Pentecost:
Pentecost is a festival instituted by Yahweh (God) in Deut.16: 9. It is called Pentecost because it falls fifty days after the Feast of the Passover. This is also called the Feast of Weeks because it is counted seven weeks and one day after the Sabbath of the Passover. During the time of Moses it was also called the feast of the First Fruits. On this day we are to be in His presence and receive His blessings (Deut.16: 16) and rejoice in His presence (Deut. 16: 11).
In the New Testament on this day the Church was established and many souls were brought to God’s presence. The apostles observed this Pentecost. (Acts. 2:1-2). Here they waited for the fulfillment of the promise which Messiah made before He ascended into heaven…the promise of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. They gathered in an upper room with faith and with one mind (accord) they eagerly waited for His blessing of the Holy Spirit. Because of their faith they were filled with the Holy Spirit and received the gifts of the tongues.

            The Jews believe that it was on the day of Pentecost that the Ten Commandments were given to Israel, through Moses, on mount Sinai. If it is really so, then what a great display of the power of the Almighty there was on the mountain on that day! Remember that Pentecost was also the feast of the First Fruits. So also at the beginning of the Gospel harvest in the upper room there was another marvelous display of the power of the Holy Spirit that descended on the people in the form of gushing wind and tongues of fire.

            Here we observe two symbols of the Holy Spirit, the wind and the fire. The wind is a symbol of the Deity and so of the Spirit. Wind is very spiritual in appearance, it cannot be seen and it is very mysterious! In Ezekiel’s vision of the dry bones, the Spirit is shown as the four winds that put life into the resurrected bones. The Lord also reveals Himself through the wind when He teaches His servants.”The Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind” (Job.38: 1).  In the upper room there was a sound as of a rushing wind. This was no ordinary wind but came from the heavens! The Spirit of God comes from above, that is from God Himself. The meaning of this symbol is that as breath, air, wind are the life of man, the Spirit of God is the life of the spiritual man. By this spirit of God we are alive. The breath of the nostrils of man of God is the Spirit of God. (Gen.2: 7).

The second symbol, the fire, is again a symbol of Deity. Abraham saw a burning lamp (Gen.15: 17) and Moses saw a burning bush (Ex.3: 2-4). He revealed Himself as a pillar of fire by night to the Israelites. ”The Lord will come with fire, and with His chariots like a whirlwind”(Isa.66: 15). The intention of this symbol is that the Spirit will illuminate them and lead them into the truth. The fire that sat on their heads showed that they were to be burning with love, with self-sacrifice, they were to go and spread the gospel with burning tongues of conviction, so that men would turn to God.

            The next thing that followed was that they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues. When Peter spoke the other men were pricked in their hearts. Peter tells them to repent and be baptized, i.e., they were convinced with the word of the Spirit as told by Peter. So we see that once people repented of their sins, they were filled with the Holy Spirit, they spoke in other tongues (Acts.2: 4), they continued in the apostles’ doctrines and fellowship,

In breaking of bread and prayers (Acts.2: 42), ate their meat with gladness and singleness ofheart, praising God and having favor with all people. (Acts.2 :46-47) It is because of the Holy Spirit that people accept   Messiah as their personal Savior (I Cor 12; 3.) Apart from this the Holy Spirit gives us a number of gifts…gift of wisdom, knowledge, faith, gift of healing, working of miracles, prophesy, discerning of spirits, divers kinds of tongues and interpretation of tongues. The gifts of the Holy Spirit help each and every believer in his daily life.

            On this Pentecost day, let us examine ourselves. Are we also like the people who mocked Peter and the other disciples in the upper room, refusing to believe in the Holy Spirit and His power? If so, ask the Lord (Luke. 11:9) for His guidance and filling of the Holy Spirit so that we too may experience the power of the wind and tongues of fire in our lives and thereby enjoy the gifts of the Holy Spirit and lead a happy and successful life on this earth.

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