The Apocalypse at Shavuot (Pentecost)
There are two things commonly talked about amongst Christians regardless of their denominational leanings.
1. Jesus (Yeshua)
2. The Apocalypse or End of the World
Any time an event takes place in the world it is spun by some into fear and mysterious calling card for the return of Messiah or the rapture. For the sake of this article, I am going to assume that you already know my stance on the rapture so we are going to frame the article on the topic at hand and not waste time talking about the validity or lack thereof in regards to the rapture.
This topic seems even more fitting to address given the current unrest in Israel. Since the last election cycle, many spiritual leaders have made a point to focus on every shortcoming of our current administration to try to elude that we are somehow near the end of days. The apocalypse is forthcoming.
Any person who reads their Bible knows that what does or does not happen to America has little to no bearing on Biblical future events. Israel has and always will be the center of God’s throne and thus all future events will have Israel at the center and not America.
Yet people flock, donate lots of money, share, and cling to what appears to be almost every speculation of possible apocalyptic teachings.
Yet our current catastrophic definition for the apocalypse isn’t a biblical one. The Bible paints an apocalypse as a transcendent change from our reality to God’s. It is an event or series of events so intense that transforms how a person or group of people view everything.
Rather than an ending, a Biblical apocalypse is a new beginning.
- Take Jacob for example, he cheated his brother, was deceptive to his father and created his own personal exile. Yet it was in this exile that God revealed himself to Jacob in Genesis 28:11-17 through what we commonly call Jacob’s ladder. It was a dream that showed Jacob the connecting of the heavenly realm and the physical realm.
This was an apocalyptic moment for Jacob. One where his paradigm was shattered by the revelation of God’s reality. Jacob awakes and sees everything differently.
- In Genesis 35:6-7 we see that Jacob’s encounter was called an apocalypse (Hebrew word GALAH)
And Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him, and there he built an altar and called the place El-bethel, because there God had revealed himself to him when he fled from his brother.
- This wasn’t the end of the world but a shift from one perspective to a Godly perspective. This shift was the beginning of a completely new reality for Jacob.
Different Types of Apocalypses in the Bible
- In Galatians 1: 11-12 we see that Paul writes about having an apocalypse. It was the apocalypse that Paul had on his way to Damascus as recorded in Acts 9:1-9.
But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9 And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.
- That encounter with God completely transformed how Paul saw and thought about everything. It was that apocalyptic encounter that led Paul to follow Yeshua.
- Genesis 20 tells us about Abimelech and how he had an apocalyptic encounter with God and realized he has made a mistake in taking Abraham’s wife.
- 2 Samuel 7 tells us about David’s apocalyptic encounter with God and his revelation that he was not to build a Temple for God but God was going to build a house for David and his family.
- Isaiah and Jeremiah both had apocalyptic encounters with God and received visions that they were to share with God’s people.
- Amos, Ezekiel, Zechariah, Daniel and even John all have apocalyptic encounters with God throughout the Scripture.
The Apocalypse and Shavuot
- At Shavuot we enter into one of the major Feasts and appointed times where God commanded his people to meet with Him. One of the most overlooked and under celebrated days in the Hebrew calendar. One that ties the Old Testament and the New Testament together in a beautiful picture for 21st-century believers.
- Given our current misuse of the term apocalypse we would see the Israelites at the Red Sea as an apocalyptic event. One that meant the end and doom was surely to come. Yet we completely fail to apply the term to the meeting at Sinai. The apocalypse where not only Moses but the entire nation of Israel came face to face with their Creator. One where the complete paradigm of their worth and who they were as individuals and as a nation were completely changed.
- At Sinai we see an apocalypse. Where slaves became bondservants, where people who in their own mind had no worth were given the opportunity to become a new creation. One who had their identity reestablished as chosen by the God of all creation. It wasn’t the end, it was the beginning. The Israelites were scared, they were afraid, just like many today are. A Feast of Freedom and identity that should not leave us in fear of what we see, but in awe of what our God is doing. It’s all about the lens you choose to look through.
The Apocalypse at Pentecost
- We see the same narrative in the apocalyptic meeting during Shavuot in the book of Acts. The Temple was the place where God for generations had powered out His Holy Spirit amongst the nation of Israel. Miracles, signs all happened in that Temple. Yet through the works and teachings of Yeshua we saw them leave the mount and travel amongst the people.
- And after Messiah had left them and ascended to the right hand of the Father the disciples gathered in the Temple on the Feast of Pentecost and the Holy Spirit fell, the nations heard the Lord in their own language and they were of one accord. This apocalyptic event transformed those individuals. The apocalypses of Shavuot revolutionized nations, systems of religion, and shook the physical world. These were times of celebration and freedom. These were times of joy and awe. Not fear and destruction.
The modern eschatological approach to apocalypses is no different than an addict needing a fix. It is a drug. One that preys on the addict until the other portions of their spiritual and physical lives have been sucked dry.
As a collective body of Kingdom believers, we must fight back against the perpetuated and perverted approach to biblical apocalypses of past and present. Who is the antichrist? Messiah is returning this day. Wars and rumors of wars, you name it we will make a t-shirt and pervert it. Shame on us.
I have been praying for biblical apocalypses to occur. Ones that shatter our modern paradigms and replace them with divine precepts. Shavuot historically might be that day. I pray you will experience an actual biblical apocalypse during your life.