Annie's Pentecost Page
~
Pentecost is celebrated on May 23rd in 2010~


"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."
~Exodus 23:16~

What does the Bible say?

There are only 3 verses with the word "
Pentecost" in the whole Bible.

1: Acts 2:1 ~ "And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one
accord in one place."
2: Acts 20:16 ~ "For Paul had determined to sail by Ephesus, because he would not spend
the time in Asia: for he hasted, if it were possible for him, to be at Jerusalem
the day of
Pentecost."
3: 1 Corinthians 16:8 ~ "But I will tarry at Ephesus until
Pentecost."


Pentecost, name applied to Jewish "Feast of Weeks" found in the Old Testament of the
Bible. The simple definition of "
Pentecost" is fiftieth. Or 50 days.

Feast of Weeks (Pentecost), a festival of Judaism occurring 50 days (seven weeks) after
the Passover; originally a harvest feast, but later a festival commemorating
giving of law to Moses on Mt. Sinai.


The World Book Encyclopedia defines
Pentecost this way:
Pentecost, pronounced PEHN tuh kawst, is the feast that marks the end of the 50-day
Christian observance of Easter. The term comes from the Greek word for "fiftieth."
Pentecost originally celebrated both the Ascension of Jesus Christ and the descent of the
Holy Spirit. In the 300's, the Ascension of Jesus came to be a separate observance.
However, Pentecost remained a celebration of the gift of the Holy Spirit to the church,
in fulfillment of Jesus' promise "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another
comforter, that he may abide with you for ever" (John 14:16).
During early church history, the term Pentecost referred not only to the 50th day, but to
the whole period of 50 days following Easter. This was the time of the celebration of the
Resurrection of Jesus.
In the 1900's, this emphasis is being recovered in a number of churches, including the
Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Churches, most Lutheran churches, and the
churches of the Anglican Communion. In these churches, the season of Easter is observed
throughout the seven weeks until Pentecost.
In ancient Israel, Pentecost was the celebration of the wheat harvest held 50 days after
the festival of Passover. Since Biblical times, the celebration also commemorates the day
the Ten Commandments were revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai. In Judaism, this event is
observed in the holiday of Shavuot, which falls in May or June.
~Above article is from the World Book Encyclopedia~


Easton's Bible Dictionary says this about Pentecost:
i.e., "fiftieth", found only in the New Testament (Acts 2:1; 20:16; 1 Cor. 16:8). The
festival so named is first spoken of in Ex. 23:16 as "the feast of harvest," and again in
Ex. 34:22 as "the day of the firstfruits" (Num. 28:26). From the sixteenth of the
month of Nisan (the second day of the Passover), seven complete weeks, i.e., forty-nine
days, were to be reckoned, and this feast was held on the fiftieth day. The manner in
which it was to be kept is described in Lev. 23:15-19; Num. 28:27-29. Besides the
sacrifices prescribed for the occasion, every one was to bring to the Lord his "tribute of
a free-will offering" (Deut. 16:9-11). The purpose of this feast was to commemorate the
completion of the grain harvest. Its distinguishing feature was the offering of "two
leavened loaves" made from the new corn of the completed harvest, which, with two
lambs, were waved before the Lord as a thank offering.
The day of
Pentecost is noted in the Christian Church as the day on which the Spirit
descended upon the apostles, and on which, under Peter's preaching, so many thousands
were converted in Jerusalem (Acts 2).


Smith's Bible Dictionary tells us about Pentecost
that is, the fiftieth day (from a Greek word meaning fiftieth) , or Harvest Feast, or
Feast of Weeks, may be regarded as a supplement to the Passover. It lasted for but one
day. From the sixteenth of Nisan seven weeks were reckoned inclusively, and the next or
fiftieth day was the day of Pentecost, which fell on the sixth of Sivan ( about the end of
May ). (
Exodus 23:16; 34:22; Leviticus 23:15,22; Numbers 28 ) See Jewish calendar at
the end of this volume. The Pentecost was the Jewish harvest-home, and the people were
especially exhorted to rejoice before Jehovah with their families their servants, the Levite
within their gates, the stranger, the fatherless and the widow in the place chosen by God
for his name, as they brought a free-will offering of their hand to Jehovah their God.
(
16:10,11) The great feature of the celebration was the presentation of the two loaves
made from the first-fruits of the wheat harvest. With the loaves two lambs were offered
as a peace offering and all were waved before Jehovah and given to the priests; the leaves
being leavened, could not be offered on the altar. The other sacrifices were, a burnt
offering of a young bullock, two, rams and seven lambs with a meat and drink offering,
and a kid for a sin offering. (
Leviticus 23:18,19) Till the pentecostal leaves were
offered, the produce of the harvest might not be eaten, nor could any other firstfruits
be offered. The whole ceremony was the completion of that dedication of the harvest to
God as its giver, and to whom both the land and the people were holy, which was begun
by the offering of the wave-sheaf at the Passover. The interval is still regarded as a
religious season. The Pentecost is the only one of the three great feasts which is not
mentioned as the memorial of events in the history of the Jews; but such a significance
has been found in the fact that the law was given from Sinai on the fiftieth day after
the deliverance from Egypt. Comp. Exod 12 and 19. In the exodus the people were
offered to God as living first fruits; at Sinai their consecration to him as a nation was
completed. The typical significance of the Pentecost is made clear from the events of the
day recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. Acts 2. Just as the appearance of God on
Sinai was the birthday of the Jewish nation, so was the Pentecost the
birthday of the Christian Church.

Wheat graphic with brown ribbon
Old Testament Verses:
Leviticus 23:9,15-21
Focus is Israel's grain harvest - The 2 loaves of bread were
a "wave offering"

The Number 50 and it's meaning:
From "Numbers in Scripture" by E.W. Bullinger
"Fifty is the number of jubilee or deliverance. It is the issue of 7x7 or 7 squared,
and points to deliverance and rest following on as the result of the perfect
consummation of time."


Holy Spirit was given to the apostles on the first day of Pentecost -
Acts 2

Torrey's Topical Textbook - The Feast of pentecost


Webster's 1828 Dictionary Defines Pentecost this way:
PEN'TECOST,n. [Gr. fiftieth.]
1. A solemn festival of the Jews, so called because celebrated on the fiftieth day after
the sixteenth of Nisan, which was the second day of the passover. It was called the feast
of weeks, because it was celebrated seven weeks after the passover. It was instituted to
oblige the people to repair to the temple of the Lord,there to acknowledge his absolute
dominion over the country, and offer him the first fruits of their harvest; also that they
might call to mind and give thanks to God for the law which he had given them at Sinai on
the fiftieth day from their departure from Egypt.


Check Out:
Pentecost - from the Catholic Encyclopedia

Related Pages by Annie:
To learn more about the Biblical Feasts visit:
Annie's Feasts of the Bible Page &
Annie's "Why do you have pages about Jewish Feasts?" Page
Annie's Shavuot Page
Annie's Shavuot Links Page

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