Shavuot, the Day of Pentecost, witnessed people from all over the worldwide Jewish community, be poured out with the Holy Spirit. They took the good news of Israel’s Messiah back to their local towns and synagogues.
Shavuot
Outreach Israel Ministries and Messianic Apologetics wish you and your family a blessed Shavuot!
Let us look at what happened to Peter and the other Apostles on that first Shavuot fifty days after the resurrection of Yeshua—and only ten days after He had ascended into Heaven!
After our heart, the mind is clearly the first part of our beings that is to experience transformation. If one examines Yeshua’s Sermon on the Mount and His sayings about one being angry with a neighbor, one having lustful inclinations, or simple hate for others, you can be rest assured that the Lord does place a high priority on our thoughts. It is not solely enough for us to commit a sinful act to be guilty; it is sufficient for us to have thoughts of committing a sin for us to be guilty. While some of us may watch science fiction shows where human telepaths are used to probe the thoughts and feelings of criminals or potential criminals, and we might shake our heads about how ludicrous and subjective it might be, God probes our minds all the time. He knows what each one of us is thinking right now. He knows if our thoughts are focused on Him, His Word, and the work that He has assigned us to do—or if we are thinking things that will take us away from Him and damage the relationship that He desires with us.
We face some challenges in the coming years as the Messianic movement grows and matures. We have a great responsibility before us. If we are to properly complete the work that God has assigned to us, we need to have some serious one-on-one time with Him.
Shavuot is one of three pilgrimage festivals that is commanded in the Torah (Exodus 23:14-17; Deuteronomy 16:16). In Hebrew, its name means “weeks,” derived from the command in Deuteronomy 16:19, “You shall count seven weeks for yourself; you shall begin to count seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain.” Many Christians know Shavuot from its Greek-derived name “Pentecost,” as Pentēkostē means “fiftieth,” indicative of the fifty days that are to be counted between Passover and this time.
Outreach Israel Ministries and Messianic Apologetics wish you and your family a blessed Shavuot!
J.K. McKee of Messianic Apologetics begins going through a list of reader-submitted questions and issues: Counting the Omer.
