The earliest origin of the feast of Pentecost, in a prophetic form, was when it was part of Israel’s seven big feasts which were, according to Leviticus 23, celebrated in a fixed annual cycle. In the New Testament fulfilment of these feasts, we can follow the way of salvation which starts at the cross and the first cleansing of our sins, then proceeds to the resurrection life and the filling of the Holy Spirit, after which it leads to the long process of world evangelism until the end of the church dispensation. This period will be followed by the final gathering in of the harvest and the establishment of the Messiah’s thousand year reign of peace on earth.
The first four feasts, from Passover to Pentecost, are closely associated with one another. With the dawning of the New Testament, they were all fulfilled in close succession during the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, as well as the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The last three feasts are jointly described as the harvest feast, and will be fulfilled at the second coming of Christ. A period of four months elapsed annually between these two groups of feasts, during which the harvest was gathered in Israel. Let us investigate the events leading up to the feast of Pentecost.
The Passover is celebrated in the first month of Israel’s religious calendar. That is in March or April on our calendar: “On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the Lord’s Passover” (Lev. 23:5). Israel’s calendar is based upon lunar months which start with the new moon; consequently, it is full moon on the 14th day of the month.
Moses said to Israel: “Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year… Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two door-posts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it… For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the first-born in the land of Egypt… Now the blood shall be a sign for you… When I see the blood I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you” (Ex. 12:5-7,12-13).
With the institution of the Passover, the first formal guidelines were established in terms of which God’s plan of salvation for mankind was finally fulfilled 1500 years later during the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The fulfilment of the Passover was the crucifixion of the spotless Lamb of God, who became man in the fullness of time to lay down His life on our behalf. John the Baptist pointed at Him and said: “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). Peter also referred to the priceless sacrifice of the Lamb when he said: “...you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Pet. 1:18-19). “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Eph. 1:7).
Because of the typological nature of the Passover, pointing to the future sacrifice of the Lamb of God, it was obvious that this feast was due to be fulfilled during one of its future celebrations. The Lord Jesus was indeed sacrificed on the day of the Passover. Have you accepted this big sacrifice in faith? “The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed… the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isa. 53:5-6). The question is whether your heart has been cleansed by the blood of the Lamb? If the atoning death of the Lamb has not been imputed to you, your heart and life have not been purified – then you will have to pay the penalty for your sins, which is death. The Lord says, “When I see the blood I will pass over you” (Ex. 12:13). He does not say, “If I see a good life, a certificate of baptism or confirmation, or a degree in theology, I will pass over you.” Only the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all sin and unrighteousness (1 John 1:7). The condition for forgiveness is that all sin should be confessed and forsaken (1 John 1:8-9; Prov. 28:13). Do this, and you will have eternal life!
The feast of the Unleavened Bread commenced directly after Passover: “And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it” (Lev. 23:6-7). To orthodox Jews this was a feast of soul‑searching and cleansing. As yeast is a symbol of sin, eating unleavened bread would mean that the believer was honestly committed to live a holy life. Therefore, they had to remove all the yeast from their houses for the duration of the feast. This rule was to be applied so stringently that they even had to sweep out crumbs of leavened bread and burn it outside (Ex. 12:15). In the same way, the lives of people had to be cleansed by forsaking all known sins.
The unleavened bread was to be eaten with the meat of the sacrificial lamb and bitter herbs (Ex. 12:8). The people did not only obtain salvation through the blood of the lamb, but they also had to gain strength for the difficult journey that lay ahead by eating the lamb’s meat. The bitter herbs allude to the suffering caused by sin, as well as the suffering that the lamb had to endure. The people of Israel had to take shelter under the blood of an innocent lamb that was sacrificed on their behalf, in order that their afflictions caused by their bondage to sin could be ended. The haste in which the meal was to be taken was part of the preparations for the journey of deliverance on which they had to embark towards a new life. They were sojourners and pilgrims on earth, on a journey to their eternal home.
This feast, which was part of the Passover celebrations, was fulfilled by the death and burial of Christ. He was the seed that had fallen into the ground and died in order to grow and bear fruit (John 12:24). As the perfect and sinless Son of God, He was the unleavened bread of life through whom we could come to spiritual life. That was why Jesus said: “I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world” (John 6:51). He does not only deliver us from our bondage to sin but also enables us to walk the path of the redeemed and to fight the good fight of faith in an evil world.
It is expected of us to identify so closely with Christ as the unleavened bread of life that we will purge out all leaven of sin from our lives. Paul says, “Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover [Lamb] was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Cor. 5:6‑8).
The Jews had to search their houses on their knees for traces of yeast. In the same way we have to search our lives in the light of God’s Word and leave all traces of evil behind. Use the following Scriptures as guidelines for searching your life and committing yourself anew to the Lord:
· “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Ps. 139:23-24).
· “Now you must also put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him” (Col. 3:8-10).
· “Therefore, laying aside all malice, all guile, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby” (1 Pet. 2:1-2).
· “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” 1 John 1:8-9).
· “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Cor. 7:1).
We must confess all sins and make a clean break with our past life as it is impossible to follow the Lord with a heritage of unconfessed sins. These sins will cause us to stumble and fall down. If we thoroughly cleanse ourselves from these things we can trust the Lord for a new filling with the Holy Spirit. He will do it for us!
This feast introduces Israel’s annual harvest season. Right at its beginning, the entire harvest must be dedicated to the Lord by a special feast. Apart from this, the nation itself is to be made acceptable to the Lord through the waving of the sheaf of the first-fruits:
“Tell the Israelites, When you have come into the land I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the first-fruits of your harvest to the priest; and he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, that you may be accepted; on the next day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it [before the Lord]” (Lev. 23:10-11; Amplified Bible- AB).
Israel is a winter rainfall area, and the first sheaf of barley was given to the Lord as a sacrifice during springtime (wheat is not ready for harvesting till later). The feast of the First-fruits was usually celebrated close to the time of the Passover. The barley was nearly ready to be harvested when the Jews left Egypt (Ex. 9:31). This adds to the meaning of the spring month of Nissan as the beginning of a new life. Not only did Jesus rise from the grave in that month, but the Jews were also led out of Egypt in Nissan. The wave offering is scheduled for a Sunday (the day after the Sabbath). It was a very meaningful event, for this celebration was meant to make the people of Israel acceptable to the Lord.
In the year 32, the ceremony was conducted on Sunday morning – the day on which Jesus rose from the grave. It was the day after the Sabbath: “Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene” (Mark 16:9). The seed that had fallen in the ground (the death and burial of Jesus) gave its first fruit on that Sunday morning when Jesus rose from the grave. It also indicated the beginning of the harvest of souls, for the whole harvest that would be gathered after that would be acceptable to God through the death and resurrection of Jesus. Furthermore, it signalled the transition from the old covenant to the new. That is why it had to happen on a Sunday, the first day of the week and symbolically the beginning of a new dispensation. That is why the celebration of the special day of rest and dedication to the Lord was changed from the seventh to the first day of the week in the new dispensation of grace. Because of the finished work of the Messiah, we can celebrate resurrection day every Sunday. We have entered into the new covenant with God through Him, and are therefore active partakers in the resurrection life of Jesus our Lord:
“And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!... But now Christ has risen from the dead, and has become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Cor. 15:17,20).
After the resurrection of Christ, the disciples always assembled on Sundays (cf. Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:1-2). The outpouring of the Holy Spirit, when the disciples were endued with the power of the Holy Spirit to fulfil their commission of world evangelisation, also occurred on a Sunday. So, it was not by chance that the early disciples started celebrating Sundays as the day of the Lord.
The feast of the wave-offering and the feast of Pentecost are jointly referred to as the feast of the first-fruits. They are also described as the feast of the weeks as they are celebrated seven weeks apart. According to Israel’s system of inclusive reckoning, the seven weeks are expressed as 50 days, since both the first and the last Sundays are counted:
“And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: Seven Sabbaths shall be completed. Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the Lord. You shall bring from your habitations two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are the first-fruits to the Lord” (Lev. 23:15‑17).
Only the first and the fiftieth days of the feast of the first-fruits were celebrated. On the fiftieth day, a Sunday, two leavened loaves had to be given to God as a wave offering. Remember that leaven is the symbol of sin, therefore these two loaves do not refer to the Messiah. They are to be seen as prophetic symbols of two groups of believers – in Israel and also in the Gentile world. The believers from Israel and the nations are despite their salvation not sinless and perfect, and should be consecrated to the Lord. That is the meaning of this ceremony. We need to humble ourselves before the Lord and purge out all leaven of sin from our lives. Since we are called to higher levels of sanctification we should live lives in which sin and fleshly desires are more and more put off as we more fully put on the Lord Jesus.
The Jews celebrate the onset of the dispensation of the law at Pentecost (derived from the Greek word pentecoste, meaning fiftieth). They believed that the people of Israel arrived at Sinai fifty days after their departure from Egypt. It was there that God gave Moses the law (Ex. 19:1‑3). It was for the celebration of this feast that the Jews from all over the world gathered in Jerusalem on the day when the Holy Spirit descended (Acts 2). They did not realise that the Passover, the feast of the Unleavened Bread and the feast of the First-fruits had already been fulfilled through the atoning work and resurrection of Jesus. Therefore, they did not realise that the dispensation of the law had been consummated. The new dispensation of grace, ministered by the Holy Spirit, was to come in its place, “for the code of the law kills, but the Holy Spirit makes alive” (2 Cor. 3:6 AB. See also Heb. 8:7-13 and Jer. 31:31). 3 000 people died at Sinai because they were punished under the law for worshipping an idol (Ex. 32:28). On the day of Pentecost, of which we read in the New Testament, 3 000 people were saved when the new dispensation was introduced by the pouring out of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:41).
The beginning of the dispensation of the church at Pentecost, indicates that it replaces the dispensation of the law. It was another example of God's perfect timing, since 40 days passed between the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, and another ten days while the disciples were praying and waiting for the Holy Spirit to be poured out. This total of 50 days is exactly the same as the time that expired between the two wave offerings of the feast of the First-fruits. We still recognise this chronology since we celebrate the resurrection day on the Sunday after Good Friday, the ascension 40 days later on a Thursday, and Pentecost ten days later, again on a Sunday.
It is also interesting that Pentecost is not celebrated in isolation. It forms part of a whole cycle of feasts and is intimately linked to the Passover festival 50 days earlier. For this reason, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit must always be seen in its close association with the whole series of events that include the death, resurrection and ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ. There are many people today who fail to observe the close relationship between these events. They place so much emphasis on the Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit that Jesus and His atoning death on the cross are virtually ignored.
A crucified life is a condition for being filled with the Holy Spirit (Luke 9:23). One should not only kneel before the cross to be cleansed from all your sins by the blood of the Lamb, but also to be crucified to the world and to sin. You should die to your old, sinful nature and be resurrected into a new life with Christ Jesus. We must put on the new man which was created according to God, in righteousness and true holiness. Only the Holy Spirit can endue us with the resurrection life of Jesus Christ. That is the blessing for which the disciples waited during the ten days between the ascension of Christ and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
We should not expect signs and wonders, such as speaking in tongues, when we are filled with the Holy Spirit, as that was never promised to the disciples. That was only a transitional sign during those early years to publicly demonstrate that the gospel of Christ was meant for all peoples and tongues. The basic promise that was made to the disciples was the enduing with power from on high to enable them to be witnesses for Christ in a hostile world.
We should retain our confidence and zeal for the cause of the Lord, and for this we need new to be filled anew with the Holy Spirit. When the disciples experienced much criticism and threats, the Lord again filled them with His Holy Spirit to inwardly strengthen them. In Acts 2 the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit for the first time. In Acts 4 we read that the persecution against them was so intense that they prayed to God for grace to enable them to continue with their work: “Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to your servants that with all boldness they may speak your word” (Acts 4:29). The Lord answered this prayer by again filling them with His Holy Spirit: “…and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness… And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all” (Acts 4:31,33). In Acts 13:50-52 we read of another occasion where the Holy Spirit fills people under very demanding circumstances.
We can also trust the Lord with a new touch of power from on high. Are you caught up in a big crisis or conflict, or are you still controlled by the flesh or sin? Then humble yourself before the Lord, trust Him for complete deliverance and declare yourself willing to emptied so that His Spirit can fill you. Let us wait on the Lord for a new anointing by His Spirit.
The feast of the first-fruits is followed by a period of four months, during which the harvest is reaped. That leads up to the last three feasts, which are jointly described as the harvest feast. Prophetically, the long period between the two groups of feasts alludes to the dispensation of the church, when the harvest for the kingdom of heaven is gathered on earth. This is a time of dedicated service to the Lord. Jesus urged His disciples to take action: “Do you not say, There are still four months, and then comes the harvest? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!” (John 4:35). On another occasion He said: “The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into His harvest” (Luke 10:2). In one of His parables he likens the whole world to a field and the final reaping of the harvest as the end of the age (Matt. 13:38-39).
We are still in the harvest season. Soon, the trumpet of the Lord will sound when the harvest of saved souls will be gathered in heaven. The message of Pentecost is of vital importance for the execution of the Great Commission, as no believer can gather the harvest of the Lord unless he or she has been empowered by the Holy Spirit. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit was the promise for which the early disciples had to tarry in Jerusalem. This power was not only promised to a selected group of disciples but to all of them. Not one of us can be an effective witness for Christ if this power is lacking in our lives. Without it we will not be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. We need the help of the Lord to be able to convincingly proclaim the gospel message because our preaching should not be persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power (1 Cor. 2:4). We need the enabling power of the Holy Spirit.
The disciples searched and humbled themselves while waiting on the promise of the Holy Spirit. To them all it was a second work of grace. They were already saved and experienced the peace of the forgiveness of their sins, which was given to them by the Spirit of God dwelling within them. On the day of the resurrection of Jesus they received the Great Commission to evangelise the world: “Then Jesus said to them again, Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you. And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:21-22).
On the day of Pentecost they received the power to execute the Great Commission. All of us need the peace and power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We receive the peace of God when we are born again. This peace expels the dark feelings of guilt which were caused by our sins and lost state. After being reconciled to God we receive the joyful confirmation that we belong to Him and will one day go to heaven. The joy, peace and power of the Holy Spirit should be present throughout our lives as an indication that we are still walking with the Lord.
When the peace of the Lord no longer reigns in your heart, it is a sure indication that you are moving outside the will of God. Then, the Holy Spirit will not give you peace but instead convict you of your sin and carnal attitude. You should immediately correct the problem and restore your former relationship with the Lord. Do not take decisions on any matter before praying over it and experiencing the peace of the Lord in your heart to confirm that you are doing the right thing.
The power of the Holy Spirit will enable you to live victoriously, thereby averting a life of continued stumbling: “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh” (Gal. 5:16). Wait on the Lord and trust Him for a new enduement with the power of the Holy Spirit. He will do it for you!