Monthly Archives: March 2008

Pentecost

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In Leviticus 23:15-21, God gave instructions to Israel regarding the Day of Pentecost. This day was fixed by counting 50 days from the Passover. The Passover was on a Saturday. Thus, Pentecost was on a Sunday.

Pentecost had several names. One of the other names was the Feast of Weeks. It was also known as the Feast of the Harvest. It was partly to celebrate the blessings of the end of the barley harvest and the beginning of the wheat harvest.

The Israelites were to consider Pentecost a ‘holy convocation’ (verse 21). In other words, they were to be serious in the things they performed on this day. They were to do no servile work on that day (verse 21). They were to sacrifice two lambs, a goat, two rams, and a bullock on that day. They also were to present God with baked bread. In Numbers 28:30, we read that the goat was sacrificed to make an atonement for the people. This goat was to be without blemish.

In Deuteronomy 16:9-12, God gives more instruction regarding Pentecost. In verse ten, God tells them to give him a free will offering on that day. They are to give ‘according as the Lord thy God hath blessed thee.’ They were to rejoice on this day, (verse 11). So, they were to be serious, considering it a holy day — but they were to rejoice. This would indicate that one can be happy, one can be appreciative, one can worship God, without being silly. One does not have to jump up and down, nor dance, nor scream, nor babble uncontrollably. Things are done with a purpose and orderly.

In Deuteronomy 16:11, the people were told to attend Pentecost ‘in the place which the Lord thy God hath chosen to place his name there.’ Thus, the people were not allowed to celebrate Pentecost just anywhere. They could not stay home and properly celebrate Pentecost. In verse twelve, they are told that part of the reason for this holy day celebration was to remind them that they were at one time slaves in Egypt. Now, they were a free people blessed with wonderful crops by God.

In Acts 2, we read about the establishment of the church. It is easy to see some of the parallels between the significance of Pentecost to the Israelites and its significance to Christians. We assemble on the first day of the week. We assemble in the place where God has put his name. Christ dwells in the church. The church has his name. This not a physical building, but is anywhere that Christians come together on the first day of the week.

The church does not have to sacrifice animals today because Christ gave his life as our sacrifice. But we remember his sacrifice every Sunday when we partake of the Lord’s Supper. Each person in the church gives a free will offering to God on Sunday. We consider the day a holy day given to us by God. Christians celebrate the day because it reminds us that at one time we were slaves in the world of sin (Egypt), but now we are free from sin in Christ. And as free, we can be happy in all the wonderful blessings that come from God.

I am glad that God had a plan of salvation. I am glad that he gave us the Bible so that we can read about his plan throughout history. He gave the Israelites shadow pictures of what was to come. Today we have the real things that he was talking about in the Old Testament. Study your Bible. Learn all you can about it. And then obey what God wants you to do.

By Mark McWhorter. Reprinted with permission of theBible.net. Copyright 2008.

Whose battle is it?

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Scripture says in 2 Chronicles 20:17: “You will not have to fight in this battle.” This is a significant verse because of what it says to those of us fighting a battle. In this verse, God is talking to King Jehoshaphat and the Israelites because they were about to be attacked by three enemies: the Moabites, the Ammonites, and the Meunites. This was a triple threat. No wonder the Israelites were worried about how they could defend themselves in such a battle! But God knew what they were thinking and reassured them by saying, “You will not have to fight in this battle.” Now that’s the kind of battle I like! If you don’t fight, you can’t get hurt. That’s what God wants to us to know. That’s why he told the Israelites: “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged… The LORD will be with you.” In other words, the battle belongs to the Lord. It’s his battle. Let him fight it.

The fact is: if you are God’s child, your problems are his problems. And he’s much better solving your problems than you will ever be. Your job is to trust him. Then you can experience the peace that passes understanding. As someone said, “For peace of mind, we need to resign as general manager of the universe.” The day you resign as General Manager of the Universe, you’re going to find it doesn’t fall apart. You can relax in faith, trusting that God is able to run things without your help.

Has God ever lost a battle? No. He doesn’t lose battles. And because he’s never lost a battle, we should never be afraid.

What about fasting?

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In the Sermon on the Mount, one of Jesus’ topics is fasting (Matthew 6:16-18). He says things like, “When you fast…” (emphasis mine). He didn’t instruct them how to fast; he didn’t command them to fast. He merely assumed they would be fasting. Was this a logical assumption on his part? Well of course it was. After all, his audience consisted of Jews, and one of the things Jews did was fast. Their only commandment to fast was that they do it once a year, on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:29-34). Some of them fasted more often than that. Some of them made such a show out of it that there was no doubt they were fasting — anyone who saw them would have known by their appearance and actions what was going on. That was the whole point of Jesus mentioning it here — to address their hypocrisy.

But what about fasting? Jesus fasted (Matthew 4:2). The early church fasted (Acts 13:2-3; Acts 14:23). We follow apostolic example in many things we do today. Observance of the Lord’s Supper, for example. Jesus didn’t tell us when or how often to partake of the Lord’s Supper; he just said that when we do it, to remember him (1 Corinthians 11:24-25). We participate in this observance on the first day of [every] week, because that’s the example we have (Acts 20:7), and from historical accounts we know that was the practice of the early church (see Jackson and Miller). Should we likewise fast because we know this was the practice of the early church?

Much has been said on the subject, and I’ll leave it to you to do your own research if you’re so inclined. The truth of the matter is this:

  1. We don’t have a command to fast.
  2. We don’t have an apostolic example to fast as a part of worship.
  3. Nothing in scripture even implies that in order to be pleasing to God, we must fast.

If we want to fast today, I think we can agree that it would be a beneficial thing to do if done right. Obviously if you have a medical reason not to fast, then you shouldn’t. Equally obvious (I hope) is that Jesus’ same caution against the Pharisees’ hypocrisy while fasting applies just as strongly to us. If you choose to fast, that’s between you and God. I’d love to hear comments from people who either have fasted for a specific cause, or who fast regularly. Of course, your comments will remain anonymous.