1.When we meet on Shabbat afternoon it will be the ending of the holiday of Shavuot. I have a basic question for you. Why, as non-Jewish believers, should we celebrate Shavuot?
Shavuot can be seen as the culmination of Pesach.
The children of Israel were redeemed from Egypt.
They journeyed to the place where G-d made a marriage covenant
He gave them the Torah at Shavuot.
This covenant was confirmed by the Israelites in
Exodus 24:7, “Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, “We will do everything the L-rd has said; we will obey.”
After Yeshua’s death and resurrection the Holy Spirit came to the believers
This happened while they were in Jerusalem celebrating Shavuot.
The Holy Spirit was to equip them to go to all the world and preach the gospel.
Acts 1:7-8, “He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
All this is G-d’s continuing process.
First He brought redemption.
Then He gave us His law to live by.
Finally He empowered us with His Holy Spirit to enable us to go out and reach the world.
Quote from Aish, “Most people spend their lives chasing meaning without a map. Shavuot celebrates the moment the map was handed to us.”
This holiday is a memorial, a time to celebrate the giving of the law and the spirit.
The two build on each other.
It is not that we have to choose law or spirit.
I read a recent teaching that said at Pentecost the Jews got the law and Christians got the spirit and grace. This is false teaching. Chopping up scripture giving part to the Jewish people and a part to Christians was not G-d intentions.
Each step through history from the beginning of time, G-d is building toward His conclusion. He chose a people for Himself, He equipped them with teaching and with the holy spirit. We are a part of this people.
We can look forward to the time mentioned in Isaiah 2:3, “Many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the L-RD, to the temple of the G-d of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the word of the L-RD from Jerusalem.”
2.Acts 2:1, “The festival of Shavuot arrived, and the believers all gathered together in one place.” The popular Christian teaching is they were gathered together in the upper room when the Holy Spirit fell but the verse does not say that. If they were not in the upper room where could they have been gathered? And why?
They probably were in the Temple.
What proof do we have?
On Shavuot everyone went up to the Temple.
If the disciples were keeping Shavuot, they would be in the Temple.
Luke 24:53, “And they stayed continually at the temple, praising G-d.”
If they were in the Temple on regular days, how much more so on a festival.
Another fact:
Peter said in Acts 2:15 that it was the third hour, a time of prayer.
Acts 3:1 says the disciples went to the Temple for the daily times of prayer.
“One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon.”
Jewish people from all over the world heard Peter’s sermon.
I don’t think the upper room was big enough for that.
About 3,000 people received the message and were immersed.
The Temple would have been the only place in Jerusalem that could have accommodated so many immersions.
After Acts 2, the believers continued to meet daily in the Temple
(Acts 2:46; 3:1; 5:42).
This may seem like a small detail to you but calling the appointed time Pentecost instead of Shavuot and teaching that it happened in the upper room instead of the Temple builds another bit of distance between Christianity and Judaism.
3.What similarities do you see between the story of Tamar (Genesis 38) and the story of Ruth? What do these women teach us?
How do both stories begin?
In both stories somebody is moving away from the rest of the family.
Elimelech, his wife and his two sons go to Moav.
They leave their people.
Ruth 1:1-2, “In the days when the judges ruled in Israel, a severe famine came upon the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah left his home and went to live in the country of Moab, taking his wife and two sons with him. The man’s name was Elimelech, and his wife was Naomi. Their two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in the land of Judah. And when they reached Moab, they settled there.
Judah left his brothers and moved to a Canaanite region called Adullam.
Genesis 38:1,”At that time, Judah left his brothers and went down to stay with a man of Adullam named Hirah.”
What happens when we “move away”
When we surround ourselves with non-believers?
If we are not careful, we can also move away from G-d.
So these two families began with a story of moral and physical decline.
Both books begin with Judah and Elimelech, leaving their people.
Who were the ones that made things happen?
The women, Ruth and Tamar.
They are the ones who made everything happen.
Both stories two sons died.
Judah’s two sons, Er and Onan,
Elimelech’s two sons, Machlon and Chilion.
Both cases the women are left as childless widows
both of them are unable to undergo the standard form of levirate marriage.
This was a traditional custom.
a man was obliged to marry the widow of his deceased brother
if they had no children, to produce an heir for the deceased
to ensure his lineage and property to remain within the family.
It is defined in Deut. 25:5-10.
In the case of Tamar. First Judah told Tamar to go live as a widow in her father’s house until his third son was grown and she could marry him. But Judah did not let his third son marry her.
In the case of Ruth, Naomi told Ruth and Orpah to go back to their family because she was too old to have more children.
In both stories they were childless widows
unable to fix their situation in any conventional way.
Who does Tamar become pregnant by?
Her father-in-law.
In the case of Ruth she marries Boaz.
These were women from the least favored nation.
You don’t get worse in the Torah than being a Canaanite, or being a Moabite, that’s it.
So why did G-d choose these women?
What did Tamar and Ruth share in common?
They were loyal, they showed kindness
That is what G-d wants.
He doesn’t look for powerful people.
They both felt a duty to perpetuate the names of their dead husband.
Ruth committed herself to leave her family and gods behind
She committed herself to serve Naomi’s G-d.
G-d again shows us He can use anyone in His kingdom.
He does not look on the outside.
Sometimes G-d uses the most vulnerable, powerless person to teach us lessons.
These two women were chosen by G-d to be in lineage of King David and the Messiah. We too should never write anyone off because of who they are.
Sometimes the most beautiful deeds are done by the people we hardly notice.
I pray we can follow the dedication of Tamar and Ruth to follow G-d’s calling. Never give up even though a situation may seem impossible.