WHAT IS THE PENTECOST?
Going from the historical point of view, Pentecost means 50 days after the Passover. It was exactly 50 days after God gave his law (the Torah) via Moses to his people. God made his will known to his people by giving his law and commandments.
It was also 50 days after the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, that God gave his commandments using the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to the new creation, the new man.
The feast of Pentecost called Shavuot in the Hebrew tongue has many names in the Bible. They are The feast of weeks, Feast of harvest, and later first fruits. It’s a joyous time of giving thanks and presenting offerings of the new grain of the summer wheat harvest in Israel.
Shavuot or Pentecost is one of the three pilgrimage feasts when all Jewish males were required to appear before the Lord in Jerusalem. This is why you see the multitudes from different parts of the then civilization in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2.
Acts 2:8-11 And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.
The old testament reveals a shadow of the things that were to come. The original ordinance of the Pentecost was given in lev 23:15-16.
Leviticus 23:15-16 And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD.
Also, you can find it in Deut. 16: 9-10.
Deuteronomy 16:9-10 (KJV)
Seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee: begin to number the seven weeks from such time as thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn. And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto the LORD thy God with a tribute of a freewill offering of thine hand, which thou shalt give unto the LORD thy God, according as the LORD thy God hath blessed thee:
The Pentecost experience in Acts 2 was the fulfillment of the Jeremiah 31:33 prophecies.
Jeremiah 31:33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
The reality is found in Christ. Col 2:17. This takes us to our next point on what Pentecost truly is from God\’s standpoint.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PENTECOST
The Passover symbolizes or typifies the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Pentecost is an original biblical old testament Jewish holiday when everyone in the then world would gather in the temple in Jerusalem to feast and celebrate this holy day as was commanded by God in the old Testament of the Bible.
What God had in mind for Pentecost was that it was supposed to be a day of corporate spiritual renewal, revival, and empowerment for the year which will last all through that year till the next Pentecost. But the Jewish nation got used to the religious event that followed it.
Joel 2:28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
Gleaning from the scriptures above, we see that God’s original intention for the human race was to pour out his spirit upon all flesh. This day of Pentecost was a day when all flesh in the then civilization would gather to celebrate and God\’s spirit would be poured out.
After Moses went up to Mount Sinai, the word of God was given to the Israelites at Shavuot when the Jews accepted the Torah, they became servants of God.
Similarly, after Jesus went up to heaven, the Holy Spirit was given at Pentecost. When the disciples received the gift, they became witnesses for Christ.
Moreso, recall that after 50 days of the Passover Jehovah came down upon mount Sinai with fire, and the Holy Spirit also came down upon the apostles as flames of fire after the sound of a mighty rushing wind.
In analyzing the mighty rushing wind with the template we have in the old testament model you will find out that there was more to just a wind blowing.
Exodus 19:17-20 And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount. And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice. And the LORD came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the LORD called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up.
Hebrews 12:18-19 For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more:
All of this was just summed up in the rushing mighty wind for the main purpose was the infilling of the Holy Ghost.
During the feast of weeks which is another name for Shavuot, the people of Israel recall and celebrate, that God gave them the Torah, his commandments.
This is why Jesus showed himself alive for 40 days to signify that He is the living word which was depicted as the Torah in the old testament but in the new testament as stated in John 1:1-3.
He did this to remind them that the Passover was all about him. Also, he showed himself alive by many infallible proofs to prove that he is alive. Then after 10 days after Jesus ascended the Holy spirit came which makes it 50 days altogether.
This is God\’s way of saying the original idea of Pentecost was more than just feasting that it was all about his Spirit abiding in man or among men.
But before all these happened, Jesus had earlier instructed that they tarry in Jerusalem till they are endued from on high. See Luke 24:49
Luke 24:49 (KJV)
And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.
This instruction was similar to the instruction given when the children of Israelites were to observe the Passover in the old testament in Exodus 12. But God was doing something new instead of what he did before.
PENTECOST AND YOU TODAY.
From the account of creation, it\’s seen that God desires a relationship with a man. Gen 3: 8, Psalm 8:4. Our God is a King. He desires to rule the physical world through man. But, man on account of his choice disobeyed and lost this awesome fellowship with God that granted him authority over all that God created. Gen 1:26.
After the fall and over the years, God has desired to reunite us with Himself by sending Jesus to die for us and giving us the Holy Spirit to bring us into that place in Him where we can commune with him in the Spirit with one language as it was before man fell. Joel 2:28. This language is what we can refer to today as “Spirit Language or Speaking in tongues”.
WHAT SPEAKING IN TONGUES IS NOT?
- It is not a church language or a religious one.
- It is not a Pentecostal phenomenon, charismatic jargon, or lexis.
- It is not a new age theory and it cannot be learned anywhere or bought.
- It is not an activity to make you feel high or to make you seem spiritual.
- It is not a gibberish thing, a tongue twister, rhymes, thick consonant words produced from the mind, or a physical exercise that make you feel good.
IF SPEAKING IN TONGUES IS NOT THE ABOVE, WHAT THEN IS SPEAKING IN TONGUES?
- Its Gods will for everyone. Zeph 3:9, 1 Cor 4:21
- It’s a promise and a gift. Mark 16:17, 1 Cor 12:4/10
- It is a sign both for the believer and to the unbeliever . mark 16:17, 1Cor 14:22
- It is a holy language. Zeph 3:9. The Hebrew word forpure language is “lashon Hakodesh” Lashon means Tongue, Hakodesh means Holy.
- It is a spirit energized and inspired language. It is spirit aided utterance. Acts 2:4
This scripture in Acts 2:4 has so many controversies. So before we go further, its imperative we clear out the controversies. We do this by using the linguistic approach.
There are two Greek words for this.
- Glossolalia
- Xenoglossia / Xenolalia
- Glossolalia: This is the ability to speak or write a known human language one never acquired by natural means under the influence of a spirit, in this case the Holy Ghost. That is, he does not know this language before. This is what happened in Acts 2:4. For the people could hear them speak in their language. There is a reason for this. God does this alone to bring glory to his own name and to reveal his awesomeness to the people so they can praise him. This is a sovereign act of God. Remember, from the beginning of this write-up we spoke on Pentecost and how God desired to unveil the true meaning of Pentecost to the then civilization.
- Xenoglossia: This is speaking words inspired by the Holy Spirit which cannot be understood by any man. 1 cor 14:2.
Please Note: The two are inspired speaking.
- Speaking in tongues is like a vehicle that conveys or transport a spiritual reality. Utterance is the word used for this passageway which is fashioned and built by the Spirit in our spirit. The spiritual reality conveyed maybe: Deliverance, Revelation, Teaching, Preaching, Visions, Spiritual knowing, Omens (signs), spiritual hearing etc.
- It is also a Spiritual transport system that carries us into the spirit realm, the realm of the immortals. In this realm, prayer is sweet and interesting. This is where priesthood business is done. In this place effectual and adequate warfare can be done. You can ride into the realms of glory and depth in God. This is where you can break generational curse.
- It is a building block to the believer’s faith and the entire church. Jude 20, 1Cor 12:13/25,27. As a building block, this is where the first function of prayer is seen. Which is to build up your faith.
- It’s also a medium for building intimacy with God.
Dear reader, if you get to this point in this article, then I believe you have been infused with the right knowledge which would serve as a compass in your pursuit of discovering the truth for yourself.
Please feel free to contact us anytime as you will need clarity on several obscure and controversial areas and issues that bothers Christianity. I believe that, when clarity is brought to these controversial areas, then just like the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8:27-40, Christianity will be easily accepted among the high class and intellectuals of our world today.
God bless you.
