THE MEANING, MESSAGE AND MANDATE OF PENTECOST (Part I)

THE MEANING, MESSAGE AND MANDATE OF PENTECOST (Part I)
[Scripture Text: Hebrews 12:18-24]

Leading up to this coming Sunday’s celebration of PENTECOST, we will present a three-part sermon series, especially to serve as a resource to ministers who are readers of our devotional. Others may find it beneficial as well. Please pardon the length. We will highlight the meaning, message and mandate of Pentecost. We will also offer insight on the origins of the Jewish Feast of Pentecost which, God implemented with a view toward setting the stage for the “DAY OF PENTECOST,” the birthday of the Christian Church. (Acts 2:1-4)

In order to successfully make our way back to the original Pentecost, there are THREE MOUNTAINS that we must traverse. First of all, we will scale MOUNT SINAI to ascertain the facts and foundation of Pentecost. Secondly, we will climb MOUNT CALVARY to meet the Messenger and message of Pentecost. Thirdly, we will make our ascent on MOUNT ZION to receive the mandate and power of Pentecost.

In our biblical quest, we will employ an old interpretative principle:
The Old Testament is the NEW TESTAMENT CONCEALED.
The New Testament is the OLD TESTAMENT REVEALED.

Why is this interpretative principle so important? So we will resolve to prayerfully study the entire biblical record in order to discern the whole truth surrounding the plans and purposes of God!

Throughout the Bible, God reveals Himself in three persons, i.e. three personalities or manifestations of the ONE GOD to humanity. Exactly, how does this word…three personalities of one God?

GOD, THE FATHER, is the all-knowing, all-powerful and all-loving God…acting FOR US.
GOD, THE SON, is the all-knowing, all-powerful and all-loving God…dwelling WITH US.
GOD, THE HOLY SPIRIT, is the all-knowing, all-powerful and all-loving God…living IN US.

With that in mind, believer, do you know WHO are? In a broader sense, do you actually realize who WE are? In truth, we are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience – because we have been created “in the image” of God. (Genesis 1:27)

And since our CREATOR is intimately aware of our identity and potential, He strives to transport us to the grace of Calvary and the power of Pentecost. Friends, are you ready for the journey? Let’s join in with the Israelites – departing Goshen after four centuries of Egyptian slavery. Let’s travel together with them to MOUNT SINAI.

We arrive at Mount Sinai exactly 50 days after our departure from Egypt. It has been 50 days since we witnessed the last of ten plagues, which killed the first-born in every Egyptian household. It has been 50 days since the overhead flight of the destroying angel, that God assured would PASS OVER every Israelite house because our doorposts had been brushed with the precious blood of an innocent, atoning lamb. It has been 50 days since we first celebrated the FEAST OF THE PASSOVER before making our hasty departure.

Having experienced a miraculous deliverance at the Red Sea, we are now traveling through the incredibly arid Sinai Peninsula. And now we arrive at the foot of MOUNT SINAI, the mountain of God, where He speaks to us through His servant, Moses: “You have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation.” (Exodus 19:4-6)

And we, the people of Israel, respond positively to the words of God, as communicated through the voice of our spiritual leader, Moses: “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.” (Exodus 19:8)

God forewarns us that Mt. Sinai is a high and holy habitation. We are instructed to wash our clothes, that is, to sanctify ourselves in preparation for His appearance, early on the third day. Unknown to us, this third-day-morning appearance is a foreshadowing of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, which prophetically will also occur on the morning of the third day.

We are instructed not to approach or touch Mt. Sinai, neither to allow any animal to touch the mountain. Any who dares to do so will experience an immediate death!

And so we make solemn preparations for our appointment with Almighty God. Looking upward, we notice that Mount Sinai is shrouded in thick pure smoke and appears to on fire. This cloud of smoke ascends straight up toward Heaven and the whole mountain quakes with the power of God.

After Moses ascends the mountain, he returns to us 40 days later with Ten Commandments inscribed on tablets by the finger of God.

Exodus, chapter 20
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 
Honor thy father and thy mother. 
Thou shalt not kill. 
Thou shalt not commit adultery. 
Thou shalt not steal. 
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. 
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, or his wife, or anything that is thy neighbor’s.

After this, we witness awesome lightning and thunder; we hear the sound of a trumpet and we see fiery smoke emerging from Mt. Sinai. We flee fearfully to a distance and call out to our leader: “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.” (Exodus 20:19)

And we stand sufficiently far away as Moses draws close to the thick darkness which is inhabited by our God. And the Lord speaks to Moses, “Say unto the children of Israel, you have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.” (Exodus 20:22)

The timing of our arrival at Mt. Sinai, the mountain of God, has prophetic significance. We are at the foot of Mt. Sinai exactly 50 days after our exodus from Egypt. This means that our arrival at Mt. Sinai is exactly 50 days after the first observance of THE FEAST OF PASSOVER. In order to commemorate this special day of divine communication at Mt. Sinai, the place where God established a covenant of law with us – and to make a direct connection with the day of our deliverance from Egyptian bondage – God commanded Moses to institute THE FEAST OF PENTECOST, which simply means the 50th day. Therefore, this annual FEAST OF PENTECOST would also be called THE FEAST OF WEEKS for God instructed Moses to count seven weeks and one day from the time of our Egyptian deliverance, which (again) is exactly 50 days after THE FEAST OF PASSOVER. God also directed Moses that, once His people arrive in The Promised Land, we would observe Pentecost annually as a high and holy day. It would be a solemn and holy remembrance of the giving of the law on Mt. Sinai, which took place 50 days after our Egyptian deliverance, 50 days after THE FEAST OF PASSOVER.

THE FEAST OF PASSOVER, given by God as a directive to Moses to the people, is a quite a complex and complicated feast. Once we arrive in the Promised Land, at Pentecost the people will present the FIRST FRUITS of the harvest, along with one lamb for a burnt offering. The priest will symbolically wave two loaves of leavened bread, which will be baked from freshly harvested grain. All of this will be done by the priest on behalf of the congregation, as an act of gratitude to YAWHEH for His blessings. Unlike the loaves of unleavened bread (prepared in haste) as part of THE FEAST OF PASSOVER, THE FEAST OF PENTECOST will use leavened bread, a symbol of GOD’S good and gracious harvest. This will be followed by the offering of seven lambs, two rams and one bullock, also as burnt offerings. This will be followed by the offering of a kid, a young goat, for a SIN-OFFERING. This will be followed by the offering of two lambs for PEACE-OFFERINGS on behalf of the congregation.

A very important part of THE FEAST OF PENTECOST is God’s directive that His people will not completely harvest their fields. Rather, they were instructed by God (through Moses): “When you reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest. Thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger, I am the Lord your God.” (Leviticus 19:9-10) Thus, PENTECOST is also intended to be a time when we remember and respond to the needs of the least of our brethren, the poor, those who struggle for survival, those who have insufficient means to sustain themselves. This is our solemn duty at Pentecost and at any other time that we are able to meet legitimate needs.

Let’s recap what we have learned.

Exactly fifty days after the very first FEAST OF THE PASSOVER, Moses was given the law of God (The Ten Commandments or The Decalogue) on Mt. Sinai. This event established the FEAST OF WEEKS, also known as the FEAST OF PENTECOST, which signifies fifty. THE FEAST OF WEEKS or PENTECOST was established by GOD as a solemn observation for the His people, who had been freed from Egyptian bondage 50 days before. The Jews have a Hebrew name for Pentecost. They call it SHAVUOT [pronounced Shaw-VOO-oh]. Shavuot is the Hebrew word for “weeks.” Therefore, from Passover to Shavuot or the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost is exactly 50 days – 7 weeks plus one day.

It is important to remember that SHAVUOT is the anniversary of the day GOD GAVE THE LAW on Mt. Sinai. Therefore, SHAVUOT is considered by many Jewish scholars to be THE BIRTHDAY OF ANCIENT ISRAEL. Check this out, because I find it to be fascinating. When Moses scaled Mt. Sinai the second time, the children of Israel were down in the valley…messing around! That’s what the carnally-minded do – they spend their days and nights messing around way down in the valley!

So even after GOD had given Ten Covenant Commandments to Moses on Mt. Sinai – even after this – 3,000 Israelites perished due to their idolatry and disobedience. (Exodus 32:28) You see, while Moses was up on the mountain, they made a golden calf idol and then (amid seductive dancing and sexual orgies), they started worshipping the idol god they had made! Can you imagine? Worshipping a god that you have made! But that’s not very different from us. We may not worship idol gods we have made, but we worship idol gods that we have purchased: cars and clothing…houses and land. We may not worship idol gods we have made, but we worship idol gods we feel we have earned: degrees and careers…fame and fortune. So the ISRAELITES of that day were not very different from the ‘AMERICANITES’ of our day!

As we noted earlier, 3,000 Israelites perished due to their idolatry and disobedience. But exactly 1,477 years later, on the exact same date, there was a NEW TESTAMENT CELEBRATION OF THE FEAST OF WEEKS. On that special Shavuot day, exactly 50 days AFTER the resurrection of Jesus Christ, “the day of Pentecost was fully come.” (Acts 2:1) It was an awesome day in human history because THE HOLY GHOST that (before this) had at various and sundry times only moved ON us…was now poured out INTO us!

Following the command of Christ, 120 Jews assembled for 10 days in an Upper Room on Mt. Zion…and there was a complete and miraculous reversal of events! For on the first and former Pentecost, which occurred 1,477 years earlier…3,000 souls perished after they bowed to worship a golden idol god…but on the latter Pentecost, (1,477 years later on the exact same date), 3,000 souls bowed their knees to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. On that Day of Pentecost, 3,000 souls were born again to become baptized believers in the Body of Christ! (Acts 2:41)

The former Pentecost occurred at MT. SINAI…but the latter Pentecost occurred at MT. ZION. The former Pentecost was the revelation of God to ISRAEL…but the latter Pentecost was the revelation of God to HIS CHURCH. It’s a logical progression…it makes sense…because God first gave the Feast of Pentecost to Israel. But the mere fact that you and I are Hebrew-born does not hinder or block the blessing of God. Because long before the Law of Moses was given, God had GRACE AND TRUTH on His Mind! Because long before the former Pentecost was instituted, God had the latter Pentecost on His mind!

It reminds us of Paul’s declaration to the Ephesian Church: (Ephesians 2:11-13)
“Wherefore remember, that you being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; That at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus, you who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.”

Yes, there was an initial stop at MT. SINAI to get us over into PENTECOST. But don’t get stuck at Sinai! Don’t thwart the grace of God with man-made traditions and legalisms. Don’t allow Satan to overwhelm you with guilt or regret or depression about your past. Here’s what GOD declares about you…once you’ve been born again…once you’ve been delivered…once you’ve been set free: “YOUR SINS AND YOUR INIQUITIES WILL I REMEMBER NO MORE!” (Hebrews 10:17) I love that! I AM FREE…no longer bound…no more chains holding me…my soul is resting…it’s such a blessing… praise the Lord…Hallelujah…I’m free! How am I free?

How am I free? Because, as the gospel song suggests, "THE LORD saved me; why should I be bound?" How are YOU free? Because "if THE SON makes you free, you shall be free indeed." (John 8:36) How am I free? Because “there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in CHRIST JESUS, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me FREE from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." (Rom. 8:1-4)

Stay tuned…more to come tomorrow!

Sisters and brothers, be continually blessed, and please (above all else) MAKE SURE YOU ARE READY TO MEET OUR SOON COMING KING. Maranatha!