Is there any specific reason God choose the day of "Shavuot" to let the Holy Spirit come.?

Question

Pentecost (Ancient Greek: Πεντηκοστή [ἡμέρα], Pentēkostē [hēmera], "the fiftieth [day]") is the Greek name for the Feast of Weeks, a prominent feast in the calendar of ancient Israel celebrating the giving of the Law on Sinai. This feast is still celebrated in Judaism as Shavuot. Later, in the Christian liturgical year, it became a feast commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers of Jesus Christ (120 in all), as described in the Acts of the Apostles 2:1–31. For this reason, Pentecost is sometimes described by some Christians today as the "Birthday of the Church".

Is it as simple as Law--Spirit?

Answer 1

Pentecost is significant in both the Old and New Testaments. “Pentecost” is the Greek name for a festival known in the Old Testament as the Feast of Weeks (Leviticus 23:15; Deuteronomy 16:9). The Greek word means “fifty” and refers to the fifty days that have elapsed since the wave offering of Passover. The Feast of Weeks celebrated the end of the grain harvest. Most interesting, however, is its use in Joel and Acts. Looking back to Joel’s prophecy (Joel 2:8–32) and forward to the promise of the Holy Spirit in Christ’s last words on earth before His ascension into heaven (Acts 1:8), Pentecost signals the beginning of the church age.



The only biblical reference to the actual events of Pentecost is Acts 2:1–3. Pentecost is reminiscent of the Last Supper; in both instances the disciples are together in a house for what proves to be an important event. At the Last Supper the disciples witness the end of the Messiah’s earthly ministry as He asks them to remember Him after His death until He returns. At Pentecost, the disciples witness the birth of the New Testament church in the coming of the Holy Spirit to indwell all believers. Thus the scene of the disciples in a room at Pentecost links the commencement of the Holy Spirit’s work in the church with the conclusion of Christ’s earthly ministry in the upper room before the crucifixion.



Like other Jewish feasts, the Feast of Weeks is important in that it foreshadows the coming Messiah and His ministry. Each and every one of the seven Jewish Feasts signifies an important aspect of God’s plan of redemption through Jesus Christ.



Jesus was crucified as the “Passover Lamb” and rose from the grave at the Feast of Firstfruits. Following His resurrection, Jesus spent the next 40 days teaching His disciples before ascending to heaven (Acts 1). Fifty days after His resurrection and after ascending to heaven to sit at the right hand of God, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit as promised (John 14:16–17) to indwell the disciples and empower them for ministry. The promised Holy Spirit arrived on the Day of Pentecost, which is another name for the Feast of Weeks.



The spiritual significances of the Feast of Weeks are many. Some see the two loaves of leavened bread that were to be a wave offering as foreshadowing the time when the Messiah would make both Jew and Gentile to be one in Him (Ephesians 2:14–15). This is also the only feast where leavened bread is used. Leaven in Scripture is often used symbolically of sin, and the leavened bread used in the Feast of Weeks is thought to be representative of the fact that there is still sin within the church (body of Christ) and will be until Christ returns again.



On the Day of Pentecost or the Feast of Weeks, the “firstfruits” of the church were gathered by Christ as some 3,000 people heard Peter present the gospel after the Holy Spirit had empowered and indwelt the disciples as promised. With the promised indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the first fruits of God’s spiritual harvest under the New Covenant began. Today that harvest continues as people continue to be saved, but there is also another coming harvest whereby God will again turn His attention back to Israel so that “all of Israel will be saved” (Romans 11:26).



There was nothing accidental in the coming of the Holy Spirit at Shavout, 50 days after the last supper, when the ministry of Christ Jesus came to an end. Just as Jesus was God with us before he laid down his life for sinful humanity, so the coming of the Holy Spirit is God with us now, and He continues to work in the lives of believers, adding to the church that Jesus established while he was with us. It is quite right to say that Pentecost marks the birth of the Christian church.



Also, while the Old Testament Law condemns because nobody is capable of keeping God's perfect law perfectly, the New Covenant established by Christ Jesus on the night before he died releases us from the punishment of the Law and it is the Holy Spirit who breathes new life, spiritual life, into the believer.



LM

Answer 2

I would think that it is because the day Shavuot, is the time when Moses was given the laws to bring down to the people. Where pentecost, those who repent and believe on Christ were given the Holy spirit, the fullfilment of of the laws of Moses.

Answer 3

Yes several reasons.



1) The number "50" in the Jewish Bible is significant. Every 7 years there was a special year - and after 7 of these years (7x7) you get 49 years. The 50th year was to be a year of Jubilee. A year of freedom and joy - cancellation of debts. On a smaller scale, (not 50 years, but 50 days) the coming to faith of 3,000 Jewish people in Jerusalem was a day of joy and cancellations of debts. (Jesus forgives all our debts when we receive Him.)



2) In ancient Israel, there were three times a year when all males were required to appear before the Lord. " Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord GOD." (Exodus 23:17) Interestingly enough, all three were tied into the harvest and God's blessings. In the spring, it was Passover and the Feast of Firstfruits (the barley harvest). In the autumn, it was the Feast of Sukkot (Tabernacles) (the harvest of grapes and olives). Right here in the middle was the Feast of Weeks associated with the wheat harvest.



Thus, all three "required attendance" holidays were tied into God's provisions. In other words, when God blesses, remember to thank Him.



Point 3)



When God gave Israel the law - 50 days after leaving Egypt - they broke that law and 3,000 died that day.



"So the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And about three thousand men of the people fell that day." (Exodus 32)



When the law was given - 3,000 died. On Pentecost (Shavout) When the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) was given - 3,000 were saved! Isn't that the case? The Law brings death (only because none of us can keep it), but Jesus brings life! The Law God gave is good, but it was given externally. Our sin nature causes us to break His good Law. But in Jesus, the Spirit of God gives us a new heart so that we can live a godly life and not break His Law! Isn't that what the Jewish prophets said would happen?



"But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts…" (Jeremiah 31)

Answer 4

Cutting through the red tape: God established the old Testament law on June 6th (If you understand how to compare the Hebrew months with English)

It was the writing of the old testament upon TABLES of STONE that where in HEART SHAPE, signifying God's law being written in our HEARTS while using a STONE to EXPRESS what will LATER take place on the day of Pentecost as recorded in Acts chapter 2. where the NEW TESTAMENT began being written in our HEARTS and expressed by gift and out pouring of the holy spirit.

That is WHY he choose that DATE because he had already established it in a TYPE in the old testament and all he was doing is FINISHING what he STARTED.

So then the NEW TESTAMENT is not written on TABLES of STONE, but fleshly TABLES of the HEART according to the Apostles explanation there in 2Cor. 3rd chp.

Answer 5

i see that these are all answers from Christians trying to explain a Jewish festival and a Jewish concept.



Christians believe that just about everything in Judaism is a "foreshadowing" etc of their beliefs about Jesus. ANd that explaines their answers here and why the pentacost was created as a Christian holy day.



but it has nothing to do with the actual Jewish festival which is about the receipt of the great gift of the Law to help humans be better humans than they otherwise would be. The holiday has nothing to actually do with messianic concepts. Indeed, it is in many ways contrary to Christian teachings because Christians see the law as a negative - designed to show us how bad we are, and to condemn us to hell etc -- rather than its true purpose, to help us be better and good. So the Jewish holiday is a very positive one - involving happiness etc. , which can't be reconciled with the Christian concept of His law.

Answer 6

@Grey Tower got it

Acts 1:8. “But you shall receive power. After that, the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the outermost part of the earth.”



This simple explanation in the verses that I read is the inauguration of the next great event of redemptive history. First, there was the Old Testament, Revelation. God speaking in many ways and many portions to the fathers by the prophets, establishing truth, true understanding of him and his redemptive purpose in the Old Testament. Then there was the next great event in redemptive history. After the completion of the Old Testament, and that was the arrival of God incarnate, the Lord Jesus Christ, who came and was made flesh and dwelled among us. And 30 years or so later, the next great event in God’s redemptive purpose, His death, ratifying the new covenant by the sacrifice of Himself.



And a few days later, the next great event, which was the resurrection from the dead by which God affirmed the satisfaction that he had in his own mind over the sacrifice Christ had rendered. Forty days after that, the next great event. The next great event was the ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ as He went back into heaven to be crowned and seated at the Father’s right hand, having accomplished redemption.



The next great event is this one in chapter 2 of the Book of Acts. The sending of the Holy Spirit to bring the believers together and establish the church in which He takes up residence. This had been promised, and we’ll see that promise actually next Sunday, because that promise is stated in John 7:37. “On the last day, the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles,” we’ve been talking about on Sunday mornings, “The great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me as the Scripture said from His innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’ But this he spoke of the spirit whom those who believed in Him were to receive for the spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified.”



The Old Testament gave it several names. In Exodus 23, it’s called Chag hǎ-qāṣîr, which is the Feast of Harvest. Also in Exodus, that’s Exodus 23. Later on in Exodus 34, it’s called Chag hǎ-Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks. And in the Book of Numbers, it’s called the day of first fruits. So all of those are Old Testament references to this 50 day event. What is its purpose?



It commemorates the first fruits of the wheat harvest. Mark that in your mind. It commemorates, and you might even add, it celebrates the arrival of the first fruits of the wheat harvest. But it also took on some other characteristics. After the exile, it became the traditional celebration to remember the giving of the mosaic law. Now you say, “Why would they connect this with the giving of the Mosaic law?” The birth day of the Torah. Because it was about 50 days after the Exodus from Egypt that God gave Moses the law, and so they’ve added another 50 kind of celebration.



So here on this day, this significant event in which they celebrate the harvest, celebrating the first fruits of the harvest to come, the indication the harvest was coming, and celebrate and remember the giving of the Mosaic law. The Spirit’s timing then on Pentecost is very, very important. The Spirit comes because God deems that this is the very day the spirit is to come to fulfill pictures from the Old Testament that are very, very important.



And again, I want you to be reminded the spirit’s coming is not in response to them praying. It’s not in response to them tarrying, whatever that means, or meeting some kind of spiritual condition. It is God’s sovereign timetable. We can get a picture of this, and I’m just going to do this in a general sense. Write down Leviticus 23, and go back on your own when you have time, and go through Leviticus 23 because in Leviticus 23, we learn of the feasts of the Lord given to Israel to celebrate.



And the key feasts really are pictures of the work of Christ. The first was Passover. Passover. That was in the spring on the 14th of Nisan, and Passover was a picture of the death of Christ. Right? He was the ultimate Passover lamb, the perfect Passover lamb, the one true sacrifice for sin. And God bringing the fulfillment of the picture of the Passover had His son die on the Passover.



That is why 1 Corinthians 5:7 says, “Christ, our Passover.” So the first feast of Leviticus 23 was the Passover, which was fulfilled in the sacrifice of Christ. The second feast in Leviticus 23 was the next day after Passover. The next day. And it was first fruits. First fruits. This was the celebration symbolizing the full harvest to come. This is a picture of Christ’s resurrection, which came immediately after his death, and 1 Corinthians 15:20 says, “Christ is the first fruits of those who sleep.”



So you have in the first feast, Passover, a picture of the Passover sacrifice of Christ. In the second one, which is the celebration of first fruits, a picture of Christ who is the first fruits of all who sleep. Because He lives, we shall live also. Fifty days later came the third feast. And it’s discussed in Leviticus 23 around verses 15 and 16. It’s the Feast of Harvest. This is Pentecost.



MIMI