E-votional

Sha-Whaaat?

Joel 2:28 It will come about

after this that I will pour

out My Spirit on all mankind

Sun down on Monday begins the Feast of Shavuot a.k.a. the feast of weeks or Pentecost. This is the fourth Biblically mandated feast that was literally fulfilled on the day of the feast with the birth of the Church. So happy birthday to you and me! We really should throw a party.

The Great I AM led His chosen people through the Red Sea, and gathered them before Him at the base of Mount Sinai. The awesome presence of the Shekinah Glory caused those freed from Egyptian bondage to stand in fear and wonder. Jewish tradition says it was on Zman Matan Torah (a rabbinic name for Shavuot, meaning the "Season of the Giving of the Law"), that the Law of Moses was given to Israel.

Many centuries later, another multitude was gathered on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem for the Shavuot (Pentecost) feast. The message of the New Covenant, first promised by the Jewish prophets, would now find its voice once again among those whom Messiah called His friends:

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance. Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. Acts 2:1-5

Empowered by the Holy Spirit, Peter preached Messiah's Resurrection, and many put their trust in the Lamb slain for their salvation. They were set loose from the chains of their own sin… freed forever, by God’s amazing grace. As prophesied, God's law was written on their hearts and the church was born.

So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. Acts 2:41-43

Identifying with Yeshua HaMaschiach (Jesus, the Christ), they were all baptized immediately. In a very special way, these three thousand Jewish believers were the first-fruits fulfillment of the Feast of Pentecost.

Next to the gospel accounts of the Resurrection, I think the story of the birth of Messiah's Bride on Shavuot is my favorite passage of Scripture. Pictures of God’s amazing power flash in my mind as the Church drew her first Holy Spirit breath and proclaimed her birth with boldness. The opening strains of God’s symphony of Good News fell first on the ears of His chosen people. They had come from all over the world to be present in Jerusalem for the harvest celebration.

Returning to their homes among the Nations, these new Jewish believers would testify as to what they had seen and heard in their own language on that day of new beginnings… to the Jew first and also to the Greek. They turned the world right-side up in just a few decades.

Seated by His Father’s side, our anxious Bridegroom is watching and counting down to the appointed day when He will return and take His beloved back to the place He has been preparing for over two thousand years.

For a more in depth study of the fulfillment of the Feast of Pentecost click here and download for free, Dr. Fruchtenbaum's Messianic Bible Study on The Feast of Shavuot (Weeks or Pentecost).

Provided in part by Arlie Francis, Dr. Fruchtenbaum, and Ariel Ministries