The Feast of Weeks
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Let’s begin this morning by reading our text for the day, we will begin by reading from the OT Deut. 16:9-12 and then we will read from the NT Acts 2:1-13
Read Deuteronomy 16:9-12
Read Acts 2:1-13
9 “You shall count seven weeks for yourself; begin to count the seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the grain.
10 Then you shall keep the Feast of Weeks to the Lord your God with the tribute of a freewill offering from your hand, which you shall give as the Lord your God blesses you.
11 You shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite who is within your gates, the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are among you, at the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide.
12 And you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and you shall be careful to observe these statutes.
1 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.
3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
5 And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven.
6 And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language.
7 Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Look, are not all these who speak Galileans?
8 And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born?
9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,
10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,
11 Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.”
12 So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “Whatever could this mean?”
13 Others mocking said, “They are full of new wine.”
Today we are back on the Feasts of the Lord series which began back on Easter Sunday with the Feast of Passover. Each feast of the Lord or celebrations are feasts that was appointed by God for the people of Israel to observe.
And what we have been doing with this series is looking at how Jesus Himself through His death, burial and resurrection as well as His second coming are tied to these feasts.
Each and every one of the seven Jewish Feasts signifies an important aspect of God’s plan of redemption through Jesus Christ.
Now up to this point in the series we have covered three of those feasts in there respected order.
Feast of Passover
Feast of Unleavened Bread
Feast of First Fruits
Today we look closer at the fourth feast which is called the Feast of Weeks.
This important feast gets its name from the fact that it starts seven full weeks, or exactly 50 days, after the Feast of Firstfruits.
Since it takes place exactly 50 days after the previous feast, this feast is also known as “Pentecost” (Acts 2:1), which means “fifty.”
Since the Feast of Weeks was one of the “harvest feasts,” the Jews were commanded to “present an offering of new grain to the Lord” (Leviticus 23:16).
To the Jews, this time of celebration is known as Shavuot, which is the Hebrew word meaning “weeks.”
The Feast of Weeks takes place exactly 50 days after the Feast of Firstfruits. It normally occurs in late spring, either the last part of May or the beginning of June. Unlike other feasts that began on a specific day of the Hebrew calendar, this one is calculated as being “fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath” (Leviticus 23:15–16; Deuteronomy 16:9–10).
In fact today is the very Day of the Feast of Weeks - June 9th.
Like other Jewish feasts,
The Feast of Weeks is important in that it foreshadows the coming Messiah and His ministry.
Jesus was crucified as the “Passover Lamb” and rose from the grave at the Feast of Firstfruits. Following His resurrection, Jesus spent the next 40 days teaching His disciples before ascending to heaven (Acts 1).
Fifty days after His resurrection and after ascending to heaven to sit at the right hand of God, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit as promised (John 14:16–17) to indwell the disciples and empower them for ministry.
The promised Holy Spirit arrived on the Day of Pentecost, remember that is just another name for the Feast of Weeks.
So what exactly happened on the Day of Pentecost?
Acts 2 which we read earlier gives us the detailed account of the event.
It should be noted that the events of Pentecost in Acts 2 and what happened that day have become a matter of diversity within denominations due to the how people may interpret the text.
I like the text to speak for itself. And in this case I believe it does just that.
Lets take a closer look at this this morning as we explore deeper the fulfill meet of the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost.
Read Acts 2:1-4
1 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.
3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Illustration (Breaking of the Sound Barrier/Breaking of the Language Barrier)
Chuck Yeager and the X-1 research plane that broke the sound barrier in 1947. It can be seen today at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
As he approached Mach 1, that plane began to shake and rattle and be buffeted from side to side, so much so that he was not sure that he would not explode in mid-air.
But on this day Chuck said, “I refuse to turn back now! If I die, I die trying but I am not going to back down! I’ve been close before, but no matter what happens today, I am going for it!”
And with that he shoved the controls forward and headed for the sonic wall!
In the account of this momentous event recorded in the book “The Right Stuff” the author records: The X-1 went through "the sonic wall" without so much as a bump. As the speed topped out at Mach 1.05, Yeager had the sensation of shooting straight through the top of the sky. The sky turned a deep purple and all at once the stars and the moon came out - the sun shone at the same time. ... He was simply looking out into space
In order to break the sound barrier you have to travel just faster than the speed of sound. The speed of sound varies depending on the temperature of the air through which the sound moves.
On Earth, the speed of sound at sea level — assuming an air temperature of 59 degrees Fahrenheit — is 761.2 mph.
Now do you know what happens when the sound barrier is broken?
A big sonic boom and sound portal opens up as you can see in these pictures its like looking at the plane passing though some kind of vertical mushroom shaped cloud.
Now what does that have to do with Pentecost you may ask?
God broke the Language barrier that day. And anytime a barrier is broken something phenomenal happens.
Lets look at the text again.
1 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.
3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Thats what happened that day when God broke through the languages...
So why did God have to break through the languages. Because the Gospel message was to be heard by all tongues, tribes and nations. Look what it continues to say.
Read Acts 2:5-12
5 And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven.
6 And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language.
7 Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Look, are not all these who speak Galileans?
8 And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born?
9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,
10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,
11 Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.”
12 So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “Whatever could this mean?”
Whatever could this mean?
Read Acts 2:14-24
14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words.
15 For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day.
16 But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
17 ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams.
18 And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy.
19 I will show wonders in heaven above And signs in the earth beneath: Blood and fire and vapor of smoke.
20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.
21 And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the Lord Shall be saved.’
22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know—
23 Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death;
24 whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it.
Now all this time while Peter is proclaiming the Gospel of Christ them, each and everyone heard him preach in their native tongue. And as he continued to open up the scriptures to them, the text tells us in v. 37.
Read Acts 37-38,41
37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”
38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.
On the Day of Pentecost or the Feast of Weeks, the “firstfruits” of the church were gathered by Christ as some 3,000 people heard Peter present the gospel after the Holy Spirit had empowered and indwelt the disciples as promised.
With the promised indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the first fruits of God’s spiritual harvest under the New Covenant began.
Today that harvest continues as people continue to be saved.