Having watched Jesus ascend into heaven, the disciples were commanded to wait in Jerusalem ‘for the promise of the Holy Spirit’. Israel’s annual 50-day countdown to Pentecost was to take on new meaning this year as the disciples – as well as the entire nation – counted the days until what was going to be a momentous prophetic moment.
As the days drew closer, we can imagine the disciples peering out the windows of the upper room where they gathered. Outside they could see and hear Jews from all over the world gathering in the city of Jerusalem for the upcoming feast (as commanded see Deut 16:16, Acts 2:5). The stage was truly being set for what was about to take place.
But before we go any further, we need to first examine the Jewish understanding and traditions surrounding the first Pentecost.
Pentecost Did Not Start in Acts
The very first mention of the ‘day of Pentecost’ in the New Testament appears in the dramatic context of the Holy Spirit being poured out on the early believers in Acts 2. However, most believers are blissfully unaware that the Feast of Pentecost had by this stage been around for close to 1500 years! Understanding the context of Pentecost is crucial if we are to understand the events of Acts.
The First Pentecost
According to Jewish tradition, the very first Pentecost was when Israel received the Law of God at Mount Sinai (Exodus 19-20).
On that day, the Bible records how God Himself came down in fire, thunder and lightning on top of the mountain. At the base of Mt. Sinai stood the increasingly terrified congregation of Israel. Before their very eyes the entire mountain literally began to shake as smoke and fire covered its peaks. Then a loud trumpet began to sound and it kept blowing louder and louder. Next Moses lifted His voice to speak and from the mountain the Israelites heard God Himself answer in an audible voice. What an awesome sight this would have been!
Most English Bible versions translate Exodus 20:18 as the people seeing ‘the thunder and the lightning’. But the rabbis point out that in the Hebrew it literally says ‘they saw the voices and the torches’. How does one see a voice? Furthermore, the book of Deuteronomy repeatedly refers to God’s voice speaking to them at Mt. Sinai from ‘out of the fire’ (Deut. 4:15, 4:33, 5:24).
Basing itself on this unusual description of God’s voice being seen in the fire, one ancient Jewish legend asserts that God’s voice actually split into multiple sparks of fire which travelled around the camp coming to each Jew individually. Furthermore, it is believed that as God spoke the commandments, they went forth in all the world’s languages at once. (Shabbat 88b, Shemot Rabbah 5:9).
The Jewish traditions concerning this awe-inspiring encounter would have been familiar to Jesus’ disciples as well as their fellow first-century Jews and sets the framework for their astonished response to the disciples’ supernatural experience.
The Location of Pentecost
Christians have traditionally placed the events of Acts 2 to be happening in the Upper Room, located somewhere in Jerusalem. Described as the birth of the Church, it happens distinct from and separate from the Jewish world gathering in the Temple for worship.
But is this the real story? God Himself had commanded all Jewish males to present themselves at the Temple in worship every year at Pentecost. The disciples, like all other Jews in town, would surely have obeyed this commandment. Another clue from the text is found in the description of the Holy Spirit filling the whole ‘house’ in which they were sitting. This same word house is used elsewhere in the New Testament to describe the Temple (i.e. My House shall be a house of prayer, Matt. 21:13).
Imagine for a moment the disciples gathering in the crowd of faithful Jews, worshipping in God’s Temple like they did every year. Suddenly the crowd hears a mighty rushing wind heading in the direction of the disciples in their midst. They stare in utter amazement as they see tongues of fire descend on the heads of this select group of disciples. Bearing in mind the tradition concerning the first Pentecost, the amazed onlookers not only see tongues of fire, but hear God’s word spoken in a wide variety of languages by this group of obviously unlearned Galileans.
No wonder the Jewish worshippers present were wide open to hear Peter’s powerful proclamation of the gospel. At Mount Sinai, the revelation of God’s glory resulted in 3’000 deaths as the people rebelled against God and turned to idols. Whereas now in Jerusalem, this fresh outpouring of His Spirit results in 3’000 people repenting and getting immersed in water.
Pentecost is not meant to be a dividing event, separating the Church from Israel. In fact, the word ‘church’ itself comes from the Greek word ‘ekklesia’. This word is used throughout the Greek translation of the Old Testament to describe the ‘congregation of Israel’. The God who called the slaves out of Egypt and made them into an ‘ekklesia’, has since been inviting all nations to join His ‘ekklesia’ of people called out of bondage, into the freedom of His Spirit. And just as those redeemed slaves encountered God’s Holy presence on the Mountain, so today, God invites His redeemed people into a personal, living encounter with the Holy Spirit of God.
Ps Enoch Lavender was born in Australia, raised in Norway, spent time living in China and is now based on the Gold Coast of Australia. He has been studying Hebrew and the Jewish roots of our faith for the past decade, and has a keen interest in the Middle East from a Bible prophecy perspective.
Contact Enoch and Olive Tree Ministries
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