Monday, June 14, 2021

Pentecost 2021: Listen to His Voice

 At Pentecost we often compare the first Pentecost at Mt Sinai (Exod 19-20), when God proclaimed the Ten Commandments, with the first "Christian Pentecost" at Mt Zion (Acts 2), when God poured out his Spirit on the disciples of Jesus gathered at the temple courts.  There are a number of important parallels between these two events. 

In a sermon at Church of the Messiah on May 22, 2021, Kyle Kettering began by noting that Christians too often place these two events in opposition, thinking somehow that disparaging the Sinai covenant will exalt the renewed covenant.  He prefers to focus on the continuity between the two Pentecosts.  

In the case of both ancient Israelites and Christians, God releases his people from bondage.  He also asks them to listen to his voice (Exod 19:5; Ps 95:7-8; John 10:3-4,27), and that is still what we are to do.  

No comments:

Post a Comment

Seder 85: Prayer in a Time of Suffering

 In discussing Leviticus 13, commentator Jay Sklar notes some things that the chapter does not mention.  Most notably, there is no explanati...