G-d's Spirit and Shavuot
Why would G-d give us his written Word and his Spirit on the same day?
A common metaphor for G-d's written revelation is bread:
“…a person does not live on food alone but on everything that comes from the mouth of Adonai (Deuteronomy 8:3, Complete Jewish Bible).”
A common metaphor for G-d's Spirit is water:
“Whoever puts his trust in me [Yeshua], as the Scripture says, rivers of living water will flow from his inmost being! (John 7:38, CJB)”
Physical nourishment requires a balance of bread and water. Similarly, our spiritual nourishment requires a balance of the written Word and the Spirit. Without the Spirit, the Word is not living. Without the Word, we can be misled by non-G-dly spirits, as it says in 1 John 4:1.
Sometimes we can emphasize the Word or the Spirit to the extreme and to the exclusion of the other. The result is always spiritual malnourishment. Both are important aspects of G-d, and we need to have both to have a good relationship with Him and each other. Applying both to our lives brings life.
More about Shavuot