One of the most dramatic Old Testament/New Testament parallels is the giving of the Torah and Pentecost. The parallels are just staggering. There are two dynamics of Pentecost in particular that clearly echo Israel’s experience in the desert just after exiting Egypt: (1) the giving of the Torah, and (2) the glory of God takes up residence in the temple. The fact that these two events run parallel with what happens at Pentecost further underlines the cross as the Second Exodus and Jesus as the new covenant maker. Pentecost, then, is the fulfillment of what the giving of the Torah and the glory of God descending on the Tabernacle were supposed to be.
In the Old Testament narrative, the giving of the Torah and God taking up residence in the Tabernacle are two separate, but connected events. The event of God taking up residence in the Tabernacle (Exodus 40:34-38) is the culmination, or the crowning moment, of the giving of the covenant. The covenant is sealed when God comes and dwells among his people. After all, this is the purpose of the covenant, for God to dwell with Israel and thereby reign over Israel as his covenant people to the end that his reign was to reach to the ends of the earth through Israel. This means that when the glory of the Lord descends upon the Tabernacle the covenant is being faithfully upheld.
It is at Pentecost that all of this happens all over again. Just as the Lord, in the cloud of smoke, “covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle” (Ex. 40:34), in the Old Testament, so he comes again, but with tongues of flames, and indwells the new Tabernacle, the Church, which has been made clean by the sanctifying blood of the Passover Lamb via the cross. This is what we read about in Acts 2:1-4:
When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
In this event, the promises of the new covenant that God made through Jeremiah 31 and Ezekiel 36 are fulfilled. Even though this covenant is new, it is very similar to the old in that they have the same goal: to establish God’s reign on earth through his covenant people. Just as the glory of the Lord came down on the holy Tabernacle as his temporary emperor’s throne in the Old Testament, he now comes and takes up residence in those who are made part of the Messiah through faith; those who have been sanctified through the blood of Jesus and the forgiveness of sins on the cross thereby making the Church the new emperor’s throne. It is through the Church, God’s covenant people through Jesus the Messiah, that he now reigns. He not only reigns through them, but he reigns in them. This is the concept behind Jesus’ cleansing of the temple (Matthew 21:12-17) and the cursing of the fig tree (Matthew 21:18-22). Jesus’ actions point to the fact that God is making a new means through which his reign will be manifest in the world through his covenant people. The old, entirely external covenant represented in the temple, will be replaced by the new, internal covenant. External cleansing will be placed by new birth.
Highlighting this fact is the sequencing of events. In the Synoptic Gospels (which are much more concerned about chronology than John), Jesus cleanses the temple at the end of his ministry and just before going to the cross (the high moment of rebellion). Once again, this directly reflects the sequencing that we find in Exodus. First, the cross is parallel with Moses coming into Egypt to begin the rebellion that results in the deliverance of Israel. Just as Moses arrives on the scene to deliver God’s people from gentile oppressors, Jesus hangs on the cross at the time of Passover to deliver the world from the oppression of sin, guilt, and death. Second, the coming of the Holy Spirit during Pentecost is parallel with the giving of the Torah and God filling the Tabernacle. It is precisely during the celebration of the remembrance of the giving of the Torah and God filling the Tabernacle that the Holy Spirit descends on believers and manifests the Torah in the hearts of those who belong to the Messiah through faith. There is no doubt what is happening here. The Cross is the Second Exodus and Pentecost is the second giving of the Torah and full-fledge arrival of the presence of God among his covenant people via the Holy Spirit.
Further consideration must be given to the giving of the Torah at Pentecost. In the original story, there was a major hiccup just after God initially gave the Torah to Moses. Moses came down the mountain to find Israel worshipping a golden calf (Exodus 32). This precisely demonstrates the need for a new kind of covenant. It is exactly when Moses is receiving the covenant on tablets of stone that the people of Israel are worshipping an idol (which puts them in immediate violation of the first two commandments). There’s something obviously wrong. This law is external, not internal. This law is written on stone, not on hearts. Pentecost turns this on its head. Not only does God come to dwell in his Church at Pentecost, but the Torah becomes internal. It is at Pentecost, the celebration of the remembrance of the giving of the Torah through Moses, that God gives his Torah once again, but this time it is internal.
Another point of parallel between the giving of the Torah in Exodus and Pentecost is the role and location of the intermediary. God initially gave the Torah through Moses while Moses, the intermediary, was on the top of the mountain with God. Much in the same manner, it is after Jesus’ ascension to heaven, where he sits at the right hand of the Father, that the new, internal Torah, is gifted to the covenant people of God. This time, however, there is no golden calf. This time, the writing of the Torah on the hearts of the Church results in the light of God beaming out into the world. This is recounted in the book of Acts.
Note the incredible contrast between the account of the desert wanderings and the account we find in the book of Acts. Everything that happens after Acts 2 is what was supposed to happen after Exodus 40. Everything after Acts 2 to relates to the expanse of God’s rule into the world, even to the gentiles, just as was promised to Abraham. Everything post Exodus 40, however, is tragedy! Complaining, idolatry, infidelity, disobedience, and the list goes on. This simply re-emphasizes these words of Paul:
For God has done what the law weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Sprit is life and peace (Romans 8:3-6)
This brings us to another crucial question, one that Paul himself dealt with extensively. If the initial Torah did not fulfill God’s World Renewal Plan, does that mean that the Torah is bad? To borrow Paul’s words, “By no means!”. So what exactly was the role of the Torah in the World Renewal Plan? Paul says this to answer, “So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith” (Galatians 3:24). What does Paul mean by this? Paul means that the Torah was intended to encourage obedience to a rebellious people so as to prepare them for faith in Jesus for natural obedience.