"What is Pentecost?" by Javan Smith

 

While we were in Colorado, I had the privilege of sitting down over coffee with one of Emma's teachers who has become a good friend. He teaches on the Old Testament and since I was about to preach about Pentecost the next Sunday, I wanted to pick his brain about the relationship of Pentecost in the Old Testament.

 

He recently wrote about Pentecost and I asked his permission to share it in our message. These photos are what he posted as well. Enjoy what he wrote...

 

What is Pentecost?

Fifty days after Passover, is the biblical feast known as Shavuot (the Feast of Weeks). Through Church history, Shavuot has commonly been called “Pentecost,” a name derived from the Greek word for “fiftieth.” Because most of the world follows the Gregorian calendar, rather than the lunar Hebrew calendar, churches observe “Pentecost Sunday” on a day that may not correspond with the biblical Feast of Shavuot, but regardless of what some scholars may argue, Pentecost and Shavuot are the same holiday.

Of the seven feasts of Israel, Pentecost is the final spring feast. Four feasts occur during the Spring and three occur during the Fall. When studied as a complete panorama, the seven feasts tell the story of the betrothal and marriage of the Messiah with His Bride. In the four spring feasts, we see a portrayal of the betrothal or ‘kiddushin.’ At the betrothal stage, the bridegroom offers the cup of wine to his beloved, and she has the choice of whether to accept. Once she accepts, then the marriage contract, known as the ‘ketubah’ is drawn up, specifying the bride price, or “mohar.” Yeshua the Messiah fulfilled the four spring feasts in His first coming, when He came as the suffering servant. In the first Pentecost that followed His crucifixion, Jesus sent the bride price (“mohar”) of the Holy Spirit, whom Ephesians 1:13-14 refers to as the down payment of our promised redemption.

During Passover, the Lord offered the cup of wine, revealing His intent to betroth us to Himself. Recall that the very first Passover was the night that the Lord led the armies of Israel out of Egypt. Most scholars believe that the Law was given at Mt. Sinai fifty days after the very first Passover, which would have been the very first Feast of Shavuot. In a sense, the Law represented the marriage contract (the ketubah) between the Lord and His Bride. Of course, Israel broke the marriage contract (see Jeremiah 31:32), but when Jesus came, He paid the price of the broken contract. In fact, when He was in the wilderness, He responded to each temptation by saying “it is written.” The Hebrew word for “marriage contract” (“ketubah”) literally means “written.” Though the New Testament is recorded in Greek, Jesus would have spoken Aramaic or Hebrew, and the word that He would have used to say “it is written” would have been a direct reference to the marriage contract that was given at the first Shavuot, namely the Law. Even though the bride had broken the contract, the Bridegroom came to keep that which had been “written.”

Pentecost represents a season of waiting. After Passover, the people of God are to count fifty days, from barley harvest to wheat harvest. Recall that the Holy Spirit came “when the Day of Pentecost had fully come,” according to Acts 2:1-4. Why did it happen when Pentecost had fully come? Fulfillment of the Promise had to happen on the fiftieth day, corresponding to the time frame God had prearranged millennia earlier. Between the Resurrection and the promised outpouring of the Holy Spirit, what did Jesus instruct His disciples to do? He told them to wait! (see Luke 24:49). Sometimes, waiting can seem maddening, but we know that He is working in the waiting.

Befitting to the theme of waiting, the story of Ruth is generally associated with the holiday of Shavuot. Orthodox Jews traditionally read the Book of Ruth during the Shavuot season. Ruth’s redemptive story is a story of waiting, trusting that her redeemer was working on her behalf. From the time of barley harvest, corresponding to Passover, to the time of wheat harvest, corresponding to Pentecost, Ruth patiently continued to glean in the field of Boaz. After waiting for nearly seven weeks, she received an instruction from her mother-in-law, Naomi. What was that instruction? Essentially, Naomi instructed her to wait some more! In Ruth 3:18, Naomi told Ruth, “Sit still, my daughter, until you know how the matter will turn out; for the man will not rest until he has concluded the matter this day.” Meanwhile, while Ruth waited, Boaz was acting as her kinsman-redeemer, working out the details of her redemption!

And so, as Pentecost season is upon us, we are reminded that we are in a time of waiting. Our season of waiting is not a time to sit idle, just as Ruth continued to serve in the field while she waited. Likewise, we remain about the King’s business while we await the return of our Redeemer. The three fall feasts which are yet to be fulfilled remind us of the reason why we are waiting. During the three fall feasts, namely the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles, we look ahead to the wedding phase of our marriage to the Messiah, known in Hebrew as the “nissuin.” One day the trumpet will sound, and He will carry away His Bride to dwell with Him in His Tabernacle! For this reason, the Fall Feasts symbolize the phase of when He will marry us once and for all and carry us away to abide with Him eternally. The etymology of the “nissuin” phase comes from a Hebrew word meaning to “lift away” or to “carry away.” Praise the Lord!

So let us wait for Him, and let us be about the King’s business as we wait. Whether you observe Pentecost according to the Gregorian calendar or the Hebrew calendar, or whether you have never observed the feast at all, remember to thank Him for the marriage contract that He upheld for you and the down payment of the Holy Spirit that He gave to you as a bride price. Most importantly, remember to look up, for your redemption draws nigh!

 

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If you would like more information about Javan, he and his wife have a ministry called Javareg Ministries.