In the previous studies we have considered the Feast of the Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and the Feast of the Firstfruits. These were presented in this order in the twenty-third chapter of the Book of Leviticus and are entitled, together with four other feasts, "the feasts of the Lord." The thrilling and instructive messages of these first three feasts have been considered and we now turn expectantly to the study of the fourth feast, namely, the "Feast of Pentecost." In order to have the inspired instructions concerning this feast clearly in mind, we quote the Scripture record as found in Leviticus 23:15-22:

And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave-offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete:

Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat-offering unto the Lord.

Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave-loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven ; they are firstfruits unto the Lord.

And ye shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year, and one young bullock, and two rams: they shall be for a burnt-offering unto the Lord, with their meat-offering, and their drink-offerings, even an offering made by fire, of sweet savour unto the Lord.

Then ye shall sacrifice one kid of the goats for a sin-offering, and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace-offerings.

And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits for a wave-offering before the Lord, with the two lambs: they shall be holy to the Lord for the priest.

And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be an holy convocation unto you: ye shall do no servile work therein: it shall be a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.

And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clear riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest: thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I am the Lord your God.

It will be of interest to our readers that this feast is not only referred to in the Scriptures as "Pentecost" (Acts 20:16), but also as "the feast of harvest" (Exod. 23:16), "the day of the firstfruits" (Num. 28:26), and "the feast of weeks" (Exod. 34:22). We shall employ this last named designation in our discussion.

The general significance of this feast is recognized by most teachers to be the formation of the Church, the Body of Christ by the baptism of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. Representative of the view of these teachers is the following quotation from C. H. Mackintosh: "In the Passover we have the death of Christ, in the sheaf of the Firstfruits we have the resurrection of Christ, and in the Feast of Pentecost we have the descent of the Holy Ghost to form the Church. All this is divinely perfect. The death and resurrection of Christ had to be accomplished ere the Church could be formed" (p. 341, Notes on Leviticus).

We now proceed to the presentation of the typical and antitypical truths in comparative form after which we shall discuss each point briefly.

Having noted the outstanding points of comparison between the Feast of Weeks and the formation of the Church, we proceed to a brief discussion of these in order to clarify them.

We observe first,

It was fifty days after the Feast of the Firstfruits.

The Feast of the Firstfruits, as we have discovered in a former study, is a type of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ (I Cor. 15:20). The Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost was fifty days after the Feast of the Firstfruits (Lev. 23:15-16), and the descent of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost was fifty days after the resurrection of Christ. This is indicated by the fact that Jesus companied with His disciples for forty days after his resurrection (Acts 1:1-3), and then they tarried in the upper room for ten days, apparently (Acts 1:12-15), and then the Holy Spirit descended and baptized them with the other believers into the Church, the Body of Christ (Acts 2:1-4).

The number fifty is also worthy of rote: five is the number of grace and ten is the number of testing; so here we have a combination of these two numbers (5x10), suggestive of grace after testing.

We continue by considering that,

There was the union of grain in loaves.

After the golden grain was gathered in, it was ground into flour, made into loaves and waved before the Lord by the priest (Lev. 23:17-19). So also, on the day of Pentecost, the , one hundred twenty believers were united in one body by the baptism of the Holy Spirit. This is indicated by Paul's statement to the Corinthians which reads thus: "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have all been made to drink into one Spirit" (I Cor. 12: 13). It is strengthened by the statement concerning the converts on Pentecost which states that "there were added unto them about three thousand souls" (Acts 2:41), that is the three thousand were added to the one hundred and twenty. And it is made still more conclusive by the record of Luke in Acts 2:47 that "the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved."

We turn now to note that,

The wave-loaves were called firstfruits.

Someone might say, "In what sense can believers of this age be called 'firstfruits?' " That they are so designated by James is evident for we read, "Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures" (James 1:18). We would suggest that it has reference to the relationship sustained by those who are in the Church to Israel and the Gentiles who shall be saved in great numbers in the coming tribulation age (Rom. 11:25-27; Rev. 7:9-17).

We call attention next to the fact that,

The wave-loaves contained leaven.

Leaven, in Scripture, is always a type of something evil. Hence, here it typifies the fact that there is sin or evil in the Church. This is sadly in evidence in our churches and assemblies today as well as in the statements of Holy Writ (See Acts 20:28-30; I Cor. 3, 5, 11). August Van Ryn makes the following helpful suggestion concerning the control of the leaven in the life of the believer: "While there was still leaven in these loaves, it was no longer operating. It had passed through the fire, for the loaves were baked. There is still sin in the believer, but that sin has been judged for us in the death of Christ, and should practically be rendered inactive in us by being constantly exposed to the fire of self -judgment" (p. 73, His Appointments).

We now notice that,

The wave-loaves were accompanied by a sin-offering.

This fact typifies the truth that the Church has been purchased with Christ's own blood (Acts 20:28), and her acceptance is "in the Beloved One" as Paul declares in Ephesians 1:6-7: "To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved. In Whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace."

We press on to consider that,

The wave-loaves were also accompanied by other offerings.

These offerings all typify some precious aspect of the Person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. The burnt-offering set forth His Deity and perfect dedication; the meal-offering set forth His Humanity and bruising; the drink-offering set forth the outpouring of Christ's soul unto death; and the peace-offering set forth the making peace by the blood of His cross. What Christ is and has done is of vital and practical importance to the Church for "He is the Saviour of the Body" (Eph. 5:23), and He "loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish" (Eph. 5:25-27).

Next in order we see that,

It was a time of joy and feasting.

Surely this was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost when three thousand souls eagerly feasted on the message of our Lord and we read that they "gladly recieved his word" (Acts 2: 41). They knew the * k joy" of salvation. May we continually "rejoice in the Lord" (Phil. 4:4).

Last of all we observe that.

The good things were to be shared with others.

This is commanded in Deuteronomy 14:29 in connection with the Feast of Weeks: "And the Levite (because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee), and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand which thou doest." The Church likewise was commissioned to "go into all the world and preach the gospel (good news concerning Christ) to every creature" (Mark 16:15; Cf. Acts 1:8). We are not to "eat our morsel alone."

We would close our study with a practical admonition from the Dean of Gloucester, the Very Reverend Henry Law:

Reader, learn then from Pentecost, that souls are grain — the Spirit the in gatherer. Without His aid no efforts prosper — no success ensues. His presence is the might of means. His hand alone unlocks the sin-bound heart. His voice alone can pierce the grave of sin. The Spirits sword requires the Spirit's arm. He is the only car in which truth rides to triumph. Without Him faith cannot live — nor Christ be seen. Without Him, preaching is an empty sound — and toil but beats the air.

Servants of Christ, would you be rich in harvests of saved souls? Then never strive in your own strength ; and never speak or preach, but wrestle for this life-inspiring power. Seek more His help. Lean more upon His arm. Pray Him to give you every word. Pray Him to write it with His finger on the heart. Then will your ministry be a pentecostal-day. Then when the end shall come, vou will present your precious shocks to God — and wave your pentecostal loaves — an evidence of good seed sown — of good work done (p. 126, Christ Is All).

1) Achie H. Yetter is Director of the Bible Institute of Denver Bible College, and is in demand as a Bible conference speaker.