There are no presents or candy, no imaginary characters of legend to get the kids (or adults) excited. In fact, there is even counting involved in this biblical holiday that most Christians (even Pentecostals) often don’t celebrate.
For much of my Christian experience Pentecost or in the Hebrew Shavuot, was a strange holiday. I could never really wrap my head around how the Apostles could preach to thousands of people from an upper room and then baptize them; where did they get the pools of water?
I knew that the name of this day meant to count fifty, but where did the counting come into play? I just assumed that it was because it was fifty days from when Jesus rose from the dead, and then the Holy Spirit came ten days after that but then I found out it was a holy day before that established by the command of the Lord.
This was when I gained a new appreciation for the intimacy the Lord built into this day, a day when the Lord comes to meet in covenant and revelation. The day He puts His word in our heart and helps us live out the life He saved us to live.
Christians don’t always clearly understand the exodus narrative and its relation to how we are saved and meant to live our lives. I have always said that trusting Jesus as our Lord and Savior is just the beginning of the journey, not an end.
Passover is the time we remember the death of Jesus; in the exodus narrative, the lambs are slain, and the blood is put on the doorposts and lentils of those who believe.
Christians celebrate resurrection Sunday as the day Jesus was raised from the dead. Most of us fail to remember that on that day, it was the feast of First Fruits when the High Priest would offer the loaves of barley.
Jesus is the first fruits of those raised from the dead, but so too were his disciples the first fruits of the harvest of those saved by trusting Jesus.
The Lord commanded His people to count 49 days from the Feast of First Fruits until Shavuot. In the exodus narrative, this coincides with the giving of God’s instruction or Torah at Mt. Sinai.
There is a mistaken belief that Moses went up the mountain and received the tablets of stone from God all by himself, and that was the first time anyone heard the commandments of the Lord, but that is the Hollywood version of events.
The Bible reveals that the Lord had Moses prepare the people to hear directly from Him before the finger of God cut the stones.
Exodus describes the millions of people that made up the children of Israel, preparing themselves to meet with the Lord. This meeting is often compared to a wedding and the giving of God’s word to a marriage contract.
In scripture, the Lord is described as an all-consuming fire. This is also how God often presents Himself. There was smoke, fire, and cloud on the mountain. The mountain trembled and the blast of a shofar sounded louder and louder. The voice of God was audibly heard by the entire nation.
According to Jewish teaching and legend about that day, when God spoke His word, it could be visibly seen as flames of fire, and it could be heard in the native language of the people. It is claimed to be the seventy languages of mankind.
The Apostles of Jesus knew these teachings when the Lord told them to wait in Jerusalem. They also knew the command of God to go to Jerusalem and worship in the temple on Shavuot or Pentecost. And this is where it gets fun.
Where did all the men come from who heard the gospel message on Pentecost? How did so many get baptized and where did the water come from?
Pentecost was always the anniversary of the Lord speaking to His people intimately and giving them instruction on righteous living.
His people didn’t live up to this righteous standard for even 40 days while waiting for Moses to return. The words of God had been spoken, those word were immediately written down and a copy given to every tribal leader.
The people had agreed to the terms of the covenant but couldn’t live by it. The covenant of Mt. Sinai had been broken by the sin of the golden calf and the tablets of stone written by the finger of God lay broken in pieces.
A new covenant was needed. It had been made once again, this time in the blood of Jesus and now the word of God, His Torah was being written by the finger (the Holy Spirit) of God on the hearts of man.
Jeremiah the prophet foresaw this when God declared through him, “Behold, I will make a New Covenant… I will put My Torah within them and on their heart I will write it, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”
Ezekiel the prophet also foretold by the Spirit of God: “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.”
When the tongues of fire appeared on Apostles and they spoke in different languages it was in the Temple and there were thousands of people to hear the message because they were commanded to be there.
The people who heard the message that day were faithful to observe the command of God and were open to the move of the Holy Spirit. They were baptized right away because the Temple was set up for it.
Today, Pentecost should remind us of God’s covenant. He did not leave us alone or powerless in this fallen world. He wants to draw us near to Him and set our hearts on fire. He wants us to overcome this world and declare the gospel with boldness.
“Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God.” Ephesians 5:17-21
