Dear friends and readers,
Is Pentecost really understood for it's PHENOMENAL SIGNIFICANCE???
Ministerially, I answer scriptural questions as they come to me and have found that some Biblical topics--that many of us take for granted---are not always understood within context---OR IMPORTANCE--by many believers! Also in todays church, few pastors are teaching anything about GODS APPOINTED TIMES such as Passover, Unleavened Bread, First fruits and Pentecost. Let alone the fall feasts and High Holy Days of repentance. Unfortunately, over the centuries a belief (among many---not all), seems to have developed that the term "OLD TESTAMENT" somehow means that it is obsolete or of no importance to believers today. As a result, many believers worldwide have been flatly cheated out of tremendous richness and spiritual lessons that have nothing whatsoever to do with legalism.
Separation also occurred between Jews and Gentile followers of Christ that I do not believe was ever intended by the Lord. There are lots of historical issues that happened along the way that exacerbated the whole issue of separation but I will not go into that today. The net result however is that many Jews have also been ripped off where the richness of their Messiah is concerned. Also many in both camps seem to believe that the OLD and the NEW are completely separate books. While in reality it is ONE BIBLE that progresses over the centuries from a requirement to observe the written law, to a New Covenant in which free salvation by grace is available to any and all human beings who breath air.
Bottom line: You can no more remove the Old Testament from God's plan of salvation---and the New Testament, than you could remove the foundation of the tallest building on earth and expect it to remain standing.
The process that God provided for moving mankind from the requirements of the written law---and moving into the dispensation of salvation by and through grace are what PENTECOST is all about.
PENTECOST is Phenomenally important; Remember Acts chapter 2? "When the day of PENTECOST had fully come, they (the disciples of the Lord) were all with one accord in one place"?
Obviously we are speaking of a time in which the fledgeling church was tiny in comparison to roughly 2 1/2 BILLION believers spread across the globe today. So, for the sake of todays article, being in "one place" is long past reality and so is being "with one accord"! Jesus of course is our uniting factor but with literally hundreds of Christian denominations scattered all around the world, "UNITY or ONE ACCORD" takes on an entirely different perspective.
Be that as it may, the real issue here is PENTECOST and what it really means.
So lets have a short quiz; Answer in your mind, the correct answer. True or false.
1). Pentecost is a New Testament phenomena.
2). The purpose for Pentecost was for the Lord to impart the Holy Spirit onto and into the new church (believers).
3). Pentecost signaled the beginning of individual gifts of the Spirit to individual believers.
4). Pentecost signaled the beginning of the New Covenant of grace and had nothing whatsoever to do with the Old Testament.
5). All of the above.
Hmmmmmmmm!
What if I told you that Pentecost was NOT a New Testament phenomena, and it most certainly did have lots to do with both Old and New Testaments? What if I told you that God's perfect plan for mankind (in general) came to full circle fulfillment exactly on the day of Pentecost?
But lets work backwards from the New Testament day listed in Acts chapter 2. REMEMBER THE PHRASE "when the day of Pentecost had FULLY COME"! Those two words--FULLY COME are literally pregnant with (for many) long lost understanding of the transition from THE LAW to GRACE as a means to spend eternity with GOD! SALVATION!
Now of course, many will say "Salvation from what"? And the answer to that lies in the following scriptural truth; Romans 3:23 "FOR ALL HAVE SINNED AND FALL SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD"! In other words, thanks to "original sin" which was perpetrated by mankind's ancient forefather's, Adam and Eve, NO ONE can measure up to God's standards. And without something happening that mankind cannot do for himself, we would ALL be lost.
GOD DECIDED TO DO SOMETHING FOR US, SO WE WOULD NOT BE LOST!
We know that without Jesus Christ and His sacrificial death and atonement for sin in our behalf, that (BEING ETERNALLY LOST) would still be true today. But God the Father had a two step process to bring mankind to the point of realizing that we needed some big time help!
We all know the story of God choosing the Jewish people as His own special people and He did that originally through Father Abraham. Who' son Isaac had a son named Jacob who became the progenitor of the 12 tribes of Israel. Time goes by and Israel as a people group find themselves as captives and slaves to Pharaoh, the King of Egypt. After 400 hundred years, God sent a man named Moses to free His chosen people from captivity. Not easy but with God's help, Moses pulls it off and leads well over 600,000 people from captivity (NOTE: Lots of argument over this number. Estimates run from 600,000 to well over one million). One way or another, After Moses led them to freedom, there were lots of folks who almost immediately began to snivel about EVERYTHING! Which led to the people sinning before God, which led to Moses being called up a mountain called Mount Sinai, by God Himself.
While on that mountain God gave Moses 10 Commandments for the people to obey and He did it by inscribing those commandments on stone with His finger. These commandments are known as "THE LAW" and in time were expanded to include the first 5 books of the Bible, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. These 5 books are still referred to today as the "TORAH". Or "THE LAW". The Old Testament actually includes a total of 39 books which many scholars refer to as the Hebrew Bible or the "Tenackh". Contrast that to the 27 books of the New Testament which in some circles is known as the "BRIT CHADASHAH".
So why all the history here? Because in order to fully understand PENTECOST, it is important to have a basic understanding of what God did and is still doing today.
First, Pentecost is NOT a New Testament creation. It goes all the way back to a Biblical Festival decreed by God in Leviticus 23:15-22. Pentecost was the original agricultural festival of "SHAVUOT" (Feast of Weeks) which was one of three PILGRIM feasts decreed by God. The other two are Unleavened Bread and the Feast of Tabernacles. God instructed it to be observed also in Deuteronomy 16:16. And in terms of the exodus from Egypt, SHAVUOT occurs 50 days after "PESACH" (Passover). The Pentecost of Acts chapter 2 occurred 50 days after the Resurrection of Christ from the grave. Coincidence?
So we find ourselves back on Mt. Sinai with God and Moses to continue our adventure! NOTE: There is nothing in the Bible that specifically says that the day Moses received "THE LAW" on Mt. Sinai was the exact day as Pentecost of Acts chapter 2. But there is some very compelling evidence to support that possibility.
So who cares and why is it even relevant? It is immensely relevant if God did in fact give Moses the Law on the original day of Pentecost because doing so again through Christ in the New Testament signaled the end of the requirement to obey the law and began the NEW COVENANT to receive salvation by grace. Let me unpack that. If Moses received the law on Pentecost (by the way, throughout the Old Testament the LAW expanded to 613 laws that had to be obeyed--an impossible task for any human being), then it becomes overwhelmingly important if God chose exactly the same day thousands of years later to CHANGE the ability of mankind to approach His Throne---from the impossible task of obeying endless laws to simply accepting the FREE GIFT OF GRACE offered by HIMSELF--through blood atonement and death, in the Form of His Only begotten Son, Jesus of Nazareth. WOW! What a plan.
So the question is simple? Is there any evidence that both the covenant of the LAW and the covenant of GRACE were given on exactly the same day? PENTECOST? You decide--but here are a few things for you to consider;
Early on, ancient Rabbis determined that SHAVUOT (Pentecost) coincided with God giving the TORAH to Moses on Mt. Sinai. How did they come to that conclusion? I have no idea. While I certainly do not agree with all that some Rabbis have to say, we also cannot throw out the old baby with the bath water. These guys are serious Biblical students and scholars. Plus the Bible was trusted to their care by God. Otherwise we would not have it today. Accordingly, without proof to the contrary, I have no reason to doubt their conclusions about the timing of SHAVUOT.
But there are at least 12 other very provocative reasons that this is a strong possibility;
1). Both events occurred on a mountain (Mt. Sinai and Mt. Zion), known as the "MOUNTAIN OF GOD" Exodus 24:13 and Isaiah 2:3.
2). Both events happened to a newly redeemed people. The Exodus marked the birth of the Israelite nation while the events of Pentecost, recorded in Acts chapter 2 marked the birth of Christianity---always remembering that "THE CHURCH" sprang from JUDAISM and Is made up of both Jew and gentile believers.
3). Both events involved God's people receiving a gift: TORAH on Sinai and later the SPIRIT of GOD on Zion!
4). In both events the gift given by God was done through fire. Mt. Sinai was on fire and divided tongues of fire sat upon each of those present at Pentecost.
5). According to many scholars, both events took place at the same time on the same month.
6). The Israelites left Egypt on Passover and 40 days later arrived at Sinai. Then Moses went up on the mountain with God. 10 days later Moses came down with the Torah tablets and discovered that the people had sinned--broken covenant with God--and 3000 people died as a result. That is a total of 50 days.
Jesus died on Passover and 40 days later went up on a mountain to see God (Mt. of Olives). 10 days after Jesus Ascended, the Holy Spirit came down and 3000 people were saved. That is 50 days between His resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts chapter 2.
7). More specifically---50 days after sacrificing the Passover lamb, the Israelites received a covenant from God--THE LAW. 50 days after Jesus self sacrifice, OUR PASSOVER LAMB---the true Lamb of God, believers received a new covenant of salvation by GRACE from GOD!
8). Both events had similar sounds and symbols; Wind, fire, smoke, voices! Reportedly the Hebrew word "KOLOT" (Strong's H6963) is the same as voices or languages. Think about that in the light of the Acts chapter 2 events.
9). The fire on Mt. Sinai was visible to all. The fire at Pentecost was individual fires settling on every person. At Sinai the people were kept away from the fire. At Pentecost the fire came to the people.
10). At both events there was what is called a "THEOPHANY"! God showed up! Apparently God the Father on Mt. Sinai and God the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
11). At Sinai God wrote His law on tablets of stone. At Pentecost He wrote His New Covenant on the hearts of new believers!
12). In both events a mixed multitude of people were represented (Exodus 12:38) and in Acts 2:5.
So friends, there is the evidence for you to think about! Were the events of God giving the LAW on Mt. Sinai and giving the New Covenant in Acts chapter 2---done on the very same day---centuries apart? On the day of SHAVUOT/PENTECOST?
Why is this so incredibly important? Remember at the beginning of this article, I said REMEMBER THE WORDING from Acts chapter 2. The specific words of importance here are, "When Pentecost had FULLY COME"!
In my opinion, at the very first Pentecost on Mt. Sinai, it was a PARTIAL fulfillment of what God long intended to bring the human race into fellowship with HIMSELF! That grand plan came full circle and "FULLY CAME" for all mankind who would accept salvation by grace through belief in Jesus Christ, the Messiah of Israel, and that full circle was complete in ACTS chapter 2.
I hope you find this article interesting but as always---you are free to decide for yourselves.
God bless,
Pastor Rance.
