As many of you are likely aware, this coming Sunday is Pentecost. On this day, we are reminded to celebrate the gracious gift of the Holy Spirit poured out on us all. I felt that I would be remiss if I did not also point out that Pentecost corresponds to the Jewish festival called Shavuot, which means "sevens" or "weeks." Thus, the festival has come to be called the Feast of Weeks. Two things are important to point out about what this feast means for the Jewish people. First, it is a celebration of the gift of Torah to the people of Israel. Second, after Passover, they beginning counting the days (50) until they will celebrate this festival in anticipation of God's revelation at Sinai. We should be excited to celebrate the revelation of the Spirit at Pentecost, realizing that God's promise, delivered through the prophet, Jeremiah, to write the Torah on our hearts was actualized on the culmination of Shavuot/Pentecost.
In modern Jewish tradition, this festival is celebrated by reading the Torah all through the night (yes, that means that they do not sleep). Since we will be reading Genesis-Deuteronomy five times before the year is out, I though we might as well make it six. It has been my plan to participate in this endeavor on Saturday night/Sunday morning this coming weekend. Will you join me? If so, here is what I plan on reading:
1. Genesis - Deuteronomy
2. Nehemiah 9 (This is a re-narration of the basic story of Torah that the Levites give to the assembled Israelites after God brought them out of captivity).
3. Acts 7 (Stephen's re-narration of the basic story of Torah given to an assembly of Jews that I think creates an interesting correlation to Nehemiah).
4. Matthew 5-7 (Jesus' exposition of the basic tenants of the Torah and how they are to be understood).
If you run out of readings before the night is up, shoot me a note on the blog, on Facebook, or on Twitter and I will recommend more.
I hope this will be fruitful for you. I know it is a lot to read. A word of advice: try doing it while you are standing or pacing the room, otherwise you will likely fall asleep. Also, try doing it in pairs to further prevent such sleeping. I think you will sense the blessing of the Spirit as you commemorate the pouring out of the Spirit on all flesh and the confirmation that the words we are reading have indeed been written on our hearts. May we hear them and respond to them.
By the way, I have also started a Twitter account to track the progress of this endeavor. You can follow me @StrategicBible. I will be posting here and there through the night using the hashtag #Shavuot and #Pentecost. Hopefully this will provide you with the community that you need to participate.
An additional suggestion for those who get bogged down in single words, sentences, or verses, I enjoy "hearing" the words as I read them. On my own, I often feel like I read too slowly to establish a rhythm or pace.
ReplyDeleteSo yeah, there are a variety of ways to access audio versions. biblegateway.com and most Bible apps.
I'm observing a strange pattern: of the people that God chooses, they seem to accept and practice all sorts of marriage and baby-making arrangements with no ramifications. But twice, these very people lie such that others find themselves in situations where their lives are threatened because they've taken Abraham's wife unknowingly.
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