The Day of Pentecost

Acts:  2 

 

So First... What is the Day of Pentecost?

Fifty days or seven weeks following the Passover feast, faithful Jews observed a celebration known as Pentecost. 

The word comes to us from the Greek pentekoste and literally means “fiftieth.” It was variously known as the day of the first fruits (Numbers28:26) or feast of harvest (Exodus 23:16). 

Coming as it did following the seven weeks of Passover, it was also known as the feast of weeks (Exodus 34:22; Deuteronomy 16:10). 

How significant that God should literally pour out his Spirit upon the people at a time when they were pouring out their gratitude to him. 

Peter saw it as a partial fulfillment of the ancient prophecy of the prophet Joel (Joel 2:28–32).

I had always thought that the passover was named because of the spirit being poured out on the people and each of them speaking in their native tongues, but I thought that it was really interesting that it was a holiday before this major biblical event and God blessed them with this experience on this day.  

Peter's Teachings 

Peter taught that the prophet Joel had prophesied that these things of the Pentecost would come to pass. He taught that Joel had prophesied that in the last days the spirit would be poured out upon the people and that sons and daugters will prophesy, young men will see visions, and old men will dream dreams. (Acts 2:17)

He also gave signs of the second coming of Christ. He said that there will be wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke. 

He also taught (that I've always thought was interesting) that the sun shall be turned into darkness and the mood into blood before the day that the Lord come. (Acts 2:19-20)

Peter taught that the seed of David would be risen up to sit on the right hand of the Lord.

(Christ's Lineage)

Then he taught the people to repent and be baptized so that they could receive the Holy Ghost and their eternal blessings that they've been promised.

How Did Peter Fulfill his Role as a Special Witness of Christ..

Acts 2:32 "This Jesus hath God raised up whereof we are all witnesses."
So this is Peter speaking and the way that I interpret that scripture is that a large reason why the Lord made it possible for Jesus's resurrection is so that the Apostles could be witnesses and so that we could receive their special testimony.
Through Acts chapter 2 Peter bears testimony on the day of Pentecost that the people have crucified the Lord and that if they don't repent and be baptized and recieve the Holy Ghost they would suffer destruction.


Peter is such an amazing witness to me, he testifies boldly leaving no room for question. 
Christ lived. He was our Savior. The people crucified our Savior. 


Gifts of the Spirit Made Manifest on the Day of the Pentecost


The gift that is widely known that was made manifest on the day of Pentecost is the gift of tongues.

Those that were present were filled with the spirit and began to speak in the language of the nation their heritage was from.

Another gift was that the people present understood others in their own native tongue, so they had the gift of understanding. 

Something that I definitely think was a gift was that as Peter testified to the people that Jesus is the Christ, they believed him. They let the spirit touch their hearts. Then not only did the people believe, they were baptized. To me that is definitely a gift of the spirit-a testimony.

The Response of the Witnesses of the Pentecost

I kind of added this as a gift of the spirit- but this was truly a response that is worth repeating and being in the bible. 

Something that I thought was really interesting was that in vs. 13 of chapter 2 people were mocking the people who were speaking in tongues and saying that they were drunk.

How perfectly does that relate to people of today.

I think it's refreshing to know that people were just people in the time of Christ as well as now-nothing has changed. 

But the people that felt the spirit took Peter's reprimanding and were baptized. 

They knew that what they saw and felt was from God and there was no denying that.