Josephus' history of Pentecost

There is a meaning to Pentecost that is highly important in the history of biblical peoples, whether they lived in the Old or New Testament periods.

The apostle Paul made it clear that no New Testament believer needs to celebrate the actual Old Testament feasts given to ancient Israel. All of the ritualistic holydays, new moons, sabbaths, food laws, etc. have been nailed to the cross and there is something better for those who follow the Christian faith. The present emphasis (since the death of Christ) has been the spiritual factors of biblical belief, not the outward and ceremonial.

This does not mean, however, that the typical and symbolic teachings found within the Old Testament rituals should be cast aside. They are “shadows of things to come” (Col. 2:17).

Pentecost is a festival that has particular interest in regard to the origins of Christianity (as well as the Old Testament church).

The Bible awards this holyday with three distinct titles: 1) the feast of harvest (firstfruits) 2) the feast of weeks 3) the day of Pentecost. The basic idea of Pentecost centered on the celebration of the beginning grain harvest of the land. It seems possible, and Jewish tradition affirms, that Israel was gathered around Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments and other laws on the day of Pentecost. This is the time when the Old Testament church (Acts 7:38) had its beginning. Also, the church which Christ raised up right after His resurrection was born on the same day (Acts 2:1). These were not accidental occurrences.

It may come as a surprise to realize that the public ministry of Jesus (in its official capacity) commenced also on Pentecost (Luke 4:16). Also Pentecost is used to describe the start of the Christian Gospel in Galatia (Acts 13:14) and on the continent of Europe (Acts 16:13).

But each new beginning also has an end to something. The first Pentecost was to the Israelites the official termination of their Egyptian slavery. With Christ’s preaching in Galilee it was the end of the old way of looking at the law. With Pentecost some 50 days after Christ’s resurrection, it was the end of the Old Covenant dispensation for those who accepted the call of Christianity.

And on Pentecost of A.D. 66, something happened at the Temple of Jerusalem that made it clear to all thinking people that an old age had ended and a new one was then beginning. It refers to the time when God abandoned the Temple at Jerusalem. There were three miraculous events that occurred, starting just before Passover in A.D.66. In a step by step way the Jewish historian Josephus recorded how God abandoned the Temple and gave it up to destruction by the Romans. That particular Passover was not only the last one to be celebrated before the outbreak of the Roman/Jewish War, but it was known in Jewish history as the Passover that saw more people attending the feast in Jerusalem than at any other time in history. For many generations later the Jews called it “The Passover of the Great Throngs”. The major signs that I am about to mention occurred when there were more people to witness them than at any other time. The miraculous signs of A.D. 66 started just before Passover and ended when God left the Temple on Pentecost day. This was just a few months before the major Roman/Jewish War broke out that culminated in the burning of the Temple in A.D. 70.

The first incident is recorded by Josephus as follows:

“Before the revolt and the disturbances which led to the war, at the time when the people were gathering for the feast of unleavened bread, on the eighth of the month Nisan, at the ninth hour of the night [3 o’clock in the morning), so brilliant a light shone around the altar and the inner temple that it seemed to be broad daylight; and this continued for the space of half an hour. By the novices this was regarded as a good omen, but by the sacred scribes it was at once interpreted in accord with the events which happened afterwards” (War,VI.290).

After 30 minutes which had the brilliance of daylight, the light then removed itself from the site of the Temple! This was the departure of the shekinah glory of God - the light that had been present throughout the whole period of the wilderness journeys of Israel. But there was one problem with the situation of this Temple. It was no longer a portable Tabernacle! When God left, this meant that the Temple was being abandoned leaving behind an “empty dwelling place” of God.

Let‘s now see the second of these miraculous signs. Josephus said it was equally spectacular:

“At that same feast, the eastern gate of the inner court at the sixth hour of the night [at midnight] opened of its own accord. This gate was of brass and very large and heavy, seeing that when it was closed each evening it took twenty men to shut it. It had bolts sunk to a great depth into a threshold made of a solid block of stone. ... This again to the uninitiated seemed like the best of signs, as they thought that God had opened to them the gate of blessings; but the wise understood that the security of the Temple was leaving of its own accord and that the opening of the gate showed it was a gift to the enemy” (War,VI.293-295)

Within a week after the great light of the shekinah glory was illuminated and “taken up”, we now find the massive gate being opened up of its own accord. The Temple was thrown open for destruction.

The final miraculous sign was even more to the point and occurred precisely on Pentecost day. It was revealed to the combined body of 24 priests who represented the Aaronic priesthood. Here is Josephus’ description of this event:

“Moreover, at the festival which is called Pentecost, the priests on entering the inner court of the Temple at nightfall, as their custom was in the accomplishment of their ministrations, stated that they first became aware of a commotion and a roar, and after that the voice of a great multitude saying ‘We are departing hence” (War,VI,299).

This was interpreted as the time that the Deity Himself was then leaving the Temple as the two previous signs had shown He would. (The fact that the supernatural voice said “We” rather than the singular “I” was no problem to first century Jews. They were well aware of the uniplural “Elohim” used in Genesis for God.)

Remarkably, Jewish records show that when God’s shekinah glory departed the Temple, it remained over the Mount of Olives for three and a half years. During those years, a voice was periodically heard coming from the region of the Mount of Olives pleading for the Jews to repent of their ways. The Jews failed to heed this warning from the voice, and the shekinah glory light left the earth and retreated back to heaven just before the final siege of Jerusalem by the Romans in A.D. 70.

So we see that in all occasions where Pentecost is used in the biblical revelation, there is a divine significance associated with the day which is very instructive to students of the Bible.

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A Mother's Day Message

[This is a sermon given by Lou Hodapp on Mother's Day morning service at the Missouri Veteran's Home]

Let’s open in prayer.
God our Father, we thank you for mothers. For many of us here, our mothers are no longer with us. But we REMEMBER them – O yes, we REMEMBER them - their love, their self-sacrifice. Jesus demonstrated the importance of motherhood by coming as a child to a human mother. Father, we’re just glad to be your kids, and may we always remember our mothers. In Jesus name we pray – Amen.

Hello veterans – let me quickly introduce myself. My name is Dr. Lou Hodapp. I am a retired dentist. My office was at the Northwest Plaza bank building for many years. I am also a veteran of the Korean War.

I was deferred from the draft during the Korean War so that I could complete my dental education. This deferral was on the condition that I serve 2 years in the service of my choice after getting my doctoral degree.

I chose the Air Force and entered active duty as a Captain. I did not see any combat serving the entire 2 years at Keesler Air Force Base hospital in Biloxi, Miss on the gulf coast.

My job was to work with the newly inducted airmen to have reasonably healthy mouths so that they would have no dental emergencies during the war.
When asked now if I saw any combat, I say, “O yes – I fought the battle of Biloxi beach!” That’s my heroic war story and I’m sticking with it!

They promoted me to Major at the end of my two years hoping to entice me to stay on active duty. But my father was a dentist also back home and I wanted to establish my dental practice with him.

Let’s get on to my message.
Here in the St. Louis area, we have a marvelous public attraction called the "Butterfly House". It is located in a suburban park on Olive Street Road and readily accessible. The glass-walled building contains a high humidity with many tropical plants. Free-flying butterflies of many species roam through the air around visitor's heads and can be studied up close in all their stages of development. The entrance doors are sealed in such a way that the butterflies cannot escape. All the many sizes and colors of the butterflies are exciting to see.

You may be thinking, “What’s he talking about butterflies for? This is supposed to a Christian message, not a science lecture!”
Well, I'll tell you. In the various stages of a butterfly, we can see a beautiful analogy to our birth, death, and resurrection in union with Christ. Our growth in spiritual awareness finds an interesting parallel in the changes of the caterpillar into a butterfly.
Let's start with the caterpillar stage. The caterpillar seems even more self-centered than other creatures. He appears to do little else but gorge himself on every leaf in sight, and he is completely unaware of the devastation he wreaks on the plants in order to save his own skin.

This is kind of the way human beings are born into the world. The Bible says that everyone starts out selfish and looking out for number one. The similarity to ourselves should be obvious, although the caterpillar is not quite as bad as us, for we are very well aware that our selfishness crushes those we come in contact with. The caterpillar just does his self-centered thing as he has been programed by God to do.

We continue on in this meager caterpillar-like existence until God reaches down and showers us with His redemptive love. We repent of our willful selfishness and disobedience and vow to spend the rest of our lives in strict adherence to His will and purpose for our lives. In other words, we accept the salvation offered to us by God.

I begin to see myself as a converted person who the Bible calls “born again”. I begin to see myself as a brand new person, forgiven and ready to build a whole new life-style. At this point – at the end of my caterpillar stage – I know very little about HOW to be a “Christian”, but at least I know that I have made contact with my Creator and that He can help me in some way.

What we often don’t know then is that Jesus actually comes to live right within us in our human spirit. First Thessalonians 5, verse 23 says that humans are composed of spirit, soul and body. I like to say, “I AM a spirit, I HAVE a soul, and I LIVE IN a body.” My soul is my mind, emotions and will which control my choices.
Not understanding my union with Christ, the only thing I know to do is to try to live by the balance scale. I try to put more good things on one side of the balancer than bad things on the other side. I hope that when God looks at my scale, the good outweighs the bad and I can earn salvation in heaven.

We leave the caterpillar stage. But what we as Christians so often do is enter the cocoon stage. But Christianity is not a religious cocoon of rules, regulations and rituals. True Christianity is a living and growing personal relationship with Jesus Christ who has come to live right within us. He has promised to never leave us and to lead and guide our lives as we allow Him to. But this freedom in Christ often seems too good to be true. We want to change in order to please God and earn our salvation.

As the caterpillar encases himself in the silken threads of his cocoon, we too often begin to bind ourselves with every rule and scriptural principle that we can draw from the Bible. Forsaking the gift of grace that God has so freely bestowed on us, we so often seek to please God by rule-keeping getting tangled in our cocoon of what to do and not to do.

We feel the restriction of the rules that we are taking on, but we continue to wrap the threads around ourselves until we are completely bound. There in the utter darkness of our cocoon, the fears and anxieties of the past come back to haunt us again day and night.

We feel changes taking place within our innermost being that we don't understand. Imagine being a caterpillar and having your bunch of tiny legs exchanged for six long and skinny ones. Your round, supple body shrinks to a fraction of its normal size. Suddenly, wings protrude from your back. They seem to be useless appendages that will only be an extra burden to carry through life – if indeed there will be life after this dreadfully dark confinement. Death even seems all too inviting at times. We may even find ourselves wishing for it to come, so that it will end this fearful, material misery. We cry out to God, but He seems to be beyond reach and unable to hear our muffled cries from within the cocoon of dead works that surround us.

Our nature is absolutely changed, but only later do we see it. The cocoon is a prison, but it provides a certain security which we don’t want to give up. When we finally get fed up with our confinement, we begin to struggle to be free. Eventually we see the light outside. We leave the cocoon of bondage that the Law had imposed on us, and for the first time we realize the full grace of God in our lives.

I begin to see that I must TRUST Christ living in me to direct my life in order to be successful. I independently don’t have the power to live life by God’s standards. So I begin to GROW in the recognition of dependent living – I can’t do it! But Christ in me CAN do it! Therefore Christ/I CAN do it!

We see ourselves as new creatures, having decided never to allow the restraints of the Law to entrap us again.

If we were to come upon a butterfly at this stage of its growth and try to help it out of its cocoon, we would simply help it to sure destruction. Without the personal struggle to be freed from the cocoon, the butterfly will not be equipped for existence on the outside.

Once outside the cocoon, the butterfly faces the world from a new perspective. It feels the urge to spread its wings and trust itself to the wind, but it hesitates. It sits on the branch and flexes its appendages, afraid to fly.

We are likewise afraid. Though we recognize that it was only by the grace of God that we left the cocoon, yet we are apt to feel that our struggling somehow helped God to get us out. Our struggling is a vital part of the process, but only because it brings us to the realization of our perfect helplessness, and then we are ready to see God's gracious light and respond to it.

Coming out of the cocoon represents a newfound awareness of who we are in Jesus Christ. Christ lives in every Christian. We begin to trust Him to direct our ways and give us the freedom of the butterfly.

We have forsaken striving to make God pleased with us by keeping the Law which was once such a precious shelter for us, but we hesitate to take our wings and be truly free in union with Christ. It is not easy to abandon control over our lives and completely trust ourselves to the will of God through Christ within, even though we've heard of others who have taken that step of faith. They have been blown by God's Spirit into a realm of the heavenlies which we have only glimpsed from the security of our branch. Nevertheless, fearful insecurity once again restrains us.

Eventually the butterfly spreads its wings and releases its hold on the branch, being lifted up by the gentle breezes that flow through the tree's limbs. Soon it is looking down upon the earth where it once squirmed in its purely self-centered existence. It may see the remains of the cocoon which once bound it in darkness and fear. As it gathers confidence, it flaps its wings and soars into heights of freedom that it had never imagined existed. It drifts upon the wind, experiencing a new relationship with its world.

The day finally comes when we fly like the butterfly. We stop resisting the desires that God had placed within our hearts. As we begin to trust Him to faithfully fulfill the promises of His Word, and as we daily let ourselves be guided by the Spirit of Christ within, we will experience heights in the spiritual realm that we never before dreamed possible. As we look at what we were and remember the bondage to the Law and self-effort that God has freed us from, we find a peace and a joy that could not previously be imagined.

We do not live this life of faith without works, but we work out of obedience to the promptings of the Spirit of Christ within us. He has set us free from the law of sin and death and so we live in constant victory as we rest in our confidence in the knowledge of God's faithfulness.

Yes, as the self-centered caterpillar becomes the bound-up cocoon and then the soaring butterfly, a human being has a spiritual metamorphosis or change also. He begins as a self-centered being with a self-centered nature, a spiritual caterpillar. Then he changes his nature within but remains bound up in the cocoon of Law and rule keeping, not understanding that new nature. But finally, he frees himself from his cocoon prison and learns to soar to new unexpected heights as a butterfly.

Scientists speak of the “butterfly effect”. They made a movie by that name. Scientists say that the flapping of a butterfly’s wings on one side of the earth can start a series of events that can ultimately cause a hurricane on the other side of earth. Sounds incredible. But let’s start flapping our wings and see what happens. The next time you have occasion to enjoy the beauty and the carefree actions of a butterfly, let this cause you to meditate on who you were at birth, who you became at conversion, and the true power and freedom within you by your new nature.

My favorite verse in the whole Bible is Galatians 2, verse 20. I am going to quote it and along the way insert my butterfly analogy.
I [the self-centered caterpillar] am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live [at first like a cocoon restricted], yet not I but Christ lives in me. And the life which I live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me.
[I break out of my cocoon and learn gradually to soar on my new wings being constantly supported by the winds of Christ's Spirit]

Let’s close in prayer. Father – we GET the butterfly story. We GET it! We are so thankful that Jesus came to save us from our selfishness. For those here still in the caterpillar stage, I pray that they may come to a recognition of their need for a Savior and accept Jesus as Lord. For those in the Christian cocoon stage, I pray that they release themselves from bondage and be transformed. And for those who know who they are in Christ, butterfly Christians, don’t be afraid and cling to that branch. Leap off in faith and soar with the wind of Christ. As we leave here today, Father, keep us in constant awareness of who we are in union with Christ. So that we may fly and not be grounded in selfishness. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
Happy Mother’s Day to you all.