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THE FEAST OF PENTECOST
THE
FEAST OF PENTECOST climaxed the glad season of Israel's grain
harvest. The beginning of the
grain harvest was marked by the sacrifice, at the sanctuary, of the omer, the
first sheaf of the newly cut barley; fifty days later, at
the close of the harvest period, two loaves of bread, baked from the wheat of
the new crop, were offered as a sacrifice. This bread offering was called the
firstfruits of wheat harvest and the festival was therefore also called
Yom ha-Bikkurim; the
day of offering the first loaves of the new crop to God. Schauss, Hayyim,
Thejewish
Festivals,
pp. 86-87 The first omer, which was offered
during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, on the sixteenth of Nisan, was of the sheaf
as it was reaped from the newly grown plants, as described in Leviticus 23:15·21: From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the
sheaf of the wave offering, count off seven full weeks. Count off fifty days
up to the day after the seventh Sabbath, and then
present an offering of the new grain to the LORD.
From
wherever you live, bring two loaves made of two- tenths of an ephah of fine flour,
baked with yeast, as a wave offering of firstfruits to the LORD. Present with this bread seven male lambs, each a year
old and without defect, one young bull and two rams. They will be a burnt offering to the LORD,
together with their grain offerings and
drink offerings-an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the LORD. Then sacrifice one male goat for a sin offering and two
lambs, each a year old, for a fellowship offering. The priest is to wave the two lambs
before the LORD as a wave offering, together with the bread of the firstfruits.
They are a sacred offering to the
LORD for
the priest. On that same day you are
to proclaim a sacred assembly and do no regular work. This is to be a lasting ordinance for
the generations to come, wherever you live. Pentecost and the Giving if the Law The day after the Sabbath the sheaf of the first grain (Leviticus
23:10) was offered on the sixteenth of Nisan. From that date, fifty days were counted
and usually the sixth day of the Hebrew month Sivan
is proclaimed as Shavuot (a Hebrew word meaning
"weeks") or Feast of Weeks or Pentecost. This chronology is fascinating because it
is the basis of the rabbinic reason why Judaism now celebrates the giving of
the Law on the Day of Pentecost. Dr.
Alfred Edersheim gives insight to this reasoning: The "feast of unleavened
bread" may be said not to have
quite passed till fifty days after its commencement,
when it merged in that of Pentecost, or "of Weeks."
According to unanimous
Jewish tradition, which was universally received at the time of
Christ, the day of Pentecost was the anniversary of
the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai,
which the Feast of Weeks was intended
to commemorate. Thus, as the dedication of the harvest, commencing
with the presentation of
the first omer on the Passover, was completed in the thank
offering of the two wave loaves at Pentecost, so the
memorial of Israel's
deliverance appropriately terminated in
that of the giving of the Law, just as, making
the highest application of
it, the Passover sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus
may be said to have been completed in the outpouring
of the Holy Spirit on the day of
Pentecost. Jewish tradition has it, that
on the second of the third month, of Sivan, Moses had ascended the mount, that he
communicated with the people on
the third, reascended the mount on the fourth,
and that then the people sanctified themselves on the fourth, fifth, and
sixth of Sivan, on which latter day the Ten Commandments were actually
given them. Accordingly,
the days before Pentecost were
always reckoned as the first,
second, third, etc., since the
presentation of the omer. Thus Maimonides beautifully
observes: 'just as one who is expecting
the most faithful of his friends is wont to count the days and hours to his arrival, so we
also count from the omer of the day of our
Exodus from Egypt to
that of the giving of the Law,
which was the object of our Exodus,
as it is said: 'I bare you on eagle's wings, and
brought you unto Myself.' And because this
great manifestation did not last more than one day, therefore
we annually commemorate it only one day." Edersheim, Alfred, The Temple, Its Ministry and Services, pp. 225·226. We can
see that, even though Scriptures do not say
that Pentecost is the actual anniversary of the giving of the Law on Mt. Sinai, there
is compelling evidence that indicates that "when the
day of Pentecost came" as described in Acts 2:1, God's revelation
on Mt. Sinai was probably in the minds of the apostles when suddenly a sound like the blowing of a
violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were
sitting. (Acts 2:2). A
modern Orthodox Hebraist scholar describes the giving of the
Law: The Revelation on Mt. Sinai Dawn of the sixth day of Sivan, in the
year 2448 after the creation of the world ...
thunder and lightning rent the air, and the sound of the shofar
was heard growing strangely louder and louder. All the people in the camp of
Israel trembled. Then all was quiet
again. The air was very still.
Not a sound was to be heard. No bird twittered, no donkey brayed, no ox lowed. Every living thing
held its breath. Even the angels interrupted their heavenly praises. Everybody and everything kept silent ... waiting .... Suddenly God's mighty words were heard
from one corner of the earth to the other: "I AM GOD THY GOD!" One
after another, God proclaimed the Ten
Commandments. (Mindel, Nissan, Complete Festival
Series, P: 167.) Pentecost: Its Old Testament Offerings On Pentecost, many
different offerings were presented in the Temple. After the regular morning sacrifice,
there was a burnt offering of "seven male lambs, each a year old and
without defect, one young bull and two rams (Leviticus
23:18). This was
followed by a meal offering and a drink offering. After that, there was a sin offering of
one kid, and then the climactic offering of the day, a "fellowship"
or "peace" offering of "two lambs, each a year old" waved
before the Lord, together with the two loaves which had been baked
with leaven. (See Leviticus 23: 17,19). This peace
offering was not
offered on the altar; it was given to the priest. It could not be placed on the altar,
because the loaves were baked with leaven. It is highly significant that the sin
offering preceded the peace offering. We will never understand the meaning
of the peace offering until we grasp this truth. The sin offering came first, then the
peace offering. The peace
offering was not an offering for peace. It is a heartfelt
thank offering of one who has peace with his Lord. It is a sacramental meal where God, who is
represented by the priest, eats a meal together with His children,
who have already been cleansed Pentecost: Its New Testament Fulfillment Was Pentecost, like
Passover, Unleavened Bread, and Firstfruits, also
prophetic? The New Testament is abundantly
clear that it was. Our Lord Jesus
Christ, having fulfilled the type of the passover lamb at Calvary, when the corn of
wheat was planted in the ground, rose from the dead and became the
"firstfruits," fulfilling the type of the wave sheaf on the
"day after the Sabbath." Then fifty days were counted, and when the day of Pentecost came, they were
all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent
wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting (Acts 2: 1-2). If Jewish tradition
connected the "feast of firstfruits" with the "mount that
might be touched," and the "voice of words which they that heard
entreated that the word should not be spoken to them anymore," we have
in this respect also "come unto Mount Zion," and to the better
things of the new covenant. To us
the Day of Pentecost is, indeed, the "feast of firstfruits,"
and that of the giving of the better law, "written
not in tables of stone, but on the fleshy tables
of the heart," "with the Spirit of the living
God." For, as the worshipers were in the
Temple, probably just as they
were offering the wave lambs and the wave bread, the multitude heard that
"sound from heaven, as of a mighty rushing wind," which drew them
to the house where the apostles were gathered, there to hear "every man
in his own language" [proclaiming]
"the wonderful works of God." And on that Pentecost day, from
the harvest of firstfruits, not less than three thousand souls added to the
Church were presented as a wave offering to the Lord. The cloven tongues
of fire and the apostolic gifts of that day of firstfruits have, indeed, long
since disappeared. But the mighty
rushing sound of the Presence and Power of the Holy Ghost has gone forth into
all the world.
'Edersheim,
Alfred, The Temple, Its Ministry and Services, P: 231 How about you? Have you received your Redeemer, the
Stone whom the builders rejected? In Him is life, light and joy and in
His sacrifice is forgiveness of sin. He, the Messiah is the way to
Eternal Sabbath, Yom Shekulo Shabbat!
Eternal
Paradise/Heaven, of the world to come. Is that of one long extended,
unending eternal Sabbath Day. Reprinted
for educational purposes from: ISRAEL’S
Holy Days, In type and Prophecy, Daniel Fuchs, chapter 4 Chosen
People Ministries www.chosenpeople.com And
other publication sources. For More Information:
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