The Feast of Pentecost

The Feast of Pentecost is nearly here for this year- June 8. This is the third of seven Holy Days of the Bible that are observed annually. These Holy Days were established with a view of the harvest seasons of the Middle East (Leviticus:23:9-16[9]And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,[10]Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest:[11]And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.[12]And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the LORD.[13]And the meat offering thereof shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the LORD for a sweet savour: and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of an hin.[14]And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.[15]And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete:[16]Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD.; Exodus:23:14-16[14]Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year.[15]Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:)[16]And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.).

This particular festival is the anniversary of the giving of the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai. But, Pentecost is also the anniversary of the giving of God’s Spirit as described in Acts 2. So, on this important festival, we humans were not only given the law but given the potential to understand the spiritual intent of God’s law and the capacity to apply it through the power of the Holy Spirit.

As a result of that first Pentecost after Jesus Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection, a multitude of people became Christians. Those of us who have followed must learn that, though we will still combat sin, God’s way of life produces peace, happiness and contentment. Who wouldn’t want to have that?

Pentecost is an annual reminder that our Creator still grants His Spirit (the Comforter) to those whom He is calling. We are in need of being comforted because it is through much tribulation that we enter the Kingdom of God.

This would be a good time to review the booklet God’s Holy Day Plan: The Promise of Hope for All Mankind.

Anthony Wasilkoff