The Jewish people are currently celebrating Shavuot, also known as the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost. Shavuot is one of the three main feasts God commands the people of Israel to celebrate every year. On Shavuot, the Jewish people brought the first fruits of their wheat harvest and all their crops to the Temple in Jerusalem. This offering to the Lord was an expression of gratitude for what God had already given and an anticipation of a full harvest at the end of the season.

Shavuot has also been traditionally understood by the Jewish rabbis and sages as a commemoration of the day when God gave Israel the Torah at Mount Sinai, 50 days after their exodus from Egypt. As Exodus 19 and 20 recounts, God descended on Sinai with fire, smoke, wind, and loud thunderings, speaking to the people of Israel out of the midst of the fire, giving the terms of his covenant to the people on two tablets of stone. In English, the story of the giving of the 10 commandments reads like the people are experiencing a severe thunderstorm. But in Hebrew, Exodus 20:18 literally reads “the people saw the voices (קֹל) and the torches (לַפִּיד)”. God spoke “out of the midst of the fire” (Deut 5:26).

God had also appeared to Abraham as a “flaming torch” (לַפִּיד) when he made a covenant with him in Genesis 15:17. But this time at Sinai, the entire family of Abraham witnesses God’s appearance at the giving of the Torah. Rabbinical sources (particularly Shemot Rabbah 5:9) indicate that the “voices” at Sinai were the languages of the nations - the Torah would be heard by “each and every nation”. Israel chose to accept and live.

This brings us to Acts 2, when thousands of Jewish pilgrims from the Diaspora were in Jerusalem, celebrating Shavuot. Luke records that Peter and 120 Jewish disciples of Jesus were gathered in a room when “tongues (γλῶσσα) as of fire” (Acts 2:3) appeared to each of them. Verse 4 goes on to say that they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues (γλῶσσα) or languages. The Jewish pilgrims in town for Shavuot would recognize these languages as their own (Acts 2:8).

These unique events in Jerusalem 50 days after Jesus’ crucifixion on Passover would not have been incongruous with the traditions surrounding the giving of the Torah at Sinai on Shavuot. Thousands of Jews understood this and repented at Peter’s preaching (Acts 2:41). God was not done with his plan to redeem the world through the family of Abraham.

Unfortunately Christian history has often read Acts 2 as “the birth of the church”, completely devoid of any connection with Shavuot, the Jewish people, and the covenant God made with them at Sinai. The torches/tongues of fire, the voices/languages, and the giving of the Spirit on Shavuot was seen by the apostles as the confirmation of God’s enduring covenant with Israel made at Sinai, not as an abrogation or redefinition of the covenant or the people of that covenant. Through the ministry of John and Jesus and now through the apostles and repentant remnant of Israel, God was calling the larger nation back to covenant faithfulness. He still had full intention to use them as a “kingdom of priests” (Ex 19:6) & be a light to the nations (Isa 60:3) They were to be his “witnesses” (Isa 43:10, Acts 1:8), walking as a holy people and calling the nations to turn to God. They were to take up their role to “proclaim the excellencies of him who called [them] out of darkness into his marvelous light." (1 Peter 2:9)

This apocalyptic message of a soon coming day of judgment and the restoration of Israel’s kingdom to rule over the world is what the other apostles & especially Paul, a Jewish Pharisee, brought to the Gentiles. But, Paul was often met with resistance from his own Jewish brethren. Throughout Acts, Paul’s trips to various cities around the Roman Empire begin with a visit to the synagogue (Acts 9:20, 13:5, 13:14, 14:1, 17:1, 17:10, 17:17, 18:4, 18:19, 18:26, 19:8). Why? Paul wanted to get his Jewish brethren walking in the role God had chosen them for. In many of these cities, Gentiles hear about the God of Israel from Paul and turn from their idols and evil deeds.

As a result of their faith and obedience to God’s ways, the Spirit was given to them as the sign of God’s acceptance of their faith and of their future resurrection.  But this wasn't the only reason. Let’s not forget about Sinai & Shavuout. The giving of the Spirit & the gift of speaking of other languages was given to the Gentiles as a provocation to the people of Israel (Deut 32:21, Rom 11:11-12), calling them back to covenant faithfulness. The prophets, the Messiah, and the Jewish apostles boldly declare that a day is coming when the entire nation of Israel will return to their land, receive the Spirit, and fervently walk in all of the ways God instructed them in the Torah (Ezek 37:12-14, Jer 31:31-34, Rom 11:26). God has confirmed the promises he gave to Abraham and the patriarchs (Rom 15:8). This is our hope - that one day the whole nation of Israel, ruled by Messiah Jesus, will step into their role to disciple the nations. Global peace will result (Isaiah 2:2-4).

Until then, we wait with hope, joy, and peace (Rom 15:13). God will truly be faithful to everything he spoke, as he spoke it. - Joshua Hawkins