Jesus in the Old Testament 034: The Feast of Shavuot

 Jesus in the Old Testament 034: 

The Feast of Shavuot

Exodus 19-20; Acts 2

Thesis: God’s invitation to the Jew and the Gentile has always been an open doorway called “obedience.” This invitation was given at Sinai and received in part, but the “obedience” was left up to the power of the people. In Acts 2, the invitation is given again, but this time it is dependent upon the completed obedience of Christ. 

Shavuot: 

1. Exodus 19

1. Timing: They leave Egypt on the 15th day of Nissan (the first month) and they arrive at Sinai on the first day of Sivan, about 40 days later. 

2. An invitation to intimacy accepted  (vs 4-9)

1. Predicated upon God’s rescue of them from Egypt. 

2. Dependent upon their obedience.

3. A promise: 

1. Treasured possession

2. A kingdom of priests, not a kingdom with priests

3. A holy nation, completely redeemed. 

4. The people respond that they will do as requested.  Reliance upon their own goodness.  

5. God says, “Good.  I’m coming over.  See you soon.” 

3. The guarding of holiness (vs 10-20)

1. People are to keep back off of the mountain for three days of consecration.  

2. Then, on day 3, God will speak to them so that they can hear, and then they may come up the mountain. Vs 13. Permissive imperfect. 

3. God plans on demonstrating his holiness with various manifestations of his glory, including smoke, lightning, thunder, fire, and “voices.” 

1. Thunder: “voices” 550 times in OT.  Here, without a clear speaker, the English has assigned it as the noise or voice of the lightning, which would be thunder, but that isn’t dictated by the text. 

2. At least four other words used in the OT to reference thunder, but this specifically looks at a voice.  

4. When God shows up, he repeatedly reinforces the boundary. Only Moses and Aaron (and Joshua?) are allowed on the mountain for the recitation of the law. 

2. Exodus 20 The terms of the covenant and the creation of distance. 

1. With Moses and Aaron (and maybe Joshua) on the mountain and all the people around the base, God recites the 10 commandments (vs 1-17). 

2. When the people were set to be admitted into the presence of God after the recitation of the law on day 3, they instead chose distance (vs 18-21). 

3. Exodus 24: Confirmation of the covenant. 

1. After receiving many verbal laws with Moses closer to the theophany than the people dared to go, Moses ceremonially binds them with blood to the rules of the covenant.  

2. Again, the people commit to doing all that God requires on their own strength. Vs 7

3. Vs 9.  The intimacy that was offered to the people of Israel was experienced only by a few representatives Vs 9-11

4. Moses and Joshua head up the mountain to get the tablets of stone (vs 12-18), but they spend seven days waiting to enter the cloud while more glory is on display.  

5. They enter the cloud 10 days after arriving at the base of the mountain (vs 16). 

6. Moses enters the cloud 50 days after leaving Egypt. This is why Shavuot is commemorating the giving of the law. 

4. Keeping the law on their own didn’t work, and the relationship is broken

1. Ex 31:18-32:6. Immediate failure

2. 32:7-10. God threatens to break the relationship completely.  

3. 32:11-29 Moses Intercedes and punishes the people.  Levites are ordained for service as priests.  The kingdom of priests is forfeit. 

4. 32:30-33:6, God humbles the people. 

5. Eventually (Ex 34), The tablets and the covenant are restored, but there is no more talk of a holy national priesthood. 

6. The people cannot obey on their own.  The relationship is marred and incomplete. 

5. Jeremiah 31:31-34. 

1. There is a need for a “Greater Shavuot.”

2. God will make a new covenant with them that is unlike what happened at Sinai. 

1. Law is written on their hearts, not on stone. 

2. Universal intimacy.  Not representational. 

3. Forgiven sin, not rolled back. 

4. The power to obey, not just the mandate. 

6. Fulfilled in Acts 2:1-4

1. On the day of Pentecost, the Greek name for this holiday, meaning “50.”  50 days after the Sabbath included in Passover. 

2. Don’t read that too quickly.  They were gathered in one place because, 10 days earlier, Jesus had ascended and told them to wait, but also because, being good Jews, they were in Jerusalem for Shavuot. 

3. The instructions had been delivered at Sinai, but the people rejected the intimacy with God that would have empowered its living. Here, the Spirit-filled believers and equipped them to live a life of Godliness. 

4. Parallels: 

1. Both events happened on a mountain that is called the “Mountain of God.”  Exodus 24:13 & Isaiah 2:3

2. Both events happened to newly-redeemed people. 

3. Both events happened on the same day. 

5. At Sinai, the law is given, written on tablets of stone.  In Acts, the law of God is written on the hearts of men. 

6. At Sinai, the people said that they would obey on their own strength, now Christ allows us to walk in his perfect obedience and righteousness. 

7. At Sinai, the people arrived at the mountain after 40 days.  Moses went alone into the cloud on day 50. Jesus ascended on day 40, and the Holy Spirit entered into all believers on day 50. 

8. At Sinai, the fire was high and away on the top of the mountain.  God is great and mighty.  Powerful and distant.  In Acts, the fire is divided and upon each Apostle. God is still mighty and powerful, but intimate and close by. 

9. At Sinai, the voices are described as thunder, abstract power.  In Acts, the voices come from the Apostles and declare the mighty works of God. 

10. At Sinai, the covenant was broken and 3,000 people died. In Acts, the covenant is renewed and 3,000 people are given new life. 

7. 1 Peter 2:9.  God has restored his plan for a holy nation of priests, but it is not limited only to one ethnic group.  The church carries the fulfillment of that plan in the modern age. 

8. Application

1. We, NT Gentiles, are not bound to celebrate the details of the law, and observing Shavuot is not a command we carry.  However, we are enriched when we understand the length to which God has gone to prepare for himself a holy nation of priests through whom He can bless the world. 

2. Don’t live like Sinai Jews, who desired to obey but immediately demonstrated that they can’t.  Live in the power of the Holy Spirit in the wake of Christ’s fulfillment of the law. You are free and powerful.  Do you live this way? 

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?