Dear friends:
Below is an interesting article on Pentecost by J.R. Church. Thanks to the heads up by Rev. Ron Patterson for alerting me to this. Pentecost 2007 is this month, coming up in just a few days.
Note emphasized portions.
Jim
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This year, Israel will celebrate Pentecost on May 23/24 (Wednesday/Thursday).The Prophecies in Pentecost
J.R. Church
Historically, however, because the church was empowered with the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit in Acts 2:1, Christians have always set the date of Pentecost on a Sunday -- 50 days after Easter. This year, the Christian Pentecost will be celebrated on Sunday, May 27.
In the Mosaic Law (Lev. 23:15,16) Pentecost was always set for the day after the seventh Sabbath after the Feast of Firstfruits. But Judaism changed the Feast of Firstfruits from Sunday to whatever day just happened to be the next day after Passover.
Regardless of the conflicts in dating Pentecost, its prophetic significance is outstanding.
Being the fourth festival of the original seven Jewish Holy Days, it stands in the "servant lamp" position of the biblical menorah design, and thus offers the "light" of illumination for all of the Holy Days.
Speaking of illumination, the Shekinah glory fell upon the believers in Acts 2:1 and had the appearance of "tongues like as of fire." Going back into the pages of the Old Testament, we find that Pentecost was the day when God came down upon Mount Sinai, setting the top of the mountain on fire. Rabbinical writings say that when God spoke each of the Ten Commandments, fire issued from His mouth, was immediately converted into the 70 known languages of the world, and swept around the globe. The Hebrew "tongue of fire" descended into the camp and stood before every face in the camp to make sure that all heard the commandment. Wow! Then all the elements of the glory regathered itself atop the mountain. This went on for all ten utterances.
Rabbis called the Ten Commandments the marriage contract between God and Israel. It was supposed to be the preparation for the marriage, which would take place 40 days later. Unfortunately, God's bride broke the covenant when they built the golden calf.
When Moses broke the tables of stone, it was not out of a fit of rage, but to keep God from being wed to an unfaithful wife. Three months later, on Yom Kippur (Tishri 10), Moses returned from the summit of Mount Sinai with another set of tablets, at which time Israel became the wife of Jehovah. Instead of being a June bride, Israel became a September bride.
Note, that the "Dispensation of Law" was to begin on that day (Exodus 19), a day that was designated as the conclusion of Shavout -- the "Feast of Weeks." The Hebrew term refers to the "seven weeks" that began with the Firstfruits. Historically, a shock of barley grain was brought to the Temple and waved before the Lord. Fifty days later, at the end of the harvest, two loaves of bread, made from the grain, were waved before the Lord.
This signified that what began fifty days earlier was completed.
Prophetically, these days represented a dispensation. Going back to Genesis 8:14, we should note that Noah disembarked from the Ark on the "27th day of the second month" (May 27 or thereabouts), at which time God made a covenant with Noah and instituted a new dispensation -- the Dispensation of Human Government.
So, at least the "covenants" or "dispensations" of Human Government, Law and Grace, were all launched on Pentecost. These events seem to lay out a prophetic pattern, leading to the possibility that the next covenant, that of the Messianic Kingdom, will also be launched on Pentecost.
In Revelation 19, just prior to our Savior's glorious appearing, John spoke of the Marriage of the Lamb and the marriage supper. Somehow, it seems to find its fulfillment in the prophetic significance of Pentecost.
One thing is for sure. This dispensation, and at least two others began on Pentecost, after harvesting the fruits of a preceding dispensation. Will our harvest be over on a future Pentecost?
In the Book of Ruth, around midnight on Pentecost, a Gentile girl went up to the threshing floor of Boaz and laid down at his feet. The next morning, they were married! Now, I cannot say that our Bridegroom will come and fetch us on a future Pentecost, but the prophetic significance of the festival is unmistakable -- assuring us that He will come -- we just don't know when.
Many theologians have taught that Rosh Hashanah (the new moon of September) is the day on Paul's mind when he talked about the "last trump." But, the first trumpet recorded in the Bible was blown on the day that became Pentecost (Ex. 19). According to rabinnic thought, it was the first of two shofar horns taken from the head of the sacrificial ram in Genesis 22 -- the day Abraham was given a substitute for Isaac's sacrifice. It is believed that God took the two horns from the ram and fashioned shofars. The first trumpet was blown at His descent in Exodus 19. The other trumpet (last trumpet) will be blown at the resurrection.
The trumpet blown on the new moon of September was only a memorial of the trumpet blown on Pentecost. Now, if the first trumpet was blown on Pentecost, it stands to reason that the last trumpet could also be blown on a future Pentecost. At least, it doesn't have to be blown on Rosh Hashanah.
We are reminded that Jesus said, "No man knoweth the day nor the hour." Using that figure of speech, some have suggested that Rosh Hashanah could not be known beforehand, but was declared after the new moon was observed and reported to the Sanhedrin.
Concerning Pentecost -- until the first century, the festival had no fixed date. It always occurred on the fiftieth day after Firstfruits, which occurred on Sunday following Passover. In other words, the calendar date of Pentecost was different every year. The date, now fixed to Sivan 6, was a floating date (from 2 to 6 days after Passover) up until the destruction of Herod's Temple in A.D. 70.
When Peter delivered his sermon in Acts 2:16-21, he quoted a passage in Joel 2:30-32, which says, "I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh ... and I will show wonders in the heavens above ... the sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood."
Obviously, not all of Joel's prophecy was fulfilled on that Pentecost. Another Pentecost lies somewhere in the future, in which the rest of the prophecy will be fulfilled.
The Jews stay up all night on Pentecost eve, reading Scriptures and praying. They say that at some moment during the night, God will open the windows of heaven and grant a miracle to the petitioner. They stay awake in order not to miss that moment, though they do not know exactly when it will happen. Furthermore, they believe that the Holy Spirit will anoint them with divine power at that moment. That is exactly what happened to the disciples in the second chapter of Acts. Today, we await the fulfilment of Pentecost's remaining prophecies.
From http://www.prophecyinthenews.com/articledetail.asp?Article_ID=199