What Is The Day Of Pentecost?
Every Christian religion teaches about the Day of Pentecost as told in Acts 2:1. “and when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they (the disciples) were all with one accord in one place.
Immediately in this verse there are three questions we need answered?
1. What is the Day of Pentecost?
2. What does it mean “when the day of Pentecost was fully come, and
3. Why were the disciples of Christ all with one accord in one place?
The word, PENTECOST, according to Strong’s Cordance comes from the Greek word Passover. The word is Strong’s # 4005, which comes from the order of #4004, together with Strong’s # 2250 , implies the 50th day from Passover, not count 50 like most of the COG teaches. Strong’s 4004 means 50, not Pentecost. Pentecost then is a day that has a relationship to Passover and includes a counting of 50.
In Acts 1:4, we read, “and being assembled together (Christ) commanded them (His disciples) that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but “wait for the promise of the Father, which saith He, “you have heard of Me., (continuing verse 5) for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” Were the disciples then together with one accord and in one place because Christ told them to? And why did He tell them to wait for the promise of the Father. Why did he not just send it as soon as he reached His Fathers throne, or was there another reason they were all together, in one place?
Is Pentecost a new commanded assembly instituted by Christ or is it one of the original Holy convocations given to the children of Israel when they came out of the land of Egypt?
In Leviticus 23, the Lord, speaking to Moses, gave him a list of His commanded convocations to proclaim to the children of Israel. Is Pentecost one of the days mentioned?
Leviticus 23:1-3 says, “And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, The Feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim Holy convocations, These are My Feasts. Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest, a holy convocation; you shall do no work therein: it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings.
The word “feast” used here is Strong’s #4150, an appointment, a fixed Time or Seasons.
The word “convocations” is Strong’s #4744, a public meeting, assembly, a calling (as to call to a meeting or assembly) a rehearsal.
The word “proclaim” is Strong’s #7121, to call out to, to address by name, cry (unto) invite, preach, publish, proclaim.
The word “Sabbath” is Strong’s #7676, (from 7673) Intermission or The Sabbath. What the Lord is saying in Lev. 23: vs. 3, is that you are to number 6 days and then the seventh day is an intermission between the next 6 days. It is a fixed space of time that is to continue every 6 days. Six days of work, then an intermission of day seven of rest.
Leviticus 23:4 says “These are the Feasts of the Lord, holy convocations, which you shall proclaim in their Seasons . “ This is not the Lord just repeating Himself. He is saying something completely different then what he said in Leviticus 23: 2. These feast days, also called Sabbaths, are completely different from the feast day called “The Sabbath”. This is very important to understand and the key to the riddle of how to count to the 50th day.
The word Seasons used here is the exact same word as the word Feast. Strong’s # 4150, an appointment, a fixed time or Seasons. In this case He is saying that all of the next 7 holy convocations listed are seasonal appointments and have to be arrived at a different way than the first feast or fixed time, the Sabbath.
In Leviticus 23, verses, 6,7,8,21,24,27,34,35 & 35, The Lord lists seven Holy Convocations that He says are to be proclaimed in their seasons. The convocations listed are the first day and the last day or seventh day of Unleavened Bread, a holy convocation that is not named, but is connected to Passover and is arrived at by a count of 50, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a day of atonement, the first day of the feast of tabernacles, and the day following the last day or seventh day of the feast of tabernacles, called the eighth day.
What are the Seasons He is speaking of and is the day of Pentecost among them?
In Exodus 34, vs. 18, 22, 23, and 24, we read: vs. 18: “The feast of unleavened bread shall you keep. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, in the time of the month Abib: for in the month Abib you came out from Egypt. Vs. 22: And you shall observe the feast of Weeks, of the first fruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the years end. Vs.23: Thrice in the year shall all your men-children appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel. Vs. 24: For I will cast out the nations before you, and enlarge your borders: neither shall any man desire your land, when you shall go up to appear before the Lord your God thrice in the year. Deuteronomy 16:16 says, “ Three times in a year shall all your males appear before the Lord your God in the place which He shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the Lord empty.
11 Chronicles 8:12-13 says, “Then Solomon offered burnt offerings unto the Lord on the altar of the Lord, which he had built before the porch. Even after a certain rate every day, offering according to the commandment of Moses, on the Sabbaths, and on the new moon, and on the solemn feasts, three times in the year, in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles.
It is evident by these scriptures that the Seasons God is speaking of is 1: the beginning of the year, the month Abib, with Passover and the days of Unleavened Bread, 2: Later in the year with the first fruits of wheat harvest, The feast of Weeks, and 3: the end of the year with the feast of ingathering. We know the Ingathering feasts consists of Trumpets, Atonement, Tabernacles and the Eighth day, which are all in the seventh month and represent the different stages of the gathering of humanity into the Kingdom of God.
The first season is in the month Abib, the last season or third season is in the seventh month which leaves us with the second season, which can only be the Feast of Weeks, which has to do with the First fruits of the wheat harvest. In Leviticus 23 beginning with verse 9 continuing through verse 22, we read of a Holy convocation that begins with the waving of a sheaf of the first fruits of a harvest and continues through a count of 50 days that culminates in the 50th day. This must be the feast of weeks; It begins with Christ, the first of the first fruits and ends with the resurrection of His first fruits. It is a feast that has everything to do with an early harvest and requires counting to come to the fullness of the 50th day, the day of completion. Since Pentecost is also a feast that follows 50 days after Passover it is evident that Pentecost and the feast of weeks are one and the same. Now how do we arrive at the 50 th day?
This is where the confusion in the churches of God occurs. Some teach that the count to 50 is to begin the day after the weekly Sabbath that falls during the days of unleavened bread; others teach that the Sabbath spoken of is the day following the first day of unleavened bread which is also called a Sabbath or holy day. We have to look to Gods words in the Bible to give us the answer.
In Leviticus chapter 23 The Lord plainly makes a distinction between the weekly Sabbath , which is a fixed space of time every seventh day, and the seven Holy convocations or Sabbaths that are to come in their seasons. In Genesis 1: 14, It says, “ And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night, and let them be for signs, and for Seasons, and for days and years. The word Season is Strong’s # 4150 an appointment, fixed time or seasons.
Psalms 104: 19, He appointed the moon for Seasons (the same Strong’s # 4150) the sun knows his going down. God uses the sun and the moon to determine when His seasons are. Because we have to use the new moon and spring equinox to calculate when the first month begins; the 14th and 15th day of the month can fall on any day of the week. Sometimes unleavened bread will be in March, sometimes in April, and it can start on any day of the week. That is why it is called seasonal. The same is true of the feast of weeks; it is a seasonal feast not a fixed feast. You have to count to know what day of the week, the 50th day will fall on, that is the principle of all the rest, but we can only be sure by reading exactly what the scriptures say and not by what we may think. Let us read what the Lord said about this feast of weeks, and when we are to began counting.
Leviticus 23: Beginning in verse 9: And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, Vs. 10: Speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them, WHEN YOU ARE COME INTO THE LAND WHICH I GIVE UNTO YOU, AND SHALL REAP THE HARVEST THEREOF, THEN YOU SHALL BRING A SHEAF OF THE FIRSTFRUITS OF YOUR HARVEST UNTO THE PRIEST. Vs. 11: and he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted for you, on the morrow (the next day) after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. Vs 14: and you shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, UNTIL THE SELFSAME DAY THAT YOU HAVE BROUGHT AN OFFERING UNTO YOUR GOD: it shall be a statue for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. Vs 15: And you shall count unto you from the morrow (next day) after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be complete; Vs 16: Even unto the morrow (next day) after the seventh Sabbath shall you number 50 days, and you shall offer a new meat offering unto the Lord. Vs 17: you shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven; they are the first fruits unto the Lord. Vs 21: And you shall proclaim on the selfsame day (the 50th day) that it may be a holy convocation unto you. You shall do no servile work therein: it shall be a stature forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.
In Deuteronomy 16: Vs 9-10, It says, “You shall count seven weeks for yourself: began to count the seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the grain. Then you shall keep the Feast of Weeks to the Lord your God with the tribute of a freewill offering from your hand, which you shall give as the Lord your God blesses you. It seems that most of the confusion concerning when to begin the count is because of the use of the word Sabbaths in Leviticus 23 vs. 15 and 16.
In order to clear up the confusion and know exactly when to start the count to the 50th day or Pentecost, There are four points we need to consider;
1: The word Sabbath can mean (Intermission) or The Sabbath (the weekly Sabbath)
2: The Sabbaths or Holy convocations spoken of here are speaking of seasonal Sabbaths not the weekly Sabbaths.
3: Every where it speaks of this Feast, it is called the Feast of Weeks, not the Feast of Sabbaths. (The word -Weeks- is Strong’s # 7620 lit. sevened, I.e. a week, seven.
4: When did the children of Israel arrive in the Land which the Lord gave them and when did they reap the harvest. Joshua 4: 19, And the people came up out of Jordan on the tenth day of the first month (Abib) and encamped in Gilgal, in the east border of Jericho. Joshua 5: 10-12, And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal and kept the Passover on the 14th day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho. And they did eat of the Old corn of the land on the morrow after the Passover ( next day, the 15th day, the first day of unleavened bread) unleavened cakes and parched corn in the self same day. Notice on this day the 15th day they ate unleavened cakes and roasted grain of the Old corn of the land. Vs 12: And the manna ceased on the morrow (next day, the 16th day) after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more, but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.
In other words beginning the 16th day of the year they began to eat of the produce of the land of Canaan, the land that the Lord gave them. A point to make here is that if they just continued to eat of the old corn of the land, it would have said so, it plainly says they ate of the old corn or grain on the 15th day but the next day they began eating of the fruit of the land , which stands to reason was the new grain, since it was in the month Abib or month of green ears. Another point is Leviticus 23 vs. 14, which states they could not eat of the new grain until the Priest waved the wave sheaf offering but they could begin eating the new grain or green ears the same day the priest waved the offering. So if they began to eat the new grain on the 16th day of the month, then the wave sheaf offering had to have been done as Leviticus 23: 14 states.
One more indication that the count to the 50th day began on the 16th day of the first month is Joshua 5 vs. 12: And the Manna ceased on the morrow (the next day after the 15th day- it ceased on the 16th day) after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more…….. Can we know when the children of Israel began receiving the manna? Yes.
Exodus 16 beginning in vs. 1: And they took their journey from Elim and all the congregation of the children of Israel came into the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai on the 15th day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt. (Notice they arrived on the 15th day of the second month.) Vs 2: And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. Vs 3: And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for you have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger. Vs 4: Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no. Vs 6: And Moses and Aaron said unto all the children of Israel, at even, then you shall know that the Lord has brought you out from the land of Egypt: Vs 7: and in the morning, then you shall see the glory of the Lord, for He hears you murmurings against the Lord: and what are we, that your murmur against us.
Vs 8: And Moses said, This shall be when the Lord shall give you in the evening flesh to eat, and in the morning bread to the full: Vs 11: And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, Vs 12: I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, At even you shall eat flesh, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread; and you shall know that I am the Lord your God. Vs 13: And it came to pass, that at even the quails came up and covered the camp; and in the morning (on the 16th day) the dew lay round about the host. Vs 14: And when the dew that lay was gone up… There lay a small round thing…..Vs 15: And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another It is Manna: for they knew not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat. Vs 35: And the children of Israel did eat manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited: they did eat manna until they came into the borders of the land of Canaan. The Lord began to feed the children of Israel Manna on the 16 day of the second month and the manna ceased on the 16th day of the first month, exactly 40 years after they left Egypt.
Based on the all of the information in Leviticus 23, Joshua 5, and Exodus 16, we can know that the word Sabbath used in regard to the feast of weeks or first fruits means an intermission at the end of 6 days, or the seventh day, not the weekly Sabbath .
The count to the 50th day begins on the 16th day of the first month and beginning with day 16 as the 1st day, you count 6 days then the intermission or seventh day, and you do this seven times for a total of 49 days and the day following the 49th day is the 50th day. Pentecost can fall on any day of the week just like the other seasonal Holy convocations that is why you are told to count.
We all understand the concept of weeks, for example, If I tell you that I will meet with you a week from today, you know that I mean for us to meet on the same day seven days from now. That is exactly how we arrive at Pentecost. We started out with three questions: now based on scripture and not human reasoning we can answer them.
1. What is the day of Pentecost? It is the 50th day of the feast of weeks.
2. What does it mean “when the day was fully come?” It means you have to begin the count with day one and count through day 49 and then the 50th day will come in complete.
3. Why were the disciples of Christ with one accord in one place? Because Pentecost is one of the original Holy convocations or commanded assemblies of the Lord and He says we are to come before Him in the place which He shall choose, and at the time which He shall choose. That is also the reason Christ told them to wait for the promise of the Spirit; it couldn’t arrive any sooner than the 50th day.
By Virginia Crow
April 8, 2012