TEXT: Leviticus 23:15-21; John 1:32-33; Acts 2:1-4; 29-33

SUBJECT: The Feast of Pentecost

INTRODUCTION:

God’s Seven Feasts begin with Passover and continue through Tabernacles.[1] Keep in mind that two important Hebrew words were used in reference to these Old Testament feasts. First is the Hebrew word “mo’ed,” which means a “set time,” or an “appointed time.” The second Hebrew word is “miqra,” which refers to a “convocation” or “assembly.” It actually means a “rehearsal.”

Therefore, God’s Seven Feasts were rehearsals to be carried out at set or appointed times each year. And of course Israel was God’s chosen nation who was to carry out these “rehearsals.” And they did, for hundreds of years!

These Seven Feasts all pointed to the day when they would find their fulfillment. And that fulfillment would come in the person of Jesus Christ the Messiah. The first four feasts, also known as the Spring Feasts, would be fulfilled in the first coming of Jesus. The last three feasts, also known as the Fall Feasts, would be fulfilled in the second coming of Jesus.

In these Seven Feasts the purpose of God is clearly seen, which was to redeem and restore back to Himself all that had been lost in the rebellion of Satan and man.

As we have already seen in our first three messages, Jesus fulfilled the Feasts of Passover, Unleavened Bread, and First Fruits to the very day! On the day of Nisan 14[2], He laid His life down on the cross as God’s Passover Lamb. He was then in then in the tomb from Nisan 14 to Nisan 17 as the Unleavened (sinless) Bread from heaven that did not see decay. And He arose on Nisan 17, before sunrise on the first day of the week, Sunday, as the First Fruits of those who sleep (in death).

In fulfilling these feasts, Jesus forever paid the sin debt—freeing us from the eternal judgment of separation from God, and He brought hope to life by overcoming the power of death, hell and the grave!

By putting our complete trust in Jesus alone, we know that we are forgiven by God and that we will live forever with Him.

The next feast or the fourth feast is The Feast of Pentecost.[3] We will look first at its Old Testament foundation; secondly we will observe how Jesus fulfilled it; and third we will look at how we can apply it to our lives today.

Let’s pray: Father God, we ask that You would give unto us the spirit of wisdom and revelation into Your Word. In the Strong Name of Jesus our Messiah we pray. Amen.

1. Leviticus 23:15-21

When the chosen nation began to settle in the Promised Land, the meaning of Shavu ‘ot was transformed into an agricultural holiday that celebrated God’s provision for His people Israel.

In Deuteronomy 16:9-11 we read, “You shall count seven weeks. Begin to count seven weeks from the time the sickle is first put to the standing grain. Then you shall keep the Feast of Weeks to the Lord your God with a tribute of a freewill offering from your hand, which you shall give as the Lord blesses you. And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God at the place He will choose as a dwelling for His Name. . .”

The Hebrew word “Sheva” means “seven;” “shavu’ah” means “week,” and “shavu’ot” means “weeks.” Exactly seven weeks after The Feast of First Fruits (barley harvest) is the celebration of Shavu’ot or The Feast of Weeks. It was one of the three pilgrimage holidays where Israel would come to present the first fruits of their spring crops before the Lord.

Since the Feast of Shavu’ot occurred on the fiftieth (50^th) day after The Feast of First Fruits, when the Hebrew Old Testament was translated into the Greek language[4] (the language of the New Testament) Shavu’ot was translated as “Pentecost” meaning 50^th.

Just as a sample of the first of the crop of the barley harvest was waved before the Lord during the Feast of First Fruits, so on Shavu’ot (Pentecost) was a sample of the first crop of the wheat harvest brought to the priests, baked into two loaves of leavened bread, and then waved before the altar as the concluding ceremony of the season.

It is important to note that in contrast to the Feast of Passover that required unleavened bread, the Feast of Pentecost required that the two loaves that were to be waved before the Lord were to be made with yeast or leaven. I will show you the significance of this difference a little later in the message.

For now, it is enough to know that this is the agricultural background of Shavu’ot or The Feast of Weeks, also called The Feast of Pentecost.

But there is another important Old Testament context and background for The Feast of Pentecost. And it is the giving of the Law, the Ten Commandments, through Moses on Mount Sinai.

Rabbinic tradition says that the Ten Commandments were given in the sixth Hebrew month of Sivan, our late May or early June. On Sunday morning, exactly seven weeks after the Exodus from Egypt, all of Israel gathered at the foot of Mount Sinai where the Lord descended amidst thunder, lightning, billowing smoke, fire, and the blast of the shofar.

The Lord then revealed the foundation of spiritual, moral conduct for His people Israel—the Ten Commandments.

So then, The Feast of Shavu’ot (or Weeks) also known as The Feast of Pentecost has both an agricultural background that has to do with the harvest as well as the background of the giving of the Ten Commandments through Moses.

2. With that as our Old Testament context for this feast, we are now ready to see how it was fulfilled in Jesus the Messiah.

After the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead on The Feast of First Fruits, counting fifty days forward was the Feast of Shavu’ot or Pentecost.  And Jesus had told His disciples not to leave Jerusalem until they had been baptized in the Holy Spirit. Also on the Day of Pentecost there would be Jews from around the world gathered in Jerusalem to reaffirm their commitment to the Covenant of Moses.

When the Day of Pentecost arrived, the same Jesus who had fulfilled the feasts of Passover, Unleavened Bread and First Fruits to the very day fulfilled the Feast of Pentecost to the very day when He poured out the Holy Spirit on the 120 believers in the upper room in Jerusalem.[5]

At Mount Sinai God wrote the law, the Ten Commandments, on stone. But in the New Testament, in Jerusalem, Jesus was writing the new law of the Spirit on the hearts of believers!

At the same time the priest was waving the two loaves of leavened bread before the Lord, Jesus was pouring out the Holy Spirit on the sinful men and women who had been cleansed by His blood. This was the beginning of the harvest of those who would become New Creations through their faith in Jesus the Messiah.[6] This new harvest of believers would be those who had God’s New Law of The Spirit written on their hearts!

The Feast of Pentecost marked the beginning of the end goal of the Law as it was stated in Jeremiah 31:33, “I will put my law in their inward parts and write it on their hearts.”

How amazing is the prophetic Feast of Shavu’ot or Pentecost? Not one, but two loaves of leavened bread were to be waved before the Lord. This clearly pointed to the inclusion of both Jew and Gentile as part of the harvest of those who would belong to God.

And the fact is that the loaves were leavened bread.[7] The Lord was telling us that through the Unleavened Bread of Heaven—even the sinless Son of God—that sinful men (leavened bread) could be made a part of God’s eternal family—both Jew and Gentile!

By putting their faith in Jesus as the spotless Lamb of God—by trusting in His shed blood alone for forgiveness; by trusting in Jesus as the Unleavened, pure, sinless bread Who came down from heaven, Whom death could not corrupt or decay; and by placing their confidence in Jesus as the First Fruits of those who will be raised from the dead, sinful men could be cleansed from their sins and could receive the New Law of the Spirit through the resurrected and glorified Son of God.

3. And that brings us to our third point in this message: how can you and I apply this amazing truth to our lives in the twenty first century?

The way that you can experience The Feast of Pentecost in your life is by learning that the gift of the Spirit does not come through keeping the law but by trusting totally in Jesus.

The blessing of the Spirit comes by trusting in the One whose very name means salvation.[8]

In plain language, no one ever becomes good enough to experience Pentecost or the Holy Spirit of God. The Spirit is God’s gift to those who trust in His Son—even Jesus Christ.

As I close this message, I want to turn your attention to the Book of Galatians. In Galatians 3:1-5 we read, “You foolish Galatians! Who has led you astray? Before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning in the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain? So again, I ask, does God give you His Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard?”

Beloved, here is the truth in such simple language: The only way that you or I can receive and continually be filled with the Holy Spirit is by trusting in Jesus completely and totally. This is the truth of Shavu’ot or Pentecost.

And the power of Pentecost is that as we continue to trust in Jesus (God’s Salvation), the Lord will continually supply us with the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit is the One who empowers us to live our lives in a way that is pleasing to the Lord. 

So then what should you do? Mix faith with the message that you have heard. Trust in Jesus alone as Your spotless, Passover Lamb; as the sinless, Unleavened Bread of Heaven; as the First Fruits of the resurrection from the dead, and as the One Who baptizes or fills you with the Holy Spirit.

Dear friend, you can experience the Feast of Pentecost when you stop trying and start trusting in Jesus.

Why not ask Jesus to baptize you in the Holy Spirit? Just as you made yourself a candidate for water baptism, make yourself a candidate for Holy Spirit baptism. Just as you submitted to the Pastor to baptize you in water, submit to Jesus, the Great Shepherd of the Church to baptize you in the Holy Spirit.

Abundant life is only in the Spirit of God, and it’s as close as your faith in Jesus.

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[1] These are the two feasts on which blood moons have occurred with regard to significant events that have affected the chosen nation of Israel over the last five hundred years. The most recent blood moon occurred on April 4, 2015 and the next will occur on September 28, 2015. This will not happen again for hundreds of years!

[2] The Hebrew month of Nisan occurs in our months on the Gregorian calendar in either March or April.

[3] The Feast of Pentecost is also known as The Feast of Shavu ‘ot or The Feast of Weeks.

[4] The Greek translation of the Old Testament is known as the Septuagint

[5] John 1:33; Acts 2:29-33

[6] II Corinthians 5:17

[7] Leaven was a type of sin

[8] The name Yeshua, which is translated into English as Jesus, means “salvation.”