Shavuot and Pentecost

Martha Stern painted a beautiful picture of what Messianic Bible Scholars have been attempting to describe in words. Above is illustrated by Allan dela Rama copying the black and white version of the original shown to us by Ariel Berkowitz.

THE RUACH AND THE TORAH
Pentecost is Jewish by Danny Litvin

The similarities between the events surrounding the giving of the Torah and the giving of the Ruach HaKodesh are quite astounding. Look at a few examples in the passages below:

A COMMON SCENE

Exodus 19:16, "On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with thick cloud over the mountain, and very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled...(18) Mount Sinai was covered in smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire...(19) and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder."

Acts 2:2, "Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting...(3) They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that came to rest on each of them...(6) When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment...(15) It's only nine in the morning!"

The parallels are many: the time of day, the type of sound that was heard, the reaction of the people, the fire representing the presence of God, and the location -- the focal point for the Jewish people. The tribes that surrounded Mount Sinai when they heard from God. Once Israelites were in the Land, the Temple Mount - God's chosen dwelling place - was seen as the umbilical cord that joined earth to heaven. In addition to this, there is the tradition that both both events took place on the same day. All of this can be seen as God drawing the attention of His redeemed people (and all who would subsequently read about these events) to the much deeper theological parallels between the two events.

MIRACLES OF SHAVUOT
Torah Club Volume Four, First Fruits of Zion

According to the Midrash, the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai was accompanied by additional wonders, two of which are significant to our reading of Acts 2.

On the occasion of the Giving of Torah, the Children of Israel not only heard the Lord's voice, but actually saw the sound waves as they emerged from the Lord's mouth. They visualized them as fiery substance. Each commandment that left the Lord's mouth traveled around the entire camp and then came back to every Jew individually. (Weissman, Moshe. 1995. Shemos. pg 182 citing Midrash Chazit.)

The second miracle the Midrash preserves is the voice of God speaking in every language known to man. In Rabbinic lore, there are 70 mother languages.

The Torah says, "And all the people saw the voices." Note that it does not say "the voice," but "the voices"; wherefore Rabbi Yochanan said that God's voice, as it was uttered, split into seventy voices, in seventy languages, so that all the nations should understand. (Shemot Rabbah 5:9 quoting Exodus 20:18)

Rabbi Yochanan said: "What is meant by the verse, 'The Lord announced the word, and great was the company of those who proclaimed it.'? - Every single word that went forth from the Omnipotent was split up into seventy languages." (Shabbat 88b quoting Psalm 68:11)

The School of Rabbi Ishmael taught the meaning of the verse: "and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces," just as hammer is divided into many sparks, so too every single word that went forth from the Holy One, blessed be He, split up into seventy languages (Shabbat 88b quoting Jeremiah 23:29)

Whether or not these traditions preserve actual historical memories of the Mount Sinai experience is not important. It is important to remember that the disciples and followers of Yeshua were all well aware that of the Shavuot Legends. They knew the stories of the giving of the Torah on Shavuot. They knew the story of the words of fire resting on each individual on Shavuot. They knew the story of God's voices speaking to all mankind in every language on Shavuot. Therefore, the miracles and signs and wonders that came upon them in Acts, chapter two, carried deep significance. The tongues of fire and the speaking in every tongue were both directly allusions to the Mount Sinai experience and the receiving of the Torah. God was underscoring a connection between His Holy Spirit and His Holy Torah!

The Spirit and the Torah

Shavuot draws a line of connection between Exodus 19 and Acts chapter 2. The Festival superimposes the giving of the spirit in Jerusalem over the giving of the Torah at Sinai. The two events are forever inseparably linked. The Torah and the Holy Spirit are substantially of the same essence. (Read Jeremiah 31:31 and Ezekiel 36:27)

According to these prophets, the Holy Spirit was given in order to place the Torah within the believer's heart. Thus, the spirit within us and the Torah of God must agree. Both are from the same God, and God is One. The spirit and Torah work in concert to direct the believer's life.