Written by Nate Warren

The Word

Acts 2 (abbreviated sections):

v14: Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you…

v22:
Men of Israel, hear these words…

v36:
Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.

v41:
…there were added that day about three thousand souls.

Reflection

Fifty days after the Exodus Passover, Moses walked up a mountain swirling with wind and fire – the presence of God. When he came down the mountain, Moses was holding the stone tablets, written by the Finger of God; a physical token of the covenant law established between God and the nation of Israel. However, Moses descended to find many worshiping an idol. Moses hurled the tablets and broke them to pieces, graphically symbolizing the failure of the people to keep it. In God’s mercy, He instructs Moses to write new tablets, and conveys the Torah through Moses to the Nation of Israel as a result of the sin of those who worshipped the golden calf, about three thousand Israelites are killed.

The Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost, commemorates the giving of the Mosaic law. The name represents the seven weeks counted after the Passover festival. This is the historical setting for the events in Acts 2.

So, as Peter exhorts the crowd after the giving of the Holy Spirit, he addresses Israel. Though God has particular plans for the Gospel message and the Holy Spirit beyond Israel, this moment is the fulfillment of this promise of the New Covenant given specifically to the Nation of Israel:

Jeremiah 31:33

“This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel

after that time,” declares the Lord.

“I will put my law in their minds

and write it on their hearts.

I will be their God,

and they will be my people.

The giving of the Holy Spirit, then, is a giving of a new and better law. A law written down brings death (1 Corinthians 3:6), as it did to the three-thousand Israelites in the desert. But this law is a persistent filling of God’s Spirit into the depths of our being. The Spirit brings life. This is why three-thousand people were brought into the Kingdom community, as a reversal of the curse brought about by the written law.

Application

There are many who acknowledge Jesus as their savior, and maybe even as Lord, but are trying to live up to God’s commands and the conviction of their conscience by direct effort of their will. They are living under law, and failing to live up to it. But the law of the Spirit sets us free from the law of sin and death. Here, condemnation is nonexistent. Instead there is peace.

If you are not living in this peace, then ask God to give you the Holy Spirit. Ask God to reveal all that hinders you from walking in your specific calling He has created you for, and obey His leading as you hear Him. He is with you and makes it possible for you to accomplish everything He asks you to do.

Prayer

Father, thank You for sending Holy Spirit to dwell within me as a better covenant law than a set of ruling regulations. May Your Will be done in me, today according to Holy Spirit’s power.
Amen