Pentecost for the Jewish and Christian Faiths

by

Dr. Brad Young

Pentecost must be viewed through the prism of Jerusalem, archaeology and rabbinic literature.

Only through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, will the message of Israel’s one true God being revealed in the life and ministry of Jesus be heard among the Gentiles.

The Jewish celebration of the feast of Pentecost in first century Jerusalem marked the occasion when the Holy Spirit empowered the early followers of Jesus to serve God with renewed vigor and dedication to his teachings. For Christians, Pentecost means Holy Spirit empowerment for service. For the Jewish people, Pentecost is the time when God gave the Torah to his people. In Bible days, it was a harvest festival of great rejoicing. Pentecost is sacred to both Christians and Jews.

At Pentecost, God’s people have received the word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit to be effective Christian witnesses. Pentecost must be viewed through the prism of Jerusalem, archaeology and rabbinic literature. It signals a world outreach as the disciples begin to bear witness from Jerusalem to the uttermost parts of the world (Acts 1:8, compare Isaiah 49:6).1

During Pentecost, Judaism celebrates the giving of Torah–God’s revelation to his beloved people. Some leading scholars have claimed that Pentecost became associated with the giving of the Torah only after the rise of Christianity.2 It is true that the Old Testament does not link Pentecost with the giving of the Torah. This concept arose within Jewish interpretations of the event. In fact, Moshe Weinfeld of the Bible department of the Hebrew University has decisively argued that Pentecost was already associated with the giving of the law in the time of Jesus.3 He points out that the idea of covenant and covenant renewal at Pentecost appears in the book of Jubilees and the Dead Sea Scrolls indicating that already in the second century B.C. these concepts had gained acceptance. In Torah, God’s way is made known. Judaism celebrates God’s revelation during the festival of Pentecost. By the time of Jesus and the writing of the Book of Acts, the idea that Pentecost was the time when God gave Torah to his people seems to have become firmly established. As we will see, even the descriptions between the revelation of Torah on Mount Sinai for Israel and Holy Spirit empowerment for the church on the Temple Mount correspond one with the other with remarkable lucidity.

Christianity celebrates the birth of the church in renewed vigor when she remembers how the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Day of Pentecost. The Spirit empowers her people for God’s work. Jerusalem is the place where it all happened. The holy city of the Jewish Temple is where God commanded an ingathering of his people, "Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God at the place which he will choose [Jerusalem]: at the feast of unleavened bread [Passover], at the feast of weeks [Pentecost], and at the feast of booths [Tabernacles]" (Deuteronomy 16:16).

Passover tells the story of God’s deliverance. The people were slaves in Egypt until God delivered them out of the house of bondage unto His great liberty. Sukkot, that is, the Feast of Tabernacles (or Booths) is also one of the great pilgrimage festivals. Sukkot celebrates God’s provision for the people during their desert wanderings. They lived in temporary dwellings, that is Sukkot or tabernacles, and they depended on the Lord for His provision each day. The cloud provided cover for the Israelites by day, the fire guided and protected them by night. God provided the manna as the necessary food provisions for their journey. He brought them quail and gave them water. The tent dwellers in the wilderness experienced God’s miraculous care. The pilgrim festivals, Passover and Tabernacles, recall God’s deliverance from slavery and providential care in the wilderness. Like Passover and Tabernacles, during the festival of Pentecost the people of God were commanded to make

a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. It was natural to view Pentecost as signifying the events associated with Passover and Tabernacles. The Torah was given when they came to Mount Sinai during their desert experience. Rabbi Irving Greenberg explains,

The covenant of Israel turns the Exodus into an ongoing process. On Passover, God committed to the covenant by an act of redemption. On Shavuot, standing at Sinai, the Jewish people responded by accepting the Torah. The teaching that guides the way of the Jews, the Torah, became the constitution of the ongoing relationship of God and the Jewish people.4

This pilgrimage festival of Pentecost was understood by the Jewish sages as the next stage in the journey of the ancient Israelites. They had been saved from slavery at Passover. They had been preserved in their desert wanderings in Sukkot. Now the people of Israel came to Mount Sinai. With peels of thunder and bursts of lightning, God’s awesome presence was made known as He revealed His will to the people He loved (Exodus 19-20). God’s revelation in Torah was given to His people. Pentecost is the "time in which God gave us our Torah" zeman matan toratenu.

As one of the three major pilgrim festivals commanded by God, the celebration of Pentecost has beckoned untold multitudes to Jerusalem throughout the centuries. Acts 2:8-12 mentions people from all over the world who came from different cultures speaking languages foreign to the inhabitants of the land of Israel. In some ways, the event is a foreshadowing of Paul’s Christian witness to the Gentiles. All of the people whether Jewish by birth, God fearers or converts to Judaism were bound together in faith. They had gathered into Jerusalem to give thanks for God’s blessings. The book of Acts describes how the early Christians were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke with other tongues,

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:1-4)

They were all together in one accord (Greek, homothumadon, Acts 1:14). The unity of the early church during this decisive period of her history paves the way for the collective experience of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1, 46). Only through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, will the message of Israel’s one true God being revealed in the life and ministry of Jesus be heard among the Gentiles. Fascinatingly, in a similar way the rabbinic tradition stresses the unity of the people of Israel before they received the gift of Torah.

Great is peace, for with regard to all the journeyings it is written, "And the children of Israel journeyed [plural] . . . and encamped [plural] (Num. xxxiii, 5 et passim), [the plural number implying that] they journeyed in dissension, and they encamped in dissension. When, however, they all came before Mount Sinai, they all became one encampment. This is indicated by what is written, "And there Israel encamped [sing.] before the mount (Ex. xix, 2). It is written here not ‘And the children of Israel encamped [plural], but ‘Israel encamped’ [sing.] Said the Holy One, blessed be: ‘This is the hour at which I am giving Torah to My children.’5

The people of Israel were in one accord, without dissension when the Torah was given at Mount Sinai. The motif seems to be a part of the background imagery employed in Acts to describe the giving of the Holy Spirit to the church.

Although often Christians have associated "the house" in Acts 2:2 with the upper room in Acts 1:13, it is much more likely that the site of the miracle of Pentecost was the Temple. As a harvest festival, the people gathered in Jerusalem at the Temple to celebrate. The Mishnah describes the sense of jubilation during the time that the people gathered together from the towns and villages in order to carry their first fruits to the Temple. They praised God for the blessing of the first fruits and made a procession all the way to the Temple courts.

And an ox went before them with its horns overlaid with gold and a crown of olive leaves on its head. The flute played before them until they drew near to Jerusalem. When they arrived near to Jerusalem they sent messengers before them, and they adorned their first fruits. The governors, the chiefs and the treasurers went out to meet them . . . The flute played before them until they arrived at the Temple Mount . . . When the Temple court was reached the Levites sang the hymn, "I will extol You, O Eternal, for You have raised me up. . ." (Psalm 30:2).6

In Acts 2, the mention of "The House" most probably referred to the house of the Lord, where they were sitting for the study of Torah. This is not the tiny upper room from the previous chapter. The Temple was the meeting place of God’s people for the feast of Pentecost. In Acts 2:46, they gathered in the Temple with one accord each day to pray, study and learn.

In fact, now archaeology has revealed another link between the Pentecost experience of the church and the Temple. The recently excavated monumental stairway which led up to a wide platform area may well have been the meeting place of the early believers. Pious pilgrims would ritually immerse in baptismal pools and ascend the steps up to the platform where they could enter through the Hulda gates into the Portico of the Temple. These spacious areas served as meeting places for the study of Torah. Perhaps the early Christians were gathered on this platform or in one of the study halls of the Temple when the Holy Spirit fell upon them. The whole place was shaken with the divine presence. These descriptive terms from Acts echo the theophany of God at Sinai when the Torah was given to Israel and recall the awesome glory of the Lord which filled the holy Temple when it was dedicated. The Temple was filled with the divine presence when, "The house, the house of the Lord was filled with a cloud, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God" (2 Chronicles 5:14).

Pilgrims and proselytes from all over the world heard the early Christians speaking in foreign languages they had never learned. The people of these lands understood the message concerning the wonderful works of God. The miracle was in the speaking. Even though the apostles had never learned these languages, they spoke to the visitors to Jerusalem in their native dialects. Tongues of fire appeared above the heads of the early Christians as they spoke. Then Peter preached a message about Jesus. Three thousand people believed and wanted to be baptized. Now with the excavations of the Temple Mount, forty-eight ritual immersion baths have been uncovered.7 Some archaeologists have estimated that 200 baptismal pools may have served the enormous amount of pilgrims who would enter the Temple to worship God. During the feasts of Israel, many baptismal pools were required to service the crowds of pilgrims.

These ritual immersion baths must have been the actual baptismal pools used by the apostles in the mass baptism on the Day of Pentecost.

In Bible days, Pentecost commemorated the first fruits of the grain harvests. In Jewish culture, harvest time is an occasion for joyous celebration. The people of God recognize the divine favor. The farmers must do their work, but God gives the produce for harvest. Pentecost would occur on the fiftieth day after Passover, "And you shall count from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven full weeks shall they be, counting fifty days to the morrow after the seventh sabbath; then you shall present a cereal offering of new grain to the Lord" (Leviticus 23:15-16). The celebration of Pentecost was marked by great joy.

As has been seen, all three pilgrimage festivals are connected with God’s redemption. Passover commemorates the salvation of the people from Egypt and Tabernacles recalls God’s miraculous provision in the wilderness. Pentecost is another crucial stop in the journey to the Promised Land. It was natural for the feast to be connected with the giving of the Torah from Mount Sinai during the desert experience of the people of Israel. In their wilderness wanderings, the people were overwhelmed with God’s glory when he revealed the Torah to Moses (Exodus 19-20).

In rabbinic literature, the powerful word of God was compared to a hammer striking an anvil with sparks flying out from the force of the blow. When the word poured forth from the mouth of the Almighty, fiery sparks flew in every direction–in words from all the languages of the nations. They were like tongues of fire. The divine revelation of Torah flowed out bestowing illumination upon the people of God. God’s will and way had been revealed.

Rabbi Johanan said: "What is meant by the verse, ‘The Lord gives the word: They that publish the tidings are a great host? (Psalm 68:12).’ Every single word that went forth from the Omnipresent was split up into seventy languages." The school of Ishmael taught: "And like a hammer that breaks the rocks in sparks so every single word that went forth from the Holy One, blessed be He, split up into seventy languages."8

The mention of seventy languages is symbolic. The rabbis believed that it referred to all the languages of the world. Acts 2:5 stresses that "devout men from every nation under heaven" had gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate Pentecost. The description of sparks of fire, moreover, corresponds to the tongues of fire mentioned in Acts.

The first century Jewish Philosopher, Philo of Alexandria described the words of God at Mount Sinai in a similar way. The mention of tongues of fire in Acts brought to remembrance the awesome appearance of God when he revealed Torah. Philo recounts the divine energy and the fire that accompanied the giving of the law:

Then from the midst of the fire that streamed from heaven there sounded forth to their utter amazement a voice, for the flame became articulate speech in the language familiar to the audience, and so clearly and distinctly were the words formed by it that they seemed to see them rather than hear them.9

The words of Torah appeared to the people in fire. They saw the flames and heard the voice in their own language. The tongues of fire in the book of Acts are paralleled by Jewish descriptions of the theophany at Sinai.

For Christians, Pentecost means Holy Spirit empowerment for God’s purpose. The liturgical church remembers the miracle of Pentecost in the prayers and Bible readings of Whit Sunday.10 Jesus had promised the early believers power to fulfill his teachings. Most Christians stand in awe when reading the account of Acts 2 which describes the church’s encounter with the power of the Holy Spirit. The place was shaken. Visitors from all parts of the world who had made pilgrimage to Jerusalem heard the early Christians speaking the wonderful works of God in the different languages of the nations. They witnessed the tongues of fire resting on the heads of those filled with the Spirit. The church was empowered to fulfill her purpose in bringing hope and help to people in need. She is called to bear witness to God’s love. The apostle Paul became her emissary to the pagan nations of the world.

Pentecost is a point of convergence where the spiritual force of God’s blessing has dramatically impacted both Judaism and Christianity. While the name itself simply means fifty days referring to the seven weeks plus one day for the harvest of grains, for Jews and Christians, Pentecost has come to signify the giving of divine revelation on Mount Sinai, the zenith of God’s self disclosure in Torah for Israel–as well as the outpouring of the Holy Spirit for the church. The people of the synagogue and the church are able to join hands together at Pentecost and recognize God’s goodness for His people.

The harvest festival became the main occasion when the Jewish people living in the land and those coming from the distant parts of the Diaspora celebrated God’s blessings in providing food and meeting their needs. Josephus tells about how the city was crowded with the country folk from the surrounding region.11 In many ways, it is the city of Jerusalem that draws the nations of the world together. Pilgrimage to the city changes the people who come. Encountering Jerusalem leads to a deeper spiritual experience. For the apostle to the Gentiles, Pentecost signaled a major transition which had prepared the way for Paul’s outreach to the nations of the world.

Pentecost possesses special significance for the Christian and Jewish communities of faith. Jerusalem is the city where the spiritual streams of Judaism and Christianity converge. The gift of Torah brings challenge. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit calls for service. The description of Pentecost in the Book of Acts is designed to recall the giving of the Torah and the shaking of the Temple at its dedication.12

Archaeology has now revealed much about the Temple. The discovery of the baptismal pools close to the monumental stairway leading up to the entrance of the Temple, gives vivid testimony of the importance for ritual purity as practiced by pious Jews stepping onto the sacred ground in order to worship the one God of Israel. For Christians, moreover, the baptismal pools provide exciting evidence for the events of the Day of Pentecost described in Acts 2:37-42.

In Acts, Pentecost means empowerment to serve others in need and bear witness of God’s favor. Torah’s revelation and the Holy Spirit’s fire revive the faithful to meet the challenge. It is the time of Torah’s revelation and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Pentecost means spiritual renewal and revitalization for the people of God.

Dr. Brad H. Young is founder and president of Gospel Research Foundation, an organization dedicated to providing teaching materials on the New Testament that are based upon a solid understanding of Christianity’s Jewish roots. An internationally recognized authority on the life of Jesus, he serves as associate professor of Judaic-Christian Studies in the Graduate School of Theology at Oral Roberts University. Brad lives with on the Young Family Ranch outside Tulsa with son Matthew David. Website: http://www.gospelresearch.org

Footnotes:

1) See especially my book, Paul the Jewish Theologian (Hendrickson: Peabody, Massachusetts, 1997), pp. 50-60. Compare also, Jesus the Jewish Theologian (Hendrickson: Peabody, Massachusetts, 1995), pp. 13-26.

2) See for instance, Encyclopaedia Judaica, vol. 14, col. 1320. The issue is complex and some of the greatest Jewish scholars have dated the linking of Pentecost with the giving of the law long after the Second Temple Period.

3) Moshe Weinfeld, "Pentecost as Festival of the Giving of the Law" Immanuel 8 (1978), 7-18. Weinfeld provides compelling evidence.

4) Irving Greenberg, The Jewish Way (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993), p. 68.

5) Leviticus Rabbah 9:9, see the critical Hebrew edition of M. Margulies, vol. 1, p. 189 and the English translation in Midrash Rabbah (London: Soncino Press, 1939), vol. 4, p. 115.

6) Mishnah, Bikkurim 3:3-4.

7) Meir Ben Dov, In the Shadow of the Temple (Jerusalem: Keter, 1982), on ritual baths, see, pp. 150-153, on the monumental stairway on the southern end of the Temple, see, pp. 108-113. See also Nahman Avigad, Discovering Jerusalem (Israel Exploration Society: Jerusalem, 1980), p. 139-143.

8) B. Shabbat 88a and parallels. See the Discussion of Weinfeld, pp. 14-15 and compare P. Billerbeck, Das Kommentar zum Neuen Testament aus Talmud und Midrasch, vol. 2, pp. 597-606.

9) See Philo, The Decalogue, 46, F.H. Colson, trans., Philo (Cambridge: Harvard, 1968), vol. 7, p. 28-29). On speaking in tongues in the New Testament, compare the discussion of Stendahl, Paul among Jews and Gentiles, pp. 109-124.

10) See J. Danielou, The Bible and the Liturgy (Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1956), pp. 319-332.

11) Josephus, War 1, 253; Antiquities 14, 337.

12) See Exodus 19-20, 2 Chronicles 5:2-14 and compare Richard Steven Notley, "The Concept of the Holy Spirit in Jewish Literature of the Second Temple Period and Pre-Pauline Christianity" (Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation: Hebrew University, Jerusalem, 1991), pp. 262-303.

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