Pentecost, Biblical Jewish Festival

 

Acts 2:1-4 NKJV "When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

 

Pentecost, also known as Shavuot or the Feast of Weeks occurs 50 days after the Feast of First Fruits (the resurrection). Since the bible says that Moses went up to Mt. Sinai during the third month (Exodus 19:1), it has also been the celebration of the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai.  This is an IMPORTANT holiday.  A Jewish website, www.holidaysmart.com, states the following: "Passover freed us physically from bondage, but the giving of the Torah on Shavu'ot redeemed us spiritually from our bondage to idolatry and immorality."  

 

Let's think about that for a minute.  Jesus' death is the event which physically secured for us our salvation.  The Holy Spirit's arrival at Pentecost placed within the believer's hearts the Living Word, Jesus Himself, the Living Torah as you will. The Holy Spirit's arrival makes it possible for Jesus' death to be applied to ourselves.  Look at Jeremiah 31:31-34, NKJV!  "Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah--, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their heart; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying "Know the Lord," for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.""

 

So, celebrate Pentecost this year.  Invite people to your house to pray. Cook two loaves of bread to represent the two tablets and to commemorate both Jewish and Gentile believers who are now one man in Yeshua. Enjoy dairy food, cheese cake, blintzes. Decorate your house with fresh fruit and flowers. Read from the torah and read the book of Ruth. Listen to messianic praise music.