Jesus in the Old Testament 015: Jesus and The Feast of Tabernacles

Jesus in the Old Testament 015:

Jesus and The Feast of Tabernacles

Thesis: Sukkot celebrates many Christological themes.  Among those themes is the sheltering mercy of God over His people. God desires to shelter his people and invites them to see His goodness in this way.  In response, we are to shelter others in His name.

1. Nutshell w/kids
1. When you go camping, what is different then versus living in your homes?
2. Have you ever gone camping and slept outside without a tent?  What do you think that would be like?
3. Why is it important to have shelter?
4. Feast of Tabernacles celebrates lots of things, but we are going to be talking about God as our shelter.  What do you think that means?
5. God wants to be our only source of peace, comfort, and confidence.  He is our ultimate shelter.
6. God also wants us to be a shelter for those around us who need physical help or haven’t heard about the love of God for them.

2. Deeper w/ Adults
1. Overview of Sukkot:
1. One of Six Biblically-Commanded Jewish Feasts, one of Three Pilgrimage Feasts.
2. OT Commands:
1. Lev 23:33-36
2. Num 29:12-28
3. Deut 16:13-17
3. Celebrates many things:
1. God’s presence with His people (last time)
2. Fulfillment of the harvest (precursor to Thanksgiving)
3. Fulfillment of God’s word (Simchat Torah)
4. Fulfillment of God’s plan (first and last)
5. Joy after judgment (Wiping the tear)
6. Universal love of God for the nations (70 nations in Gen 10-11, 70 bulls sacrificed; “Peace to you and Joy to the nations”)
2. Shelters
1. Hebrew word: Sukkah, סֻכָּה çukkâh, sook-kaw'; feminine of H5520; a hut or lair:—booth, cottage, covert, pavilion, tabernacle, tent.
2. Commanded to build as a part of the holiday
1. Lev 23:42
2. Neh 8:13-17 from the branches of “goodly trees” that were mentioned in scripture.
3. Temporary shelter, a dwelling “on your way”
1. They were originally on their way to the promised land.
2. God also dwelt in a tabernacle, a tent (Ex 33:7)
3. When Israel was permanently settled, it was a time to look back to the God who was with them on their way and also a reminder that not even this life, settled though it may be, is a permanent dwelling for their soul (Lev 23:43).
4. Paul picks up on this idea in 2Cor 5:1-10.
5. Greek word: σκῆνος skēnos, skay'-nos; from G4633; a hut or temporary residence, i.e. (figuratively) the human body (as the abode of the spirit):—tabernacle
3. Verbal use: “to shelter”
1. The same root that is used as a noun in “tabernacle” or “booth” can be used verbally: סָכַךְ çâkak, saw-kak'; or שָׂכַךְ sâkak; (Exodus 33:22), a primitive root; properly, to entwine as a screen; by implication, to fence in, cover over, (figuratively) protect:—cover, defense, defend, hedge in, join together, set, shut up.
2. This word has a similar word, nearly a synonym contextually, in: צָלַל tsâlal, tsaw-lal'; a primitive root (identical with through the idea of hovering over (compare H6754)); to shade, as twilight or an opaque object:—begin to be dark, shadowing.
3. These two words together are what underlie the usage of “shelter” in a verbal sense in the OT.
4. Gen 19:8 first use.  Terrible story.  The visitors are more worthy of protection than Lot’s daughters because they have come under his shelter. 
5. Num 14:8-9.  Here “protection.”
4. God as our shelter.
1. God sheltered the children of Israel during the exodus so that their tents, clothing, and shoes were miraculously sustained during 40 years in the wilderness.
2. He used that picture to represent what he does for his people in numerous other ways.
3. The shadow of his blessing:
1. Psa 17:8
2. Psa 36:7
3. Psa 57:1
4. Psa 63:7
5. Psa 91:1-4
4. God desires to be our only source of shelter and protection. Isa 30:1-3.
5. When God protects us, we need not fear the wrath of man. Isa 51:12-16
6. Sukkot in Heaven Rev 7:9-17
1. Dressed in white
2. Palm branches
3. Wipe away every tear
4. God shelters them.
7. The Millennial kingdom
1. Isa 4:2-6
2. Isa 16:1-5, specifically mentioning gentiles grafted into the Messianic Kingdom.
3. Ezek 17:22-24, also specifically mentioning gentiles.
5. What does this mean for the church today?
1. We are to rest in the sheltering protection of God and not seek it from outside sources: Government, etc.
2. We are to shelter others with the sheltering we have received from God.
1. Luke 6:32-36
2. Jas 2:14-17
3. Jas 1:27

Discussion Questions:

1. Do you think of God as a shelter?
2. How does God’s desire to be a shelter for you help you see Him differently?
3. How have you enjoyed the shelter of God recently?
4. How have you been a shelter for others in His name recently?
5. If you haven’t, how can you make concrete plans to be a shelter for someone soon?

Jesus in the Old Testament 014: Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement

Jesus in the Old Testament 014:

Yom Kippur, The Day of Atonement

Thesis:  In God’s economy of dealing with sin, there is a sense in which sins of the repentant are rolled back to a future point of reckoning.  Proximally, that day of account is Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.  Even this day, though, only pre-figures the ultimate reckoning of sin in the atonement of Christ. 

 

Nutshell w/Kids:

1. What happens when you sin? (God is angry, we have a problem, etc.)
2. When you confess your sin and ask God to forgive you, what happens to your sins? (They are gone, they go away).
3. The Jewish concept of sins being a spiritual object that has to be done away with.
4. The Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur celebrated that God forgave sin and did away with it.
1. Two goats
2. Jesus is the fulfillment of this.
5. Names of the righteous written in the book of life and sealed.
6. If you have asked Jesus to forgive you, your name is in the book of life as well.
7. Set up crafts.

Deeper w/adults:

1. OT teaching
1. Lev 16:
1. The 10th day of the month, following “ten days of awe” or “ten days of repentance.”
2. The cumulative effect of the sacrifices throughout the year is to roll the sins back to this day when they are judged by God.
3. All sins, known and unknown can be forgiven (vs 30). 
4. Involves confession and repentance (vs 21)
5. Sins’ effect on the priest and temple/tabernacle is ceremonially removed.

a)    God’s sanctuary is profaned by the sins of the people, even though they don’t commit them in the sanctuary.

(1)  Lev 20:3

(2)  2Ch 36:14

b)    When individuals sacrifice for their sins, they are forgiven of them, but the sanctuary is defiled (Lev 4:31, 35; 5:6, 10, 13;12:6-8)

c)    The sanctuary and the priests become repositories of repented sins (Lev 4; Lev 10) and need to have those sins that have been stored up dealt with.

d)    The record of sins does not go away, but the sins are transferred from man’s account to God’s. “Books”

(1)  Ex 32:32-33

(2)  Ezek 13:9

(3)  Dan 7:10; 12:1

(4)  Rev 3:5; 13:8; 17:8; 20:12, 15; 21:27

e)    God accepts the duty of dealing with repented sins by “storing” them in the sanctuary.

f)     The priest must first make atonement for his own sins, then the sins of the temple/tabernacle, then the sins of the people.

g)    It’s about getting the filth out.

(1)  Scapegoat.

(2)  Portions of the bull not used in sacrifice are to be burned outside the camp.

(3)  Lots of requirements for bathing clothes and bodies.

6. Very careful prescriptions about what to do.

a)    The garments for service in the sanctuary don’t leave the sanctuary.

b)    They are not to be worn for service outside.

c)    Sprinkled on the altar 7 times. Completion. 

7. The veil and the cloud of incense hide the glory of God

a)    Fear of inappropriately approaching the presence of God

(1)  Lev 10:1-3

(2)  Ex 33:20

b)    bells and rope by Christ’s time.

8. Two goats (vs 7-10). Very important!

a)    Certain sins are paid for by the first goat.

b)    Certain sins are sent away from the presence of God unatoned for.

(1)  Azazel another name for Satan?

(2)  A compound word for “goat” and “going away.” Better. Scapegoat.

c)    God’s judgments are revealed.  His forgiving some sins and sending the others away is visible, able to be witnessed (Rom 3:21-26; Rev 15:5-8)

2. Lev 23:26-32:
1. No work.
2. Not a feast.  A fast. “Afflict yourselves.”

a)    The only day of fasting prescribed in scripture.  “The great fast.” or simply “The fast” (Acts 27:9 ESV, NASB)

b)    God is judging sin. Be somber.

c)    It’s not because of anything the people have done that God chooses to judge goats rather than them. 

3. Penalties for abusing this day are severe:

a)    If you do not fast=cut off from the people.

b)    If you work=killed.

4. Reinforces the Jewish day, from evening to evening.
2. Atonement on a yearly basis points toward the final judgment of sin at the end of the age.
1. Daniel 7:9-14
2. Daniel 12:1-4
1. Christological Fulfillment
1. Repentance and confession are preludes to the efficacy of Christ’s forgiveness in a person’s life: 1Jn 1:9; Rom 10:9-10
2. Sins rolled back throughout the ages until Christ’s sacrifice: Rom 3:23-26, Hebrews 10:1-4.
1. Pronouncements of forgiveness happen 20 times in Leviticus, but they are about transferring the debt of the sin away from the repentant and into “God’s books.”
2. Jewish believers hoped to have their names sealed in the book of life, which is alluded to in Eph 1:13
3. The Day of Atonement every year pointed to the final forgiveness and judgment of sin, which happened (is happening) in two stages.
3. The earthly priest and tabernacle/temple are shadows of the heavenly reality.  (Heb 8:2-5; 9:11-12, 20-24; Rev 7:15)
1. Christ became a curse for us Gal 3:13; 1Pe 2:24; Isa 53:4;
2. Heaven purified: Heb 9:19-28, esp vs23
3. Christ the perfect High Priest for our ministry: Heb 10:11-14
4. The “Books” are managed by Christ (Rev 3:5)
4. Christ laid aside his high-priestly garments (glory) when he left the Holy Place (heaven) and walked among us.
1. Phil 2:7
2. John 17:4,5
3. Took them up again: Rev 1:17, Heb 8:1; 12:2
5. Very precise instructions: Matthew 7:13-14; John 14:6; Acts 4:12
1. There is only one way that this “works.” 
2. No deviation is permissible Gal 1:8
6. Major difference: intimacy!
1. Before, the act of worship (incense) obscured the view of God’s presence. 

a)    Veil

b)    Smoke

c)    One man only; one day only

2. Now, we may enter into the presence of God boldly

a)    Torn veil, Matt 27:51

b)    Eph 3:12

c)    Heb 4:16

d)    Heb 10:19-24

7. Two goats!
1. We are currently between “goat 1” and “goat 2.”
2. Christ’s sacrifice for the atonement of repented sin is complete (Heb 10).
3. Currently, he is in glory, ministering on our behalf, waiting for the completion of those who will come into the body (and therefore participate in the forgiveness he wrought with his blood).

a)    Heb 1:13; 10:12-15;

b)    1Cor 15:26

4. His judgment of unrepentant sin and the banishment of it to Hell is yet in our future (Rev 20). At this time will the final body of Christ (Messianic-believing Jew, Church-age Christian, Tribulation Saint, and Millennial-kingdom believer) be complete.  At this point, will the full day of Atonement picture be fulfilled.

a)    There will be a time with the “second goat,” unrepented sin, is sent away from God’s presence, into Hell.

b)    Then, Atonement is complete, and the “task” of Christ to redeem the world will be accomplished.

c)    At this point, the Father is free to re-create the cosmos without the presence of sin (Rev 21-22).

d)    Just as the sacrifices of Atonement are visible and in the open, so are the final judgments of God something that all the world will see.

8. Our responses to the vision of judgment:
1. Be somber and grateful that it does not fall on us (Rev 8:1; Heb 10:31)
2. If you do not repent, your sins are not forgiven (1Jn 1:9)
3. Rest in the grace of God.  Don’t work! Rom 4:4-8; Rom 6:23
4. Worshipping God during and because of his judgments, as examples of his righteousness and justice, is modeled in heaven. Rev 19:1-5

Discussion Questions:

1. This holiday is about the fact that God will judge sin.  How does the sacrifice to cleanse from sin (goat 1) remind you of Jesus?
2. How does the scapegoat that carries sin away point us to Jesus as well?
3. The Bible teaches about the “books” of judgment that God keeps for all the sins of people who have not asked for forgiveness.  It also teaches about the “book of life” that keeps the names of those who are forgiven.  Which book(s) applies to you?
4. Those people whose names are written in the book of life are sealed.  What does this mean?  How does it change the way you live, knowing that your name is sealed in the book?

Rosh Hashanah: A Holy Interruption

When Christians say that “Jesus is Lord,” what do we mean by that? I think that for many, this statement is an intellectual consent to the abstract concept that Jesus is God and rules over the World. We like that there is a grand benevolence looking down on us. It makes us feel safe, secure, even cozy. Sadly, that’s only half of the picture. A “Lord” is expected to look after His subjects, but His subjects are also obligated to bow to the wishes of their Lord. What we mean when we say, “Jesus is Lord” is usually closer to, “Jesus takes care of me,” than “I serve Jesus with absolute abject self-denial.” However, the second is without a doubt what the phrase means.

Today is Rosh Hashanah, the feast of Trumpets. Actually, it began last night when the new moon rose over Jerusalem. Today, this festival marks the beginning of the Jewish New Year. It is the first day (Tishri 1) of the year 5778 on the Jewish calendar. Biblically, though, this day served as a “Holy Interruption” in the busy time of the Harvest. There has been a long 4-month span of time since the last holiday when all Jewish men were required to be in Jerusalem. During that time, the harvest has been coming in: first barley and wheat, then other grains, fruits, vegetables, and lastly the wine. In a predominantly agrarian society, men would be hard at work, reaping the blessings of God through the increase of their crops. They would be storing their goods away for the winter and selling their produce at the market. There’s a lot of commotion and activity.

Then, on one night in late summer, a blast on a ram’s horn in the Temple indicates that the High Priest has observed the rising of the new moon from the Temple complex. This signal is carried throughout the land as synagogues around the Temple take up the sound and blast it on. The sound is carried from town to town, as the elders and priest in each hear the distant blast and sound their own horns, carrying the signal throughout the nation. Eventually, the wind carries the sound of trumpets out to the fields, where the men are hard at work. It’s a signal to them to lay down their tools, set down their baskets. All the men aged 12 and over need to make preparations to leave. In 10 days they have to be in Jerusalem, ceremonially clean, bearing offerings, and ready to celebrate the day of atonement. The productive time of the labor of men and commerce has come to an end. God is calling.

For the next 24 hours, no work can occur. Hearts are to be turned toward God. A season of devotion and spiritual inventory is coming. Today is the closing of the door to self-promotion and the opening of the door to worship. Tomorrow, work can resume again in the fields, but only in the hands of the women and children. The men will begin their pilgrimage journey to Jerusalem during the 10 days that have come to be known as the 10 “days of awe.” As men leave the provision of their families in smaller hands, they are to repent of sin, confess their brokenness to the Lord, gather the needed offerings for their temple worship, and turn their faces toward Jerusalem.

They knew it was coming. They’ve seen the waning moon every night and knew that their interruption was fast approaching. It drove them to work harder and stay out later, but they didn’t know exactly when it would occur. The High Priest had to see the new moon from the Temple. Clouds, trees, and buildings all stand as obstacles to the visualization of the rising of the moon. For this reason, it is widely reported that “No man knows the day or the hour” when the blast of the horn would be heard. The season can be determined, the approaching time can be seen, but the moment always takes them by surprise. When the interruption comes, it comes with authority. The rest begins immediately. Tools are dropped. Crops left in the field. No work can happen until tomorrow when the women and children will pick up and carry on in the absence of the men.

There are two clear applications for me. I’m not a farmer, and no trumpets rang through the air last night where I live. Still, I am called to be interrupted. I have a busy life. There’s a lot I have to get done. In fact, I was debating with myself if I was going to take the time to write this out! Then, the meaning of the holiday hit me. God has demanded the right to interrupt me for His purposes. If He is Lord, then He can do so whenever he chooses. This holiday is, at least in part, about celebrating God’s interruptions. So, here I am. I really “should be” grading, planning, sending emails, organizing AWANA materials, getting ready to chair this year’s state science fair, etc. In the midst of it all, though, God has demanded His right to interrupt everything that I do (even though it’s all ‘ministry’) and focus my entire attention on Him and His intentional worship. Today, we celebrate His interruptions and the stopping of all things “urgent” and “needful” for the sake of the one thing that is “best.”

The second application is as a picture of the rapture. The church is currently about the work of bringing in the “harvest of souls.” We are aware that the time is running short, much as the waning moon told the harvesters to get on the task with urgency, but we don’t know exactly when the “trump of God” will sound and we will be called home. When the trumpet of the rapture sounds, the work of the church will cease suddenly. We will leave our tools behind, whatever hasn’t been harvested by then will need to be harvested by others, and we will go into the presence of the Lord to worship. Soon after, the harvesting of souls will continue, but it will be done by Jewish believers who, having been left behind by the rapture, come to realize that Jesus is the Messiah, place their faith in Him, and start to spread the gospel again. The harvest during this time, however, will be slower than in the church age, and relatively few people will be saved during the tribulation. Meanwhile, the church will be in the presence of the Lord and at rest.

There are many who teach (and I loosely agree with them) that whatever year the rapture happens, it will be on Rosh Hashanah. The Bible is very clear that “no man will know the day or the hour,” but that is actually a phrase that comes from this holiday. Also, as God has fulfilled all of the images in the other feasts, He’s done so actually on that day. Jesus was born on Sukkot, killed on Passover, resurrected on Firstfruits, and the Spirit came on Shavuot. His track record is to show the world what the feast has always been pointing toward on the feast day. There is little reason to think that He’ll change that pattern. Also, right after 1Thes 5:2 says that the timing of the Lord’s return will be like a “thief in the night,” verse 4 says that those who are saved and paying attention will not be caught off-guard. The “surprise” will be for the unsaved who suddenly are left without co-workers, neighbors, and friends. I say that I hold this loosely because way too many Christians have said, “The rapture will happen on day x.” They’ve all been wrong, and it gives the church a black eye. So I’m not going to hesitate to pay bills or go to work as Rosh Hashanah comes around each year, but I will use this day to remind me that, at some point, my work will be done here and will need to be finished by others. I should be as diligent as I can be until that time. Who knows, perhaps I’ll be flying heavenward today?

So hear this encouragement: If Jesus is “Lord” of your life, then He has the right to interrupt your work--even your sanctified work--and force you to come worship Him. You have the obligation to obey. Also, there will come a time when that interruption is not temporary or seasonal but is final. We can see that the day is fast approaching, so let’s work hard and be about the work of the “harvest of souls” while we can!

Have a Blessed Holiday. Thank you for allowing God to interrupt you!

The Meaning of Shavuot (Pentecost) and How to Celebrate It.

The Meaning of Shavuot (Pentecost) and How to Celebrate It. 

In Exodus 19, the wandering people of God get to their destination. They arrive at Mount Sinai for the first Shavuot.  God has been teaching them all along that He is the initiator of relationship and its boundary-setter.  He freed them through Passover according to His rules.  He allowed them to cross the Red Sea according to his power.  He delivered spiritual food and spiritual drink if they would obey His plan, and He defeated Amalek through a very peculiar methodology, so that all would know that it was the hand of God that had brought the victory.  He invites.  He sets the rules.  That is nowhere more true than here, at the giving of the Law.

First, God lays out the invitation:

"The Lord called to him [Moses] out of the mountain, saying, 'Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel:  You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself.  Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine;  and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.'” Exodus 19:3-6

"Come to me.  Know me,"  God invites them.  This is not a God who needs to be sought out, whose will and nature are hidden from mankind.  We are not working toward a relationship with the Almighty.  He has come to us!  The has born us "on eagles' wings and brought [us] to [Himself]!"  This is the God who calls to the Jew here but to all of mankind through Jesus' church and invites us all to come and know His love, His grace, and His nature.

The invitation does not come on our terms, though.  We are invited to know Him, but we cannot come any old way.  All roads do not lead to God.  In fact, only the one road that He has laid takes us to Himself.  The way is open, but narrow.  Notice the terms of the invitation: "If you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant...."  Come everyone!  The invitation is open, and the road to fellowship is called, "obedience."

God then defends his holiness.

"Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments and be ready for the third day. For on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.  And you shall set limits for the people all around, saying, ‘Take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death.  No hand shall touch him, but he shall be stoned or shot; whether beast or man, he shall not live.’ When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.” Exodus 19:10-13

God's holiness is tied to His glory, and as such is closely guarded by the Almighty.  Over and over again, we are warned that sinful man cannot see a holy God and live.  Here, God is making a special provision for them.  Again, it's invitation and regulation together: "Purify yourself and keep away until you do." Then, when I tell you to, come into my presence.

God's instructions are obeyed, and the people prepare for an encounter with the Living God.  The smoke, fire, wind, and trumpet blasts increase until the end of the third day, when God descends to the top of the mountain, and a long blast on the trumpet is heard.  We know from the text's instructions that the trumpets were not the shofar horns of the Levites but were in fact the blast of heavenly instruments (think the rapture's announcement).  At the signal, the people assemble at the base of the mountain.

It is a point of contention among Rabbis if the people were meant to stay only at the foot of the mountain throughout the experience or if they were meant to ascend with Moses after the initial giving of the law.  God makes it clear to Moses that the initial decalogue is meant for Moses alone. He reiterates the prohibition against touching the mountain, and Moses conveys it again to the people, but if they were not to ever come up, why did God say, in vs 13, that they were to go "up to the mountain"?

In either case, when Moses comes down again, the people are terrified by what they have seen and heard.  If the point of this experience was an invitation into intimate relationship trough the law and then the sharing the Spirit with them (which is the opinion of the majority of Messianic Jews) to empower this obedience, the people only get half the gift.  Instead of the invitation being accepted, they reject the fullness of the gift on Sinai and settle only for the law.

"Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was. Exodus 20:18-21

This is where many Rabbis believe that the people were meant to ascend the mountain and receive, along with the law, the indwelling of the Spirit to empower its obedience.  They don't follow through, though.  Moses tells them not to fear, that this display is meant to instill a holy fear into them, and he invites them up and in.  They reject the invitation, though.  Instead of intimacy, they choose distance, and instead of hearing God directly, they choose to use Moses as a mediator. They stand far off, and Moses draws near.

Thus begins the sad story of Israel's failure to obey the law.  They have the instruction, but they are lacking the strength--and even the desire--to obey.  Moses is standing on the hill alone, overlooking the battle, and there is neither an Aaron nor a Hur to hold him up.  No wonder Amalek wins over and over in their history.

In case you think that this is an aberrant belief, that the Jews would never reject an offer of intimacy with God made so plainly as an invitation up the mountain, remember what Jesus went through.  He came to bring the Kingdom of God on His terms--invitation and boundaries--and they rejected Him as well.

Several thousand years later, on the same day--Shavuot--the invitation was finally accepted.   The Law had not been written on stone, but on the hearts of Jesus' followers in fulfillment of Jeremiah 31.  The way of righteous living was not merely described to them, but actually lived in perfection before their eyes in the life of Christ.  They were not called merely to obey but to live in the power of the perfected obedience of Christ, applied to their account.  The followers had at first chosen distance when Christ was crucified, but His resurrection had brought them back together, and they were waiting in the upper room, in Jerusalem, on top of the Mountain of God.  They showed up, and so did the Holy spirit.

Read Acts 2 alongside Exodus 19 and 20, and you'll be astonished at the similarities.  God shows up, and miraculous fire declares his presence, accompanied by wind and strange voices (In Exodus, it is not just the "sound" of the trumpets and the lightning, but it is literally the "tongues" of the trumpets and lightning).  In both places, the manifestation of God comes with similar signs.  This time, however, the people are ready. The Holy Spirit comes, and they don't run away.  They are filled.

What the Jews of the Exodus rejected, the Jewish Apostles of Jesus accepted. Whereas the Jews after Sinai were condemned to run after obedience to a law they could never fulfill, Jesus' followers can live in the obedience already wrought for them by Christ. The law served then and still serves today as a reminder of our sin, but in Christ, we have been made new, and with the Holy Spirit's indwelling, we are free to live in obedience.  The picture, only half-rendered at the first Shavuot, was completed at the day that the church has chosen to refer to with its Greek designation: Pentecost.

How appropriate, then, that Peter should echo the invitation of God at Sinai when He declares that the church is, "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." 1Pe 2:9

Praise God that He has not only called us to obey (although that is no less true today), but He has been perfect obedience for us, so that in our failing, we are made whole by Christ.  Praise God that He has not expected us to obey on our own strength and by the power of our own will, but that He has provided the Holy Spirit to be our strength and the buttress of our will when it fails.  He has called us to perfection, but He has become the perfection for us. Bless the Lord!

If you are still trying to live "right" or be "good enough" for God, learn from the failure of the Jews for two thousand years between Shavuot and Pentecost.  It cannot be done.  Call out to God, give Him your failures, you sins, and accept the invitation of the Lord to intimacy through God-empowered obedience.

How To Celebrate It

Shavuot is a complex holiday. Much like most other Judeo-Christian observances, it has portions which are strictly Biblical, portions which are tied to yearly cycles of seasons and life events, and portions of it which are, in all honesty, just silly.   The plan I'm posting here is what we do, borrowing some of the extra-biblical "tradition" of the Jewish celebration, to lend a sense of authenticity to the history of the holiday, and packing in as much Biblical symbolism as possible.

The Food: No holiday gets past "go" without food.  This holiday coincides with the barley harvest, and as such, much bread is baked and eaten.  It is also a peak production period for milk in Israel, so dairy is high on the list as well.  We start by baking bagels in the morning.  Recipes abound online. Pick one.  They take time to make, so don't make everyone wait for breakfast for them.  Have something quick to hold you over, then make these.  Enjoy the process. While they're baking, we make fresh homemade butter by shaking heavy whipping cream in cleaned out plastic ware or baby food containers.

Throughout the rest of day, food should be bread-and-dairy focused. We had homemade Fettuccine Alfredo with Chicken last year for dinner (That's a no-no in Kosher food laws--combining dairy and meat in one meal--but we get to celebrate the fulfillment of the Law on our behalf, right? We also get to live on this side of Acts 10!).

The Family Time: This is one of the three pilgrim feasts of the year.  In Israel, that means that Jewish men over the age of 12 must appear before the Lord in Jerusalem.  Usually, whole families went.  That means that families spent a lot of time together, talking about the Lord and learning from one another.  Find time to just talk about God with your family. Ask questions, answer them with scripture.  Marinade in the greatness of God together.

If you have younger children, as I do, google "Shavuot Crafts."  There are many.  Do something together to help them understand what this day is about.

The Scripture: Two sections of scripture are typically read on this holiday.  I'd suggest you may add a third.  First, sometime early in the day (perhaps over fresh homemade bagels and fresh butter) read the book of Ruth together.  It takes place during this time of year (the barley harvest) and is about the inclusion of foreigners (gentiles) into the plan of God's salvation through the Jew.  That's a pretty awesome fit for us gentiles who are celebrating this high Jewish holiday.

Later in the day (maybe as dinner is cooking), read the story of the 10 commandments from Exodus 19 and 20.  Talk about the meaning of the Law for the Jew and its fulfillment for those of us who follow Messiah.  In a typical Jewish home, this conversation, the studying and discussing of the law, goes all night.  I'd suggest you change subjects after dinner.

In the evening, at the conclusion of the day, read some of the New Testament scriptures which discuss Jesus' fulfillment of the Law and our ability to live in His perfect completion of the Father's demands.  Examples might be taken from numerous places in the book of Romans or Hebrews.  You may even read some of Jesus' own statements about His relationship to the Law in the gospels.

Read Acts 2 to bring the symbolism into the New Testament.  God has not only given us an invitation to relationship, but He has filled us with Himself! What an amazing truth in which we get to live!

Close the day by thanking God that He invites us to know Him, has given us His standard for living in the Law, and has fulfilled His own requirement by sending Jesus to live it perfectly for us!

Happy Shavuot!