The Coming of Elijah and Shavuot (Pentecost)
As we draw near to Pentecost, in this year 2020 that is unlike any other year, I would like to focus on two things. First, the link between the coming of the end time Elijah and then some truth from the Book of Ruth, a major Torah reading during Shavuot. Incidentally, Billy Graham’s wife was a Ruth (born in China to medical missionaries).
Elijah and the Giving of the Torah
At Passover a cup is prepared for Elijah, so the Elijah link to Passover is clear and strong. What is less clear is the connection between Elijah and Shavuot. From a Christian perspective, the Day of Pentecost celebrates the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. From a Jewish perspective, Shavuot is a time to remember the giving of the Torah! Malachi 4 is a critical chapter and we may well be in the dawning of the day that will burn like an oven in verse 1. However, I would like to focus on verses 4 and 5 (Amplified).
[Earnestly] remember the law of Moses, My servant, the statutes and the ordinances which I commanded him on [Mount] Horeb [to give] to all Israel.
5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet BEFORE the great and terrible day of the Lord comes.
So we see that the very next verse following the giving of the Torah connects to the promise that the end time Elijah will be sent (before the Day of the Lord). We need to also recall that Elijah’s leaving this Earth, taken up to Heaven by a fiery chariot, with horses of fire and in a whirlwind, is a type of the Rapture (albeit not an invisible one in the twinkling of an eye). We may not know how this Malachi 4 prophecy will be fulfilled, but we do know that tongues of fire fell on the 120 on the Day of Pentecost!! The sign of fire has been stronger in Australia in late 2019 and early 2020 than ever before!!
Ruth and Shavuot (Ruth 4 v 11)
The Lord make the woman (Ruth) who is coming to your house like Rachel and Leah.
The love story of Ruth and Boaz is a truly remarkable love story!! Ruth’s solemn lifetime commitment to Naomi and Israel is powerful!! Ruth 1 v 16, 17, 18 (NKJV)
But Ruth said: “Entreat me not to leave you, or to turn back from following after you;
For wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. 17 Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried.
The Lord do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me.”18 When she saw that she was determined to go with her, she stopped speaking to her.
However, there is one further and important aspect that we see in Ruth chapter 4 and verse 11 (below). Rebecca is a type of the Bride of Christ. Leah may be a type of the broader (and left behind) church, and Rachel the Jewish Bride, both of whom are married to Israel. Remarkably, the prayer for Ruth (a gentile}is that she will come after, build on Rachel and Leah as foundations of Israel, and embrace both Israel and the Church, through the crucified One!!. Some mystery in this!!
All the people who were at the gate, and the elders, said, “We are witnesses. The Lord make the woman who is coming to your house like RACHEL AND LEAH, the two who built the house of Israel; and may you prosper in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem!!!
Maranatha!! Denis in Canberra