Pentecost and First Fruits.

Waking up in the middle of the night on Easter Monday I reached for my Living Bible to hopefully relax me back to sleep. Having finished the book of John and the resurrection story the night before I started to read the book of Acts chapter 1.  As I continued into Chapter 2 I read, “Seven weeks had gone by since Jesus’ death and resurrection and the day of Pentecost had now arrived.”

Now that’s interesting my sleepy mind thought. This is telling me that they already knew about Pentecost and yet it was still to take place. Don’t tell me they were all together in the room for another Jewish celebration that I have not heard of so I grabbed my little phone and googled the word, Pentecost.

Wouldn’t you know, the word Pentecost wasn’t initially to do with The Holy Spirit but it was the Greek word for 50 days, Pentékosté. The New Testament was originally written in Greek. Then my sleepy head thought if Pentecost is fifty that means these disciples who were Jews were celebrating 50 days since Passover. 7 weeks of seven days and the next day was number 50. I discovered that It was the Feast of Weeks, Shavuot (Hebrew) Pentecost (Greek) a celebration of the first fruits of the grain harvest.

I’m no Bible Student but I must have read these words in Acts many, many times, and as I sit here writing I glance at that Living Bible again and I see a footnote reference which says (2:1 “This annual celebration came fifty days after Passover.”) Maybe I missed that because I always use digital means to read the bible these days so perhaps that’s not such a good idea.

Of course, Christians use the word Pentecost to reference the time when the Holy Spirit fell on the disciples. If you follow the story ( Acts chapters 2 and 3 +) then you will know that life for them would never be the same and neither would the word Pentecost. They became bold and brave and performed miracles wherever they went and even on that first Pentecost day 3000 were added to their number.

Jesus and the Passover

If you read the Gospel accounts of Jesus and His disciples celebrating the Passover one or two questions might come to mind. Sometimes it seems we think of Jesus in Christian terms and forget that He was also a Jew who observed all the religious ceremonies as Jews were required to do. Luke 2:41 tells us that every year his parents went up to Jerusalem for the Passover so it’s likely he went also.   

As I thought of this I wondered if Jesus celebrated His last Passover the way Jews do today and have done since the days when they were rescued by God from Egyptian slavery. (The night when all the firstborn sons of the Egyptians died but the angel of death passed over the Hebrews and their sons were saved.

Dr Mitch Glazer of Chosen People Ministries says that the traditions for Passover as with other Jewish celebrations were handed down orally for hundreds of years and it seems that they were not recorded in the Mishnah until some 150 years after the New Testament was written so the answer to my question is that “We do not know.”

One thing we do know is that the spotless, unblemished, Lamb, the unleavened bread and wine were part of Jesus’ Passover meal with His disciples. The other fact that I hadn’t given much thought to is that every time we take communion we are celebrating our deliverance just as the Jews celebrate theirs.

It was Jesus’ instruction at His last Passover supper that we remember Him every time we take the bread and wine.

Thank God for Jesus, our Passover Lamb!

The Sapphire Ten Commandments

Just recently I was watching a telecast during which the Pastor referred to the Ten Commandments being written on tablets of Sapphire. He then went on to show us a piece of blue translucent material to give an idea of the dimensions.

Where had that piece of information been all my life? I wondered. In all my years I had never heard this mentioned before so I decided to do some research.  All I could see in my mind’s eye was Charlton Heston holding up the stone tablets with the commandments on them, maybe Hollywood had got it wrong.

This is what I discovered:-  “Rabbinical Judaism as found in the Talmud and the Mishnah teaches that the tablets of the law were made of Sapphire. Scripture itself corroborates much of what the tradition has to say regarding the Sapphire Ten Commandments.” Exodus 24:10 says. “And they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for  clearness.” (ESV)

So, it seems like they were stating that some of this sapphire pavement was used by God to inscribe the tablets for Moses. Whether you believe it or not, it does make sense that it would be just like our amazing God to be so lavish in His love that He would give instructions to His people on tablets of sapphire. After all, this is our same incredible, astounding, awe-inspiring God who sacrificed His precious only son to bring us back to Himself.

Saint Patricks Day

As you will all know two weeks ago the international Irish family and anyone else who wanted to join in celebrated St Patrick’s day. So, I thought that I would do a little research on the subject. Especially as I know little about St Patrick other than that he was the first Missionary to Ireland (though some contest that). 

It is said that Patrick was born in England sometime in the fifth century. He was abducted and taken to Ireland at the age of seven and forced to guard sheep in County Antrim for six years. Patrick is said to have had a vision urging him to convert his captors and had escaped to France where he trained as a priest. When he returned to Ireland he banished the snakes (that part is possibly a myth) and converted the population to Christianity. 

Both Patrick (English) and Padraig (pronounced “paw+drig or paw+rik) are popular names in Ireland. In 1911 ten per cent of Irish boys were named Patrick, however, Jack has been the most popular name for the last few years. St Patrick is the national hero of not only the Irish Roman Catholic Church but the whole of Ireland and Irish descendants everywhere.

Last Sunday as I was walking into church I bumped into Paddy (no prizes for guessing his real name) and I mentioned to him that in my recent DNA results I discovered that I was 8% Irish. I was almost apologetic as I am 91% English. This didn’t deter Paddy at all, he laughed and welcoming me to the family said “If you’re Irish, you’re Irish.” After that, he started mimicking me with a very British accent (which I sadly don’t have) and we all laughed.

As I think of this, I am reminded of how blessed we are in the church to be part of an extended family. Especially after all the lockdowns of the past two years. To meet and greet, laugh and sometimes cry with each other gives one a wonderful sense of belonging.  And, while we all worship in our local family of God represented by so many different denominations, we are part of the worldwide catholic (universal) church.

What is more, the bible tells us in many different places that God is our father and that Jesus is not ashamed to call himself our brother. We can talk to our Father and Brother anywhere and at any time they are never too busy to listen in fact, they are just waiting for us to call.

Murphy’s Irish Dancers walk down Market Street at the annual Saint Patrick’s Day Parade and Festival in San Francisco

Purim – Esther – Cyrus

Last week, on the 16^th and 17^th March, members of the Jewish community around the world celebrated Purim. This is a commemoration of the saving of the Jewish people in Persia from Haman’s plot to wipe them out in 500 BC. If you haven’t read the biblical story in the Book of Esther you will most probably have heard of the story of Esther and the King, thanks to Hollywood.

While researching Purim I came across some interesting facts. Esther whose Hebrew name was Hadassah (morning star) was raised in the home of Mordechai (Hebrew spelling) the leader of the Jewish nation in exile. Contrary to common belief Esther and Mordecai were first cousins, not Uncle and niece.

You may not know also that Esther was of Jewish royal lineage, her father being a descendant of King Saul. On the advice of Mordechai, she kept her Judaism and her royal roots a secret, even after King Ahasuerus (aka Xerxes) chose her to be queen.

To maintain her Jewish life one of the seven maids, the Sabbath (Shabbat) maid was also Jewish so that no one would notice anything unusual about her behaviour. (Of course, it all came out when she had to plead with the King for her people.)

To keep her food kosher she ate inherently kosher food and seeds. Today, Jews celebrating Purim commemorate this by eating poppy seed-filled triangular pastries known as Hamantaschen. (Haman’s Pockets) named after the villain in the Purim story. 

According to Rabbi Menachem Posner, the Midrash exegesis states that King Darius was the son of Esther and Xerxes and according to the Talmud, Darius and Cyrus were one and the same person.  Cyrus was the king who proclaimed that the second Holy Temple be built in Jerusalem (Ezra 1:1-4) and 150 years before him, Isaiah named Cyrus as the one who would do this. (Isaiah 44:28)  

Amazing! Everyone was in the right place at the right time. Though I shouldn’t be surprised I never cease to be amazed that God has everything worked out for our lives if we put our trust in Him. Even when we don’t understand why things happen the way they do.

Making Memories

Back in the day, like most families, we didn’t have a lot of spare money so I was determined to do things with our girls that would make memories.  At one stage I decided we would have a candlelight dinner on a Friday. I asked Mr ‘amazing memory’ about it this morning and he could not remember. So that didn’t work, did it?

When I asked the girls Fiona said she thought she remembered special dinners but not the candlelight. Anita and Meredith when asked separately couldn’t remember but did recollect me reading Little House on the Prairie books to them.  At least Yvette remembered me getting the special china out and her being told not to play with the candles. Haha!.

Interestingly I can remember my mother reading to us The Robe and The Big Fisherman by Lloyd C Douglas in the early 1950s. For someone who sometimes battles with remembering names, I am surprised that the author’s name came straight to mind as I thought of the titles. Over the years we have done ‘stuff’ with our older grandchildren, which has made memories, not because we planned it that way but because it just happened.

Some of the grandsons are still quite young, they live nearby and are being homeschooled. On Fridays, they come to us for lunch. It’s more like a picnic on the back deck as a reward for working hard all week.  Now, it doesn’t matter if they recall these Fridays or not, as long as they remember that we loved them and that our genuine love for God and faith in Him shone out in the way we behaved towards them and each other.

I think of St Paul’s letter to Timothy where he encourages Timothy to remember the unfeigned (genuine) faith that was in his mother and grandmother. He knew that Timothy would know exactly what he meant because their love and faith had been self-evident. (2 Tim 1:5)                       Now that is a memory worth making!

Misunderstood

When I was a child I misunderstood some of the bible stories I heard in Sunday School. Probably because I remembered the romantic and vivid parts of the story and always liked a happily-ever-after ending. One such story was Joseph who I mentioned last week in my blog. As a child, I thought he was a spoiled boy and a bit of a show-off who deserved to be disliked by his brothers but as they say, all is well that ends well so it was one of my favourites.

In my adulthood, I have discovered that Joseph may have been naive in telling his brothers of his dreams. However, their dislike and hatred of him had to do, as much if not more, with jealousy and anger about the coat. I think it was mainly about the coat, if you read the bible account you will see the coat came first and it seems the dreams were the last straw.

Some Jewish tradition has it that the coat was the tunic Asaph took from Nimrod and was given to Abram (Abraham) and then passed down through Isaac to Jacob. Maybe when the scripture says that Joseph’s father Jacob made a coat he actually cut down the one that Abraham wore to fit his 17-year-old. This is pure conjecture on my part but I found the suggestion interesting.

The brothers were well aware that this bright, intelligent and good looking boy was the son of Jacob’s first love Rachel and was a delight to his father. Rabbi Mendel Kaplan suggests that the brothers saw this jacket as a sign of authority, inheritance and succession which might put them right down in the pecking order. Hence, they pulled it off him as if removing his power before they put him in the pit.

So, it seems that I misunderstood someone who was in turn quite misunderstood. Like it or not, sooner or later someone will misunderstand your actions and sometimes it will seem that it is taking ages for you to be vindicated. For Joseph, it took thirteen years until he was thirty (the rabbinical age of leadership) and became Viceroy of Egypt.

However long it takes for the truth to come into the light we need to be like Joseph and stay focused. He got on with the job at hand firstly at Potiphar’s house where he was eventually appointed head over the house and all that Potiphar owned and secondly in prison where he was again soon handed over the entire administration. (Genesis 39) Why did Joseph prosper so well? Because God was with him and He will be with us too if we allow Him.

A Blessing in disguise

Have you ever had one of those days when everything that could go wrong does? We were running late leaving home, we were running late picking up our daughter a suburb away and finally late reaching the Knox shopping centre. For some reason, which evades me now, we had a small window of opportunity in which to accomplish our mission.  So, arriving at the shopping centre a good hour late and having trouble finding parking we used a different entrance.

As we stood inside the building deciding which way to go we saw a couple of friends we had completely lost touch with walking towards us.  All those hold-ups and delays that morning were a blessing in disguise. We were in the right place, at the right time. At that very moment. our friends had just popped in by chance having a few minutes to spare before going to see Les Mis. This blessing in disguise renewed a friendship that we treasure to this day.

I was not intending to write about maxims, idioms, adages and sayings this year but here we go again. I know that all of you reading this blog could tell similar stories, it was not fate or luck it was by design. It was part of God’s plan for our lives that we, having just moved down from the country and without friends should meet up. A few minutes either way and we would have missed each other.

Right through the Bible, we see instances where God turned situations that seemed to be fraught with trials into divine appointments and indeed blessings in disguise. Fortunately, our troubles are not as bad as Joseph’s. He was hated by his brothers, sold into slavery at 17, lied about, ended up in prison, he was nearly 30 when he finally got out of gaol.

When he became head over Egypt, Joseph was able to save his whole family including the brothers who betrayed him. Who would have thought that such a horrible time would have found him in the right place at that moment in history?  His words to his brothers were, “Do not be distressed or angry with yourselves that you sold me into this place, because God sent me before (ahead of) you. Genesis 50:20

As the modern worship song says. You (God) take what the enemy meant for evil and you turn it for good, now that’s something to keep in mind the next time everything seems to be going pear-shaped. Remember God’s timing is always perfect.

‘Wonders will never cease’

How many of us have found ourselves using adages from our childhood? My mother usually said wonders will never cease concerning something we had done voluntarily which she found pleasantly surprising and slightly humorous. Although there was never any awe about it we were quietly chuffed at her appreciation.

As a child in England, I thought wonders would never cease when I first heard of people having things called Television sets in their homes. I had never seen one so I hardly believed it was true. It was 1956 when black and white TV finally came to Australia and I recall us standing outside the shop windows with our eyes glued to the screen.   

It would take nearly another 20 years before colour TV arrived in 1975. In 2001 TV went digital and since then we have had an explosion of advances. As you know TV can now be viewed on any of your devices anywhere and at any time even on your mobile phone or wristwatch. What will be next I wonder?

There are many bible characters of whom it could be said wonders will never cease. For instance, Job was a loser in so many ways, he lost his wealth, his family and his health, even his wife told him to curse God and die, but wonders will never cease he kept his faith and came out a winner.

Moses was insecure and probably needed anger management classes, he was a liar and a killer and suffered stage fright but, wonders will never cease with God’s help he miraculously led the Israelites out of slavery.

Gideon was terrified and hiding from the Midianites when God called him a mighty man of valour and although he questioned God, wonders will never cease, he went on to save his people.

God can change even the most fearful and timid of us if we give him a chance. Let’s promise ourselves that the next time we are challenged to accomplish something we will go ahead and do it and wonders will never cease.

‘The Comedy of Errors’

My mother ofter laughed when re-telling a story of something that had happened to her saying  “Oh it was a comedy of errors.” She was a great storyteller and would gesticulate with her hands splayed while she was relating her story.

Of course, my mother who was well educated for her time would have known that the term, ‘The comedy of errors’ was the title of a Shakespearean play. If you don’t know the storyline, think of two pairs of identical twins from two different families and one set of parents. Separated by a shipwreck one of each set of twins left with a parent not knowing the others were alive and the rest I’ll leave to your imagination. Of course, in time it all ended happily ever after.

Indeed, my mother did have a few things happen in her childhood that could be classified as a comedy of errors. At four she fought her Aunt who wanted to bathe her, finally capitulating when her grandmother stepped in. After being dressed in her best to go and have a studio photo taken, (in 1923 people did not own personal cameras) she sat on the side of the bath and tipped it all over herself.  From then on the day continued to go downhill.  

Fortunately, my mother’s stories as with the comedy did eventually have a happy ending. I guess many of us have had occasions in our lives that could be called a comedy of errors. Hopefully, they all ended well. As I think of this I am so glad that in the end we do all have the opportunity of a happy conclusion’ regardless of what life has thrown at us.

God who loves us passionately has offered us not only a happy ever after but a liberty whereby we can live guilt-free productive lives here and now because of what Jesus has done. And, regardless of the trials and battles we might confront along the way, one day, when we slip out of our mortal bodies we will spend eternity with Him.