Pentecost Then and Now

Introduction
1. Slides 2-3 – Read Acts 2:1-12
2. Slide 4 Pentecost – Fiftieth or Fiftieth day
  1. Festival of weeks – 7 weeks plus one day after Passover
  2. We know it as the day that the Holy Spirit was poured out on the church.
  3. But the day of Pentecost had a long tradition for the Jews before the Holy Spirit outpouring in Acts. So, where did this day come from and why was it significant. Is there any connection between the coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts and what went before? Further, what is the relevance for us today?
3. Slide 5 “The 3^rd month” – Let’s take a deep dive into the background of Pentecost that actually predates Israel’s celebration of Pentecost.
  1. Slides 6-7 – Exodus 19:1-11 – The first day of the 3^rd month after Israel left Egypt they arrived at Sinai.
    1. On that very day – Making sure we know that it wasn’t approximately the 3^rd month, it is definitely the 3^rd
      1. 1^st month, exodus and passover
    2. Moses hears from the Lord and brings to the people an offer to be God’s people. (vss. 4-6)
    3. The people agree
    4. 3 days to prepare and the Lord will come and speak.
    5. Early in the 3^rd month they arrive at Sinai, God speaks to them and offers them a covenant relationship and they agree.
  2. Slides 8-9 – Deuteronomy 5:4-5, 22-27
    1. 40 years later, Moses gives some color and some detail that wasn’t there in Exodus.
    2. God spoke with them face to face (Moses had some kind of go-between role), but it was different than his normal mediating role.
    3. God spoke the 10 commandments (and some other instructions) directly to them, before they were written on stone.
    4. They heard God speak.

All of these things happened early in the 3^rd month
1. The face to face encounter with the Presence of God, hearing His voice, Fire, receiving His word, agreeing to the covenant, etc.
2. In Exodus 24 we discover that there was a covenant meal as well as a sprinkling of the people with blood.
3. The first month activities were about their freedom, the 3^rd month activities are about their formation as God’s people.

Slide 10 – The Pentecost festival
1. Mentioned in Exodus 23:16 – Called the festival of harvest
  1. Pentecost is associated with harvest.
  2. This means it will only be celebrated in the promised land because they aren’t planting crops in the wilderness.
2. Explained in more detail in Leviticus 23:15-16
  1. Dating – Leviticus tells us that the counting of the 50 days starts with the day after the Sabbath. According to Leviticus Pentecost will always be on Sunday, Deut. 16:9-12 is more general in its dating.
  2. This passage is where the names “Pentecost” and “Festival of weeks” come from.

Also called Firstfruits (but note that there is a previous festival called Firstfruits mentioned in vss. 9-14 (see further clarification in vs. 15)
1. According to Leviticus Pentecost is dated based on “the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering” or First fruits part A.
2. Pentecost will always be in month 3 roughly between the 6^th and the 13^th
3. This corresponds with Israel’s encounter with God at Sinai (see above)

As a harvest festival, it was primarily the way that Israel celebrated Pentecost.
1. At some point (maybe after the destruction of Jerusalem) there was a greater association between Pentecost and Mt. Sinai, specifically the giving of the law.
2. There are also parallels in scripture between the word of God (law) and bread. For example, Jesus’ temptation.
Three things that are connected with Pentecost
1. Slide 11 – The Day of Assembly (He forms us into his new people) –
  1. Deuteronomy – the Day of Ecclesia – Deut. 9:10
    1. In Exodus 19 God spoke to the people and offered terms of the covenant and the people agreed.
    2. The day is referred to as the day of Ecclesia
      1. Ecclesia is the N.T. word translated church. But it was first used to describe God’s original people.
    3. In Acts the outpouring of the Holy Spirit births the church.
      1. The church becomes the Ecclesia and is formed as God’s new people.
      2. Pentecost is significant because it is the original day of formation and now it is being fulfilled through the Holy Spirit inviting all of us to be formed into His people.
      3. It is our Mt. Sinai meeting (which is actually a Mt. Zion meeting).
      4. Slide 12 – Exodus 19:5-6 – “you will be my treasured possession”, “You shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”
      5. 1 Pet. 2:9 – “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession…”
    4. Continuity and discontinuity
      1. Pentecost is associated with the assembling of a group of people to become God’s “church”.
      2. The New People of God come together under a new covenant, one that is received by repenting, believing and being baptized
    5. Slide 13 – The Day of the Presence of the Lord (He indwells us as a temple)
      1. Deuteronomy
        
        The Lord spoke to the people face to face Deut. 5:4-5
        
        Out of the midst of the fire… Deut. 5:5, Deut. 5:22-27,
        
        Heard His voice – Deut. 5:22-27
        
        Notice the presence of the Lord and fire
        
        The people asked for distance from God – Moses you be the go between
      2. Acts 2
        
        The Holy Spirit’s outpouring/presence also comes with fire
        
        They saw the manifestation of God as fire
        
        God spoke through the people speaking in tongues/other languages as they declared the wonders of God
        
        Instead of asking for distance from the Lord, the Lord takes up residence in His New Covenant people – no tent or building, they/we are the building and the dwelling place of God on earth
        
        Peter’s sermon – you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
        
        Slide 14 – 1 Pet. 2:5 – You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
      3. Continuity and discontinuity
        
        In both accounts the Presence of God comes with fire, in both accounts the Lord speaks
        
        In Acts the Presence and fire of God draw people to Him rather than terrifying them and pushing them away. (Heb. 12:18-24)

Slide 15 – The Day of Harvest (He empowers us for mission)
1. T.
  1. Pentecost is the harvest festival celebrating the first great harvest of the year. It is the harvest festival for the grain harvest and the beginning of the harvest season, which culminates with tabernacles.
2. T.
  1. Slide 16 – Acts 1:8 – “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
  2. Jesus said that the coming of the Holy Spirit would be connected to the Great Commission and would empower the disciples to take the message of Jesus to all peoples.
  3. Slide 17 – Acts 2:8-11 – Because of the way the H.S. was poured out, people from many nations heard the “mighty works of God” declared in their own language.
  4. Slide 18 – Acts 2:41 – On the day of Pentecost 3,000 souls became followers of Jesus and were added…
  5. There is a deep connection between Pentecost and Spiritual Harvest
3. To sum up, we celebrate Pentecost because:
  1. It is the day the Presence of God came down in Fire
  2. To form us as His people
  3. To fill us with His Presence
  4. And to Empower us for His Harvest – Mission
4. Application – Relevance for today
  1. Slide 19 – Pentecost reveals God’s desire for us to be His people who walk together with Him as a community. Therefore:
    1. Be an active and willing member of God’s people.
    2. We live in Western Society that highly values individualism
    3. God is building a family, a society
      1. Sometimes we feel like, thanks but no thanks, I’m busy.
    4. We are called together as His people to be a community of people who love and care for each other, but also who reflect His glory.
    5. We have to further explore the idea of what does it means to do life together. Some of this is coming in future chapters of Romans.
  2. Slide 20 – Pentecost reveals God’s desire and intention to dwell with us forever, starting right now. Therefore,
    1. Cultivate your relationship with the Holy Spirit.
    2. Be continuously filled with His Spirit.
    3. The Bible says that we have all been given the one Spirit to drink – 1 Cor. 12:13
    4. Slide 21 – Ephesians 5:18-20 – a couple of keys to this are singing songs of praise to God, being thankful and maintaining a mutually submissive posture to one another.

Slide 22 – Pentecost reveals God’s great desire for spiritual harvest, for all people everywhere to hear the good news about Jesus. Therefore,
1. Be available for His Mission
2. Ask God to increase your desire for witness
3. Ask for opportunities to witness
4. Live the kind of life before the world that will make them thirsty.
5. Promote Mexico outreach.

Pray for each other

Communion
1. Pentecost is a harvest celebration involving a grain offering, the giving of bread
2. Jesus identified with the grain offering by offering His body as bread for our covenant meal to nourish us in our faith.
3. In a sense communion points to the feast of Pentecost for the grain harvest and the feast of tabernacles for the wine harvest
4. Let’s enjoy fellowship with Him, but also join Him in His desire and His prayer for a great harvest of souls throughout the whole earth.

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