest symbolized by the two loaves).

King Asa and the people of Judah assembled for a covenant (Torah) renewal in Jerusalem in the third month, which was the season of Shavuot, making another connection with Torah and the feast of the harvest.

The Essenes of Qumran, though they celebrated Shavuot on a different day than did the temple authorities in Jerusalem, apparently had a covenant renewal celebration that day. The book of Jubilees, written well before Jesus’ time, referred specifically to the Torah being given on Shavuot. It is clear that the people of the first century celebrated this feast to thank God for the harvest and to praise him for the gift of Torah, which had been given in that same season. Though it is impossible to know whether the giving of the Law happened on the same day as Shavuot, the Bible clearly puts them in the same season at least. The Jewish people remembered them on the same day, a fact that had startling ramifications for the events of a certain Shavuot in New Testament times.

A CHRISTIAN SHAVUOT

Jesus returned to heaven 40 days after his resurrection (Acts 1:3). He told his disciples to return to Jerusalem to wait for the Holy Spirit and the power it would bring. The belief in the Spirit of God was not new for the disciples, for the Old Testament spoke of the Ruach HaKodesh (literally the “Holy Wind”), which empowered God’s people (Isa. 63:10,11; Ps. 51:11). The disciples remained faithful as Jews, meeting continually in the courts of the Temple (Luke 24:50-53). They must have had great expectations for the upcoming Shavuot. After all, Jesus had made this an unusual feast season he had died on Passover, had been buried on the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and had been raised on the Feast of Firstfruits.

When the day of Pentecost (Shavuot) came, the disciples were together in “one place.” (4) Many Christians assume that the place was the Upper Room, where the disciples had been staying. Instead, the evidence indicates that the place was in or near the temple, possibly on the Temple Mount itself. Some scholars believe they were on the great staircase south of the temple, where the pilgrims entered the Temple Mount (probably more man 1 million pilgrims during a feast). Though it is impossible to pinpoint an exact location for these events, there is significant support for placing this Pentecost event in an area of the Temple.

It was Shavuot. All pilgrims gathered in the temple for the service on this festive and holy day. Certainly, the disciples, who were “continually” in the temple courts (Luke 24:53), would have been in the temple on that day also.

Great crowds from everywhere garnered to listen to Peter and the other disciples. Where would great crowds have garnered on a holy feast day at the time of temple service. Clearly, they would have been in the temple somewhere (Acts 2:6?12).

The disciples were all in one place. The sound of a great wind filled “the whole house” (Acts 2:2) where they were. The temple is still called “the house” by Jewish people, referring to God’s house. Even in Acts, it is called “the house” (Acts 7:47) (5).

Peter declared that it was 9:00 in the morning, the time of the Pentecost service in the temple. Certainly, the crowds, to say nothing of the disciples, would have been in the temple at the time Shavuot ceremonies were conducted. Some believe that 9:00 was the time during which the selected passages were read, describing the appearance of God on Mount Sinai (in thunder, lightning, fire, and smoke) and Ezekiel’s vision of his appearance (with the sound of wind and with fire).

Peter spoke of the tomb of David as being there (Acts 2:29). The Bible recorded that David was buried in the “City of David” (1 Kings 2:10), the part of Jerusalem located near the temple Mount.

Three thousand people were baptized in response to the teaching of the disciples (Acts 2:41). Near the Southern Stairs, the pilgrim entrance to the Temple Mount, were mikvoth, ritual baths used by the worshipers before they entered the temple grounds. There were not many places in Jerusalem with enough water for that many baptisms. The proximity of these many pools, already believed to symbolize the removal of the uncleanness of sin, is evidence that this location was near the temple.

The events that occurred that Shavuot morning must have exceeded all the disciples’ expectations. God’s Spirit filled them with power and gave them abilities and gifts they could not have imagined possible. That same Spirit opened the hearts and minds of thousands so the community of Jesus grew from around 100 to more than 3,000 within a few hours. And the 3,000 came from every nation in the world. When they returned to their own cultures, they were eager missionaries who had to spend no time getting to know new cultures or languages. God’s plan for the descendants of the survivors of the destruction of Israel (2 Kings 17) and the captivity of Judah (2 Chron. 36) had been made thousands of years before. Now here they were, free under the government of Rome to return to Jerusalem and their temple for Shavuot. When they arrived, God acted, and they became the first members of a great community of people. All Jews knew their Scriptures and the ways of God. At Pentecost they could add the final chapter the coming of his Messiah.

THE MEANING OF SHAVUOT FOR CHRISTIANS

No event has been more significant for the ministry of the church than what happened on Shavuot that year. So much has been written over the centuries seeking to explain the meaning and significance of being “filled with the Spirit.” We as Christians can learn from the Jewish setting of Shavuot in which these events took place.

There are remarkable parallels between the fulfillment of Pentecost and the events that occurred on Mount Sinai more than 1,200 years earlier. Since the Jews of Jesus’ day believed that Pentecost celebrated the gift of Torah to Moses, these parallels would have been powerful to those Jewish believers. Note the following:

Both events occurred on mountains known as “the mountain of God” (Ex. 24:13; Isa. 2:3).
Both involved similar sounds and symbols, such as wind, fire, and voices (Ex. 19:16?19; Acts 2:1-3). Note that the Hebrew for “thunder” (kolot) means “voices” (Acts 2:4). Jewish tradition said that the Israelites heard God speak in 70 languages.

Both events involved the presence of God (Ex. 19:18,20; Acts 2:4).
About 3,000 people died because of their sin when Moses received the Torah (Ex. 32:28). About 3,000 people believed (were born again into new life) when the Spirit came (Acts 2:41) (6).
At Mount Sinai, God wrote his revelation on stone tablets (Ex. 31:18). On the fulfillment of Pentecost, God wrote his law on people’s hearts as he had promised He would (2 Cor. 3:3; Jer. 31:33).

Torah means “teaching.” The Spirit, given on Shavuot, also became the “Teacher” of the new community of Jesus’ followers (John 14:26) (7)

These parallels are amazing evidence of God’s careful planning, ensuring that the coming of the Spirit occurred in a context in which it was understood. The followers of Jesus were to be God’s community. Their teacher, applying Torah in light of Jesus’ work, was to be the Spirit of God. When the Spirit applies God’s teaching to the hearts of people, there will always be life. Shavuot for the believers was as foundational and formative as Sinai had been for God’s congregation, Israel. As Christians, we are in the tradition of Sinai, but Shavuot declares that God’s Spirit brings us life.

The fulfillment of Pentecost provided another image that explains the Spirit’s work. As noted above, Shavuot was the feast that celebrated the end of the wheat harvest. Jesus had frequently talked of the “harvest” of people who were to join his community (Matt. 9:37-38,13:24-29,36-43; Luke 10:1-2; John 4:34-38). On Shavuot, the day of celebrating the harvest, his promise came true. Thousands believed and were brought to God (probably in the temple).

There is another image of Shavuot that can help us understand the meaning of the events that year. God’s presence had always been symbolized in the temple since Solomon had built the First Temple. That was God’s way of living among his people.

Exodus 25:17-22, 40:34-38. God had agreed to meet his people on the cover of the ark. The ark was placed in the Tabernacle, where God’s presence was symbolized by cloud and fire.
2 Chronicles 5:1-14, 7:1-3. The ark and God’s presence, symbolized by fire, moved into the temple.

Ezekiel 1:4-28. Ezekiel’s vision of God’s presence in the temple included fire and wind.
Acts 2:1-3. The Spirit of God came to “the house” where the disciples were. God’s presence was symbolized by wind and fire.

The symbolism seems clear. God’s presence was in the temple. It had been accessible to the people only through the high priest once a year (Heb. 9:25). When Jesus died, the veil that blocked the people’s access to God was ripped (Matt. 27:51), showing that through Jesus’ blood, God can be approached at any time, by anyone.

On Pentecost, God moved out of “the house” (temple) where he had revealed himself and moved into a new temple, the community of the followers of Jesus (1 Cor. 3:16-17, 6:19). They became God’s new dwelling, his temple.

The implications of this change are staggering. As the temple had demonstrated God’s presence to the world, the Christian community must demonstrate God’s presence to our hurting world. We must bring his love, his truth, and his redemption to our culture, our communities, and our families. If the people around us are to see and know God, they will see him through us. We have received the power to be his witnesses (Acts 1:8).

It is hard to comprehend why God would choose flawed human beings to be his temple, representing his presence. Of course, it is not easy to understand why God would dwell in a temple made with human hands, either (2 Chron. 2:6). It is the infinite wisdom of God that led him to choose to be present in our world through his people.

The question we must face is simple: How well do we represent God’s presence? His love? His healing touch? If we believe in his Son, we have been empowered. Now we must be faithful as the Spirit writes his Torah (Law) on our hearts so that the world may know that he is God.

CONCLUSION

A final connection to the Jewish festival of Shavuot concerns the care for the poor. The feast provided opportunity for the people to give thanks to God and to bring gifts, expressing this gratitude. But true thankfulness involves not only thanking God the provider, but also sharing with others. In God’s original instruction for this feast, he concluded by commanding the farmers to leave some of their crops in the field so the poor could harvest with dignity and also experience God’s provision (Lev. 19:9-10; 23:22). In a sense, God was saying, “Don’t come to say thanks to me if you have no concern for those in need.”

If the New Testament Pentecost is to be understood on the basis of the Old Testament feast of Shavuot, fulfillment must include concern for those in need. Many of the gifts of the Spirit described by Paul (Gal. 5:16-26) involve concern for others. But the clearest sign that the Spirit’s coming was a fulfillment of the spirit of Shavuot is found in the event itself. The early believers, who were filled with the Spirit, held everything in common and shared with everyone who had need. This was a true Pentecost. As the new temple of God’s presence, these people could not help but be concerned for others, who learned of God and his love through their acts of generosity.

Christians today are called to the same mission. Jesus’ community and its members are his temple, his presence in our world. The Spirit teaches us (and others through us) that God is alive and real. We can share his love and his ways with others so they can know him, too. People in need become the litmus test of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. If we claim to have experienced Shavuot but have no concern for others, we are wrong. The Spirit leads his people to bring the presence and power of God to bear on all who need his healing, caring, correcting touch.

NOTES
1. The Mishnah (Menahoth 11:4) indicates that the loaves were seven handbreadths long and four wide. These loaves had protrusions of dough in each comer to represent the horns, or protrusions, on the comers of the altar.
2. Torah means “teaching,” not “law” in the sense that Christians might think. This designation stressed a vibrant message for life, for it was to be continually taught and applied to all situations. Though it did provide “laws,” or rules for life, it was not simply an organized collection of rules. It was much more, it was life itself.
3. Passover commemorated the deliverance the Israelites experienced when they became a nation. Sukkot celebrated the end of the 40 years of wandering, which resulted in the possession of the land God had promised. Shavuot celebrated the covenant God had made with Israel, which provided the life his people were to live.
4. The story is told in Acts 2.
5. The Old Testament frequently used this designation for the temple. See Ezek. 40:5, 42:15, 43:10; 2 Chron. 3:4, 5:7, 6:9, 7:1, 7:3. See the King James Version, which translated the Hebrew as “house” rather than “temple,” the structure referred to as “the house” or “the house of the Lord.”
6. Paul spoke of the comparison between the Torah for Israel and the Spirit for the church. He pointed out that the letter kills, but the Spirit (which did not negate Torah) brings life as the Torah is written on the heart (2 Cor. 3:3?6).
7. I am indebted to David Stem for this point. His work Jewish New Testament Commentary is an excellent study of the Jewish context of the New Testament. His treatment of Acts 2 is exceptional in providing understanding of Shavuot as it was described in the New Testament.

© 2009 by Ray Vander Laan and Follow the Rabbi. All Rights Reserved.

An ancient story tells of a wrestler from Ephesus who was said to be undefeated and undefeatable. In match after match he amazed spectators and overpowered opponents. When he competed in the Olympiad he appeared to be unbeatable as he repeatedly defeated his adversaries – until the officials discovered he was wearing the Ephesia Grammata around his ankle. The Ephesia Grammata were written magic spells, usually sewn in a bag and worn as an amulet. They were known to exist as early as the 4th Century BC and were supposed to ward off demons and evil spirits and give the bearer special powers and protection. The officials of the Olympiad removed the “letters” from the wrestler’s leg, robbing him of his magical powers and he was easily beaten in three successive events.

The city of Ephesus was no stranger to wrestling; nor were its citizens strangers to magic and sorcery. When Paul wrote his letter to the church in Ephesus, he drew upon two popular activities that permeated the culture. Wrestling was very popular in the region, and perhaps he even knew of the wrestler mentioned in the story. It was said that Ephesus was by far the most hospitable to magicians, sorcerers and charlatans of all sorts. The city swarmed with soothsayers and purveyors of charm. It was in this setting he wrote the book of Ephesians.

Ephesians 6:10-18: “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.”

When we intercede on behalf of others, they’re not meant to be the targets of our prayers. In spiritual warfare, we aim our prayers at what is against those we’re praying for: sickness, strife, trouble. We must pray prayers of intercession in the full confidence of the power promised to us through Scripture.

In 2 Corinthians 10:3, 4 we read, “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.”

Too often when we pray, we miss the heart of the matter at hand. The church has always been slow to understand the tactics needed for spiritual warfare. We wade into battle armed with beautiful sanctuaries and choreographed programs and high-powered publicity. These things are good, but alone they are useless in spiritual warfare. We’re given wonderful examples in Scripture of how Jesus and others look past the surface to speak to the power behind the symptoms.

Matthew 16:23: Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”

Acts 16:17-18: This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her.

In this passage, a father brings his boy to Jesus after the disciples were unable to drive out the evil spirit…Mark 19:28-29: After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.”

So, back to our passage in Ephesians; we acknowledge that we’re in this epic battle. We follow closely the instructions to gird up for battle. Let’s go! But then, we read, “…pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests” (Ephesians 6:18). I’d like to suggest that perhaps the instructions to “suit up” is maybe a reminder of what should be natural for the believer.

The main message that Paul is giving the believers in Ephesus and subsequently us is that to be strong in the power of Lord and stand strong against the evil that comes against us that we must be ready to stand strong. We must be prepared: “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand” (v.13). Then the reminder of just what everything entails: “Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (vv.14-17). So, if you read that without the reminder, it looks like this: “Stand firm then…and pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.”

Before we ever step onto the battlefield – whether it is preaching or evangelizing or even serving the Army’s social services – we need to secure the outcome on the battlefield of prayer. This is shown very clearly in Exodus 17:8-13:

The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands.” So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.

Like Moses, we need to raise our hands in prayer for those engaged in the battle in the valley. The battle may be raging in the valley, but victory is secured through prayer on the mountain.

And just like we ought not to battle alone in the valley, we aren’t meant to be in prayer alone either. We need to pray together much like Aaron and Hur did alongside Moses.

Together, we’ll hit the target with our prayers.

© 2009 Rob Reardon, all rights reserved.

W

hen I was growing up, we had a specific name for those aluminum, compartmentalized trays that were filled with some kind of cheap food, sealed in a plastic top and frozen. We called them T.V. dinners.

I liked the Salisbury steak and baked apples the best.

One problem with those dinners was that the compartments usually weren’t all that great at keeping the gravy out of the apples and visa versa. Most of us don’t want our food all mixed together.

There are lots of people who treat life like a T.V. dinner. We separate everything, being sure to keep each part in its own compartment. This includes our Christian lives and what some of us may refer to as our secular lives.

For the Jews of Jesus’ time and today, prayer has always been the method used to remind them that everything in the world belongs to God and is for His purposes.

Every prayer begins with the phrase, Barukh attah Adonai, which means “Blessed are you, O Lord.”

The Jews have a prayer or a benediction for everything. And the prayers are generally very short, due to the fact that they pray all day long and for every part of life. These prayers or benedictions are called berakhot, translated in English as “blessings.” And there is a blessing for literally everything. A blessing is a prayer of thanksgiving to God. It is not a prayer of power or effectiveness upon an item, situation, or place. In other words, we don’t bless food, but rather we bless God for the food.

Most Christian prayers in the Western world include a blessing for a meal, travel, family and rest, but the Jews pray a blessing over everything. They bless God for food and wine. They bless God when they smell a flower. They pray a blessing when they see a person who has a birth defect, lightning, or when they hear thunder and even when they go to the bathroom.

In fact the bathroom prayer is recited, “Blessed is He who has formed man in wisdom and created in him many cavities. It is fully known before the throne of Thy glory that if one of them should be [improperly] opened or one of them closed it would be impossible for a man to stand before Thee” (Marvin Wilson, Our Father Abraham, page 157).

The people of God in Jesus’ day saw all of life as belonging to God. There was no part of life, work, or the world, good or bad, sacred or secular, that did not fall under the purposes and sovereignty of The Almighty. There were no T.V. believers.

It should be no mystery to those of us who study God’s Word that everything belongs to and is provided by God.

There is an ancient rabbinic story called “The Rabbi and the Exceedingly Ugly Man”, which helps to affirm the understanding that God is to be blessed for everything.

“On one occasion Rabbi Eleazer son of Rabbi Simeon was coming from Midgal Gedor, from the house of his teacher. He was riding leisurely on his donkey by the riverside and was feeling happy and elated because he had studied much Torah. There he chanced to meet an exceedingly ugly man who greeted him, ‘Peace be upon you, rabbi.’ He, however, did not return his greeting but instead said to him, ‘Raca [‘Empty one’ or ‘Good for nothing’] how ugly you are! Is everyone in your town as ugly as you are?’ The man replied; “I do not know, but go and tell the craftsman who made me, ‘How ugly is the vessel which you have made.’ When R. Eleazer realized that he had sinned he dismounted from the donkey and prostrated himself before the man and said to him, ‘I submit myself to you, forgive me” (Brad H. Young, The Parables, page 9).

Though there may be moments, days, events, places, and even people that we do not thank God for, all things are a part of God’s creation, all circumstances belong to God, and in all things God is to be blessed by you and me.

The life of a faithful follower of Jesus is not a T.V. Christian, but every part of a true Christian’s life belongs to God.

In His dust,
Johnny

© 2009 Jonathan P. Gainey and Flock’s Diner.
All Rights Reserved