The names of the annual festival in Hebrew and Greek come from the instructions for it in Lev. 23:15–21; Num. 28:26–31 and Deut. 16:9–12: חַג שָׁבֻעֹת Khag Shavuot (“Feast of Weeks”) and πεντήκοντα Pentekosta (“50”). The celebration follows 50 days or seven sevens/weeks after Firstfruits just after Passover.
Was Pentecost the birthday for the church? See the studies below to discover what the Bible really says about the meaning of Pentecost for Christians.
Readings
- Exodus 19–20
- Numbers 28:26–31
- Ezekiel 1
- Ezekiel 3
- Acts 1:1–11; Acts 2
- Ruth 1–4
Studies related to Shavuot
Pentecost: God’s global invitation to become part of Heaven’s family
Shavuot (Pentecost) is an invitation to all mankind to meet and fellowship with God. He sent the same invitation through Moshe (Moses) to the first generation of Israel post-Exodus that God sends through His Messiah, Yeshua (Jesus).
How to be a dependable part of Heaven’s rescue mission to Earth (Leviticus 25)
The Torah reading בְּהַר Behar (“on mount” [Sinai]; Leviticus 25) teaches us how to be a kinsman-redeemer. It’s a beautiful ancient role for a family member with the character to step up and bail out a relative who has fallen on hard times.
The Bible book of Ruth provides an example of such a redeemer in action, and the Messiah is foretold to be the ultimate one for the world.
In the greater family of God on Earth, the lessons of the annual festivals of Shavuot (Pentecost) and Sukkot (Tabernacles) plus the multiyear cycles of Shemitah (sabbatical year) and Yobel (Jubilee) instruct…
The Torah secret to Spirit-led transformation at Pentecost (Leviticus 21–24)
Two of the great characteristics of the Creator is that He is both the Holy One, vastly different from us, and God With Us, wanting to be near us.
The otherness of God is a key theme of the Torah reading אָמַר Emor (“say,” Leviticus 21-24), how God is separate from us, how He called the priesthood to be separate from the rest of Israel in service to Him and how we are to live separate from but near to the rest of the world.
This separation, called “holiness,” is not to be taken as a source of arrogance or pride, but…
How to increase righteousness on the Earth (Isaiah 11; John 20; Ezekiel 18)
A common caricature of Heaven is that God is obsessed with killing the wicked. Rather, the Bible talks about a better way to both rid the Earth of wickedness and increase the number of righteous. And that’s one of the key lessons of the festivals of Pesach (Passover), Matzot (Unleavened Bread) and Shavuot (Pentecost), lessons brought to their fullness in Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus). Here’s how that works.
Heaven seeks from us authentic worship and service (Leviticus 21–23)
We love great actors when they’re on the screen or stage, but they’re odious when they fill the pews or the pulpits. A key lesson in the Torah reading אָמַר Emor (“say,” Leviticus 21–24) is that those in the service of the Creator of Heaven and Earth (Ex. 19:6; 1Pet. 2:5, 9; Rev. 1:6; 5:10) must deeply respect what they’re bringing closer to the Presence: “good gifts” of the heart cry of humankind. And those who bring those gifts must not pretend they’re transparently offering their best, what Heaven has set aside in them from normal ways of an Earth…
Pentecost: When we’re finally sick of it, Heaven’s Bondage-Breaker leads us home (Exodus 19–20; Acts 1–2)
Shavuot, aka Pentecost, is connected historically and ceremonially to the annual memorials of Pesakh (Passover) and Matzot (Unleavened Bread) by the 50 days in between.
God’s instructions for Shavuot are connected to a harvest, but we can glean deeper meaning from its thematic linkage to Pesakh, to the giving of the Ten Commandments at Sinai and to the widespread outpouring of the Spirit on the 120 believers of Yeshua haMashiakh (Jesus the Christ):
* Pesakh: Be freed from bondage. (Justification)
* Matzot: Be purged of the mindset from the former life. (Sanctification)
* Shavuot: Learn what it means to be be adopted into the…