Chag Shavuot Sameach (Happy Pentecost Holiday)!

Many of you have seen me post twitter and facebook updates re: the Shavuot holy day, as I have been counting the Omer... the 50 days between Pesach (commonly known as Passover where the Hebrews were instructed to mark the doorposts of their homes with the blood of a spring lamb, so that the spirit of the Lord passed over their homes, and didnt kill their first born), and Shavout (Greek= Pentecost or "the fiftieth day").

In celebration of this day I had a bible study with my 2 favorite girls on the planet. Here's the bible study I just went through with my wife and oldest daughter. My prayer is that it blesses you as much if not more than us.

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"it is the Spirit who gives life" Jn. 6:63

Origin

Shavuot is historically and symbolically related to the Jewish harvest festival, which commemorates God giving the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai fifty days after the Exodus.

Shavuot was instituted(by the LORD) as a harvest festival, which represented the end of the barley harvest and the first fruits of the wheat harvest [Scripture Reading: Lev 23:15-16]

The feast also commemorates the giving of the Covenant of Sinai [ Scritpure Reading: Exodus 19:1- 20:23]

The LORD told His people to observe this feast 50 days after a certain sabbath that historically fell on the second day of Passover. Thus the counting reminds us of the important connection between Passover and Shavuot.

Old Covenant Implication: Passover freed Israel physically from bondage,The giving of the Torah on Shavuot redeemed Israel spiritually from its bondage to idolatry and immorality. This reminds us that Israels redemption from slavery was not complete until they were given the Torah.

As the LORD gave His people the Torah he instructed them to obey/keep the Covenant and not turn from Him to idols. Ultimately they disobeyed which broke the Covenant and resulted in separation between them and their God.

The LORD did not leave His people in this state but rather prophesied of a New Covenant that would supersede the first, and solve -once and for all- their problem of inability to obey Him.

The Connection

The Tanakh (Old Testament) anticipated a new covenant between God and Israel which establishes the relationship between the giving of the Torah on Shavuot and the giving of the Spirit. The LORD prophesied that He would soon not only give the Torah but write it on His peoples hearts and put His Spirit in them- causing them to keep His statutes and obey His covenant. [Scripture Reading: Jer 31:30-34, Ezekiel 36:24-28]

Fulfillment

The LORD fulfilled His promise at the Shavuot in 33 A.D. Here he poured out His Spirit on the Apostles and other disciples, and empowered them to keep His Covenant. This occurred just "50 days" after the Passover celebration where our Lord Yeshua Ha'MaShiach (Jesus Christ) was sacrificed as the "Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the World".

Among Christians, Pentecost commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers of Jesus during the Jewish Shavuot or "fiftieth day" celebration in Jerusalem. [Scripture Reading: Acts 2]

The physical presence of God upon Sinai in wind, sound, and fire from Exodus 19-20 was here duplicated upon each of the believers present at that Pentecost in Acts 2.

New Covenant Implication: The Passover that occurred at Jesus’ death frees believers physically from the bondage of being slaves to sin. The giving of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost redeems believers from bondage to idolatry and immorality and empowers them with the power to keep God’s law (it’s written on our new hearts Jer 31/Ezek 36). This reminds us that our redemption form sin, although accomplished at Calvary, was not complete until the giving of the Spirit at Pentecost.

Bonus: The Significance re: Salvation

Paul's depiction of the new covenant highlights the significance of the arrival of the Spirit on Shavuot (2 Cor 3:1-18). He shows the strong connection between the work of the Spirit and the "new covenant," which he contrasts with the Torah that Israel received at Sinai. In this comparison, Paul echoes Jeremiah's promise that God will place his Spirit upon the hearts of his people and not upon stone tablets, which God gave to Moses at Sinai. Through his Spirit, which is the hallmark of the "new covenant," God imparts life to his people (2 Cor 3:6).

Despite its glory, the Torah did not produce life, but death (2 Cor 3:7). Paul affirms that the Torah is holy, righteous and good, but it lacks the ability to produce the same divine empowerment as the Spirit

*** An interesting and relative point was brought to me by one of my boys (Shout out to B RICH) this evening as he shared of His experience at a Messianic Synagogue's Shavuot Service tonight. The Rabbi made a correlation between the '3000' people in Ex. 32 who died on the same day in the desert for breaking the Covenant the LORD gave them at Mt Sinai by making a carved/golden calf to worship, and the '3000' people who were filled with the Spirit and added to the Church in Acts 2. WOW! Wish I were there!

Ok back to the study...

Now Paul does not malign the Torah, since he depicts it as arriving with glory, but, by comparison, he emphasizes the magnitude of the work of the Spirit within the new covenant (2 Cor 3:7-9). If God bestowed great honor upon the Torah, which was not able to produce life, then he gives even greater honor to the Spirit who transforms God's people from death to life.

Although God reveals his holy standard through the Torah, he empowers his people to live according to his holy standard through the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:9-10; Rom 8:3-4). By the Spirit, God is in the process of continually transforming his people into his likeness (2 Cor 3:18).

Application

As we know the sacrifice of God's Lamb once and for all ended more than half of the required Shavuot observance through sacrifice but there is still much significance for us today as believers.

The celebration of Shavuot is mainly a time to be thankful for God’s provision. Shavuot, after all, was in part established to celebrate the wheat "harvest". We can also remember and celebrate the giving of both covenants, and of the written Word and the Spirit of God.

My prayer for you is that the LORD would impart to you a spirit of thanksgiving for all of His harvest provision in your own life, and moreover His Law and His Spirit.

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Again I hope you're blessed by this study. This is just the tip of the iceberg. I encourage you to Be Like The Bereans and search the scriptures to see if what I'm saying is true. I assure you that if you do so with with a "noble character" and "great eagerness"... God will impart to you the gift of faith you need to believe His word.

Shalom!

Never read a Bible verse

I often get questions from people looking for practical insight regarding growth as believers. While much could be suggested in the slot of "how to" when it comes to maturing as Christians, I think I've narrowed it down to the most important piece of advice I can give a person.

Never read a Bible verse. That's right, never read a Bible verse.

Instead, always read at least a paragraph. I call it the 20/20 rule. 20/20 being perfect vision... so to see clearly[what the true message of a particular verse is] read the 20 verses above it and the 20 below it. In essence 'Be like the Bereans' and examine the scripture"s".

I recently heard a story (probably satire) of a woman who met with her Pastor for counseling. The story goes on to tell that the lady, well meaning, told the Pastor that as she was praying on April 24 at 4:24, she flipped open her bible and it landed on Ephesians 4:24 which says: "put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." For this reason she was filing for a divorce from her husband who wouldn't come to church and wanted to remarry a godly man.

While I doubt seriously the truthfulness of that story, this just about sums up the way a lot of Christians today approach reading their Bible. Most people may not be as mystical, but the result and application is the same. Just reach into the scriptures and pull out a verse you like, as if the Bible is a grab bag full of sweets for your soul. This should not be.

In addition to reading the surrounding passage when looking at a verse, here are a few (familiar) tools/considerations to keep in mind as you approach reading and/or studying.

1. Who - Who wrote it and who did he write it to?
2. What - What is the overall message of the passage/letter/book?
3. Where - Where is the setting of the writer and reader? How does it relate to our setting?
4. When - What time frame was it written in? How does that differ from or reflect our time?
5. Why - What was the authors intent? (Jn 20:30 is an example of the authors intent for his writing)

Though simple, applying these methods will greatly help you in your reading and comprehension of God's Word. Get started.


****UPDATE****

FOUND A VIDEO THAT HELPED ME A WHILE BACK. FUNNY THING IS I SAT IN ON A "BIBLE STUDY" GROUP LIKE THE ONE FEATURED IN THE BEGINNING JUST RECENTLY AND ALMOST BURST AT THE SEAMS.

Lions and Liars

Check out the first single "We Can be More" (Ft. JR), from Sho Baraka's highly anticipated sophomore album Lions & Liars! Get it now on i Tunes

Everyone wants love. Everyone needs love. Everyone at some point has expressed or experienced love. However, love is so misunderstood and abused. With "We Can be More" Sho attempts to communicate love from a perspective that goes beyond the contemporary views of lust and selfishness.

For another taste of what you can expect from the Lions & Liars album, check out Sho Baraka's Revolutionary Died video. A revolution is coming 3.30.10

Whats behind door number 1

What if there were two doors to choose from; behind one door was the complete will of God for your life and behind the other door was how life could be according to your own preference. Which door would you choose?

Sure you would... me too ;-)

The struggle for most lies in the earnest desire to follow God completely vs. the fear of what might be behind the door of full surrender. Most of us desire to follow God, but few of us actually do it at any cost. Often times we prove in deed that we don't really believe God loves us to the degree that we are willing to give Him complete permission to do as He wills in us.

(Selah)

If we desire to fully walk with Christ, there is a cost. We may give intellectual assent and go along with His principles and do fine; however, if we are fully given over to Him and His will for our life, it will be a life that will have adversity. The Bible is clear that humans do not achieve "greatness", if you will, without having their sinful will broken. This process is designed to create a nature change in each of us, not just a habit change. The Bible calls it circumcision. Circumcision is painful, bloody, and personal.

How do you respond to adversity and trials? Do you like Paul see them as momentary and "light afflictions" that are achieving for you an eternal glory that's far greater in value and makes any tribulation worth passing through?

If God has plans to greatly use you in the lives of others, you can expect your trials to be even greater. Why? Because, like Joseph who went through greater trials than most patriarchs, your calling may have such responsibility that God cannot afford to entrust to you without ensuring your complete faithfulness to the call. He has much invested in you on behalf of others. He may want to speak through your life to a greater degree than through another. The events of your life would become the frame for the message He wants to speak through you.

Do not fear the path that God may lead you on. Embrace it. God may have to bring you down a path of pain in your life to ensure the reward of your inheritance. For "Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all" (2 Cor. 4:17)