Part IV

Shavuot was long considered to be a minor festival. It didn't really have its own day since it depended on the Passover date, and this seemed to make it "Part B" of the Passover in the minds of the Hebrews.And, added to this, the two loaves offered up contained leaven!

Could its more electric importance be realized in Christianity? The Gentiles were certainly considered to contain leaven (sin). But the early Christian Church was full of Jewish believers, too. Could the two loaves represent Hebrew and Gentile believers?

Since the Church was born on Pentecost, could that day also foreshadow the day the Holy Spirit completes His work in the Church? He is, after all, the down payment of our inheritance, to be fulfilled at a later date.

The First Trumpet

When God descended to the top of Mt. Sinai to give the Law, the people heard the first trumpet ever recorded in Scripture. It was terrifying. This event according to rabbinical tradition occurred on the very day that was later established as Pentecost.

Michael Strassfeld, in his book The Jewish Holidays, a Guide & Commentary, writes:

"At some point in the rabbinical period, connections began to be made with the Revelation at Sinai, which as the biblical text tells us, took place in the third month - that is, during Sivan (see Ex. 19:1). The exact date of Sinai is not given, and in fact there is a disagreement in the Talmud over whether the Revelation took place on the sixth or seventh of Sivan." (p. 71

According to Jewish tradition, God took the two horns from the ram given to Abraham as a sacrifice in the place of Isaac. From them, he made two shofars. The left horn was called the "first trumpet" and was blown at Sinai. The right horn is called the "last trumpet" and will be blown on the day of Resurrection. The question is, will the last trumpet be sounded on Pentecost or on Rosh HaShanah? This early Jewish tradition was perhaps the origin of Paul's use of the term "last trump" in 1 Cor. 15:51-53).

The Battle of Leviathan and Behemoth

Jewish legend also says that Pentecost represents the day of the dragon's conflict when God holds a feast for the saints where they celebrate the final battle of Leviathan and Behemoth. Interestingly, we read in Rev. 19:19,20

¹⁹And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.
²⁰And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.

This description, depicting the events that will occur when Christ returns in glory with His saints, immediately follows the account of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. In Jewish tradition the bride and groom were in seclusion for the seven days preceding the marriage feast. And the feast itself seems to be in the context of the prophetic fulfillment of the feast of Shavuot - at least in legend. Every single year the rabbis tell this story of the saints in heaven watching the battle of the beasts, which is planting the seeds of recognition in the minds of the people. When that event occurs, the Jews will recognize it.

Those two beasts - Leviathan and Behemoth - seem to be referenced in Rev. 13:1, 11:

13:1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

¹¹And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.

This Jewish story of this battle of the beasts is a part of their observance of Pentecost (Shavuot). The prophecies behind this feast were not completed at the descent of the Holy Spirit 2,000 years ago. There are still some Pentecost prophecies yet to be fulfilled.

Flavius Josephus Tells A Strange Pentecost Story

This is a tantalizing story that I've always loved. Josephus recounts an event that occurred as long as seven years before the destruction of Herod's Temple in 70 A.D.

"... At that feast which we call Pentecost, as the priests were going by night into the inner court of the Temple, as their custom was, to perform their sacred ministrations, they said that, in the first place, they felt a quaking, and heard a great noise, and after that they heard a sound as of a great multitude, saying, 'Let us remove hence.'" (Wars, VI.V.111)

Could this sound be viewed as a prophetic reference to the Rapture? When the Rapture occurs we will 'remove hence.' Was that quaking, noise and shout foreshadowing the Rapture? Right now people are hearing strange sounds from the heavens all over the world. What does it all mean?

Ruth & Gentile Conversion

The following section came from prophecy scholar J.R. Church, now with the Lord.
***
Rabbi Yosef Stern (The Three Festivals) tells his constituency of observant Jews that Ruth, a Gentile, completes the message of the five books of Moses. Without her story the Torah would be incomplete. She is a "supplement to the Torah." This teaching, though not yet understood by Jews, underscores what happened on the day of Pentecost. That day began a dispensation in which millions upon millions of Gentiles have been brought into faith and fellowship with God. What a dramatic conclusion to the old Mosaic Covenant. Peter emphasized that Joel had predicted the pouring out of God's Spirit upon "all flesh," including all Gentiles.

Note the way Rabbi Stern describes Ruth's personification of righteousness: "Ruth dramatizes the theme expressed in the Mishnah (Avos 1:17 'Not study but practice is the main thing.' She, being a Gentile, does not just follow the Torah, but actually possesses it in her soul" Stern continues: "Torah is compared to an inner light (cf. Tehillum [Psalm] 97:11), light is sown for the righteous, the light of Torah is sown in the soul of the tzaddik." (p. 212). The Hebrew term tzaddik refers to a righteous person.

The rabbi is saying that Ruth, unlike the ordinary Torah-practicing Jew, actually possessed eternal life. She did not just study the five books of Moses, but personified righteousness. Rabbi Stern writes: "Similarly, the blessing recited after reading the Torah who implanted eternal life within us ..." implies that eternal life is a subject associated with Pentecost. Furthermore, Jews believe that Ruth exemplifies the day when all nations will do as she did - receive eternal life through faith in the Messiah: "Just as Ruth made an important contribution to Judaism, so can anyone from any origin. Indeed, [God] actively waits for strangers to emerge from the clutches of the non-Jewish world." (p. 218)

Ruth is an important and essential part of the Pentecost ritual. Rabbi Stern tells his Jewish followers that she is a prophetic type of all Gentiles who will be invited to receive eternal life. He writes that the reading of Ruth "... also reminds us of the final Revelation Day, a day as glorious as that on which the Torah was given, when Messiah ben David will appear. .. If [Pentecost] marked the onset of Jewish history, then Messiah's arrival will be its splendid climax, when all of humankind will flock to [God]." (p. 218)

What the rabbi does not understand is that the "splendid climax" to the Pentecost ritual actually came to pass 2,000 years ago and was recorded in the second chapter of Acts. Each generation after that has witnessed more and more Ruths until, today, the Gentile bride numbers into the millions. We are all awaiting the conclusion of what Rabbi Yosef Stern wrote about Ruth's association with Pentecost - the resurrection: " ... the reading of Ruth reminds us of Techiyas HaMeisim (resurrection of the dead)." (p. 219)

Rabbi Stern writes that Boaz' redemption of the property of his relative Elimelech and his sons, and the ceremony he performed with Ruth, evokes Jewish faith in the"resurrection." By marrying Ruth, Stern says that Boaz "restored the name of her late husband and presents the concept of a "redeemer." In reality, all this was set forth in the second chapter of Acts and will be concluded when our Kinsman Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, returns to resurrect and rapture all believers for the heavenly marriage.

J.R. Church wraps up this excerpt by saying: Reading about Jewish ritual during their all-night vigil of Pentecost causes me to wonder why Jews have not seen these truths in Christianity. It seems clear to me that every detail of Jewish practice was fulfilled there. I am certain that someday, Jewish eyes will be opened to the truth. Then they will realize that what they practice as ritual, we observe as fact.
*** End of excerpt

Well. I'm exhausted from this 4-day review of Shavuot, or Pentecost, and completely astonished that some people do not find God's Word absolutely spellbinding. We can be certain that even with all of this information we are barely scratching the surface of what God has given us in His Word. This is why I find Bible research so particularly fascinating and rewarding.

The Christian Church owes a tremendous debt of gratitude to God for our spiritual ancestors, our Father Abraham, the Patriarchs, the faithful rabbis down through the ages, the apostles and Jesus himself. They have provided us with the material necessary to comprehend the Messiah and the entire eras of the Old and New Testaments. That is why I find it so personally excruciatingly painful to contemplate the 'time of Jacob's trouble' for our brothers and sisters in Israel.

It is thrilling to see the growing number of Messianic Jewish Christians. No doubt it will be from the witness of this group that the 144,000 will come to faith in the Messiah, Jesus.

Please pray for God's original chosen people, that many will come to understand the truth - and quickly. Pray for true peace for Jerusalem, which we know will only come through Our Lord's reign. Pray also for the Christians throughout the world, many who are under severe persecution. All of these are our brothers and sisters.

I write all of this information about Shavuot/Pentecost for you, my beloved readers! I fervently hope the Lord does come during this time, but am becoming satisfied to wait for His will on His appointed day. I have learned to wait, and so have you. Remember, patience builds character! I hope you have found this series enlightening as we all eagerly await the day of His appearing. Let's not neglect to pray for each other.

Even so, Come Lord Jesus!

ROYAL HEIR