Post by R' Y'hoshua Moshe on Jun 9, 2008 7:47:35 GMT -8
The Culmination Of Pesach
[/size]A Shavuot Message
By Re’uel[/center]
Shavuot (Pentecost) is the second of three pilgrimage feasts. Pesach (Passover) and Sukkot (Tabernacles) are the other two. Shavuot means "Weeks" as this feast celebrates the time when the Israelites stood at Mt. Sinai, seven weeks after they had fled Egypt. The last three days were a time of sanctification and purification. It would be here that the Israelites would receive the Decalogue, the Ten Words, and ultimately the rest of
from El Elyon (God Most High). Greek speaking Jews called this holiday "Pentecost” referring to the Feast of the “Fiftieth Day”. The holiday celebrates the first fruits of the full harvest, as well as the giving of at Mount Sinai, and for believers in Yeshua The Messiah, this day is a celebration of much, much more.But, how did this journey to Mt Sinai, leading to the giving of
, begin? And, what initiated the birth of Judaism? We must always remember where and how the Father found us, especially when we reach Mt. Sinai. What do I mean by this? Let us read the following passage in the book of Revelation 2:4-7, “But I have against you that you left your first love. Then remember from where you have fallen, and repent, and do the first works. And if not, I am coming to you quickly, and will remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. But you have this, that you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. The one who has an ear, hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. To the one overcoming, I will give to him to eat of the Tree of Life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”.In Judaism the “Etz Chayim”, or the “Tree Of Life” is synonymous with our Heavenly Father’s
. It is only after we have overcome and that we have been redeemed that we can partake and truly eat of this Tree Of Life. When we get to our Mount Sinai experience in our life where we start to receive our Heavenly Father’s instruction, His , we should not forget our Pesach (Passover) experience. We should remember the “chen v’chesed”, the loving kindness, favor, and grace that Adonai showed to us that caused us to fall in love with Him in the first place. In the book of 1Yochanan (John), 4:18-19, we read; “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has punishment; and the one fearing has not been perfected in love. We love Him because He first loved us.”. It says that, “we love Him because He first loved us.” This first love resulted in our salvation, which lead to our dedication, our obedience. This redemption that was shown to us was the catalyst to our relationship with The Most High. Indeed, we are to remember from where we came from. We are to look back at our own personal Egypt, our own personal bondage that we were in as we were serving the enemy, HaSatan, and not allowed to serve our Heavenly Father. The passage we read in the book of Revelation says that we are to repent and do our first works. We are not to become lifted up in our minds, but we are to remember from where we were lifted up, and from what dark hole that we were pulled from. It is freshly from this place, from this Pesach (Passover) experience, that Adonai wishes to offer us the following. Shemot (Exodus) 19:5-6 states, “Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice, and keep my covenant, then you shall be my own possession from among all peoples; for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of Cohanim (Priests), and a holy nation.' These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Yisra'el.".
What are we to do with this and how should we respond? Of course our Heavenly Father is a gentleman and He will not force us to do anything (although, there could be consequences). But, the response that our Heavenly Father desires to hear, not only from our mouths, but also from our hearts as well, is reflected in one of the scriptures passages that we read on our festival day. Shemot 19:7-8 states, “Moshe came and called for the elders of the people, and set before them all these words which YHVH commanded him. All the people answered together, and said, "All that YHVH has spoken we will do." Moshe reported the words of the people to YHVH.”.
Also, in the book of Devarim (Deut.) we clearly see the heart of our dear Abba (Father). Devarim 5:27-29 states, “Go you near, and hear all that YHVH our God shall say: and speak you to us all that YHVH our God shall speak to you; and we will hear it, and do it. YHVH heard the voice of your words, when you spoke to me; and YHVH said to me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken to you: they have well said all that they have spoken. Oh that there were such a heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my mitzvot (commandments) always, that it might be well with them, and with their children forever!”
Again, let me repeat the heart desire of our Heavenly Father, “Oh that there were such a heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my mitzvot always, that it might be well with them, and with their children forever!”. Shouldn’t we fulfill the heart desire of our Heavenly Father? This last passage is intimately connected to the promise of the Brit Chadeshah (New covenant). Do you claim to love God? If so, if you truly love our Heavenly Father, our Creator, wouldn’t we want to fulfill the heart desire of this One whom we claim to love? We should all ask ourselves if we have sincerely submitted to this desire of His. Pray that God would search you heart to see if you have indeed done this. We will do well to sincerely pray the prayer found in Tehellim (Psalms) 139:23-24 where it says, “Search me, God, and know my heart. Try me, and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.”.
That can be a scary prayer. It can be a prayer that can turn one’s life upside down. Or, perhaps our life was already upside down, and then turned upright. At any rate, God is all-powerful and can have anything He wants, but how will He accomplish the desire of His heart…this desire that His people would have a heart to fear Him and to keep His commandments always? Let us read the following prophecy of how God would accomplish this for Himself. Yirmeyahu (Jer.) 31:33 states, “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Yisra'el after those days, says YHVH: I will put my
(law) in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people”.In the book of Yechezk’el (Ezekiel) 36:25-27 it says, “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my ordinances, and do them.”. This was the solution to the heart desire of our King. These last two prophecies were about the addition of another covenant to the compound covenant of Elohim. This covenant (like no other) specifies not only cleansing from sin, but the promise of the indwelling of the Spirit of God in each person whom had taken hold of the covenant. It does not remove any of the previous covenants or commands, it only adds better promises just as all the covenants have done. The Holy ones of old were led of the Spirit, but never before had it been a covenant promise to all believers. And, this is where the account in the book of Acts comes in. Not only does this time of Shavuot (Pentecost) call to remembrance the giving of
at Mt. Sinai, but it also recalls to remembrance the giving of upon our Hearts through the out-powering of the Ruach HaKodesh (the Holy Spirit) on Mt. Zion.In our reading of the book of Acts we see that Yeshua’s disciples had all come together and were in one accord. This was no random date that they had selected for their meeting. They had come together for Shavuot as we see in Acts 2:1. This was a commanded holy convocation as we see in Vayikra (Lev.) 23 for God’s people, and they desired to fulfill the heart desire of our Heavenly Father. The original disciples were all thoroughly
observant being taught by our Master, Yeshua. He did not come to start a new religion, He came to teach Judaism done right, and the fruits of His discipleship were evident in the life of His disciples. As we continue to read in the book of Acts 2:2-4, we read the following, “Suddenly there came from the sky a sound like the rushing of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. Tongues like fire appeared and were distributed to them, and one sat on each of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other languages, as the Spirit gave them the ability to speak.”.Why other than the obvious was this significant? We can see from the gift of the Holy Spirit as described in verse 38 of this same chapter that this is a fulfillment of the prophecies we read about earlier in the books of Yirmeyahu (Jer.) and Yechezk’el (Ezek.). What is also interesting about this account in the book of Acts is that there is a Rabbinic tradition that proceeds it. We find from the Jewish Sages that it is told that at Mt. Sinai, when
was given on that first Shavuot, it was said that Adonai not only spoke in every language known to man, but Dr. Jurgen Buhler, International Director For The International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem notes, “Rabbinical tradition holds that every word God spoke that day was like the stroke of a hammer on an anvil. With each stroke on the anvil, which was Mount Sinai, sparks (or tongues) of fire flew outward. A first century Sage, Rabbi Yochanan, maintained that it split up into seventy languages - matching the languages spoken among the seventy nations. In other words, Israel realized from the beginning that the would be significant not only for Jews, but for all mankind.”.And, perhaps this is one of the reasons that the book of Ruth is traditionally read in observant homes during this time to recall the story of Ruth, a Gentile whom joined Yisra’el, it’s covenants, and it’s God. When Naomi’s husband and sons died, Ruth was told to go home to her family. Her famous words were: "Don't entreat me to leave you, and to return from following after you, for where you go, I will go; and where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God" (Ruth 1:16). May this be the heart of all those of the various Nations! Ruth was King David’s great-grandmother and a relative of Yeshua HaMashiach (The Messiah). We hear about Yisra’el being called from the four corners of the Earth uniting the house of Yisra’el, as is prophesied. And, if you know for a fact that you are of Israeli stock this is something that you should be proud and excited to be apart of! But, we must not also forget that there are also prophecies regarding people from the Gentile nations that would join Yisra’el that we should be just as excited about. And, these Gentiles should be just as proud to be apart of these prophecies. What prophecies am I speaking of? In the book of Zakharyah (Zechariah) chapter 8:23 it says, “Yes, many peoples and strong nations will come to seek YHVH of Armies in Yerushalayim, and to entreat the favor of YHVH." Thus says YHVH of Armies: "In those days, ten men will take hold, out of all the languages of the nations, they will take hold of the skirt of him who is a Jew, saying, 'We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.'".
In fact, the Gentiles whom take hold of the covenants of Elohim, our Heavenly Father’s
, will obtain a better name than native born Israelites whom forsake it. Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 56:2-5 states, “Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who holds it fast; who keeps the Shabbat from profaning it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil. Neither let the foreigner, who has joined himself to YHVH, speak, saying, YHVH will surely separate me from his people; neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree. For thus says YHVH of the eunuchs who keep my Shabbatot (Sabbaths), and choose the things that please me, and hold fast my covenant: To them will I give in my house and within my walls a memorial and a name better than of sons and of daughters; I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off.”.These are great promises and prophecies regarding the end times for the goyim, for our Gentile brothers and sisters in Messiah! Again, we should be just as excited about these prophecies as we are about the prophecies regarding the regathering of Yisra’el, as many of the goyim are prophesied to join Yisra’el. The Kingdom of Heaven is made up of both Jew and Gentile, as we see with Ruth. Adonai has give us models and pictures of redemption through His Holy Days and Appointed Times. Through Pesach, the mikvah (baptism) through the sea of Suf (Red Sea), the giving of instruction (
) at Shavuot for holy living, and the models we see in the Feasts to follow are for both Jew and Gentile to experience as we all draw closer to Adonai!But, as the people of God we cannot circumvent any of these models that illustrate the Good News of the coming Kingdom that these appointed times lay out for us. We cannot go from Pesach straight to the Promised Land. Shavuot is a culmination of Pesach. For Pesach is not complete without Shavuot because redemption is not complete until we have the power and ability to live a holy life. And, this is the purpose of The New Covenant.
Chag sameach!
