Have you ever wondered
why most people in main stream Christianity do not celebrate the feasts of
Yahweh which were clearly defined in Leviticus 23? How about the fact that
they blatantly replace the feast of Yahweh with pagan holidays? Are the
festivals of Leviticus for the Jews only as it is commonly reported? Are the
festivals (Yahweh's appointed times) "nailed
to the cross" ? Is the
Church now free to create man-made dogmas and appoint her own holidays, as they
have been doing for the last 1700 hundred years? We have been looking at the
"Feasts of Yahweh" individually on this blog site to unravel the
deceptions found in "Christianity" and to allow the clear light
of Yahweh to shine forth. We will consider in parts the feast of Pentecost, which is among the list of Yahweh’s appointed seasons.
Historical Significance
The feast of Pentecost (Hebrew: “Shavu'ot”,
also called "Weeks", among other Bible nicknames) is the last of the
biblical spring festivals outlined in Leviticus 23. It was originally
celebrated as one of the three pilgrim festivals (in Hebrew "shalosh
regalim") in Israel. Pentecost was primarily an agricultural holiday
connected with the peak of the new wheat and barley crop. After the crop was
harvested, a portion was brought to Jerusalem and offered along with special
sacrifices of thanksgiving at the Temple.
The Torah (Exodus 23:16) refers to
Pentecost as “the feast of the
harvest” and it is observed
by offerings of the best ripe produce of the fields. Deuteronomy 16:12 gives
the reason for its observance. In addition to that, the holiday also bids us to
share what we have; in keeping with the Torah’s command to feed the stranger,
the orphan, the widow and other poor and unfortunate people within the redeemed
community. It also served as a conclusion to the feast of the Passover which
began seven weeks prior. Historical Pentecost therefore, is reflective of the
Jubilee – the year of release, fifty days from Israel’s first Passover
observance.
Yahweh chose to deliver the Torah at Mount
Sinai, 50 days after the Passover, in order to communicate with us the deeper
significance of our relationship with him as His chosen vessels of light to the
rest of the world. It is such a pity that many of the churches today have
ignored the very contract (the Torah) which separates us out and sanctifies us
for such a high calling to bring light to the nations.
The Hebrew “Shavu'ot” literally means “weeks”. Weeks suggests the
interim period of waiting or preparing, which rather than describing its
uniqueness, points to a period which leads up to it, namely the period of 50
days from Passover to Pentecost.
Passover speaks of freedom, but Pentecost
is the celebration of that freedom. Pentecost is a marriage ceremony, it was
the day the sons of Israel stood before Yahweh on their wedding day, complete
with a canopy (Mount Sinai), a ketubah (marriage contract), i.e. the Torah, and
stipulations of the covenant. One could even observe from a spiritual vantage
point: it was during the Passover that Yahweh wrought great miracles for the
Israelites, yet He did not completely reveal how they should serve Him until the
Torah was received on Pentecost. The spiritual liberation became a reality on
Pentecost, for freedom is impossible without the Torah. Pentecost, therefore,
is the culmination of time between redemption promised, and redemption
realized. On this day Israel became a nation (Exodus 19:16)!
Passover can be seen as Yahweh’s proposal
to us (when He promised to marry us); but Pentecost is the marriage itself! The
seven weeks in between, are like the seven crucial days that a bride-to-be
counts in preparation for her wedding, during which she purifies and readies
herself, which is demonstrated in the observance of “Unleavened Bread”. There
can be no achievement of a goal without such preparation. It requires
repentance, a willingness to turn to Yahweh. “Weeks" is a name that speaks
of the road which must be traveled which is the prerequisite for the
accomplishment of our goal. The real test lies in our willingness and ability
to count and prepare for the Elohim (God) of redemption, and to expect His
power as a gift in the form of Ruach Hakodesh (the Holy Spirit), which will
enable us to reach that goal. This is what ancient Pentecost is all about!
New Covenant
In Acts chapter two, it is recorded that
tongues of fire were seen resting on the heads of the apostles. What did this
remind them of, and more importantly, how does it relate to the Feast on
Pentecost? From a Jewish
perspective, the events of Acts 2 echoed what occurred on Mt. Sinai some 1400
years earlier. This, however, was not just a mere "repeated performance";
but rather, it was a sequel – “Mt. Sinai II”. From these two
mountains: Mt. Sinai, and Mt. Zion, the Sovereign of all the earth played out,
as if from two grand stages, Israel's greatest revelations. From one mountain,
He gave the Law, our beloved Torah, the very instructions of Yahweh was
revealed in booming voices that made Israel tremble. From the other mountain,
He gave His Ruach (Spirit), He equipped us to obey His law, proclaiming it in
languages of every region, and again made Israel tremble and wonder. Today
there are many of the Christian faith who deem themselves “Pentecostals”, but
miss this very important point: the
Spirit of Pentecost does NOT liberate us from the law, it enables
us to keep the law!
Look at how Yahweh played out this sequel:
In Exodus, the lamb was sacrificed, Israel was released, and then they were
commanded to WAIT for seven weeks. After that wait, they were given the law on
Mount Sinai and became a nation. Some 1400 year later, the Messiah was
murdered, man was released (Gal.3:13), and after his resurrection he commanded
his disciples to WAIT. After this wait, they were given Ruach HaKodesh on Mount
Zion and they became a body (the church). The instructions that Yahshua left
for the Apostles to wait at Mt. Zion for the Ruach were not
arbitrary, but part of Yahweh's larger plan to fulfill prophecy. It was
designed so that the Apostles and all those who were present in the Temple
Court that day would recognize this magnificent re-enactment of the giving of
Torah on Mt. Sinai. In fact, several occurrences happened to remind the
apostles of what happened on Mount Sinai: the tongues of fire and the rushing
wind (Acts 2:2-3) were like the thunder and lightning (Ex.20:18). 3000 souls
were cut off from the kingdom at Mount Sinai (Ex.32:28), and 3000 souls were
re-added at Mount Zion (Acts 2:41). The Israelites at Mount Sinai heard the
Torah in a way that each man could understand, and the people at Mount Zion
heard the gospel each in his own language.
What transpired in Acts 2 therefore is a
neon sign, announcing the beginning of the Messianic Age. All of the markers
that were present at the giving of the Torah were also present at the giving of
the Spirit; by whose power we are able to appropriate the Torah. Is it, therefore,
any wonder why Yahweh chose Pentecost as an everlasting feast for His people,
attesting to His faithfulness to call out and redeem a people to Himself, and
to do so twice, so that there would be no mistake in the interpretation?
So instead of a discontinuity in the new
Covenant we see a continuity of the feast of Pentecost, for clearly this was
fifty days after Yahshua's resurrection "when the day
of Pentecost was fully come" expresses an anticipation "a counting of
the omer" so obviously it was not nailed to the cross. For the
body of Messiah the New Covenant Congregation celebrating Shavu'ot comes with an
added blessing - we celebrate not just the giving of Torah (our marriage
contract) but the outpouring of Ruach HaKodesh. For the New Covenant assembly
its more richer; under the Old Pentecost brought forth wrath; 3,000 souls were
killed, under the new Pentecost brought forth life; 3000 souls were saved,
under the old the Law was written on stones but under the New it was written on
our hearts, am I getting warm? Here is the big one, at Pentecost at Mount Sinai
Israel became a nation, the congregation of Yahweh, at Pentecost recorded in
Acts 2 the disciples of Yahshua became the body of Messiah, the New Covenant
congregation of Yahweh. So we the body of Messiah " the Church",
was firmly planted in Hebraic soil, would find its true identity in connection
with Israel and with the covenants entrusted to Israel. The congregation,
Sha'ul taught, is fed, sustained and supported by that relationship, and the
Torah is very much a part of it - of which the feasts of Yahweh finds their
footing.
The Voice of Yahweh has spoken … He that
has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches
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