Shavuot - Revelation of the Holy Spirit

The Biblical Feast of Shavuot

 

  • Shavuot – The Feast of Harvest – Exodus 23: 14-17

‘“Three times you shall keep a feast to Me in the year: you shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread (you shall eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month of Abib [Nisan], for in it you came out of Egypt; none shall appear before Me empty); and the Feast of Harvest, the firstfruits of your labours which you have sown in the field; and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you have gathered in the fruit of your labours from the field.”’

“Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord God.”’  Exodus 23: 14-17

  • First Mention – in Exodus 23
  • The Feast of Harvest – the Firstfruits of the Harvest (Wheat harvest)
  • A Pilgrimage Festival

 

  • Shavuot – The Feast of Weeks – Exodus 34: 18-23

‘“The Feast of Unleavened Bread you shall keep. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, in the appointed time of the month of Abib [Nisan]; for in the month of Abib [Nisan] you came out from Egypt.”

“Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; in ploughing time and in harvest you shall rest.”  “And you shall observe the Feast of Weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the year’s end.”  “Three times in the year all your men shall appear before the Lord, the Lord God of Israel.”’ Exodus 34: 18, 21-23

  • Second Mention – in Exodus 34
  • The Feast of Weeks – ‘weeks’ here is unexplained but the Hebrew shâbûa‛, pronounced shaw-boo’-ah, means literally ‘sevened’ or a week
  • A Pilgrimage Festival

 

  • Shavuot – A Feast of the Lord – Leviticus 23: 15-21

‘‘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.  Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the Lord.  You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah.  They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven.  They are the firstfruits to the Lord.  And you shall offer with the bread seven lambs of the first year, without blemish, one young bull, and two rams. They shall be as a burnt offering to the Lord, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering made by fire for a sweet aroma to the Lord.  Then you shall sacrifice one kid of the goats as a sin offering, and two male lambs of the first year as a sacrifice of a peace offering.  The priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before the Lord, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the Lord for the priest.  And you shall proclaim on the same day that it is a holy convocation to you. You shall do no customary work on it. It shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.’’  Leviticus 23: 15-21

  • Third Mention – in Leviticus 23 – the chapter on the 8 Feasts of the Lord
  • The Counting of the Omer
    • The ‘omer’ was the measure of barley offered at the feast of Firstfruits, a tenth of an ephah) – two tenths ( two omers) were offered as a grain offering – see Leviticus 23: 13
    • The counting of seven weeks (49 days) began on the Feast of Firstfruits, i.e. Nisan 17; hence Shavuot falls normally on Sivan 6; customarily the Jewish people count 50 days beginning on the day after Passover(Nisan 16)
    • The 50 days recall the Exodus from Egypt – beginning with Passover and the first day of Unleavened Bread (Nisan 15) – on the 7th day of Unleavened Bread (Nisan 21) the Red Sea was parted and the Egyptian pursuers destroyed – in the third month (Sivan) the Israelites arrived at Mount Sinai (Exodus 19: 1-2) – Jewish tradition says that the Torah was actually given on the 6th day of Sivan (Shavuot)
  • The Two Leaven Loaves – a Wave Offering – the reason for this wave offering is unexplained here
  • The Offerings are specified
  • It is a Holy Convocation – just like Passover and Day 7 of Unleavened Bread
    • A day of complete rest and of assembling before the Lord
    • The Hebrew word miqrâ‘ (pronounced mik-raw’), translated as ‘convocation’ means something called out, a public meeting and a rehearsal – the Israelites were ‘rehearsing’ God’s laws through the festivals

 

  • Shavuot – Feast of Weeks, Reviewed – Numbers 28: 26-31 & Deuteronomy 16: 9-12
    • The Feast of Weeks is Reviewed in two more Old Testament passages
    • Numbers 28: 26-31

‘‘Also on the day of the firstfruits, when you bring a new grain offering to the Lord at your Feast of Weeks, you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work.  You shall present a burnt offering as a sweet aroma to the Lord: two young bulls, one ram, and seven lambs in their first year, with their grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for each bull, two-tenths for the one ram, and one-tenth for each of the seven lambs; also one kid of the goats, to make atonement for you.  Be sure they are without blemish. You shall present them with their drink offerings, besides the regular burnt offering with its grain offering.’’                                                                                                                      Numbers 28: 16-31

  • The ‘Day of the Firstfruits’ – a hint of the church, born at Pentecost
  • A New Grain Offering – as Firstfruits was the first of the Barley harvest, Shavuot is the first of the Wheat harvest
  • Seven Lambs Without Blemish – prophetic of Yeshua the Son of God who was the spotless Lamb of God
  • Deuteronomy 16: 9-12

‘“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.  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.  You shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite who is within your gates, the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are among you, at the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide.  And you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and you shall be careful to observe these statutes.”’         Deuteronomy 16:9-12

  • Counting Seven Weeks from the Feast of Firstfruits
  • A Command to ‘Rejoice before the Lord’
  • A Remembrance – of ‘Slavery in Egypt’ and of the Exodus leading to Mount Sinai and the giving of the law

 

The Prophetic Significance of the Feast of Shavuot

 

  • The Prophetic Nature of the Feasts of the Lord – Leviticus 23: 1-44.
    • These Feasts of the Lord show us the Lord’s wonderful redemptive plan and purposes towards Israel and the Nations.  
    • Weekly Feast:
      • SABBATH – REST
        • The Divine Order for Man – Exodus 20: 8-11
        • The Eternal Rest in Heaven, the Rest of Grace – Hebrews 4: 9-10
      • Spring Feasts:

Show Soteriological (Salvation) events and the 1st Coming of Messiah

  • PESACH (PASSOVER) – REDEMPTION
    • Death of Messiah – 1 Corinthians 5: 7
  • UNLEAVENED BREAD – RIGHTEOUSNESS
    • Messiah the Spotless Lamb and our Holy Walk – 1 Corinthians 5: 8
  • FIRSTFRUITS – RESURRECTION
    • Resurrection of Messiah – 1 Corinthians 15: 23
  • Summer Feast:

Shows the Age of Grace through the Holy Spirit

  • SHAVUOT (PENTECOST) – REVIVAL
    • Outpouring of the Holy Spirit – Acts 1: 5, 2: 4
    • The New Messianic Community – The Ecclesia
    • The One New Man, Jew & Gentile one in Messiah – Ephesians 2: 14
  • Autumn Feasts:

Show Eschatological (End Time) events and the 2nd Coming of Messiah

  • YOM TERUAH (TRUMPETS) – REGATHERING of ISRAEL
    • Israel’s Regathering – Jeremiah 31: 10; Matthew 24: 31
  • YOM KIPPUR (ATONEMENT) – RETURN and REVEALING
    • Israel’s Cleansing by Messiah’s Return – Zechariah 12: 10; 13: 1-2; Romans 11: 26
  • SUKKOT (TABERNACLES) – RESTORATION & RENEWAL
    • Israel’s Golden Age and the Millennial Rule of Messiah – Revelation 20: 4; Isaiah 11: 6-9; 65: 19-25; Psalm 66: 4; 67: 4

 

  • Yeshua at the Feast of the Tabernacles – John 7: 37-39

‘On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.  He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”  But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.’ John 7: 37-39

  • Sukkot (Tabernacles) – The water libation ceremony (nisuch hamayim)  
    • The water libation ceremony at the temple on the last day of Sukkot (Hoshana Rabah – ‘the Great Salvation’) is the backdrop to Yeshua’s words
    • Each day of Sukkot, and culminating on the 7th day of the festival (Hoshana Rabah) in the middle of the night, the Kohayns would collect a small silver pitcher from the altar that was only for this purpose and with great ceremony would march from the Temple Mount down into the city of David to the of Shiloam.  The people would line the path of this great parade, bearing torches and singing and dancing and playing musical instruments.  The Kohayns would fill the pitcher with water from the pool. And then singing and dancing, the parade would proceed back up through the city of David, to the altar in the Temple.  The Kohayns would arrive at dawn and ascend the altar. In one corner of the altar sat a silver cup, and the designated Kohayn would then, in front of the massive crowd, pour the water from the pitcher taken from the pool of Shiloam into the silver cup, with great rejoicing singing, and dancing of the crowd that had gathered in the Temple courtyard.  Four great lamps with 4 bowls of oil each, 15 feet high, were erected in the Temple courtyard to illuminate the ceremony.  This was the most joyous day of the year.  Descriptions of the Water Libation are contained in the Mishna Succot Ch.5
    • When the High Priest poured out the water, the people would wave their lulavot (bouquet of ‘four species‘) and sing out “Save now, I pray, O Lord; O Lord, I pray, send now prosperity” – part of one of the Hallel Psalms (praise songs) sung during the feast; it was what the crowd shouted at Yeshua’s triumphal entry to Jerusalem (Psalm 118: 25-26; Matthew 21: 9)
  • Yeshua speaks of the Giving of the Holy Spirit – this is the Prophetic Significance of Shavuot
    • Note the Pre-Requisites for Receiving
      • Be thirsty – many today are thirsty but they drink from polluted sources
      • Come to Yeshua – only through Him can one receive the ‘Living Water’ of the Holy Spirit within
      • Drink – take the step of faith to reach out to Yeshua for the life changing water
      • Believe in Me
        • Believe in His Deity
        • Believe in His Humanity
        • Believe in His Atoning Sacrifice
        • Believe in His Words of Truth
        • Receive the In-Dwelling of the Holy Spirit
      • A Question – Have you received the Holy Spirit, are you Born Again?
        • If not – are you thirsty…do you seek something in your life that will truly satisfy? People seek answers to questions like ‘What is life all about?’; but they look for answers in the wrong places – false spirituality (e.g. yoga) or false religion, or materialism, or even becoming an eco-warrior (!)
        • Have you come to Yeshua? He is the way the truth and the life – He is the one who gives ‘living water’
        • Come to Him and Drink! Draw deep on His life by faith in Him!
        • Admit-Believe-Confess: The ABC of New Birth; Admit your Need, Believe in Yeshua, Confess your new Faith in Him
      • Note the Consequence of Believing Faith
        • You will receive the Holy Spirit
        • This is New Spiritual Birth – to those who are spiritually dead
          • To receive a new life requires a new birth – you must be ‘Born of the Spirit’, that is, ‘born from above’

‘That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’’                                                                                                                                     John 3: 6-7

  • The Holy Spirit within is the Life of Yeshua and the Father in You – it is the Fulfilment of the ‘New Covenant

‘ “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.  No more shall every man teach his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”’ Jeremiah 31: 33-34

  • The Father writes His law (His precepts and statutes) in our minds and hearts by giving us the Holy Spirit within

‘And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the Lord,” says the Lord God, “when I am hallowed in you before their eyes.  For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land.  Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.  I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.  I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. ”’  Ezekiel 36: 23-27

  • These are the words of the Lord God (Yehovah, YHWH) – He is seeking to sanctify His great name – in us!
  • The Holy Spirit’s work is firstly a cleansing work – the process of sanctification, making holy; for He is the Holy Spirit
  • A New Heart – not of stone but of flesh, that is one that is soft towards the Lord God and teachable by the Spirit
  • A New Spirit – His Holy Spirit within us will cause us (by His presence, encouragement and discipline) to walk in His ways – this is what it is to be ‘born from above’, made alive spiritually when you were dead
  • Note – in each of these passages it is the House of Israel which is addressed – the New Covenant is Israel’s covenant…into which the gentiles (a wild olive branch) are grafted

See separate notes on ‘Spirit, Soul, and Body’

  • Marriage
    • Shavuot marks the day when God entered into covenant with the Jewish nation – during the first Shavuot at Sinai when the Lord God instituted the Mosaic covenant and gave the Torah in written form; hence Shavuot is referred to as the “marriage day” between God and the Jewish people
    • After the resurrection of Yeshua, at Shavuot, God established the New Covenant when He wrote the Torah on the hearts of Yeshua’s followers; hence Shavuot is the day of the birth of the ecclesia (the called out ones) – the ones who are the bride of Christ…a marriage is in view! See Romans 7: 4

 

  • Two Loaves
    • Two leavened loaves are waved before the Lord by the High Priest at the altar – this was the only time leavened bread was used by the priests for their worship services (avodah) – see Leviticus 2: 11
    • Just as a sample of the first crop of barley was waved before the altar during the festival of Firstfruits, so on Shavuot a sample of the first crop of the wheat harvest was brought to the priests, baked into two loaves of leavened bread (shtei halechem), and then waved (tenufah) before the altar as a concluding rite of the season
    • Leaven, in scripture, is an idiom for sin – the two leavened loaves speak of Jew and Gentile (the circumcised and the uncircumcised), but both are sinful and in need of a Saviour
      • Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision are spiritually effective – only believing faith in the atoning work of Yeshua can justify us before a holy God and save

‘Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.  Or is He the God of the Jews only?  Is He not also the God of the Gentiles?  Yes, of the Gentiles also, since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.  Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.’  Romans 3: 28-31

  • Wave Offerings – Yeshua’s resurrection is the firstfruits of those who have died (1 Corinthians 15: 20) and fulfils the prophetic ritual of the waving of the omer on the Feast of Firstfruits; the Giving of the Holy Spirit to the church fulfils the prophetic ritual of the wave offering of the wheat loaves on the day of Shavuot

 

The Coming of the Holy Spirit

 

  • Yeshua Promises Another Helper – John 14: 15-18

‘“If you love Me, keep My commandments.  And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever – the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.  I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.”’ John 14: 15-18

  • This is said on the night of Nisan 14, in the morning Yeshua would be crucified
  • The Context of the Promise
    • If You Love Me – Greek: agapaō (pronounced ag-ap-ah’-o) – ‘agape’ love is regarded as the highest form of love – it is the love of God for man and of man for God – the love originating from God which is in turn reflected back to God by the believer – it is a pure, selfless, unconditional love
    • Keep My Commandments – Yeshua is referring not only to His ethical commandments (in context, John 14: 23-24), but the entire revelation from the Father through Yeshua (see John 3:31-32; 12: 47-49); particularly  it is a reference to Yeshua’s ‘new commandment’ (John 13: 34-35).

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.  By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”  John 13: 34-35

  • Yeshua will ask the Father to send the Holy Spirit
    • Yeshua is quite specific as to how the Holy Spirit will be given – He will ask the Father to give (send) the Holy Spirit – see John 14: 26

‘“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”’ John 14: 26                       

  • There is a Divine Order here with the Tri-Unity of the Godhead
    • The Holy Spirit always points to Yeshua, and Yeshua always gives glory and honour to the Father
    • Hence Yeshua asks the Father to send the Holy Spirit
  • Biblical Pattern – we should not address the Holy Spirit directly
    • Yeshua did not directly call for the Holy Spirit to come nor address the Holy Spirit directly – He asks the Father
    • Yeshua did not say “Come Holy Spirit” – the reason is because of the divine order within the tri-unity
    • Two Objections – I have two objections to addressing the Holy Spirit directly (either in prayer or in worship) or calling for Him to ‘Come’
      • Firstly, it is not biblical – nowhere is scripture is the Holy Spirit addressed directly; Yeshua does not do it, nor do the prophets or epistle writers
      • Secondly, it is theologically inaccurate to ask the Holy Spirit to ‘Come’ – the reason is because He is already here! When we are born again we receive the Holy Spirit…all of Him – not a pint-sized, cut-down, beginner’s version… but the whole of the third person of the Godhead – He comes to dwell in us and abide with us
      • In fact; I have a third objection – that is because of the root and result of those so-called prophets and preachers of today who call for the Spirit to ‘come’ – the root is in deceptive and false teaching and the result is another spirit comes, not the Ruach HaKodesh; and there are then ungodly and demonic manifestations which so many are deceived into thinking is of the Holy Spirit; often the cry ‘Come Holy Spirit’ is simply a request for a spirit to come to give people ‘spiritual goosebumps’…and that is not the Holy Spirit’s way
    • The Holy Spirit always points to Yeshua, and Yeshua always gives glory and honour to the Father
    • This biblical pattern should be followed by disciples and fellowships in their prayers and worship
      • Prayer should be ‘To The Father’, ‘Through The Son’ and ‘In The Spirit’, never pray to the Holy Spirit
      • Our worship to God should be focussed on the Father and Son, never addressed directly to the Spirit
    • Another Helper
      • ‘Another’: One like Yeshua Himself…Holy and Divine; but a different ‘person’…the third person of the triune Godhead
        • The significance of this ‘another’ is that Yeshua was and remains our helper and comforter – since He ever lives to make intercession for us (Hebrews 7: 25)
        • So we believers have two divine helpers – Yeshua and the Holy Spirit (three, if you include God’s word, the Bible)
      • ‘Helper’ [NKJV], Greek: paraklētos (pronounced par-ak’-lay-tos), translated also as ‘Comforter’ [KJV, YLT, RV etc] – the word means intercessor, consoler, advocate, helper and comforter
      • Comfort – the focus of Yeshua’s teaching in the whole of John chapter 14 is on comfort for the disciples – it centres in the promise that He is the One who gives the believer comfort, not only by His future return, but also by the present with the ministry of the Holy Spirit
      • In John’s first epistle paraklētos is translated as ‘Advocate’, speaking of Yeshua as the sinner’s advocate before the Father (1 John 2: 1) – and so Yeshua too is our paraklētos
    • The Abiding of the Holy Spirit
      • The Comforter will Abide with you Forever, says Yeshua; to be ‘born again’, or as it means, ‘born from above’ (see John 3: 6-8) is to be Born of the Spirit…once thus born, the Holy Spirit is with you forever – yet another confirmation that one cannot lose one’s salvation – see also Romans 8: 9; 1 Corinthians 6: 19-20, 12: 13
      • This In-Dwelling of the Holy Spirit is a Fulfilment of the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31: 33-34) and of Yeshua’s promised ‘Rivers of Living Waters’ (John 7: 37-39)
        • The Holy Spirit ‘dwells’ with the believer…He stays, He abides; and He is ‘in us’ – a new thing that happens after Pentecost; previously the Spirit ‘came upon’ or empowered those in the Old Testament
      • Not orphans (v.18) – Yeshua again speaks of comfort for all disciples
        • Yeshua comes to us through the indwelling presence and teaching of the Holy Spirit, for He is the ‘Spirit of Christ’ (Romans 8: 9)

‘But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.’ Romans 8: 9

  • There is an implied reference here (‘not orphans’) to Yeshua’s soon-coming death on the cross – later that day!
  • John MacArthur writes: “This indicates some distinction between the ministry of the Holy Spirit to believers before and after Pentecost. While clearly the Holy Spirit has been with all who have ever believed throughout redemptive history as the source of truth, faith, and life, Jesus is saying something new will be coming in His ministry. John 7: 37-39 indicates this unique ministry would be like “rivers of living water.”  Acts 19: 1-7 introduces some old covenant believers who had not received the Holy Spirit in this unique fullness and intimacy.”
  • The Spirit of Truth
    • The Helper (the Holy Spirit) is the Spirit of Truth
      • He is the source of truth and He communicates the truth to Yeshua’s disciples – see John 14: 26; John 16: 12-15
      • Apart from Him, men cannot know God’s truth for it is revealed to us by the Holy Spirit – see 1 Corinthians 2: 12-14; 1 John 2: 20, 2: 27
    • The World Cannot Receive Him (the Holy Spirit)
      • The world does not see Him – but He dwells in the believer
      • The world does not know Him – but believers Know Him
      • Matthew Henry writes: “The disciples of Christ are here distinguished from the world, for they are chosen and called out of the world that lies in wickedness; they are the children and heirs of another world, not of this. It is the misery of those that are invincibly devoted to the world that they cannot receive the Spirit of truth. The spirit of the world and the Spirit of God are spoken of as directly contrary the one to the other (1 Cor. 2: 12); for where the spirit of the world has the ascendant, the Spirit of God is excluded.”

 

  • The Day of Pentecost
    • Names
      • Shavuot (Hebrew) comes from sheva, meaning seven, and shavu’ah, meaning week – hence Shavuot is the Feast of Weeks, celebrated exactly seven weeks after Firstfruits (Deuteronomy 16: 9)
      • Pentecost (Greek) means fiftieth, since it falls 50 days from the day after Passover (Leviticus 23: 16)

 

  • Yeshua’s Promise Repeated

‘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;  for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”’ Acts 1: 4-5

  • The Promise of the Father – Yeshua said He would ask the Father to send the Holy Spirit (John 14: 16), hence Yeshua says the Holy Spirit is the Father’s promise, not simply His (Yeshua’s)
  • Baptised – the same Greek word (baptizō) is used in relation to water immersion and the Holy Spirit – it means to make fully wet, to totally immerse
    • Disciples are completely wetted, thoroughly soaked, with the Holy Spirit – it signifies the complete and total indwelling of the whole of the third person of the triune Godhead – there is no more (no further baptism) to be had
    • When Paul writes to the Ephesians about being filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5: 18) he is not saying there is more of the Holy Spirit to be received, he is imploring the Ephesians to have every part of their lives immersed, wetted, by the Holy Spirit
    • Paul is also urging believers to be seeking the anointing of the Holy Spirit (filling, as in Acts 2: 1-4) for service and witness to Yeshua

‘And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,’ Ephesians 5: 18

  • It is not a matter of ‘How much of the Holy Spirit have you got?’, but rather ‘How much of you has the Holy Spirit got?’
  • Filled ( 5: 18) – Greek plēroō, (pronounced play-ro’-o) is in the present continuous tense – so it means ‘be being filled’
  • Paul is urging the Ephesian church to live continually under the influence of the Spirit by letting Him (and God’s Word) control them in every aspect of their lives – and so glorify Yeshua
  • Power to Witness

‘“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.”’ Acts 1: 8

  • The Holy Spirit will endue disciples with power – this is not earthly power, nor spiritual power for us to use as we please
  • The apostles had already experienced the Holy Spirit’s saving, guiding, teaching, and miracle-working power
  • Soon, Yeshua promises, they would receive His indwelling presence and a new dimension of power for witness (this would include ability to perform miraculous healings – see Acts 3: 1-10)
  • The purpose of this power is to testify to Yeshua and to glorify God – see 1 Corinthians 6: 19-20

‘Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?  For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.’ 1 Corinthians 6: 19-20

  • Witness – the Greek word is martus, pronounced mar’-toos, which also implies ‘one who dies for his faith'(a common occurrence then)

 

  • In The Upper Room

‘When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.  Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.  And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.’  Acts 2: 1-4

  • One Accord – the disciples were together in unity, of one mind and heart – as Yeshua had commanded (John 13: 34-35)
  • A Rushing Mighty Wind – a simile describing God’s action of sending the Holy Spirit
  • Wind is frequently used in scripture as a picture of the Spirit (see Ezekiel 37: 9-10, John 3: 8)
  • Tongues of Fire – John the Baptist had said that Yeshua would baptise with the Holy Spirit and with fire (Matthew 3: 11) – just as the sound (like wind) was symbolic, these were not literal flames of fire but supernatural indicators like fire – that God had sent the Holy Spirit upon each believer
    • Fire often denotes the divine presence (see Exodus 3: 2-6)
  • Scripture has many idioms for the Holy Spirit and He is depicted in several ways – a dove, fire, wind, water, anointing oil, a cloud, etc…
  • The disciples were Filled with the Holy Spirit
    • Being born again, the baptism with the Spirit, is the one-time act by which God places believers into His body by being ‘born from above’ and receiving the Holy Spirit to dwell in them
    • The filling described in Acts 2 is an anointing of Spirit-controlled behaviour – an enduing with gifts (e.g. speaking in other tongues) that God gives for specific purposes
    • Peter and many others in Acts were filled with the Spirit again (see Acts 4: 8, 4: 31, 7: 55) and so spoke boldly the Word of God
  • Such ‘filling’ is meant to be a repeated reality – Paul commands believers to maintain…’be being filled (Ephesians 5: 18)
  • The filling with the Holy Spirit may be accompanied by gifts of the Spirit being manifested, but this is never for the purpose of giving the believer ‘spiritual goosebumps’; it is always an anointing for service of Yeshua in some specific way (e.g. boldly proclaiming God’s word or healing as a testimony to Yeshua – see Acts 4: 8-12)
  • The Holy Spirit was sent by the Father to Glorify the Son – indeed it is His principal role
    • He glorifies Yeshua by speaking truth about the Son to us – teaching and guiding
    • He glorifies the Son by revealing truth about the Son through us – the bearing of witness and the work of sanctification
  • The Holy Spirit could not be sent earlier because the Son was not yet glorified – remember what Yeshua said in that first promise of the Holy Spirit at the Feast of Tabernacles (John 7: 39)

‘But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.’ John 7: 39

  • Yeshua was resurrected as a glorified being – his Godhead was now revealed in a glorified body
  • In order for Christ to dwell IN His disciples (John 14: 16 and 23), through the Holy Spirit, He had to be first glorified with the glory which He had BEFORE He became a human being
  • He needed to be glorified first – Yeshua makes this clear when He said in John 16 :7: “…if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.”
  • When you sense the old self coming to the fore, ask the Holy Spirit afresh to work in you to grow the fruit of His indwelling presence:
    • Submit to His ways
    • Allow Him access into every aspect of your life
  • Do not grieve Him (Ephesians 4: 30) by resisting Him, nor quench His work in you (1 Thessalonians 5: 19)

 

  • A Question – Have you Received the In-Dwelling of the Holy Spirit?
    • Head Knowledge and Heart Knowledge – many, in churches across this land, would acknowledge their sinfulness and repent – receiving, as it were, ‘the baptism of John’ – a sort of ‘head knowledge faith’

 

  • Yeshua wants us to receive a new birth by being baptised in the Holy Spirit (Heart Knowledge Faith) – so let me ask you, in the context of Yeshua’s words in John 14: 15-18:
    • Do you Love Him (Yeshua)?
    • Do you Keep His Commandments?
    • Have you asked Him to give you the in-dwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, to abide with you forever? Receiving the Baptism of Christ, not simply the Baptism of John!

 

  • Do you experience the Comfort of Another Helper – so that out of your heart flow rivers of living water? (John 7: 37-39)

 

  • Have you allowed the Holy Spirit into every aspect of your life – that is are you Filled, and continually being filled, with Him?
    • If you struggle in some areas of your life – maybe your will or emotions – maybe in your work or with your family – you may want to have someone pray with you, lay hands on you, anoint you; for the Holy Spirit to fill that part of your life in a new and living and refreshing way – so that you experience that river of living water in every aspect of your life…so ask today for prayer

 

Five Works of the Holy Spirit in the Believer

 

One could list many, many aspects of the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer, so I have sought to summarise these in 5 aspects of His work in us

 

  • Teaching the Believer

‘“These things I have spoken to you while being present with you.  But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”’ John 14: 25-26

  • The Holy Spirit is Our Teacher
    • Whilst Yeshua was with the disciples – He was their teacher
    • After Yeshua’s resurrection and ascension – the Father sends, at Yeshua’s request ‘another Helper’…another teacher
  • He will Teach Us ‘All Things’ – the Holy Spirit is the one who reveals spiritual truths to the disciple
    • It is more than simply teaching us sound theology and understanding of scripture
    • The Spirit teaches us to ‘see behind’ the physical and tangible, to see the spiritual reality which lies behind the surface
    • The disciples had failed to understand many things about Jesus and what He taught…but…
    • The Holy Spirit energized the hearts and minds of the apostles in their ministry, helping them to produce the NT Scripture; so that, because of this supernatural work of the Spirit, they came to an inerrant and accurate understanding of the Lord and His work, and recorded it in the Gospels and the rest of the NT Scriptures
  • He Enables us to Remember Yeshua’s Words, indeed to recall things from God’s word in its entirety – He plants God’s word deep in our hearts and minds
    • Memorising or being Completely Familiar with the Bible is an important aspect of being a good disciple – it enables us to follow Yeshua in a way that is loyal, true and holy
  • Incidentally – notice again the Divine order – the Father sends the Holy Spirit in Yeshua’s name
  • A Question – Who is your Teacher?
    • If you are getting your understanding of the Lord and knowledge of His word from the wrong source (e.g.; from Christian TV or many of the TV preachers [so-called apostles/prophets]) – then you are missing God’s best and possibly being deceived
    • The Teacher that the Father has ordained is the one He has sent in Yeshua’s name – the Holy Spirit; listen to Him and feed on God’s word

 

  • Bearing Witness

‘“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.  And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning.”’ John 15: 26-27

  • The Holy Spirit will Testify about Yeshua
    • The principal role of the Holy Spirit is to glorify Yeshua
    • Yeshua has just warned the disciple of the world’s hatred of them, just as it hated Him (John 15: 18-25) – so Yeshua comforts the disciples by again promising to send the Helper and that He will bear testimony to them about Him…counteracting the world’s lies
    • His in-dwelling presence in us will testify to us the truth about our Messiah, Saviour and Lord
  • The Holy Spirit is the ‘Spirit of Truth’
    • He speaks only truth to us
    • Two Witnesses
      • By the mouth of two or three witnesses is truth established – see Deuteronomy 19: 15, quoted by Paul in 1 Corinthians 13: 1
      • We have two witnesses – God’s word which is truth (John 17: 17), and the Holy Spirit who is the Spirit of truth

‘ Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.’ John 17: 17

  • The Holy Spirit will enable us to ‘Bear Witness’ (see Acts 1: 8)
    • Yeshua emphasises the Spirit’s help for witnessing and proclaiming the gospel – there are many examples in the NT of disciples being ‘filled with the Spirit’ (a specific anointing) to enable witness or proclamation
    • Yeshua, after His resurrection, emphasised this aspect of the Holy Spirit’s work in the disciples (Acts 1: 8)
    • It is an aspect of the Holy Spirit’s work we should all experience – it wasn’t just for the apostles
    • Since we were born again through faith in Yeshua, we too have ‘been with Him from the beginning’…the beginning of our spiritual life
    • Bearing Witness – Testifying of Yeshua – is not something we do only with words; but our lives, our character and whole person speak volumes
  • Incidentally – notice that Yeshua again promises the Helper will come; also, again notice the Divine order
    • Yeshua sends the Spirit because He asks the Father and it is from the Father that the Holy Spirit proceeds (comes forth)

 

  • A Question – Of Whom or What do our Lives Bear Witness?
    • Our lives, whether we are aware of it or not, give testimony about our beliefs and morality – do ours bear witness of Yeshua
    • Peter & John – their lives and words bore testimony to the Sanhedrin of Jesus- that they had been with Him

‘Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marvelled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.’ Acts 4: 13

  • Allow the indwelling Holy Spirit to enable you to be a witness (Acts 1: 8)

 

  • Guiding the Believer

‘“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.  However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.”’ John 16: 12-13

  • The Holy Spirit is our Guide
    • While Yeshua was with the disciples He knew there were many things they would need to know and understand – yet He was aware that some things they could not yet bear (in this instance because they were in sorrow that He was leaving them)
    • We too need to grow in our understanding and experience of the Lord – it takes time – it is a process – and that is a key work of the Holy Spirit, our guide in this process
  • The Holy Spirit Guides Us ‘Into All Truth’
    • The Holy Spirit is ‘the Spirit of Truth’ – He speaks only truth to us
    • There are many ‘guides’ in this world…but only one will lead into ‘all truth’ and never lie to us
  • The Holy Spirit speaks Under Authority
    • Sent by the Father to Glorify the Son
    • All that the Father has, He has given to the Son (John 16: 15) – and the Spirit takes what Yeshua has and speaks it to us
    • There is a Divine example here for us – to speak and act, under authority – through the indwelling presence of the Spirit guiding us

 

  • A Question – Are we Guided by the Indwelling Presence of the Holy Spirit?
    • His voice is not hard to hear – but are we tuned in?
    • Get to know and recognise the voice of the Holy Spirit
    • Be attentive to the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit – we can all too easily get up in the morning and go through the day on auto-pilot

 

  • Glorifying Yeshua

‘“He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.  All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.”’ John 16: 14-15

  • The Glory of the Son
    • The disciples glimpsed Yeshua’s glory on the Mount of Transfiguration – see Matthew 17: 1-9 and Luke 9: 28-36
    • We can understand something of glory of Yeshua from His prayer to the Father John 17: 1-5

‘“Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him.  And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.  I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.  And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.”’ John 17: 1-5

  • We get a glimpse of the Father-Son relationship and the Glory of the Son
  • He asks the Father to “Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You” – this is not a request of vanity, but of service and submission because the Father’s glory was to be revealed in the sacrificial death of the Son – so Yeshua asks this because He knows that “the hour has come“
  • He says to the Father “I have glorified you on the earth” – Yeshua was the revelation of the Fathers glory
  • He asks the Father to “Glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.“
  • The Holy Spirit Glorifies Yeshua
    • The Holy Spirit was sent by the Father to Glorify the Son – indeed it is His principal role
      • He glorifies Yeshua by speaking truth about the Son to us – teaching and guiding
      • He glorifies the Son by revealing truth about the Son through us – the bearing of witness and the work of sanctification
    • The Holy Spirit glorifies Yeshua in us and through us by taking what is Yeshua’s and declaring it to us and through us

 

  • A Question – Is the Glory of God Revealed in You?
    • Glory is something sensed as well as seen – a fragrance of Christ

‘For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.’ 2 Corinthians 2: 15

  • So how do you smell?
  • Allow the Holy Spirit to produce in you the sweet smelling fragrance of the glory of Yeshua

 

  • Sanctifying the Believer

‘I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh’ Galatians 5: 16

  • Sanctification – the Process of Becoming Holy
    • To ‘sanctify means ‘to set apart’ or ‘to make holy’
    • In the OT days, houses, fields, feasts, altars, people and many other things were sanctified
    • Today, all Believers are to be sanctified – this means that they are to be set apart for the Lord and consecrated for his uses and purposes
    • It is a Process – we do not become perfect reflections of the glory of Yeshua overnight
  • Justification and Sanctification
    • Two aspects of holiness – both are true, but they are different
    • When we are ‘Born of the Spirit’ we are Justified – that means we are declared righteous
      • When the Father looks at us He sees, not our sinfulness, but the righteousness of His Son – for we are clothed in His righteousness

‘For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.’ 2 Corinthians 5: 21

  • After we are ‘Born of the Spirit’, Justified, we have to learn to ‘Walk by the Spirit’
    • In our fallen state, our flesh ruled our soul – now we have to learn to allow the Spirit of God within us rule our soul, and no longer live in fleshly ways – Galatians 5: 16
    • This is the process of Sanctification – being Made Holy
  • The Call to Holiness – Set Apart To and For God
    • Because God is Holy, We – His children – are also to be Holy
      • It is a command to all believers

‘Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”‘ 1 Peter 1: 13-16

  • Peter is quoting the command of God to Israel

‘“For I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy. Neither shall you defile yourselves with any creeping thing that creeps on the earth.  For I am the Lord who brings you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.”’ Leviticus 11: 44-45

  • Making ourselves Ready
    • When we are going out for a special occasion…we make ourselves ready – we wash, shave, do our hair, put on perfume, wear smart clothes, etc
    • When we are Born Again we become betrothed Christ, He is our Bridegroom…a marriage is in view!
    • We, the Bride of Yeshua, need to make ourselves ready

‘And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, “Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!  Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.”’ Revelation 19: 6-7

  • The bride adorns herself in white garments – given her by the Bridegroom (that is, His righteousness) – but she, in herself, is to be pure and holy
  • Sanctification through the Holy Spirit
    • Sanctification is a process worked in us by the Holy Spirit and by the Word of God

‘Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.’ Ephesians 5: 26

  • Washing of water (Ephesians 5: 26) is a description of the cleansing work of the Holy Spirit (water here is a picture of the Holy Spirit)
  • As part of this process the Holy Spirit uses the Word of God – it is a divine cleansing agent

‘All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.’ Timothy 3: 16-17

  • Note that the Word of God instructs in righteousness
  • The purpose of this washing is that we should be holy, without blemish
  • Washed in the Blood – when we sing ‘Are You Washed In The Blood’ our song is not focussed so much on being born again, but on the washing work of the Holy Spirit in Sanctification…”When the Bridegroom cometh will your clothes be white?”
  • The Fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5: 22-25)
    • The Evidence that we are being ‘made holy’ is the growing of the Fruit of the Spirit in our lives

‘But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.  And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.’ Galatians 5: 22-25

  • Fruit takes time to grow and mature – it needs nurturing, tending and feeding – this is the role of the Holy Spirit
  • The context of Paul’s teaching to the Galatians is the death of the old self, the one that was controlled by the flesh with all its evil unclean works, and the growth of new fruit through walking in the Spirit
  • Pauls language is stark – the flesh has to be crucified!
  • We, born again believers, now are Alive in the Spirit – it is through Him indwelling us that we have new life…born again from above – so Paul says we must also walk in the Spirit…taught, guided, and invigorated by Him

 

  • A Question – Are the Fruit of the Spirit Evident in You?
    • Do you (and others) see an increasing of love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control in your life?
    • Don’t be under condemnation – the Spirit convicts, not condemns!
    • When you sense the old self coming to the fore, ask the Holy Spirit afresh to work in you to grow the fruit of His indwelling presence:
      • Submit to His ways
      • Allow Him access into every aspect of your life
    • Do not grieve Him (Ephesians 4: 30) by resisting Him, nor quench His work in you (1 Thessalonians 5: 19)

 

 

In Conclusion

 

  • Shavuot is such a Joyful Feast of the Lord because it speaks of the joy of new life and the very presence of God in us
  • Shavuot speaks of Living Waters – the Indwelling Presence of the Holy Spirit with is, as Yeshua said, like are never ending river of living water – refreshing, cleansing and life giving
  • Shavuot encourages us to Be Filled with the Holy Spirit
    • Allow Him to fill every part of our lives
    • Receive His anointing for service and witness
  • At Shavuot we are commanded to Rejoice before the Lord our God
  • Give Thanks to the Father, that through the Son, He has Given us of Himself…the Abiding Presence of the Holy Spirit…the entirety of the third person of the triune Godhead

 

 

 

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