The special holiday reading for 6 Sivan, 5764 - May 26, 2004 Parashah: Shavuot Aleph Exodus 19:1 to 20:23(26); Haftarah: Ezekiel 1:1-28, 3:12; Mei Kituvim: Megilat Ruth 1 & 2; Brit Chadashah: Revelation 4:1-11


Perpetual Motion

"The wind blows where it wants to. You hear its sound, but you don't know where it comes from or where it is going. That's the way it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit" (John 3:8 ISV).

Perpetual motion is only possible from a being who is eternal. The text above speaks of the motion of the Holy Spirit in the lives of those whom God is working to salvation. In today's collection of readings there is the motion of the Holy Spirit in history and in the future.

Shavuot commemorates the revelation of the Torah at Mt. Sinai. It is said to have come down to Israel in stormy cloud and thunder by motion of the Spirit of God on this day. The Torah is eternal not just because it was revealed or decreed, but also because of the perpetual motion of the Holy Spirit in enforcing its requirements. Sin is our enemy here, because the inward corruption of sin moves the decrees of the Torah against us to condemnation.

Ezekiel's experience with the motion of the Spirit of God in the irrigation networks of Babylon must have frightened him greatly. And yet, the purpose was for another revelation-work of God. Ezekiel was going to move to Judah at the behest of the Spirit. He was to prophesy to the people to move them to faith and repentance. He needed a moving encounter with the Spirit of the Living God to sustain him during those trying times. "Then the Spirit lifted me up" (Ezekiel 3:12 NASB). The perpetual Spirit moved a man to do God's will.

The Spirit moved in the lives of Naomi and Ruth to ordain circumstances so that Ruth could meet Boaz. The salvation of a Moabitess was a miracle indeed. The Spirit moved in her heart to trust in Israel's God. The Spirit moved the heart of Boaz to take up her cause and become the Goel, the kinsmen-redeemer, to raise up a heritage for the family of Naomi and her daughter-in-law, Ruth. The greatest Goel or Redeemer is Jesus who became the Redeemer on the cross, so all who have faith like that of Ruth can enter into redemption.

The reading of the Brit Chadashah or New Testament speaks of the perpetual motion in worship that takes place in heaven. The perpetual motion of the Holy Spirit is captured in the Shavuot-like phrase in the text: "the seven Spirits of God" (Rev 4:5 NASB). Seven of sevens is the root meaning of Shavuot or 7 weeks or 49 days with the 50th as the time of Shavuot harvest. Seven is the number of perfection and thus the Holy Spirit's perfection is described in the text. There is in the vision the "seven lamps of burning fire" (Rev. 4:5 NASB) that speaks of the motion of the Holy Spirit - a perpetual motion like that of an eternal fire.

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