What the church experienced during Pentecost in the book of Acts may have been the second-most defining event for the body of Christ in church history. If you’ve read Acts 2, you’ll remember that the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples in a powerful way, sparking revival that quickly spread across the known world.
Rabbi Jonathan Bernis of Jewish Voice Ministries International believes God wants to do something similar during Pentecost this year. And he’s not the only one. Bernis and several other Christian leaders are calling the entire body of Christ to come together for A Night of Promise, a broadcast event taking place at 8 p.m. EST on Friday, May 29.
The idea started as Bernis and other leaders began realizing the incredible parallels between this year’s Pentecost and Passovers in ancient Israel’s history. Bernis points out on my podcast that during this year’s Pentecost (which, in the Jewish world, is called Shavuot), people are being asked to stay in their homes and celebrate there. Thousands of years ago, God told the Israelites to do the same thing as the angel of death wiped out every firstborn in the land whose door frames weren’t covered by the blood of a lamb.
“I’ve always believed that there’s something still to the Hebrew calendar, that God still operates on the biblical calendar of Leviticus 23,” Bernis says. “Now if that’s the case, and there’s this parallel with Passover, we’re asking the question: ‘What about Shavuot? What about Pentecost?’ We know what happened in the book of Acts. That was the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that burst the church—one of the most important single moments in world history. And that’s where the church began. It was an outpouring of the Holy Spirit and power.
“They were in complete unity. And then we were asking the question, ‘What does God want to do here in America?’ He didn’t cause this plague, I believe, but it’s a wake-up call. And if there’s this parallel with Passover, maybe God wants to do something this year on Pentecost.”
What will that wake-up call look like? Bernis says it will look like revival. Although he does not claim to be a prophet, Bernis strongly believes God is calling His bride to become unified for the cause of the gospel. So Bernis began calling some of his friends to see if they’d be interested in joining him in creating A Night of Promise. He reached out to Franklin Graham’s ministry, Gordon Robertson of CBN, Michael W. Smith and more. And to Bernis’ surprise, they all said they wanted to be part of this new television event.
Considering the speed with which this event went from a mere idea to a fully fleshed-out event, it seems as though God’s hand is on Bernis’ broadcast. Pulling something like this together so quickly isn’t something that happens every day, and it gives me hope that God is going to use A Night of Promise in a powerful way.
The broadcast will feature prominent Christian leaders such as Franklin Graham, Mike Huckabee, Chris Hodges, Pat Boone, Jonathan Cahn, Michael Brown, Sid Roth and more. It will also highlight Spirit-led worship leaders such as Kari Jobe, Paul Wilbur and others.
For more information about A Night of Promise, and to RSVP to the online event, go to jewishvoice.org. And make sure you listen to my podcast with Bernis to learn how God’s hand has been at work in this event.
Stephen Strang 
