Pentecost
Unveiling God's Ancient Plan for a New People
Genesis 10, 11; Exodus 19:2-9, 19:14-20, 24:3-8, 24:12-14, 32:15-28; Acts 1:4-5, 1:12-15, 2:1-8; Jeremiah 31:33
Pentecost Sunday: The Birth of the Church
A Celebration of Power, Purpose, and New Life
Understanding Pentecost: More Than Just a Holiday
Today is Pentecost Sunday, a day of immense significance often overlooked compared to other celebrations like Christmas or the 4th of July. We celebrate the birth of what we value – our Savior, our nation, our own lives. But do we truly value and celebrate Pentecost for what it is? To understand its importance, we need to look back at God's plan from the very beginning.
God's Original Design & Plan for Humanity
The First Family & Disobedience:
- God creates Adam and Eve, His chosen family, with the command to "multiply and fill the earth."
- Their disobedience introduces sin and the curse of death into humanity.
- Humanity multiplies in wickedness, leading God to choose Noah and his family to start over, aiming to fill the earth with His righteousness.
The Tower of Babel: Rebellion & Scattering:
- In Genesis 11, humanity, united by one language, seeks to build a city and a tower to "make a name for ourselves," defying God's command to scatter and fill the earth.
- God intervenes, confusing their language and scattering them across the earth, fulfilling His original desire despite their rebellion.
- This event leads to the formation of diverse nations and languages.
Abraham & the Nation of Israel:
- God once again chooses one righteous man, Abraham, to bless and multiply, intending for his family to fill the earth and represent His glory.
- Through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the family grows, eventually becoming the Israelite nation enslaved in Egypt for 400 years.
- Through His servant Moses, God Delivers them, leading them to Mount Sinai, where God desires to make a "special covenant" with this entire nation.
The Old Covenant at Mount Sinai: A Marriage and a Broken Promise
Preparation and Commitment:
- Israel camps before Mount Sinai. Moses ascends to God, who declares His intention to make them a "special treasure" and a "kingdom of priests and a holy nation" if they obey His voice and keep His covenant.
- The people unanimously agree: "All that the Lord has spoken we will do." This is seen as a marriage covenant between God and Israel.
- To prepare for this special relationship, the people sanctify themselves, washing their clothes, similar to how we prepare for significant relationships in our lives.
- On the third day, thunderings, lightnings, a thick cloud, and a loud trumpet sound accompany the Lord's descent upon Mount Sinai in fire, causing the mountain to quake.
The Blood Covenant and the Gift of Torah:
- Moses reads the Book of the Covenant, and the people reaffirm their commitment: "All that the Lord has said we will do, and be obedient."
- Moses sprinkles half the blood on the altar and half on the people, declaring, "This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you." This signifies an unconditional servanthood covenant.
- God instructs Moses to come up the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the Law and commandments written by God Himself – a special gift, the Torah, symbolizing their commitment.
The Waiting and the Fall:
- The Israelites are told to "wait" for Moses' return with the gift. Waiting is often the hardest part, testing commitment.
- While Moses is with God, the Israelites grow impatient, taking the blessings (wealth from Egypt) and turning them into an idol – the golden calf.
- Moses, seeing their idolatry, breaks the tablets of testimony. Approximately 3,000 men die that day as a consequence.
- This marks a tragic cycle of God's chosen people failing and dividing, with the curse of sin and death continuing to reign.
Pentecost: The New Covenant and the Birth of the Church
Shavuot: A Prophetic Celebration:
- God institutes the biblical holiday of Shavuot (known as Pentecost in the Christian tradition), celebrated annually to remember the giving of His Word and the agricultural harvest.
- This feast gathered Jews from every nation to Jerusalem.
Jesus' Victory & the New Mission:
- Jesus' crucifixion defeats the sin that originated with Adam and Eve. His resurrection conquers the curse of death.
- After His resurrection, Jesus spends 40 days with His disciples, giving them a mission: "Go into all the world, making disciples" – to "multiply and fill the earth" with the Good News.
- However, mankind has repeatedly failed to fulfill this on their own. Jesus commands them to "wait for the Promise of the Father" – the baptism with the Holy Spirit.
The Upper Room: Waiting for Empowerment:
- After Jesus ascends, approximately 120 disciples gather in the Upper Room, continuing in "one accord in prayer and supplication."
- They are "set apart," waiting for the special gift and the presence of God.
The Holy Spirit Descends: A Reversal of Babel:
- When the Day of Pentecost (Shavuot) had fully come, a sound from heaven like a rushing mighty wind filled the house, and "divided tongues, as of fire," rested upon each of them.
- They were "all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance."
- This mirrors the Mount Sinai experience (sound, fire, God's descent), but instead of words on stone, the Holy Spirit writes God's instructions "deep within them... on their hearts," fulfilling prophecy.
- The "tongues" allow devout Jews from "every nation under heaven" to hear "the wonderful works of God" in their own language, directly reversing the confusion of Babel.
- At Babel, one language led to scattered humanity, building for themselves. At Pentecost, diverse languages united people hearing one message, enabling the building of the City of God.
- God's message at Pentecost: "I am re-building humanity. I am re-gathering humanity. I am re-uniting humanity," not in pride, but through the mighty works of God.
The Spiritual Harvest & The Church's Birth:
- Empowered by the Holy Spirit, Peter preaches, and approximately 3,000 people are saved that day.
- This contrasts with the 3,000 who died at the Old Covenant's inception, signifying a shift from agricultural to spiritual harvest, and from death to eternal life with the New Covenant.
- Pentecost is the "re-building, the re-gathering, the re-uniting" – the Birth of the Church.
- It unites people "from every tribe and every tongue" as one flock under one Shepherd, forming a new people, nation, and culture with King Jesus.
- We, as God's chosen family, are "divinely sanctioned" to "multiply and fill the earth," impacting and transforming the world with divine assistance – the Spirit of God.
Our Turn: Living as the Spirit-Filled Church
The same Spirit that birthed the Church still empowers us today. Is this not worth celebrating? Are we truly living as the Spirit-filled Church? Is your life bearing the fruit of Pentecost?
This is our moment to impact the world for God's glory, empowered by His Spirit.
