Sunday, May 16, 2010

Reasons for Christians to Celebrate the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost)

By Brenda Cathcart

The spring Feasts of the LORD are all prophetic of Jesus’ first coming. At Passover, Jesus died on the cross. Jesus’ body was placed in the tomb as the seven day Feast of Unleavened Bread began. He rose from that tomb on the Feast of Firstfruits. The events of His First Coming culminate at the Feast of Weeks with the disciples receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit. We’ve all read the account of that day in the second chapter of the book of Acts, but in order to see the full impact of that day on the disciples and all who witnessed the events, we have to put the Feast into its historical perspective.

First, the Feast of Weeks doesn’t happen in isolation. It occurs fifty days after the Feast of Firstfruits and is connected to this feast through counting the days from one feast to the next. This is called the counting of the Omer.

Leviticus 23:15-16 NKJV 15 'And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. 16 'Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the LORD.

On the very day of Jesus’ resurrection, the counting of the Omer began. The day of Jesus’ ascension was the fortieth day of the counting of the Omer. On the day of His ascension, Jesus tells them that they would receive the Holy Spirit very soon.

Acts 1:4-5 NKJV 4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me; 5 "for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."

Jesus’ disciples were excited about this prospect and spent the last ten days leading up to the Feast of Weeks in the temple praising God.

Luke 24:52-53 NKJV 52 And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 53 and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen.

Second, the Feast of Weeks is a pilgrimage feast. All males were to appear before the LORD three times a year and the Feast of Weeks was one of those feasts.

Deuteronomy 16:10 NKJV 10 "Then you shall keep the Feast of Weeks to the LORD your God with the tribute of a freewill offering from your hand, which you shall give as the LORD your God blesses you.

There would be over two million people in Jerusalem for the Feast of Weeks. They would all be going to the temple to present their offerings to God. This includes the disciples who would have even more reason to bring offerings of thanks to God as well as the devout Jews who traveled from all parts of the Roman Empire for this feast. These festivities began at 9:00 a.m., the time of the morning sacrifice.

Third, God gave the Covenant at Mt. Sinai in full view of all the gathered people of Israel on the first Feast of Weeks after the Exodus from Egypt. Jesus told them the events that began at Passover were the beginning of the New Covenant written of by Jeremiah.

Luke 22:19-20 NKJV 19 And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me." 20 Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.

Jeremiah 31:31-33 NKJV 31 "Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah- 32 "not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD. 33 "But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

The Midrash, which is a commentary on the Torah, gives further details of the events of the first Feast of Weeks at Mt. Sinai. The Midrash says that tongues of fire circled and touched all the people gathered at Mt. Sinai. It says that there were thunderings and lightnings plural because God’s voice came in all 70 languages of the nations but only Israel answered and said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do.”

With this background, we see that the most likely place for the Holy Spirit to fall on the disciples was at the temple in full view of the gathered multitude. The word house used to describe where the disciples are on the Feast of Weeks is the Greek oykos which also means temple.

Acts 2:1-6 NKJV 1 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. 5 And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. 6 And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language.

Peter stands up and begins to preach. As Jesus promised, the power of the Holy Spirit is on him to preach the good news to all people.

Acts 1:8 NKJV 8 "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

Christians can celebrate the Feast of Weeks as we remember the incredible outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the disciples, and we can rejoice that this gift is to us as well.

Acts 2:38-39 NKJV 38 Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 "For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call."

The Feast of Weeks is a time of a new grain offering to the LORD. It is the time of the wheat harvest. The harvest season in Israel has begun. When Jesus sent His disciples out two by two to spread the message of the kingdom of heaven, he sends them out with these words recorded by Luke.

Luke 10:2 NKJV 2 Then He said to them, "The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.

As we celebrate the Feast of Weeks, we can pray that God will send workers, including ourselves, into His harvest.

שלום ברוך
Shalom and Be Blessed
Dan & Brenda Cathcart

Brenda and I are going to Israel next month, June 19th to 30th. It is not too late to join us in the land promised to Abraham for a special tour where you will see the promised Messiah of Israel like you have never seen Him before! We will visit places off the beaten path and follow in the foot steps of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Join us as we also explore the people, culture, politics and conflict that is today’s Israel and a special Sabbath day in Jerusalem. For details on the tour visit www.tanizarelli.com and click on tours.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Reasons for Christians to Count the Omer

By Brenda Cathcart

When God gives the Israelites instructions for observing His feasts, he tells them to count the days from the Feast of Firstfruits to the Feast of Weeks.

Leviticus 23:15-16 NKJV 15 'And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. 16 'Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the LORD.

Deuteronomy calls this day of the new grain offering the Feast of Weeks. The seventh Sabbath would be day 49 and the next day, the fiftieth day is the Feast Day.

Deuteronomy 16:9-10 NKJV 9 "You shall count seven weeks for yourself; begin to count the seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the grain. 10 "Then you shall keep the Feast of Weeks to the LORD your God with the tribute of a freewill offering from your hand, which you shall give as the LORD your God blesses you.

The New Testament uses the Greek word Pentecost meaning fiftieth to describe the Feast. The countdown is actually a count up starting with one on the Feast of Firstfruits and concluding with fifty on the Feast of Weeks. The Jewish people call this period the Counting of the Omer. The Hebrew word Omer means sheaf. Literally, we are talking about sheaves of grain. Metaphorically, we are talking about the harvest of people. In Genesis 37 Joseph has a dream in which the sheaves of his brothers bow down to his sheaf establishing the precedent of sheaves representing people. Jesus represents the very first sheaf of barley harvested specifically for the Feast of Firstfruits. Paul calls him the firstfruits of the resurrection.

1 Corinthians 15:20 KJV 20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

We can think of the counting of the Omer as counting the sheaves that will be harvested. On the Feast of Weeks when the Holy Spirit falls, the harvest of those sheaves begins. On that day alone, 3000 people believed.

Acts 2:41 KJV 41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.

Although no one has of yet fully attained the promise of the resurrection, the Holy Spirit is our down payment.

Ephesians 1:13-14 NKJV 13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

Christians can participate in Counting the Omer by preparing ourselves anew for a renewing of the gift of the Holy Spirit who gives us power to accomplish the harvest of souls. Peter and the apostles were preparing themselves for this gift. After Jesus ascended into heaven, the apostles returned to Jerusalem where they appointed a man to replace Judas.

Acts 1:21-22 NKJV 21 "Therefore, of these men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 "beginning from the baptism of John to that day when He was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection."

Peter was getting ready to receive the gift that Jesus told them to expect. He, along with all the apostles, was getting ready to witness to Jesus’ resurrection because Jesus told them that they would be witnesses!

John 15:26-27 NKJV 26 "But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me. 27 "And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning.

We can spend the time like the disciples did, in prayer and praise blessing God.

שלום ברוך
Shalom and Be Blessed
Dan & Brenda Cathcart

Brenda and I are going to Israel June 19th to 30th.  It is not too late to join us in the land promised to Abraham for this special tour where you will see the promised Messiah of Israel like you have never seen Him before!  We will visit places off the beaten path and follow in the foot steps of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  Join us as we also explore the people, culture, politics and conflict that is today’s Israel and a special Sabbath day in Jerusalem.  For details on the tour visit www.tanizarelli.com/category/tours.