Yesterday was Pentecost. Here in Germany it’s called Pfingsten and they have a Monday national holiday to celebrate. So I thought I’d do a post on Pentecost and it’s biblical significance. Most every Christian knows about Pentecost, how the Spirit infilled Christ’s disciples in the upper room and how it brought power to be His witnesses throughout the world. It seems everyone also knows the story of how people spoke in other tongues but everyone understood.

Pentecost has been a staple of the charismatic movement. Since early in the twentieth century, there’s been a firm belief among charismatics that the Spirit has again fallen in these latter days with the evidence being that devotees speak in other tongues. For years, it was a point of emphasis within the charismatic movement that its followers seek to speak in tongues.

Then came “seeker-friendly” and most charismatic pastors abandoned speaking in tongues in the church, as well as the gift of prophecy. In less than 100 years, the outpouring has become outdated. No one has officially banned it, but it’s clear that these “gifts” are no longer welcome in our churches.

So Much to Talk About, So Little to Say

Anyone who has been around the church for any length of time has heard endless teachings on Pentecost, the infilling of the Holy Spirit and the power it gave to be Christ’s disciples. One might ask why I would write on this subject? After all, what’s the likelihood I can add any additional insights? The church has taught on this subject extensively, particularly with regard to “power”. After all, who in the church doesn’t like power?

It makes the subject a bit like those people who are always talking on their cell phones. You know the people: in the markets, when shopping, driving, walking, at sporting events, even in the stall of the restroom. It seems they have so much to talk about, yet so little to say.

That’s my conclusion regarding so many of the teachings on Pentecost I’ve heard. There’s always so much to talk about, yet I walk away feeling like so little was said. It puts me at risk and it will be up to the reader to decide if I’m also guilty with this post. So here goes!

Pentecost Marked the Kick-off of the Harvest Season

Leviticus 16 lists seven feast-days (eight if one counts the Sabbath the begins the chapter). These annual festivals begin with Passover, proceeding to the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits and then Feast of Weeks, also known as Pentecost.

It is this feast that is our focus. It followed the Feast of the Firstfruits and was the new grain harvest offered to the Lord (Deuteronomy 16:9). Wenham sees the Feast of Weeks as the end of the grain harvest (The Book of Leviticus, Wenham, Gordon, p. 304) where the Feast of the Firstfruits kicks off the grain harvest.

For New Testament authors, Christ was crucified on Passover whom John calls our Passover Lamb (John 19:36). His resurrection seems to align with the Feast of Firstfruits. Hence why Paul can call Christ the Firstfruits of resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:23). Pentecost not only marks the end of the grain harvest but aligns with the birth of the church.

Perhaps it is better to say that it marks the end of the church’s preparation. Christ provided many proofs of His resurrection and spoke extensively of the Kingdom of God (Acts 1:3), both of which seem appropriate to prepare His followers for their mission to evangelize the world (vs 8).

Christ, the firstfruits, completed an early harvest in His disciples. It was the harvest in Israel of His work. He only proclaimed the Gospel to the Jews and the 120 souls were that harvest, now ready for His commission to evangelize the nations.

Christ’s Missionary Commission Announced the Fulfillment of the Promise Made to Abraham

They were about to be sent out to “ingather” Israel, bringing the diaspora back into relationship with God through Christ. Accompanying them on the ingathering would be countless Gentiles, similar to the Egyptian exodus which also included a multitude of Gentiles (Exodus 12:34).

What Christ was announcing to His disciples was the long-awaited fulfillment of the Abrahamic promise! In Christ, Israel would finally bless the nations by evangelizing them (Genesis 12:3). I’ve heard countless sermons on Pentecost and the infilling of the Spirit, but can’t remember ever hearing that this event signaled the fulfillment of the Abrahamic promise.

The Curse at Babel Divided the Nations

The story of the Tower of Babel is widely known in church circles. It was where mankind, working together in unity of purpose, attempted to thwart God’s will by building an idolatrous temple that would serve as a gathering point to keep the people from scattering to fill the earth (Genesis 11:4).

They were refusing to fill the earth as God had commanded (Genesis 1:28; 9:1). So God brought a curse-judgment against them, breaking their unity by dividing them with different languages, thus scattering them so they would fill the earth according to His purposes (Genesis 11:7-8). God’s will wouldn’t be thwarted by men!

Abraham was the One Chosen to Re-Unite the Divided Nations at Babel

Abraham was called immediately after the division of the nations (peoples) at Babel. The nations as one rejected God and God in talion rejected them. He then raised up one man, Abraham, to re-unite the divided nations and make them one again. It would be accomplished by one of Abraham’s seeds, the Seed promised Eve post-Fall (Genesis 3:15), Jesus Christ.

This was how Abraham would bless the nations. The promised Seed (Christ), carefully tracked through Abraham’s family history (Genesis 11:26-31), together with Abraham’s seeds (in Christ) would bless the nations by making them one again in Christ! Stated another way, Abraham’s Descendant, together with his descendants in Christ, would lead the nations rejected at Babel back to God through Christ.

Speaking in Tongues Signals the Reversal of the Curse at Babel

When the disciples began to speak in other tongues (Acts 2:4), a crowd of God-fearing Jews from all over the world gathered, hearing them speak in their foreign languages. They were amazed that uneducated Galileans could speak their languages (vss 6-7).

This event signaled that Babel’s curse had been reversed. There was no longer confusion of tongues. Rather, everyone understood what the disciples were saying in their own language. It signaled that through Christ’s Spirit, the nations were now one again – at least everyone from the nations who would accept Christ and become part of the new Israel, the Israel of God (Galatians 6:16). The promise to Abraham that he would be a blessing to the nations was fulfilled in inauguration.

We are No Longer Foreigners to the Covenant but Fellow Citizens with Israel and Abrahamic Heirs to the Promise

With all the teachings that the Jewish people are the people of God, some may be surprised by the claim that those in Christ are the true Israel. But Paul affirms that Christians are the true children of Abraham (Galatians 3:7). We are fellow citizens in the new Jerusalem, Jerusalem that is above (Ephesians 2:19; Galatians 4:26).

In fact, Paul tells us that we are not only children of Abraham, but heirs to the Abrahamic promise (Galatians 3:29). How? It is through the mystery of the Gospel that the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, one body, sharers together in the (Abrahamic) promise in Christ (Ephesians 3:6)!

It is through the giving of Christ’s Spirit on Pentecost that unity of mankind has been restored! And it is through this Spirit that unity is maintained (Ephesians 4:3). Christ is the great unifier (Ephesians 1:10) and it is His prayer that the world see the unity He has wrought in us by His Spirit (John 17:23).

It is through the Spirit that we have been made one with Israel and true children of Abraham. Now that’s power! And that’s something to testify to, and we should bear witness to this incredible work in us!

Relevance for Christians Today

Beware of False Prophets Who Claim Apostate Jews are God’s People

Don’t be fooled by all the “evangelical rhetoric” regarding the Jewish people. Well-known televangelists are all following the same bogus script. Have you seen these guys? They always have a picture of the Dome of the Rock in the background, they’re always chattering about how everything in the end-times centers around Israel (in Palestine), the temple mount and Jerusalem. It seems a sure-fire way to get Christians to open their wallets and send them money.

But have you read Revelation? John only mentions the Jews twice (Revelation 2:9; 3:9). In both verses he speaks of those who claim to be Jews but are not, saying they are the synagogue of Satan. For John, true Jews believe in Christ, regardless of ethnicity.

Revelation never uses the the word “Jerusalem”, only the “new Jerusalem” which is also in heaven (Revelation 21:2)! Jerusalem (in Palestine) has been rejected for rejecting Christ. It is in slavery and will never share in the inheritance with us who follow Christ (Ephesians 4:30).

And Revelation hardly speaks of the temple (Revelation 11:1 is the only occurrence). But it speaks extensively of God’s temple in heaven. That’s the true temple. The earthly temple was always simply a copy of the true heavenly temple (Hebrews 8:5). John promises that victorious Christians will be a pillar in God’s temple which is located in the new Jerusalem in heaven (Revelation 3:12).

Those who claim that apostate Jews and the present city of Jerusalem are the center of God’s prophetic plan fail to understand the powerful changes by the Spirit on Pentecost!

God’s New Temple is the Church, the Community of Believers

When the Spirit descended, there was a loud sound like a blowing wind (Acts 2:2). It was a theophany. God was appearing through His Spirit. There were tongues of fire that separated and rested on everyone present in the room (vs 3).

In the Old Testament, when God filled the tabernacle and temple, there was a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. The tongues of fire signaled another infilling. But they separated to rest on each person. The infilling was democratized so that each person was infilled with the Spirit.

I’ve heard countless sermons on this verse, but never one in which the infilling of the disciples was in fact God’s infilling of His new temple. Some may find this hard to believe but Paul does say that we are the temple of God (2 Corinthians 6:16).

Most Christians know this verse, but somehow we interpret it metaphorically rather than literally. But it doesn’t say we are “like” a temple, but that we are the temple. Read Ephesians 2:20-22 where it says that we are the temple, built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, with Christ as cornerstone that joins the whole building together as a temple. We are being built into this temple!

Similarly 1 Peter 2:4-5 speaks of Christ as a “living stone”, a cornerstone where we are also living stones being built into a spiritual house. “House” is a cipher for temple as the temple was often called the house of God. It was where God dwelt.

These scriptures show that the church is God’s new temple, a living temple that He infilled and indwelt on Pentecost, much like He indwelt the tabernacle and temple! No longer would man have to go to the temple building in Jerusalem to meet with God. No longer would God’s presence be restricted to a small space, the Holy of Holies.

Now, God’s presence fills the earth as we fulfill Christ’s mandate to go into all the world. Now everyone experiences God every time they interact with us. Now that’s power! And what a great message to carry to the world, bearing witness of the great God we serve! (Those wanting further study on this topic, see our Temple teachings).

Christ’s New Covenant Brings a New Heart and New Mind Capable of Understanding and Obeying God’s Laws

Moses warned Israel that they had not yet been given a mind that understands or eyes that see or ears that hear (Deuteronomy 29:4). As a result, Israel would be incapable of living faithfully to the covenant. But he also said “The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live” (Deuteronomy 30:6).

Paul tells us that circumcision of the heart is done by the Spirit (Romans 2:29). It cuts away the carnal nature and the indwelling Spirit gives us the life Moses promised. We can love the Lord with our whole heart and live for eternity.

Equally important, circumcision of the foreskin was the sign of the Abrahamic and Sinaic covenants. Circumcision of the heart signals a new covenant wrought by Christ. The infilling on Pentecost affirmed that we have a new life, the spiritual life forfeited at the Fall when Adam was separated from God’s presence. The indwelling presence of the Spirit granted on Pentecost signaled our restoration to God’s presence where there is life. Incredibly, we’re not just in God’s presence. The indwelling Spirit makes God’s presence resident in us! Now that’s power!

A New Heavenly Land

With a new covenant, a new Jerusalem and a new temple, one might wonder what other new things God has in store for us. In truth, in Christ everything is new. But for our purposes, the land God promised His people is also new in Christ. It is no longer Palestine but a heavenly land that Abraham and the patriarchs all sought (Hebrews 11:16).

That is ultimately how Abraham blesses the nations. The promise included innumerable descendants and land. The innumerable descendants include his entire household (see the covenant initiated in Genesis 17) and include both his physical descendants (the Jews) and those who were not his physical descendants (the Gentiles) – even his slaves!

It was all planned by God from the beginning. The “mixed multitude” of Gentiles that accompanied Israel on the exodus were the slaves who went with Jacob into Egypt during the famine. They came out with Israel because they were included in the covenant and thus also God’s people. They entered Palestine with Israel, were circumcised with Israel, confirming the covenant and then simply became part of the congregation of Israel.

It was all a foreshadowing of Christ’s redemptive work. The great blessing to the nations was that the redeemed descendants of Abraham truly would be innumerable as they would include non-physical Gentile multitudes who would share in Israel’s inheritance of eternal life in heaven – God’s new land for the redeemed!

Wrapping it All Up

We started out questioning if we could provide any meaningful insights into the subject of Pentecost given how extensively pastors have tread this theological ground. Hopefully we succeeded. Hopefully you’ve now got a better idea of how incredibly important Pentecost is, and I trust it will give you reason to celebrate all that God accomplished on that day.

Most understand the importance of Passover. But the other feasts . . . not so much. With what we’ve pointed out, we hope readers’ interests regarding Israel’s feast days will peak. For those who may be curious, check out our posts on these feasts and their significance to end-time prophecy.

Celebrate Pentecost! We’ve all been given sooooo much on this day! Celebrate . . . and then go and proclaim the great news of Christ’s redeeming power imparted in us!