Sounds from heaven at Mount Sinai probably echo’d on the day of Pentecost in the upper room. These sounds also get echo’d in John’s book of Revelation. These sounds echo anew with the law being given, not on tablets of stone but on hearts of flesh and blood. Tieing some of this together from sacrifices to new coventant fulfillment.
— Sounds from heaven at Sinai and at Shavuot (Pentecost)
Let us start out with the text of the book of Acts:
Acts 2:2-4:: suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Could this mighty rushing wind sound like a freight train? A mighty roar. Such is the sound heard by many during tornadoes.
This echo’s what we read about regarding the giving of the law at Mount Sinai:
Ex. 20:18:: Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off.
qôl means voice, sound, noise
lapîḏ means flame or lightning
The YLT says the people saw the voices and the flames and the sound of the trumpet
LXX says the people saw the voice, and the lamps, and the sound of the trumpet
So it could easily be seen as tongues of fire at Sinai which represent the voice of the LORD.
Jer. 23:29 states “Is not My word like a fire?” says the LORD
Rabbi Yochanan (2nd century) said that God’s voice, as it was uttered, split up into seventy voices, in seventy tongues, so that all the nations should understand. (Shemot Rabbah 5:9).
I cannot speak of any bible verses to support that but it makes sense. There were people of all languages in Jerusalem for the reading of the Law and Shavuot.
The trumpet heard at Mount Sinai would have been the shofar. Most likely a long blast. For those of us who have heard a fire drill in a school that is a very lound and piercing sound so I can understand why the children of Irael became fearful.
Now let us look at what happened at the first Pentecost:
Acts 2:5-7:: there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. When this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language.
Prophet Habukkuk understood the concept that we see what he is telling us:
Hab. 2:1:: I will stand at my watch post And station myself on the tower; And I will keep watch to see what He will say to me, And what answer I will give…”
So tongues of fire are what God’s voice becomes visually to us as we hear his voice. It also can sound like thunder:
John 12:28-29:: a voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.” Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered.
No wonder some jewish communities accepted messianic believers well into the third and fourth centuries! It was because of rejecting the Torah, changing times and seasons, and persecutions promulgated over the centuries that the Jewish community gradually rejected christian (and messianic) believers.
— Echos of Sinai and Pentecost in Revelation
The events at Mount Sinai and that of Pentecost are echoed in some ways during John’s vision of the throne in heaven
Rev. 4:5:: from the throne proceeded lightnings (astrapē), thunderings (brontē), and voices (phōnē).[NU-Text and M-Text read voices, and thunderings]. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.
Note that in this verse it is translated as voices. This is the same greek word translated noises elsewhere. Additionally, some versions say the thunderings were more like pearls of thunder.
The seventh seal, trumpet, and bowl of Revelation also include an earthquake or great hail.
During the seventh seal:
Rev. 8:5:: the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And there were noises (phōnē), thunderings (brontē), lightnings (astrapē), and an earthquake (seismos).
lightnings as in the glean of a lamp (torch?)
During the seventh trumpet:
Rev. 11:19:: the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant[of the Lord] was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail.
During the seventh bowl:
Rev. 16:18:: there were noises and thunderings and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth
It is interesting that only during the seventh trumpet great hail is added to the list. During the seventh bowl there was a great earthquake like has never happened before. It seems the manifestations get more numerous and intense as we move through the book of Revelation.
— Law Breaking forth in our Hearts
This is the key to truely understanding the significance of what happened on the day of Pentecost. The visual, auditory, and manifistations of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost are significant but without a deeper understanding of what it all signifies results in chasing after signs and wonders and not understanding the siginificance of it for our lives.
The giving of the law was done at Mount Sinai 50 days after the Exodus. Similarly the gifting of the Spirit was done 50 days after Passover. The two events are intricately connected. When we push away the law we neglect the significance of receiving the Spirit.
Spiritually, Shavuot commemorates the day God revealed the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai. While Passover celebrates physical liberation from slavery in Egypt, Shavuot marks the moment the Israelites committed to serving God and became a holy nation through the covenant of the Torah.
Shavuot means weeks and it is the culmination of 49 days of physically counting the omer. It is also a festival of firsts fruits similar to what is accomplished on the Feast of First Fruits on the first Sunday after Passover. An omer or sheaf is a dry measure of grain, in this case wheat. For barley is harvested around Passover and wheat around Pentecost.
One key difference here besides the grain itself is use of leaven. The Passover is during the feast of Unleavened Bread, hence unleavened. Pentecost has a firstfruits offering of leavened bread:
‘You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are the firstfruits to the LORD (Lev. 23:17).
In Luke 12:1 Yeshua said the leaven of the Pharisees is hypocrisy. He also accused the Saducees and Herod as having leaven. We can all have leaven in our lives. Yeshua accused the Pharisees of not honoring father and mother so that they could give to the temple by declaring their gift corban or holy (Mark 7:6-13). This is not a lesson on leaven but a contrast between the festivals. Leaven itself does not represent sin but rather corrupt doctrine. He uses leaven in the metaphor of leaven mixed into wheat flour (Matt. 13:33,Luke 13:21). So leaven is not always bad and during Pentecost absolutely necessary.
I don’t think in the use of leaven that God was advocating hypocrisy or even sin during Pentecost. Two loaves represent two houses. One of jewish origin and the other of gentile origin. The loaves are and two lambs are waved before the LORD:
Lev. 23:19-20:: you shall sacrifice one kid of the goats as a sin offering, and two male lambs of the first year as a sacrifice of a peace offering. ‘The priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the LORD for the priest.
Again, I have not connected all of the dots but suggest the following. The goat, unlike the scape goat, was sacrficed for our sins. Two lambs do not explicitly represent Yeshua but like the two loaves the two houses of Israel: jew and gentile.
All of this while moving into the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai. My sources say it was verbally given on Shavuot and around 40 days later written on tablet of stone. I believe all elements of the Law took months, if not years, to codify. My point is initial instruction happened on Shavuot.
We can find a situation where intial instructions were given to the church in Acts 15. Some say this is all that was given to Gentiles but from the Sermon on the Mount Yeshua himself went over a few more things not spelled out in that letter. I want to leave you with Apostle Paul’s thoughts on the law for Gentiles:
Romans 2:12-15:: For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law (for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified; for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them).
He said the doers of the law will be justified, even if the Gentiles do not have the law. This is in contrast to elsewhere to the Galatians we are justified by faith, not works of the law. I cited a reference which discusses the difference between the letters of Paul to the Galatians and James to the 12 tribes scattered abroad if anyone wants to dig deeper.
Paul states in Romans it is the doers of the law who are justified. It is a state of the heart. If whithin our new nature, being filled with the Spirit of God we uphold the requirements of the law we become a law unto ourselves. Our own conscience bears us witness: accusing or excusing us. So Pentecost is also about the giving of the law, not so much of commandments written on tablets of stone or scrolls but that given unto our hearts. This is the matter which Yeshua addressed at the Sermon on the Mount and not a legalistic interpretation which can be abrogated or ignored. Is your heart devoted to and serving God?
Sources:
https://ffoz.org/torahportions/commentary/the-signs-of-pentecost
https://thejewishobserver.com/2014/01/16/understanding-the-70-voices/
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/do-paul-james-disagree-on-justification-by-faith-alone/#:~:text=Faith%20alone%20justifies%2C%20but%20only,makes%20you%20a%20lawbreaker%20(Jas.