The Astounding Saga
Astonishing New Insight
On the Significance of
PENTECOST!
There is
much more to the observance of Shavuot
-- or
Pentecost -- than meets the eye at first glance!
How should
this most mysterious of all the annual
Holy Days be
observed? Why is it the only holy
day whose
date is ambiguous in the Scriptures?
Why do we
"count fifty" in its anticipation?
William F. Dankenbring
The
festival of Shavuot -- or Pentecost, which means "fiftieth day" -- is
the most mysterious of all God's annual holy days. It is cloaked in mystery -- and even the date
of its observance is highly controversial!
Why is there more argument over this
holy day than any other -- with the possible exception of Passover?
The ancient Sadducees claimed this
holy day always fell on a Sunday -- counted fifty days from the weekly Sabbath
falling within the seven-day festival of Unleavened Bread. The Pharisees, however, claimed it fell on
the fiftieth day after the Passover holy day -- the first day of
Unleavened Bread! Modern end-time
remnants of God's Church get all mixed up on both how to count, and when
to count from -- so most of them wind up observing this day on a Sunday
every year -- the very day the Roman Catholic Church observes
"Whitsunday," their Pentecost, counting fifty days from Easter
Sunday! The pagan influence of such
a practice should be obvious from the very bare facts!
I have written many articles showing
that the Sunday-Sadducee reckoning of Pentecost cannot be right -- it is
totally in error. To summarize the
evidence that this is actual fact, consider the following evidence:
Proof
as to the Date of Pentecost
Jesus Christ said the Sadducees were, on the
whole, ignorant of the Scriptures. He
admonished them, "Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of
God" (Matt.22:29). Should God's
people then follow the Sadduccean reasoning?
Jesus further said we should not look to the
Sadducees for guidance in spiritual matters -- at no time and in no place did
He ever sanction or approve of the Sadducees!
But, on the contrary, He plainly said of the Pharisees: "The scribes and Pharisees sit in
Moses' seat: ALL THEREFORE whatsoever
they bid you observe, THAT OBSERVE and do; but do not ye after their works
[
their
hypocrisy and vain traditions]: for they say [keep the Law], and do not"
(Matt.23:2-3).
Jesus plainly showed the Pharisees
had authority which came down from Moses' time and authority. They were the official, sanctioned
interpreters of the Law. Therefore, when
it comes to God's Law, the dates of holy days, and the calendar, their rule was
the official word -- except where their determinations clearly differed with
and conflicted with the words of Christ Himself! This passage would clearly imply that the
Pharisees are the ones we should follow when it comes to observing the date of
Pentecost!
In support of this conclusion, the apostle
Paul also points out that he himself was a Pharisee, and had been taught
"according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers" (Acts
22:3). He had, in fact, been brought up
"at the feet of Gamaliel," one of the most highly respected Pharisee
"rabbans," or chief rabbis (same verse). Paul later told the church at
The only question, then, is what
day did the Pharisees sanction for Pentecost, or Shavuot?
The
answer is very clear in all historical references. The Pharisees counted fifty days from the
Passover! Therefore, the correct date
for Pentecost would be fifty days from Nisan 16. During ancient times, when the months of the
Hebrew year could have 29 or 30 days, therefore, Pentecost could fall on either
Sivan 5, 6, or 7! Today, with the Jewish
calendar now in use, it always falls on Sivan 6, and whatever day of the week
Sivan 6 falls upon!
Josephus, the Jewish historian of the first
century, makes this plain. He wrote in Antiquities
of the Jews: "But on the second
day of unleavened bread, which is the sixteenth day of the month, they first
partake of the fruits of the earth, for before that day they do not touch
them. And while they suppose it proper to
honor God, from whom they obtain this plentiful provision, in the first place,
they offer the first fruits of their barley, and that in the manner
following: They take a handful of the
ears, and dry them, then beat them small, and purge the barley from the bran;
they then bring one tenth deal to the altar, to God: and, casting one handful
of it upon the fire, they leave the rest for the use of the priest; and after
this it is that they may publicly or privately reap their harvest They also at this participation of the
first-fruits of the earth, sacrifice a lamb, as a burnt offering to God.
"When a week of weeks has
passed over after this sacrifice, (which weeks contain forty and nine days,) on
the fiftieth day, which is Pentecost . . . ." (Josephus,
Alfred Edersheim, in The Temple: Its
Ministry and Services, declares, "The expression, 'the morrow after
the Sabbath,' has sometimes been misunderstood as implying that the
presentation of the so-called 'first sheaf' was to be always made on the day
following the weekly Sabbath of the Passover-week. This view, adopted by the 'Boethusians,' and
the Sadducees of the time of Christ . . . rests on a misinterpretation of the
word 'Sabbath.' As in analogous
allusions to the other feasts in the same chapter [Leviticus 23], it means not
the weekly Sabbath, but the day of the festival. The testimony of Josephus, Philo, and of
Jewish tradition, leaves no room to doubt that in this instance we are to
understand by the 'Sabbath' the 15th of Nisan, on whatever day of the week it
may fall" (p.257).
Finally, as a proof that indeed the fifty
days are counted from the day after the Passover holy day, Nisan 15, we can
cite the evidence from the Septuagint (LXX), which was translated from the
Hebrew into Greek by leading orthodox Jewish scholars around 250 years before
the time of Christ. More and more, in
recent years, scholars have come to see that the Septuagint is actually based
on an ancient version of the Hebrew Scriptures much in use during the time of
Christ. In fact, most quotations in the
New Testament are from the Septuagint!
Since this translation was made long before there were any Sadducees or
Pharisees in existence (those schools of religious teaching did not develop
until after the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, circa 165 B.C.), its authority in
this matter is of very ancient authenticity and credibility.
In the passage dealing with the
offering of the wave sheaf, and the counting of the days after that till
Pentecost, found in Leviticus 23, the Septuagint translates as follows:
"In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, between the
evening times is the Lord's passover.
And on the fifteenth day of this month is the feast of unleavened
bread. And the first day shall be
a holy convocation to you . . . And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying . . . When
ye shall enter into the land which I give you, and reap the harvest of it, then
shall ye bring a sheaf, the first-fruits of your harvest to the priest; and he
shall lift up the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted for you. On the morrow of the FIRST DAY the priest
shall lift it up. . . . And ye shall number to yourselves FROM the day after
the sabbath, FROM the day on which ye shall offer the sheaf of the
heave-offering, SEVEN FULL WEEKS: until
the morrow after the last week ye shall number FIFTY DAYS. . ." (LXX,
Lev.23:5-16). The "first day"
mentioned in this passage obviously refers to the first day of Unleavened Bread
-- Nisan 15. The "morrow" after this day would have to be Nisan
16. Thus the "count" to
Shavuot or Pentecost begins Nisan 16.
Fifty days later, on the Jewish calendar, brings us to Sivan 6, and
whatever day of the week that occurs upon!
So much for the "Sunday"
Pentecosters! They are barking up the
wrong tree. They have ignored or never
looked at all this clear cut evidence which proves them wrong. Or, on the other
hand, they have blinded themselves to the truth in order to maintain their own
human (church) "traditions" of men!
Jesus Christ says to them, "Why do ye also transgress the
commandment of God by your tradition? . . . But in vain do they worship
me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men" (Matt.15:3,
9).
Observing
Pentecost -- a New Look
But Pentecost is not only observed
on the wrong day, by most Messianic Jewish believers, as well as most Christian
groups, which claim to observe God's Holy Days, its vital message is also not
generally understood, and its observance is done with little or no
understanding!
What is the real meaning of this
Holy Day? What is its vital significance
in God's Plan?
In the Scriptures it is called Shavuot,
which means "Weeks" (Deut.16:10). That is, it takes its name as
"Feast of Weeks" because it culminates the counting of the weeks that
lead up to it! (Deut.16:9-10).
But how many believers and
"Christians," or even Sabbath-keeping Christians, do you know who
faithfully "count the omer" every year, between Passover and
leading up to Pentecost? How
many? Or, should I say, how few?
Indeed,
as Jesus Christ/Yeshua Himself said:
"Enter ye in at the strait [narrow] gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the
way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the
way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it" (Matt.7:13-14).
One major reason so many Christians
are ignorant of these things, and the Biblical commands to "count the
omer," and to observe Shavuot/Pentecost, is because of much latent and
deeply hidden feelings of anti-Semitism -- hostility toward anything and
everything "Jewish" in nature!
Yet, Jesus Christ Himself declared, unequivocally, "Salvation is of
the Jews" (John
Shavuot or Pentecost is also called,
in the Scriptures, "the day of First-fruits" (Num.28:26), as well as
"the feast of harvest, of the first-fruits of thy labours"
(Exo.23:16), and "the feast of weeks, of the first-fruits of wheat
harvest" (Exo.34:22). Why the
emphasis on "first-fruits"?
Few indeed understand it, but
Pentecost or Shavuot pictures, in a sublime and amazing way, the Christian's
journey through life, leading up to the second coming of the Messiah! Passover pictures our repentance, and
forgiveness of sin, and acceptance of Christ as our "sacrificial
lamb" -- the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world (John
journey
out of Egypt -- a type of "sin" and bondage to sinful human nature --
pictures the Christian or Messianic believer's journey as a believer in the
Messiah, coming out of sin, and wickedness, and journeying forward through the
desert -- a type of this world's tangles, troubles, trials, and
temptations.
Finally, the Israelite's standing
before Mount Sinai, as God came down to the mountain-top, and revealed Himself
to them, and entered into a binding covenant with them as His people, was also
a type -- a type of the second coming of the Messiah in an awesome blaze of
glory, to gather His saints, to marry them as His virtuous "bride,"
and to punish the evil and rebellious nations of the world!
The
"First Coming" at
Among the Jewish people, the festival of Pentecost, or
Shavuot, celebrates as well the time of the giving of the Law, the Torah, by
God to
On the third month, which is Sivan,
on the third day of the month, they came to the "wilderness of Sinai"
(Exo.19:3). On this day Moses went up to
God on the mount, and God offered to make
Careful calculation shows that the
"third day" here would have been Sivan 6 -- the very day of
Pentecost! God came down, in glory, and
met with the people, and gave them His inexpressible, glorious Covenant,
summarized in the Ten Commandments -- and they became His official "bride,"
entering a marriage covenant with them (Jeremiah
Moses recorded of this spectacular
event: "And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD
descended upon it in FIRE: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a
furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.
And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and
louder . . . And the LORD came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the
mount" (Exo.19:18-20).
We tend to read over these
Scriptures and fail to register their awesome portent!
This awesome event was a very type
of the second coming of CHRIST the Messiah!
Notice! God came down to earth -- to the top of a
mountain! At this time, He made His
people
Because of this wickedness, when
Moses returned from communing with God on the top of mount Sinai, he broke the
tablets containing the Ten "Devarim" or Ten Words of God -- commonly
called the "Ten commandments."
If he had delivered the tablets to
What does this have to do with
Christians, and believers in the Messiah?
Pentecost and the Bride and
Redemption
The Feast of Pentecost is a Type
of Redemption! The counting of fifty
days from Passover to Pentecost is a type of the life of overcoming and
enduring to the end. For the Jewish
people, observant Jews, this period of time has always represented a period of
maturing relationship between
In
truth, our acceptance of Christ represented our "betrothal" to Him,
as part of His bride-to-be, spiritually.
The Church, in Scripture, is referred to as the "bride of
Christ." Paul says to the
Corinthians, "For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused
you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to
Christ" (II Cor.11:2). God
says, "And I will betroth thee to me forever; yea, I will betroth thee
unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving kindness, and in
mercies. I will even betroth thee unto
me in
faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD" (Hosea
Christ is going to present a wife to
Himself, "in her virginity" (Lev.21:13). As Paul wrote, Christ Jesus "loved the
church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the
washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious
church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be
holy and without blemish" (Eph.4:25-27).
Therefore, when the Messiah returns
from heaven, He will take the saints -- the true believers in Him, who follow
and obey Him -- as His bride forever! At
His coming, John tells us in the book of Revelation, He will take His bride to
Himself: "Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to
him: for the marriage of the Lamb and
his wife is come, and his wife hath made herself READY. And to her was granted that she should be
arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness
of saints. And he saith, Blessed are
they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true
sayings of God" (Rev.19:6-9).
This same bride, the
"first-fruits" to God and to the Lamb, are pictured also in
Revelation 14, where we read: "And
I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Zion, and with him an hundred and
forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads
(the name YAHVEH, or in the Hebrew, hwhy]. . . .
And they sung as it were a new song before the throne . . . and no man could
learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed
from the earth. These are they which
are not defiled with women; and they are [spiritual] virgins. These
are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were REDEEMED from among men, BEING
THE FIRSTFRUITS UNTO GOD, and to the Lamb.
And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without
fault before the throne of God" (Rev.14:1-5).
This is the picture of the true
BRIDE OF CHRIST, ready to meet Him when He comes! Will you be among them? Are you becoming purified -- made white? Are you being clothed with righteousness --
which is keeping the commandments of God (Psalm 119:172)? Are you a spiritual "virgin," uncomtaminated
by the pagan teachings and falsehoods of this world, and its Babylonian whorish
religious "traditions"? Are
you also "without guile"?
Think about it!
These are the
"first-fruits"!
These are the ones pictured by the
harvest festival of Pentecost -- the feast of Weeks!
Parable of the Ten Virgins
When
God came down to mount Sinai, in blazing glory and power, the trumpet blew with
a resounding sound, growing louder and louder!
It, also, was a "type."
When the Messiah comes for His bride,
pictured by Pentecost, we read:
"Then shall the kingdom of heaven be
likened unto ten virgins, which took
their
lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
And five of them were
wise,
and five were foolish. They that were
foolish took their lamps, and took
no
oil with them: but the wise took oil in
their vessels with their lamps.
"While
the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at
there
was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.
Then
all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said
unto
the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out [or, "going
out"].
But
the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you:
but
go ye rather to them that buy and sell, and buy for yourselves.
"And
while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were READY
went
with him to the marriage: and the door
was shut.
"Afterward came also the other
virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.
But he
answered
and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore,
for
ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh"
(Matthew 25:1-13).
Let us examine this parable. Again, the church is compared to a BRIDE --
ten virgins, who are awaiting their Lord's return. The wise ones are prepared and ready -- they
have "oil" in their lamps. The
oil is a type of God's Holy Spirit, that flows through the candelabra -- the
seven pipes of the menorah, a type of God's Church (Zech.4:2-6; Rev.1:20).
When the bridegroom returns, a
"cry" is made. "The
bridegroom cometh!" What will
that coming be like?
The
Awesome Second Coming
Let us notice what happens when
Christ Jesus/Yeshua the Messiah returns to this earth. A few key Scriptures tell us the story:
"For the Lord himself shall descend
from heaven, with a shout, with the
VOICE
OF THE ARCHANGEL, and with the trumpet of God: and the
dead
in Christ shall rise first: Then we
which are alive and remain shall
be
caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air:
and
so shall we ever be with the Lord" (I Thess.4:14-17).
"Behold,
I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be
CHANGED,
in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, AT THE LAST
TRUMPET: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead
shall be raised
incorruptible,
and we shall be changed, for this corruptible must put on
incorruption,
and this mortal must put on immortality" (I Cor.15:51-52).
"Immediately
AFTER the TRIBULATION of those days, shall the sun be
darkened,
and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall
from
heaven [comets, meteor showers], and the powers of the heavens
shall
be shaken: AND THEN shall appear the
sign of the Son of man
in
heaven: and then shall
all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall
SEE
the Son of man COMING in the clouds of heaven with power and
great
glory. And he shall send his angels, with a GREAT
SOUND OF
A
TRUMPET, and they shall
GATHER TOGETHER HIS ELECT from
the
four winds, from one end of heaven to the other [that is, from around
the
world!]" (Matt.24:29-31).
Let us notice carefully, now! Pentecost pictures both the first coming of
God, to mount Sinai, in glory and splendor, with earthquakes and fire, and the
long blasting sound of a piercing trumpet (Exodus 19:18-20). But it also pictures the great SECOND coming
of Christ, the Messiah, in awesome glory and splendor, to judge and reward His
saints, who will be gathered to meet Him in the air, from around the world, as
He returns "like fire" -- as the "lightning" -- "For
as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so
shall also the coming of the Son of man be" (Matt.24:27).
Before both comings is the loud
clarion call of a TRUMPET! At both
comings, God comes down TO EARTH, and stands upon a mountain top! (see Exo.19:20; Zech.14:4; Acts 1:9-11). At His first coming, to mount Sinai,, the
people SAW Him coming (Exo.19:11). At
His second coming, "Behold, he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall
see him" (Rev.1:7).
Will Christ Return in a Secret "Rapture"?
Now, before going further, notice
seven things about the second coming of the Messiah. Many people today believe that when He comes,
He will secretly "spirit away" all the true Christians to heaven in a
massive "rapture" attack. That
is, Christians around the world will suddenly disappear, no matter where they
are or what they are doing. Christian
pilots will disappear from airplanes, Christian motorists will suddenly
disappear from behind the steering wheel of automobiles, or even "big
rigs," causing devastating auto accidents.
Christian surgeons will suddenly disappear, while performing open heart
surgery -- and Christian nurses, and so forth. You get the idea.
But is this idea true?
The lessons of Pentecost prove
beyond a shadow of a doubt that these modern day "Christian" stories
and ideas are nothing but fables and myths!
The Scriptures do not allow for any "secret rapture" of
the saints before the Great Tribulation!
Let's study and review the actual Biblical evidence on this matter!
Seven Proofs the Secret Rapture is
Ridiculous
Here are seven powerful proofs that
the commonly held and virtually idolized "rapture theory" is totally
untrue:
1)
First of all, the descent of God to the top of mount Sinai clearly did not
involve or describe SOME "SECRET RAPTURE" of the nation of Israel --
yet it was a TYPE of the Second Coming of Christ! When God came down to mount Sinai, He
came down ONCE! And He came in glorious
power and splendor (Exodus 19:9-11).
Even
so, when Christ returns to this earth, He is coming ONCE MORE -- NOT TWICE MORE! And when He comes, He is coming in GLORY, and
splendor! Matthew tells us: "When the Son of man shall come in his
glory, and all the holy angels with him . . ." (Matt.25:31).
2)
Secondly, when He comes, His coming will be accompanied by a TRUMPET
BLAST, even as His coming to mount Sinai was accompanied by a loud trumpet
blast! Again, there is no way this
can be SECRET! The blast of the trumpet
is meant to be HEARD! It is a clarion
call to ANNOUNCE the presence of the KING MESSIAH! (I Cor.15:51-52; I
Thess.4:14-17).
3) When the Messiah comes, His coming will be
accompanied with the LOUD VOICE of a SHOUTING ARCHANGEL! Again, this is not some mystical
"silent" shout, or a whisper of some sort! A SHOUT is a SHOUT! A shout is the lifting up of the voice to
a high powerful pitch, and much volume and noise! A "shout" is meant to be heard! (I
Thess.4:14-17).
4) Finally, when the Messiah comes, He will then
-- at that time -- gather His saints, the living and the dead, who will
rise to meet Him in the air -- and then return to earth with His as His feel
stand upon the Mount of Olives! This means that the saints are on the earth,
when He comes -- they are NOT up in heaven!
When He comes, He sends His angels to GATHER them from the four winds,
from every direction, on the earth! (Matt.24:31).
5)
When Christ Messiah comes, He will not come "part way" -- and
then return up to heaven with His saints!
Rather, when He comes, He will come ALL THE WAY DOWN TO EARTH -- and
will STAND upon a mountain top, even as He did at Sinai! There was no "dipsy doodle" coming
to earth at that time -- nor will there be in the future. Christ will not come like a "yo yo"
-- going down, up and down again!
Rather, as the Scriptures tell us:
"Behold, the day of the LORD cometh,
and thy spoil shall be divided in the
midst
of thee. And I will gather all nations
against Jerusalem to battle . . .
Then
shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he
fought
in the day of battle. And his feet
shall STAND IN THAT DAY UPON
THE
MOUNT OF OLIVES, which is
before Jerusalem on the east, and the
mount
of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof . . . ." (Zech.14:1-4).
Notice! When the
Messiah comes, His feet will stand upon the Mount of Olives on that very day
of His coming! Not weeks, months, or
years later! Isn't this PLAIN?
6)
Further evidence of this is given in the New Testament book of Acts,
where the gospel writer Luke tells us of the ascension of Christ into heaven,
in full view of the disciples:
"And when he [Christ] had spoken all
these things, WHILE THEY BEHELD,
HE
WAS TAKEN UP; and a CLOUD received him out of their sight. And
while
they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men
stood
by them in white apparel; which also
said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand
ye
gazing up into heaven? This same
Jesus, which is taken up from you into
heaven,
SHALL SO COME IN LIKE MANNER AS YE HAVE SEEN HIM GO
INTO
HEAVEN" (Acts
1:9-11).
Now let's get this, and get it good! Was Jesus secretly "raptured" out
of their sight, invisibly? NO! Not at
all! He was taken up into heaven IN A
CLOUD, and they SAW Him ascending,
as
they WATCHED with their eyes gazing steadfastly on Him, as He disappeared into
the remote heavens! And take careful
note! The two angels told them that when
He returns, it will be in the VERY SAME MANNER as they SAW Him go into
heaven!
Clearly, then, Jesus will NOT come
in some clandestine, secret, invisible manner in which nobody will notice or
see him. Rather, the WHOLE WORLD WILL
SEE HIM -- AND WILL SHAKE WITH HORROR AND FEAR!
7) Finally, there is one respect in which
Christ's coming will be "like a thief in the night" (Rev.16:15). That is, in regard to the TIME of His coming! Although most thieves who come at night, seek
to hide their activity from prying eyes, when Jesus Christ returns He will not
"hide" Himself at all. But His
coming will be "like a thief" in the respect that no one will know
PRECISELY WHEN HE IS GOING TO COME!
Jesus
Himself said, "Watch therefore: for
ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the goodman
of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have
watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also READY: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son
of man cometh" (Matt.24:42-44).
Pentecost, the only Festival of God
which has a "movable date," is the perfect picture and type of the
"second coming of Christ," because -- like Pentecost, in the ancient
Jewish calendar -- the second coming of Christ could occur on a number of
different dates, and we do not know for certain exactly when He will
return!
Thus, even in this respect,
Pentecost, or "Shavuot," the Feast of Weeks, the Feast of heightening
expectation and anticipation, as we count down the days and weeks before it
comes, Pentecost is a unique symbol of the second coming of the Messiah!
The Early and Latter Rains
The early church observed the Feast
of Pentecost. The apostle Paul bode his
friends farewell at Ephesus, in Asia Minor, saying, "I must by all means
keep this Feast [Pentecost] that cometh in Jerusalem" (Acts
18:21). We read later, that Paul
"hasted, if it were possible for him, to be at Jerusalem the day of
Pentecost" (Acts 20:16). Why
the urgency? Why Pentecost? Obviously, because Paul desired to observe
this Holy Day in Jerusalem, at the Temple!
Interestingly, the early church
actually began on the Holy Day of Pentecost. We read in Acts, chapter 1, that
Jesus Christ told the disciples before He parted, and was taken up into heaven,
that they should "NOT depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise
of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.
For
John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit
not many days hence" (Acts 1:4-5).
A review of the dates shows that
this statement was made on the 27th of Iyar, the second month of the Jewish
calendar (corresponding to our May 13, this year). It was the 40th day since Christ had first
appeared to the disciples following His resurrection (Acts 1:3). Thus, since Pentecost would come on Sivan
6th, this was eight days before Pentecost! (the month Iyar has 29 days). Was Jesus telling His disciples, in effect,
to wait until Pentecost?
In Acts, chapter 2, we find a most
remarkable occurrence, fulfilling the promise and prophecy of Christ. Notice!
"And when the day of Pentecost was
FULLY COME, they were all with
one
accord in one place [together]. And
suddenly there came a sound from
heaven
as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they
were
sitting. And there appeared unto them
cloven tongues like as of fire,
and
it sat upon each of them. And they were
ALL FILLED WITH THE
HOLY
SPIRIT, and began to speak with other tongues [languages], as the
Spirit
gave them utterance. And there were
dwelling at Jerusalem Jews,
devout
men, out of every nation under heaven.
Now when this was noised
abroad,
the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that
every
man heard them speak in his own language.
And they were all amazed
and
marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak
Galileans? And how hear we every man in his own tongue,
wherein we
were
born? . . . .And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one
to
another, What meaneth this?" (Acts 2:1-12).
On the first Pentecost, in Moses'
day, when God came down on top of mount Sinai, and delivered the Decalogue to
mankind, His appearance was accompanied with "fire" (Exo.19:18). And on this first Pentecost following the
ascension of Christ the Messiah into heaven, there was again a mighty display
of power from heaven -- tongues which appeared as "like as of fire,"
and a rushing mighty wind, like a tornado (Acts 2:2-3).
In his sermon on that day, Peter
explained the phenomenon which had just occurred to the assembled multitude,
saying, "This is that which was spoken of by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass, in the last
days, saith God, I will pour out of MY SPIRIT upon all flesh: and your sons
and your daughters shall
prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: and on my servants and on my handmaidens I
will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in heaven above,
and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapours of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and
the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: And it
shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be
saved" (Acts 2:16-18).
What Peter quoted was a prophecy by
the prophet Joel, about 800 years before that time, which foretold the very end
of the age. Yet God inspired Peter to
draw from that prophecy to explain the miraculous events of that
Pentecost! God's Spirit was poured out
on His people then, even as it will be poured out once more during our
end-time generation, before the coming of the dreadful and awesome "Day of
the Lord"!
That
event was the "early rain" of God's Spirit. But soon, now, we are going to see and
witness and experience the fulfillment of the "LATTER RAIN"
of God's Holy Spirit! The prophet
Hosea foretold: