The Day Of Pentecost

Israel’s Feast, Israel’s Signs, Israel’s Offer, Not The Birth Of The Body Of Christ

1. What Pentecost Is In Scripture

Pentecost is Israel’s Feast of Weeks, counted from the morrow after the sabbath of Firstfruits, a full fifty day count that culminates in a holy convocation with new meat offerings to the Lord. Read Leviticus 23 verses 15 through 21 and Deuteronomy 16 verses 9 through 12. It sits inside Israel’s prophetic calendar. These feasts are called the feasts of the Lord and were given to the nation Israel as shadow pictures of promises to them. Pentecost is therefore an Israelite holy day, not a Gentile ordinance and not the charter day of the mystery. When the Lord Jesus rose from the dead as the firstfruits, the count to Pentecost began, and Acts 2 opens when the day of Pentecost was fully come.

2. What Happened On That Day

Acts 2 records a supernatural visitation that filled the house where the disciples sat. There came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind and it filled all the house. Cloven tongues like as of fire sat upon each of them. They were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Read Acts 2 verses 1 through 4. Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven heard them speak in their own languages the wonderful works of God, and Luke carefully lists the nations to stress that this was not babble, it was known speech. Read Acts 2 verses 5 through 11. Some marveled, others mocked and said these men are full of new wine, which opened the door for Peter to stand up with the eleven and preach to Israel from the prophets.

3. To Whom Peter Spoke And What He Preached

Peter’s address leaves no doubt about the audience and the program. He says, ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem. He says, ye men of Israel, hear these words. Read Acts 2 verses 14 and 22. He quotes the prophet Joel to explain the signs and the outpouring. He declares that God attested Jesus of Nazareth by miracles and wonders, that Israel by wicked hands crucified and slew Him, and that God raised Him up according to the Scriptures. Read Acts 2 verses 16 through 36. When the men of Israel were pricked in their heart and asked what shall we do, Peter gave a kingdom program answer that fits Israel under prophecy. Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Read Acts 2 verse 38. About three thousand souls received his word and were baptized, they continued daily with one accord in the temple, they sold possessions and goods, and they lived out a prophetic community awaiting the promised times of refreshing. Read Acts 2 verses 41 through 47.

4. What God Was Doing With Israel At Pentecost

At Pentecost God was confirming His Son to Israel and offering the nation repentance and restoration in fulfillment of prophecy. Peter immediately continued this message in the next chapter. Repent ye therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord, and he shall send Jesus Christ which before was preached unto you, whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. Read Acts 3 verses 19 through 21. That is a clear prophetic offer to Israel. If the nation would repent, the Lord would return and bring in the kingdom promised by the prophets. Pentecost therefore belongs to Israel’s covenant program and forward looks to her kingdom on earth.

5. Why Pentecost Is Not The Birthday Of The Body Of Christ

The Body of Christ is the new creature revealed later to Paul as a mystery kept secret since the world began. Read Ephesians 3 verses 1 through 9 and Colossians 1 verses 24 through 27. Acts 2 does not reveal the mystery. Acts 2 fulfills prophecy. Peter is preaching things which God had spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. Paul later preaches Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery which was kept secret since the world began. Read Romans 16 verses 25 through 26. In Acts 2 the audience is Israel in Jerusalem. The message is repent and be baptized for remission. The setting is the temple and the program is signs and wonders promised to that nation. None of that is the one new man of Ephesians 2 where the middle wall is broken down and Jew and Gentile are formed into one body by the cross. None of that is the gospel of the grace of God that saves today by faith in the blood of Christ alone without works. Pentecost cannot be the Body’s birthday because there is no revelation of the Body, no Pauline gospel, no heavenly vocation, and no equality of Jew and Gentile in that scene.

6. Tongues And Signs At Pentecost, What They Were For

The miracles of Pentecost were covenant signs to Israel. The Jews require a sign. Read First Corinthians 1 verse 22. Tongues were a sign to unbelieving Israel as Isaiah had warned, with men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people, and yet for all that will they not hear me. Read First Corinthians 14 verses 21 through 22 with Isaiah 28 verse 11. The Lord had promised kingdom signs to them that believe in that program. Read Mark 16 verses 17 through 20. Hebrews confirms that God bore witness with signs and wonders and divers miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost. Read Hebrews 2 verses 3 through 4. The Pentecost signs therefore identify Israel’s program. They are not the operating rule for the Body of Christ today which walks by faith, not by sight. Read Second Corinthians 5 verse 7.

7. Spirit Baptism Then, And Spirit Baptism Now

John and the Lord promised Israel a baptism with the Holy Ghost connected to the coming kingdom power. Read Matthew 3 verses 11 through 12 and Acts 1 verse 5 and Luke 24 verse 49. That is what fell upon the believers at Pentecost. By contrast, the Spirit’s baptism that places a believer into the Body of Christ is explained by Paul. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body. Read First Corinthians 12 verse 13. In this dispensation a person receives the Spirit the moment he believes the gospel, he is sealed, and he is baptized by the Spirit into Christ without water and without waiting. Read Ephesians 1 verses 13 through 14 and Galatians 3 verse 2. Do not confuse Israel’s Pentecostal outpouring with the Body’s identification in Christ by the Spirit.

8. From Pentecost To Paul, The Prophetic Offer And The Mystery Revelation

After Pentecost the apostles remained at Jerusalem, teaching in the temple and in every house. Read Acts 2 verse 46 and Acts 5 verse 42. The nation’s rulers resisted, culminating in the stoning of Stephen who saw the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. Read Acts 7 verses 54 through 60. That rejection did not cancel God’s promises, it exposed the nation’s unbelief. Then the risen Christ suddenly appeared from heaven and saved Saul of Tarsus and sent him to the Gentiles with a new revelation called the mystery. Read Acts 9 and Acts 26 verses 16 through 18 and Ephesians 3 verses 1 through 9. From that point the gospel of the grace of God goes forth, the one Body is formed, and the saved are seated in heavenly places in Christ. Read Ephesians 2 verses 4 through 7 and Ephesians 2 verses 13 through 16. The prophetic program for Israel is paused and will resume in the future, while the Body of Christ continues under grace.

9. Common Misreadings Corrected

It is a misreading to claim Acts 2 verse 38 as the gospel formula for this dispensation. Peter is addressing Israel under prophecy and gives a water baptism command tied to remission and the gift of the Holy Ghost in that program. Today God saves by the gospel that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again the third day, and He justifies the sinner through faith in the blood of Christ without works, sealing him the moment he believes. Read First Corinthians 15 verses 3 through 4 and Romans 3 verses 24 through 26 and Ephesians 1 verses 13 through 14. It is a misreading to treat Pentecost as the model for normal assembly life in this dispensation. Selling all, living communally, and continuing daily at the temple are not Pauline instructions. It is a misreading to make tongues a private prayer badge for the Body of Christ. Scripture says tongues were a sign to Israel and even in Corinth Paul restrained their use and demanded interpretation for edification, which already shows they were not a mark of maturity. Read First Corinthians 14 verses 18 through 22 and verse 26 through 28.

10. Practical Lessons For The Body Of Christ Today

Read Pentecost with profit, but keep it in its place. Let it confirm that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of David and Son of God, raised from the dead, and appointed to reign. Let it show the faithfulness of God to Israel and the certainty of His prophetic word. Let it warn that unbelief can sit under signs and still reject the truth. Then walk as members of the Body of Christ according to Pauline truth. Believe the gospel of Christ’s blood and resurrection. Rest in your sealing and in your baptism by the Spirit into one Body. Seek edification by the written word, not a replication of Pentecostal signs. Serve in charity, pray with understanding, and set your affection on things above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Read Colossians 3 verses 1 through 2 and Colossians 3 verse 16 and First Corinthians 14 verse 12.

11. Summary

The Day of Pentecost is an Israelite feast day in Israel’s prophetic program. God poured out the Holy Ghost with signs to confirm His Son to the nation, Peter preached to ye men of Israel, and the message promised remission and the gift of the Holy Ghost with water baptism and repentance in view of the coming times of refreshing. None of this reveals the mystery of the one Body. The Body of Christ begins when the risen Lord from heaven reveals the mystery to Paul and sends him with the gospel of the grace of God to Jew and Gentile without distinction. Right division honors both programs and keeps consciences free from confusion.

Gospel Clarifier For Today

Today God saves by grace through faith in the finished cross work of Christ. Believe that the Lord Jesus shed His blood for your sins, that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day. Trust His finished work alone, without works of your own. God will save you at once, forgive you completely, seal you with the Holy Ghost, and seat you in heavenly places in Christ. Read First Corinthians 15 verses 3 through 4 and Romans 3 verses 24 through 26 and Ephesians 1 verses 13 through 14 and Ephesians 2 verse 6.

Key passages to revisit

Leviticus 23 verses 15 through 21, Deuteronomy 16 verses 9 through 12, Acts 2 verses 1 through 47, Acts 3 verses 19 through 21, Acts 5 verse 42, Acts 7 verses 54 through 60, Acts 9, Acts 26 verses 16 through 18, Joel 2 verses 28 through 32, Isaiah 28 verse 11, Mark 16 verses 17 through 20, Hebrews 2 verses 3 through 4, First Corinthians 1 verse 22, First Corinthians 12 verse 13, First Corinthians 14 verses 18 through 22 and 26 through 28, Second Corinthians 5 verse 7, Ephesians 1 verses 13 through 14, Ephesians 2 verses 4 through 7 and 13 through 16, Ephesians 3 verses 1 through 9, Colossians 1 verses 24 through 27.