Just saying…

You ever wonder why after the resurrection of Jesus, and his forty days teaching the disciples about the kingdom, he tells them to go into Jerusalem and wait ten days for the promise to appear? As the messiah, wasn’t he the promise?

We know of course that by their waiting in the upper room, they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in the tongues, or languages, of the multitude of people who had come into Jerusalem to participate in the second national religious celebration known as Shavout, the festival of weeks, what we call Pentecost. Regrettably, today most of the church doesn’t even have a clue to the importance of this celebration and the significance to which it plays in the birth and formation of the church. What makes this day so important?

You may have heard of the story of the children of Israel, slaves who resided in the land of Egypt, and how their leader, Moses, following the instructions of their God, Jehovah, were led out of the oppressive captivity of Pharaoh’s Egypt toward their own promised land. The night that this deliverance occurred would forever be memorialized as the Passover and later recognized as the first of three yearly national religious celebrations.

Over the course of the next several weeks, Israel would make their journey toward their promised land, eventually stopping at a place in the wilderness known as Mt. Sinai. At this very location the entire congregation of Israel was presented the opportunity to see and hear Jehovah. However, the sheer magnitude of Jehovah’s holiness and awesomeness overwhelmed the senses of the children of Israel and they insisted that Moses be their mediator before Jehovah and convey all that He wanted to tell them.

So, Moses ascended the mountain which was enveloped in rolling clouds which flashed with lightning and bellowed with thunder. Winds blew mightily about the mountain while tongues of flames rose high into the sky from the multiple lightning strikes which lit up the mountain. Many of the people cowered at the horns blasts which sounded in the heavens fearing that Moses could not possibly survive the tumult which they were witnessing and having been led into the wild, they now were without a leader.

Meanwhile, Moses eventually reached a spot where Jehovah had inscribed upon two stone tablets what the people of Israel would call The Ten Sayings. These sayings, which today the church calls commandments, would be the cornerstone to what would become known in Israel as The Law, 613 commandments which the children of Israel were required to observe as they entered the promised land. Two of these commandments were that the children of Israel were to yearly celebrate the Passover, and also the festival of weeks, Shavout, the day that Jehovah gave Israel the Ten Sayings and The Law.

Over the centuries since these events had occurred and leading up to the time of Jesus, stories were told among the teachers of The Law of how on the day of Shavout, Jehovah spoke out to all the people of the world in their own language asking who was worthy to receive the Ten Sayings and The Law. It is told that one by one each nation responded that they were unworthy to carrying such a great responsibility in the world. Finally, when the last nation had relinquished themselves, Israel arose and proclaimed that they would receive the Ten Sayings and The Law of Jehovah and present them throughout the world as a testimony to the goodness of God for all mankind. This would be their lasting and living heritage to humanity.

Take a moment now to reconsider what the narrative of the day of Pentecost is portraying from the book of Acts. Upper room, one accord, mighty rushing wind, tongues of fire, and speaking in multiple languages about the glory of God. This is the fulfillment of The Law by Jesus for the whole world to see. As for the Ten Sayings, well Jesus expounded upon them in his own sermon on the mount; but, it is possible that there exists a wisdom which hasn’t been expounded upon found in these saying, particularly addressing how a nation builds itself in a new land, or how a church operates in the world, or even how one person is to carry the responsibility of being a testimony of the goodness of God for all to see. As you might have guessed I have something to say about this too…