Annie's Pentecost Page Annie's Pentecost Page
"You must
celebrate the Feast of Weeks. Offer to God the first things you
harvest from the crops you planted in the fields. You must
celebrate the Feast of Shelters in the autumn, when you gather
all the crops from your fields"
~Exodus 23:16~
What
does the Bible say?
There are only 3 verses with the word "Pentecost" in the whole Bible.
1:
Acts 2:1 ~ "And when the day of Pentecost came, they were all
together in one place."
2: Acts 20:16 ~ "Paul had already decided not to stop at
Ephesus, because he did not want to stay too long in the country
of Asia. He was hurrying to be in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, if that were
possible"
3: 1 Corinthians 16:8 ~ "But I will stay at Ephesus until Pentecost."
Pentecost, name applied to Jewish
"Feast of Weeks" found in the Old Testament of the
Bible. The simple definition of "Pentecost" is fiftieth. Or 50
days.
Feast of Weeks (Pentecost), a festival of Judaism occurring 50 days (seven weeks) after the Passover; originally a harvest feast, but later a festival commemorating giving of law to Moses on Mt. Sinai.
The World Book Encyclopedia defines Pentecost this way:
Pentecost, (pronounced PEHN tuh
kawst) is the feast that marks the end of the 50-day Christian
observance of Easter. The term comes from the Greek word for
"fiftieth." Pentecost originally celebrated both the
Ascension of Jesus Christ and the descent of the Holy Spirit. In
the 300's, the Ascension of Jesus came to be a separate
observance. However, Pentecost remained a celebration of the gift
of the Holy Spirit to the church, in fulfillment of Jesus'
promise "I will ask the Father and he will give you another
Helper to be with you for ever - teh Spirit of truth." (John
14:16).
During early church history, the term Pentecost referred not only
to the 50th day, but to the whole period of 50 days following
Easter. This was the time of the celebration of the Resurrection
of Jesus.
In the 1900's, this emphasis is being recovered in a number of
churches, including the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern
Orthodox Churches, most Lutheran churches, and the churches of
the Anglican Communion. In these churches, the season of Easter
is observed throughout the seven weeks until Pentecost.
In ancient Israel, Pentecost was the celebration of the wheat
harvest held 50 days after the festival of Passover. Since
Biblical times, the celebration also commemorates the day the Ten
Commandments were revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai. In Judaism,
this event is observed in the holiday of Shavuot, which falls in
May or June.
~Above article is from the World Book Encyclopedia~
Easton's Bible Dictionary says this about Pentecost:
i.e., "fiftieth", found only in the New Testament (Acts
2:1; 20:16; 1 Cor. 16:8). The festival so named is first spoken
of in Ex. 23:16 as "the feast of harvest," and again in
Ex. 34:22 as "the day of the firstfruits" (Num. 28:26).
From the sixteenth of the month of Nisan (the second day of the
Passover), seven complete weeks, i.e., forty-nine days, were to
be reckoned, and this feast was held on the fiftieth day. The
manner in which it was to be kept is described in Lev. 23:15-19;
Num. 28:27-29. Besides the sacrifices prescribed for the
occasion, every one was to bring to the Lord his "tribute of
a free-will offering" (Deut. 16:9-11). The purpose of this
feast was to commemorate the completion of the grain harvest. Its
distinguishing feature was the offering of "two leavened
loaves" made from the new corn of the completed harvest,
which, with two lambs, were waved before the Lord as a thank
offering.
The day of Pentecost is noted in the Christian
Church as the day on which the Spirit descended upon the
apostles, and on which, under Peter's preaching, so many
thousands were converted in Jerusalem (Acts 2).
Smith's Bible Dictionary tells us about Pentecost
that is, the fiftieth day (from a Greek word meaning fiftieth) ,
or Harvest Feast, or Feast of Weeks, may be regarded as a
supplement to the Passover. It lasted for but one day. From the
sixteenth of Nisan seven weeks were reckoned inclusively, and the
next or fiftieth day was the day of Pentecost, which fell on the
sixth of Sivan ( about the end of May ). ( Exodus 23:16; 34:22; Leviticus 23:15,22; Numbers 28 ) See Jewish calendar at
the end of this volume. The Pentecost was the Jewish
harvest-home, and the people were especially exhorted to rejoice
before Jehovah with their families their servants, the Levite
within their gates, the stranger, the fatherless and the widow in
the place chosen by God for his name, as they brought a free-will
offering of their hand to Jehovah their God. (16:10,11) The great feature of the
celebration was the presentation of the two loaves made from the
first-fruits of the wheat harvest. With the loaves two lambs were
offered as a peace offering and all were waved before Jehovah and
given to the priests; the leaves being leavened, could not be
offered on the altar. The other sacrifices were, a burnt offering
of a young bullock, two, rams and seven lambs with a meat and
drink offering, and a kid for a sin offering. (Leviticus 23:18,19) Till the pentecostal
leaves were offered, the produce of the harvest might not be
eaten, nor could any other firstfruits be offered. The whole
ceremony was the completion of that dedication of the harvest to
God as its giver, and to whom both the land and the people were
holy, which was begun by the offering of the wave-sheaf at the
Passover. The interval is still regarded as a religious season.
The Pentecost is the only one of the three great feasts which is
not mentioned as the memorial of events in the history of the
Jews; but such a significance has been found in the fact that the
law was given from Sinai on the fiftieth day after the
deliverance from Egypt. Comp. Exod 12 and 19. In the exodus the
people were offered to God as living first fruits; at Sinai their
consecration to him as a nation was completed. The typical
significance of the Pentecost is made clear from the events of
the day recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. Acts 2. Just as the
appearance of God on Sinai was the birthday of the Jewish nation,
so was the Pentecost the birthday of the Christian Church.
Old Testament Verses: Leviticus 23:9,15-21
Focus is Israel's grain harvest - The 2 loaves of bread were a "wave offering"
The
Number 50 and it's meaning:
From "Numbers in Scripture" by E.W. Bullinger
"Fifty is the number of jubilee or deliverance. It is the
issue of 7x7 or 7 squared, and points to deliverance and rest
following on as the result of the perfect consummation of
time."
Holy Spirit was given to the apostles on the first day of Pentecost - Acts 2
Torrey's Topical Textbook - The Feast of pentecost
Webster's 1828 Dictionary Defines Pentecost this way:
PEN'TECOST,n. [Gr. fiftieth.]
1. A solemn festival of the Jews, so called because celebrated on
the fiftieth day after the sixteenth of Nisan, which was the
second day of the passover. It was called the feast of weeks,
because it was celebrated seven weeks after the passover. It was
instituted to oblige the people to repair to the temple of the
Lord,there to acknowledge his absolute dominion over the country,
and offer him the first fruits of their harvest; also that they
might call to mind and give thanks to God for the law which he
had given them at Sinai on the fiftieth day from their departure
from Egypt.
Links:
Pentecost - from the Catholic
Encyclopedia
Taken from Annies Home Page - Bible versions modified from KJV to New Century Version and some of links modified to fit in with this site.
