Shavu’ot
Acts 2: “The festival of Shavu’ot arrived, and the believers all gathered together in one place. Suddenly there came a sound from the sky like the roar of a violent wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then they saw what looked like tongues of fire, which separated and came to rest on each one of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to talk in different languages, as the Spirit enabled them to speak.”
“Now there were staying in Jerusalem religious Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd gathered; they were confused, because each one heard the believers speaking in his own language… Then Peter stood up with the eleven and raised his voice to address them:
“You Judeans, and all of you staying here in Jerusalem! Let me tell you what this means! Listen carefully to me! These people are not drunk, as you suppose—it’s only nine in the morning. No, this is what was spoken about through the prophet Joel: Yahweh says: In the last days, I will pour out from my Spirit upon everyone. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my slaves, both men and women, will I pour out from my Spirit in those days; and they will prophesy. I will perform miracles in the sky above and signs on the earth below—blood, fire and thick smoke. The sun will become dark and the moon blood before the great and fearful Day of Yahweh comes. And then, whoever calls on the name of Yahweh will be saved.”… He pressed his case with many other arguments and kept pleading with them, “Save yourselves from this perverse generation!” So those who accepted what he said were immersed, and there were added to the group that day about three thousand people.”
Fifty-five men, women, and children gathered in my home yesterday to celebrate Shavu’ot. While I nursed my baby in another room, the voices of worshippers filled the air with praises to our Elohim. We read about the giving of the Ten Commandments on Mt. Sinai. There was discussion; “what exactly IS coveting?” We ate a meal together. We talked and listened. Many gave testimonies of how the Spirit of Yahweh is working in their lives today.
However, tongues of fire never appeared. No roaring sounds. I heard some Polish, but that’s because our good friends from Poland were here. J Definitely, three thousand people did not join our group yesterday. It is my contention that what happened 2,000 years ago will not happen again.
Let’s review Jewish tradition and understand what may have occurred in Acts 2. The Feast of Shavu’ot is a pilgrimage holy day. (Deut. 16:9-12) “During the second temple period, everyone gathered together in their home town and slept the night in the town streets (they didn’t enter homes to prevent being exposed to impurities). In the morning the overseer would walk among the people saying, “Get up, let us go into the house of Zion, to the house of Yahweh our elohim.” ( A Family Guide to the Biblical Holidays )
I believe that the disciples of Yeshua were in the Temple at 9a.m. They were in the “house of Zion.” They went to the Temple every year for Shavu’ot. I do not believe that they were in an upper room in someone’s home. THOUSANDS of people heard the sound. In the Temple this would have been possible. Yeshua went there to teach many times. (John 7:14, 8:2, 10:23) All rabbis did.
You must understand, this wasn’t the Reformed Church down on the corner. The temple belonged to the people and they could go to certain open areas any time. This is where Miriam and Yosef found Yeshua as a boy. (Luke 2:46) I believe this is where the believers were gathered on Shavu’ot. They had come to “rejoice in the presence of Yahweh”.
Deut. 16:11 says, ”You are to rejoice in the presence of Yahweh your Elohim—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female slaves, the Levites living in your towns, and the foreigners, orphans and widows living among you—in the place where Yahweh your Elohim will choose to have his name live.”
Yeshua told them not to leave Jerusalem until the Spirit had come to them. (Luke 24:49) So, they were in Jerusalem. They were in the Temple for the holy convocation. And then the Spirit fell with signs and wonders. Others heard and were curious. They heard Peter prophesy and many believed. It is interesting that when the Ten Commandments were given 3,000 were killed for their idolatry. When the Spirit was given 3,000 were saved. HalleluYah!
But it never happened again. There is nowhere else in Scripture where anything like this occurred. The apostles did not urge everyone to gather at the Temple each year at Shavu’ot so that they could experience the tongues of fire and sounds of roaring wind again. It was never an anniversary for reliving that event. It was/is the anniversary for the receiving of the commandments. Yahweh decided to baptize those believers there with the Spirit in such a way that would draw the pilgrim worshippers to Messiah. He had a plan.
He still has a plan. The Spirit still falls on His people. We want experiences with the Spirit, feeling His love and forgiveness and power. We have to be where He’s going to be. We should rejoice in His presence. We can have our own experiences with Him that are just as important and wonderful and earth shattering to us as Shavu’ot was for the apostles. He desires that for us even more than we do.
Shalom,
Laura Blair