Although most Christians always celebrate Pentecost on a Sunday, Pentecost is the Greek name for the Jewish festival 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘶𝘵. 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘶𝘵 occurs on Sivan 6, 50 days after Passover.
𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘶𝘵 celebrates the beginning of the wheat harvest, when Jews travel to Jerusalem to bring their first fruit offerings. The priests wave two loaves of bread at the altar as a wave offering, representing the Law and the Spirit and Israel and the nations as one offering to God. Unlike most offerings, this wave offering was with leavened bread, representing Gentiles receiving God’s salvation and blessings by grace.
We often celebrate Pentecost as the giving of the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit was not the only gift God gave at 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘶𝘵! The very first Pentecost occurred on Mt. Sinai when God gave His law to Moses for the people as a marriage contract between Him and Israel. God gave both His law, instructions and directions, and His Spirit on the same day centuries apart! What does this prophetically say to us? We cannot have one without the other! We cannot have the law without the Spirit, and we cannot have the Spirit without the law! As believers in Jesus, we need the Holy Spirit to follow God’s instructions, but we cannot follow the Spirit properly if we do not know our Bible. If we are not grounded in the Word and know God’s instructions, what we think of following the Spirit is often following the whims of our own soul.
As we celebrate 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘶𝘵 today, let’s praise God for the giving of both His Word and His Spirit! Let’s go forward this year, not neglecting one or the other. Get in His Word! Ask the Holy Spirit to help you understand His Word. Find a translation you can understand and make it a priority to begin to fill your heart with truth.
Let’s also rejoice over our salvation and the grace God has given us as Gentiles!
Happy Shavout!!!
Brandee