The Feast of Pentecost came at the end of the wheat harvest, the sixth day of Sivan, the third month, Israel observed it in commemoration of the giving of the law.
There are hidden meanings in the Feast of Pentecost, and the Lord is revealing what it really means. On the day of Pentecost the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the speaking in tongues was inaugurated in the early church.
God’s instruction in Exodus 23:14 was, Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year. The three feasts, Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles, represent the threefold experience of the believer.
These three feasts are given different names in the book of Exodus. The feast of unleavened bread (Passover) shalt thou keep: seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, at the time appointed in the month of Abib (for in it thou camest out from Egypt); and none shall appear before me empty. Exodus 23:15–16.
We don’t come before the Lord empty-handed; we come to bless Him, not paying God for anything, it is a token of our thanksgiving. He gives us the harvest and we return to Him the firstfruits.
Exodus 23:16–17: and the feast of harvest, (Pentecost) the firstfruits of thy labors, which thou sowest in the field: and the feast of ingathering, at the end of the year, when thou gatherest in thy labors out of the field. Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord Jehovah.
This gives us a picture of the fact that the Feast of Pentecost was actually a harvest of firstfruits. Keep that in mind, for it has great significance when you read the second chapter of Acts.
That outpouring of the Spirit was a first harvest just as the end time is the end harvest which James speaks of…the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. James 5:7.
At the beginning this was the harvest of firstfruits, three thousand people crying out, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” Isn’t it beautiful how three thousand people were brought into the Kingdom of God on the day of Pentecost, and a few days later another five thousand?
The word “Pentecost” means “fifty.” A period of fifty days intervenes between the Feast of Passover and the Feast of Pentecost.
Fifty days after the crucifixion came the day of Pentecost. Three days intervened between the crucifixion and resurrection. During the next forty days Christ made many appearances as indisputable proof of His resurrection. That represents a total of forty-three days. There were seven days, or perhaps a little more, that his followers waited in the upper room of the temple until the day of Pentecost was fully come.
A passage in Leviticus 23 will help us to understand the connection in the symbolism of the Scripture between Passover and Pentecost: These are the set feasts of the Lord, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their appointed season. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, is the Lord’s passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the Lord: seven days ye shall eat unleavened bread. In the first day ye shall have a holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work.
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye are come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring the sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest: and he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. And in the clay when ye wave the sheaf, ye shall offer a he-lamb without blemish a year old for a burnt-offering unto the Lord. Leviticus 23:4–7, 9–12. The day after the Sabbath they made a sheaf of the first grain of the harvest and waved it unto the Lord, as part of the Passover observance.
And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the waveoffering; seven sabbaths shall there be complete (forty-nine days): even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days (the meaning of the word “Pentecost”); and ye shall offer a new meal-offering unto the Lord. Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave-loaves of two tenth parts of an e-phah: they shall be of fine flour, they shall be baken with leaven, for first-fruits unto the Lord. And ye shall present with the bread seven lambs without blemish a year old…Leviticus 23:15–18.
At the Passover a bundle of grain was waved before the Lord; but fifty days later the grain, converted into fine flour, was used to make two loaves, which were waved before the Lord. What a beautiful picture. Christ said, “Unless a grain of wheat fall on the ground and die it abideth alone (John 12:24). But if I be lifted up, I’ll draw all men unto Myself” (John 12:32). We are going to be the bread of heaven, that living bread for the world, because Christ has been processed into the very fabric of our lives. Christ lives in us. The Christ who died and gave Himself for us opened the door.
Two loaves—the numerical symbolism of the number two is Christ in His many-membered Body. What significance does that have? And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 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 Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Acts 2:1–4.
What was taking place? Firstfruits harvest—first harvest was taking place. That day people began speaking in other tongues, God was bringing forth the firstfruits. He was bringing forth the harvest.
The first harvest was Pentecost. The Feast of Pentecost technically represents what was being brought forth unto the Lord.
Christ had died and now He was living within these people. His Spirit was indwelling them and anointing them, and it was as if three thousand of them were the firstfruits being waved unto the Lord saying, “Lord, the precious fruit of the earth has begun; the harvest has begun; and there will be more.”
Although we’re facing the completion of the ingathering at the end time, in another aspect the move of the Spirit is in the firstfruit stage. We haven’t seen the large ingatherings, the great signs and wonders that God will perform. We’ve just started.
I believe that God will make me a Pentecost offering unto the Lord—one of the firstfruits. Many things are coming forth and I would like to be one of the firstfruits of the manifested sons of God. Wouldn’t you?
I would like to be one of the firstfruits coming into resurrection life, and among the firstfruits of those who do the exploits because they know their God.
I would like to be among those first two loaves that are waved before the Lord, saying, “Father, this is the promise that the rest will soon be forthcoming.” Pentecost with its three thousand souls was the first promise of a great harvest to come, a promise of a great host without number that will be brought before the Lord Jesus Christ.
On the day of Pentecost, one hundred and twenty were filled with the Holy Spirit. I wish we could see those flaming tongues of fire come and rest on the people. Wouldn’t you like to hear that wind blowing? No doubt it was an awesome thing: the rushing mighty wind filling the house; the fire coming, and the people speaking beautiful, pure languages.
Verse 5: Now there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. That meant every place where the Jews had gone. Jews maintain their identity as Jews, although they are in different countries to which they are also loyal. But there is quite a difference between Jews from different countries. These Jews who had been born in many different nations were gathered in Jerusalem.
What were they doing in Jerusalem? We read in Exodus 23:17: Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord Jehovah. The temple worship was still intact and continued to be until 70 A.D.
They had to worship in the temple three times a year. They rushed together in this crowded city where they heard and saw this amazing thing taking place. What did they hear? Was it a lot of babbling that they couldn’t understand? No, it was a distinct language. They were confounded, because that every man heard them speaking in his own language. Acts 2:6. They weren’t foreigners; they were Jews.
They heard the marvelous praises of God coming forth from these one hundred and twenty people in all their different languages. And they exclaimed, “How is it that we hear every man speaking our own language, seeing that they are all Galileans?” (verses 7, 8).
This wasn’t a collection of believers in Christ who had been gathered from all these nations. They were Galileans who had probably never traveled very far from home and had never even visited those nations; yet they were speaking the languages of those countries.
In the Feast of Pentecost God was doing what He always wants to do: establish a communication between the people through the Holy Spirit.
It began as almost a symbolic act, but it’s going to be much more than that. I expect it to take place again. I anticipate that God will make it possible by the Holy Spirit for people to speak other languages without studying them, enabling them to go into any country in the world and preach in that language.
Many times God has spoken through the gifts of tongues, and people have heard a speaker, who did not know the language, proclaim to them the marvelous works of God. It will take place again in the end time.
This whole story began back at the tower of Babel, soon after the fall. The people wanted to reach God; they wanted to reach up to heaven. They wanted to have all the power of religion without any regeneration.
When people realized they were fallen, then they became religious. Before the fall of man people were spiritual; after the fall they became very religious and built the tower of Babel.
God confused their endeavor by giving them different languages and so they were scattered over the face of the earth.
The day of Pentecost was a reversal of this as God put away the Babel of confusion. He enabled them to speak with other languages, communicating with people and bringing them into one unit. That day three thousand were added to the church, with God fusing them in. He had opened the door, ending the confusion, the separation, and the lack of understanding.
God grant that it takes place again. There are many people that I’d like to have an understanding of what a walk with God is. I wish God would open the door for your loved ones, your family and friends, so they could understand what this walk is all about.
Start praying, because He’s the God of Pentecost, the God who can anoint us by His Spirit to speak languages so that everyone in the place is illuminated and made aware of what God has for them.
I’ve been praying that God would give us a Pentecost on the children and see them filled with the Spirit. They need the fullness of the Holy Spirit long before the emphasis is usually given to it.
Let’s see them filled with the Holy Spirit. Do you think they are too young? Are they too young for the devil to get a hold of them? If so, then they are also too young for the Holy Spirit. But if you’ve ever seen a streak of meanness in them, or seen them oppressed or stirred up by the devil at all, then you know they are already open and susceptible to spirits, and you’re too late. They should have been filled with the Holy Spirit before that. When they are just babies we should start seeking for the Holy Spirit to anoint them and bring them into something wonderful.
Ephesians 1:14.When God pours out His Spirit to us, it’s really just a promise. Paul calls it…the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession…
Moffett translates it, “When He gives us the Holy Spirit, He gives us the first installment of heaven.” There’s more to come and it keeps coming. When you have the Holy Spirit you have the first installment of it. Do you feel that you’re ready for another installment? Let’s experience the real meaning of Pentecost: a harvest of firstfruits, any fresh new experience being brought forth to the earth.