PENTECOST AND ITS CHRISTIAN SIGNIFICANCE
by David Kiern
Tuesday night at sundown (June 11, 2024), the Feast of Pentecost will begin.
Pentecost (Shavuot) is a large one-day feast which commemorates the Children of Israel receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai. Shavuot also celebrates outpouring of the Holy Spirit during the days of the Apostles.
Following the first Sabbath of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Jews begin counting up to the day of Shavuot through the ancient method of counting the Omer (an ancient measure of grain). In the times of the Bible, Shavuot was one of the three pilgrimage festivals where all 12 Tribes would journey to Jerusalem.
The Book of Exodus records many signs and wonders which took place during the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. A cloud covered the mountain like a wedding canopy, lightning filled the sky, fire descended from above, the earth shook, a long shofar blast from heaven grew louder and louder and the entire nation of Israel heard the voice of God.
According to ancient Jewish tradition, when the Torah was given from Sinai, flames of fire appeared and rested on each individual Jew who heard.
And not only that! When God spoke the 10 Commandments, His voice was split up and heard in seventy languages (or seventy tongues), so that all nations of the earth should understand.
Today during Shavuot, homes, shops and synagogues throughout Israel are decorated with colorful flowers, wheat and greenery, inspired by the late-spring harvest. The festive foods of Shavuot revolve around dairy dishes and treats — cheese and crackers, chocolate milk, cheesecake, cappuccinos with cream, milkshakes and more. Jewish thought behind this is that the Torah is nourishing just like milk, and when it was given, the Children of Israel were innocent like newborn babies who are sustained on milk.
It is customary to eagerly stay up all night learning Torah, and to go to synagogue the next morning to hear the 10 Commandments read.
The Book of Ruth is also read during the holiday. Ruth’s story has many parallels with the giving and acceptance of the Torah. In addition to the belief that she came into Israel around the time of Shavuot, her willingness to cast off her old ways and accept the Jewish faith as her own reflects the heart of the Children of Israel as they accepted the Torah. A second reason Ruth is connected to Shavuot is that this is the anniversary of King David's death, and Ruth was his great-grandmother.
CHRISTIAN SIGNIFICANCE
A few days after the ascension of Yeshua, the Apostles were gathered in Jerusalem, preparing to keep the Feast of Shavuot. They were waiting with great expectations, because Yeshua had told them, "John immersed with water, but you will be immersed in the Ruach ha-Ko-desh (Holy Spirit) not many days from now.”
On the day of Pentecost, when all Israel assembled to celebrate the anniversary of the Giving of the Torah, the Apostles left where they were staying and walked up to the Temple Mount. They assembled together in "one place" (Acts 2:1), which was most likely Solomon's Colonnade. This outer court area of the Temple Mount was a favorite spot of Yeshua to teach, and was a place where men and women could assemble freely together.
“When the day of Shavuot had come, they were all together in one place. Suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the whole House where they were sitting.”
- ACTS 2
At nine in the morning, the time for morning prayers came. Suddenly, a sound like a mighty rushing wind descended from heaven and filled the entire Temple Mount. Flames of fire appeared and rested on the Believers, and they began to speak in other languages (tongues).
Jesus prophesied that this monumental day would come when He said, “An hour is coming—it is here now—when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit (through the leading of the Holy Spirit) and truth (through the instructions of the Holy Torah).” The Shavuot outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the early Believers and the miraculous signs which accompanied it was a clear connection to the events and miracles at Mount Sinai.
From our family to yours, I wish you a blessed and meaningful Pentecost!
Read more about the Biblical Feasts of Israel in our new hardcover coffee table book, I AM ISRAEL: The Believer's Guide to the Rebirth of the Promised Land.
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