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Acts 2:5-11
Godly Jews from every country in the world were staying in Jerusalem.A crowd came together when they heard the sound. They were bewildered because each of them heard their own language being spoken.The crowd was really amazed. They asked,“ Aren’t all these people who are speaking Galileans?Then why do we each hear them speaking in our own native language?We are Parthians, Medes and Elamites. We live in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia. We are from Pontus, Asia,Phrygia and Pamphylia. Others of us are from Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene. Still others are visitors from Rome.Some of the visitors are Jews. Others have accepted the Jewish faith. Also, Cretans and Arabs are here. We hear all these people speaking about God’s wonders in our own languages!”
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John 10:16
I have other sheep that do not belong to this sheep pen. I must bring them in too. They also will listen to my voice. Then there will be one flock and one shepherd.
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Zechariah 8:19-23
“ You have established special times to go without eating. They are your fasts in the fourth, fifth, seventh and tenth months. They will become days of joy. They will be happy times for Judah. It will happen if you take delight in telling the truth and bringing about peace.”He continued,“ Many nations will still come to you. And those who live in many cities will also come.The people who live in one city will go to another city. They will say,‘ Let’s go right away to ask the Lord for his blessing. Let’s look to him as our God. We ourselves are going.’Large numbers of people and nations will come to Jerusalem. They will look to me. They will ask me to bless them.”He continued,“ At that time many people of all nations and languages will take hold of one Jew. They will grab hold of the hem of his robe. And they will say,‘ We want to go to Jerusalem with you. We’ve heard that God is with you.’ ”
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Exodus 23:17
“ Three times a year all your men must come to worship me. I am your Lord and King.
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Deuteronomy 16:16
All your men must appear in front of the Lord your God at the holy tent. They must go to the place he will choose. They must do it three times a year. They must go there to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Booths. None of your men should appear in front of the Lord without bringing something with him.
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Exodus 34:23
Three times a year all your men must come to worship me. I am your Lord and King, the God of Israel.
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2 Chronicles 7 8
At that time Solomon celebrated the Feast of Booths for seven days. The whole community of Israel was with him. It was a huge crowd. People came from as far away as Lebo Hamath and the Wadi of Egypt.
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Revelation 7:4-9
Then I heard how many people were marked with the seal. There were 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.From the tribe of Judah, 12,000 were marked with the seal. From the tribe of Reuben, 12,000. From the tribe of Gad, 12,000.From the tribe of Asher, 12,000. From the tribe of Naphtali, 12,000. From the tribe of Manasseh, 12,000.From the tribe of Simeon, 12,000. From the tribe of Levi, 12,000. From the tribe of Issachar, 12,000.From the tribe of Zebulun, 12,000. From the tribe of Joseph, 12,000. From the tribe of Benjamin, 12,000.After this I looked, and there in front of me was a huge crowd of people. They stood in front of the throne and in front of the Lamb. There were so many that no one could count them. They came from every nation, tribe and people. That’s true no matter what language they spoke. They were wearing white robes. In their hands they were holding palm branches.
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Ezekiel 34:31
“ You are my sheep. You belong to my flock. And I am your God,” announces the Lord and King.
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Ezekiel 36:33-35
The Lord and King says,“ I will make you pure from all your sins. On that day I will give you homes in your towns again. Your broken- down houses will be rebuilt.The dry and empty land will be farmed again. Everyone who passes through it will see that it is no longer empty.They will say,‘ This land was completely destroyed. But now it’s like the Garden of Eden. The cities were full of broken- down buildings. They were destroyed and empty. But now they have high walls around them. And people live in them.’
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Jeremiah 31:27-28
Here is what the Lord announces.“ The days are coming when I will plant the kingdoms of Israel and Judah again. I will plant them with children and young animals.I watched over Israel and Judah to pull them up by the roots. I tore them down. I crushed them. I destroyed them. I brought horrible trouble on them. But now I will watch over them to build them up and plant them,” announces the Lord.
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2 Chronicles 30 21-2 Chronicles 30 27
The people of Israel who were in Jerusalem celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread. They celebrated for seven days with great joy. The Levites and priests praised the Lord every day. They praised the Lord with loud musical instruments. The instruments had been set apart to the Lord.Hezekiah spoke words that gave hope to all the Levites. They understood how to serve the Lord well. For the seven days of the feast they ate the share given to them. They also sacrificed friendship offerings. They praised the Lord, the God of their people.Then the whole community agreed to celebrate the feast for seven more days. So for another seven days they celebrated with joy.Hezekiah, the king of Judah, provided 1,000 bulls and 7,000 sheep and goats for the community. The officials provided 1,000 bulls and 10,000 sheep and goats for them. A large number of priests set themselves apart to the Lord.The entire community of Judah was filled with joy. So were the priests and Levites. And so were all the people who had gathered together from Israel. That included the outsiders who had come from Israel. It also included those who lived in Judah.There was great joy in Jerusalem. There hadn’t been anything like it in Israel since the days of Solomon, the son of David. Solomon had been king of Israel.The priests and Levites gave their blessing to the people. God heard them. Their prayer reached all the way to heaven. It’s the holy place where God lives.
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Jeremiah 30:19
From those places the songs of people giving thanks will be heard. The sound of great joy will come from there. I will cause there to be more of my people. There will not be fewer of them. I will bring them honor. People will have respect for them.
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1 Kings 8 63
Solomon sacrificed friendship offerings to the Lord. He sacrificed 22,000 oxen. He also sacrificed 120,000 sheep and goats. So the king and the whole community set the temple of the Lord apart to him.
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2 Chronicles 35 7-2 Chronicles 35 19
Josiah provided animals for the Passover offerings. He gave them for all the people who were there. He gave a total of 30,000 lambs and goats and 3,000 oxen. He gave all of them from his own possessions.His officials also gave freely. They gave to the people and the priests and Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah and Jehiel were in charge of God’s temple. They gave the priests 2,600 Passover lambs and 300 oxen.Konaniah and his brothers Shemaiah and Nethanel also gave offerings. So did Hashabiah, Jeiel and Jozabad. All of them were the leaders of the Levites. They gave 5,000 Passover lambs and 500 oxen for the Levites.The Passover service was arranged. The priests stood in their places. The Levites were in their groups. That’s what the king had ordered.The Passover lambs were killed. The priests splashed against the altar the blood handed to them. The Levites skinned the animals.They set the burnt offerings to one side. These offerings were for the smaller family groups to offer to the Lord. That’s what was written in the Book of Moses. The Levites did the same thing with the oxen.They cooked the Passover animals over the fire, just as the law required. They boiled the holy offerings in pots, large kettles and pans. They served the offerings quickly to all the people.After that, they got things ready for themselves and the priests. That’s because the priests, who were from the family line of Aaron, were busy until dark. They were sacrificing the burnt offerings and the fat parts. The Levites got things ready for themselves and for the priests, who belonged to Aaron’s family line.Those who played music were from the family line of Asaph. They were in the places that had been set up by David, Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun. Jeduthun had been the king’s prophet. The guards at each gate didn’t have to leave their places. That’s because their brother Levites got things ready for them.So at that time the entire service to honor the Lord was carried out. The Passover Feast was celebrated. The burnt offerings were sacrificed on the Lord’ s altar. That’s what King Josiah had ordered.The Israelites who were there celebrated the Passover Feast at that time. They observed the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days.The Passover Feast hadn’t been observed like that in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet. None of the kings of Israel had ever celebrated a Passover Feast like Josiah’s. He celebrated it with the priests and Levites. All the people of Judah and Israel were there along with the people of Jerusalem. He celebrated it with them too.That Passover Feast was celebrated in the 18th year of Josiah’s rule.