(v. 1) Pentecost: (from http://christianity.about.com/od/biblefeastsandholidays/p/pentecostfeast.htm)
Pentecost or Shavuot has many names in the Bible (the Feast of Weeks, the Feast of Harvest, and the Latter Firstfruits). Celebrated on the fiftieth day after Passover, Shavuot is traditionally a joyous time of giving thanks and presenting offerings for the new grain of the summer wheat harvest in Israel. The name "Feast of Weeks" was given because God commanded the Jews in Leviticus 23:15-16, to count seven full weeks (or 49 days) beginning on the second day of Passover, and then present offerings of new grain to the Lord as a lasting ordinance.
Shavuot was originally a festival for expressing thankfulness to the Lord for the blessing of the harvest. And because it occurred at the conclusion of the Passover, it acquired the name "Latter Firstfruits." The celebration is also tied to the giving of the Ten Commandments and thus bears the name Matin Torah or "giving of the Law." Jews believe that it was exactly at this time that God gave the Torah to the people through Moses on Mount Sinai.
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(v. 3) Tongues of fire is reminiscent of the Old Testament burning bush. God was once far off, but in Christ He becomes approachable and dwells within His people.
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(v. 15) 9 AM. Note the hour was the same as Beautiful Savior's worship time. :)
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(v. 15) Drunkenness: the Devil always wants God's work to be dismissed as coincidence, craziness, drunkenness, or the like. Even today we are fast to dismiss the miraculous.
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(v. 23) God's set purpose and foreknowledge. The concept of Messiah was introduced all the way back in the Garden of Eden after the Fall. (See Genesis 3:15 where God promises one who will crush the head of the serpent). Peter reminds those gathered for Pentecost that Him who was the Messiah was persecuted and crucified by them -- and yet that same Christ is ready to forgive and save. Peter also speaks of the resurrection as being prophesied by King David.
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(v. 37) when the people heard this, they were cut to the heart. The Holy Spirit blessed these simple and direct words from Peter and used them to convict many of their sin. Three thousand come to believe.
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(vv. 42-47) Note here how God unites the believers in the common purpose of sharing the Gospel. Note also that they gather regularly for teaching, worship, the celebration of the Lord's Supper, and prayer.
Interesting that while the Jews were focused on praising God for the gathering of the harvest, God was actually beginning to harvest the souls of men as the disciples began to share the message of the Gospel.++++
(v. 3) Tongues of fire is reminiscent of the Old Testament burning bush. God was once far off, but in Christ He becomes approachable and dwells within His people.
+++
(v. 15) 9 AM. Note the hour was the same as Beautiful Savior's worship time. :)
+++
(v. 15) Drunkenness: the Devil always wants God's work to be dismissed as coincidence, craziness, drunkenness, or the like. Even today we are fast to dismiss the miraculous.
+++
(v. 23) God's set purpose and foreknowledge. The concept of Messiah was introduced all the way back in the Garden of Eden after the Fall. (See Genesis 3:15 where God promises one who will crush the head of the serpent). Peter reminds those gathered for Pentecost that Him who was the Messiah was persecuted and crucified by them -- and yet that same Christ is ready to forgive and save. Peter also speaks of the resurrection as being prophesied by King David.
+++
(v. 37) when the people heard this, they were cut to the heart. The Holy Spirit blessed these simple and direct words from Peter and used them to convict many of their sin. Three thousand come to believe.
+++
(vv. 42-47) Note here how God unites the believers in the common purpose of sharing the Gospel. Note also that they gather regularly for teaching, worship, the celebration of the Lord's Supper, and prayer.
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