Today is the 48th day that we have been counting the omer.
God called to the children of Israel at Mt Sinai saying, “I will take you as my people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am Yehovah your God, who freed you from the forced labor of the Egyptians.” (Exodus 6:7 CJB) Many years later, Jeremiah prophesied that Yehovah would someday put His Torah (instructions) within the people and write it on their hearts. Again Yehovah said, “I will be their God and they will be My people.”
The first covenant was made between God and the children of Israel at Mt Sinai. Unfortunately, the children of Israel did not remain faithful to the covenant. The fault was not with the covenant but with the people. According to the footnotes in my Complete Jewish Study Bible, “the only ‘fault’ in the first covenant, if one should even call it that, is that it does not contain in itself the power to keep the people faithful.” (p 1739)
Yehovah was looking forward in time to the Shavuot following Jesus’ ascension when He would pour out His Spirit upon all mankind who would love Him, and He would put His “Torah in their minds and write it on their hearts, and I will be their God and they will be My people.” (Jeremiah 31:33 & Hebrews 8:10) Then the prophet Joel, quoting Yehovah proclaimed, “I will pour out my Spirit on all humanity” (Joel 2:28). Peter quoted this same portion in Acts 2:17 on the Day of Pentecost/Shavuot.
God pours out His Spirit on Shavuot in part to provide the power the people need to remain faithful. If the children of Israel could be drawn away very quickly in a time when life was much less complicated, how much more do we need His Holy Spirit to be on the thrones of our hearts in these times of technological advances that allow each of us to carry in the palms of our hands computers called ‘smart phones’, giving us access to everything in the world and viewing anything we desire with one tap on “go”? John was not wrong. We are like the Israelites and are drawn away from God by the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. (1 John 2:16). Therefore it is imperative that we ask the Father to send His Holy Spirit, not only to cover us but also to reign in us, teaching and empowering us to be His people so that we may continually live according to His commands.
I encourage us all to eagerly implore Yehovah to pour out His Spirit once again and baptize us as He did on the Day of Pentecost almost 2000 years ago!
Pastor Ann
May 29, 2020