Sunday 06Feb2022
In my New Testament reading today, I read the account in Acts chapter 2 of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples as they were all gathered "with one accord in one place" in Jerusalem (Acts 2:1)
This outpouring of the Holy Spirit is the fulfillment of the prophecy written by the Propet Joel:
Joel 2:28 -32 (Joel 3:1 - 5 in LXX Septuagint)
1 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. 2 And on my servants and on my handmaids in those days will I pour out of my Spirit. 3 And I will shew wonders in heaven, and upon the earth, blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke. 4 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and glorious day of the Lord come. 5 And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved: for in mount Sion and in Jerusalem shall the saved one be as the Lord has said, and they that have glad tidings preached to them, whom the Lord has called.
From Acts 2:1, we learn that this outpouring happened on the Day of Pentecost or Shavuot in Hebrew.
Shavuot celebrates the grain harvest of late spring / early summer. It is celebrated exactly seven weeks after the Pesach (Passover).
To arrive at the date of Shavuot, the children of Israel will count 7 weeks (49 days) from the from the second evening of passover (evening of 15th day of 1st month). Today, this practice is called the counting of the omer (a unit measure of grain, particularly barley).
At the end of the counting of omer, shavuot falls on the 50th day after the first passover meal (evening of 14th day of 1st month), hence the name Pentecost
The following lists the dates of Pesach and Shavuot in this year 2022:
- Pesach begins on the evening of Fri 15Apr22 (14th day of 1st month)
- Counting of omer begins on Sat 16Apr22 (15th day of 1st month) and ends on Sat 04Jun22 (6th day of 3rd month)
- Shavuot is celebrated on Sun 05Jun22 (7th day of 3rd month)
Shavuot is one of the three Pilgrimage Festivals among the children of Israel, when Israelite males make pilgrimages to Jerusalem. The other two pilgrimage festivals are Pesach (Passover, 14th to 21st day of 1st month), and Sukkot (Tabernacles, 15th to 22nd day of 7th month)
It is not surprising therefore to read in Acts chapter 2 that a multitude of pilgrims from many distant places heard the disciples uttering the wonderful works of God in each of their languages.
Acts 2:9 - 11 KJV
9 Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia,
10 Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,
11 Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.
At the end of his discourse on that day of Shavuot, the Apostle Peter told the pilgrims who were gathered there:
Acts 2:38 - 39 KJV
38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the LORD our God shall call.
Brothers and Sisters in the Anointed One, have you repented from sin? Have you been baptised in the name of Iesus the Anointed One? And most of all, have you received the same outpouring of the Holy Spirit that was poured out on the disciples on that Day of Shavuot?
Nine years ago in May 2013, I wrote a short devotion on this account of Acts chapter 2 in my devotional blog, linked below:
