Acts 2:1-4: Pentecost

Pentecost, Acts 2:1-4

Bethlehem was God with us; Calvary was God for us; Pentecost is God in us.

Any study of the Holy Spirit would have to include Pentecost.

There were 7 great feasts of the Lord covered in Leviticus 23.

The Feasts foreshadow and summarize the work of the Trinity in the New Testament.

1. The Passover (Leviticus 23:4-5)

Observed on the 14th day of the 1st month (Nisan) March-April

Foreshadows Calvary (1 Corinthians 5:7)

2. The Feast of Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23:6-8)

15th day of the month of (Nisan)

Foreshadows a Believer’s blameless walk (1 Corinthians 5:8)

3. The Feast of the First Fruits (Leviticus 23:9-14)

Observed on the 16th day of the 1st month (Nisan)

Foreshadows the resurrection of Christ and all believers (1Corinthians 15:20, 23)

4. Feast of Pentecost (Leviticus 23:15-21)

Observed on the 6th day of the 3rd month (Sivan) May-June

Foreshadows the coming of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4)

5. The Feast of Trumpets (Leviticus 23:23-25)

Observed on the 1st day of the 7th month (Tishri) September-October

Foreshadows the return of Christ and the gathering of all believers (1 Corinthians 15:51-52; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

6. The Day of Atonement (Leviticus 23:26-32)

Observed on the 10th day of the seventh month (Tishri)

Foreshadows the Great Tribulation (Matthew 24:21)

7. The Feast of Tabernacles (Leviticus 23: 33-43)

Observed on the 15th day of the 7th month (Tishri)

Foreshadows the glorious Millennium (Revelation 21:3)

What is Pentecost: Pentecost is from a Greek word that refers to the number 50.

This festival had several names: Harvest (completion of the Barley harvest), Weeks (7 weeks), and Pentecost.

It fell at the end of the spring harvest 50 days after Passover, namely, the day after the end of the seventh week.

This feast was a thanksgiving festival, and it lasted one day. The people offered God the first fruits of the spring harvest as a thank offering for His provision for their physical and spiritual needs and giving of the law.

In the Old Testament, the Jews took flour, oil, and leaven and made two loaves of bread. These were common loaves of daily bread.

The loaves were offered to the Lord, along with 7 lambs without blemish, 1 young bullock, and two rams, for a burnt offering.

10 sacrifices to symbolize the perfection and completeness of Calvary.

•The Meaning of Numbers: The Number 10.

In the Bible, the number 10 is used 242 times. The designation "10th" is used 79 times. Ten is also viewed as a complete and perfect number as is 3, 7, and 12. It is made up of 4, the number of the physical creation, and 6, the number of man. As such, ten signifies testimony, law, responsibility, and the completeness of order.

In Genesis 1 we find the phrase "God said" 10 times, which is a testimony of His creative power. God gave the 10 Commandments to man. Ten therefore represents man's responsibility to keep the commandments. A tithe is a 10th of our earnings and is a testimony of our faith in the Lord.

The Passover lamb was selected on day ten of the 1st month (Exodus 12:3) as was Jesus, the Lamb that takes away the sins of the world (John 12:28-29; 1 Corinthians 5:7). Day 10 of the 7th month is also the Holy Day known as the Day of Atonement. This unique day of fasting pictures the removal of Satan, the author of sin, before the Millennial reign of Jesus begins (Revelation 20:1-2).

All of this symbolized what took place 50 day after the resurrection of Christ.

Pentecost always fell on the first day of the week, symbolizing the end of the Sabbath and the consecration of a new day for a new dispensation.

● Oil was a symbol for the Holy Spirit and His work on the day of Pentecost.

● Leaven is a symbol of sin and was excluded from all other meal offerings, but here it is included.

● The meal offering symbolized Christ who was wholly free from sin.

● Leaven in the loaves of Pentecost symbolize the church. The church has never been free from sin.

● The burnt offering aspect of Calvary was accompanied by the sacrifice of one kid goat for a sin offering and two yearling lambs for a peace offering (symbolizing the ground upon the believer has perfect peace with God).

At the Feast of the First fruits, the grain loosely bound in the sheaf symbolized the resurrection of Christ and His believer.

On Pentecost the sheaf of loosely bound together stalks of grain was replaced with two loaves of bread.

It represented what would take place the arrival of the Holy Spirit, the formation of the church.

•Wiersbe on the significance of the two loaves of bread: On the Feast of Firstfruits, the priest waved a sheaf of grain before the Lord; but on Pentecost, he presented two loaves of bread. Why? Because at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit baptized the believers and united them into one body. The Jewish believers received this baptism at Pentecost, and the Gentile believers in the home of Cornelius (Acts 10). This explains the presence of two loaves of bread (see 1 Corinthians 10:17). The fact that there was leaven (yeast) in the loaves indicates the presence of sin in the church on earth. The church will not be perfect until it gets to heaven. (Ibid)

1. THE DAY, v. 1

2. THE DISPLAY, vv. 2-3

The Holy Spirit had been with the disciples; but on the Day of Pentecost, He began to indwell the disciples. John 14:16

V. 2, John 3:8

The word "spirit" is the same as "wind" in both Hebrew and Greek.

Wind often was used as a symbol of God’s presence (2 Samuel 5:24; Psalm 104:3, etc.) and here signifies not only His presence but His power.

The wind here is a type of the Spirit in the work of new birth--regeneration.

V. 3--Isaiah 4:4; Isaiah 6:7; Psalm 39:3.

1. THE DETAILS, v. 4

Matthew 3:11, Acts 1:5, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Ephesians 5:18.