Pentecost 2014: Festival Of Mystery

Pentecost 2014: Festival of Mystery

June 4, 2014

Chester FBC, Chester, IL Dr. Mike Fogerson, Speaker

Introduction:

A The Jewish Feast of Pentecost begins this evening.

1 It is the feast that falls in the middle of the seven “high holy days.”

a Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits (50 days later) . . . Pentecost. (Which all have to do with blood sacrifice and resurrection)

aa The Fall feasts (Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Tabernacles) all have to do with Judgement & the coming Kingdom.

bb The Menorah gives a helpful reminder of these holy days.

cc In Scripture, Pentecost is represented by two loaves of Challuah bread held up by the High Priest.

dd Interestingly enough, Today’s Jews celebrate it in a ceremony called, “decorating the bride.” (This ceremony typifies the rapture of the Bride of Christ & the rapture of the Church.)

b It is called the “Festival of Weeks”, “The festival without a date” since the 2nd century AD.

aa Primarily, because when counted from the lunar cycle, it has no fixed dated.

bb It’s non-fixed date gives it an air of mystery.

c It is a harvest feast that marks the passage of seven weeks after the Feast of First Fruits.

aa Deuteronomy 16:9-10 (NASB) 9 "You shall count seven weeks for yourself; you shall begin to count seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain. 10 "Then you shall celebrate the Feast of Weeks to the LORD your God with a tribute of a freewill offering of your hand, which you shall give just as the LORD your God blesses you;

bb It is a festival of the early summer harvest, but it’s associated symbols/metaphors invoke meanings far beyon the mere harvesting of grain.

cc Being raised in a Southern Baptist church, I never knew the significance of Pentecost outside of Acts 2, but we as Christians should know a little bit about every festival because there is a blessing to be found in each one of them.

2 Pentecost embodies the elements that the church associates with the coming rapture, the nearness of the coming of our Lord, Jesus.

a We find ourselves at the middle of 2014, the year is half gone & the end of this year is quickly drawing nigh.

aa Prophetically speaking, we also see that end of time seems to be quickly approaching as well.

bb In my personal ministry, I have not seen prophesy being fulfilled as rapidly as I do now or the key end time players assembling like this since the early 70's.

cc With Russia on the move in the Ukraine, nuclear weapons being brandished by Iran & Saudi Arabia, the Middle-East war threat rises to the highest probability we’ve ever seen.

dd The Blood Moon tetrad . . . the church/Christian who are mindful of the signs are full of anticipation.

b Amongst the Jews, Pentecost is a festival that celebrates the giving of the Law to Moses as the 12 tribes gathered at the foot of Mt. Sinai, where they heard the actual voice of God.

aa At first glance, the Bible doesn’t seem to make a clear connection between Sinai & Pentecost, nevertheless, the connection is there if you take the time to look for it.

bb For Christians, the festival is a picture of the marriage between God and Israel.

cc In the context of God marrying Israel, the time in between Passover & Pentecost is God’s courtship of His wife.

B Pentecost from its earliest days, was known as a festival of harvest.

1 Long ago, the Omer was offered by the high priest as he stood before the Tabernacle (later the Temple.)

a The Omer was the token of the Festival of First Fruits (Resurrection Sunday).

aa In Lev. 23.11, it is called “the sheaf.”

Leviticus 23:11 (NASB) 11 ~'He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD for you to be accepted; on the day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.

bb The Omer/sheaf was little over two quarts of flour that marked the first day of the fifty-day countdown to Pentecost.

b Leviticus 23:15-17 (NASB) 15 'You shall also count for yourselves from the day after the sabbath, from the day when you brought in the sheaf of the wave offering; there shall be seven complete sabbaths. 16 ~'You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh sabbath; then you shall present a new grain offering to the LORD. 17 ~'You shall bring in from your dwelling places two loaves of bread for a wave offering, made of two-tenths of an ephah; they shall be of a fine flour, baked with leaven as first fruits to the LORD.

aa The counting of 50 days from Firstfruits to Pentecost is typical of redemption in general.