Personal Pentecost
Jackson Snyder June 5, 2003
Two Offerings
Leviticus 23:15,16 From the day
after the Sabbath [of the Feast of Unleavened Bread] ... you will count seven
full weeks. You will count fifty days, to the day after the
seventh Sabbath, and then you will offer Yahweh a new meal offering. So the Feast of Weeks is counted seven weeks
and one day after the Feast of Unleavened Bread. (In 2003, the day to start counting was April
20th.) In ancient Israel,
this was one of three feasts in which all male members of Israel were given the
day off and required to travel into Jerusalem to join in a “holy convocation,”
according to Numbers
28:26 On the day of the first fruits, when you offer a meal offering of new
grain to Yahweh at your feast of weeks, you shall have a holy
convocation; you shall do no laborious work...
Each one brought the first fruits of their
harvest into the temple for an offering to Yahweh. There was a second offering required as well,
according to: Deuteronomy 16:10 Then you shall keep the feast of weeks to
Yahweh your Mighty One with the tribute of a freewill offering from your
hand, which you shall give as Yahweh blesses you. Year after year, the men from each family
gathered in You can also see how this feast might be
connected with farming and animal husbandry, the success of which was
assured by Yahweh’s two annual rains: the early rain and the latter
rain, poured out upon the fields of There is an ancient prophecy connected with
Pentecost and these two rains found in Joel
2: 23. Sons of According to this, just as
there were two actual rainy seasons, there were to be two “pourings”
of the Holy Spirit: the “former” and “latter.”
Let’s first speak of the former rain. The Former (Early) Rain
We understand now that the former rain
of the Spirit was poured out on the feast of Pentecost nearly eight weeks
after the death and resurrection of Yahshua in 33 AD. The events of that great spiritual outpouring
are familiar to us all, as recorded in Acts 2:1. When Pentecost day came round, they had all met together
... “They” (in the passage) were all the followers
of Yahshua who were keeping the feast together there in Acts 2:2. Suddenly there came a sound from the sky as of a violent wind which
filled the entire house. 4. They were
all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak different languages as the
Spirit gave them power to express . Men from all over the known world had come
into Acts 2:5. Now there were devout men from every nation under heaven, 6. and at this sound, each one was bewildered to hear these men
speaking his own language. 7.
"Surely," they said, "all these men speaking are Galileans? 8. How does it happen that each of us hears
them in his own native language? These foreigners were devout
– they were religious people – and they were Jews. They heard the history of Yahshua from those
who were supernaturally gifted to speak foreign languages they had not
hence learned. The disciples’ supernatural preaching
brought thousands of strangers to faith in Yahshua through the course of the
Feast. These new believers were
themselves baptized in the former rain of the Holy Spirit with signs
following. The result of this early rain
outpouring on Pentecost 33 AD is found at the end of the chapter where a large
and surprisingly harmonious community is described: Acts
2:42. These remained
faithful to the teaching of the apostles, to the brotherhood, to the
breaking of bread and to the prayers.
43. The apostles worked many signs and miracles. 44. And all who shared the faith owned everything
in common; 45. they sold their goods and possessions
and distributed the proceeds among themselves according to what each one
needed. And here we find the other aspect to this
Pentecost: those who shared the faith also shared not only the
first fruits and offerings, but everything else. Many even sold their properties, bringing the
proceeds in for the common welfare. So
the Acts 2 Pentecost is marked as not only a “feast,” a “holy
convocation” or even an outpouring, but as a time of sacrificial sharing
of one’s material blessings with the entire community. And as these believers continued in
dedication to their Savior and to his Apostles, “Day by day Yahweh added those
destined to be saved” (Acts 2:47). The
moving of the spirit of benevolence was the catalyst for growth then as now! Birthday
of the Church?
We Christians look to Pentecost 33 AD and
the fulfillment of the early rain prophecy as “the birthday of the
church.” Pentecost is the only one of
Yahweh’s holidays that Christians observe.
Calling Pentecost “the birthday of the church” may be the reason that many
Jews don’t observe it. But while
we Christians look back in awe of what we call “the first Pentecost,” and we
count our origin from that blessed day, we are apt to forget that there is also
to be a latter rain. The former
rain only partially fulfilled what Yahweh meant when he said
that he’d pour out his Spirit upon all. While the “first” Pentecost (former rain) was
directed toward men of many nations, the latter-day Pentecost, or latter
rain, promised that the Spirit might be poured out on all humanity,
including non-Jews, women and slaves.
Including you and me! The Latter Rain
Yahshua never specifically referred to the latter
rain outpouring, but he did refer to the prophecy of Joel that included
it. (Compare
Joel 2:31 to Matthew 24:29.) The inference of Yahshua’s vision for the
future found in Matthew 24 is that immediately before he returns, two
things will be happening: the great tribulation and the latter rain
outpouring; humanity will be immersed in both. We’re living in the earliest years of the 21st
century now, the latter days of tribulation and outpouring. But a hundred twenty years ago it was
predicted that the 20th century would be the most peaceful of
all. The 20th century was
deemed “The Christian Century” as early as 1874! In fact, the 20th century was
the Christian century: fervent believers of the 19th century were
such expectation of the latter rain that their anticipation ushered it
in. It began to pour at the very advent
of the 20th century, starting with poor people who were
praying together at midnight on December 31, 1900 in an old house just outside Life in the Christian Century
On the other hand, the 20th
century featured great tribulation. All here
have lived through continuous world war -- the property out back (a cemetery)
attests to the fact that many loved ones perished in war. Over sixty million died in 20th
century wars – many times more than even lived in Yahshua’s day. We are still in great tribulation as we move
into the 21st century; the current enemy has no national identity,
but hides in every country until it decides to strike, using the exact same
tactics as the devil. We should also
note that this enemy is led by a false prophet, just as the Bible
predicted. The 20th century has also seen
more poverty, ignorance and disease than all the others combined, with hundreds
of millions succumbing to these correctable evils. Still we have seen tremendous growth in the
world’s population, now over six billion.
Nearly half is under the age of 15; nearly a third are
on the edge of life and death. Such are
signs of the soon-coming Messianic age for sure, but they’re only signs. It’s for us to claim the power of Pentecost,
of the latter rain. Many of us
Christians do claim to have the Holy Spirit. But how many that claim it use it to
fulfill the commandments of Yahshua, to cast out the devil, to heal the sick,
to proclaim the Gospel in new languages, to be willing to give all to those in
need, to perform in such a way as to draw in the Kingdom? Not many, my friends. Though many claim, few
came. For most, it’s just a religious
game. Personal Pentecost
The Pentecost of 33 AD should be remembered
as a great landmark in the lives of us New Covenant people. It may have been the birthday of the
church. Yet after we’re born, we must
grow into the likeness and stature of the one who bore us. We should, in these latter days, in these
days of our maturity, seek out our latter rain outpouring, whether we’re
particularly Pentecostal or not; seek out our own infilling and
empowering from on high; tarry for it as long as it takes at church or home
altar, so that we may eventually complete our personal responsibility in
Yahshua. We will certainly be held
accountable. We surely want everybody
who loves Yahshua in church. But our
mission out there has little to do with church attendance –
that’s only the tiniest baby step in our discipline. What personal Pentecost is supposed to bring
is a new awareness of the needs of others, a willingness to give all, and the
power to actually go through with it joyfully.
We visit the lonely, we meet dire needs, we heal the infirm, we deliver
the possessed, we feed the hungry, we water the thirsty, we clothe the naked,
as we sow seeds to needs and we go out “from east to west, bearing the
imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation” (Mark 16:9 alternate). This is why Pentecost originated as the day
of offerings. The men and women in
the upper rooms of Jerusalem in 33 AD and those in the upper room near
Topeka, Kansas in 1900, offered everything they had in exchange for
their day of empowerment. And
once they were empowered, they made sure to use that endowment in solving the
troubles of a devil-filled world to the best of their ability, even if it meant
an ultimate sacrifice. Please don’t let this day pass by without
the soul-searching that comes with the title “Christian Believer.” Consider.
Have we been in dereliction of duty; are our souls in a sorry
state of decay, have we been as lazy as hell?
I pray for the advent of strong godly conviction; that every individual
here might leap upon Heaven’s altar in sincere and total
repentance. It’s only then that we can
bring an honest offering to our god and receive in return the eternal
gift we need in order to be forerunners of his blessed Kingdom Come.
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