The Feast of Weeks

We have now reached the halfway point in our study on the seven Jewish feasts and how Christ fulfills them. Today, we will be discussing the second of the “solemn feasts”, the Feast of Weeks. This feast is also called Pentecost since it takes place exactly 50 days after the Feast of Firstfruits.

This feast is another that required all Jewish males to travel to Jerusalem, “16 “Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God at the place which He chooses: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Booths; and they are not to appear before the Lord empty-handed.” Deuteronomy 16:16. Like the Feast of Firstfruits that we discussed last week, the Jews were required to attend the feast and offer sacrifices. “16 You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall present a new grain offering to the Lord. 17 You shall bring in from your dwelling places two loaves of bread as a wave offering, made of two-tenths of an ephah; they shall be of a fine flour, baked with leaven as first fruits to the Lord.” Leviticus 23:16-17. However, this feast offers something unique. It is the first feast that we see the Jewish people are required to leave some of the harvest for the poor and strangers. “22 ‘When you reap the harvest of your land, moreover, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field nor gather the gleaning of your harvest; you are to leave them for the needy and the stranger. I am the Lord your God.’” Leviticus 23:22.

So how does this feast show God’s redemptive plan for all peoples through Jesus Christ? As we saw when we studied the Passover Feast, Jesus was our Passover lamb. We have also seen that He completed the Feast of Firstfruits by His resurrection. Jesus completed the Feast of Weeks when He sent the Holy Spirit to the newfound church 50 days after His resurrection. With the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, God is creating a spiritual harvest of all those who have and will place their faith in Him.

Seek the truth and encourage one another,

Alex