Pouring Out of the Spirit

Jeremy Weinland

June 16, 2024

Pentecost

Pentecost, the Feast of Weeks, is marked by a countdown of 50 days that begins during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. These two Feasts aren’t just connected by a specific number of days, but they are also connected with a part of God’s plan that is being worked out as we speak.

The wave sheaf offering during Unleavened Bread and the wave loaves of Pentecost are both about firstfruits. That’s why Pentecost is also known as the Feast of Firstfruits.

Besides being about firstfruits, Pentecost is also a time that God has begun to reveal Himself. God has been working to give us a closer relationship with Him that has not always been possible in times past. It started with a physical law that was given to Moses on Pentecost, and then a spiritual law began to be given on Pentecost when the Church began.

Pentecost is a time when God has poured out His spirit. And He is getting ready to pour out His spirit on a much greater magnitude.

The title of today’s sermon is, Pouring Out of the Spirit.

Let’s begin today by having a look at the three main Feast times as outlined in Exodus. The old covenant revolved around an agrarian society and all these festivals were aligned with growing and harvesting crops. This is so important to understand for God’s plan because God is working out a spiritual harvest.

His whole plan for mankind is that we can grow and overcome, just like the physical grains that were harvested. The grains have to grow and produce fruit before they are ripened and can be finally picked. And not only that. Different grains were grown at different times of the year. They were for a different purpose. So it is the same with mankind.

We know that it is not the time now for all of mankind to be harvested. But God’s plan is that eventually all of mankind will be given the opportunity to live His way of life and to be able to ripen and become a part of the harvest.

So, let’s begin today over in Exodus 23:14—Three times you shall keep a Feast unto Me in the year. You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread; you shall eat unleavened bread seven days as I commanded you in the time appointed of the month Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. And none shall appear before Me empty.

Verse 15—And the Feast of Harvest, the firstfruits of your labors, which you have sown in the field. And the Feast of Ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when you have gathered in all the labors out of the field.

So, Pentecost, as we know it here in the New Testament, here in the Old Testament it’s referred to as the Feast of Harvest and the Feast of Firstfruits. It is the second Feast we are commanded to observe here out of the three. And what this day represents is also the point in God’s plan that we are eagerly awaiting to see the fulfillment of. But the reality is that its fulfillment is being worked out now. It is a process that started back at Passover.

Let’s turn over now to Leviticus 23:9-12—And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them, When you come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then you shall bring a sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest unto the priest.

So, this is told to them right after the instructions for Passover and Unleavened Bread were given. And God is giving them instruction for the wave sheaf which is what ties Unleavened Bread and Pentecost together.

So again, says, You shall bring a sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. Verse 11—And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you. On the morrow after the Sabbath, the priest shall wave it.

Now, we have the start of the timing. So, you find the Sabbath that falls during the days of Unleavened Bread, and the following day is when the wave sheaf is to be waived. And that is also the day that starts the countdown to Pentecost.

Verse 12—And you shall offer that day when you wave the sheaf a male lamb without blemish, of the first year, for a burnt offering unto the LORD. So, as we know, Christ was both the lamb without blemish, without sin, and also the Wave Sheaf. As it stated in the earlier verse, the Wave Sheaf has to be offered before God and accepted by Him on our behalf.

But what exactly was the wave sheaf? Well, it was a measurement of grain that was the first of the first fruits. And that’s exactly what Christ is on a spiritual plane. He is the first of the firstfruits, the very first of God’s great harvest.

Let’s look at verse 14—And you shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that you have brought an offering unto your God. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

So, the importance of the wave sheaf is being magnified even more in verse 14. Nothing was to be eaten until that wave sheaf was offered up to God. God’s entire plan is focused around Christ. He is the first and most important part of God’s harvest. Without him, there could be no more harvest.

Verse 15—And you shall count unto you from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven Sabbaths shall be complete. Even unto the morrow after the seventh Sabbath shall you number fifty days; and you shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD.

So again, this is showing the connection between Passover, Unleavened Bread, and Pentecost. The only way you can know when Pentecost falls on the calendar is to know when Passover and Unleavened Bread happen, and then to follow the instructions as outlined here. It is all a building process.

Verse 17—You shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour. They shall be baked with leaven. They are the firstfruits of the LORD.

Verse 18—And you shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year, and one young bullock, and two rams: they shall be for a burnt offering unto the LORD, with their meat offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of sweet savor unto the LORD. Then you shall sacrifice one kid of the goats for a sin offering, and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offering.

Verse 20—And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits for a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the LORD for the priest. And you shall proclaim on the selfsame day that it may be a holy convocation unto you. You shall do no servile work therein. It shall be a statue forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.

Let’s turn over now to Exodus 33. We know that the first Feast of Pentecost didn’t occur until the children of Israel were able to make their way out of the desert and into the promised land where they could actually begin to work the land.

But we also know that God gave the law to them on a Pentecost while they were still in the desert. This parallels very much with when the holy spirit was first given to the Church in 31 AD, on Pentecost. First, God gave a physical law to a physical people, and then He began to give His law via His spirit in small doses to His Church. And then the next Pentecost of great importance will be when the world will be given His spirit via the 144,000.

We are going to go further into those topics a little later, but first let’s have a look at what happened in the Old Testament because it shows how God’s plan has slowly been building. It also shows how God is slowly revealing Himself to the entire world.

In the beginning, God worked with a physical group of people, and His relationship with them was completely limited as we will see. Moses had a unique relationship with God. While he was in the desert he goes back and forth multiple times to the Mount to speak with God. He speaks with him in the tabernacle under the cloud of God’s presence. And Moses is tasked with working with the “stiff-necked” Israelites, as it states in scripture, as being the go-between with the people and God. That was obviously a super frustrating job for him.

But let’s jump here into Exodus 33:1. It says, And the LORD said unto Moses, Depart, and go hence, you and the people which you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I swore unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, Unto your seed will I give it. And I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusit, unto a land flowing with milk and honey. For I will not go up in the midst of you, for you are a stiff-necked people, lest I consume you in the way.

So, this is being stated here right after the Israelites had made the golden calf, if you remember. And God was very angry with them. He was giving them more and more, but they couldn’t wait on His timing. So, instead of waiting for Moses who was actually coming with the tablets, they started to look to another god and worship an idol.

That right there shows their horrible attitude, of course. After, you know, everything that they had seen and experienced? To call them stiff-necked, well, that was an understatement. And so, God said He was not going to be around that kind of disobedience. He was still going to fulfill His promise and take them to this land flowing with milk and honey, but He wouldn’t be guiding them. It says, “I will not go up in the midst of you, lest I consume you on the way.” So, instead of God going with them Himself, He was going to send an angel ahead to show them the way.

Verse 4 continues: And when the people heard these evil tidings (or simply bad things, bad utterances) when they hear these things they mourned, and no man did put on his ornaments. So, we don’t know what these ornaments are spoken of here, but it’s apparent that the people felt some kind of shame and remorse and they refrained from putting them on.

Let’s continue on in verse 12 where Moses is speaking with God. By this point, Moses had already been taught so much by God, but he kept wanting more and more. And if you think about it, that is the exact same attitude that we should be having.

So, in verse 12 he says, it states, And Moses said unto the LORD, See, You say unto me, Bring up this people, and You have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet You have said, I know you by name and have found grace in My sight. So, this is interesting because at the beginning of this chapter, God says, you know, He’s going to send an angel. Perhaps Moses is pressing God here. Maybe he is wanting to know exactly His plans and who He’s sending. We don’t know for sure. But what is clear is the sentiment of Moses.

Continue on in verse 13—Now, therefore, I pray you, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know you, that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation your people. So, Moses is really pleading for these stiff-necked people who he has been angry and frustrated with himself.

And then in verse 14 he says, it states, And He (God speaking here) said, My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest. So, God finally responds, okay, He will go with Moses, and He says He will give him rest. But the rest spoken of here means more than just giving him a break. The root here also means “to settle down; to dwell; to remain.” So, God is stating that to Moses here in a physical manner about the promised land.

But on a spiritual plane, that’s what God is offering to all of spiritual Israel now. That’s what His plan is about. His plan is to offer us a rest with His presence. It’s about a place for us to dwell and it is also a place for His spirit to dwell.

That’s one of the reasons why the Sabbath is so important. It pictures a rest. God’s rest is about His spirit, His presence dwelling in us.

So, back to the verse here. In verse 14, God says His presence will go with Moses and He will give him rest. And verse 15 we continue with Moses speaking. And he said unto him, If Your presence go not, carry us not up hence. In other words, “If you aren’t going to be with us, God, then don’t bother taking us to the promised land.” Moses had learned enough by now to know that nothing was worth doing unless God was involved in it, so he was bolding stating that and pleading that with God.

Continuing now with verse 17, it states, And the LORD said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that You have spoken, for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name. So, God listened. God wanted to share His spirit and His ways, and if we ask Him and we look to Him then He won’t turn us away.

But the Israelites have a lot to thank Moses for right here because they really received blessings due to him relentlessly seeking God.

Continue on in verse 18—And he said, I beseech You, show me Your glory. So, Moses has experienced small bits of God’s glory up until now, and he knows He is all-powerful. That is quite clear. But he wants more from God. He wants to see more of it. And if you think about it, whenever God’s glory was around the people actually trembled. They were afraid. And in many cases, they showed a reverence to God simply because they recognized His almighty power, and they were afraid to disobey.

But the word for “glory” here is an interesting one. The most basic meaning for it is simply “weight.” And it is often used for showing a value, especially in riches. And so, if we think of it in terms of the Almighty God, who is heavier, who is stronger, and contains more riches? No one. God’s glory, in that sense, is really incomprehensible. God is the most. Period. He is the most of everything that is good. Moses knows this and he wants to see more of God. He wants to see God’s magnitude and he wants to know His ways.

And in verse 19 we see God’s response. And He said, I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you, and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. And He said, You cannot see My face. For there shall no man see Me and live. No man can see the full glory of God. If that power were unleashed on us, we would die. It is like what we read earlier when God said He would not “come up in the midst of them” because if He did they would die in the process.

Continuing in verses 21-23—And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand upon a rock. And it shall come to pass when My glory passes by, that I will put you on a cleft of the rock and will cover you with My hand while I pass. And I will take away My hand, and you shall see my back parts, but My face shall not be seen. So, God is going to show here Moses even more, but still in a very limited manner.

Let’s flip to the next chapter, Exodus 34:4. So, this is speaking of the two replacement tablets after the first ones were broken by Moses in his fit of anger. Exodus 34:4—And he hewed two tables of stone like unto the first; and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up unto Mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and he took of his hand the two tablets of stone.

And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.

And Moses made haste and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped. And he said, If now I have found grace in Your sight, O LORD, let my LORD, I pray thee, go among us; for it is a stiff-necked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for Your inheritance, or better stated, take us for Your possession.

Moses wants for the Israelites to belong to God. And he knows that they are flawed and stiff-necked. So, he asks to pardon their iniquity and sin. And so, starts a covenant in the next verses here. Verse 10—And He said, Behold, I will make a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels, such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation. And all the people among which you are shall see the work of the LORD. For it is a terrible thing I will do with you.

So, God is going to do a terrible thing with them? That’s not really translated there in the best manner. But “trouble” here has to do with fear but in the manner of reverence, honor, and respect. And like was just mentioned about God’s glory earlier here, that is how God was working with the Israelites. His presence instilled a fear and reverence in them. That was something that they could feel, they could see, they could experience on a physical manner and it was highly intimidating, to say the least.

Let’s continue here and we’ll pass through the details of the covenant here and pick back up in verse 29. And it came to pass, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the Mount, that Moses knew not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him. And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come near to him.

So, Moses’ face was radiating, and he didn’t even know. This must have been due to being in such close proximity to God’s glory. It was a small manifestation of God’s almighty power. And it says that Aaron and the rulers of the congregation were afraid to come near him. Imagine seeing such a thing, too. That might freak you out just a little, but it must have been pretty awesome.

Continue in verse 31—And Moses called unto them; and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned unto him. And Moses talked with them. And afterward, the children of Israel came near, and he gave them in commandment all that the LORD had spoken with him in Mount Sinai. And when Moses was done speaking with them, he put a veil on his face. So, his radiance was so strong that they had to put a veil just to cover up his face so they could even look upon him.

Notice what it says in verse 34—But when Moses went in before the LORD to speak with Him, he took the veil off, until he came out. And he came out and spoke unto the children of Israel that which was commanded. And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face shone, and Moses put the veil upon his face again until he went in to speak with Him.

The veil here is important because it shows that there is a clear separation of God from mankind. Even in a physical manifestation here, they had to put a veil on Moses so that they could bear to look on him. God’s glory, His power is so immense that it would destroy us if we were to come in contact with it. It is a power that cannot be around sin.

It’s like fire and humans. They don’t mix if you get them too close. We cannot touch fire directly, because if we do we’ll get burned. It is too strong for our flesh to handle. And so it is with God’s glory, with His full glory. So, there had to be some sort of a separation. And therein lies the problem. How are we to get close to God? Moses wanted to get closer, but even he couldn’t get that close. God’s glory is too much.

That is where God’s plan and the next set of verses come into play. We see that right after the law was given that they began building the tabernacle. Those physical structures and details began to show the way to God. Because the journey to the promised land, into the rest that God had promised to Moses, that had nothing to do with a physical place.

And while Moses didn’t understand all that he was doing and its significance, he did recognize that a journey with God was more important than any particular destination, even if that destination was the promised land. He told God, either You go up with us or it’s not worth going on this journey. Without God, the one with real glory, what is the point in undertaking anything?

So, this journey, as we know, is a transformation process. But the Israelites didn’t have a way to start that transformation. The veil was their separation. Once the tabernacle was completed, the veil was then used as a separator or divider between the Holy and the Holy of Holies. And what did they primarily keep in the Holy of Holies? The arc of the covenant. The stones that were engraved by the finger of God.

The symbolism is about the stones, and more importantly, what was written on them, that this was direct knowledge from God. And yet this knowledge was not out on public display. No, it was hidden away in a back room in the tabernacle behind a veil. This further demonstrates how God and His ways were separated from the people.

Let’s skip over now to 2nd Corinthians because here we find Paul speaking about the veil and how God’s plan had evolved and grown. 2 Corinthians 3:1—Do we begin again to commend ourselves? Or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation to you? So, Paul starts off here by asking if he needs letters of recommendation from other churches or if he needs to ask them to write such letters to take to other churches. In other words, he is asking if that is even important.

Then he continues in verse 2—You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men. So, he responds and says that the Corinthians themselves are that letter of recommendation that everyone can read. In other words, how the Corinthians are living life, based on what they have been taught.

Verse 3— Forasmuch as you are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart. This goes back to the saying, “The proof is in the pudding.” It is about the fruit that we are supposed to be creating and how we are to be living life. God’s law is beginning to be written in our hearts as so many of the scriptures speak of.

Continuing on in verse 4—And such trust (confidence, reliance) have we through Christ to God-ward; not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything of ourselves, but our sufficiency (ability) is of God. So, he is giving the glory and honor back to God here, as we always should. We are able to make a transformation because of God’s spirit in us that comes through Christ. We can’t do it on our own, and we need to acknowledge that and give thanks to God.

Verse 6, here speaking of God: Who also has made us ministers of the new testament. What does it mean that God has made us “able ministers of the new testament?” Well, the word here for “minister” here is the same one that’s used for “deacon,” and it has to do with serving. So, we’re able to serve the new testament.

Well, how do we serve it and what does that mean exactly? The new testament that Christ created when he offered himself up as our Passover is all about the second part of God’s plan, and that centers around the possibility of having a closer connection with God Himself. Having a connection without being consumed or killed in the process. And that connection is about God’s spirit.

And as of today, we are ministering or serving the new testament by taking advantage of what Christ and God have offered us. We are able to have that spirit live within us and help guide us. Help us know how to react and how to deal with those around us in a loving manner.

Continuing on in verse 6—not of the letter, but of the spirit; for the letter kills, but the spirit gives life. So, the benefit of the new testament is being explained further here. The Israelites were not given access to the spirit. How could they then live without the spirit? They didn’t have any way to make a transformation from their carnal, physical ways.

They too had a sacrificial system. They had to sacrifice animals for their sins. There is a consequence for sin, and it is death. And as it states over in Hebrews 9:22—without the shedding of blood there is no remission. So, without the shedding of blood, there is no release from bondage; there is no release from death.

But with the spirit, on the other hand, the spirit gives life! It’s able to help us to grow and to change.

Verse 7—But if the ministration of death, written and engraved in stones was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away.

As we read back in Exodus, the giving of the law was indeed glorious. It showed the power of Almighty God. It was the start of something that God was building.

There are a lot of these types of scriptures in the New Testament that speak about the new and the old. And through Christ, we have been given so much more. Of course, the new is better than the old. But that is not to say that the old was not amazing and glorious too.

Think of it like a building, and the old we could liken to a foundation. You aren’t going to compare a building when the foundation is being set to a building that is halfway built. That isn’t really a fair comparison. Instead, the foundation should be celebrated just as the middle stage is. It is a process. And the foundation had to be there; the sacrificial system had to be there, and it had to be instated so that Christ could eventually fulfill it.

A lot of times the world looks at the Old Testament and thinks God was so harsh, and then they look at the New Testament and they look at Christ and they portray him as some long-haired hippie that’s just going around saying “Peace. Peace.” And they don’t understand what God is building. They don’t understand these differences between the old and the new, so it is very hard for them to rationalize what has happened.

But we, on the other hand, we should be able to grasp both sides of the coin. We should be able to look at these interactions between God, Moses, and the Israelites. There is a lot to learn about the glory of God, His power, and a reverence we should have for Him. To be afraid to go against Him ever. Because we know that if it weren’t for Christ, we couldn’t have a relationship with Him – we would be consumed by Him if we were to.

Let’s continue on in verse 8. He says all these things before and then he says, “Then if the old was so great, and everything, and so glorious then,” How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?

So, if the giving of the law to Moses was glorious, like I just said, how much more glorious then is that the spirit that God gives us? It is like a building that is being built. The further along in the process you see, the more impressive it is. The foundation might just be some stones or concrete blocks. Not much to look at in a lot of respects.

And it’s kind of like when you visit a historic site, and they only have the foundations left. I am not such a big fan of those sites because you need to have a lot of imagination to see what they actually looked like. And then you’re only able to say, “Okay, there was a room here, there was a room there; this one led to that one,” blah, blah. Not too exciting. It's much more exciting to visit sites that are fully intact where you can marvel at all the details. You don’t have to use your imagination for everything.

So, now at this point in God’s plan, we are able to marvel in more of the details. But there is so much more yet to go. And at some point down the road, after Christ has returned on a Pentecost, people are going to look back at this time, and they’re going to look back on it perhaps in some ways like we look back on Moses’ time. Because then the plan is going to be so much further along. Instead of just having Christ serving the holy spirit, there is going to be 144,000 doing that. 144,000 that will be ministering the new testament, and they’ll be working with the whole world! God’s plan will then be administered by His own Kingdom. We are going to go from just having one member of the God Family to an entire Kingdom. That’s a huge leap forward!

Let’s continue down to verse 12. Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech. And not as Moses, which put a veil over his face, that the children of Israel could not steadfastly look to the end of that which is abolished. But their minds were blinded. For until this day remains the same veil untaken away from the reading of the old testament; which is done away in Christ.

Christ is able to go behind the veil for us. We can’t go there ourselves, just like the Israelites couldn’t go behind the veil. Only the high priest was ever allowed to go there, and only once per year on Atonement. But Christ is our High Priest now, and he doesn’t just go there behind the veil once per year, he is there all the time on our behalf.

That veil pictures a physical barrier that stands between us and God, and Christ is the only one who provides us access to the other side of it. He is the intermediary. He gets the spirit from God and then sends it to us so that our minds can see. And as it says in this verse, that the Jews of that time still had the veil in their way when they read the Old Testament. They didn’t get it, and they still don’t.

Verse 18 ends this chapter and says, But we all, as open face, as in without a veil, beholding as in a glass or looking in the mirror the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the spirit of the Lord.

This is talking about those who have God’s spirit and are working on a transformation of themselves. That’s a lot of what Paul is getting at in this chapter. It starts off talking about these letters, and his point is that they were, the Corinthians themselves, they were the letters of recommendation. He is making the comparison of that which shone through on the face of Moses and that which should shine through those in the Church. But here he is speaking of it in a spiritual manner.

The glory that reflected from the face of Moses was something physical, and it was no doubt something awesome, but what he is getting at is that through the spirit working in our lives, something that’s way more glorious is taking place. Our faces may not physically shine like Moses’, but what should come reflected out of us is God’s spirit in the way that we live. That spirit is now able to be reflected in our lives and should be seen. There is no veil covering it. The way we live should glorify God.

This is like what is mentioned over in John 15:8 when it says, Herein is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit; so shall you be my disciples. It’s about how we live. We are to bear fruit. God’s way of life is about creating and growing. His spirit demands that. And as we grow and transform, we are becoming more and more like God and being changed “into the same image” as it says.

Each of God’s Holy Days depicted a detail of His plan for mankind. And Pentecost right now is all about this work that Christ is working out in the 144,000. God through Christ is molding this group now into His image. Because soon, when Christ returns on a Pentecost, God is going to pour out His spirit on the world like has never happened before.

For the past two thousand years, God has been pouring out His spirit in just a small amount – preparing a group that will work with an even larger group. And as we know, this part of God’s plan began with a real bang back in Pentecost of 31 AD. The Church officially started on that day.

As I mentioned back in my split that I gave on Unleavened Bread, the word for “Church” really just means “the called-out ones.” That word alone shows that there is a purpose for this group of individuals. Because after learning that the Church is known as “the called-out ones,” the next questions would be “Called out from what?” and then “Called out for what purpose?”

And that’s why the name of the Church really makes so much sense. We are preparing for the Kingdom of God. We are preparing for a future Pentecost.

But right now, let’s go back and read about what happened on Pentecost of 31 AD. It’s an awesome story, just like what happened with Moses. We are going to turn over to Acts 2:1.

If you remember, some days before Pentecost Christ ascended to heaven and left the disciples behind. But right before he did that, he told them over in Luke 24, to remain in Jerusalem until they were endued, or more specifically, until they were “clothed with the power from on high.” So, they all returned to Jerusalem after that and they stayed in the temple, praising and blessing God.

And now we come to Acts 2:1—And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all in one accord in one place. Now, this word that’s been translated here to mean “with one accord” is used in about a dozen different times in scripture. And it is correct in the sense that it is showing unity and agreement, but there is actually more meaning to it there as well.

The word is a compound word, and it consists of two different parts there. The first one, the prefix is “homo,” meaning “the same or together.” And another word that when it’s used by itself it’s usually translated as “wrath.” The definition of that word has to do with “passion; heat; a boiling up,” and even “to breathe violently.” This is very similar to how the word “zeal” is used in the Old Testament.

Now, obviously, the group here was not angry or wrathful. That is not the case at all. But the part of the word that has to do with “passion, and heat, and boiling up,” that does convey more of what is being stated here. Just think… Christ had left the disciples, and they were instructed by him to wait in Jerusalem for “the power from on high to clothe them.” There were a bunch of days that passed, and they were there waiting and waiting. They were indeed worked up and anxious.

So yes, they were waiting with “one accord,” in agreement and unity, but they were also zealous for the spirit. That is a good combination to have, actually. That is what we should all have, especially on the Sabbath. God wants to share with us His knowledge and give us His spirit. But He wants to know that we are eager to receive it.

Think of it like when you give someone a present. You hope that the person receiving the gift will be excited about it. And then take it a step further, and you always like to see appreciation and thankfulness. That is part of the pleasure of giving.

Well, God wants that too. Imagine, He gives us a gift and we treat it like someone just gifted us a pair of plain white socks and you’re like “Oh, great. Thanks for the socks. Just what I’ve always wanted…” Now, I know that is a really dumb example, but in all seriousness, we have to be careful that we don’t treat what God is giving to us with so little respect and reverence.

God isn’t giving us some boring socks or some lame gift. It is really the most amazing thing that we could ever receive. And we need to recognize it as such and not take it lightly. We need to be zealous like the disciples were here and we need to grab a hold of whatever God does give to us. And if we do that, God is pleased, and He will continue to give us more.

Continuing on in verse 2—And suddenly, there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven (or divided or separated) tongues, like as a fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were filled with the holy spirit and began to speak with other tongues (or languages), as the spirit gave them utterance. It gave them the ability to speak.

Verse 5—And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now, when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together and were confounded because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marveled, saying one to another, Behold, are all these which speak Galileans?

So, a huge group hears all of this commotion, and they went to see what was going on. And then they see a bunch of Galileans speak in different languages, yeah, they were very surprised, because the Galileans weren’t really known for having the best speech or for being very highly educated. So, for them, this was even more of a shocker. Of all the people who might be able to speak other languages, this definitely wasn’t the group.

And then we continue on in verse 8 here, And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? And then it goes on to list the different lands that the people gathered together there were all from.

And then in verse 11, it says, We do hear them speak in our tongues the wondrous works of God. And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What does this mean? So, really, something incredible was happening here but the group was really confused. Why was this happening? Speaking in other languages that they didn’t previously know.

Verse 13—Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine. So, they didn’t have any other explanation. So, some of these said, “These guys are just drunk.”

Verse 14—But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice and said unto them, You men of Judaea, and all you that dwell at Jerusalem, be it known unto you and hearken to my words. For these are not drunk, as you suppose, seeing it is only the third hour of the day. So, his response was, “Look, it’s only 9 am. These guys aren’t drunk.”

Verse 16—But this is that which was spoken of by the prophet Joel, And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, I will pour out My spirit upon all flesh. And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. So, Peter knew that what was happening here was clearly due to the spirit of God finally coming down to them. And you have to understand too that the apostles, at this time, they had no idea what was going on in the sense that Christ wasn’t returning imminently, that it was going to be another two thousand years. So, they thought that they were already really in the last day.

But Peter, recognizing that they had the holy spirit, recalled this scripture from Joel, and said that that was what they were experiencing then, that it had a connection. And he was correct. God was pouring out His spirit. But it was really just coming out in little drops in the sense that still very few had access to it there.

But this day of Pentecost started that trickle of God’s spirit that would be used to prepare the 144,000. And so, that part of the Pentecost harvest received a huge leap forward. God started to work in a greater manner with the “called-out ones.” And we know that this work will be finished when the two Wave Loaves, which picture the 144,000, the firstfruits, when these loaves will be baked, and Christ will offer them up before God.

And like those verses from Joel that Peter was quoting there, like they state, in the last days God is going to pour out His spirit on all flesh. God is getting ready to call the entire world. And once He does that then His Kingdom will come to earth and they’re going to have a work to do. They are also going to have a job of continuing to pour out that spirit on the world.

Back now to Acts 2:21. Peter ends the quote from Joel with this part: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

So, we know that those in the future who turn to God will have the opportunity to have the veil lifted from their heart. They too will begin to have the ways of God written in their hearts, into their inner being. Like we read in an earlier verse, that without the veil we “are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the spirit of the Lord.”

Before Pentecost in 31 AD, God only worked with a very small number of individuals. Think of it like drops of water. Just a few drops. Then after Pentecost and the Church began, then there was a little steam of water. And we know in the future that someday God’s spirit will really be poured out on this world. There are so many scriptures that talk about the rivers which picture God’s spirit and how those rivers will be flowing out from Jerusalem. We’re getting closer and closer to that becoming a reality.

But until then, we need to prepare ourselves for the Kingdom of God. Be it because we will be ruling in it, or that we will have the opportunity to live on into it, having the opportunity to continue our transformation.

What God gave to his Church on Pentecost of 31 AD, His spirit, that is what we need the most of to be able to make it to see the Kingdom, and especially if we are to be included in those two Wave Loaves. We need to be zealous, ever wanting more from God and continually asking Him to give us more.

Like Moses, for example, he always wanted God to be with him. He didn’t want to undertake anything without God’s help and guidance. We should be the same. And each of us has access to God and His guidance through the advocate, the aid, which is His spirit. That is something that the vast majority in the Old Testament never had. So, be thankful for what we have been blessed to be given and don’t take it for granted.

When Christ returns on a Pentecost, whenever that may be, the entire Church needs to be waiting in one accord, with unity, zealous, and eagerness. So, let’s make sure each and every one of us is doing our part.

1. Chapter 1