Memory Verse: Acts 1:4
Life Application: I should desire the promise of the Father.
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Bible Text
Leviticus 23:15-21
Exodus 19:1-11
Exodus 19:14-19
Exodus 20:18-21
Jeremiah 31:33
Acts 1:4
Acts 2:1-4
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The Feast of Weeks or Shavuot is also know as the Feast of Pentecost. Pentecost is a Greek word for fifty. Sometimes this feast is also called the Feast of the Harvest. It is held on the first day of the week, fifty days after the Sabbath that preceded the Feast of the First Fruits. Pentecost occurs fifty days after the day of First Fruits – fifty days after the resurrection of Jesus. In Biblical times all men were required to travel to Jerusalem for this feast.
Leviticus 23:15-21
“And you shall count for yourselves from the day after 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 dwelling two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are the firstfruits 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 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 firstfruits 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.”
The Feast of Weeks celebrated the wheat harvest. The people would bring two loaves of leavened bread to give as an offering. The two loaves of bread are a picture of the Jews and Gentiles in the early church. The grain for the offering was not fresh flour composed of individual particles, but grain that had been transformed into new, unified whole-baked loaves. The offering symbolizes the special unity of the church as a body knit together by the Holy Spirit. The use of leaven in the baking reminds us that the church is not perfect.
After the destruction of the temple, the Jewish people were not able to celebrate this feast by taking the two loaves of bread to the temple. Since that time they celebrate God giving the Ten Commandments to Moses. Fifty days after the Hebrews deliverance from Egypt (the crossing of the Red Sea), God desired to fill His people with His Spirit. However, because of the people‘s fear, He could not.
Exodus 19:1-11 NKJV
“In the third month after the children of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on the same day, they came to the
Wilderness of Sinai. For they had departed from Rephidim, had come to the Wilderness of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness. So Israel camped there before the mountain. And Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the
mountain, saying, ‘Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel: You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of
Israel.’ So Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before them all these words which the Lord commanded him. Then all the people answered together and said, ‘All that the Lord has spoken we will do.’ So Moses brought back the words of the people to the Lord. And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Behold, I come to you in the thick
cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and believe you forever.’ So Moses told the words of the people to the Lord. Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let then wash their clothes. And let them be ready for the third day. For on the third day the Lord will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.”
Moses was instructed to call the people together. They were to prepare themselves for when God would come to speak to them.
Exodus 19:14-19 NKJV
“So when Moses went down from the mountain to the people and sanctified the people, and they washed their clothes. And he said to the people, ‘Be ready for the third day; do not come near your wives.’ Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly. And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by voice.”
The people assembled as they were instructed to do. God began to speak, giving them the Ten Commandments. As the people heard God they became afraid of Him. They asked Moses to speak to God for them.
Exodus 20:18-21 NKJV
“Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking;
and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. Then they said to Moses, ‘You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.’ And Moses said to the people, ‘Do not fear; for God has come to
test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin’ So the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was.”
Because the people were afraid they did not receive everything that God had for them. God was not able to write His law on their hearts. They only knew the law in their heads, and because of this they were disobedient. On the day that God gave the Ten Commandments three thousand people were destroyed because of sin (disobedience).
Pentecost is not only a time to remember the first giving of the law written on tablets of stone, but it is also a time to remember when, on the same day many years later, the giving of the Holy Spirit, when the law of God was written in the heart of the believers.
Jeremiah 31:33 NKJV
“But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”
Before Jesus’ ascension, He told His disciples to wait for the Holy Spirit. Jesus commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise.
Acts 1:4 NKJV
“And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father…”
Fifty days after the resurrection of Jesus, the Holy Spirit came to dwell in believers. It was during the Feast of Weeks that the Holy Spirit was given to believers.
Acts 2:1-4 NKJV
“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 were they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”
Thousands of Jews had journeyed to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Weeks. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit occurred on the very day that the Jews were offering the two wave loaves to God, representing their reliance on Him. During this time the followers of Jesus were in an upper room waiting and praying. The Holy Spirit filled the upper room where the early believers were waiting. They began to worship God in foreign languages that were spoken and understood by the Jews that had come to Jerusalem for the feast. The apostles were empowered to witness as the Holy Spirit came upon them. On this day three thousand souls were saved.
As a believer we should not be afraid to receive all that God has for us. God gives His Spirit to every believer that asks to be filled. When you are filled with the Holy Spirit, God writes on your heart and in your mind. The Holy Spirit will help you be a better “you”. Being filled with the Holy Spirit will give you the power to live a victorious Christian life. Every believer should desire to be filled with the Holy Spirit. It is a gift sent to each and every believer by Jesus Christ.
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All that you, as a Christian, need to do to be filled with the Holy Spirit is to:
Believe that the Holy Spirit is a gift from God to You.
Ask God for the gift (Ask God to fill you with His Holy Spirit).
Receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
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Review
1. The Feast of Weeks or Shavuot is also know as the Feast of __________________________ or the Feast of the Harvest.
2. Pentecost is a __________________ word for fifty.
3. Pentecost occurs fifty days after the day of First Fruits – fifty days after the ___________________________ of Jesus.
4. What harvest did the Feast of Weeks celebrate?
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5. The people would bring two loaves of ____________________ ___________________ to give as an offering.
6. The two loaves of bread are a picture of the _____________ and __________________ in the early church.
7. The offering symbolizes the special unity of the church as a body knit together by the _____________ _______________.
8. The use of leaven in the baking reminds us that the church is not __________________.
9. Since the destruction of the temple the Jewish people celebrate God giving the _________ _____________________________ to Moses instead of the Feast of Weeks.
10. Fifty days after the Hebrews deliverance from Egypt God desired to fill His people with His Spirit. Why couldn’t He?
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11. The people assembled and as God began to speak, giving them the Ten Commandments, they became _________________.
12. The peoples fear caused …
* them to not receive ____________________________ that God had for them.
* God to be unable to write His law on their _________________.
* them to only knew the law in their ________________ .
13. Since the people only knew God‘s commands in their heads what happened?
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14. On the day that God gave the Ten Commandments ______________________ people were destroyed because of sin (disobedience).
15. Pentecost is a time to remember what?
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16. Jesus told His disciples to wait for what?
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17. What happened fifty days after the resurrection of Jesus?
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18.. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit occurred on the very day that the Jews were celebrating the ____________ of _______________.
19. The apostles were ______________________ to witness as the Holy Spirit came upon them.
20. God gives His Spirit to every believer that _____________ to be filled.
21. The Holy Spirit …
* will __________ you be a better “you”.
* will give you the ____________ to live a victorious Christian life.
* is a _________ sent to each and every believer by Jesus Christ.
22. All that you, as a Christian, need to do to be filled with the Holy Spirit is to:
* _______________ that the Holy Spirit is a gift from God to You.
* ________ God for the gift (__________ God to fill you with His Holy Spirit).
* ____________ the gift of the Holy Spirit.
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