Emphasis Preaching Journal

There are three festivals that all male Jews living within twenty miles of Jerusalem were required to attend, the Feast of Weeks being one. This festival celebrates the giving of the law at Mount Sinai. It was also called Pentecost because it fell on the fiftieth day, a week of weeks, after the Jewish Passover. Christians, with a sense of Jewish heritage, would also be present at this celebration. This day Peter preached the first sermon of the church. The first-century church had four preaching styles. Peter's sermon was classified as kerugma, which means a plain statement of fact of the Christian message. In straightforward language he shared the life and teachings of Jesus. The early church continued to call this day Pentecost, for it occurred fifty days after the Resurrection. It became the custom of the church, formally established at the Council of Nicaea in 325, that during these weeks one would not fast for it was a time of joy, and one would not genuflect, recognizing the exaltation of our Lord.

Application: The Israelites were oppressed under the king of Canaan. Seeking relief they went to Deborah, a prophetess. She instructed them to surrender their evil ways and return to God. Deborah was the wife of a man whose name was Lapidoth, which means "torches." At the advice of his wife he furnished large wicks and oil for the lights of the sanctuary of Shiloh, which burned like torches, spreading the light of Torah. Deborah sat under a palm tree to show the world that the Jewish people were all united and turning their eyes again to God, like the leaves of the palm turn upward together, toward heaven. The light of new life is an important motif in the Bible. It can be our light if we stand in adoration of God.