ep-04 pentecost

institute.eternalpurpose.org July,2009

THEETERNALPURPOSEOFGOD

PentecostTorah and Spirit

NewandOldCovenantTorah‘completed’—notabolishedorreplacedTorahoftheMessiahNewCovenant‘madeTorah’CovenantfaithfulnessimpliesTorahfaithfulnessSpirit—Ruach—‘Heart‐mind’NewcreationConclusion

Body of the Messiah

LightoftheworldMessianic:anointed,blessed,covenantcommunity

Otherdocumentsinthisseries

0 Introduction,Glossary,Bibliography1 CovenantFoundationofScripture2 VitalityofCovenant3 ANewMessianicCovenant4 Pentecost5 ANewMessianicCovenantCommunity6 God’sEternalPurpose

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4PENTECOST

WhenIsrael’sprophetsanointedkingsandpriestswithoil,itwasasymbolicmetaphorfortheanointingoftheHolySpirit.Thestoryof‘Pentecost,’recordedinActs,effectivelytellsoftherisen,ascendedMessiah—prophet,highpriestandking—anointingthenew‐covenantcommunity with his Spirit, with the effect of transforming uneducated ‘am‐ha’aretz intocommunity leaders emboldened to give faithful, public witness as powerful, effective‘ambassadors’oftheMessiah’sroyalauthority.AwitnessinvolvingnotonlyshepherdingthenascentmessianiccommunityandannouncingtheGoodNewsoftheKingdom—inwordanddeed—butalsorelatingwhattheyhad learntandexperiencedof JesustoJewishcovenanthistory: remaining faithfulboth toTorah—thecovenantcharterof the Jewishnation—andtheMessiah—Israel’sRedeemer.

TorahandSpirit

‘ThisisthecovenantwhichIwillmakewiththemafterthosedays,’saysAdonai:‘IwillputmyTorahontheirheartsandwriteitontheirminds.’a

Jeremiah’s prophecy clearly portrays Torah as a central element of the newcovenant—a stark contrast to swathes of gentile Christian tradition, which has generallytaught thatwithin theNewTestament, salvation isno longerby “works,” since the“Law”has effectively been abolished and replaced variously, according to the theological pointbeingmade,by“grace,”“promise”and“theSpirit.”

WhilstsomeelementsofTorahclearlyareeffectivelyreplacedunderthetermsofthenew covenant—in particular, ‘Hebrews’ elucidates the redundancy of the ritual sacrificialsystemandtheLeviticalpriesthood,inlightoftheMessiah’ssacrificeandpriesthood—eventhis replacement should be understood as forming part of the New Testament’spresentation of a radical renewal of Torah taking place—initially through the Messiah,subsequentlythroughhisapostles,particularlyPaul,theformerPharisee—asonecovenanterapassesintoanother.

aHebrews10:16

EternalPurposeInstituteforMissiologicalResearchandEducation


Thus, whereas Christian theology typically posits the “end of the Law” and itsreplacement with a combination of ‘grace’, ‘promise’ or ‘the Spirit’, a Jewish, covenantperspectivepositsamorecomplexrelationshipbetweenSpiritandTorah.Forexample,Paulat one timewrites: “For we know that the Torah is of the Spirit”a; on other occasion heclaims,“IworshiptheGodofourFathersinaccordancewiththeWay…IcontinuetobelieveeverythingthataccordswiththeTorahandeverythingwrittenintheProphets”;whilstJameswritesof“theperfectTorah,whichgivesfreedom.”b

AnHebraicparadigm,infact,admitsdiscoveryofasignificantsynonymybetweentheTorahandtheSpirit—assetoutwithinTable2,below—elucidatingimportantparallelsandmore accurately highlighting the true contrasts existing between ‘Torah’ within the ‘old’covenantschemaand‘Spirit’withinthenewcovenantschema:

Torah,‘OldCovenant’ ref Spirit,‘NewCovenant’

giventoIsraelduringShavu’ot i giventomessianiccommunityatPentecost(Shavu’ot)

teachesGod’struth ii teachesGod’struth

Sh’khinahmanifestspowerfully Sh’khinahmanifestspowerfully

firefromheavenconfirmsdivineorigin

iii

firefromheavenconfirmsdivineorigin

writtenontabletsofstone writtenupon‘tabletsoftheheart’

declarespeopleguilty,bringsdeath declarespeopleinnocent,bringslife,freedom

camewithfadingglory

iv

camewithgreater,lastingglory

awrittentextcommunicating‘teaching,instruction,commandmentsofGod’

v anewspiritimparting,communicating‘heart‐mind’ofMessiah

lackedpowertotransformhumannature vi transformshumannature,cleanseshearts

iExodus19.1,34.22;iiPsalm119;iiiExodus19.16‐19,24.9‐11;ivExodus

31.18,34.33‐5,cf.Deut.6.6;v

Deuteronomy4.6‐14;viJeremiah31.32

iActs2.1;iiJohn14.26;15.26;16.13;iii

Acts2.2‐3;iv2Corinthians3.2‐18;cf.Jeremiah31.31,Ezekiel36.26;v

1Corinthians2.12‐16;viRomans8.3‐10

Table2:ParallelsandContrastsbetweentheTorahandtheSpirit

NewandOldCovenant

Theseparallelsandcontrastspresenta radicaldistinctionwithin theNewTestamentnot between Torah and Spirit—each of which represents a gift of God to teach, guide,instruct and lead his covenant community—but rather, between an ‘old’ covenant

aRomans7:14abActs24:14,James1:25respectively



consistingofawrittentextdeclaringhumanbeingsguilty,yet lackingefficaciouspowertotransform human nature, tending instead to become perverted into a legalistic or ethno‐centric system, and a new covenant that declares people innocent and is capable ofimparting divine power, renewing the human spirit, infusing the Spirit of God within thecovenant‐communityunitedwiththeMessiah,effectivelytransforminghumannaturefrom‘old’to‘new’.

Consequently,thetruecontrastpresentedbytheNewTestamentisbetweenrelatingtoTorahas consistingonlyofawritten text—in itselfdevoidofpower tochangehumannature—andrelatingtoTorahbythepoweroftheSpirit,who’sgoalistotransformhumanheartsandminds,bringing them intoobedience toGod’swill, reproducing the likenessoftheSonwithinthecovenantcommunity.

How does the New Testament present this transformation taking place? Tocomprehend itproperlyrequiresanexaminationofboththeHebrewterm‘ruach’andthenuanced New Testament teaching concerning Torah—three elements of which areparticularlysignificantinregardtothisargument:

• Torahhasnotbeenabolished,maderedundantorreplaced;• Torahhasbeenrenewed,givingriseto‘theTorahoftheMessiah’;• theNewCovenanthasbecomeTorah.

Torah‘completed’—notabolishedorreplaced

Matthewwrote about theMessiah’s vocation in terms of his coming to complete—typicallytranslated“fulfil”—Torah,quotingJesus’owndeclaration:

Don'tthinkIhavecometoabolishtheTorahortheProphets.Ihavenotcometoabolishbuttocomplete.Yesindeed!Itellyouthatuntilheavenandearthpassaway,notsomuchasayudor

astrokewillpassfromtheTorah…a

This accordswith theearlier examinationofhow Jesus “brought to completion” themessianic prophecies and covenant foreshadows through his three messianic, mediatoryroles of prophet, priest and king. Other highly significant Jewish prototypes such as thepesach(passover)lambandtheheavenlyman(manna)arealsoidentifiedasfindingultimatefulfilmentintheMessiah.

A further aspect of the Messiah’s ‘fulfilment’ or ‘completion’ of Torah includes histeachingoramplifyingamorecompleteunderstanding,evenrevision,ofTorah—somethingJewishrabbinictraditionstatedonlytheMessiahcoulddo.Jesusdidthisparticularlywithinhis “sermon on the mount,” where he repeatedly challenged incumbent Torahinterpretations—withal,making themmore, not less strict—saying, “You have heard, It iswritten...butIsaytoyou…”b

aMatthew5:17‐18bMatthew5,6



An emphasis on the abiding nature of Torah and its continuity within the newcovenantschemaisalsoconfirmedbyPaul,whoseepistletotheRomansseekstoreconcileTorahwithhowthenewcovenantoffersrighteousnessthroughtrusting:“DoesitfollowthatweabolishTorahbythistrusting?Heavenforbid!OnthecontraryweconfirmTorah.”a

Althoughit isbeyondthescopeofthisthesistodevelopacomprehensiveapologeticofthisinterpretationregardingTorah,itisworthexaminingoneleadingillustration:

“ForChrististheendofthelawforrighteousnessforeveryonewhobelieves.”

The Greek word translated ‘end’—here by the Modern King James Version; fewmodern translations differ—is telos, the normal meaning of which is “goal, purpose,consummation,” but not “termination.” Thus, by contrast, the Complete Jewish Biblerendersthistext:

ForthegoalatwhichtheTorahaimsistheMessiah,whooffersrighteousnesstoeveryonewho

trusts.b

SuchanunderstandingofTorah—thatitsgoalwasandistheMessiah—accordsaunitytotheNewandOldTestamentscripture,aswellasagenuinecontinuitytotheoutworkingofGod’scovenant‐basedpurposesthroughtheages,aspositedwithinthisthesis.

TorahoftheMessiah

The New Testament’s radical transformation of Torah reveals that certain elementsareno longerbinding, the function theyperformedhavingbeeneclipsedby theMessiah;other elements are modified or changed by the Messiah’s teaching or incarnation.Furthermore, certain elements are not intended to apply to Gentiles grafted into theMessianicCommunity, though they continue tobe culturally and religiously significant forJews.ThistransformationofTorah,broughtaboutbytheMessiahandincumbentupontheMessianic Community baptised into unitywith theMessiah, is presentedwithin the NewTestamentasthe“TorahoftheMessiah”:

WiththosewholiveoutsidetheframeworkofTorah,Iputmyselfinapositionofsomeone

outsideofTorahinordertowinthoseoutsidetheTorah—althoughImyselfamnotoutsideofGod’sTorahbutwithintheframeworkofTorahasupheldbytheMessiah.c

…ThewholeoftheTorahissummedupinthisonesentence:“Loveyourneighbourasyourself”…Bearwithoneanother’sburdens—inthiswayyouwillbefulfillingtheTorah’strue

meaningwhichtheMessiahupholds.d

Thus,indistinctiontoTorahasunderstoodundertheoldcovenantschema,the“Torahof the Messiah” refers to the teaching and commands of God as ‘fulfilled’, interpreted,transformed and taught (“upheld”) by theMessiah and his apostolic disciples, within the

aRomans3:31bRomans10:4c1Corinthians9:21dGalatians5:4&6:2



New Testament gospels and epistles—and ultimately to the work of the Spirit of Truthwithintheheartsandmindsofthecovenantcommunity.

NewCovenant‘madeTorah’

Accordingto‘Hebrews’—or‘MessianicJews’—theNewCovenanthasactuallybecomeTorah:“ThiscovenanthasbeengivenasTorahonthebasisofbetterpromises.”aThisvitallyoverlooked detail of New Covenant theology effectively gives the New Testament equalstatuswiththeTorahofMoses—aclaimconsistentwiththewarning:

IfthewordGodspokethroughangelsbecamebinding,sothateveryviolationandactof

disobediencereceiveditsjustdesertsinfullmeasures,thenhowwillweescapeifweignoresuchagreatdeliverance?b

This understanding confirms the two previous conclusions: Torah has not beenabolished,orannulled,buttransformedbytheMessiahandtheMessianicNewCovenant.

CovenantfaithfulnessimpliesTorahfaithfulness

One consequence of these arguments is the recognition that New‐Covenant‐faithfulness implies Torah‐faithfulness. Baptism unites discipleswith theMessiah: bindingthe Messiah into a covenant relationship of loving‐kindness, protection and eternal lifetowards thosewhom the Father has given to him. And binding followers into a covenantrelationship of allegiance to the crucified, resurrected Messiah and obedience to thecovenanttermssetoutwithinthe“TorahoftheMessiah,”throughsubmissiontotheHolySpirit, who internalises within the messianic community the reality of the Messiah’satonement, the forgivenessof sinand an intimate knowledgeof the Torah—ofGod’swillandpurpose:

ThisisthecovenantwhichIwillmakewiththehouseofIsrael...‘IwillputTorahintheirminds

andwriteitontheirhearts;IwillbetheirGodandtheywillbemypeople…Forallwillknowme…becauseIwillbemercifultowardtheirwickednessandremembertheirsinsnomore.c

WhattheTorahcouldnotdobyitself,becauseitlackedthepowertomaketheoldnaturecooperate,GoddidbysendinghisSonasahumanbeing...inordertodealwithsin...sothatthe

justrequirementoftheTorahmightbefulfilledinuswhodonotliveourlivesaccordingtowhatouroldnaturewantsbutaccordingtowhattheSpiritwants.d

Spirit—Ruach—‘Heart‐mind’

UnderstandinghowtheSpiritfulfilsthe‘justrequirementsofTorah’withinthefaithfulcovenantcommunity,requiresexaminingthebiblicalconceptofspirit.

TheGreekwordfor‘spirit’ispneuma;theequivalentHebrewwordisruach,theliteral

aHebrews8:6bHebrews2:2‐3cHebrews8:10‐12dRomans8:3‐4



meaningofwhichisbreath,or‘airinmotion’.Breathrepresentsinnerlife;theinnerlifeofhumans iscommunicatedthroughbreathing,aswellasthroughwords,whichareeffectedwith breath. Biologically, there is a clear connection between breath, breathing and thehumanheart.Scripturepresentsasimilarconnectionbetweentheruach(breath,spirit)andtheheartofhumanbeings.Within theTanakh, ruachoftenappears inparallelwith levav,theHebrewwordforheart,inawaythatsuggeststheyeffectivelyrefertothesameelementwithinhumanbeings.Forexample:

Ishallgivethemoneheart,andshallputanewruachwithinthem.AndIshalltaketheheartofstoneoutoftheirfleshandgivethemaheartofflesh.a

Most significantly, Scripture communicatesGod’s earnest desire for a peoplewhoseheart,whoseruachislikehis,thathemaytherebyhaveapeoplewhoarelikehim:

Iwillgiveyouanewheartandputanewspirit(ruach)insideyou;Iwilltakethestonyheartoutofyourfleshandgiveyouaheartofflesh.IwillputmySpirit(ruach)insideyouandcauseyoutolivebymylaws,respectmyrulingsandobeythem.b

The Hebrew concept of ‘heart’ incorporates: the “mind, heart, soul, inclination,resolution,determinationofwill;theconscienceandmoralcharacter;theseatofemotionsandpassions, especially courage.” Thus,biblically, theheartof aperson refersnot to thesentimentalpartofhumannature—as iscommonusagewithinmodernwesternculture—but to the centre of a whole human being where all inner life takes place, whetheremotional,rationalorspiritual;where imagination,motiveandpurposearedetermined.Abetter translation—albeit unwieldy for general use—might be “heart‐mind.” Thus, withintheNewTestament,thekingdomofGodissaidtocomewithrepentance,withaturningoftheheart‐mind,towardscompleteallegiancetowardstheMessiah.

Offeryourselvesasasacrifice,livingandsetapartforGod.Thiswillpleasehim;itisthelogical

“Templeworship”foryou…Don’tletyourselvesbeconformedtothestandardsofthepresentage.Instead,keeplettingyourselvesbetransformedbytherenewingofyourminds;sothatyouwillknowwhatGodwants.c

Newcreation

Ruach,then,anditsGreekequivalent,pneuma,shouldnotbethoughtofasreferringto ‘spirit’ as some kind of ethereal substance, organically different within those who are‘saved’,butratherastheintegrated‘heart‐mind’ofaperson:theseatofconscience,reason,imagination and emotion, which has been ‘awoken’, renewed or revived towards God’sTruthwithinbelieversinawaythatisnotgenerallytruewithinnon‐believers.

Thus,whenPaulwritesofbelieversbeingmadea‘newcreation,’dheisnotessentially

aEzekiel11:19;also8:31bEzekiel36:26‐27cRomans12:1‐2d2Corinthians5:17



referring to an organic, or biological, infusion of a ‘new spirit’ in terms of a fresh, divine‘breath of air’ within them, rather to an inner renewal of the ‘heart‐mind’: a renewal ofconscience and consciousness that begins with the confession of allegiance to Jesus asMessiahandLord. Anallegiancebrought to its first climaxandoutwarddemonstrationatbaptism—themarkofentranceintonewcovenantrelationship,bringingtheindividualintounion with theMessiah, the first stage of a continual, life‐long process of inner renewal,whichisitselfavitalforeshadowingofthefinalrenewalofhumanityandcreation:

Youhavestrippedawaytheoldself,withitsways,andhaveputonthenewself,whichiscontinuallybeingrenewedinfullerandfullerknowledge,closerandclosertotheimageoftheCreator.a

Conclusion

TheanointingofthecovenantcommunitywiththeSpiritofGodmaybeunderstoodasthe biblical fulfilment of Jeremiah’s prophecy concerning the writing of Torah upon thehearts,arealityalsorelatedtothe“circumcisionofheart” referredtobyMoses, JeremiahandPaul.

Theresultisthatthehumanspiritsofthecovenantcommunityarebeingactivelyandpowerfully transformed by the Spirit of God into a mature uniting with the will,understanding, conviction and purpose of theMessiah. The ‘Torah of theMessiah’ is theformative instrument of the Holy Spirit to bring the Messianic Community into thisconformance—intothegloryoftheMessiah:anew‐covenantpeoplebeingre‐createdintheimageoftheCreator,thefirst‐fruitsofhisentirerenewalofcreation.

The New Covenant thus presents the ‘covenant faithfulness’ of the Messiah,redeemingJewsandGentilesfromtheirbondagetothehumanconditionofsinfulnessanditscurse(aconditiontheTorah‘highlighted’butcouldnotchange),atoningfortheirsinandwritingtheTorahupontheirheart‐minds,bringingthemintoanunprecedentedrelationshipofintimacywithGod,throughtheSpirit—andintothepromised‘blessing’ofAbraham.

Inreturn,theNewCovenantcallsforthe‘covenantfaithfulness’ofthosewhoprofessanallegiance to theMessiah that incorporates,aboveall,personalacceptanceof JesusasLordandMessiah,evidencedthroughtheriteofbaptism;aunitingwiththenewcovenantcommunityandaSpirit‐ledadherencetothe‘TorahoftheMessiah’thatbringsindividualsandthecovenantcommunitytogetherintoanexperienceof“themindoftheMessiah.”b

BodyoftheMessiah

Thus, thepurposeof theanointingof thecovenant community—‘anointing’derivingexplicitly from the concept ofMessiah, ‘theAnointedOne’—is to transform the covenant

aColossians3:9‐10;seealsoRomans8:9b1Corinthians2:9‐16



communityintoapriestlybodypossessingthecharacter—themind,theheart,thewill,theimagination, thepurpose, the spirit—ofAdonai: theLord, Jesus, theMessiahandGod theFather—whoareOne.Thus,thecovenantcommunitybecomestheMessianicCommunity,a‘mysterynowrevealed’:theanointedbodyoftheMessiah.a

HehasputallthingsunderhisfeetandmadehimheadovereverythingfortheMessianicCommunity,whichishisbody,thefullexpressionofHimwhofillsallcreation.b

The idea expressed by Paul here is significant, although the language is obscure,suggestingthattheMessiah,who“fillsallcreation,”andachieves“fullexpression”throughhis messianic community, his body—just as a human head requires a body for fullexpression.

Moreover, to the apostle Paul, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit has the effect oftransforming the new‐covenant community into a ‘spiritual temple’: a veritable “dwellingplace forGod,”c in fulfilmentofoneof themostpoignantandancientcovenantpromises:“Youwillbemypeople…IwillbeyourGodandIwilldwellamongstyou.”d

Lightoftheworld

ThatthisextraordinaryeventoftheHolySpirit’soutpouringtookplaceatPentecost,inJerusalem,surroundedby“religiousJewsfromeverynationunderheaven,”ewhowereabletounderstandthenewly‐anointedbelieversspeakinginamultitudeoflanguages“aboutthegreatthingsGodhasdone,”hadanothervitallyimportantimpact—itsparksintolifethefinalmandatewhichtheresurrectedJesushadgiventohisdisciples:

Allauthorityinheavenandearthhasbeengiventome;therefore,goandmakepeoplefromallnationsintodisciples,immersingthemintotherealityoftheFather,theSonandtheHoly

Spirit,andteachingthemtoobeyeverythingIhavecommandedyou.f

As theMessianic Community of—initially exclusively Jewish—believers received theHoly Spirit in this profound way, they were emboldened to act as witnesses: blendinginsights into the new covenantwith their personal experience of theMessiah, the newlyreleased life of the Spiritwithin themenlivening their hearts, strengthening their resolve,invigoratingtheirmindstoprovideanewsenseofpurpose,conviction,clarity,boldnessanddetermination—evidence of the Torah of theMessiah now effectively written upon theirheartsandminds.

Fortydaysearlier,Peter,forexample,hadfearfullydeniedJesus.Now,heisboldandfearless:preaching to thousands, convicting themof their sin,directing themto recognise

aEphesians3:9,10bEphesians1:22‐23—seealso1Corinthians3:16&12:11‐13;Colossians1:18,34cEphesians2:22dLeviticus26:12eActs2:5‐12ff.fMatthew28:19‐20



YeshuaasLordandMessiah, instructing themtobebaptised, inorder tosavethemselves“from this perverse generation”a; publicly performing amiraculous healing in the Templearea;finally,arrested,imprisonedandbroughtbeforetheJewishreligiousauthorities,PeterspeaksoftheMessiahandhispurposesforthecovenantnationofIsraelwithdeepinsight,knowledgeandtrenchantauthority.

Messianic:anointed,blessed,covenantcommunity

Peter’sPentecostmessagetotheJewishpeopleconfirmsoneofthisthesis’keyclaims:thenew,messianiccovenant,itscommandsanditsblessingstotheJewishnation,arefirmlyrootedwithintheframeworkoftheAbrahamiccovenant:

YouarethesonsoftheprophetsandyouareincludedinthecovenantwhichGodmadewithourfatherswhenhesaidtoAbraham,‘Byyourseedwillallthefamiliesoftheearthbeblessed.’SoitistoyoufirstthatGodhassenthisservantwhomhehasraisedup,sothathe

mightblessyoubyturningeachoneofyoufromyourevilways.b

The“allfamilies”oftheAbrahamiccovenantrepresentsexactlythesame“allnations”towhichJesus instructedhisdisciples to ‘go,’ inorder tomakepeople fromthosenationsintofaithfuldisciplesoftheMessiah.cThewordtranslated“nations,”‘ethnos’,alsomeaning“gentiles”;thus,clearlyPeterisalreadylookingtohorizonsbeyondJerusalem,sayingtotheJews “to you first,” the Messiah was sent, implicitly reminding them of Israel’s true,covenantvocation:anationblessedtobeablessingtothegentilesoftheearth.

It is the outworking of this “great commission, to all nations” that inevitably breaksintoandeventuallyopensupthedominantJewishculturalmatrixoftheearliestmessianiccommunity,forcingittoconfrontitsgreatestcrisisofidentity:theincorporationofGentilesintothenewcovenantcommunity.

Beforeexaminingthecomplexitiesofthishighlysignificantchallengetothemessianiccommunity’s development, Iwill update the ‘graphical panorama’ of biblical covenanthistory:toincludePentecost,the“bodyoftheMessiah”andthenewcovenantcommissionto“makedisciplesofallnations”:

aActs2:40bActs3:25‐26cMatthew28:19‐20



Figure5:NewCovenantandtheBodyoftheMessiah

ep-04 pentecost

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