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? 

Hebrews 9: The New Covenant

Hebrews 9

The New Covenant

After the lengthy quote from Jeremiah 31 (last week's lesson), the preacher of Hebrews moves into a detailed comparison between Jesus' ministry of the New Covenant and the Levitical ministry through the Old. We discover several ways in which the Tabernacle predicted the development of the New Covenant.  We see several direct comparisons between Jesus and the Levitical priest, and we are then given three reasons why Jesus had to die. 

Due to technical problems, there is no recording of this week's lesson, but my notes are below. 

1. Vs 1-5, Introduction to the physical tabernacle
1. Very fast overview of a very important symbol
1. 2 Chapters on creation, 4 Chapters on Birth of Jesus, 4 chapters on Resurrection of Jesus, 51 on the tabernacle.
2. He “gets things wrong.”
1. Rapid fly-over is admitted in vs 5, but there are still errors.
2. There are possibile qualifications and explanations, but it’s still challenging.
3. Perfection of the shadow is not the point.  Perfection of the reality--Jesus--is.
2. Outer court (150’ x 75’)
1. Not mentioned at all by the preacher.
2. Contained the Brazen Altar, where all sacrifices were killed and burned.
3. Contained the Laver, where ceremonial washings were performed.
4. Clearest pictures of the Levitical system.  All external
3. Vs 1-2: “Holy Place”
1. Lampstand: Light, symbol of God’s glory, his wisdom and beauty.
1. Jesus: John 8:12 “I am the Light of the World.”
2. The Church: Matt 5:14-16.  “You are the light of the world.” “Let your light so shine before men.”
2. Table and Bread of Presence: Symbol of God’s fellowship with his people. He provides for, sustains, and fellowships with them.
1. Jesus: John 6:35, 50, 51, “I am the bread of life” or “came down from heaven.”
2. Mat 4:4. The words of Jesus are better than bread
3. 12 loaves: 1 per tribe, 1 per apostle.
3. Altar of Incense (wrongly placed inside the most holy Place in vs 4: Symbol of prayer and worship going up in the presence of God.
1. “Having the altar of incense…” (vs 4)
1. Perhaps, since the smoke of the incense drifted into the Holy of Holies, it was associated with it.
2. Perhaps a manuscript error?  No manuscript evidence otherwise, though. P46, from about 200AD, is the oldest extant copy of Hebrews and has the wording represented in the modern English translations.
2. Jesus is continuously praying for us:
1. John 17, High priestly prayer
2. Jesus as intercessor: Acts 7:55-56, Rom 8:34; Eph 1:20; Col 3:1; Heb 7:25…
4. The Holy Place shares some characteristics with both the Holy of Holies and the Outer court.  It is a transition between the two.
5. It is a clear picture of what Jesus is doing for us during the age of the church.  
4. Vs 3-5: The Holy of Holies: The symbolic presence of God.
1. The altar of incense (already discussed, in the Holy Place).
2. The Ark of the covenant and mercy seat: The actual place of the manifestation of God’s presence.
1. As in heaven: surrounded with angelic worshippers.
2. Covered in symbols of worth and value (gold)
3. Mercy Seat: The throne of judgment which has become for the believer a seat of mercy.
3. “Containing.” The jar of manna and Aaron’s staff.
1. Placed before the ark (Ex 16:33; Num 17:10)
2. At the time of David, there was nothing in the ark but the tablets of stone (1 Kings 8:9; 2Chron 5:10)
3. Preposition “en” can also mean “with” or “accompanying,” not exclusively “inside”
4. Aaron’s staff: A symbol of divine election.  It budded to demonstrate that God had chosen his priestly tribe and leadership.
5. Manna: A symbol of God’s miraculous sustenance.  
6. In God’s presence (Holy of Holies), the elect (Aaron’s staff) find mercy (the mercy seat), and their continued enjoyment of the presence of God is completely wrought by God on our behalf (manna).
2. Vs 6-10: The physical tabernacle is a picture of increasing intimacy with God throughout the story of redemptive history.
1. Basic argument:
1. In the Law (outer court), people were made aware of the holiness of God but focused on externals, rituals, and kept at a distance.
2. In the church age (Holy Place) we are brought near to the presence of God through the ministry of Christ, but we are still separated from His physical presence.
3. In the final age, the eternal state, we will enjoy the physical presence and eternal manifestation of God as his elected, atoned people for ever.
2. Vs 6: Frequent service of the Jewish priest (whose home base was the outer court) as they came in to daily serve as close as they could get to God’s glory in the Holy Place.  
3. Vs 7: The Holy of Holies off limits to all but one and him only once a year.
1. Contrast with Jesus who, as our forerunner, went into the veil once on our behalf (6:20)
4. Vs 9: The present age.
1. Does this mean present Judaism or the Church?
1. Immediately following, it seems to apply to Judaism.
2. Several translations and commentators point to the church.  
3. Manuscript difference:
1. KJV (Textus Receptus) Which was a sign for the time then present, clearly the law.
2. ESV, NASB (UBS) Which is a sign for the present time.
4. Helped by “outer court,” The outer court is Israel’s legal covenant.
2. The externals of the Levitical system are emphasized, and it is clearly stated that these had no impact on the inner man, in opposition to the work of Christ. .
5. The “already and not yet” of the new covenant .
1. The New Covenant was inaugurated by Christ’s blood (9:12-14), and it began at the cross, but..
2. We still live in the presence and the possibility of sin, although we are cleansed from its penalty, so…
3. The New Covenant is in force but not fully manifested to us.  We are in the “middle ground” of the Holy Place.
4. In heaven and in the new Creation, we will be bodily in the presence of God (Holy of Holies).
3. Vs 11-14: The Superior work of Christ in the New Covenant
1. The Old Covenant functioning in the Tabernacle was awesome.  Christ is far better in every way.
1. Vs 11: Greater and more perfect tent
1. The tabernacle was beautiful, but made of Earthly creation.
2. Heaven is not made by men, but by God and is incorruptible.
2. Vs 12: Entered once for all
1. Levitical High Priest entered to leave, and the sooner the better.
2. Jesus entered and sat down.  He belongs there, in the presence of the Father.
3. His work is done.  He does not need to repeatedly perform a task.
3. Vs 12: Not by the blood of goats and calves but by His own blood
1. The blood of goats and calves could not fully or finally satisfy the penalty of sin (Rom 3:20, 28; Gal 2:16; 3:11)
2. Jesus’ sacrifice is final and complete, “securing eternal salvation.”
4. Vs 13-14: cleanliness of the outer person (superficial) is secured by the blood of sacrifices, but the cleanliness of a soul is only wrought by God.
1. Blood of goats and bulls (normal offerings)
2. Sprinkling with the ashes of a heifer: the cleansing for being in the presence of a dead body.  Why pull this out in detail?
1. We are all not only sources of our own sin, but
2. We live in a dead culture, full of spiritually dead people.
5. Vs 13-14: The worth of Jesus is so much greater than the worth of any animal sacrifice.
2. Everything about the New Covenant is greater than its (already awesome) counterpart in the Old Covenant.
4. Vs 15-28: The need for Death.  
1. Vs 15: All the greatness of the New Covenant and the amazing benefits it bestows upon us who believe are as a consequence of the death of Christ. 3 Reasons:
2. One:  Vs 16-21A Will requires a death.
1. “Covenant” διαθήκη diathēkē is the same word used for a “last will and testament.” 33x in NT. “Covenant” 20X, “Will” 13x  
2. Gen 48:21; Jn 14:27
3. In order for the “last will and testament [covenant] of God to be enacted, God must die.”  This is the final stage in His redemption.  All future salvation will be contingent upon this action.
4. Vs 18-21.  The deaths which inaugurated the Mosaic covenant were the deaths of animals.  It was the “aftermath” of their death which set in motion the covering of sins.
1. “Scarlet Wool and Hyssop” not mentioned in the OT record in any textual tradition.
2. Another source?
3. These symbols used frequently in other cleansing rituals (Lev 14, for example).
3. Two: Vs 22-23: Forgiveness requires blood
1. Every time the phrase “and he shall be forgiven” appears in Leviticus, it is in connection with a blood sacrifice.
2. No food, drink, or wave offering brings forgiveness of sin.
3. Lev 17:11
4. Three: Vs 24-28.  Christ was our substitute.
1. Again, Type and Antitype are reinforced.  Heaven is the real tabernacle of God, and Jesus is the real priest.
2. Vs 24: Now to appear on our behalf.
1. Jesus is now where we cannot yet be.
2. Where he now is we will so be.  Forerunner (6:20)
3. Jesus walks into the presence of God in our place.  We are with him spiritually now but in truth in the future.
3. Vs 25-26, Again.  Once and for all
1. Jesus does not suffer again for the sins of people.  Neither:
1. People he didn’t know would believe
2. Sins which catch him off guard.
2. Salvation was wrought “before the foundation of the world” for those who would die believing before, during, and well after the death of Christ on the cross.
3. Decision eternal, paid for in actual temporal history.
4. Remember, God is outside of time.  He has no tomorrow or yesterday.
4. Vs 27-28: Christ’s post-sacrificial return in glory.
1. OT Levitical priest went in once a year, and everyone outside waited with anticipation for his return.
1. Did he make it?
2. Did he accomplish his atonement?  
3. Did he accomplish mine?
4. The re-emerging of the High Priest was sign that God had accepted the sacrifice and dealt with the sin according to his decreed plan.
2. When Jesus returns a second time, the symbolism will be the same.  The work has been accomplished.  God has accepted the payment for our sin.  Jesus’ plan/ministry/message is finally vindicated.
3. The eschatone bears wrath for those whose sins are not covered by Christ, but carries great joy for us who are “eagerly waiting for him.”
5. Jesus’ literal substitution for Barabas as a picture of our salvation.