Discovering The Jewish Jesus

Rabbi K.A. Schneider: Today, we're going to be talking about the next spring holy day, called in Hebrew, Shavuot, which means weeks, and is translated in English as Pentecost, meaning 50.

Did you know Father God has some appointments with you? You see, the Lord actually gives us his appointments in the 23rd chapter of the book we call in Hebrew Vayikra, which is translated in English as Leviticus.

In Leviticus chapter 23, the Lord says, "These are my appointed days." So, we get this term appointment because these are the Lord's appointed days, and he wants us to mark them and worship him in a particular way during his holy appointed days.

And many of you know that everything that Yeshua, that Jesus did during his earthly ministry, he timed to the exact day to fulfill these spring holy days. In other words, as many of you know once again, he was crucified on Passover. He was buried during the next spring holy day, called unleavened bread. He rose from the dead on the Hebrew holy day called First Fruits.

And today we're going to be talking about the last of the spring holy days, called in Hebrew, Shavuot, also referred to as Pentecost, or the Feast of Weeks. Pentecost, meaning 50.

Now, how do we go from Shavuot, meaning weeks, to Pentecost, meaning 50? Because this particular holy day took place seven weeks and a day after Passover. So, it took place 50 days after Passover. And so that's why in Greek, it's called Pentecost. Pentecost means 50.

So, we're going to zero in now on what Pentecost is about, and particularly, beloved ones, how it applies to your life and my life today. So, Father God, we thank you now for the Ruach Hakodesh, for the Holy Spirit. We ask you to come and touch us.

And Father, that you would carve a deeper place of habitation in our soul through hearing your word today, that you could rest within us even as you rested in the Tabernacle. In Jesus' name, Amen.

By the way, as a side note, did you know in the book of Shemot, in the book of Exodus, when the Lord told Moses to build him, we call it in Hebrew, a Mishkan, which is translated in English as Tabernacle, the Lord said, "I want you to build me this Mishkan, this Tabernacle, exactly according to the pattern that I show you." And he gave us the reason why. He said, "that I might dwell among you."

So, the purpose of the Tabernacle is that there could be a resting place for the Lord. The same thing is true in our lives. When we're walking under the Lordship of Yeshua, when we're submitted to his word, when we're walking under his obedience, a covering comes over our life, and we become then a place where the presence of the Lord can rest.

And so the more submitted we are to Yahweh, the deeper his spirit can rest within us. And I believe that these holy days that the Lord gave us in Leviticus 23 are important because each one reminds us of a key truth of the Lord's redemptive process that is operating in our life.

So, that for example, when we celebrate Passover, we're reminded of the importance of the blood. Today we're going to be talking about Pentecost, and we're going to be reminded today, as we consider Shavuot or Pentecost, about the importance of being led by and walking by the Holy Spirit, the Ruach Hakodesh.

So, we're going to begin by going to the original source. We're going to go to the Torah today. And by the way, the Torah actually means instruction, but we actually more formally refer to the Torah as the first five books of what many Gentile Christians would call the Old Testament, the writings of Moses, also referred to as the Pentateuch.

So, we're going now to the book of Leviticus, chapter 23, and I'm going to be reading here in Leviticus 23, beginning at verse number 16. The grass withers and the flowers fade, beloved ones, but the word of the Lord, blessed is his name, abides forever. Hear the word of God.

"You shall count 50 days to the day after the seventh Sabbath. Then you shall present a new grain offering to the Lord." 50 days after Passover, a new grain offering was presented to the Lord. Most of these holy days were rooted in an agricultural context in which Israel was living in when the word came to them.

But they have other levels of anointing on them, so that over time, the Hebrew people associated Shavuot or Pentecost with the day that the Lord appeared to them at Mount Sinai in the wilderness in fire and glory, with the mountain shaking. They then heard the voice of God.

And then the Lord wrote his law on the tablets of stone, and Moses gave them to the people of Israel. So, let me say it again. Shavuot or Pentecost originally rooted in Israel's agricultural process, but as time went on, it came to be understood as the day that the God of Israel, which most Semitic scholars believe is pronounced a breathy, Yahweh, a living active form of I Am.

The day that the God of Israel gave his people the Torah. And so, think about this now. We come to Acts chapter 2. And the Bible says the day of Pentecost had come. We also read in the scriptures of Paul wanting to get back to Jerusalem for Pentecost. So, Pentecost is not a holiday that first appears in the Brihadasha or the New Testament.

Christians, I want you to hear this. Pentecost had been celebrated for 1500 years by Israel before we came to Acts chapter 2. Pentecost is rooted once again in the Torah, in the 23rd chapter of Leviticus, verse number 16, which I just read.

So, when we read in Acts chapter 2 that the day of Pentecost had come, there was a history there that those that were gathered in the upper room were thinking about. When they gathered in the upper room, they were not anticipating that the Holy Spirit would fall.

Okay, Pentecost is not first of all about Pentecostalism, okay? It's about God fulfilling that which he had given the Hebrew people. And so, let's read now in Acts chapter 2. "The day of Pentecost had come." They're gathered together in the upper room. They're thinking about what had happened 1500 years earlier.

When the God of Israel, when their God had given them the Ten Commandments. They're recalling the history. They're remembering the fire on the mountain. They're remembering that the mountain shook, that Yahweh spoke, that the people trembled. And Moses then came down the mountain, gave them the law, and recited to them all he had received from Yahweh on the mountaintop, and how the nation of Israel said, "All that Yahweh has said, we will do." And then Moses, Mosheh, sprinkled them with the blood of the Covenant.

That's what they were thinking about in the upper room in Acts chapter 2. They weren't thinking about going to some city where there was a Pentecostal revival going on. They were thinking about Israel's history. Then suddenly, suddenly, while they're thinking about the same God, the same Lord of all that appeared to them at Sinai, suddenly manifest himself and makes entrance in the upper room where they were seated.

And the whole room was filled with glory and smoke, and the same fire that they saw on top of Mount Sinai, the same wind, the same glory, entered into that upper room.

Dustin Roberts: You're listening to Discovering The Jewish Jesus with Rabbi Schneider, and he'll be right back, but first, a quick announcement. The Tabernacle isn't just ancient history. It's a shadow, a road map to Jesus and into the divine presence. But unless you understand the pattern, the path to the Holy of Holies and God's Shekinah glory remains hidden.

In the Mystery of the Tabernacle, Rabbi Schneider unveils truth that will bring you into personal intimacy with God. Discover the meaning of the menorah, the priestly garments, the altar of incense and more. Don't miss the encounter you were made for. Move beyond the veil. Connecting the Old and New Testaments is exactly what Rabbi does best, and this book does it so well. Make sure to get your copy today, discoveringthejewishjesus.com. That's discoveringthejewishjesus.com. Or give us a call at 800-777-7835. And now, here's Rabbi Schneider.

Rabbi K.A. Schneider: Hear the word of God. "When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together." And I love that, that they were together because God's anointing falls when his people are united together. We're not called just to walk individually. We're called to be together. We're a body. "When two or three are gathered together, I am in the midst," says the Lord. Hear the word of God. "The day of Pentecost had come. They were all together in one place."

"And suddenly." And I love that word suddenly because there are sometimes things that the Lord does in our life. It's a suddenly moment. And we should be open to and expect and even pray for suddenly moments with God, where he'll interrupt our lives and do something that brings us to a brand new place. We believe, beloved, in a suddenly God.

And I speak a word of suddenly blessing in Yeshua HaMashiach's name over your life and circumstances right now. Let it be. "Then suddenly there came from heaven, a noise like a violent rushing wind." Just like that mountain was quaking at Sinai. "And it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them, and they were all filled with the Ruach Hakodesh, filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit was giving them utterance."

"Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. And even this sound occurred, and even when the sound occurred, the crowd came together and were bewildered because each one of them," listen now, "was hearing them speak in his own language." When these 120 were filled, they began to speak the word of God in languages that they had never learned so that all those that were gathered in Jerusalem heard the word of God being proclaimed in their own language.

It would be, for example, just to illustrate the concept, if I did not know how to speak Chinese, and you're Chinese, I would have been supernaturally given the ability to proclaim the gospel to you in Chinese. That's what happened there. So, let's take this apart. First of all, just a few general comments.

Notice, number one, that the tongues that were being spoken of in Acts chapter 2 were not the type of charismatic tongues or Pentecostal tongues that are associated with the charismatic and Pentecostal movement. Those tongues are associated with a prayer language, which is a gift from God. An ability to cry out to him from our soul in a groaning that's too deep for words by his spirit within us, in which we're able to directly connect with God, not through English, but through the groaning of the spirit. It's a prayer tongue.

And Paul said, "I wish that you all spoke in tongues," but that's not what happened in Acts chapter 2. In Acts chapter 2, what happened was they were given the ability to supernaturally proclaim the gospel in a language that they had never learned. So, everybody there, the scripture describes it as people from every nation under heaven. Of course, that was an exaggeration, but the writer of scriptures is making a point.

There were people there that spoke all different languages, so many, and all of them were able to hear the gospel in their own tongue because those 120 that were filled with the Holy Spirit were able to communicate supernaturally in a language they had never learned. But it's good to know that the emphasis that is sometimes put on receiving the spirit and then the initial evidence of speaking in a prayer language, that's not what happened in Acts chapter 2. It wasn't a prayer language. It was a known language.

I want to further move down the pike here, and I want to tell you how Peter interpreted what was going on. Because some that were watching this whole thing, it was like, "What is going on?" The scripture says, "They were bewildered." They didn't understand what was going on. It was like they were taken back by what was happening.

And so the scripture says here, "They were bewildered. How is this happening?" They were bewildered in verse number 6, "because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language." They came together, were bewildered. "What is what is going on here?" Some thought they were probably drunk. Okay? But listen what Peter says, "These men are not drunk," in verse number 15. "For these men are not drunk as you suppose, for it's only the third hour of the day. But this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel."

And now Peter gives the interpretation of what happened. And Peter now is quoting once again from the Hebrew Bible. Notice, the New Testament is rooted and grounded in the Hebrew Bible. If you're not rooted and grounded in the Hebrew Bible as a New Testament believer, you're missing Jesus's point in John 4 when he said to the woman of Samaria, that didn't know the Hebrew Bible, he said to her, "Woman, you don't know what you're worshiping. Salvation is from the Jews."

Those are Jesus's words to this woman that was not practicing Judaism in John chapter 4. If we're not as New Testament believers rooted in the Hebrew Bible, we're missing something big. That's why the New Testament begins in Matthew 1:1 by saying, "This is the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham." The first verse in the New Testament, the Brihadasha, brings us back to the first book of the Old Testament. Okay? We need to be rooted and grounded in this.

So, this is what Peter does. He quotes now Joel chapter 2 to explain this phenomenon that everybody was witnessing as these first 120 were filled with the spirit and began to speak in tongues. Peter said this: "And it shall be in the last days," as he's quoting Joel. God says, "I will pour forth my Spirit on all mankind. And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even on my bondslaves, both men and women, I will in those days pour forth of my Spirit, and they shall prophesy."

And so what is happening here is the fulfillment of what Joel said, that the Lord was going to pour forth his spirit on all flesh, and the result of that is that we'd be able to speak by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, even as I'm doing now, and even as you do as you're being led by the spirit. Even if it's just calling a friend on the phone because you're inspired by the Holy Spirit, you just begin to minister to them and love them. Joel and Peter said, "Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy." Naba is the Hebrew word, speaking by inspiration of the spirit. "Your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams."

So, what does this mean to see visions and dream dreams? It means that we're able to see even sometimes simple pictures that sometimes could be very subtle, that the Holy Spirit will put in our mind. It's just a simple picture. And the pictures, you need to be paying attention, that the Holy Spirit may put in your mind. He's communicating something to you. That's one form of seeing a vision. Visions don't have to knock you out like it happened to John in Revelation. Most visions are very subtle. You should be paying attention.

And then also the Holy Spirit will give us dreams. We need to pay attention to our dreams at night because the Lord will oftentimes speak to us in this mysterious state called sleep where we're in between or hovering in between the spiritual and the material world. Pay attention to your dreams. I've been keeping a dream journal for, I don't know, how many years. I would even encourage you to get my book entitled "Experiencing the Supernatural." I talk about these in much more depth.

Finally, beloved, as we conclude today, I want to go to the book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah gave us a word that really tells us what happened when the Holy Spirit came. I'm reading from Jeremiah chapter 31 now, where Jeremiah is prophesying about the giving of the spirit. "Behold, days are coming," declares the Lord, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with them and their fathers when I took them out of Egypt by the hand."

He said that covenant which they broke, but behold, "I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel." The Lord said, "I will put my law within them and I will write it upon their heart." Ezekiel talks about this same promise where the Lord would put his spirit within us. Beloved one, you now, because of your love and faith in Jesus, have been given the most precious gift that God could give anybody. You've been given the gift of his spirit.

Rabbi K.A. Schneider: Beloved, let me put an exclamation mark on this. Everything that Yeshua did while he was on earth, approximately 2000 years ago, he did. His major acts of redemption were accomplished during God's holy days, as revealed in the 23rd chapter of the book of Leviticus.

Crucified on Passover, and then the giving of God's spirit to his people on Shavuot or Pentecost, which those disciples had already been celebrating 1500 years before Jesus came. What an amazing connection between Jesus and the Hebrew roots of our faith, contained in God's sacred days.

I want to ask you, as we're celebrating Shavuot, would you sow a financial gift to the Lord through Discovering The Jewish Jesus? This is one of the times of year that all of God's people came to Jerusalem and offered up to him a special gift there. I want to thank you for your love and for your financial gifts, because, beloved ones, without you, I couldn't be doing what I'm doing, reaching millions of people around the earth with the gospel.

Dustin Roberts: Amen. And friends, if God is calling you to give to Discovering The Jewish Jesus, a special Pentecost gift of any amount, would you please call us at 800-777-7835? You can also give online at discoveringthejewishjesus.com. And you know, we're really excited about Shavuot coming up at sunset, May the 21st, and it ends at nightfall on May the 23rd.

And on the Gregorian calendar, Pentecost is celebrated Sunday, May the 24th this year. On Shavuot in the Hebrew scriptures, God gave the Torah to us. And in the New Testament, he sent us the Holy Spirit. God established his covenant. Now, these two holidays may be based on different calendars, which is why they're celebrated on different days. However, they both bring the same thing. They point to Jesus as Messiah and God creating his new covenant.

To learn more, visit us at discoveringthejewishjesus.com and click on the resources and Messianic content tabs. And now, here's Rabbi to share God's sacred and special blessing with us, first sung in Hebrew and then spoken in English.

Rabbi K.A. Schneider: In the Old Testament book of Numbers, we find a blessing God speaks over his children through Moses and Aaron. It carries the idea of favor and expression. Open your heart to the spirit and the word today and receive Father's goodness into your life with confidence.

Rabbi K.A. Schneider: (singing in Hebrew)

Yevarechecha Adonai V'Yishmerecha

Ya'er Adonai Panav Eilecha V'Yichuneka

Yisa Adonai Panav Eilecha V'Yasem L'cha Shalom

Rabbi K.A. Schneider: The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift you up with his countenance, and the Lord give you, beloved one, his peace. God bless you and shalom.

Dustin Roberts: This program is produced and sponsored by Discovering The Jewish Jesus, and I'm your host, Dustin Roberts. Come back next week when Rabbi Schneider continues to share more about God's supernatural presence. That's Monday on Discovering The Jewish Jesus.