What Is Pentecost in the Bible & Why Is It Important?

What is Pentecost in the Bible? Most people associate it with the New Testament: the day God poured out his Holy Spirit on the Jerusalem church in the Upper Room, enabling his disciples to perform incredible acts—like healings, speaking in tongues, prophesying, and inspired preaching—as told in Acts 2:1–4.

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Fulfillment of Jesus’ Promises

Jesus had promised his disciples a “baptism in the Holy Spirit” (Acts 1:5, 8), that he would send them a “Helper” who would “teach [them] all things” (John 14:26), and that he would not leave the disciples “as orphans” (John 14:18). That day, as about 120 disciples huddled in a room in Jerusalem, those promises were fulfilled.

The Old Testament Background: The Feast of Weeks

However, Acts 2 was not the first celebration of Pentecost. In fact, that first Pentecost occurred on the ancient Jewish holiday known as the Feast of Weeks. The word “Pentecost” (from the Greek word pentēkostē, meaning “fiftieth”) comes from the Greek name for a harvest festival that is also known as the “Feast of Weeks.”

This unique feast occurred 7 weeks after Passover (49 days), culminating with the actual feast on day 50 (hence, the New Testament term “Pentecost”). It’s also called the Day of the Firstfruits, the Feast of Harvest, or in Hebrew (and in Israel today), Shavuot (which means “weeks”). Pentecost was the last spring feast on the Hebrew calendar, marking the end of the barley harvest and the start of the wheat harvest (usually around June).

The Significance of Appointed Times

Understanding this feast and God’s initiation of it in the Old Testament helps us to comprehend the magnitude of what happened that day when the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples—the day God’s church began. In Hebrew, the word for “feast” is mo’ed, which means “appointed time, place, or meeting.”

God initiated these “feasts” in Leviticus 23: “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, these are the appointed feasts of the Lord that you shall proclaim as holy convocations; they are my appointed feasts.”

A Shadow of Things to Come

Paul referenced these festivals in Colossians 2:16–17: “Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.”

According to Paul, these feasts are not the reality but the shadow that points to and finds its fulfillment in Christ. Picture the shadow of a tree with clearly defined branches. The shadow only gives an idea of what the tree looks like, smells like, feels like. It’s the tree itself that has substance. All seven feasts merely point to the reality found in Christ.

Summary of the Appointed Feasts

• Spring Feasts: Sabbath, Passover, the Feast of Firstfruits, and the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost).
• Fall Feasts: The Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Booths (or “Tabernacles”).

Biblical Observance and Pilgrimage

Of the seven feasts, the Feast of Weeks is one of three that God commanded Israel to celebrate at the temple after it was established in Jerusalem and so was a “pilgrimage” feast. In Jesus’ day, Jews who didn’t live in or near Jerusalem often had to travel long distances to keep the festival according to God’s instruction.

The details about the Feast of Weeks are found in Leviticus 23:15–21: “You shall count seven full weeks from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering. You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath. Then you shall present a grain offering of new grain to the Lord. You shall bring from your dwelling places two loaves of bread to be waved, made of two tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour, and they shall be baked with leave...”