One of Israel's three major agricultural festivals, the second great feast of the Jewish year. It is a harvest festival, also known as the Feast of Weeks. The original Jewish significance of this festival has been overshadowed by the Christian celebration of the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
Pentecost was one of Israel's three major agricultural festivals
It was also known as the Feast of Weeks
Deuteronomy 16:9–10 See also Exodus 34:22; Deuteronomy 16:16–17; 2 Chronicles 8:13
You are to count off seven weeks from the time you first put the sickle to the standing grain. And you shall celebrate the Feast of Weeks to the LORD your God with a freewill offering that you give in proportion to how the LORD your God has blessed you,
It is also referred to as the Feast of Harvest
Instructions for the celebration of Pentecost
Its timing and sacrifices
Leviticus 23:15–21 The “fifty days” (verse 16) gives rise to the term “Pentecost” which is derived from the Greek word for “fiftieth”; Numbers 28:26–31; Jeremiah 5:24
Its link with the deliverance from Egypt
Deuteronomy 16:12 Pentecost later became associated with covenant renewal and the giving of the Law.
Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, and carefully follow these statutes.
Pentecost in the NT
It was observed by Paul
See also Acts 20:16; 1 Corinthians 16:8
Its association with the coming of the Holy Spirit
Acts 2:1–4, Acts 2:16–21, Acts 11:15 See also Joel 2:28–32
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like a mighty rushing wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw tongues like flames of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on My menservants and maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the coming of the great and glorious Day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, just as He had fallen upon us at the beginning.
Related themes
Dictionary of Bible Themes © 1999 Martin Manser, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, via Bible Aquifer. Formatted for this site, with Scripture from the Berean Standard Bible.