Feast of Weeks
Jesus in the Feasts of Israel • Sermon • Submitted
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· 9 viewsJesus and the Holy Spirit Fulfifill the Feast of Weeks
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Pentecost - The Feast in the Middle
Pentecost - The Feast in the Middle
Old Testament Background (Lev. 23:15-22, Num. 16:9-12)
‘And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the Lord. You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are the firstfruits to the Lord. And you shall offer with the bread seven lambs of the first year, without blemish, one young bull, and two rams. They shall be as a burnt offering to the Lord, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering made by fire for a sweet aroma to the Lord. Then you shall sacrifice one kid of the goats as a sin offering, and two male lambs of the first year as a sacrifice of a peace offering. The priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before the Lord, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the Lord for the priest. And you shall proclaim on the same day that it is a holy convocation to you. You shall do no customary work on it. It shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.
‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field when you reap, nor shall you gather any gleaning from your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the stranger: I am the Lord your God.’ ”
“Feast of Weeks” (a week of Sabbaths), also called Pentecost by the time of the New Testament
50 days from the Feast of Firstfruits (seven Sabbaths plus a day)
Both Firstfruits and Weeks feasts were observed on Sundays (the day after the Sabbath)
The spring barley harvest crop would end about the same time that the summer wheat / grain harvest was ready to harvest. This second harvest of the season was ordained as another celebration of God’s faithful provision for His people.
The Feast of Weeks was day of a “holy convocation” where all who were able to travel were commanded to go to the tabernacle / temple to the offer their sacrifice to the Lord through the priests. Because this was a summertime celebration, it was often the best attended of the three holy convocations
The Feast of Weeks is the only feast of the seven feasts of Israel that ordains leaven to be used in the loaf / bread offering.
The Promise of the Holy Spirit for Believers
The Holy Spirit’s role and the manifestation of His power in the Old Testament are rare, underdeveloped and limited.
The few references listed to the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament stand out because they are infrequent (for example: Joseph - Gen. 41:38, Bezalel - Ex. 31:1-3)
The “Spirit of God” was viewed more as a divine power or blessing rather than personal member of the Godhead or Trinity.
Jesus provides a more complete description of the Holy Spirit’s nature, role authority and power, especially once He is fully given to believers after Jesus returns to the Father.
Jesus promises to give the Holy Spirit to His church
Even before Jesus is baptized, John the Baptist declares that Jesus will baptize His followers with the Holy Spirit and fire (Matt. 3:11, Jn 1:33)
I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
The promise of the Holy Spirit being given could only occur after Jesus was glorified in heaven after the resurrection and the ascension (Jn 7:37-39)
On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
After Jesus is resurrected, but before He ascended to heaven, Jesus again promised His believers that they would receive the Holy Spirit in power (Matt 28:19-20, Luke 24:49).
“Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”
Jesus explains the purposes and benefits of receiving the Holy Spirit once Jesus was gone
The Holy Spirit is the Helper for all believers (Jn 15:26)
“But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.
The Holy Spirit will testify (confirm in our hearts) of Jesus (Jn 15:26)
The Holy Spirit will convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment (Jn 16:8)
The Holy Spirit will show the way to God’s truth as our guide (Jn 16:13)
However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.
The Holy Spirit will declare the things yet to come that God has ordained to occur (Jn 16:13)
The Holy Spirit will seal our faith in Jesus Christ - He provides a divine bond between God and believers as an absolute assurance that our faith has been accepted by God for salvation (Jn 16:14-15)
The Holy Spirit will come upon believers in divine power to allow them to be witnesses for Christ in all the world (Acts 1:8)
But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
The Promise of the Holy Spirit is fulfilled at Pentecost
The believers were baptized in and filled with the Holy Spirit when the day of Pentecost had fully come that Sunday morning as all Israel celebrated the Feast day (Acts 2:1-4)
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.
Peter testifies that the promise of Jesus and the Father was fulfilled that day. That is, the Holy Spirit was poured out as was prophesied by Jesus and in Joel 2:28-31
Paul also confirms that the Holy Spirit was given to believers once they believed
Those who accepted faith after the day of Pentecost Gal. 3:1-2
Those who are in the Spirit are no longer in the flesh because we are His (Rom. 8:9-11)
Believers are sealed by the Holy Spirit as God’s guarantee to us that we are His (2 Cor. 1:22, 5:5)
who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
The Holy Spirit’s seal upon believers is also the guarantee of our heavenly inheritance (Eph 1:13-14)
In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.
The Feast of Pentecost serves as a promise to believers that we are the firstfruits of God’s final harvest of souls at the end of the age (Rom 8:23)
Pentecost represents the birth of the church age
The church / church age was a hidden mystery in the Old Testament (Eph 3:1-13)
Now that the Holy Spirit has come at Pentecost, God has established a whole new group of people on the earth from the original two groups: 1) Jews, 2) Gentiles, and 3)
now a third new group - the church (Gal. 3:26-28, Jn 10:16, Col 3:11)
For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
The church is called to unity under the power an authority of the Holy Spirit
There is only one body of Christ in the Spirit (Eph 4:4-6)
There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
Therefore, we are called to submit to God and to submit to one another in the body, giving preference to others over ourselves (Phil 2:1-4, Col 3:12-17)
Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
Christian Celebration of the Feast of Pentecost
Be diligent to make your call and election sure in the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Pet 1:10-11)
Be filled continuously with the presence and power of the Holy Spirit (Eph 5:18)
Walk in the Holy Spirit and bear the fruits He freely supplies to us (Gal 5:16, 22-23)
I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
Submit to one another in the body of Christ in the fear of God (Eph 5:15-21)
See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God.