Hi all,
Most people know the day of Pentecost from Acts 2 when the Holy Spirit came upon the 120 who had been praying. They spilled into the street, speaking languages they had never learned, but were confirmed to be languages common around the Roman Empire by those who heard them.
Why was there a feast of Pentecost in the first place? And why did they speak in languages they had never learned? To answer those questions we need to have a basic understanding of the 7 God-given festivals, including the 1st Pentecost.
The festivals are rehearsals for the real
Leviticus 23 details the 7 festivals God gave to Moses, 6 feasts and 1 fast. There are 4 in spring and 3 in the autumn. The 4 spring are: Unleavened Bread, Passover, First Fruits, Pentecost. All 4 have been fulfilled on their exact day(s). The 3 autumn are: Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, Tabernacles. These have yet to be fulfilled.
Each is called a ‘moed’, pronounced ‘mow-ed’, in Leviticus 23. The root of the word has to do with setting a wedding date. When a couple sets a date, it is an appointed time, a consecrated, special appointment. A ‘moed’. These are the feasts of Israel.
By the very nature of these 7 being divine appointments, it has been understood each one will have a literal fulfillment. In a wedding there is a rehearsal before the real. In theater there are rehearsals for the actual appointed time of the ‘real’. There is much written in Judaism that these festivals are rehearsals until the true happens.
Lots and lots of rehearsals
This means when they celebrated the original feast of Unleavened Bread and Passover by killing the lamb and being under the blood, it was a rehearsal until Christ fulfilled it.
First Fruits was celebrated the Sunday morning after Passover, and was fulfilled on its day by Jesus being the first to be raised from the dead. He is the first fruit of those to be raised from the dead. Pentecost was 50 days after First Fruits.
The autumn festivals
In the fall it means when they celebrate the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh haShanah) in the new moon phase and blow the ‘last trumpet’ to celebrate the resurrection of the righteous dead, they are rehearsing for that ‘natzal’ , what we gentiles call the rapture.
It means when they fast on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) to repent for their sins, giving account to God, they are rehearsing for the day Messiah will come and bring the nations before Him to account for their sins.
When they celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles and build little shelters to overnight in as they celebrate God living with man, they rehearse the literal fulfillment of Messiah living with man. We are told in Zechariah 14: 16 Tabernacles will be celebrated annually in the Millennium to celebrate the Messiah King ruling earth from Jerusalem.
What were they rehearsing at Pentecost?
The word ‘pentecost’ means ‘fiftieth’ (50th). It is the celebration of God giving His Word to Moses when Israel was 50 days out of Egypt. The first Passover we are told, they killed the lamb at 3pm (literally, between the evenings) on Thursday the 14th, and Egypt made them leave immediately, arriving in the early morning Friday at Succoth*, then Friday night in Etham*. On Saturday night the Lord made them camp on the edge of the Sea*.
*Exodus 12: 6, 27. Exodus 13: 20, 14:2
They spent 3 days in the wilderness after the Passover lamb had been killed, as a type of the Messiah spending 3 days in death.
(Thursday crucified 9am/died 3pm, all day Friday/Saturday. Because the Thursday evening/Friday day they ate the lamb started a ceremonial Sabbath, and the next day was the normal Saturday Sabbath, it means 2 Sabbaths in a row, not allowing the women to go to the tomb until Sunday morning, the Feast of First fruits. Not understanding Judaism’s 2 consecutive Sabbaths centuries ago caused the church to think Jesus died Friday.)
Back to Exodus
On Saturday night a strong wind blew* and the Sea was parted and sea bed dried, allowing Israel to be baptized into death from Egypt through the water, and coming out the other side Sunday morning as a first fruit from the dead, a brand new ‘man’, the new nation Israel. The enemy’s army was dead and they were free. The enemy could no longer threaten them. *Exodus 14: 21-22
They traveled 47 days to the foot of the Mount, and prepared themselves 3 days* to be brought before the Lord, for a total of 50. On the 50th day God gave Moses the 10 Commandments. *Exodus 19:11
When God gave the 10 Commandments, the Midrash, a Jewish commentary, says: “When God gave His Word, they not only heard the Lord’s voice but saw the sounds as waves as they came from the mouth of God. It was a fiery substance. Each commandment that left His mouth traveled to each Jew individually asking if they would obey.”
Another rabbi says: “God’s voice as it was uttered, split up into 70 languages, so that all the nations understood.”
In that first Day of Pentecost, God’s voice was divided into the then 70 languages of the earth besides Hebrew, and gave all nations the 10 Commandments. There is now a deep knowing within everyone a day of rest is needed, and it is right to honor parents, wrong to utter God’s name in vain, steal, murder, lie, commit adultery, or lust for what isn’t yours. Also within everyone to worship the Creator and not make idols.
The commentaries on the original Pentecost are confirmed as seen in Acts 2: 1-12. We see the 120 receiving the Holy Spirit, having fire upon them as they spoke languages of the earth they had never learned, in direct fulfillment of the original Day of Pentecost.
We still walk in them
When a couple is married on their ‘moed’ day, they live within the fulfillment of that day the rest of their marriage. They don’t need to re-do their vows every year on their anniversary for they are walking in the fulfillment of that date every day. They now possess that day and walk in it.
When a person pays off a car or home, they now possess the contract. They don’t need to keep making payments as rehearsal for the last payment. They made the last payment so now own the contract, own the mortgage.
Jesus was the Passover Lamb, so you can hold a Passover if you wish, but we walk in the reality of its fulfillment on the cross. Our new birth is proof we continue to walk in the provision from that Passover.
He was the first raised from the dead as per the Feast of First Fruits, and we still walk in resurrection power. The Holy Spirit came at Pentecost, and we are still walking in all it brought – the Holy Spirit to man, tongues, healing, and more!
And that’s where we’ll pick it up next week, until then, blessings,
John Fenn
