The Miracle of Pentecost

by

Dr. Goran Larsson

It is probably not by chance that the revelation on Mount Sinai occurs in the middle of the Book of Exodus. Mount Sinai is the peak in the history of Israel. The Book of Genesis led up to the slavery in Egypt. The Book of Exodus has thus far described the miraculous liberation out of Egypt. But it is possible to say that this liberation the entire time has pointed the way to the great miracle at Mount Sinai, which the people are about to witness.

At this place Moses received his calling from God (Exodus 3). The Lord had promised Moses that he would return together with his people to "worship God on this mountain" (Exodus 3:12). It is just this promise that remains to be fulfilled when the people of Israel gathers before the mountain (Exodus 19:2). However, this time not Moses alone will meet the Lord, but all of Israel. As in Moses’ case, also this encounter with God will lead to a great calling, this time for all the people.

God’s revelation through fire is a leitmotif in the Book of Exodus. It stands there, from the very beginning, in the revelation at the burning bush at the foot of Mount Sinai. As we will see, it is a prominent feature in the middle of the book, in the revelation at Sinai. And, to be sure, fire is also prominent in the conclusion, when the Lord descends over the tabernacle (Exodus 40:38), the "tent-church," which can be regarded as a "portable Sinai". For Sinai is the focal point of God’s revelation. It is thus significant that the Sinai event is by far given the greatest space in the Pentateuch: the whole section from Exodus 19 to Numbers 10. No less than 59 chapters–almost one third–is dedicated to the narration of only one year in the history of Israel!

The liberation from slavery to freedom has actually focused onto Sinai the whole time. We will also see that the revelation at Sinai will put its stamp on the subsequent history of Israel for all future. The liberation from Egypt is but the preparation for the Sinai event. In other words, Passover is the preparation for and the beginning of Pentecost, the feast of the giving of the Torah and the covenant at Sinai, and, simultaneously, Pentecost is the conclusion of Passover, bestowing upon Passover its deepest significance. (In Jewish tradition the Feast of Shavu‘oth [Pentecost] is also called Atsereth Pesah, which means "the conclusion of Passover".) 

We can confidently state that without the miracle at Sinai, all the past miracles related to the liberation out of Egypt would most likely soon have become an insignificant part of a great past. They would have been remembered as something marvelous that happened once upon a time, if they had not eventually been entirely forgotten. In any case, they would have lost their formative significance for coming generations. The liberated people would not have advanced beyond a group of

former slaves sooner or later to have assimilated among the surrounding peoples and to have vanished forever.

Bluntly and to the point, without Sinai, there would have been no Israel. And without Israel, there would have been no Bible. At Mount Sinai the People of the Book is born, destined to transmit the biblical revelation to the world and to us!

It is significant that in Hebrew the word for "slave" and "servant" is one and the same, ‘eved. What makes the difference is who the master and lord is. It is not enough to be liberated from something–Pharaoh and slavery. To be really free, one has to become a servant, more precisely a servant of the King of Kings, the Lord of heaven and earth.

This change of masters takes place at Mount Sinai. The revelation given there makes the full liberation of the people possible. What we have witnessed so far in the Book of Exodus has been nothing but the birth pangs of the covenantal people of God, "a priestly kingdom and a holy nation" (Exodus 19:6).

Our word "Pentecost" is derived from Greek pentekoste, which means "fiftieth," i.e. the fiftieth day after Passover. As we know, Pentecost to Christians commemorates the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes it is called "the birthday of the Church." The story about the Pentecost miracle in Acts 2 begins, however, with the words: "When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place." Pentecost was consequently celebrated before the Church was born. Those gathered were Jews. And they celebrated the Feast of Weeks–Shavu‘oth–seven weeks after Passover. This is the Pentecost of the Old Testament. Let us consider some of its distinguishing features.

After Seven Weeks

In the Torah this feast is described as a harvest feast. When we see how it has actually been celebrated by the Jewish people throughout the centuries up till today, it is obvious, however, that its prime reason is something else. Man does not live from bread alone; and precisely seven weeks after Passover God bestowed upon his people an even greater gift than bread from the earth and manna from heaven. He performed a Pentecost miracle, which is actually described in the text we are now dealing with. He let the Word descend from heaven to earth. He entrusted his Torah to Israel. Therefore, Pentecost in Jewish tradition is called zeman mattan Torathenu, "the time for the giving of our Torah." Since the Torah is the very seal of the covenant between God and Israel, Pentecost is also the great covenantal feast.

According to Exodus 19:1f, the wilderness of Sinai was reached "on the third new moon after the Israelites had gone out of the land of Egypt." Since the Exodus took place in the middle of the month of Nisan, a time of six weeks has passed since Passover. "Then Moses went up to God" (verse 3)–probably only the following

day. When he a second time ascends to the Lord (verse 8), at least one other day must have passed. A literal reading of verse 9 indicates that Moses once again brings a message to Israel from the Lord, to which the people respond. We have reached a fourth day. On this and the following day the people prepare themselves for the revelation of the Lord to take place on "the third day." Here we have reached the end of the seventh week after Passover (verses 10-15).

Now it is Pentecost! Again Israel is to witness a miracle unheard of in the history of mankind. But just when God is about to give them a marvelous proof of his love, like Moses when he received his calling, they are reminded of the great distance separating them from their God. Not only are they commanded to prepare themselves for the revelation, but they are always to remember the borderline separating the holiness surrounding the mountain, into which only Moses and to a certain extent Aaron and the priests are allowed to enter (verses 21-25).

Later, the tabernacle and the temple are to serve as a constant reminder of this distinctive holiness of God. Just as here at Sinai, there came to be an area to which all of Israel had access, another reserved for the priests, and finally an inner "holy of holies," into which only the high priest could enter. The model for this division is found already here, and the tabernacle becomes an important way of carrying the Sinai experience forward during the subsequent wandering (see further chapters 25-31).

Tongues of Fire

When the people are ready, all the powers of nature accompanied by a heavenly trumpet play the prelude of the divine Pentecost liturgy in the tremendous open air temple of Sinai, covered with fire and incense. The King of the Universe, the God of Israel himself appears in his holy temple. Heaven and earth meet. The holy and the unholy, the divine and the human, unite in a way that makes all creation shake in its foundation and every human heart tremble.

The description of God’s mighty revelation in Exodus 19:16-25 is interrupted by the "sermon" in Exodus 20:1-17 and continues in Exodus 20:18-21. Let us focus on Exodus 20:18 in particular: "When all the people witnessed the thunder and the lightning. . ." In order to understand the Jewish midrash on this miracle, we have to translate the text more precisely: "And all the people saw the voices [or ‘noises’] and the flames . . ."

But how can one "see" a voice? This justifiable question has led to an interpretation of the text in which God’s voice emerged as flames–or tongues of fire–seen by all the people.

This understanding is also based upon the description of the Pentecost miracle in Deuteronomy 5. One word returns again and again: "fire"– 5:4, 5, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26; see also 4:15. The mountain is burning in fire. The Lord speaks from the fire. And in the poetic rendering of the miracle in Deuteronomy 33:2 we literally read: "The Lord came from Sinai . . . from his right hand went a fiery law for them." The connection between fire and the word of God is also expressed in Jeremiah 23:29: "Is not my word like fire, says the Lord , and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?"

The Jewish philosopher Philo (a few decades before Jesus) explains that fire was transformed into languages, which the people could understand. According to a parallel Rabbinic tradition, these flames of fire are seen not only as God’s speech in general; they equally imply that God’s Word was divided into different tongues, comprehensible to all nations. This exegesis also explains the plural form of "flames" in Exodus 20:18.

Such an understanding of the text has further been combined with the thought that also the Gentiles in a mystical way were offered the Torah in their different languages. They declined it, however, with certain objections to its content. Only Israel answered: "All that the Lord has spoken, we will do, and we will be obedient" (Exodus 24:7). As a consequence of this the nations came under a curse of the Torah, while Israel was blessed. It is probably this thought that Paul expresses when he speaks about "the curse of the law": "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us . . . that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles" (Galatians 3:13f).

This Jewish midrash obviously constitutes the frame of reference for the Pentecost miracle described by Luke in Acts 2. Even here "tongues of fire" emerge, which are "distributed" on each person enabling them to hear their own tongues spoken.

A Significant Difference

At the same time, the many languages and the understanding of the revelation in different tongues announce something new as compared to the revelation at Sinai. While the consequence of the first Pentecost miracle was that only Israel received the Torah and became the covenantal people, the result of this second miracle is that the covenant is expanded to embrace other nations as well. Thus, the Pentecost in Jerusalem is a confirmation that the particular aspect of the promise to Abraham which applies to the Gentiles is now about to be fulfilled.

The description of the revelation of God himself is surprisingly sparse. It hardly gets beyond a short prelude. Rather, what takes place below the mountain is the focus of the interest. And above all: while the details regarding the theophany are dealt with in but a few verses, chapter after chapter will elucidate the content of what God has said. What is important is not the outer but the inner aspect of God’s revelation. To hear, and not to see. To obey the Lord even when not comprehending him.

Moses says to the people both "Do not be afraid!" and that the purpose of the revelation is "to put the fear of him [the Lord] upon you so that you do not sin" (Exodus 20:20). The same Moses who precisely at this place had been filled with fear before the Most High (Exodus 3:6), is now the one who comforts his people. God has not appeared to chastise but to teach. Not to lash, but to lead. Not to divorce, but to wed his people to himself in an intimate relationship of mutual interaction.

Therefore both are needed: "Do not be afraid!" and "Let fear of the Lord be upon you!" For the word "fear" not only has to do with dread, but also with respect, obedience, and love. To fear the Lord means to listen to his words and follow them, just as implied by the conditional "if" in Exodus 19:5 (see also 24:7). Only then will the covenant become what God intended it to be when he called Israel to become "a priestly kingdom and a holy nation."

This article is adapted from material included in Bound for Freedom: The Book of Exodus in Jewish and Christian Traditions, © Hendrickson Publishers.

Dr. Göran Larsson, an ordained minister in the Lutheran Church of Sweden, is Director of Studies and Research at the Jerusalem Center for Biblical Studies and Research. He has received Israel’s Medal of the Knesset and other awards for his work in combating anti-Jewish aspects of traditional Christian theology and for contributing to the preservation and strengthening of Jewish identity in Sweden. He has also taught at the Swedish Theological Institute in Jerusalem.

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