The Messiah, 293A

~ Jesus Christ and The Feast of Weeks / Pentecost ~

The Feast of Weeks is also known as the Feast of Pentecost.

Background  ~ “Search the Scriptures—they testify of Me” — Jesus Christ (John 5:39).

“And beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, Jesus explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures” (Luke 24:27).  “Let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.  Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body [the true Church of Jesus Christ], nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God” (Colossians 2:16-19).

The Scripture  ~  …  “And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed.  Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the Lord.  You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah.  They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are the first fruits to the Lord.  And you shall offer with the bread seven lambs of the first year, without blemish, one young bull, and two rams. They shall be as a burnt offering to the Lord, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering made by fire for a sweet aroma to the Lord.  Then you shall sacrifice one kid of the goats as a sin offering, and two male lambs of the first year as a sacrifice of a peace offering.  The priest shall wave them with the bread of the first fruits as a wave offering before the Lord, with the two lambs.  They shall be holy to the Lord for the priest.  And you shall proclaim on the same day that it is a holy convocation to you. You shall do no customary work on it.  It shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.  When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field when you reap, nor shall you gather any gleaning from your harvest.  You shall leave them for the poor and for the stranger: I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 23:15-22).  …

note:  Additional Scripture for your review is found in Exodus 22; Numbers 28:16-31; and Deuteronomy 16:9-10.   

The Messiah  ~  The Feast of Weeks / Pentecost is all about the pouring out of the Spirit of God.  It reached its fulfillment with the creation of the Christian Church.  Prior to Pentecost the Holy Spirit occasionally dwelt in a person during a special time.  From the time of Pentecost the Spirit of God continuously dwells in the hearts of God’s redeemed people. 

The Feast of Pentecost (June)  ~  Notice that there has been an important order of the feasts.  The Feast of Passover communicates that a blood sacrifice is required for the atonement of sin.  Christ, the perfect Lamb of God, satisfied that requirement for ever.  The Feast of Unleavened Bread represents the fellowship with God which comes with accepting the blood sacrifice of The Messiah.  The Feast of First Fruits reminds us of Christ’s resurrection—He was the first to rise and His followers will follow in resurrection at a future date.  The Feast of Pentecost reminds us of the birth of His Church. 

“When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.  And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.  Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.  And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:1-4).  “Then Jesus said to them, ‘These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.’  And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.  Then He said to them, ‘Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.  And you are witnesses of these things.  Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high’ (Luke 24:44-49).  “And being assembled together with them, Jesus commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, ‘which,’ He said, ‘you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now’” (Acts 1:4-6). 

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

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