Christ in the Old Testament

Leviticus 23:16

Count off fifty days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath, and then present an offering of new grain to the Lord. (NIV)

Today’s Reading: Leviticus 23:15-22 and Acts 2:1-13

The Feast of Weeks is also known as the Day of Pentecost. Today it is called Shavuot. This feast was to occur exactly 50 days after the Sabbath prior to the Feast of Firstfruits. Thus the name Pentecost which means “50 days.” This was the second of three “solemn feasts” that God commanded all male Jews to travel to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices. The Feast of Firstfruits required offerings of the first fruits of the barley harvest. The Feast of Weeks required offerings of the first fruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Tabernacles involved offerings of the first fruits of the olive and grape harvests.

Jesus began alluding to this feast and his fulfillment of the feast from the outset of his ministry. He told his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field” (Matt 9:37-38). He equated himself with wheat toward the end of his ministry. The day Jesus rode into Jerusalem he said, “Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds” (John 12:24).

The Day of Pentecost is better known to us as the day that the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit. This would be the day that Jesus birthed His church fulfilling the Feast of Weeks. “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place… All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them” (Acts 2:1,4).

Once filled with the Holy Spirit, Peter and the disciples went out preaching in the streets of Jerusalem. People from all nations were in Jerusalem for the Passover festival and they would all hear the Word of God preached in their own language. “Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day” (Acts 2:41). The harvest was indeed plentiful and the sweet aroma of souls being saved filled the air that day.

Today’s Prayer: Thank you Lord for including me in your harvest! Help me to be as bold as Peter today.