 Painting by Jewish artist Eizen.
Click on the
image to go to his paintings. |
THE FEAST OF
PENTECOST
50 days counted out
from Firstfruits is Shavuot or Pentecost. God comes down to His covenant
people in an earthshaking day of visitation. It is a betrothal leading
into magnificent future glories. |
 Image from 'Christianity Today' |
| 50 days from the day the
firstfruits of the barley harvest was waved before the Lord, (50 days
from the morrow after the sabbath after Passover), is Shavuot or the Day
of Pentecost. Rabbinic scholars believe that it was on this day that God
visited His people after their exodus from Egypt and through Moses,
brought the Law down from Mount Sinai. This earthshaking day of
visitation, trembling, and betrothal is the birthday of the nation of
Israel. Moses brings down the Torah or Law for the nation. The Old
Covenant is a national covenant between YHVH-God and His covenant people.
And so the nation of Israel is established. They agree to follow Him in
devotion and obedience. In spite of past failures Israel will be fully
restored. (See Ezek.37. This will be accomplished in the power of
the New Covenant. God's law is written in the hearts. (See Jer.31:31 &
Heb.8:8) Zechariah saw the nation of Israel repenting and receiving
Messiah as Jerusalem was surrounded by armies at the close of this age.
(Zech 12:7-13:1) |
|
50 days from the day the
firstfruits of the barley harvest was waved before the Lord, (50 days
from the morrow after the sabbath after Passover), in the summer of the
year year of Jesus/Yeshua's passion, God visits His people. This is
another earthshaking day of visitation and betrothal. The Holy Spirit
fills the 120 in the upper room. The outpouring of YHVH-God's glory
continues as they go out into the streets of the city of Jerusalem
proclaiming the Good News, the message of redemption and salvation. The
Feast of Pentecost is thereby fulfilled in the New Covenant and the Day of
Pentecost becomes the birthday of the Church. This Holy Spirit revival
spreads out into Judea, Samaria, and thence onward into the utmost parts
of the world. For the next two millennia the God of Israel continues to
'call out' His 'ekklesia', Congregation, or Church. YHVH-God's
Congregation (Now expanded into the Church) takes the good news of the
Gospel out through Israel and beyond into the gentile nations.
|
A study by Gavin Finley
MD
endtimepilgrim.org - 2003
THE TIMING OF THE FEAST OF PENTECOST.
AND ITS ROOTS IN PASSOVER AND
FIRSTFRUITS. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is a God of wonders.
Indeed He is more wonderful than most realize. The reason for this is quite
simple. Unlike all the other gods He is a God who is real. He can be known
personally. As affirmed by author Francis Schaeffer, He is 'The God who is there'. He has taken great strides to be
known to people who open their hearts to Him. And He is readily accessible to
those who are willing to enter into blood
covenant relationship with Him.
YHVH-God is no respecter of persons. People down through time have been
saved from spiritual death the very same way. They come into God's salvation
by grace through faith in the shed blood of the promised Sacrifice Lamb. They
repent of their sin, and invite Him into their lives. Then they walk with Him
through their life. We are told that "Enoch walked with God". Apparently he
strolled with Him right on up into heaven. After the flood God called Abraham
from a city of idols. YHVH-God made covenant with His friend Abraham over the
dual issues of
1. the Land of the covenant and
2. the People of the
covenant.
Ever since that time the God of Abraham has been leading His covenant
people into the mysteries of His covenant. Very early on He showed the
patriarch Jacob a ladder extending from heaven down into this earthly cosmos.
So the Holy One of Israel has been making Himself known to mankind for a long
time. That continues to this day. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has
chosen to communicate His divine Message of Truth through His Word and He
ministers to His covenant people by His Spirit. His personal, national, and
congregational dealings with His people continue. In fact they will come to a
climax during the
closing seven years of this present age.
Our God likes to celebrate. He likes to party with His people. One of the
names by which He is known is "Emmanuel", which means, "God with us". It is in
this spirit of fellowship that YHVH-God has set forth special times of the
year to celebrate with His covenant Congregation.
The Feast of Pentecost is a case in point. Soon after the Exodus, when the
children of Israel came out of Egypt, they camped at the foot of Mount Sinai.
At that time YHVH-God, the God of Israel, came down to visit His people. Moses
met with God and brought them the Torah or the Law. On that day, the Day of
Pentecost in the month of Sivan, the children of Israel were asked if they
would make their national and personal covenant with God. Their answer was a
positive one. They said, "all that the Lord has spoken we will do". (Exo.
19:8) And so on that day, a day of national covenant-making the nation of
Israel was born.
In with the Law came the instructions from YHVH-God for the Feasts of
Israel. (Lev.23) The Feast of Pentecost is the fourth holy convocation in
the annual list of the seven Feasts of Israel. It was celebrated during the
early summertime in the month of Sivan. Pentecost was time linked to
Firstfruits, which was the third feast event in the springtime celebrations of
Passover. The time span here between Firstfruits and Feast of Pentecost is
fifty days. As we see from the calendar below, the fiftieth day is the 6th/7th
of Sivan. Pentecost is a Greek transliteration of the phrase "fiftieth day".
The timing of the Passover in itgs agricultural context was linked to the
barley harvest. And so the Passover moon was called the month of Abib. In its
celestial context Passover came on the 14th day of the first month that would
come to fullness after the spring, (or vernal), equinox. And so the original
Hebrew name for this month was Abib. And later it came to be called Nisan.
Nisan, being the first moon to come to fullness after the spring equinox is
usually the month that sees the barley come to ripeness for harvest.
The Passover lambs came to inspection on Nisan 10. They
were slaughtered on the 14th day of the Nisan moon at twilight. The day
following Passover was Nisan 15 and it was the first day of the Feast of
Unleavened Bread. This day was a "high day" or a sabbath. During such a
'high day', 'holy convocation', or any other 'sabbath' for that matter no
servile work was to be done. The first and the seventh days of Unleavened
Bread are both 'high days' or 'sabbaths'. And then the seventh day of every
week is a sabbath of course. So a "sabbath" may mean a Saturday. Or it might
mean a "high holy day".
This point about the other sabbaths is very helpful for us as we seek to
understand the Feasts of Israel. It lays a foundation for us to see just how
the spring Feast of Firstfruits is determined. Firstfruits is "day one"
for the fifty days which are counted out to the summer Feast of Pentecost.
This appreciation of the different sorts of sabbaths also helps us to
understand how Jesus was in the grave for three days and three nights. He was
not in the grave for two days and two nights as medieval church tradition has
taught us through these past 1700 years. There were two sabbaths, back to back
in the crucifixion year of 32 A.D.. The first sabbath was a "high day"
sabbath. It was the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread and it came on
a Friday in the year of our Lord's passion. The second sabbath, the very next
day, was Saturday, a regular weekly sabbath. And so here we have a solid
scriptural basis for laying out the three days and three nights in which Jesus
was in the grave. Remember that Himself said that as Jonah was in the
belly of the whale three days and three nights that He too would be in the
heart of the earth for three days and three nights. (Mat.12:40) That extra
sabbath, the first day of Unleavened Bread came on a Friday. Tat was followed
by the weekly sabbath. Thus we have the extra day that fulfills the prophecy
biblically and accurately.
The Passover festivities included the Feast of
Firstfruits. This was a celebration marking the beginning of the barley
harvest, the first harvest of the year. On this day the first fruits of
the barley harvest, a sheaf, or "omer" of barley was harvested and presented
before the Lord as a thanksgiving "wave offering." (Lev. 23:10,11) As we shall
outline below, the day of Firstfruits came on "the morrow after the sabbath'
following Passover. So it was a workday. It was a Sunday, the first day of the
week. This day marked the beginning of the barley harvest. It also marked the
starting point for the counting out of the fifty days to Pentecost.
Barley harvesting involved manual labor. So the celebration of the
beginning of the barley harvest was to come on the day after the sabbath that
came during that week of celebration. It mattered not whether that sabbath was
the 'high day', the "holy convocation" which came on the first day of
Unleavened Bread, or whether that sabbath was a regular weekly sabbath.
Firstfruits could not be celebrated on a sabbath.
The outcome of this was as follows. The Feast of Firstfruits was usually
the first day clear of the sabbath of Unleavened
Bread. The sabbath, the first day of Unleavened Bread was an "high day", a
"holy convocation", or a sabbath, (holy day). This was a day in which no
servile work was to be done. Six times out of seven the day following would
not be a weekly sabbath. So Firstfruits was therefore most often celebrated on
the second day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread or Nisan 16.
One seventh of the time, on average, the sabbath, (or high day), of
Unleavened Bread was followed by another sabbath, that being a regular weekly
sabbath. In such years Passover week had two sabbaths juxtaposed to one
another or 'back to back' sabbaths. And so both the sabbath of the first day
of Unleavened Bread and the regular weekly sabbath would have to pass by
before the barley harvest could begin and the Feast of Firstfruits celebrated.
In such years the omer was waved before the Lord three days after the
Passover lambs were slain (and not just two days afterwards). Firstfruits in
such years would then fall on Nisan 17, the 17th day of the Passover moon. So
on those years in which Nisan 15, (the High day sabbath of the first day of
Unleavened Bread), was followed the next day, (Nisan 16), by a regular
Saturday sabbath the Feast of Firstfruits was delayed one more day.
Firstfruits would fall on Nisan 17. That Nisan 17 would be on the first day of
the week, or in our Roman naming of the weekdays, a Sunday.
This is precisely what happened in the crucifixion year.
Firstfruits,
(which became Resurrection Sunday) came on Nisan 17.
The number 17 in biblical numerics is related to the "sons of God". For
example, on the 17th day of the 2nd month the fountains of the deep were
opened and the ark lifted on the waters. And then five months later on the
17th day of the 7th month the ark came to rest on Mount Ararat. This
auspicious Firstfruits was also a day of deliverance from death. And it came
on the 17th day of the Nisan moon in the crucifixion year, 32 A.D.
So Firstfruits in the year of the passion came three days and three
nights after the prescribed Passover date of Nisan 14. It came three days
and three nights after that epic Passover that saw Israel's promised Sacrifice Lamb slain. So
Yeshua/Jesus kept that feast. On the morrow after the sabbath He rose from the
grave as the firstfruits from the dead. (1Cor.15:20)
The Feast
of Firstfruits was an important day. It marked the beginning of the Barley
harvest and was always the anchor day for Pentecost. It was day #1 of the
"fifty days of the omer" that are counted out to Pentecost. (The word
"Pentecost" is the Greek rendering of "fiftieth day".) Moses had received
specific instructions concerning this from YHVH-God. Here below is our
scripture.
LEVITICUS 23
THE SCRIPTURE FOR THE FEAST OF PENTECOST (WEEKS).
AND
THE COUNTING OUT OF THE OMER. 15. '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. 16
Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a
new grain offering to the Lord.
17. You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an
ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are
the firstfruits to the Lord.
18. And you shall offer with the bread seven
lambs of the first year, without blemish, one young bull, and two rams. They
shall be as a burnt offering to the Lord, with their grain offering and their
drink offerings, an offering made by fire for a sweet aroma to the
Lord.
19. Then you shall sacrifice one kid of the goats as a sin offering,
and two male lambs of the first year as a sacrifice of a peace
offering.
20. The priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits
as a wave offering before the Lord, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to
the Lord for the priest.
21. And you shall proclaim on the same day that it
is a holy convocation to you. You shall do no customary work on it. It shall
be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.
22
'When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners
of your field when you reap, nor shall you gather any gleaning from your
harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the stranger: I am the Lord
your God.' "
From the scripture above we see that from the Feast of
Firstfruits seven weeks, or forty-nine days were counted. This was called
"counting the omer". The day following, the fiftieth day, was the wheat
harvest. (Lev. 23:10:11) On the "fiftieth day" or "Pentecost" or "Shavuot"
- the firstfruits of the wheat harvest was celebrated. On this day two loaves
of bread baked with leaven were waved before the Lord. This was an act of
thanksgiving before Him for the bounty He had provided. (Lev. 23:16-20)
The Day of Pentecost came 50 days after the Feast of Firstfruits. In the
crucifixion year Firstfruits came on Sunday the 17th of Nisan. Counting out
those 50 days through a 30 day month followed by a 29 day month we come to
Sunday the 7th of Sivan. The fiftieth day, is Shavuot (Hebrew) or Pentecost
(Greek). Here below is a calendar showing the back to back sabbaths of
Passover in the passion year. The fifty days of "counting out the omer" to
Pentecost are numbered in red.
In 32
A.D., the year of the passion of Jesus Christ, Passover, and with it the
crucifixion, came on a Thursday. The First day of Unleavened Bread was a
Friday and the next day, Saturday was a regular weekly sabbath. The
Resurrection of Jesus Christ came the following day, on the Feast of
Firstfruits on Sunday, the morrow after the sabbath and the "first day of the
week". Jesus was in the grave during the passage of the three days and three
nights as He had said. Those three days extended from Thursday the 14th of
Nisan,(Passover), when He was laid in the tomb, through to Sunday the 17th of
Nisan, (Resurrection Sunday).
THE DAY OF PENTECOST AND THE BRINGING OF THE LAW/TORAH AT SINAI What
is the Old Covenant connection with Pentecost? Or what is its significance for
the nation of Israel? We are not specifically told the exact date in which the
Torah was given to Israel thus establishing them as a nation in covenant with
YHVH/God. But we are told that the children of Israel did came into the
Wilderness of Sinai "in the third month". That was the summer month of Sivan.
Here is our scripture.
EXODUS 19
1. In the third
month
after the children of Israel had gone out of the land of
Egypt,
on the same day, they came to the Wilderness of Sinai.
For two and a half millennia Rabbinic scholars have
believed that Pentecost was the day Moses brought down the Torah or Law from
Mount Sinai. The month is certainly on target. And the giving of the Torah
certainly fits the spirit, character, and pattern of Pentecost very well.
Pentecost is a day of covenant making and betrothal between YHVH/God and His
covenant people. Pentecost in the Old Covenant is a covenant making day with
the nation of Israel, a national betrothal with YHVH-God. Pentecost in the New
Covenant, (as we shall see), is a covenant making day for God's holy people,
the Congregation of Israel, the ones who by faith have entered into the
covenants and the Commonwealth of Israel. (See Eph.2:12-13, Gal.3:29, Rom.11)
On this auspicious day in the summer month of Sivan the God of Israel takes
the initiative. He comes down to earth in an awesome day of visitation.
Pentecost is the Hebrew Feast of "Shavuot" or "Weeks". Seven weeks are
counted off. The fiftieth day marks the beginning of the wheat harvest. The
"Feast of Weeks" is called "Shavuot" in the Old Testament and by our Jewish
brethren today. It is called "Pentecost" in the New Testament. Pentecost is a
Greek translation of the words "fiftieth day" which was when the Festival was
celebrated (Lev. 23:15,16).
THE SUMMER FEAST
THE FEAST OF PENTECOST: .......FULFILLED! It was
right on the Day of Pentecost, in the summer of the crucifixion year. Fifty
days after the first fruits of the barley harvest had been waved at the
Passover festivities that year it happened. That year in Jerusalem the Holy
Spirit of YHVH-God fell in an unprecedented wave of glory. The outpouring
began with the 120 in the upper room. This was the Congregation of believers
in Jesus Christ who had been tarrying, waiting on God for the visitation that
had been promised. The Holy Spirit fell upon the 120 as they gathered, all in
one accord, in that upper room. The outpouring then spilled out into the
streets of Jerusalem.
Pentecost in the New Covenant fulfillment was a life-giving flow. The Holy
Spirit entered human hearts and lives on an individual basis. Pentecost in the
Old Covenant had brought us the Torah, and the requirements of God. And on
that first Pentecost when Moses brought down the Law to the Nation of Israel
3,000 died. But when Peter preached on Pentecost of that year YHVH-God did a
new thing. 3,000 were saved. The infilling of the Holy Spirit brought new life
in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Holy Spirit outpouring continued
in Jerusalem. But He did not stop there. This first Holy Spirit revival, (and
let us not forget that it came out of the Jewish House of Judah in Israel),
spread throughout Judea and on into Samaria, and beyond.
The prophet Joel spoke of this Holy Spirit outpouring upon the nations.
(Joel 2:28-32) And the Apostle Peter made reference to it. (Acts 2) God’s
ministry of grace would go out beyond this initial Pentecostal outpouring. It
would flow on into the gentile nations towards the ends of the earth. YHVH-God
would be drawing all men to Himself. He would be doing this in the power of
His Holy Spirit.
The prophet Joel saw the very same Holy Spirit outpouring that Peter saw on
Pentecost Sunday 2,000 years ago. Peter makes a direct quotation of Joel's
prophecy (Joel 2:28-32) in Acts 2. Joel saw the Holy Spirit outpouring that
began that year at Pentecost. He saw it at its very peak. Joel saw it come to
its final climax in the context of the final 6th seal cosmic signs of a
darkened sun and a bloody moon. This is the End Time
Revival.
Jesus/Yeshua tells us precisely when thiis main upthrust of the Pentecostal
Holy Spirit outpouring will occur. He tells us quite clearly in the Olivet
Discourse. He said that the days of the darkened sun and bloody moon would
come "after the tribulation". (Mat.24:29) So we must assume that the
cosmic signs are seen after the 1260 days of the Great Tribulation. The days
of a darkened sun and a bloody moon will therefore be the 30 days extending
out to day
1290 as referred to by the prophet Daniel. (Dan.12:11) We have good
evidence that this day 1290, (numbered off after the Abomination of
Desolation), will be the last day of this age, the final ultimate wrap-up, day
of reckoning, day of accounting, Day of
Atonement.
The Apostle Peter remarked on the awesome show of Holy Spirit power they
were seeing at that time and put it in its over arching context. He said
"this is that which was spoken of by the prophet Joel".
Here is what happened on that awesome day.
ACTS 2
"And when the day of
Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place
[together]. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing
mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there
appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of
them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with
other tongues (or languages), as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there
were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under
heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and
were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own
language. And they were all amazed and marveled, saying one to another,
Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans? And how hear we every man
in his own tongue, wherein we were born? . . . .And they were all amazed,
and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this?" (Acts
2:1-12). As we saw in the earlier articles the year of the
crucifixion saw the first three spring feasts fulfilled. They erupted into
holy history during passion week and right on schedule. So the Feast of
Pentecost was the fourth celebration fulfilled that year. This auspicious
Jewish holiday erupted that summer as a magnificent and memorable day in holy
history. It saw the Congregation of Israel, (or Church), overflow its national
banks, as it were, and flow out into the heathen nations. YHVH-God through His
cosmic expression in His Son was doing a new work, just as He had promised
through Isaiah several centuries before. YHVH-God is here speaking to His
Servant.
6 Indeed He says,
'It is too small a thing
that You should be My Servant
To raise up the tribes of Jacob,
And
to restore the preserved ones of Israel; ......." Here we
see the extravagant grace of the God of Israel.
In effect He is saying
that saving Judah and the lost ten tribes of Israel is "small potatoes".
He is going to go one better than that.
The Light of His salvation
will shine forth out of Israel to the far side of the world.
Because He
goes on to say,
"....... I will also give You as a light to the
Gentiles,
That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.' "
The Day of Pentecost in that summer that followed the
crucifixion was magnificent beyond description. It saw the first overflowing
of the Holy Spirit into the gentile nations. This was an awesome day of
visitation by the Spirit of Jesus Christ/Yeshua Hamashiach the Savior and
Spirit of the Anointed One, the Messiah of Israel. This was the first day in
which the Congregation, of Israel, (now expanded as the Church), went global.
On that day the salvation of our Hebrew Messiah engulfed in Jerusalem in waves
of glory and in great power. And so the Holy Spirit of YHVH-God went out among
the people as Light to the gentiles. What a day that was!
PENTECOST; PHASE ONE; OLD COVENANT; THE BIRTHDAY OF THE NATION OF ISRAEL.
PENTECOST; PHASE TWO; NEW COVENANT; THE BIRTHDAY OF THE CONGREGATION OF
ISRAEL
AS IT EXPANDS OUT INTO THE NATIONS AS "THE CHURCH". Here we must bring to light a little known fact. The
Congregation of Israel and the Congregation of Christ share the same birth
date on the Hebrew calendar. Is this likely to be just a coincidence?
I
submit that this is very unlikely. The coming of God's Law or His just
and righteous rule and the coming of His Grace and mercy are both
essential elements of the character of Christ our Messiah. They are as
seamless as the garment worn by our Lord Jesus/Yeshua. He will gather His
Elect in Israel and His Elect in the Church. The breach of Jeroboam will be
healed. Both are destined to become one and the same. The crucible of the
end-time will bring them forth as the single undivided
Elect we see spoken about in Holy Scripture. At the end of the story they
will be in one accord. And when all is said and done they will emerge as a
single company, a refined and glorious remnant. They will come into unity
under Messiah as the "royal priesthood and .. holy nation" Moses and our
Apostle Peter both spoke about. (Exo.19:6, 1Pet.2:9)
In the summer feast of Pentecost we see the sovereign Presence of God. 50
days after the Feast of Passover God used His servant Moses to bring the Law
or Torah down from Mount Sinai. He introduces His righteous rule into the
nation of Israel and into the lives of men. On that first day epic day of
Pentecost He writes His law on tablets of stone. He gives them to a nation; a
nation He has called; a nation whom He has delivered out of Egyptian bondage.
He comes down to His covenant people in power and great glory. The nation of
Israel is challenged. The question is asked? Will you as a nation
commit To YHVH, the God of Israel?
And what was their response?
The people were in one accord.
They
answered in unison and in one voice.
They said, "We will!"
On that day the nation of Israel was born.
So it was the Most High God who established
the nation of Israel. As His covenant people they were destined to become a
country and a congregation manifesting the righteousness of YHVH/God. They
would become a "royal priesthood and a holy nation" Both the giving of the Law
on Mt. Sinai and the giving of the Holy Spirit into Israel as an overflow into
the gentile nations came on Shavuot, or the Day of Pentecost. But that epic
day 50 days after the passion of Christ would mark the time "when the Day of
Pentecost had "fully come". The birthday of the nation of Israel and the
birthday of the Church came on the very same date on the Hebrew calendar.
For the 120 tarrying and waiting on God in the upper room the Holy Spirit
came as a mighty rushing wind. Tongues of fire rested upon the 12 apostles. In
that pivotal year of 32 A.D. the God of Israel sent forth the Good News of
salvation in the Gospel from Jerusalem to the gentile nations round about. And
so He established His Congregation, or Church, as an international Body, even
the Body of Christ.
When the Day of Pentecost had "fully come" it turned out to be a day like
no other before it. The Holy Spirit came down in waves of glory. He rested
upon the heads of those who had tarried for Him in Jerusalem. But the Holy
Spirit did not end His work in Jerusalem. The Spirit of the God of Israel
would overflow beyond the Holy City in spectacular fashion. This was the
promised "Light to the Gentiles" Isaiah had spoken about. Right there we saw
the very beginning of the Church. The Congregation of Israel would spread out
beyond Jerusalem and Judea to enter Samaria and then onwards towards the ends
of the earth.
God's covenant people were greatly blessed that year. In the springtime
they saw the shedding of the blood of the promised Sacrifice Lamb. God was
coming into this cosmos. YHVH/God had come into His fallen creation as God in
the flesh. And as our Lord Jesus Christ, or Yeshua Hamashiach, He brought His
great salvation to all who would receive Him. But His great salvation would
not stop at the borders of Israel. The Holy Spirit would overflow the nation
of Israel. And the Gospel Light would statrt a great work, redeeming the lives
of people even out to the ends of the earth. YHVH-God was launching His
Congregation as a global company. And He was sending them forth as His
ambassadors. They would not be left desolate, struggling to fulfill God's law
in their own power. He would provision them with power from above. And He
would come inside them to write His laws in their inward parts, even upon
their hearts. (Jer.31:31) Many in Jerusalem, both Jew and Greek, would come
into covenant with YHVH/God after this wonderful day. They would come to know
and embrace the Saviour of Israel. And he would come to be known as Yeshua
Hamashiach or Jesus Christ.
God’s congregation has always come to Him and found His great salvation the
very same way. They have been saved by grace through faith in the promised
Sacrifice Lamb. The Holy Spirit of YHVH, as always, has stood ready to fill
the hearts of His Elect and so energize them by His grace towards
righteousness and good works. Pentecost in that year 2,000 years ago was a
huge corporate move of God. The Spirit of Israel began to overflow Israel and
spill over into the heathen nations round about. The God of Abraham was saving
and equipping all who came to Him through conviction of sin,
repentance, and then faith in His Son. He would enter and change the lives of
many from the inside out. And so they would become His witnesses.
The coming of Holy Spirit is just not a theological doctrine. It is a
serendipity. Many will testify that this is a thrilling experience in God. In
the Pentecostal experience God gives the believer the first foretaste of what
it will be like to be with their Bridegroom in the glory. At Pentecost God's
covenant people enter into a betrothal. They become engaged. They taste the
heavenly food. YHVH-God is taking the initiative here. He is calling His
people to Him in an intimate way. Then in an experience of glory He is giving
us an earnest or down payment. It is a foretaste of things to come.
And so in Pentecost the saints make their experiential entry into the
Eternal Covenant with God. He is the One they are destined to spend eternity
with. He is the One and only true God, the Holy One of Israel. He has entered
the cosmos as Immanuel, 'God with us'. He has spoken through the prophets. Now
in His passion He is speaking through His Son. But God is still not finished.
The Summer feast of Pentecost takes His people onwards. And so they enter into
the flows of His Holy Spirit. This is how YHVH-God is at work in the cosmos He
created. He is here to do business in the hearts of men.
So here we are 20 centuries later. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is now
ramping up. He continues to save, to sanctify, to deliver and to heal. His
magnificent Pentecostal power continues to work inside the hearts of men. He
fills them by His Spirit just as fast as they are prepared to surrender up
their self life and their flesh life to Him. His wonderful and mysterious work
goes on. We see Him guiding, teaching, and inspiring His covenant people in
ever more wonderful ways. He loves and cherishes His people. And in the days
to come He will lead them on to glory.
PENTECOSTAL POWER IN THE LAST DAYS What can we say about the Holy
Spirit in the last days? We can say a lot. The prophet Joel spoke of a massive
revival that would power up in the endtime. He saw it climax in a blaze of
glory in the very last days of this age. (Joel 2:28-32) See the article on the End-Time
Revival.
Joel saw the climactic Holy Spirit outpouring as one would view a
mountaintop from afar. He saw the Pentecostal outpouring at its peak. He saw
it in the context of the days of the sixth seal cosmic disturbances of a
darkened sun, a bloody moon, and the stars falling. (Joel 2:28-32) Jesus tells
us in the Olivet Discourse that these are the cosmic events that will occur
"after the tribulation of those days." (Mat.24:29) Surely this blow-out
flooding of the Holy Spirit upon all flesh will come at the close of Daniel's
70th week after the 1260 days have ended. This must be during those last 30
days of this age running up to the 1290 days spoken of by the Angel Gabriel in
his message to Daniel. (Dan.12:11) The peak of the Holy Spirit outpouring will
occur At the end of the final seven years of this age.
At the Second Coming of Christ, our other paraclete will be at our side
once again. This will be a moment of unprecedented splendor. At His coming He
will glorify all His saints, both the living and the dead. All will rise to
meet Him in the air on the Resurrection-Rapture at the Last Day.
This will cap off
of the prophesied blow-out Pentecostal outpouring.
In that epic day the
saints will go up.
They will go out in a blaze of glory.
Who would
want to miss this?
---------------------------------
A STUDY INTO THE DEEPER MEANING OF OF PENTECOST.
A BETROTHAL OF
THE NATION OF ISRAEL AT SINAI.
A BETROTHAL OF THE CHURCH AT THE
FEAST OF PENTECOST.
A BETROTHAL OF BELIEVERS AT THEIR OWN PERSONAL
PENTECOSTAL EXPERIENCE. As we begin our journey of discovery in search of
the meaning of Pentecost we shall start by going back to the time of Moses.
The children of Israel had come out of Egypt in a magnificent deliverance.
They had crossed the Red Sea in a national baptism of sorts and come out into
the Sinai desert. It was there at Mount Sinai in the third month, the month of
Sivan, that God came down to meet His people. His Presence shook the earth. Up
on the mountain the people saw the thunderings and lightnings. And they
trembled. This was a day that they would remember forever. YHVH-God delivered
the Ten Commandments to Israel and to all mankind. His appearance upon the
mountain was accompanied with smoke, with thunderings, and with fire.
(Exo.19:18). For the Israelites it was a day of national betrothal.
One and a half millennia later, on that same date on the Hebrew calendar,
God visited His people once again. He had come in the person of a man, even
God in the flesh. Christ then ascended into heaven. God then moved in covenant
faithfulness to what He had promised. His people tarried and waited upon God.
They were ready to receive what He had for them. And it was on the Day of
Pentecost that the Holy Spirit outpouring came.
As we have alluded to earlier, the feast of Pentecost had been the occasion
of a great and noteworthy event in the Old Covenant. It had been the birthday
of the nation of Israel. But now something new was happening. In that epic
year of Christ's passion we are told that the Feast of Pentecost "had fully
come". In that epic year and on that auspicious and awesome day the Feast of
Pentecost was fulfilled in the New Covenant. On that day the Feast of
Pentecost had become more than the birthday of Israel. Pentecost in 32
A.D. would now also become the birthday of the Church.
Pentecost that year was a day like no other. It was an awesome display of
power from heaven. Tongues "like as of fire" were seen resting upon the 12
apostles. Witnesses heard a rushing mighty wind, like a tornado (Acts 2:2-3).
In his sermon on that day, Peter explained what had just occurred to the
assembled multitude, saying,
"These men are not drunk as you suppose. But
this is that which was spoken of by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to
pass, in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of My Spirit upon
all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young
men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: and on my
servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit;
and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs
in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapors of smoke: The sun shall be
turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable
day of the Lord come: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call
on the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Acts 2:16-18)
Peter had quoted from a prophecy by the prophet Joel. This dated
from about 800 years before. Joel’s prophecy foretold the climactic Holy
Spirit outpouring that would be seen at the very end of the age. God inspired
Peter to draw from that prophecy to explain the miraculous events they were
seeing on that amazing Day of Pentecost 2,000 years ago. The message the
Apostle Peter brought was simple and straightforward. This demonstration of
spiritual power was the same Pentecost that Joel had seen! Peter was saying in
effect that they were seeing this same remarkable outpouring of the Holy
Spirit that Joel saw. Only they were not seeing it at it’s peak. They were
seeing it at its beginnings. They were seeing it as it expanded out from
Israel to be a Light into the nations.
This was a remarkable message. Obviously the Pentecostal outpouring that
Joel saw had begun in earnest. And it was going to get more and more glorious
as time went on. It would reach its peak after the tribulation in the
days Of the cosmic signs of the 6th seal. This would be those awesome future
days when the sun turned to darkness and the moon to blood.
God's Spirit was poured out on His people back then, even as it will be
poured out in torrents during the end-time. The Holy Spirit will be powering
up during the latter days of those final seven years of this age. This will be
before the coming of the dreadful and awesome "Day of the Lord"!
That first Pentecost during the birthing of the Church was the 'early rain'
of God's Spirit. But as we come into the arena and the time of the latter days
of this age we shall experience the fulfillment of the 'Latter
Rain' of God's Holy Spirit! The prophet Hosea foretold,
"Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he
hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.
After two days will he revive us; in the THIRD DAY he will raise us
up, and we shall live in his sight. Then shall we know, if we follow on to
know the Lord. His going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall COME
unto us, as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth."
(Hosea 6:1-3). The story of Ruth is especially appropriate
for Pentecost for many reasons. It was at Pentecost that Boaz was betrothed to
Ruth. It was the beginning of wheat harvest, and Ruth went out into the fields
to glean from the harvest of Boaz, her next-of-kinsman. She presented herself
to him in betrothal on the eve of Pentecost. He accepted, according to Jewish
tradition. The Scriptures clearly reveal that it was the beginning of barley
harvest when Ruth began gleaning (Ruth 1:22). She continued reaping all the
way through until the end of barley harvest. (Ruth 2:21) This puts the story
into the context of Pentecost. The connection of Ruth to the Church is
obvious. (Ruth 2:6-11). The story of Ruth pictures the betrothal of the
Church, typified by Ruth, the Gentile convert, and Jesus Christ, the Messiah,
typified by Boaz, of the tribe of Judah.
PENTECOST AS A WEDDING COVENANT IN THE SUMMER SEASON OF LOVE AND FLOWERS.
RUTH WITH BOAZ. ISRAEL AT SINAI RESPONDS TO GOD'S PROPOSAL WITH A RESOUNDING
"WE WILL!" AND THEN THE CHURCH HAS HER MOUNTAIN TOP EXPERIENCE ON THE SAME
DAY, THE 7th OF SIVAN, THE DAY OF PENTECOST. Ancient Israel also entered
into a "wedding" contract with God at Mount Sinai. On the day of Pentecost God
Himself, the One who became the Messiah, came down to the top of Mount Sinai.
He "revealed" Himself to Israel, and spoke the Ten Commandments in their
hearing (Exo.19:20; 20:1-17). This was surely a momentous event. This was a
special "revelation" of God to mankind. It occurred in the desert of Sinai. We
read,
"And all the people saw the thunderings, and the
lightnings,
and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking . .
." (v.18). This was an epic day of visitation and covenant
making. The two parties come to terms with each other amid much thundering and
lightnings. The earth moves under the feet of the Bride. She enters into blood
covenant commitment to her Bridegroom by saying "I do!" It is the beginning of
a new level of relationship. It will take the prospective Bride onward towards
the consummation of their marriage at the end of the age.
The commitment made at Sinai represents a beginning of relationship. There
are many difficulties to overcome. Shortly after Moses ascends Mount Sinai,
the Israelites make the golden calf. They violate the commitment they made to
YHVH as a nation. But God is patient and walks them through all this.
Mount Sinai is very much a national wedding betrothal between God
and the nation of Israel. The prospective bride and groom exchange their "I
do's," and the "betrothed bride to be" willingly agrees to "obey" her
bridegroom as her future husband. She pledges to keep His commandments. The
Bridegroom presents the cup before His prospective Bride.
'Commune with Me' - by Keith Goodson.
The couple come into communion together. They exchange vows. He promises to
come for her at a future time. There is to be a Wedding Feast. The Marriage Supper of
the Lamb will also mark the consummation of their future marriage.
Meanwhile, the Bridegroom promises to send His Spirit, the Comforter to
protect and provide for His bride. By His Spirit He will communicate His love
for her. He will cherish her through all times, the good and the bad. By His
Spirit He expresses His love to her forever. She agrees to be faithful to Him,
to love Him and to obey Him. By His Spirit she will endure life's trials on
His behalf. She signed the betrothal with Him. And so she will be His witness.
This is despite distress, tests, persecutions, difficulties, discouragements,
hard times, or whatever.
The Pentecost experience is as a betrothal. It represents a new
relationship and a new commitment on the part of both parties. This is
not a "deal" or a "contract" in the "make it, break it" legalese of property
law and contract law. This is an everlasting relationship we are talking about
here. It is a blood covenant commitment written in the heavenly language
of eternity. It is 'unto death do us part'.
As we have seen, Pentecost is a transforming experience. It is the
doorway into a new relationship. Two who were formerly separate now
"tie the knot". Christ the Head is betrothed to His Church, even His Body, the
Body of Christ. They are committed to each other in a relationship that is
binding.
Paul wrote that in this life we are to be transformed until we are
ready to become one with Christ! He wrote, "And be not conformed to
this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may
prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God" (Rom.12:2).
Paul likewise wrote to the Ephesians, "That ye put off concerning the former
conduct the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the
new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness"
(Eph.4:22-24). To the Colossians, Paul writes: "Lie not one to another, seeing
that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; and have put on the new man,
which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him"
(Col.3:9-10). As the people of God, we are being changed, - transformed into
the very image and spiritual likeness of Jesus Christ!
At the time of the giving of the Law the Old Covenant, a marriage covenant
between YHVH and Israel, was proposed and answered with a resounding "We
do!"by the nation of Israel at its birth at Mount Sinai. Pentecost, coming on
the very same day also pictures the epic betrothal of Christ to the Church. It
is a day of epiphany, of divine manifestation of God coming down among men.
And men entering into a new relationship with God in a mountaintop experience,
an earnest, a down payment, the firstfruits of many glories yet to come.
Pentecost looks forward to the day when the Church will be glorified, and
receive incorruptible bodies to come into immortality in the God Family. She
will be a fitting glorious Bride for a loving and glorious Groom!
Pentecost also looks forward to the day of our "epiphany", our complete
change from mortal to immortal, from corruptible flesh to incorruptible spirit
bodies, from the corruptible human state into the Divine nature through union
with Christ. Pentecost is where God’s covenant people are empowered by the
Holy Spirit. They have found the oil to light the way in that coming dark
journey through the wilderness. Pentecost gives us a foretaste of that coming
day of wonder when Christ will once again be "revealed from heaven," in
awesome power and glory.
As we can readily see, Pentecost is not just an old forgotten feast of
ancient Israel. We have every reason to believe that the Feast of Pentecost,
like Passover and Tabernacles, will continue to be celebrated during the
coming Millennium of Messiah. It will be one of the three pilgrimage festivals
that every family in Israel will go up to Jerusalem to attend every year.
Does this mean there will have to be a quantum leap forward in transport in
the coming Age of Messiah? Perhaps so. In those future times people may be in
an age of technology such that they may be able to travel at unheard of speeds
from place to place on earth. Perhaps in those wonderful future times the
people under Messiah will have new vehicles suspended and flying through the
air in a generated local vehicular gravitational field. This is not beyond the
realm of possibility. Albert Einstein was working on the Unified Field Theory
towards the end of his life. God will not let us have this technology yet
given the extreme danger of wicked men and rogue governments our era. But in
the coming Millennium of Messiah it will be different. The world system will
no longer be evil and unsafe. The citizenry of the world in that coming golden
age will be able to move forward in every conceivable way under the ministry
and rule of Messiah.
FOUR FEASTS OUT OF SEVEN HAVE BEEN FULFILLED.
FOUR FEASTS ARE YET TO
GO. Pentecost is the fourth of the Seven Feasts of Israel. The first four
have been fulfilled. The fifth, sixth, and seventh feasts are yet to be
fulfilled. Will they be fulfilled?
Most certainly they will!
Obviously they will be epic earthshaking events.
What will happen on
those future feast days?
The answer is absolutely mind boggling.
It is
the subject of our exciting article on the FALL FEASTS OF
ISRAEL.
Original article: End Time Pilgrim
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