The Feast of Weeks: Pentecost

The feast of Weeks was the second of the three occasions on which Israel was called together by the Lord God. The feast of Weeks is better known to us as the feast of Pentecost.

Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy 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: (Deuteronomy 16:16)

You may recall that there were seven Levitical convocations in all (Leviticus, Chapter 23). The seven were arranged in three major gatherings. The second gathering, Pentecost, was observed by itself, coming fifty days after the high Sabbath of Unleavened Bread.

The fact that Pentecost was by itself, whereas the other six feasts were grouped in two sets of three each, reveals the importance that God places on the work of the Holy Spirit in the plan of redemption. The feast of Pentecost portrays the work of sanctification, which is the second death and resurrection.

The term Pentecost is derived from a Greek word meaning "fifty." Pentecost was observed on the fiftieth day, counting from the day of Firstfruits (sixteenth Abib ) as day number one. Pentecost falls approximately in our month of May. It was called the feast of Weeks because it was celebrated after the fulfillment of seven weeks (a week of weeks) from the convocation of Firstfruits.

It is believed that the Lord gave the Ten Commandments to Moses on the occasion of the first Pentecost, that is, on the fiftieth day after the Israelites made their exodus from Egypt. To this day the Jewish people, with their instinct for Divine truth, celebrate Pentecost as the giving of the Law on Sinai.

The Two Wave Loaves.

And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD. Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals; they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD. (Leviticus 23:15-17)

During the celebration of the feast of Weeks, two large loaves of fine wheat flour were waved before the Lord by the high priest. The two loaves were baked with leaven, which seems strange in that during the prior feast of Unleavened Bread the Israelites were commanded to remove all leaven from their houses. The Israelite who refused to do so was to be cut off from his people.

The leaven that was cleansed from the camp during Unleavened Bread typifies the spirit of malice and wickedness of the age in which we live. Now there is a new leaven in the member of the Body of Christ, and that leaven is the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom is the Divine Life that is small when placed in us but grows until our whole being is filled with the will of God.

Pentecost speaks of the testimony, of the power and holiness of God, of the gifts and fruit of the Holy Spirit. From the day of Pentecost when the tongues of fire rested on the disciples, until the coming day of days when the Church is presented to the Lord Jesus Christ without spot or wrinkle, the Holy Spirit is to be predominant in every detail of the life of the Church.

The two loaves of Pentecost, unlike the harvested sheaves of barley of the feast of Firstfruits, were baked with fire. The baking process signifies that the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ is fashioned in tribulation.

As we think back through Church history, from the Book of Acts until the present, we can note that persecution and trials of all kinds have tested and perfected the Christian people. The testimony of Christ must be "baked with fire." Until the fire has been applied the dough is a white, shapeless mass. When the dough is put in the oven and baked it is formed into something good to eat.

So it is with the Church of Christ. Before the Church undergoes testing it is a shapeless, unappetizing mass of "dough." It is "sticky and tasteless." After the fire of God "bakes" it, it takes on a desirable texture and taste and is of use to God and to mankind.

The Holy Spirit of God bears witness of Christ by miraculous signs and mighty wonders. Whenever Jesus is present there always are signs and mighty wonders. Christ is the same, yesterday, today, and forever. Whenever Jesus is in town the dead are raised, the blind see, the deaf hear, and the Gospel is preached to the poor.

There were two loaves waved, referring to the fact that there is to be a double portion of the Holy Spirit poured on the Church of Christ just before the return of the Lord Jesus.

John the Baptist was the forerunner of Christ and he came in the spirit and power of Elijah. Elijah was the prophet who possessed the portion of the anointing, of the fire of God, on his life.

There will be another forerunner of Christ who will come before the second advent of Christ. The second forerunner will be as Elisha, who possessed the double portion of the fire of God. Elisha represents the two loaves of the feast of Pentecost, being a type of the revival of unparalleled power and glory that is coming to the earth as a forerunner of the second advent of the King of kings and Lord of lords.

The double portion of the last days. There is a double portion coming! We discussed earlier (referring to Chapter Eleven of the Book of Revelation) the ministry of the two witnesses. The two witnesses testify of the Person and will of God and prepare the way for the second advent of the King of kings. They are the fulfillment of the two wave loaves of the feast of Pentecost.

There is much in the description of the two witnesses that reminds us of Moses and Elijah, they being the representatives of the Law and the Prophets. Moses and Elijah (or what they typify) have a role to play in the coming of the Kingdom of God, as we can observe on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matthew 17:3). Moses is associated with the Law, the holiness of the testimony. Elijah is associated with the power, the signs and wonders of the testimony.

The two witnesses speak also of Elijah and Elisha in that the two witnesses are the two olive trees that stand before the Lord of the whole earth (Zechariah 4:3). There were only two prophets in the Scriptures who referred to their source of authority as "the Lord God before whom I stand." These two prophets were Elijah and Elisha.

The two witnesses remind us also of Joshua and Caleb. They will bear witness of the coming Kingdom of God, of the land of promise, of the eternal life and glory into which we are pressing diligently.

Joshua and Caleb, along with the ten unbelievers, were sent into the land of promise and brought back some of the fruit for Israel (the Church) to behold. The two scouts bore witness of what was to come. So it is that the two witnesses of Revelation, Chapter 11 will possess the powers of the age to come (Hebrews 6:5). All who accept their testimony will be saved. All who reject their testimony will perish.

It is our understanding that the two olive trees of Revelation, Chapter 11 are symbolic of the double portion of the Holy Spirit that is to clothe the Body of Christ just prior to the appearing of the Head of the Body from Heaven.

We believe that four events will accompany the end-time outpouring of the power of God: first, the Body of Christ will be greatly edified. The saints will grow in unity and maturity, being strengthened in preparation for the time of trouble that is ahead and being purified for their marriage to the Lamb.

Second, every man, woman, boy, and girl on the face of the earth will see and hear the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Signs and wonders of unprecedented power and glory will be performed by the believers. Multitudes of earth's peoples will understand the love of God and the provision for forgiveness God has offered through Christ. Multitudes will be saved and come to know the Lord Jesus as their Redeemer.

Third, the gap between righteousness and lawlessness, between Christ and Satan, will widen. Today there is much confusion—a gray area where people are neither for God nor against God. Before Jesus appears the wheat and the tares will become easier to identify. The godly will become more godly and the ungodly will become more ungodly.

In the Body of Christ the high places of the flesh will be brought down and the low places of discouragement and weakness will be raised. The crookedness and roughness in the Church will be straightened and smoothed out and the highway of holiness will be constructed. So defined will the highway of holiness become, as it points the way toward God Himself, that a foolish person cannot make a mistake if he takes the road revealed in the Church.

Fourth, the double-portion revival will be accompanied by the descent of the world into such depths of foulness that it is hurtful even to speak of such moral filth and perversity. The power and holiness of God revealed in the Church will serve as a testimony against the maturing wickedness in the earth. This will establish a basis for the judgment that will take place as the wrath of God descends on the world without mercy, burning up sinners and their sin with nonredemptive fire.

The edifying of the saints, the witness of the coming Kingdom of God, the separating of the holy and the unholy, and the testimony against sin and unrighteousness, will all result from the double portion of the Holy Spirit. We believe the latter rain already has begun to fall on the Church of Christ.

The former rain falls in the land of Israel in the autumn so the crops may be planted for the coming year. The latter rain comes down in the springtime so the grain will come to maturity.

The Book of Acts describes the seed rain of the Church of Christ. Just before Jesus returns, the latter (harvest) rain will be poured out so that the plantings of the earth can come to maturity and be reaped. The latter-rain outpouring will be much greater in power and glory than was true of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit described in the Book of Acts.

The Levitical feast of Pentecost signals the end of the harvesting of wheat. The Pentecostal outpouring of the last days will mark the end of the Church Age. The harvest rain will come down as a torrent of the Holy Spirit on the earth so that the "grain" of the earth may be made ready for the harvest.

Then will appear the burning sun of persecution in order to perfect the maturing of the heads of grain. We should be soaking up the Holy Spirit and the Word of God in these days. We will need all the Glory of God we can obtain in order to overcome the problems and troubles that lie ahead of us.

Notice in Matthew 3:11 that the Lord Jesus baptizes his disciples not only with the Holy Spirit but also with fire. The loaves of Pentecost are baked with fire. The light from the lamps of the Lampstand came from the burning of the olive oil.

The cloud of the Holy Spirit leads us by day but the fire leads us by night. This is a figurative way of stating that the blessing and glory of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit direct us during seasons of refreshing, but when the night of tribulation falls on us we must be prepared to follow the fire of God's judgment—His written word. Faith and trust in the Scriptures will bring us safely through every trial.

The Word of God in judgment is the fire of God.

Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? (Jeremiah 23:29)

The Word of God tests our way. We can follow the judgments of God's holy Word throughout the "nights" of our Christian pilgrimage. No matter how distressing and painful our circumstances become, the Word of God will lead us in a safe pathway.

The Lord Jesus will never leave us or forsake us. If we remain steadfast, patiently following the pillar of fire throughout the night, the morning will break and there ahead of us will be the cloud of refreshing and blessing leading us on toward the land of promise.

The fire of God speaks to us of His judgment on the sins of our life and also of the fiery, Job-like trials that cause the righteous to suffer the "loss of all things" (Philippians, Chapter Three). If we receive our fiery trials in faith, patiently enduring them, the fire of God will burn away our bonds (remember Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego), and also will cause the "wheat" of our personality to be baked into a nourishing and delicious loaf to be waved before the Lord.

Christ Himself is the wheat. He must be baked in us by the fires of tribulations and testings.

Pentecost is the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and there is also a baptism of fire. We are mixed with oil, baked in the fire, and then anointed with oil. The oil is more pleasant to receive than is the fire. Both the oil and the fire are necessary if we are to have the kind of loaf God desires.

And a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, and wafers of unleavened bread anointed with oil, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings. (Numbers 6:15)

Pentecost is a wonderful place of the anointing and fire of the Spirit of God. Many Christians have experienced their personal Pentecost in the days in which we live. It now is time for us to press onward toward the land of promise.

Sinai—then the land of promise. The Holy Spirit of Pentecost is the law of the new covenant, the law of the Spirit of life. As such, Pentecost is equivalent to Mount Sinai of the wilderness wanderings.

Mount Sinai is as far south as one can go, in terms of the wilderness wandering of the Hebrews. When we are traveling from Egypt toward Sinai we are moving away from the land of promise, geographically speaking. The reason for taking the long way around is that we are not prepared as yet to go to war against the inhabitants of our land of promise (the forces of Satan).

After Sinai (Pentecost) we begin to be organized into the army of the Lord. Now we are ready to turn northward toward the land of promise, toward Spirit-led, Spirit-empowered battle against the enemy.

We have received the anointing of the Holy Spirit so that we may serve God as His servant. One of the main purposes of God in our anointing is that the works of the devil may be demolished; not only in us as individuals, not only in our fellow members of the Body of Christ, but in all the remainder of the saved inhabitants of the earth as well.

Remember, if we are walking in the Spirit of God we will be progressing in holiness of conduct and the Spirit of God will be empowering us to bear witness of the Lord Jesus Christ. If we neither are making progress in holy conduct nor testifying of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit we need to turn again to the Lord Jesus and find what the problem is.

Some among us are stressing speaking in tongues as the sign of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Speaking in tongues is a valuable asset to the victorious Christian discipleship. It is difficult to imagine a strong prayer life apart from praying in tongues. Nevertheless, speaking in tongues is not the most important characteristic of the abiding of the Holy Spirit in us.

The important characteristics of the abiding of the Holy Spirit in us are three in number: holiness of conduct and thought; supernatural guidance and power in bearing witness of the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ; and the offering of Spirit-filled prayer and praise with thanksgiving to the Father.

It is possible to speak in tongues, work miracles, prophesy, and otherwise manifest the enablements of the Spirit, and still be rejected by the Lord in that Day. We must show the fruit of a godly life. If we are not bearing the fruit of godliness, love, joy, peace, patience, self-control, the Lord Jesus will not behold His image in us and we will be rejected. Let us take heed. Let us move past this mountain of Pentecost and travel toward our land of promise.

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