LESSON 10

Feast of Weeks

The Holy Spirit Sent, a Harvest Imminent

   The feast days of Yahweh's annual holy day calendar are the most dynamic and provocative tool every devised by Yahweh. The seven commanded feasts of the Bible encapsulate and reveal Yahweh's eternal plan to mankind. Nothing is more refreshing to Yahweh's people than keeping His holy days. The Bible also emphasizes truth we learn through the proper observance and celebration of these eternal feasts.

   All of the annual feasts are anchored to the harvest seasons of Israel. Passover occurs at the spring barley harvest, followed by the early summer wheat harvest known as Feast of Weeks or Pentecost. The fall harvest, Feast of Tabernacles, celebrates the in-gathering of the fruit of the land and is a large harvest. All three seasonal feasts picture a greater spiritual harvest of the souls of mankind interwoven with the plan of redemption.

   Leviticus chapter 23 begins, "And Yahweh spake unto Moses, saying, 'Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, concerning the feasts of Yahweh, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations even these are My feasts.'"

   Verse 3 starts with the weekly Sabbath. In verse 5 we are given the date for Passover, the 14th day of the first month. After Passover, the Days of Unleavened Bread begin and are the first commanded feasts of Yahweh's calendar. This is noted in Leviticus 23:6.

   Pentecost is the second of the three commanded feast seasons of Yahweh. Verse 15 of Leviticus 23 gives us instructions on how to count for the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost. In Exodus 23:16 Pentecost is referred to as the Feast of Harvest and in Numbers 28:26, it is called the Day of Firstfruits. The third feast season is in the fall of the year and includes the Feast of Trumpets, Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles plus the Last Great Day. This lesson deals with the Feast of Weeks.

At Pentecost the Holy Spirit Was Sent

   During the Feast of Unleavened Bread a barley sheaf was offered, known as Firstfruits, the first cutting. After 49 days (a week of weeks, 7x7) came the Feast of Pentecost--when the wheat harvest officially began.

   In the very beginning of Leviticus 23 (verse 2) the word convocation was used. Convocation is from the Latin "convoco" ("con" meaning together and "voco" meaning call). From this we can ascertain that Yahweh wants to have a calling together of the people on his holy days. In the Hebrew it is "miqra," meaning someone or something called out, a public meeting or a rehearsal. Also, see Leviticus 23:21.

   Pentecost has a very special spiritual meaning for the people of Yahweh. Had not Yahshua's disciples been keeping Pentecost, they would not have received the Holy Spirit. Pentecost, according to Mr. Webster, is the 50th (day), Shabuoth, a festival on the seventh Sunday after Passover, celebrating the descent of the Holy Spirit of Yahweh. John 4:24 states emphatically, "Yahweh is spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth!" We cannot worship Yahweh unless we have His Spirit--the Holy Spirit.

   The Holy Spirit is also referred to as the "Comforter" in John 14:16 and 26.... "The Comforter Which is the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." The word "Comforter" is translated from the Greek word parakletos, meaning "one who goes alongside to help."

   We see that Pentecost in the New Testament has just as great or greater meaning than it did in the Old Testament.

   In the last words recorded in Luke, Yahshua commands the disciples to tarry at Jerusalem until they be endued with power from on high, Luke 24:49. The disciples had been with Yahshua for three and one-half years. They knew that the Sabbath and the annual holy days were a part of the worship that Yahweh had ordained.

   In Acts 1:4-5 Yahshua told them to "wait for the promise of the Father which you have heard of Me. For John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days hence." In Acts 2 we read that the disciples were all in one place and in one accord in the upper room at Jerusalem. On the day of Pentecost there came "a sound as a rushing mighty wind" and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.

Spiritual Grain Readies for Harvest

   Like Passover, Pentecost has had two fulfillments, It was at the time of Passover that Yahshua was slain on the tree of Calvary. While the Jews in Jerusalem were observing Passover in commemoration of the children of Israel's leaving Egypt, the "Lamb that takes away the sin of the world" was impaled on the tree. Just as the blood of the lamb on the doorposts in Egypt saved those within the house from the destroying angel, the blood of the true Lamb redeems and saves us today. Yahshua was impaled on Passover for our transgressions and He was raised at the end of the weekly Sabbath and ascended to the Father on the first day of the week to become the resurrection Firstfruits for our justification.

   The message of Passover is wonderful and meaningful. Subsequent to justification, Yahweh's continued fellowship and purpose with mankind would be contingent upon a person's life of holiness and obedience perfected in the fear and awe of the Almighty. This message of sanctification speaks to us loudly through the seven Days of Unleavened Bread, which commenced immediately after Passover.

   We are reminded that our new life in Messiah cannot be lived with malice and wickedness but only with "the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." We are also reminded that Yahshua will never dwell within anything that is not holy.

   Thus, the message between Passover and Pentecost is the message of harvest. The grain must grow. Much maturing must take place between the wave sheaf (firstfruits) in the week of unleavened bread until the greater harvest gets underway at Pentecost. So it is with our lives. We must clean out the old leavening and grow and mature in Yahshua's likeness until the final harvest of the assembly.

The Covenant Becomes More Personalized

   The Old Covenant was ratified on Pentecost in Exodus 24:1-3, but the Holy Spirit was not continually with Yahweh's people on an individual basis, but dwelt with the entire nation of Israel. Israel as a nation committed spiritual adultery, following the ways of the pagans around them. Instead of showing others the glory of Yahweh's way of life, Israel followed in the sins of their neighbors around then. Fleshly Israel was not able to comprehend fully Yahweh's plan for them and the world. This being the case, a change was needed.

   On Pentecost, as mentioned in Acts, this change took place. The covenant is offered to us on a personal basis. The Holy Spirit was offered permanently to enable the people to keep the precepts and teachings of Yahweh. Before this time, the Spirit was given to individuals only for a specific task and then was removed.

   The covenant that Yahweh proposed to Israel is the same promised to believers today, 1 Peter 2:9 and Revelation 5:10. Hebrews 8:9-13 and 10:16 corroborate that it is the same basic agreement built upon obedience to Yahweh's laws.

   Now it is established on an individual's repentance and is not limited to the nation of Israel, but is open to all who will accept the Messiah's sacrifice and keep Yahweh's commandments (Acts 2:38; Revelation 12:17, 14:12). Today, the Holy Spirit is available to all who are willing to take hold of the covenant, Acts 5:32.

   The Spirit of Yahweh will change the hearts and minds of people to humble obedience. While the carnal minds is enmity against Yahweh and his ways and is not subject to His laws, Yahweh's Spirit brings obedience and gives life. By allowing Yahweh's Spirit to guide and control our lives, we actually put Yahweh's laws into our hearts and minds,. In Hebrews 10:16-17 we read: "For this is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says Yahweh; I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them. Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more."

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