PENTECOST OLD AND NEW

The Firstfruit of Wheat. 

The entire Old Covenant is but a shadow, a mirror, a picture, of ‘the good things to come.’ What are the ‘good things to come’? Jesus, the one who ties all things together. Not to be excused from this sacred task of pointing to Jesus are the Old Covenant feasts which are frequently referenced in the Old Testament narrative. As a group they chronicle the redemptive story, another avenue through which the Holy Spirit uses the Old Covenant types to bring Christ to His people. Sitting at the head of this festive table is the Feast of Passover, which, along with Unleavened Bread, forms a week-long celebration commemorating Israel’s salvation from Egyptian slavery by the mighty hand of God. The Passover reminds us that we are saved by the blood of a substitute, while the Feast of Unleavened Bread shows us that God’s redemption of His people will always be accompanied by a movement toward purity. The feast points to Christ as the Lamb who dies in our stead, and the One who conquered sin and death on the cross. Furthermore, Unleavened Bread reminds us that Christ is also our sanctification as He continually pours out His grace to produce a holy nation. As one hymn writer notes, the Passover/Unleavened Bread festival hits sin from both sides, saving God’s people from both ‘its guilt and power.’ Paul picks up on Christ’s death being the fulfillment of this week-long feast when he says in 1 Cor 5:7, “Therefore purge out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ our Passover, was sacrificed for us.” All that God did for Israel to bring them safely out of Egypt and through the Red Sea is a mere foreshadowing of the infinitely greater work that Jesus accomplished on the cross. Jesus is the greater Moses. Both were called by God out of obscurity. Both validated their ministries by means of miracles. And both ‘died’ in and through water (Exodus 14; Matthew 3) rising again to prove their claims were true and to lead their people onward in the work of redemption. This is the first feast.

But in order for God to carry forth His plan, there needs be a formal relationship established between God and His people. That ‘commissioning’ event is memorialized by the next great feast in both Israel and the Church, Pentecost. In the Old covenant that event corresponds to the arrival of the nation Israel at Sinai. According to Exodus 19:1, it happens in the third month (new moon) from Israel’s departure from Egypt. Why is that significant? In the Hebrew language the third day or the third month is equivalent to saying ‘the day after tomorrow or the month after next month.’ Thus we say that Jesus rose again ‘the third day’ (Friday to Sunday). Jesus himself uses that idiom in Luke 13:32 when he sends a message to Herod, “Go tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow and the third day I shall be perfected.’” In the Jewish mind there are three days that occupy one’s mind, today, tomorrow and the third day. The importance of ‘the third day’ is that whenever it is found in Scripture it anticipates something important. For example, God talking about the restoration of Israel says, “After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up” (Hosea 6:2). So Israel arrives at Sinai ‘in the third month’ or new moon. Because the New Moon began the monthly cycle, it means Israel arrived the first day of the month. Now if you do the math you will discover that the children of Israel came out of Egypt on the 14th day of the first month, the Passover. If the Israelites arrived the first day of the third month, then we can get reasonably close to predicting how many days occurred between the Passover and the arrival at Sinai. The Jews would have traveled 14 days in that first month, 28 days in the second month and the day of their arrival on the third month. That adds up to about 43 or 44 days. If we then add in the time it took Moses to go up and down the Mount to receive the law, perhaps 4 or 5 days, we can estimate that the time between the two events was about 50 days. This 50 day period became the basis for the second of the great feasts of the Old Testament called the Feast of Weeks (Exod 34:22, Deut 16:10, 2 Chron 8:13) because it occured seven sevens, or seven weeks after the Passover. Because this time also corresponded to the harvesting of certain crops it also came to be also known as the Feast of ‘Firstfruits’ or “Harvests’ (see Exodus 23:15-16). Thus, the feast of Pentecost (meaning 50th), the Feast of Weeks (seven sevens) and the Feast of Firstfruits are the same feast. There is a deep typical significance to this feast which will now occupy our attention.

To discover this let us look at what happened at Sinai. Many will connect Sinai to the giving of the Law and all the commandments following. Though there is a real legal emphasis attached to Sinai, the real essence of the Sinai events was that they established Israel as a nation. These events were Israel’s version of the States ratifying the American Constitution. At this moment the Jewish Nation was established with God as King, and Israel as His subjects. What held it all together was the covenant governed by laws. The covenant was signed not with pen but by the sprinkling of blood (Exodus 24:8). The events at Sinai organized this ragtag, undisciplined people into a formidable nation that could now be used to further the King’s agenda, entering the land, conquering the heathen peoples, and showing forth His glory to all the nations. Unfortunately this arrangement fell apart as quickly as it was established. As Israel was signing on the dotted line to receive Yahweh as her King, there she was, dancing to another king in the form of a golden calf. As a result, God’s anger is stirred and Moses, the King’s executive officer, commissions the Levites to slay the offenders (Exodus 32:28). What an ignominious start for a new nation! This sets the pattern for the rest of the Old Testament story which is a constant tale of a nation’s wanton disobedience to King and covenant. By the time we get to the end of our Old Testament, God is so fed up that He will scatter the nation. She will never fully recover. Indeed, the Old Testament is one long chronicle of Israel’s failure and God’s faithfulness.

Just as in the First Pentecost established Israel as a nation so the events of Acts chapter 2, the New Pentecost, bring forth a New Covenant nation called the church. This change from an Old Covenant nation of Israel to a New Covenant nation of the church takes place at the coming of Messiah. Jesus said to the leaders of Israel, “I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.” The coming of Jesus the Messiah marks the end of the Old Feast of Pentecost and the beginning of the New Feast described in Acts chapter 2.

So we have now arrived at Acts chapter 2. And when do the events happen? Fifty days after the Passover. Let us look at some of the events in Acts 2 and demonstrate how they clearly fulfill (and gloriously exceed) the events of the First Pentecost at Sinai. First and foremost, both events point to the inauguration of a nation. In the Old Covenant it was the establishment of Israel; the New Testament Pentecost establishes the ‘one holy nation’ called the church. Second, each nation rested upon law, God’s law. In the Old Covenant it was the commandments etched on stone. In the New Covenant it is that New Commandment that encapsulates the fullness of God’s character, the law of love (see Romans 13:10, Matt 22:34-40; John 13:34; 1 John 2:8-11). There is a great difference between the two laws, however. The Law at Sinai is external to the people and impossible to obey by virtue of man’s flesh. But at the New Pentecost the law is planted into the very being of those who receive the Messiah, instilling in them the possibility of not sinning (Augustine’s posse non peccare). This cataclysmic change had been predicted by the latter prophets of the Old Testament (see Jeremiah 31:33; Ezek 36:26). Peter himself illuminated by the Spirit boldly claims that this indwelling of the law by the Spirit was happening at that very moment on the Day of Pentecost, 50 days after the Passover of Jesus’ death and resurrection. To prove that they witnessing the New Pentecost Peter quotes Joel saying, “‘It shall come to pass in the last days’, says God, ‘that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh.’” Third, this formation of a new nation in the New Covenant was to be one that included all the peoples of the earth, not only Jews. Acts 2 makes it clear that those receiving Peter’s and the apostles’ message that day represented ‘every nation under heaven’ (Acts 2:5). Thus the new Pentecost is a true fulfillment of that promise made to Abraham thousands of years earlier when God said to him, “In you all the nations of the earth will be blessed.” And so on the day of this New Pentecost God was officially giving complete control of the nations to His victorious Son as outlined in Psalm 2, “You are my Son, this day I have begotten You” (Psalm 2:7, cp Acts 13:33). Pentecost therefore reminds us that the nations belong to Jesus and Jesus alone. Fourth, at each event fire came down from heaven demonstrating the captivating importance of the events and the power of the God working in them. Mount Sinai was enflamed in fire as Moses descended. The apostles, the messengers of this New Covenant, were also shrouded by fire, tongues of fire. Fire demonstrates that God is doing something special. Indeed this inauguration of the New Pentecost is very special. Fifthly, and perhaps most importantly, the two Pentecosts highlight the character of God, but a very different attribute is the focus. The Old Covenant was built on a feeble bi-lateral covenant that could only be broken, leading to the condemnation of those who broke it (see 2 Cor 3:9). And so while Moses is yet on the Mount receiving the laws, the Israelites are dancing around an idolatrous image in an act of raw idolatry. This incites the wrath of God and three thousand men are killed (Exodus 32:28). But this newer and better covenant rests totally on God’s promise. It reveals not a God of condemnation but a God of grace. Peter’s message to the crowd, who are just as guilty as the dancing Jews, is not one of condemnation but one of salvation. He pleads that God is offering to all the guilty people a way of escape, “For the promise is to you and to your children and to all who are afar off as many as the Lord our God will call” (2:39). And what happens? Three thousand are saved (Acts 2:41). Thus, this New Pentecost is not a message of death by doing but a message life through believing. And every person in the crowd that day was invited to receive it, everyone. That included, law abiding people and hardened criminals. Chaste religious people and harlots. People who understand the deep mysteries of the faith and country bumpkins who can’t read. Pharisees and Barabbas. Blacks, whites, yellows, Scythian, bond and free. And the best news of all is that anyone who receive God’s offer enters a covenant from which he will never be excused. The reason is simple; God Himself fulfills all the conditions of the covenant in the Messiah, Jesus Christ the Lord.

What a beautiful feast this New Pentecost is. It comes to us as a feast wrapped in God’s mercy. It is a feast that offers life to the dead. It reminds us that because the Pascal Lamb was slain, God can now offer forgiveness to the entire world. And those who receive it become the everlasting Firstfruits to God. And so the New Pentecost is celebrated afresh every time a lost sinner humbly bows the knee to Jesus and enters His kingdom. Amen.