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Pentecost

Unlike the other Holy Days of God, Pentecost does not fall on a fixed date on the Hebrew calendar. Pentecost was counted seven Sabbaths from the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Leviticus 23:15-16
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.

In addition to the counting to establish the date of Pentecost, Pentecost varied from the other Holy Days in another way. It is the only Holy Day to mention the poor and strangers.

Leviticus 23:22
And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean 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.

In some manner, most of the Holy Days in Leviticus, with the exception of Atonement are tied to harvests and food. The weekly Sabbath is included at the beginning of Leviticus 23 and harvests and food are not tied to the weekly Sabbath in this chapter. Why would God mention in verse 22 to leave the corners of the fields for the poor and for strangers? Is this an example of ADHD in God, or is this a purposeful connection by God? Let's shoot forward in time to Pentecost the year the church was established.

Acts 2:1
And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

Verses 2-42 detail the arrival of the Holy Spirit, Peter's Sermon, the baptism of the faithful, and the fellowship of the brethren. And then fear and wonder came upon the church and what did the church do? Did the church focus on obedience, ignoring all else? Obedience to God is as important today as it was then, but the church initially focused on something else!

Acts 2:43-47
And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

Verse 45 that shows the brethren selling possessions and goods to distribute to those in need was a Christian application of Leviticus 23:22. The principle of Leviticus 23:22 was not to give the entire field away but the corners of the field, the gleanings, what today would be called leftovers or extras. If the church members would have sold and distributed all of their possessions and goods, they themselves would have been in need. Helping those in need is part of being a Christian, and a miraculous example, either on Pentecost or shortly thereafter is provided in chapter three.

Acts 3:1-10
Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour. And a certain man lame from his mother�s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple; Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms. And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us. And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them. Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God: And they knew that it was he which sat for alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple: and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him.

Peter used the Holy Spirit to heal the person with a disability who was able to do things he previously could not do. Instead of always having to help the same person again and again, Peter gave the person the ability to help himself! Aside from miracles of the Holy Spirit there are other ways we can help those in need. Perhaps this is why God inspired a definition for pure and undefiled religion in James 1:27.

James 1:27
Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

Other verses throughout James discuss faith and works and examples of how both tie together are given in chapter 2. James shows that providing for those in need is an example of how faith and works come together, and this example goes back to the gleaning mentioned in Leviticus 23:22.

James 2:14:17
What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

Going back to the book of Acts in chapter 5 is the story of Ananias and his wife Sapphira who sold a possession. They were deceitful about giving and in the end their lives were taken by the Holy Spirit because they withheld part of the selling price. The passage suggests they had their lives taken by the Holy Spirit because they shared with others how much they received for the sale of their possession and that they stated that they sold this possession solely for distribution to those in need. The withholding of part of the sales price could have been a deliberate attempt to deceive the brethren by pretending to donate more than they actually were donating, or like Lot�s wife, after they decided to do this, they had second thoughts, what today would be called buyer�s remorse. Whatever the reason, they had their lives taken. I take from this story that God does not approve of false acts of charity.

Even though it appears near the end of the New Testament, the Epistle of James was the first Epistle to be written, and James 1:27 provides insight into how the church saw itself. Founded on Pentecost with the arrival of the Holy Spirit, the early church helped those in need, by sharing those extra possessions and goods in much the same way the Israelites were commanded to leave the corners of their field for gleaning purposes. So on Pentecost, let us rejoice that we have the Holy Spirit, and let us share with those in need those extra possessions and goods we no longer need!

All verses are from the King James Version.
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