Pentecost
“You shall count seven weeks for yourself; begin to count the seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the grain. Then you shall keep the Feast of Weeks to the Lord your God with the tribute of a freewill offering from your hand, which you shall give as the Lord your God blesses you.” Deuteronomy 16:9-10
Before there was Pentecost there was the Feast of Weeks. Before the Feast of Weeks was the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Both were celebrations of a harvest that was about to begin. Both required firstfruits (barley and wheat respectively) from the harvest that would follow.
The Jewish Passover fell on Abib 14. The Feast of Unleavened Bread began the very next day. On Abib 16, the first-to-ripen sheaves of barley were waved before the altar to signify that the upcoming crop was dedicated to the Lord. (It was on Abib 16 that the Manna stopped and the Israelites ate the produce of Canaan.) A Week of weeks (sevens) after Abib 16, the firstfruits of the wheat harvest were presented. Leavened bread and new wine were brought to the Temple.
Jesus celebrated the Passover with His disciples on Abib 14. The day began at sunset Thursday evening. He celebrated the meal that evening, then died as the Passover Lamb on Friday afternoon. His body rested in the grave on the Sabbath, Abib 15. He rose from the dead as the “Firstfruits of those who slept,” on Abib 16.
Fifty days after the sickle was first put to the grain, Pentecost was celebrated. Similarly, a spiritual harvest began fifty days after the Promised Seed was placed in the grave and came back to life. The harvest of Christians continues until the end of time. When the last believer is brought to faith, the end will come.
You are a part of that harvest. Not only did the Lord redeem you, He sanctified you by the Spirit’s power. God also calls you to work in the harvest by sharing the Gospel with others.
Now, O Lord, fulfill Thy pleasure,
Breathe upon Thy chosen band,
And with Pentecostal measure
Send forth reapers o’er our land,
Faithful reapers, Faithful reapers,
Gath’ring sheaves for Thy right hand.
The Lutheran Hymnal 502:2