What is Pentecost?

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place.  And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.  And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:1-4, ESV)

We know Pentecost as the day that God poured out His people on His followers and mobilized the church. But let’s back up. What was Pentecost in the Jewish calendar and how does that relate to the coming of the Holy Spirit?

The Jewish Pentecost festival was celebrated as a commemoration of God’s giving of the law on Mount Sinai. It was the second major festival for the children of Israel set 50 days after Passover (Pentecost literally means fiftieth). It is also the culmination of the “feast of Weeks” that marked the seventh week after Passover. It included an offering of a sheaf of wheat that was the first fruit harvested for the season.

There are at least 5 parallels with the first and second Pentecost:

1. WAITING
   Pentecost was symbolic of the wait between Passover and entrance to the promised land. So also, the church waited after Christ’s resurrection for the gift of the Holy Spirit.

2. FIRST-FRUITS
   The Israelites offered the first of their crop to acknowledge that it belonged to God up until the very last harvest. So also, the first-fruits of the Spirit are present in the life of the believer as a seal that we are Christ’s and He will bring us home.

3. DIVINE SPEECH
   God proclaimed the Law to the Israelites from fire, smoke, and thunder on Sinai. On the apostles, tongues of fire appeared and they proclaimed the gospel in unlearned languages.

4. COVENANT
   The fulfillment of Sinai’s Old Covenant was in the New Covenant established in the Lord’s Supper and preach by the apostles at Pentecost. The New Covenant did what the Old could not—promise salvation as a free gift through the death and resurrection of the spotless Lamb of God!

5. REST
   The fiftieth day (just as the fiftieth year) was a time of jubilee—freedom from bondage and rest from labor. The apostolic message of Pentecost was freedom from sin and rest in Christ.

For a more in depth study on the themes above, visit:
www.1517.org/articles/the-old-testament-pentecost-why-did-jesus-pour-out-his-spirit-on-this-particular-day