Pentecost - What does it mean for us?

It (the kingdom of God) is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened. Luke 13:21

Today is Pentecost 2020. Pentecost means fifty days. It is counted from Passover and is usually late May or early June, the beginning of spring harvest. In Leviticus 23 Moses gives the festivals the children of Israel were to observe each year. After the first Passover in Egypt, Pentecost would have been celebrated at the foot of Mt. Sinai with the giving of the Law but the people turned to idols while Moses was on the mountain. Had Moses not pleaded for the people God would have destroyed them. Instead, about 3000 died. 


The festival is to give the first fruits of the harvest to the Lord. The wave offerings were like a tithe that sanctified the fruits of the harvest. As part of the festival two loaves of leavened bread, bread that contains yeast, were offered as a wave offering. Looking at the parable Jesus told about the leavened bread, I wonder if He was referring to this festival. 

Acts 2 refers to 120 followers of Christ waiting for the promise of the Father. The Holy Spirit came on them with tongues of fire resting on each one. They then went out and spoke to the people who were still in Jerusalem. The gospel was going out to all the world. The languages were Gentile languages. The people in Jerusalem were either Jews or Gentiles converted to Judaism. As a result of the preaching about 3000 souls were added to the church. The leaven had been added and was spreading all over the world. 

God gave the Law on Mt Sinai. The people could not keep it. The Law showed up their corrupt and sinful nature. The Law was death without God's grace. However, the gospel is life because the Lamb of God was sacrificed once for all. 

Pentecost was the beginning of the harvest season. The wave offerings of the first fruits sanctified the harvest. The 120 souls in the room waiting were the firstfruits of the harvest of souls. They sanctified the harvest of souls in the future. When we receive Christ as Savior we are part of the sanctified harvest. The Holy Spirit lives in us. We are here for such a time as this. Now is our time to reach souls. 

In John 4:35 Jesus said,  Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. Now is the time for us to pray for revival and work in the fields of this world because this is the only time God has given to us. What will we do with our time?

Blessings, 

Gail