Pentecost, Two Sticks and the Torah*

      

     After His resurrection, Jesus was able to be with His disciples for forty days until His ascension into heaven: "And being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he (Jesus), ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence." (Acts 1:1-5). The receiving of the Holy Spirit was a promise of God the Father. The disciples then asked Jesus if He would restore the kingdom to Israel at this time. Jesus answered: "It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." (v. 6-8).

     The Father's promise of the Holy Spirit to which Jesus referred, was given to the prophet Joel, as Peter (see Acts 2:16-21) would later tell the onlookers who were in Jerusalem. This outpouring from heaven is also prophesied by God in the Torah, the Law of Moses, in the Feast of Weeks, or Shavuot, or as we know from the Greek: Pentecost. This is how the Holy Spirit arrived: "And when the day of Pentecost was 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 all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." (Acts 2:1-4). There were Jews, devout men, in Jerusalem from all of the nations far and wide who heard the disciples speaking in the languages of each of these nations. (see v. 5-6): "And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?" (v. 7-8).

     Peter also told the spectators the Gospel of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection from the dead. He also quoted King David and his prophetic reference to the Messiah/Christ who would descend from David's family line. David's tomb was mentioned as being present with them, and the place designated as "The Upper Room" where the Holy Spirit came on that Pentecost is directly above David's tomb, which was also a place of pilgrimage for those coming to Jerusalem. Peter ended his preaching saying, "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ." (v. 22-36, excerpt).

     The rabbis teach that the first Pentecost was when the Torah, the Word of God, was given to Israel from the Mount. They teach that the Word came to each Israelite as a flame. According to the rabbis as recorded in the Midrash, the Word of God was delivered at that time in seventy voices reflecting the seventy mother tongues of the nations.

     The different languages of the nations heard on the day of Pentecost in Acts Ch. 2 indicate that God is not willing that any should perish - even those beyond the Jewish people and the nation of Israel. Both the Jewish and Gentile believers in the God of Israel should come together in this understanding.

     The Law of Moses described Shavuot, or the Feast of Weeks which we call Pentecost: "And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering (of first fruits); seven sabbaths (49 days) shall be complete: Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD. Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the first fruits unto the LORD." (Lev. 23:15-17). The leavened loaves are "raised" loaves. Part of this Feast unto the LORD also includes a provision of mercy for the poor and the stranger by leaving them a provision to glean from the corners of the fields to be harvested. (v. 22). 

     Jesus is referred to as the first fruits (see above) of the resurrection: "But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power...The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." (1 Cor. 15:12-26, excerpt). It is the Holy Spirit who raised Christ from the dead and raises us also. (see Rom. 8:9-11).

     As we see from Acts Ch. 2, Jesus did not do away with the Torah, but fulfilled every word in it, bringing a greater understanding of the Torah to us.

     The LORD gave the prophet Ezekiel a vision of two sticks becoming one in the prophet's hand. One stick was to be labeled "For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions." The other stick was to be named "For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions." (Ezek. 37:15-17). It is the LORD's intention to join the two people together, and it was also His promise to gather the children of Israel back to their own land: "Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all...Neither shall they defile themselves any more with idols...nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them...and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God." (v. 21-23). Then the LORD prophesied that David (meaning the Messiah/Christ, David's descendant) would be king over them: "And they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them...Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them...and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore." (v. 24-28, see also Rev. 21:3).

     We know who Judah is in Israel, but who does Ephraim represent in one of the two sticks? Ephraim, who became a half-tribe of Israel, was the son of Joseph, born of a Gentile mother during Joseph's forced service in Egypt. Although Ephraim was of Gentile heritage as well as Hebrew, Israel is called Ephraim's companions. The LORD sees the two people as one in His hand. The church has spent almost two thousand years trying to separate itself from its Jewish roots and "Israel, its companions." The two people will come together under one King, one Shepherd, the Messiah, Jesus, the descendant of David.

     We can also see how the LORD has brought His people, Israel, back to the land from the nations of the world where they had been scattered. This same chapter of Ezekiel prophesies over dry, dead bones, and they are resurrected to live again. The resurrection is joined to Israel's return to the land. Paul also wrote about the Jew and the Gentile being joined together into one new man through Jesus Christ. The partition between the two people has been broken down in Christ: "For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father." (see Eph. 2:11-22). As Ezekiel prophesied, both have been made one in His hand.

     The LORD promised in Jeremiah: "....will I be the God of all the families of Israel (this includes Judah and Ephraim), and they shall be my people." (Jer. 31:1). The people found grace, everlasting love and lovingkindness with the LORD even in the wilderness: "For there shall be a day, that the watchmen upon the mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto the LORD our God." (v. 2-3, 6). Again, the LORD promised to bring His people back to the land: "...for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn." (v. 8-9).

     Moses warned Israel to "Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law...it is your life: and through this thing ye shall prolong your days in the land, whither you go over Jordan to possess it." (Deut. 32:45-47). This includes the Feasts of the LORD, and all of God's promises to all of Israel, including Judah and Ephraim.

     Paul also wrote that we were to renew our minds in God's Word in order to serve Him with full dedication in holiness - not conformed to this world but transformed by this renewing of our minds, "that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." (Rom. 12:1-2). God got Israel out of Egypt with the miracle of Passover, by the blood of the lamb, but it took forty years in the wilderness to get Egypt, the mindset of this world, out of them. With the words of this world all around us every day, it affects how we think, especially those who do not know the Word of God. We must completely give ourselves to God and rely on His Word - it is life, even resurrection life.

     In order to help us overcome the world, the Lord has given us the Holy Spirit, His power. (Eph. 6:10). He has also given us the whole armor of God because our warfare is not against flesh and blood but against wicked spiritual powers and the spiritual rulers of the darkness of this world. This armor of God includes: having our loins girded with truth, having the breastplate of (God's) righteousness, our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith that quenches every fiery dart of the wicked, the helmet of salvation to renew our minds, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. We are praying this always in the Spirit not just for ourselves but for all the saints. (v. 11-18).

     There is coming a day on planet earth when we will see the resurrection of the dead, the judgment of the nations of the earth and the return of Jesus Christ to rule. All of the signs point to these events as coming very soon.

     *Based upon Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson, Jr.'s 6/1/25 message to the church. If you would like to hear the complete message, you can find it on the Facebook page of Kenneth E. Stevenson Jr. Dr. Stevenson's video messages are also found on You Tube at Kenneth Stevenson. To contact or support this ministry, or to request prayer, you can write to PO Box 154221, Waco, TX, 76705. To find out more about the Shroud of Turin, and to receive a free e-book now available in several languages, go to http://www.theshroudofturin.org/freebook. The book NAZAH: White Linen and the Blood of Sprinkling is available on Amazon.