May 28: Pentecost Celebration!

Discussing current events and how they relate to Biblical prophesy. What are some critical signs are pointing to the imminent Rapture of the Church?

Pentecost is celebrated by Christians on Sunday, May 28th. The Jews also celebrate their Pentecost (Shavuot), which begins on the sunset of Thursday, May 25, and ends at the nightfall of Saturday, May 27. The word Shavuot means “weeks.” It marks the completion of the seven-week counting period between Passover and Shavuot.

But Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice, and proclaimed to them: “Men of Judah and all you residents of Jerusalem, let me explain this to you and pay attention to my words. For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it’s only nine in the morning. On the contrary, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

Pentecost, or Shavuot, was when the Lord gave Moses the law, and was the day the Church was born.

Interestingly, Enoch was said to have been born on Pentecost, and Raptured on Pentecost.

The Rapture is a harvest of souls, and Pentecost is a harvest Feast. The main theme surrounding Pentecost (or Shavuot, the “Feast of Weeks” is the harvest of the firstfruits, or the barley harvest, which was the first grain crop to ripen during Israel’s agricultural year.

Does the history of the Pentecost give us clues on the Rapture?

The Israelites were enslaved by the Egyptians, and around 1,400 B. C. God used a man named Moses to deliver them from their slavery. After leaving Egypt, the Israelites wandered through the wilderness on their way to a good land, which God wanted them to live in. While they were in the wilderness, God gave Moses the law, which Moses taught the Israelites to obey. The 10 Commandments were given at Mt. Sinai, a mountain in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. This law provided the infrastructure for their society, for generations to come, and still impacts us today.

Every year on the holiday of Shavuot the Jewish people renew their acceptance of God’s gift, and God “re-gives” the Torah. The word Shavuot means “weeks.” It marks the completion of the seven-week counting period between Passover and Shavuot.

The giving of the Law (or Torah) was a far-reaching spiritual event, compared to a wedding between God and the Jewish people. Shavuot also means “oaths,” for on this day God swore eternal devotion to the Jewish people, and they in turn pledged everlasting loyalty to Him.

Two wheat loaves would be offered at the Holy Temple, and the Jewish people would begin to bring their first fruits, to thank God for Israel’s bounty.

Just as Passover celebrates physical freedom of the Israelite’s redemption from bondage in Egypt, Shavuot celebrates spiritual liberation through their experience of God’s presence and revelation at Sinai. In the Passover exodus, God brought a people out from among the nations.

At Sinai on that first Shavuot and later at Pentecost, God created a nation set apart for Himself. He revealed Himself and how to live as a redeemed community, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exodus 19:6).

As the Jewish people celebrate this feast year after year, they recount the awesome events that took place at the foot of Mt. Sinai. It is what defines them as a people. Therefore it was not by chance that God chose Shavuot, called Pentecost among Christians, for this miraculous event took place exactly seven weeks following Jesus’s last Passover. This was a time when Jerusalem would have been filled with Jews from all the surrounding lands who had come with great anticipation to “meet with the Lord”—the meaning of the “appointed times” listed in Leviticus 23—Jewish people of that time had a keen sense of this.

The first followers of Jesus must have had a greater sense of expectation as they were told by the Lord Himself that, “in a few days you will be immersed in the Holy Spirit!” (see Acts 1:5) before He was taken up before their eyes.

Acts 2 records that approximately 120 followers of Jesus were gathered in Jerusalem for the Shavuot celebration when “suddenly there came a sound from the sky like the roar of a violent wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then they saw what looked like tongues of fire, which separated and came to rest on each one of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different languages, as the Spirit enabled them” (Acts 2:1-4).

No longer would man walk by commandments on tablets of stone, but by the Holy Spirit, who would write the law on hearts of flesh and give power to overcome the powers of darkness…the law of sin and death…while empowering us to become witnesses to the ends of the earth! The “church” had been born.

Just as the nation of Israel had been created in the wilderness of Sinai to reveal the one true God to the world, now the doors had opened to the nations to come and know and worship Him in Spirit and in truth. Whereas God once dwelt in the Temple fashioned of bricks and mortar, by His Spirit, He now dwells in vessels of clay.

Whereas men once went up to Jerusalem to enjoy God’s presence, His presence now remains with us as we travel the earth taking His wonderful message—this Good News of the Messiah of Israel to the Jewish People and to the nations.

* The Kingdom began on Pentecost, along with the End Times

* The Lord descended upon man in the form of fire on both Pentecost and Shavuot

* Pentecost was the reverse of the Babel curse

The Acts 2 checklist itself is interesting:

 blood and fire and a cloud of smoke – A clear reference to battle. Blood is commonly used as an emblem of slaughter or of battle. Fire is also an image of war, and the conflagration of towns in time of war. It has always been customary in war to burn the towns of an enemy, and to render him as helpless as possible. Therefor, the clouds of smoke are rising from burning towns.

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 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood – A clear reference to the sun and moon being darkened by war.

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 before the great and remarkable Day of the Lord comes – A clear reference to the Day of the Lord, which is the 7 year Tribulation period, the Great Tribulation. Current events show this day rapidly approaching.

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 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved – A clear reference to the Rapture. 

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You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, because they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.” The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”

But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12:18-29)

Wheat is a tougher grain than barley. Thousands of years ago, farmers used a tool called a “tribulum” to separate the chaff from their wheat. Today our word “tribulation” is derived from the name of that tool. It takes a tribulum to break the seed from the chaff. It goes through a breaking process to become free and be what our Father, the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob, would have us to be sons.

We have a God who loves us so much that He sent His only Son, Jesus, Yeshua to come in the flesh and dwell among men, teach us the way, die for us as a perfect sacrifice with all the sins of the past, present and future upon Himself, and taking the stripes upon His back, shedding His precious blood, was buried, raised, and ascended into heaven, sitting at the right hand of the Father and making intercession for us.  He did it all for us! Just as the ancient farmers used a tribulum to separate the chaff from their wheat, God will use the Tribulation to separate the chaff from the lives of the Christians at this time.

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Soon, the Lord will take all of us who are sealed with His Holy Spirit!

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Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. (Revelation 3:10)  

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If you are not sure that you are a member of the family of God, you can accept Christ into your life right now, by praying:

“Lord Jesus, I believe you are the Son of God. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins.  Please forgive my sins and give me the gift of eternal life.  I ask you in to my life and heart to be my Lord and Savior.”

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Current events are aligning with Biblical prophecy