· What Was Pentecost? (Acts 2:1)
o There were three important pilgrimage festivals that all Jewish men were supposed to come to Jerusalem to celebrate according to Deuteronomy 16:16.
- The Feast of Unleavened Bread (Passover)
- The Feast of Weeks (Pentecost)
- The Feast of Tabernacles/Booths
o Pentecost was a harvest festival that was celebrated at the end of the barley harvest and at beginning of the wheat harvest.
- Leviticus 23:15–16
· Pentecost means “Fiftieth,” and it was called this because of Leviticus 23:15–16 saying to count fifty days after the seventh sabbath.
· Pentecost took place 50 days after Passover.
o It was also associated with the giving of the Law/Old Covenant.
- “In the third month after the sons of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt…” Exodus 19:1
· The Israelites left Egypt the day after Passover, which was in the middle of the first month (Exodus 12:2,6), fifty days later would put them in the third month of the year.
- Exodus 19–20 describe God manifesting himself on Mount Sinai and giving the Israelites the Law.
· The Holy Spirit Given (Acts 2:2–4)
o There were three signs that the Holy Spirit had been poured out:
- Audible Sign: Violent, Rushing Wind
- Visible sign: Tongues of Fire
· Luke 3:16
· Fire is often associated with God’s presence:
o The burning bush in Exodus 3:2
o The pillar of fire by night in Exodus 13:21
o God is referred to as a consuming fire in Deuteronomy 4:24 and 9:3.
- Miraculous Sign: Speaking in Tongues
· Whenever “speaking in tongues” is mentioned in Acts, it means speaking in another known language.
o The followers of Jesus, who were filled with the Holy Spirit, were enabled to speak in all of the languages of the people who had come to celebrate Pentecost.

Application:
· When God wants to act or speak, He will, and there will be no ambiguity about it.
o The primary way that God speaks to us is through His Word, the Bible.
o We don’t have to look for signs, coincidences, feelings, etc…
o When God wants to communicate, He will, and there will be no doubt about it.

· The events of Pentecost were promised/prophesied in the Old Testament:
o Isaiah 44:3, Ezekiel 36:25–27, Jeremiah 31:31–34
· The Crowd Was Amazed (Acts 2:5–8)
o What sound did they hear in verse 6?
- The sound of violent rushing wind
o The crowd believed there was no way that Galileans could know all of these languages.
· Who was in the Crowd? (Acts 2:9–11)
o The people from this list, we are told, were both Jews and proselytes.
- Jewish people who lived all around the world.
- Proselytes were Gentiles who had converted to Judaism by becoming circumcised, going through a ceremonial baptism, and offering sacrifices.
· What Does This Mean? (Acts 2:12)
o What significance does this strange/miraculous event have?
- A miracle is a special act of God that interrupts the natural course of events.
· The purpose of miracles is to communicate.
· God uses miracles to draw attention to his spokesmen.
- God did this miracle at Pentecost in order to draw attention to his messengers.
· Disciples Drunk? (Acts 2:13)
o Skeptics in the crowd claimed that the disciple’s drunkenness explains this miracle.
- It is amazing that people present at Pentecost missed what God was doing.
· People who witness miraculous events of God can still reject it/rationalize it and remain skeptical.
· Why Did the Spirit Come at Pentecost?
o Leviticus 23:17
- The two leavened loaves represent Jews and Gentiles.
- The Harvest had come at the feast celebrating the harvest.
· Matthew 9:37–38
o Pentecost was an annual celebration of the giving of the Old Covenant, and with the coming of the Holy Spirit, it was now an annual celebration of the giving of the New Covenant.
· The First Fruits
o 1 Corinthians 15:20–23
o Romans 8:23