Congregation Beth Ha'Mashiach
(House of the Messiah) - Worshipping ADONAI
& His Messiah, Yeshua Ha'Mashiach
Living & teaching as our
Messiah taught us to Live
Messianic
Congregation serving Northeast Atlanta Georgia (Gwinnett, Barrow, Dekalb,
Rockdale, Walton)
Phone 770
554-2867 - email:
rabbi@cbhm.org
“‘Is not my word like fire,’ declares the LORD, ‘and like a hammer that
breaks a rock in pieces?’” (Jeremiah 23:29). The School of Rabbi Yishmael taught
that the verse “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces,” means that just
as a hammer is divided into many sparks, so too every single word that went
forth from the Holy One, blessed be He, [at Sinai] split up into [all]
languages.” (Talmud, b.Shabbat 88b)
Commentary:
The festival of Shavuot (Pentecost) is the traditional anniversary
of the day on which God spoke at Sinai. According to one ancient tradition, when
God gave the Ten Commandments, His voice spoke them in all languages of the
world. According to another legend, His words came forth as visible torches of
fire, which came to every Jew individually.
In Acts 2, the disciples gathered to celebrate Shavuot (Pentecost),
the anniversary of the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. The Holy Spirit fell
upon them in the form of tongues of fire. The torches of fire came to rest on
each individual disciple. The miracle is a clear allusion to the legend of God’s
fiery voice at Mount Sinai. In addition, subsequent to receiving the fiery
Spirit of God, the disciples found themselves proclaiming the Gospel in every
language. The miracle of speaking in all tongues is another allusion to the
giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai.
Whether or not the tradition of the seventy languages and the fiery words
preserve actual historical memories of the Mount Sinai experience is not of
great consequence. It is consequential, however, to remember that the disciples
and followers of Yeshua were all well aware of the Shavuot legends. We
can only assume that those legends predate the book of Acts; otherwise, the
allusions would be meaningless. Thus, the disciples must have known the story of
the giving of the Torah on Shavuot. They knew the story of the words of
fire resting on each individual on Shavuot. They knew the story of
God’s voice speaking to all mankind in every language on Shavuot.
Therefore, the miracles, signs and wonders that came upon them in Acts chapter 2
carried deep significance. The tongues of fire and the speaking in every tongue
were both direct allusions to the receiving of the Torah. God was underscoring
the inseparable relationship between His Holy Spirit and His Holy Torah.
We are pleased to announce 3 different Restoration products, now
available at the FFOZ Store (http://ffoz.com/store).
The Restoration Book, the Restoration Workbook and the Audio
Book. The new workbook contains fifteen chapters that correspond to the chapters
in the book Restoration, written by D. Thomas Lancaster. Each chapter
contains an introduction and questions to help the reader explore the concepts
and ideas presented in the book in more detail.
Ideal for Study Groups
This workbook is primarily intended for use in a group setting. Group leaders
could set up a book study, where participants read a chapter during the week,
and then the group could go over the workbook portion of the chapter during the
study.
The Restoration Audio Book, read by D. Thomas Lancaster, contains six
CDs and is narrated by the Author.
FFOZ's Weekly e-Drash is based on our popular Torah Study
Program, Torah Club. For an introduction to Torah Club
