Shabbat shalom and Chag Sameach Shavu'ot kol beit Yisrael and shabbat shalom and special greetings to the brethren and sisters in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda assembling in Migori this morning, friends and family in South Africa, Ireland, the United States, Ghana, South America, and throughout the world who are following this, and a warm welcome to our visitors here today from Rwanda, Congo, Norway and Germany who are joining us here in Sweden today. There are many who wished to be here today but for various reasons could not come who likewise send greetings.

We are gathered here today because of the mitzvah (commandment):

"You shall observe Shavu'ot (the Feast of Weeks), [the Day of} Bikkurim (firstfruits) of wheat harvest, and Sukkot (the Feast of Ingathering) at the [agricultural] year's end. Three times in the year all your men shall appear before Yahweh, the Elohim (God) of Israel. For I will cast out the nations before you and enlarge your borders; neither will any man covet your land when you go up to appear before Yahweh your Elohim (God) three times in the year" (Ex.34:22-24, NKJV).

And again it is written:

"You shall keep Shavu'ot (the Feast of Weeks) to Yahweh your Elohim (God) with the tribute of a freewill offering from your hand, which you shall give as Yahweh your Elohim (God) blesses you. You shall rejoice before Yahweh your Elohim (God), you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite who is within your gates, the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are among you, at the place where Yahweh your Elohim (God) chooses to make His Name abide. And you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and you shall be careful to observe these chuqqim (statutes)" (Deut.16:10-12, NKJV).

This festival, wrongly named 'Pentecost' (which name comes from the Greek and not the Hebrew [1]) is called 'Weeks' because we are commanded to "count off fifty days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath" (Lev.23:16, NIV), that is to say, we are to count seven sabbaths following Yom haBikkurim (Day of Firstfruits) and another 50 days after those seven sabbaths. The word 'Pentecost' which is used in Christendom to describe this day, contains the prefix 'pente' which means '50' because by the Jewish false tradition of man only 50 days are counted from Yom haBikkurim (Firstfruits), the first seven sabbaths having been discarded - see The Sacred Number 50: Make Sure You Observe the Right Shavu'ot!. Thus what is in truth a late summer festival, designed by the Creator to coincide with the Wheat Harvest, has been made a late spring/early summer festival by the rabbis for reasons that are unclear. Given that they mutilated the Divine Calendar during and after the Babylonian Captivity of Judah, following their apostate and occultised agenda, we should not perhaps be surprised considering how much emet (truth) has been lost over the generations.

Shavu'ot (Weeks) is the second of the main three agricultural harvests that have great spiritual and prophetic significance, the first being the Barley Harvest of Yom haBikkurim (Firstfruits) and the third being the Grape Harvest of Sukkot or Feast of Tabernacles (Booths). As you will have noted, the mitzvah (commandment) is given that the following things should happen at Shavu'ot (Weeks):

• 1. We are to bring a freewill offering, to be given as Yahweh blesses us - one of the brethren, as you can see, has brought an offering of his potato harvest - thus fulfilling the mitzvah (commandment): "Three times a year all your males shall appear before Yahweh your Elohim (God) in the place which He chooses: at Yom haBikkurim (the Feast of Unleavened Bread), at Shavu'ot (the Feast of Weeks), and at Sukkot (the Feast of Tabernacles); and they shall not appear before Yahweh empty-handed. Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of Yahweh your Elohim (God) which He has given you" (Deut.16:16-17, NKJV);
• 2. We are to rejoice as families and households before Yahweh - husbands, wives, children, servants, and even strangers living with us, and orphans - everyone;
• 3. We are to do these things "at the place where Yahweh your Elohim (God) chooses to make His Name abide" which in the former B'rit (Covenant) was where the Tabernacle or Temple was located, and in the B'rit Chasdashah (New Covenant) it is in the temples of our own bodies (1 Cor.6:19) and wherever the qodeshim (saints) are assembled, in the manner we are assembled here today;
• 4. We are to remember our former estate - that of our Israelite ancestors who were slaves in Egypt and of our former selves before we were saved by Yah'shua (Jesus) from the bondage of sin - and to give thanks for our freedom to celebrate as we are now celebrating;
• 5. We are to be "careful" in observing these chuqqim (statutes) because they are binding on everyone who claims to love, serve and worhip Yahweh our Elohim (God) through His Son Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ);
• 6. At the minimumm, all the adult males (or one adult male representative from each family) of Israel are commanded to assemble to observe the Three Pilgrim Feasts of Yahwweh - Yom haBikkurum (Firstfruits), Shavu'ot (Weeks), and Sukkot (Tabernacles, Ingathering) at the appointed place(s), though whenever this is possible, families assemble too, as the family of Yah'shua (Jesus) did when they traveled to Jerusalem for one of these feasts (Lk.2:41ff.) - when this is done the promise is made that Israelites - pre-Messianic and Messianic - will be safe on their land wherever they lived provided that land was consecrated to Yahweh, whether formerly in the Land of Israel or today in whatever country we may be living.

Now under the Old Covenant various animal and other sacrifices were also offered. However, these have now been fulfilled in Yah'shua (Jesus) so apart from the freewill offering, the principal sacrices of the B'rit Chadashah (New Covenant) are, as David testified, as follows:

"The sacrifices of Elohim (God) are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O Elohim (God), you will not despise" (Ps.51:17, NIV).

Physical or material offerings can, of course, be made in a wrong spirit, but there is no way you can conceal what are called "the sacrifices of Elohim (God)" which are "a broken and contrite heart". And those who approach Yahweh in this manner are always received by Him for it is written that He "will not despise" these - ever.

Most Christians are aware of the name of this festival, though admittedly by its wrong name ('Pentecost'), but have no idea of what it is supposed to consist other than knowing that on this day of Shavu'ot (Weeks), 2,000 years ago supposedly in an 'upper room', Yahweh dramatically poured out His Ruach (Spirit) on those first talmidim (disciples) and gave them a new and wonderful anointing with which they evangelised the world. A whole denomination - the Pentecostals - was formed around this event though neither they, nor those in Christendom who observe 'Pentecost' in the Roman Catholic Calendar which Protestantism adopted, observe it in the correct way, not even in a B'rit Chadashah (New Covenant) context. As far as the Pentecostals are concerned, the anointing that resulted back in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago, did not result in what Pentecostals and charismatics do today, for they did not speak in some unknown ecstatic 'tongue'. Let us recall exactly what happened on that first B'rit Chadashah Shavu'ot (New Covenant Feast of Weeks):

"And when the moed (appointment) feast) of Shavu'ot (Weeks) was finally counted by the omer (seven sabbaths + 50 days), they were all of one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from the shamayim (heavens) as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the Bayit ('house') where they were sitting. And there appeared to them divided tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit), and began to speak with other tongues (languages), as the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit) gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Yahrushalayim Yahudim (Jerusalem) devout men, out of every nation under the shammayim (heavens). Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together and were confused, because every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marveled, See, are not all these who speak Galileans? How then do we hear them speaking in our own native language? Parthians, and Medes, and Eylamites, and those Yisraelites (Israelites) dwelling in Aram (Syria), among whom were Yahudim (Judahites), and from those of Kappadokia (Cappadocia), and from Pontos (Pontus), and also Asia Minor, Phyrigia, and Pamphulia, in Mitzrayim (Egypt), and in the parts of Libya near Cyrene, and Yahudim (Judahites) and gerim (gentiles) from Romiya (Rome), along with Yireh-Yahweh (Yahweh-fearers), Cret[an]s and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues (languages) the wonderful works of Elohim (God).

"And they were all amazed and stunned, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What does this mean? Others mocking said, These men are [drunk]. But Kepha (Peter, Cephas) standing up with the Eleven [apostles], lifted up his voice, and said to them, You men of Yahudah (Judah), and all you that are staying at Yahrushalayim (Jerusalem), be this known to you, and listen to my words: For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, seeing it is but nine o'clock in the morning. But this is what was spoken by the navi (prophet) Yo-El (Joel), and it shall come to pass in the yammim acharonim (last days), said Yahweh. I will pour out from My Ruach (Spirit) upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my avadim (servants) and on my female avadim (servants) I will pour out in those days from My Ruach (Spirit), and they shall prophesy; and I will show wonders in the shammayim (heavens) above, and signs in the olam (earth) beneath; dahm (blood) and fire, and vapour of smoke: the sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into dahm (blood), before that great and terrible Yom Yahweh (Day of the Lord) comes; and it shall come to pass, that whoever shall call upon the Name of the Master Yahweh shall be saved" (Acts 2:1-21, RSTNE, 2nd edn.).

Now there is a great deal that I must talk to you about from this passage here because it, and what follows, is universally taken out of its proper Shavu'ot (Weeks) context by the Christian churches. Firstly, let us be absolutely clear that this was the Israelite Festival of Shavu'ot (Weeks) and the talmidim (disciples) had gathered to observe it, just as we are today. They were characterised by the fact that "they were all with one accord in one place" (Acts 2:1, NKJV). That means they were united in mind and heart. Beware of the false English translations like the New International Version which changes this to "they were all together in one place" (NIV), diluting the essential message of echadness (oneness). These talmidim (disciples) were totally one! They were not 'denominationalised' or 'factionalised' at all. They were more than simply assembled 'together', they were ONE BODY, ONE SOUL. We must remember this preface if we are to understand what went on in this first New Covenant Festival of Shavu'ot (Weeks).

The second thing that we must note about these first 'Pentecostals' was that they had been counting the omer, the seven sabbaths and 50 days since Yom haBikkurim (Firstfruits), And what does that tell us? They were observing Shavu'ot (Weeks) like their Israelite brethren. Yahweh, when He came in the dramatic way that he did), did so within the context of the National Covenant by honouring those men assembled who were honouring Him. Where were these men assembled? Was it in an 'upper room'? No it was not. The word translated "place" in most English Bibles is in fact the Hebrew (or Aramaic equivalent) 'Bayit' which means 'House' - not any old 'house' but it specifically refers to the Temple - 'Bayit' with a capital 'B' [2]. This means that the talmidim (disciples) were in the Father's Bayit or House - Yahweh's Bayit (House). Where does Scripture say the apostles and talmidim (were)? It says:

"[They] were continually in the temple, praising Elohim (God)" (Luke 24:53, NASB).

In other words, the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit) was poured out IN FULL VIEW OF THOSE WORSHIPPING IN THE TEMPLE. How could it be anywhere else? Is not the Ruach (Spirit) today also revealed in the Temple of Yahweh - the Temple of the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit) - which is our physical bodies? That is the only correct divine tavnith (pattern) that is acceptable - the Ruach (Spirit) always is revealed in such powerful outpourings in consecrated space! This is not some hidden place, some concealed 'upper room', it is a public place in the qadosh (holy, set-apart) place in Israel. Yah'shua (Jesus) visited the temple daily and so do did His talmidim (disciples). He taught the people who wanted to know about the Kingdom of Elohim (God) in the early morning (Lk.21:36-38) just as we assemble here in the early morning. The male talmidim (disciples), attending one of Israel's compulsory Pilgrim Festivals or Moedim (Divine Appointments), namely Shavu'ot (Weeks), were where they and the rest of Israel were supposed to be, in the Temple of El Elyon, the Most High (God).

You have to understand that everything Yahweh does - including the great anointing in the first New Covenant Feast of Shavu'ot (Weeks) - must occur in the proper context and in the appointed divine tavnith (pattern). Yahweh is not haphazzard. The talmidim (disciples) were on Mount Moriah, on what is today called the Temple Mount, or as it is known in Hebrew, theHar haBayit, the 'Mountain of the House'. Are you connecting the dots now? The Ruach (Spirit) fell where it first fell in the days of Solomon, when He consecrated the Temple, in the Temple of Yahweh. However, the falling of the Ruach (Spirit) in Solomon's day was a type not of the Shavu'ot or falsely-called 'Pentecost' Anointing but of the Sukkot (Tabernacles) Anointing, which is the greater of the two. The Shavu'ot Anointing is a preparatory anointing and it must be received before the Sukkot (Tabernacles) Anointing is received. Here, then, is the crucial question: was the Shavu'ot (Weeks, 'Pentecost') Anointing experienced by the first talmidim (disciples) anything like that claimed by modern Protestant Pentecostals? Did what happened at Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles between 1906 and 1915, or any of the other Pentecostal or Charismatic 'revivals' since have any connection or resemblance to what happened in Jerusalem?

Let us see. Firstly, as we have now seen, major anointings of Yahweh have to take place in consecrated space. The first Shavu'ot (Weeks) took place at Mount Sinai, which was set-apart as a Temple to Yahweh who was present at its summit, and the second or New Covenant Sukkot (Weeks) took place in the Second Temple, likewise consecrated to Yahweh. The Temple of Yahweh - whether Mount Sinai itself, or the Tabernacle during the Exodus wandering, or the Temple of Solomon or its successor Temple of Zerubabel - is the only place Israelites are permitted to gather to worship Yahweh according to the divine tavnith (pattern) set out in Deuteronomy 16 and Leviticus 23. Had these talmidim (disciples) been in an 'upper room', as Catholic and Protestant tradition teaches, the Ruach (Spirit) could not have been sent! Why? Because the believers would have been in disobedience to Torah and to Yahweh Himself. Divine outpourings must occur according to the divine tavnith (pattern) or they are FALSE outpourings. Then they are demonic counterfeits and instead of being filled with the Ruach (Spirit) those worshipping in disobedience will be filled with spirits - demons. Today we see the true face of what was originally a clever counterfeit but which now has become an open mockery of Yahweh - the unclean utterances of charismatics, the rolling around on the floor, the speaking in babble - none of this happened at the First New Covenant Shavu'ot (Weeks)! Read it for yourself. Were any of those in attendance in Jerusalem speaking in unknown languages? Were not all the languages spoken supernaturally by the Galilean talmidim (disciples) known languages spoken by Yahweh-worshippers from around the Roman Empire?

So I have to declare to you today, in Yah'shua's (Jesus') Name, that the 'church' was not born at 'Pentecost' because the 'church' never existed - it was an invention by the Catholics! What happened on that Shavu'ot was a spiritual endowment of Torah-obedient Judahites and others who accepted Yah'shua (Jesus) as the Messiah and as the King of Israel. This was a 100% Israelite event and the true Shavu'ot (Weeks) anointing is a Messianic Israelite event as the true Sukkot (Tabernacles) anointing will be as well. Every 'Pentecostal' anointing done outside the Israelite institutions set up by Yahweh in His Torah is therefore a false one.

To emphasise this important point, may I remind you of the similarities between the birth of National Israel at Mount Sinai and the birth of New Covenant Israel at the first New Covenant Shavu'ot (Weeks). As the first was birthed in the voices of thunderings (which according to Jewish tradition was in the 70 known tongues or languages of that day), so the Torah was now being written in the hearts of the first New Covenant Believers assembled in the Temple at Shavu'ot (Weeks) with the sign of tongues of fire and their speaking in the known languages of that day - Parthian, Median, Elamite, Mesopotamian languages and dialects, Hebrew, Cappadocian, Pontian Phyrigian, Libyan, Latin, Arabic and many others. Shavu'ot (Weeks) in the days of Messiah and the apostles was an international affair and dozens of different languages would have been spoken. Had the first Shavu'ot (Weeks) taken place today you would have heard German, French, Russian, English, Spanish, Chinese, Malay, Swahili, and every language and dialect of the earth being spoken by those first talmidim (disciples), not the gibberish you hear in Pentecostal and Charismatic assemblies. Read the account in Acts for yourself - it was nothing like what we see today.

That is not to say that believers do not have this anointing from time to time. I have heard of Pentecostals and others speak supernaturally in a language or tongue they did not know, like the Norwegian pastor who suddenly broke his sermon in Norwegian when a unbelieving Chinese woman entered his congregation in Oslo and then started speaking fluently a Chinese dialect to her. She was converted! This is authentic tongues! And where there is emunah (faith) to receive them, they are given, even to those who are Torah-disobedient in the days of their ignorance.

None of the people who received the anointing of the Ruach (Spirit) in Jerusalem were pagans. They were all Israelites, all Elohim-fearers "from every nation under heaven" (Ac.2:5, NIV). Today, if we are not a blood descendant of Israel who trusts in Messiah, we become adopted into Israel (if we are gentile) by emunah (faith) in the Son (represented by the three spring festivals) and then become Messianic Israelites when at Shavu'ot (Weeks) we enter into our Betrothal Covenant with Messiah to obey His Torah, or when we renew those covenants each year as we shall be doing today. So long as we trust Yah'shua (Jesus) and obey His Father's Torah, then no matter what nation or race we come from, we are all one mishpachah or family, even as it is written in the Book of Isaiah:

"'...the sons of the foreigner who join themselves to Yahweh, to serve Him, and to love the Name of Yahweh, to be His servants -- everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, and holds fast My b'rit (covenant) -- even them I will bring to My qodesh (holy) mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on My altar; for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.' Yahweh-Elohim, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, says, 'Yet I will gather to Him others besides those who are gathered to Him'" (Isa.56:6-8, NKJV).

However, the foundation of this Bayit Yahweh or House of Yahweh must always be the Covenant of Israel and its Torah but now IN Messiah, even as it is written four times in the Book of Revelation:

"Here is the patience of the qodeshim (saints); here are those who keep the mitzvot (commandments) of Elohim (God) (the Torah) and the emunah (faith) of Yah'shua (Jesus)" (Rev.14:12, NKJV).

Once we understand that those first talmidim (disciples) were not gathered for the first new Covenant Shavu'ot outside the Temple of Yahweh in some 'upper room' but in the very Bayit Yahweh or House of Yahweh on earth we will, of necessity, start viewing what Christendom calls 'Pentecost' rather differently. We will understand that those who were endowed with the Ruach (Spirit) to begin with were all men because only men were under obligation to attend the festival. Indeed, men and women worshipped separately in the Old Covenant which is why in Jewish synagogues today men and women are separated into two sections. Subsequently, of course, with the ending of the Old Covenant Temple following its destruction by the Romans and the transitioning to the exlusive New Covenant Temple, which is the physical body of believers, these barriers or partitions were removed both between Judahites and Gentiles and between men and women. However, we must not allow our worldly political correctness blind us to what actually happened back at that first New Covenant Shavu'ot (Weeks) or we will be led astray. We must be faithful to the Davar (Word) as Yahweh has given it to us.

We must again understand most clearly and emphatically that at this first Messianic Shavu'ot (Weeks) no new religion was born - this was the old religion, the Israelite religion, transformed under a New Covenant and a New King, Yah'shua (Jesus). The prophecy of Joel (Joel 2:28-32) quoted by Peter after the talmidim (disciples) started supernaturally speaking the languages of all those Yahweh-fearers assembled in the Temple was in any case originally addressed to who? Israelites, whether by blood or by adoption! The fulfilment of the prophecy took place in the presence of other Israelites assembled in the Temple. When Yahweh says in that prophecy, "I will pour out My Ruach (Spirit) on all flesh" (Joel 2:28. NKJV) it is Israelite flesh that He was speaking of. Look at the verse before it for context:

"Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel: I am Yahweh your Elohim (God) and there is no other. My people shall never be put to shame" (Joel 2:27, NKJV).

Yahweh does not pour the Set-Apart, Holy, Qodesh Spirit upon unbelievers, even if He may - and does - draw unbelievers to Himself with the invitation to receive salvation through His Son Yah'shua (Jesus). The 'pouring out' and 'filling' is only for Yahweh-fearers. Do you suppose Yahweh would be so intimate with those who scorn Him? There is a difference between courtship, betrothal and full marriage, and it is the same in the way the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit) is apportioned to men and women. Yahweh dwells in the midst of Israel, and only Israel, and now only in the midst of Messianic Israel and King Yah'shua (Jesus), and in proportion to the obedience of Israel. As I said recently, true born-again evangelicals already obey over half of Torah so the Ruach haRevee (Fourth Spirit) must surely be over half present! But the complete filling, the complete anointing, only comes to those who, trusting in Yah'shua (Jesus), seek to be fully obedient.

When to Joel Yahweh said that He would pour His Ruach (Spirit) "your sons and your daughters...[and] your old men...[and] your young men.." (Joel 2:28, NKJV) He was speaking to the navi (prophet) as the representative of the Covenant People of Yahweh, Israel, whether by direct descent or by adoption. Let us therefore let Scripture interpret Scripture and resist the fleshy tendency to be 'liberal', mistaking that for ahavah (love) when Torahlessness (lawlessness) is never ahavah (love)! The "all flesh" was Old Covenant Israel and is now New Covenant Israel, those who trust Yah'shua (Jesus) and obey the mitzvot (commandments) of the Torah.

Protestantism teaches that Yah'shua (Jesus) did away with the Torah and the Festivals but we see here how inextricably intertwined the work of Messiah was, and is, to the Torah. You can't separate the two and will not understand what actually took place at the first Messianic Shavu'ot without understanding how the two are echad or one. We have many converts from Pentecostalism in Africa who are making the transition from an essentially Roman view of the New Testament to the Hebrew view that it actually is and contains. It is our responsiblity to be "careful" as Yahweh commands and not read into Scripture what is not there. The first believers were not Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Protestants, Pentecostals or Charismatics - they were Torah-obedient Israelites who trusted in Messiah as their Deliverer (Saviour), Master (Lord), as King of Israel and as Torah-Giver. That was the context of the first New Covenant Shavu'ot (Weeks) and it is the context of all true Shavu'ot (Weeks) observance today. We seek the authentic anointings of Shavu'ot (Weeks) and one of them is the gift to be able to supernaturally speak in foreign languages so that we can be effective witnesses and evangelists! If we don't have that - if all we have received is some spirit that causes us to speak unintelligible gibberish - then we do not have the authentic anointing. But to receive it, we must first renounce the false, counterfeit one which was birthed in lawlessness and has become more and more lawless over the years. Indeed, some of today's famous charismatic leaders like Kenneth Copeland and Ulf Eckman are converting to Roman Catholicism which embraces this false spirit because that's where it originally came from!

We believe in all the gifts of the Ruach (Spirit) and we desire them so that we can become good missionaries. We want to be able to share the Besorah (Gospel) in languages we don't understand and don't always have the time to learn. 'Tongues' are not for our fleshy titillation even though having them is a glorious thing and draws us closer to Yahweh for the pure and simple reason that the Ruach (Spirit) that gives us this gift comes from the presence of Yahweh aned fills us. But as Paul says, tongues is for unbelievers (to convert them) and prophecy for believers (1 Cor.14:22) so that the latter might be instructed in the Davar Emet or Word of Truth that leads to salvation. In the case of the Jerusalem endowment, tongues was for unsaved Judahites, and indeed many were converted after witnessing this incredible sign and then hearing Peter preach:

"When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, 'Brothers, what shall we do?' Peter replied, 'Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit). The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off-for all whom Yahweh our Elohim (God) will call'" (Acts 2:37-39, NIV).

This afternoon we shall re-assemble so that those baptised members who wish to take their Shavu'ot Covenants may do so for the first time and also those who have taken themk previously may renew those Covenants. If there is anyone who wishes to be baptised and/or enter this Covenant for the first time, they should see me after the meeting. May the Master of Shavu'ot grant you good things as you approach Him for blessings and a fresh anointing. Amen.

I welcome you back for the second and concluding part of this Shavu'ot Festival. Afterwards we shall feast and celebrate Yah's goodness to us! Then this evening those who have received this covenant, or have renewed it, will gather one last time to partake of the Master's Supper which is the privilege of those who have entered their Bar or Bat Mitzvah, becoming Sons and Daughters of the Shavu'ot Covenant, as we are about to in a few minutes.

Yahweh, speaking to the children of Israel before they took their first Shavu'ot covenant at Mt.Sinai, made the following demand and promise:

"Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My b'rit (covenant), then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of cohenim (priests) and a holy nation" (Ex.19:5-6, NKJV).

"All that Yahweh has spoken we will do" (Ex.19:8, NKJV).

The following day Yahweh read out the Ketubah - the 10 terms of the Shavu'ot Betrothal Contract - as I now read them to you this morning:

(1) "I am Yahweh your Elohim (God), who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other elohim (gods) before Me.

(2) "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth - you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, Yahweh your Elohim, am a jealous Elohim, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My mitzvot (commandments).

(3) "You shall not take the name of Yahweh your Elohim in vain, for Yahweh will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.

(4) "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it qodesh (holy, set-apart). Six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of Yahweh your Elohim. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days Yahweh made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore Yahweh blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

(5) "Honour your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which Yahweh your Elohim is giving you.

(6) "You shall not murder.

(7) "You shall not commit adultery.

(8) "You shall not steal.

(9) "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.

(10) "You shall not covet your neighbour's house; you shall not covet your neighbour's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbour's" (Ex.20:2-17, NKJV).

All the other mitzvot (commandments), which were read out afterwards, hang on these which are a summary of all. It is your responsibility to become acquainted with them, as they pertain to the New Covenant.

All those who have been baptised or who have already entered into this covenant previously at Shavu'ot, and who are wearing tzitzit (tassels) and headcoverings today in token of their obedience and submission to that covenant, or who are entering into that covenant today for the first time and are in a moment to be presented with their new tzitzit or headcoverings, should now repeat after me the words that I will speak. If you are not entering this covenant or are not baptised, you should not repeat them. The words which you will be repeating, even as they are written in the Torah, are as follows: "All the devarim (words) which Yahweh has said we will do". You must absolutely not repeat them if you do not intend to be faithfully obedient and accountable, for they are absolutely binding. You are free to covenant or not to - it is between you and Yahweh. No one will try to guilt you if you choose not to. When you repeat the words and accept the tokens of the covenant - your tzitzit (if you are a boy or man) or headcoverings (if you are a girl or woman) - you are binding yourself before Yahweh, before Yah'shua (Jesus), before malakim (angels) and this assembly of witnesses, whose responsibility is to hold you to account in strictness and loving kindness. You become a Citizen of Messianic Israel, bound by its laws. If you therefore now wish to enter into this covenant, which is binding for life, or to renew them if you have taken them before, please repeat the following words from Exodus 24:3 after me:

"All the devarim (words) which Yahweh has said we will do" (Ex.24:3, NKJV).

After Moses had written all these devarim (words) down, which are presented for us in the Pentateuch or Books of Moses, they were read to the people, just as I have read the Ten Commandments to you. Then the people entered the covenant a second time, and repeated the words with a promise of obedience. Would those already under this covenant therefore repeat these words after me, even as they are written, a second time:

"All that Yahweh has said we will do, and be obedient" (Ex.24:7, NKJV).

After this had been done, we read:

"And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, 'This is the blood of the b'rit (covenant) which Yahweh has made with you according to all these devarim (words)" (Ex.24:8, NKJV).

Brethren and sisters, this was a type of the blood shed by Messiah Yah'shua (Jesus) on the cross for our sins, and is the blood of the B'rit Chadashah or New Covenant. That is why we no longer offer animal sacrifices. These covenants we have made were ratified by the sacrifice of our Master at Calvary 2,000 years ago, and it is under that blood that we are now covered in this New Covenant Shavu'ot, presented by the Eternal Cohen Gadol (High Priest), Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) to Yahweh the Father.

This is a most sacred covenant we have entered, or re-entered, into today, for which we are strictly held accountable.

After the children of Israel entered this covenant, we read:

"Then Yahweh said to Moses, 'Come up to Me on the mountain and be there; and I will give you tablets of stone, and the Torah (Law) and Mitzvot (Commandments) which I have written, that you may teach them.' So Moses arose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up to the mountain of Elohim (God). And he said to the zaqenim (elders), 'Wait here for us until we come back to you. Indeed Aaron and Hur are with you. If any man has a difficulty, let him go to them.' Then Moses went up into the mountain, and a cloud covered the mountain. Now the glory of Yahweh rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day He called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. The sight of the glory of Yahweh was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel. So Moses went into the midst of the cloud and went up into the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights" (Ex.24:12-18, NKJV).

Thereafter Yahweh called on the people to make a voluntary offering so that the Tabernacle could be constructed (Ex.25:1ff.). That Tabernacle today is your physical body, which is a qadosh (holy, set-apart) temple, and together those who are a part of this covenant are a part of a greater temple, the Body of Messiah, ordered and organised according to the sacred tavnith (pattern), of which our homes are supposed to be a type too. Therefore at this time you should also rededicate your houses and your bodies to Yahweh and abide by the revealed tavnith (pattern) which is hidden up in the layout of the Tabernacle Moses was ordered to construct. Our study of this tavnith (pattern) is therefore of the greatest importance and will occupy a great many years. You should do so with the same zeal and dedication that David loved Yahweh's Torah. For remember the lesson of Shavu'ot, that has two sides - the baptism of the Ruach (Spirit) and of Fire, and the study of, and obedience to, New Covenant Torah.

Tragedy followed these marvelous events in the days of Moses in the wilderness for whilst he was up in the mountain communing with Yahweh for 40 days, the children of Israel grew impatient, would not wait for Moses to return, and broke the covenant by building and worshipping an Egyptian idol, Apis, in the form of the Golden Calf, with the utmost debauchery. The consequences of this rebellion were terrible and many perished. Therefore I admonish you to adhere faithfully to your covenants, to wait patiently on Yahweh, remembering the blessings that are contingent upon being obedient to them.

Many, many centuries later, when the first believers were gathered together as we are today, those under the Shavu'ot Covenant who acepted Yah'shua (Jesus) as the Master and Deliverer, received the baptism of the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit) in the following manner:

"Now when Shavu'ot had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit) and began to speak with other languages, as the Ruach (Spirit) gave them utterance" (Acts 2:1-4, NKJV).

The apostle Peter explained what had happened:

"Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them...this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

"'And it shall come to pass in the last days, says Elohim (God), that I will pour out of My Ruach (Spirit) on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Ruach (Spirit) in those days; and they shall prophesy. I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath: blood and fire and vapour of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of Yahweh. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of Yahweh shall be saved'" (Acts 2:14-21, NKJV).

Thereafter those who were under Shavu'ot covenants and who accepted Yah'shua (Jesus) as their Elohim (God), Messiah, King, Redeemer and Deliverer, received the baptism of the Ruach (Spirit) from the apostles:

"Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of Elohim (God), they sent Peter and John to them, who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit). For as yet [the Ruach/Spirit] had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptised in the name of the Master Yah'shua (Jesus) [13]. Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit)" (Acts 8:14-17, NKJV).

We read later of the apostle Paul doing the same thing:

"Then Paul said, 'John [the Baptist] indeed baptised with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Messiah Yah'shua (Christ Jesus).' When they heard this, they were baptised in the name of the Master Yah'shua (Jesus). And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit) came upon them, and they [supernaturally] spoke in foreign languages and prophesied" (Acts 19:4-6, NKJV).

This, then, is the crown of the Shavu'ot Covenant, namely, the Shavu'ot Anointing! This activates the spiritual gifts that Yahweh has given severally to the Body as we read:

"For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Ruach (Spirit), to another the word of knowledge through the same Ruach (Spirit), to another emunah (faith) by the same Ruach (Spirit), to another gifts of healings by the same Ruach (Spirit), to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of languages, to another the interpretation of languages. But one and the same Ruach (Spirit) works all these things, distributing to each one individually as [the Ruach/Spirit] wills" (1 Cor.12:8-11, NKJV).

Those who have taken the Shavu'ot Covenant for the first time will now have hands laid on their heads, which we call 'Chrism' or 'Confirmation', which is the completion of the Bar/Bat Mitzvah ordinance, as we pray for the Ruach (Spirit) to be amongst the confirmands and upon us all in a deeper and fuller way, even as Yahweh wills!

You are now authorised to partake of the Master's Supper in this community and this we shall do this evening, Yah willing! May Yahweh bless this community, as we seek to love, honour and obey Him, even as we have promised, and even as it is written by the prophet Jeremiah

"Yahweh bless you, O home of justice, and mountain of holiness!" (Jer.31:23, NKJV).

I wish to now bless this community, at home and abroad:

"Yahweh bless you and keep you; Yahweh make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; Yahweh lift up His countenance upon you, and give you shalom (peace)" (Num.6:24-26, NKJV).

Those who have received this covenant and confirmation are invited to an assembly this evening to commune with the Master. Amen.

Endnotes

[1] "The loan word pentaqostia (fiftieth day) appears here (Acts 2:1) and in 1 Corinthians 16:8. Tradition has it that Luke for Paul, who would have used this term for the benefit of of a Gentile audience. Luke's upbringing in Syrian Antioch prepared him for toggling between Semitica and Gentile terminology. On the other hand, in Israel where the Gospels originated, Aramaic paska, the direct cognate of pesach, was being used for 'Passover' and was later loaned into Greek. Loanwords going either from Aramaic to Greek or vive versa are the effect of this time when Semitic culture was dominated by Greco-Roman power. Without loanwords, the Peshitta could not be authentic" (Andrew Gabriel Roth, Aramaic English New TestamentNetzari Press: 2012), p.304
[2] Matthew 12:4; 21:13; Luke 2:49: John 2:16-17