The Season of Pentecost
Pentecost in the Old Testament was one of the Jewish feast days. However, the Jews called it the Feast of Harvest or the Feast of Weeks, not Pentecost. It was the celebration of the beginning of the early weeks of harvest. There were two such harvests each year. The early harvest came during the months of May and June; the final harvest came in the Fall. Pentecost was the celebration of the beginning of the early wheat harvest, which meant that Pentecost always fell sometime during the middle of the month of May or sometimes in early June.
Why is Pentecost Significant to Christians? Modern Christians observe Pentecost as a holiday, not to celebrate a wheat harvest, but to remember when the Holy Spirit ‘fired up’ the Church in the Book of Acts and filled the Church with power resulting in the adding of 3,000 new believers.
This historical account reports that, after Jesus ascended in to heaven, Jesus’ followers were gathered together for the Feast of Harvest (aka Pentecost), and the Holy Spirit “filled the whole house where they were sitting… All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them”. This strange occurrence drew a large crowd, and Peter stood up to speak to them about repentance and the gospel of Christ. By the end of that day the Holy Spirit came and the Church grew by 3,000 people. This is why Christians still celebrate Pentecost giving glory to God for the powerful work of the Spirit.
The Holy Spirit was prophesied in the Old Testament and promised by Jesus. “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.”
This New Testament event is also significant because it fulfills an Old Testament prophecy in the Book of the prophet Joel: “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.”
Pentecost in the time of the Apostles was a great and grand harvest celebration. The streets of Jerusalem were clogged with thousands of pilgrims who had come from every point on the compass to celebrate the goodness of God and the bringing in of the wheat harvest. But ultimately, the coming of the promised Holy Spirit that first Pentecost birthed Christ’s church which still stands today and shall stand forever.
The season of Pentecost is a season of growth. It’s the time of the Holy Spirit working in the lives of Christians as they grow in their faith. What’s the best way to grow in the wisdom of the Lord? Be in His Word.. Holy Scripture.. the Bible.
For more information about Pentecost, the Seasons of the Church Year, or to grow in the faith, visit the St John Nottingham website at: www.stjohnnottingham.org