5. The Feast of Weeks; Shavuot, or “the Feast of fifty days (πεντηκοστῆς-fifty, as in Acts 2:1), marks the giving of the Law (Torah) at Mt Sinai. The Feast of Weeks (Pentecost, Harvest or Shavuot) – the main harvest festival celebrating the end of the wheat harvest was held seven weeks after the first barley harvest (see Exodus 34:22). As it was fifty days after Passover, it became known as Pentecost (‘pentekonta’ means ‘fifty’ in Gk.). It usually occurred in late May or early June. A festival of joy; mandatory and voluntary offerings including the first fruits of the wheat harvest. Recalling the giving of the Law at Sinai 50 days after crossing the Red Sea. Jesus’s 120 disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost in AD 30 which was 50 days after Jesus’ resurrection. “And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD” (Lev.23:15-16). This is quite amazing! – God’s timetable for the resurrection, followed by the 40 days before the ascension/exaltation and the 10 days of 24/7 prayer are incorporated into the calendar of the feasts. Fifty days exactly between the resurrection of Jesus and the descent of the Holy Spirit. The journey from the Exodus to the giving of the Law on Sinai was exactly 50 days. The number 50 is incorporated over and over into the dimensions of the tabernacle (15 references). The number 50 derives its meaning from its relationship to the coming of God's Holy Spirit. Fifty can be found at least 154 times in the Bible. His ascension, as a type of first fruit from the dead (Revelation 1:5), occurred on the day God told the Israelites they were to wave a sheaf composed of the New Life Radio – Talk No 20
15 Derrick Harrison
24/02/2021
