1)      Introduction

a)      The main event of Pentecost for many is the return of Jesus Christ. The traditional CoG teaching had it occurring on Trumpets but that has shifted to Pentecost. Even more recently, that has changed for some to the days of Unleavened Bread. The question is what scriptural evidence might point to the time of Christ’s return? Pentecost is also commonly recognized as the day when God gave the ancient Israelites the Law at Mount Sinai and the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles.

b)      There is, however, much more to Pentecost than these three events, although they are not directly described like events portrayed by the other holydays. Instead, many of them are found through associations with the numbers of the Pentecost count.

c)       No other holyday requires counting days. Exploring this unique aspect reveals deep meanings and events pertaining to Pentecost.

2)      THE NUMBER FORTY (40)

a)      Represents PROVING God:

i)         MALACHI 3:10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and [prove] Me now in this,” says the LORD of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.

1)      God challenges us to prove Him:

ii)       [TS2009] HEBREWS 3:7-9 Therefore, as the [Holy] Spirit says, “Today, if you hear His voice, 8 do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of trial in the wilderness, 9 where your fathers tried Me, proved Me, and saw My works forty years.

iii)      DEUTERONOMY 2:7 “For the LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hand. He knows your trudging through this great wilderness. These forty years the LORD your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing.” ‘

iv)     DEUTERONOMY 8:4 “Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years.

v)       MATTHEW 6:31, 33-34 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ … 33 “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

vi)     ACTS 1:1-3 The former account I [Luke] made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, 2 until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, 3 to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs [of His resurrection], being seen by them during forty days …

1)      Jesus gave “infallible proofs” that He was alive and that established the divinity of both God the Father and Himself.

b)      Represents SEEKING God and the PROMISED LAND (KINGDOM):

i)         NUMBERS 13:1-2, 17a, 25 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; from each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a leader among them.” … 17 Then Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, … 25 And they returned from spying out the land after forty days.

1)      GOD told the Israelites to search out the land He promised to give them.

ii)       1 KINGS 19:8-9 So he [Elijah] arose, and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God. 9 And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the LORD came to him, …

1)      Elijah traveled 40 days to the place where God spoke to him.

iii)      MATTHEW 13:44-46 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, 46 “who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

1)      The Kingdom is a treasure that is greatly sought after.

iv)     ACTS 1:1-3 The former account I [Luke] made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, 2 until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, 3 … being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.

1)      Like the Israelites who explored the Promised Land, Jesus as Immanuel (“God with us”) spent 40 days speaking to the disciples of the KINGDOM.

c)       Represents RECEIVING God’s LAW, which is the foundation of the COVENANT:

i)         EXODUS 34:28 So he [Moses] was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And He [God] wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.

ii)       DEUTERONOMY 9:9 “When I [Moses] went up into the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant which the LORD made with you, then I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water.

1)      Moses spent 40 days being taught and receiving the Law of the Covenant.

iii)      During the last 40 days Jesus Christ was on earth Jesus spent 40 days teaching the disciples from Scripture, teaching them of the Law and NEW Covenant:

1)      LUKE 24:31-32 Then their [the disciples’] eyes were opened and they knew Him [Jesus]; and He vanished from their sight. 32 And they said to one another, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?”

2)      LUKE 24:44-45 Then He [Jesus Christ] said to them [the disciples], “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” 45 And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.

d)      Represents FASTING and REPENTANCE of sin:

i)         DEUTERONOMY 9:18, 25 “And I [Moses] fell down before the LORD, as at the first, forty days and forty nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all your sin which you committed in doing wickedly in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger. … 25 “Thus I prostrated myself before the LORD; forty days and forty nights I kept prostrating myself, because the LORD had said He would destroy you.

1)      Moses fasted 40 days before God for the sins of Israel.

e)      Represents EATING MANNA, the Bread of Life:

i)         DEUTERONOMY 8:3 “So He [the LORD] humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.

1)      Manna is the Bread of Heaven (angel’s food—Ps. 78:24-25).

2)      Manna represents RECEIVING ETERNAL LIFE through the word of God—eating the bread that symbolizes the body of Jesus Christ.

ii)       JOHN 6:31-33, 35, 45, 51, 58 “Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ “ 32 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 “For the bread of God is He [Jesus Christ] who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” … 35 And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. … 45 “It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me. … 51 “I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.” … 58 “This is the bread which came down from heaven–not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.”

1)      Jesus is the Logos, the Word of God (John 1:1). He is the true manna, the true Bread of Eternal Life.

2)      NOTE: Being taught by God draws a person to Jesus Christ (v45).

f)        Represents being CHASTENED (Heb. yacar, Gk. paideuo = teach, instruct, discipline) so that God might impute RIGHTEOUSNESS:

i)         DEUTERONOMY 8:2, 5 “And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. … 5 “You should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the LORD your God chastens you.

ii)       HEBREWS 12:5-8, 10-11 And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: “My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; 6 for whom the LORD loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.” 7 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? 8 But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. … 10 For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. 11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

g)      Represents being TESTED to separate the HUMBLE from the DISOBEDIENT:

i)         DEUTERONOMY 8:2 “And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.

ii)       NUMBERS 32:13 “So the LORD’s anger was aroused against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the LORD was gone.

iii)      HEBREWS 3:17-19 Now with whom was He [God] angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? 19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.

1)      God tested and then separated the disobedient from the humble during the 40 years in the wilderness:

iv)     JONAH 3:2, 4-5 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you.” … 4 And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day’s walk. Then he cried out and said, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” 5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them.

1)      Jonah spent 40 days warning Nineveh that they would be destroyed because of their sins. The city heeded the warning and repented and was spared.

v)       EZEKIEL 4:6 “And when you [Ezekiel] have completed them [390 days on his left side for Israel], lie again on your right side; then you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days. I have laid on you a day for each year.

1)      Ezekiel lay on his side for 40 days as a testimony of Judah’s sins.

h)      Represents DRAWING close to God to stand against temptations:

i)         MATTHEW 4:1-2 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.

1)      Jesus fasted 40 days for the strength to withstand the temptations of Satan.

i)         Represents FACING evil in the name of God who FIGHTS for us:

i)         1 SAMUEL 17:4, 16, 45-47 And a champion went out from the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. … 16 And the Philistine [Goliath] drew near and presented himself forty days, morning and evening. … 45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 “This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, … that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. 47 “Then all this assembly shall know that the LORD does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD’s, and He will give you into our hands.”

ii)       LUKE 4:1-2 Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.

1)      Jesus was 40 days in the face of pure evil—Satan. After 40 days of fasting, He was completely at one with God the Father who gave Him the strength to overcome the devil.

3)      THE NUMBER TEN (10)

a)      Represents OBEDIENT and PATIENT WAITING on God:

i)         JEREMIAH 42:4, 7 Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them [Johanan and the people], “I have heard. Indeed, I will pray to the LORD your God according to your words, and it shall be, that whatever the LORD answers you, I will declare it to you. I will keep nothing back from you.” … 7 And it happened after [waiting] ten days that the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah.

ii)       DANIEL 1:8, 12-15 But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.  … 12 “Please test your servants for ten days, and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13 “Then let our appearance be examined before you, and the appearance of the young men who eat the portion of the king’s delicacies; and as you see fit, so deal with your servants.” 14 So he consented with them in this matter, and tested them ten days. 15 And at the end of [waiting] ten days their features appeared better and fatter in flesh than all the young men who ate the portion of the king’s delicacies.

iii)      ACTS 1:4-5 And being assembled together with them [the disciples], He [Jesus Christ] commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; 5 “for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

iv)     REVELATION 2:8, 10 “And to the angel of the [ekklesia] in Smyrna write, ‘These things says [Jesus Christ] the First and the Last, who was dead, and came to life: … 10 “Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful [while waiting] until death, and I will give you the crown of life.

1)      The Smyrnans waited obediently and patiently on God while in prison.

4)      THE NUMBER SEVEN (7)

a)      The Seventh Day Sabbath is a REST for ALL PEOPLE (including foreigners and strangers):

i)         EXODUS 20:11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

1)      GOD rested.

ii)       EXODUS 23:12 “Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female servant and the stranger may be refreshed.

1)      PEOPLE are to rest.

iii)      The weekly Sabbath is a day of rest for everyone—God, Israelites, bondservants, foreigners (gentiles), and animals.

b)      The Seventh Year Sabbath is a RELEASE of DEBTS and LIBERTY for BONDSERVANTS (Israelites, not foreigners):

i)         DEUTERONOMY 15:1-3 “At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release of debts. 2 “And this is the form of the release: Every creditor who has lent anything to his neighbor shall release it; he shall not require it of his neighbor or his brother, because it is called the LORD’s release. 3 “Of a foreigner you may require it; but you shall give up your claim to what is owed by your brother,

1)      Debts of foreigners may continue to be claimed.

ii)       JEREMIAH 34:14 “At the end of seven years let every man set free his Hebrew [Israelite] brother, who has been sold to him; and when he has served you six years, you shall let him go free from you.” …

1)      Foreign slaves do not have to be freed.

c)       The Seventh Year Sabbath is also a REST for the LAND:

i)         LEVITICUS 25:2-7 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a sabbath to the LORD. 3 ‘Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather its fruit; 4 ‘but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath to the LORD. You shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard. 5 ‘What grows of its own accord of your harvest you shall not reap, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine [no harvesting and storing], for it is a year of rest for the land. 6 ‘And the sabbath produce of the land shall be food for you [gather what is needed but do not harvest]: for you, your male and female servants, your hired man, and the stranger who dwells with you, 7 ‘for your livestock and the beasts that are in your land–all its produce shall be for food.

ii)       EXODUS 23:10-11 “Six years you shall sow your land and gather in its produce, 11 “but the seventh year you shall let it [the land] rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave, the beasts of the field may eat. In like manner you shall do with your vineyard and your olive grove.

1)      The land is to rest completely. Nothing is to be harvested or stored; however, whatever grows of its own can be eaten (2 Kgs. 19:29).

5)      THE NUMBER SEVEN X SEVEN (7 x 7 = 49)

a)      Counting Feast of Weeks to Pentecost:

i)         LEVITICUS 23:15 And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. 16 Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the LORD.

1)      Pentecost is counted as the day following “seven Sabbaths” of WEEKS (7 x 7 WEEKS = 49 days). Each of the seven Sabbath days is a DAY of REST.

b)      Counting Pentecost is the SAME PATTERN as Jubilee:

i)         LEVITICUS 25:8, 10-13 ‘And you shall count seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years; and the time of the seven sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine years. … 10 ‘And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants [including foreigners]. It shall be a Jubilee for you; and each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you shall return to his family. 11 ‘That fiftieth year shall be a Jubilee to you; in it you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of its own accord, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine. 12 ‘For it is the Jubilee; it shall be holy to you; you shall eat its produce from the field. 13 ‘In this Year of Jubilee, each of you shall return to his possession.

1)      The Jubilee is counted as the year following “seven Sabbaths” of YEARS (7 x 7 Sabbath YEARS = 49 YEARS). Each of the seven Sabbath years is a RELEASE of DEBTS, LIBERTY for BONDSERVANTS, and REST for the LAND.

ii)       Pentecost and Jubilee have the same pattern of counting; the only difference is that Pentecost is counting DAYS and Jubilee is counting YEARS.

c)       The number 7 x 7 represents seven Sabbaths where 7 x 7 Sabbath DAYS are REST and 7 x 7 Sabbath YEARS are LIBERTY (for Israelites) and LAND RESTS.

d)      NOTE: Jubilee Sabbath years vs. 50th year:

i)         An important distinction between the seventh Sabbath year and the Jubilee is that both are a RELEASE of DEBTS and LIBERTY of BONDSERVANTS; however, each seventh Sabbath year of Jubilee only applies to ISRAELITES while the 50th YEAR Jubilee applies to ALL PEOPLE:

1)      SEVENTH SABBATH YEAR:

a)      DEUTERONOMY 15:1, 3 “At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release of debts. … 3 “Of a foreigner you may require it; but you shall give up your claim to what is owed by your brother,

2)      JUBILEE YEAR:

a)      LEVITICUS 25:10 ‘And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants [including foreigners].

6)      THE NUMBER Two (2)

a)      Pentecost requires a NEW GRAIN OFFERING to God of TWO loaves:

i)         LEVITICUS 23:16-17a Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the LORD. 17 ‘You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. …

1)      New refers to that which has never existed before, not a renewal or replacement.

b)      The two loaves of the Pentecost offering are FIRSTFRUITS of the harvest TO GOD:

i)         LEVITICUS 23:17b … They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are the firstfruits to the LORD.

c)       The offering of TWO loaves is a an apt representation of the two groups who are the Firstfruit children of God:

i)         EPHESIANS 2:11-16 Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh–who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands– 12 that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, 15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two [Israel and Gentiles], thus making peace, 16 and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.

1)      IMPORTANT: God reconciles the TWO from “one NEW man” (v15).

7)      THE NUMBER FIFTY (50)

a)      50 ENDS the COUNT of DAYS for Pentecost and YEARS for Jubilee.

b)      Pentecost is the DAY in which a NEW OFFERING is given to GOD. It is a NEW grain offering (Firstfruits) ths is the “one NEW man from the TWO” (Israel and Gentile).

c)       Jubilee is the YEAR in which LIBERTY is established—RELEASE of DEBTS, LIBERTY of BONDSERVANTS, LAND REST.

8)      Summary—Counting

a)      Embedded in the counting of Pentecost are significant numbers:

i)         40 represents:

1)      PROVING God,

2)      SEEKING God and the PROMISED LAND (KINGDOM),

3)      RECEIVING God’s LAW, the foundation of the COVENANT,

4)      FASTING and REPENTANCE of sin,

5)      EATING MANNA, the BREAD OF LIFE,

6)      Being CHASTENED so that God might impute RIGHTEOUSNESS,

7)      Being TESTED to separate the HUMBLE from the DISOBEDIENT,

8)      DRAWING close to God to stand against temptations,

9)      FACING evil in the name of God who FIGHTS for us,

ii)       10 represents OBEDIENT and PATIENT WAITING on God.

iii)      7 represents:

1)      7th DAY = REST,

2)      7th YEAR:

a)      RELEASE of DEBTS and LIBERTY for BONDSERVANTS,

b)      REST for the LAND.

iv)     7 x 7 represents:

1)      7 weekly Sabbath day rests,

2)      7 Jubilee year liberties,

3)      7 Land Sabbath year rests.

v)       2 represents:

1)      TWO NEW loaves of Firstfruits are offered to God,

2)      “One NEW man from the TWO” (Israel and Gentile) who are RECONCILED to God.

vi)     50 represents:

1)      The END of the COUNT when two new loaves of Firstfruits are offered to God and “one new man from the two” (Israel and Gentile) are reconciled to God.

2)      JUBILEE LIBERTY—release from debts (pardon of penalty for sins) and liberty of bondservants (no longer slaves to sin).

9)      Pentecost Events

a)      The numbers of the count to Pentecost are important because they reveal some of the events of that day. The two most well-known are the ancient Israelites receiving the Law of God at Mount Sinai (Exod. 34:28; Deut. 9:9) and the Holy Spirit coming upon the apostles (Acts 2:1-4). One of the main events of Pentecost that is not so obvious is that it is a JOURNEY of people to be with God:

i)         The first 40 days of Pentecost are the first part of a journey of proving God; seeking out God, searching His promises; putting on humility, fasting to draw close to God; repenting of sin; eating the Bread of Life; being chastened and tested; and trusting Him to fight for us.

ii)       The last 10 days of Pentecost are the final part of a journey of the mature Christian who has “learned to be content in whatever state” (Phil. 4:11) they find themselves and who have grown to love God with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength (Mark 12:30). They are obediently and patiently waiting for God.

b)      The 50 days of Pentecost are a journey from rejecting to accepting God, from rebellion to obedience, from homelessness to living in a Kingdom, from separation to reconciliation, and from death to life. These events—and more—are revealed by the meaning of the numbers of the Pentecost count. Other events are easily recognizable in the numbers 2, 7, 7 x 7 = 49, and 50 but they are left for the individual to ponder.

10)   Harvest & RAIN Seasons

a)      Many believe Jesus will return at Pentecost while others point to other days. What follows appears to answer the question but no one should elevate it to a salvational doctrine. Begin with the association of Pentecost with harvests and rain:

i)         EXODUS 23:16 “and the Feast of Harvest [Pentecost], the firstfruits of your labors which you have sown in the field; and the Feast of Ingathering [Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles] at the end of the year, when you have gathered in the fruit of your labors from the field.

1)      COMMENT: Since Pentecost is the harvest of FIRSTFRUITS, perhaps the Feast of Ingathering can be called the harvest of ‘LATTER-FRUITS’.

ii)       EXODUS 34:22 “And you shall observe the Feast of Weeks [Pentecost], of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering [Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles] at the year’s end.

b)      Pentecost and the Feast of Ingathering are both HARVESTS. Pentecost is the early wheat harvest in late spring and the Feast of Ingathering is the late wheat harvest in early autumn. (Jubilee begins on Atonement, which is part of the Feast of Ingathering so both are also part of that harvest.) The TWO harvests of Pentecost and the Feast of Ingathering are also directly linked to specific seasons of RAIN:

i)         [TS2009] LEVITICUS 26:3-5 ‘If you walk in My [the LORD] laws and guard My commands, and shall do them, 4 then I shall give you rain in its season [due time], and the land shall yield its crops, and the trees of the field yield their fruit. 5 ‘And your threshing [referring to the Pentecost harvest] shall last till the time of the grape harvest [referring to the Feast of Ingathering harvest], and the grape harvest shall last till the time of sowing [winter/early spring]. …

1)      NOTE: “Season” here is “due time,” meaning it comes at the specified season of harvests. It is not an “appointed season” (mowed).

c)       The two harvests are each tied to a specific season of rain—one for the late spring harvest (Pentecost) and the other for the early autumn harvest season (Feast of Ingathering/Atonement). These two seasons are called the “latter” and “former” rains:

i)         JEREMIAH 5:24 … the LORD our God, Who gives rain, both the former [early autumn rain] and the latter rain [late spring rain], in its season. …

1)      Latter (H4456 malqowsh) literally means LATE SPRING RAIN.

2)      Former (H3138 yowreh) literally means EARLY AUTUMN RAIN.

d)      Do not be confused by the names. The “latter” rain happens for the late spring harvest of Pentecost so it is the first according to the calendar. The “former” rain happens for the early autumn harvest of Feast of Ingathering and is last according to the calendar.

11)   Pentecost, Jesus Christ, & New Firstfruits

a)      The association of Pentecost with the late spring harvest with its “latter” rain is key because it appears to establish the time of the return of Jesus Christ:

i)         [TS2009] HOSEA 6:3 So let us [Israel] know, let us pursue to know [the LORD]. His going forth is as certain as the morning [dawn]. And He comes to us like the rain, like the latter rain [late spring rain of the Pentecost harvest] watering the earth.’

1)      God will “COME TO US” (return of Christ) like the LATE SPRING RAIN that occurs during the PENTECOST HARVEST SEASON.

2)      What time of day does this happen? The “GOING FORTH” OF GOD will be at MORNING (H7837 shachar = DAWN):

a)      2 PETER 1:19 And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts;

i)         The Morning Star IS Jesus Christ:

1)      REVELATION 22:16 “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the ekklesia. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.”

b)      God “comes to us” when the late spring harvest and “latter” rain occur. This harvest and season of rain identify ONLY with the holyday Pentecost. While this verse refers to the nation of Israel, as a physical nation, they are no longer the true Firstfruits. But there is more evidence. Notice the two previous verses:

i)         [TS2009] HOSEA 6:1-3 ‘Come, and let us turn back to [the LORD]. For He has torn but He does heal us, He has stricken but He binds us up. 2 After two days He shall revive us, on the third day He shall raise us up, so that we live before Him. 3 So let us know, let us pursue to know [the LORD]. His going forth is as certain as the morning. And He comes to us like the rain, like the latter rain [late spring rain of the Pentecost harvest] watering the earth.’

ii)       The 3 days mentioned by Hosea likely refers to the years of Tribulation during which time Israel is “torn” and “stricken.” But they also mirror the 3 days leading to Pentecost when the ancient Israelites saw God at Mount Sinai:

1)      EXODUS 19:10 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes. 11 “And let them be ready for the third day. For on the third day the LORD will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.

a)      The 3rd day is Pentecost.

iii)      Israel will be “torn” and “stricken” for 2 days and “revived” on the 3rd day (years of the Tribulation?). While this mirrors the 3 days at Mount Sinai when God “[came] to [Israel]” on the 3rd day, which was Pentecost, it also describes the suffering of spiritual Firstfruits in Revelation.

12)   Pentecost—The Return of Jesus Christ

a)      Evidence for Pentecost being the day that Jesus Christ returns:

i)         Pentecost is 50 days after the Wavesheaf Offering and 50 is the END of the count.

ii)       Pentecost is 40 days of seeking God and 10 days of waiting for Him. The 50th day is the END of WAITING.

iii)      Pentecost is a journey of people to find and be with God. It is made possible by the Passover sacrifice of Jesus Christ and God leading us out of sin as portrayed by days of Unleavened Bread. The end of the 50 count occurs on Pentecost because the end of that journey is the resurrection.

iv)     Resurrection from flesh to spirit is LIBERTY from sin and bondage, the meaning of the 50th year Jubilee.

v)       Pentecost is when NEW FIRSTFRUITS are offered to God.

vi)     Israel will be “torn” and “stricken” for 2 days and “revived” on the 3rd day (years of the Tribulation?). While this mirrors the 3 days at Mount Sinai when God “[came] to [Israel]” on the 3rd day, which was Pentecost, it also describes the suffering of spiritual Firstfruits in Revelation.

vii)    God “comes to us” when the late spring harvest and “latter” rain occur. But this harvest and season of rain identify ONLY with the holyday Pentecost. While this verse refers to the nation of Israel, as a physical nation, they are no longer the true Firstfruits. Hosea records that the “going forth” of God will be at morning (H7837 shachar = dawn), which is described in the NT.

viii)   Finally, consider that Passover, Unleavened Bread, Trumpets, and Atonement all portray events that are sad, unpleasant, or even horrific. Tabernacles, on the other hand, is a beautiful portrayal of the righteousness rule of Jesus Christ but it is a blessing for flesh and blood—not saints of the first resurrection to spirit. This makes Pentecost unique from all other holydays because it is dedicated to Firstfruits—the NEW OFFERING of the FIRST HARVEST of mankind to God. WHY is it dedicated to the Firstfruits? I believe it is simply because Pentecost is the day that God “comes [FOR] us”—the NEW creation!