Shavuot | Paul the Poke

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Shavuot/Pentecost, Part 2

Posted in Gospel, Pentecost/Shavuot/Feast of Weeks, Prophecy with tags 2 Corinthians 1, cheese, church, Hebrews 5, Hebrews6, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Leviticus 23, milk, Pentecost, Shavuot, torah on May 22, 2015 by paulthepoke

Hebrews 5:12-14 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.

The author of Hebrews is addressing believers. God’s word is being equated with milk. Grow up! You are going in the wrong direction. Stop acting like a baby! Babies drink milk. They do not eat food. At this point as believers in Christ, there should be more maturity. These believers should be ready to eat real, solid food and should be getting off of the liquid diet. Moreover, they should be teaching others about Christ.

Hebrews 6:1-4 Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of instruction about washings and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. And this we will do, if God permits. For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit…

According to the text, these are the fundamentals of Jesus Christ: repentance of dead works, faith toward God, instruction about washing and laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.

There is also a reminder. At the time of the writing of Hebrews, Jewish men had been coming to the Jerusalem for over 1,500 years per God’s instruction for Shavuot (Exodus 23:14-17) since the time of Moses. God gave the instructions for Shavuot to Moses on Mount Sinai on this ordained holiday (Leviticus 23).

Shavuot and Pentecost are synonymous. Shavuot is often associated with God giving the Torah, the birth of Judaism. Pentecost is often associated with God giving the Holy Spirit, the birth of the church. Part of the celebration of the holiday includes eating and drinking milk products. The author of Hebrews is equating milk with the holiday as a reminder.

http://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/shavuot-101/

This year (2015), Shavuot/Pentecost starts on sunset, Saturday, May 23 on a Gregorian calendar. Today, the tradition of eating and drinking dairy products continues with Shavuot. In addition, the book of Ruth is read. There is a reminder to us as well. As believers in Jesus Christ, we have the Holy Spirit of God within us. We are sealed with the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.

Spread the Word. It is time to get off the teat…

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Shavuot/Pentecost, Part 1

Posted in Gospel, Pentecost/Shavuot/Feast of Weeks, Prophecy with tags Acts 2, Apostle Peter, church, God, Holy Spirit, Israel, Jesus Christ, Judaism, Law, Leviticus 23, milk and honey, Moses, Mount Sinai, Pentecost, Shavuot, Temple, torah on May 17, 2015 by paulthepoke

Leviticus 23:15-16 ‘You shall also count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day when you brought in the sheaf of the wave offering; there shall be seven complete Sabbaths. You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall present a new grain offering to the Lord.

Other provisions for the holiday include two loaves of bread, sacrificial lambs, a bull, two rams, a goat, and a drink offering of wine. The holiday is also a day of rest with no work (Leviticus 23:17-21).

In the Old Testament and in the Hebrew, this holiday is referred to as Shavuot. The word means: weeks.

Shavuot is one of the three holidays where Jewish men are required to come to Jerusalem (Exodus 23:14-17). The men were to make their presentation and sacrifice before God at the Temple.

As stated in the Leviticus passage, it is seven weeks after Passover. It is a celebration of the completed grain harvest. The holiday is also a celebration of God giving the Torah (instruction or law) to nation Israel. Because of this, Shavuot is considered as the beginning or birth of Judaism.

The Law was given on Mount Sinai roughly 1,500 years before Christ. Nation Israel honored this holiday every year. Eating and drinking dairy products are part of the celebration of Shavuot. Many think the custom of dairy products is in reference to Bible verses referring to a promised land flowing with milk and honey. An example is Exodus 3:8a “So I have come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey…

http://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/why-dairy-on-shavuot/

Fast forward to 33 AD. Nation Israel is celebrating and living the holiday. Acts 2:1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they (apostles) were all together in one place. In the Greek New Testament, Shavuot (Hebrew) is translated as Pentekoste (Greek). Per Strong’s Concordance, it means: the fiftieth day; the second of the three great Jewish feasts, celebrated at Jerusalem yearly, the seventh week after the Passover, in grateful recognition of the completed harvest. We have transliterated the word to Pentecost (English).

This is the day promised by Jesus of the giving of the Holy Spirit. John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.

Acts 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance. It is seven weeks after the death of the sacrificial lamb, Jesus. Shavuot or Pentecost is also the day God the Father gave the Holy Spirit. Because of this, Pentecost is considered the beginning or the birth of the church (believers in Jesus Christ).

http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Holidays/Spring_Holidays/Shavuot/shavuot.html

Acts 2:38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit…”

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Unleavened Bread, Nisan 15, Saturday, 33 AD, Part 2

Posted in Gospel, Prophecy, Spring Feasts with tags 2 Peter 1, 33 AD, Acts 2, Apostle Peter, blood moons, jerusalem, Jesus Christ, Joel 2, Kepler, Laws of Planetary Motion, lunar eclipse, nisan 15, Pentecost, Resurrection, Shavuot, solar eclipse on April 19, 2015 by paulthepoke

Acts 2:19-22 ‘AND I WILL GRANT WONDERS IN THE SKY ABOVE AND SIGNS ON THE EARTH BELOW, BLOOD, AND FIRE, AND VAPOR OF SMOKE. THE SUN WILL BE TURNED INTO DARKNESS AND THE MOON INTO BLOOD, BEFORE THE GREAT AND GLORIOUS DAY OF THE LORD SHALL COME. AND IT SHALL BE THAT EVERYONE WHO CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.’

The context of these verses is the day of Pentecost after the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. Pentecost is 49 days after the First Fruits or the resurrection. It is referred to as Shavuot in the Hebrew. Peter is quoting the prophet Joel 2:30-32a.

Acts 2:22 “Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know—

The Apostle Peter brings the definitive hammer when it comes to the timing of the year regarding the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The year is 33 AD.

THE SUN WILL BE TURNED INTO DARKNESS… a solar eclipse.

AND THE MOON INTO BLOOD… a lunar eclipse.

The mathematical work of German Johannes Kepler’s allows us to map the exact location of the sun, moon, planets, and stars in time and space. Kepler developed the Laws of Planetary Motion.

THE SUN WILL BE TURNED INTO DARKNESS AND THE MOON INTO BLOOD…There is only year this could be. There was a solar eclipse on the Jewish New Year, spring equinox, Nisan 1, 33 AD. There was a lunar eclipse, a blood red moon hours after Jesus died on the cross. The moon rose in eclipse as viewed by the people of Jerusalem, Nisan 15, 33 AD.

http://www.bethlehemstar.net/the-day-of-the-cross/peters-argument/

Two Romanian astronomers, Mircea and Oproiu, used a computer program that checked astronomical data against Bible references. Their work confirmed the same date, Nisan 15 (April 3), 33 AD. See link for more detail.

http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/aberdeen/astronomers-work-out-hour-jesus-died-1.119063

Even NASA (an agency hardly friendly to the Bible) confirms this date in 33 AD.

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEhistory/LEhistory.html

Remember, Pilate was in office. Pontius Pilate was the prefect of Judaea from 26 to 36 AD.

Peter is reminding the audience. They ALL saw these events. There was no denying it.

Peter saw Jesus walk on water. Peter walked on water himself for a time (Matthew 14).

Peter saw Jesus, Moses, and Elijah in glorified bodies at the Transfiguration (Matthew 17).

Despite all of these events observed by Peter, the timing of the solar eclipse, and the blood moon, the words of the Bible are more reliable than your senses. It is Peter himself who makes the following statement below in his second epistle.

2 Peter 1:19 So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.