Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - May/82

Contributor - Mrs. Engelina Van Essen

Title - Pentecost- The Feast Of Weeks

Topic - Women

From every part of the country Jews were streaming into Jerusalem. Over the hills they came and through the valleys they came. From far abroad and close by; Jews and visitors alike. It was early summer and a lovely time of the year. The sky was blue and cloudless and the weather caressingly warm. The land at s time of the year was not scorched yet 4 the hot desert wind, the Hamsin. It was Pentecost, the Feast of Weeks and a popular holiday. Everyone seemed happy; old friends met and new acquaintances were made, and all were going to the Golden City on Mount Zion.

The Israelites were commanded to come together in the Temple three times a year. These occasions were Passover,. when they celebrated the deliverance from Egypt, by eating unleavened bread and offering the Passover lamb; Pentecost, or the Feast of Weeks when two wave loaves were offered, baked from newly harvested wheat; and the Feast of Tabernacles, when they celebrated the end of the wandering in the wilderness, and the entrance into the Promised Land.

Pentecost comes from the Greek word pentecoste, meaning fifty. When the Lord gave the laws of religious festivals to Moses we read, "And you shall count from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven full weeks shall they be, counting fifty days 'the morrow after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall present a cereal offering of new grain to the Lord. You shall bring from your dwellings two loaves of bread to be waved, made of two tenth of an ephah; they shall be of fine flour, they shall be baked with leaven, as first fruits to the Lord" (Lev. 23:15 - 1 7). From the beginning Pentecost was the Feast of the "First Fruits", but when the Jews were scattered among the nations, much of the original meaning of Pentecost as a harvest festival was lost, and it became known as "The Feast of the Giving of the Law". By careful calculation some Rabbis came to the conclusion that God gave the law to Moses on the day of Pentecost, and is therefore a time of rejoicing among the Jews.

"The Lord said to Moses,'Say to the people of Israel, when you come into the land which I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest; and he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, that you may find acceptance; on the morrow after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it'." (Lev. 23:9 - 11). Last month we celebrated Easter; and He Who rose on the first day after the sabbath is also called the "first fruits" (I Cor. 15:20). Christ was the first to rise from the dead. The wave-loaves that were brought to the Lord on the day of Pentecost were baked with leaven. We know that the Passover bread was baked without leaven. Why would it be that the law is so specific in stating how the bread should be baked? In the Old Testament, leaven is symbolic for sin. The Passover bread, like the lamb without spot or blemish, signifies the body of Christ. He Who was without sin, became sin for us. The wave-loaves with the leaven of sin, symbolize the children of Israel.

South of Jerusalem lies the hill country of Bethlehem; it is the country around Bethlehem that we know so well, for there the shepherds heard the good news that Jesus was born; it was there that David spent with the sheep, and yes, it was there that Ruth gathered barley, for it was the beginning of the barley harvest. What a rustic setting for the love story of Ruth and Boaz amidst the sun drenched fields and the joy of harvesting. Up to the present day, the Jews read the book of Ruth on the Feast of Pentecost. The German poet, Goethe, wrote that the book of Ruth is, "the loveliest little idyl that tradition has transmitted to us". Ruth, the gentile woman who came to know and to love the God of Naomi, the Jewess. The Jews are looking forward to I the day when Jew and gentile will work ship God together. In Christ only this becomes a reality. Ruth the woman who loved God and her fellowman, experienced God's favour. The privilege every Hebrew woman was hoping for was extended to her. She became the mother in the lineage of the Redeemer. Through Ruth, Jew and Gentile were forever united. Jesus Christ is the cornerstone and head of both, the saved Jew and Gentile (Eph. 2:20). "For He himself is our peace, who made both groups into one, and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall." (Eph. 2:14)

Pentecost marks the beginning of the mission of the Christian Church. Our mission is to be witnesses for Christ through the gift of the Holy Spirit. He Who is our peace will give us the Power to witness for Him. Are you willing?

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