Day of Pentecost.
Leviticus 23 Verses 15-21
Introduction
The Bible is a remarkable book made up of 66 books in two major divisions. Both Old and New Testaments are equally and totally inspired by God. The apostle Paul wrote " For whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that we may have hope through endurance and through the encouragement from the Scriptures. " Romans 15:4. One of the things written "in the past" is the record of the feasts of Israel. Recorded in Leviticus 23 they are called "the feasts of the Lord" These seven feasts comprise a sacred calendar of redemption. Paul declares in Colossians 2:17 "(they) are the shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ." They are a record in picture form of God's dealing with man from the death of Christ to His millennial kingdom.
God introduced the Seven Feasts of Israel as the children of Israel were encamped at Mount Sinai. Although these seven holidays are referred to in several places in the Bible, it is only in Leviticus 23 that all seven holidays are listed in chronological order. They are called "the feasts of the Lord" which simply means that they were instituted by the Lord Himself, a fact that lends them much solemnity and importance. They were “holy convocations” that took place at "appointed times".
Perhaps one of the most fascinating Biblical studies is the historic and prophetic significance of these special days. While believers are not required to keep these feasts, every believer should be familiar with them, as they not only celebrate a historical event in Israel's past but are, at the same time, a prophecy or a "type" of future events.
What is "a type"
In theology, a “type” is a special picture or symbol which God designs and places at a certain time in history which points forward to a larger or ultimate fulfillment at a later time in history. In relationship to our present time, this later time could now be in the past or still in the future.
The person, object or event that is foreshadowed, symbolized, represented by or identified with an earlier type (the fulfillment) is called an “antitype” of the original "type". Christ is the ultimate fulfillment of most of the OT shadows,
God’s plan of salvation for mankind is summed up in these feasts, which were related to Israel's agricultural seasons, and fall into three clusters. The Spring and Summer Feasts typify the inauguration of redemption, while the Fall Feasts its consummation.
The first three feasts Passover, Unleavened Bread, and First Fruits occur in rapid succession in the spring of the year over a period of eight days. They came to be referred to collectively as "Passover."
The fourth feast, Harvest, occurs fifty days later, at the beginning of the summer. By New Testament times this feast had come to be known by its Greek name, Pentecost, a word meaning fifty.
The last three feasts Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles extend over a period of twenty-one days in the fall of the year.
The first four feasts have already been fulfilled, the first two by Jesus Christ on the actual feast days according to the Hebrew calendar. He was sacrificed on Passover, and resurrected on the Feast of First Fruits. The third Feast of Unleavened Bread carried great significance in light of His sacrifice, while the Fourth Feast Shavuot, or the Festival of Weeks was again fulfilled on the exact day on what we now call Pentecost.
The Feasts are beautiful shadow pictures of God’s redemptive work through His Son.
It is important to note that the Feasts that symbolize a sequence of events, were given by God in a set chronological order. Therefore the events that they symbolize will take place in the same exact order. In modern times there are many interpretations of the Feasts that jump backwards and forwards between them in an effort to make them fit into a preconceived end time factor . What we need to do is make the order of the Feasts our guideline to coming events, instead of scrambling them to fit our ideas.
Israel had been under the tyranny of Egyptian bondage. Their suffering was a prelude for what God was going to do in delivering them. The same is true with our redemption in Christ. Man's disobedience had brought bondage, sin and ruin to the entire human race. But God in a
great covenant of Grace established "before the foundation of the world" determined to rescue this sinful people out of that bondage and bring them to Himself.
The 7 feasts mentioned in Leviticus 23 records the calendar of God's Redemption in typology.
Feast of Pentecost.
Pentecost was one of the Jewish feast days. Only they didn't call it Pentecost. That's the Greek name. The Jews called it the Feast of Harvest or the Feast of Weeks. It is mentioned four places in the first five books—in Exodus 23:16; Leviticus 23:15-22; Numbers 28:26-31 and Deuteronomy 16:9-12. It was the celebration of the beginning of the early weeks of harvest. In Palestine there were two harvests each year. The early harvest came during the months of May and June; the final harvest came in the Fall. Pentecost was the celebration of the beginning of the early wheat harvest, which meant that Pentecost always fell sometime during the middle of the month of May or sometimes in early June.
There were several festivals, celebrations, or observances that took place before Pentecost. There was Passover, there was Unleavened Bread, and there was the Feast of Firstfruits. The Feast of Firstfruits was the celebration of the beginning of the barley harvest.
Here's the way you figured out the date of Pentecost. According to the Old Testament, you would go to the day of the celebration of Firstfruits, and beginning with that day, you would count off 50 days. The fiftieth day would be the Day of Pentecost. So Firstfruits is the beginning of the barley harvest and Pentecost the celebration of the beginning of the wheat harvest. Since it was always 50 days after Firstfruits, and since 50 days equals seven weeks, it always came a "week of weeks" later. Therefore, they either called it the Feast of Harvest or the Feast of Weeks.
There are three things you need to know about Pentecost that will help you understand Acts 2.
1. Pentecost was a pilgrim festival. That meant that according to Jewish Law, all the adult Jewish men would come from wherever they were living to Jerusalem and personally be in attendance during this celebration.
2. Pentecost was a holiday. No servile work was to be done.
3. The Feast of Weeks is the second of the three major Jewish festivals - the other two are Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles . It is mandatory for all adult males to travel to the sanctuary to take part.
4. There were certain celebrations and sacrifices and offerings which were prescribed in the Law for the day of Pentecost. On Pentecost, the High Priest was to take two loaves of freshly baked wheat bread made of fine flour and yeast and offer them before the Lord. The wheat bread was made from the newly harvested wheat.(Leviticus 23:15-17 RSV)
Why two loaves? The answer is found in Ephesians 2: 11-22. The two loaves stand for the Jew and the Gentile. Two loaves but one offering. So we find that God's plan was that the Jew and Gentile will worship the Lord as one body. It is important to remember the deep division that existed between the Jew and the Gentile at that time. The Jews despised the Gentiles as being outside the covenants of God, and the Gentiles despised the Jews for their spiritual arrogance and their claim to be the only people that God loved. True the Gentiles were excluded from the covenants of Israel, looked upon as foreigners to the promises, and were without hope and without God. They were Chriistless, hopeless, and Godless. Eph 2: 12
And what happened on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2?
A new body was formed, the body called the Church, made up no longer simply of Jews alone but, as Peter announced, of Jews and Gentiles -- two loaves baked with leaven. This was not the old Judaism reformed but a totally new entity - a brand new creation.
In the Jerusalem temple, the God-fearing gentiles were allowed to worship in the court of the gentiles. This was the place the merchandisers had taken over to change money and sell animals, and that is what made Jesus so angry. This place had been designated a place of prayer for the ‘nations’,
meaning non-Jews, and by Jesus' own declaration, the Jews had turned it into a den of thieves. They had effectively squeezed the gentiles out of the place of prayer God had reserved for them.
In any case, even though they could worship there, they were not allowed to go further. There was a sign over the door going into the inner court where the Jews worshiped, warning that any gentile passing through would be put to death.
There was a dividing wall. Two groups, worshiping one God, the same God, separated not only by a real physical wall; but also a wall of prejudice and despising; a wall of national segregation and loathing.
In Eph.2:14 Paul tells us that Christ has made peace between the two groups, Jew and Gentile, by breaking down the barrier of the dividing wall. This is more than a simple analogy.
How does God achieve lasting peace between Jew and Gentile?
By destroying the wall, the barrier that separated the two. And abolishing the ceremonial law that separated the two. He did not make the Jew a Gentile or the Gentile a Jew. But by creating a new man out the two And reconciling both Jew and Gentile to Himself. Eph. 2:15.
How did He do this?
1. By bringing the Gentiles who were far away brought near through the Blood of Christ.
2. By breaking down the barrier that existed between the two - by being our Peace. History shows that there were many attempts to bring about peace between hostile factions. But the peace treaties do not last long. The heart of peace is not a "it" but a "He" . God is our peace. Not by reconstruction of the human society but by an entirely new society as Paul shows in his epistle.
The preaching of this peace applied to both Jew (who were near) and the Gentile (who were far) As each group embraced the good news of the Gospel they found a two fold unity - one with God and one with each other. One and the same spirit was at work in both groups giving both groups access to God. And they became the dwelling place "temple" where God lives by His Spirit permanently. Eph 2: 22.
This was the mystery hidden through the ages.
A "mystery" in scripture is not something that cannot be understood, but something that is understood only by those whom the Spirit enlightens. And the mystery is that through the Gospel the Gentiles are 'heirs together with Israel , members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise of Christ Jesus." Eph. 3:6.
This is what Pentecost means. The birth of the new entity called the Church where the Jew and the Gentile, washed in the "blood of the Lamb" are made ”one new man " Eph2:15.
Three unusual things happened on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2: 1-4) -
(a) the rushing wind,
(b) the tongues of fire and
(c) the speaking in tongues.
These three things are what may be called "authenticating signs" They draw our attention to some-thing important — the coming down of the Holy Spirit as promised in the scriptures and the birth of the Church.
When we look back to 1 Samuel 10 verses 1- 7 we find something similar. Samuel anointed Saul as king and then tells him:- " Today when you leave me, you’ll find two men at Rachel’s Grave at Zelzah in the land of Benjamin. They will say to you, ‘The donkeys you went looking for have been found, and now your father has stopped being concerned about the donkeys and is worried about you, asking: What should I do about my son? ’
“You will proceed from there until you come to the oak of Tabor. Three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there, one bringing three goats, one bringing three loaves of bread, and one bringing a skin of wine. They will ask how you are and give you two loaves of bread, which you will accept from them.
“After that you will come to the Hill of God where there are Philistine garrisons. When you arrive at the city, you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place prophesying. They will be preceded by harps, tambourines, flutes, and lyres. The Spirit of the LORD will control you, you will prophesy with them, and you will be transformed into a different person." 1 Sam 10: 2-6.
Samuel gives Saul three signs. They are:-
1. The information that the donkeys had been found and his father was now worried about Saul.
2. Three men bringing food and offering Saul some of this food.
and 3. He will meet a group of prophets and the Spirit of the Lord will come upon him and transform him.
These were signs to assure him that he was chosen by the Lord to be the King of Israel. He was also told : in verse 7:
" When these signs have happened to you, do whatever your circumstances require because God is with you."
If you focus on the signs, you miss the whole point. The signs were pointing to the real event. Here in 1 Sam 10 to the fact that Saul was now chosen by the Lord and anointed as King of Israel and in Acts 2 the coming of the Holy Spirit and that a new entity was born as prophesied in Joel 2:28-31 and Jeremiah 31: 31-34
If we go back the original feast in Leviticus 23 we find that the loaves of bread were baked with leaven. Why leaven?
The heart of this feast was these two loaves, baked with leaven. Baking is accomplished by heat, by fire. And in the Scriptures fire always symbolizes judgment and the presence of the Spirit. Leaven is a picture of the working of evil in our lives. This was the only leavened offering made in the temple!
So we find something very interesting. We find two loaves of bread made of fine flour mixed with leaven, baked in the fire in other words born of the Spirit but tainted with sin (as leaven stands for sin) being offered on that Pentecost Day.
In the meal offering in the feast of Firstfruits, no leaven was allowed because no guilt and deceit can be found in the Lord Jesus. It is different , however, with His people. Although we are " set apart by the Spirit for obedience and for sprinkling with the blood of Jesus Christ " 1Peter 1:2 , yet , If we say, “We have no sin,” we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us."' 1John 1:8.
The church consists of both Jew and Gentile born of the Spirit but tainted with sin worshiping the Lord God . So the church as it exists today is beautifully symbolized by these two loaves -- Jews and Gentiles together -- filled with the Spirit, and still possessing sin within us. This was the beginning of the new work that God was going to do with his people.
Before the cross of Christ, mankind was divided into two groups: Jews and Gentiles. The Old and New Testaments both make very clear what caused this distinction.
(1) It was the covenants God had made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and with their descendants through Moses. These covenants were for Israel alone and separated her from all other nations on the face of the earth, making God's "chosen people" absolutely unique by her special relationship with the One who calls Himself "the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob" (Lev:20:24,26).
(2) Israel was also segregated from other peoples by the Mosaic law. The Law" abolished" ( in Eph:2 :15) was not the moral Law but the ceremonial law. Jesus, by His death on the cross, set aside the ceremonial law with all its rules and regulations. A new entity is designed, not by transforming a Jew into a Gentile or a Gentile into a Jew but by creating a new being born of the Spirit . The Jew and the Gentile were on the same level at the foot of Christ's cross.
and (3) The Temple in Jerusalem. (vv. 14-16). The Temple in Jerusalem was itself a structure of several barriers. Outside the Temple there was a yard, called the court of the Gentiles, and a wall. On the wall at intervals was placed a warning for a Gentile not to enter further on the penalty of death. On the other side of that wall, the next court was reserved for Jewish women. Another barrier kept them from going any further in. Inside that barrier only Jewish men were permitted, but only to find another barrier for the priests alone to enter. But even then, a final barrier existed where only the high priest could enter the sanctuary of the holy of holies, and that only once a year! How could there be peace as long as all these distinctions and barriers remained?
However, in God’s eternal plan and wisdom he made a way to eventually remove these barriers and allow full access to himself, not only for Jews but for Gentiles as well (vv. 13, 17-18).
First, the covenant-law given at Sinai was only temporary. At the cross, Jesus made full atonement for the sins of all humanity, therefore annulling in its entirety the old system of laws that marked divisions between Jews and Gentiles.
Second, God has called a new people to himself based on the promised new covenant. This new humanity would no longer be Jews or Gentiles but Christian believers. In other words, this was God’s plan for the reconciliation of both Jews and Gentiles into one new people in Christ.
And finally, Gentile believers need no longer occupy the outer court, nor women excluded from God’s presence, nor dependent on men who belonged to a priestly caste for an audience with Almighty God (vv. 19-22). Jesus Christ changed this forevermore! Believers both Jew and Gentile now have immediate and uninterrupted access through the blood of Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit. The veil in the temple was rent in two.
On Pentecost a new entity came into existence—the church that Jesus Christ promised He would build (Mt 16:18). As a result, there are now three divisions of mankind: Jews, Gentiles and the church. Paul tells us that we are to "Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God" (1 Cor:10:32). It is absolutely essential to understand that these three groups exist side by side in today's world, to distinguish between them, and to recognize that God deals with each differently.
On the Day of Pentecost of course only the Jews entered the Church. They found it difficult to accept the truth that the Gentile too would be part of what God was doing. God had to intervene to bring this to pass. Acts 9 records the conversion of Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus. He was told by the Lord that he was a chosen vessel to "...bear My name before the Gentiles" This was followed by Simon Peter's vision in Joppa in chapter 10. And the subsequent visit to Cornelius' house and the conversion of his household. As Paul says in Ephesians : " For He is our peace, who made both groups one and tore down the dividing wall of hostility In His flesh, He made of no effect the law consisting of commands and expressed in regulations, so that He might create in Himself one new man from the two, resulting in peace. He did this so that He might reconcile both to God in one body through the cross and put the hostility to death by it." Ephesians 2:14-16.
Paul says that the time when the Gentiles "would be fellow heirs , and one of the same body," Eph 3:6 is the " mystery, which from the beginning of the ages had been hidden in God." Ephesians 3:3-9.
A new concept of society had emerged. The new concept embraced everyone - both Jew and Gentile -who trusted the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation and saw all believers as one family of God in Jesus Christ. In this new society everyone who belongs to Jesus is a "fellow heir"
We shall go a little further. In Eph.2:19-22 Paul states ," So then you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone. The whole building, being put together by Him, grows into a holy sanctuary in the Lord. You also are being built together for God’s dwelling in the Spirit."
Believing Gentiles are on the very same footing as Jewish believers:
First, Gentiles as well as Jews are free from the law; the old covenant law is no longer binding on believers in Christ ( Eph. 2:14-15).
Second, Gentiles are co-heirs with believing Jews ( Eph.3:6a).
Third, through Christ both are made into one body (Eph. 3:6b).
And finally, believing Jews and Gentiles do not exist in two different covenants, but share equally in the one and same new covenant promise in Christ ( Eph. 2:15 ; 3: 6c).
THE MAIN TEMPLES OF SCRIPTURE
1. The Tabernacle in the Wilderness (Ex. 25:9; 27:8; Num. 8:4; Acts 7:44; Heb. 8:5; 9:23-24).
2. David, in his tribulation prepared for the house of the LORD. It was out of the battles & spoils of war that the treasures were gathered to build the Temple (2Sam. 8:11). God did not let King David build this first temple since he was a man of war 1 Chron. 28:3. He could not build the Temple but his son Solomon built it .
3. Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem (I Chron. 28:11-12, 19-20).
4.The second temple of Scripture is referred to as Zerubabbel's temple. It was rebuilt under the leadership of Zerubbabel (515 B.C.) when the Jews returned from the 70 years of Babylonian captivity Ezra 6:13-15 .
This second temple was renovated years later by King Herod -John 2:20. This is the temple we read so much about in the New Testament. For example, Jesus entered the temple as a youth and confounded the religious leaders with His wisdom - Luke 2:41-50. As an adult, He drove the money changers out of the temple -John 2:12-22. Satan took Him to the pinnacle of this temple to be tempted- Matt 4:5. The disciples called Christ's attention to the beauty of the temple - Matthew 24:1. The early church met in the courts of the temple -Acts 2:46. All of these passages are references to this second Jewish temple which was built under the leadership of Zerubbabel and renovated by Herod. This temple was ultimately destroyed by the Romans when they invaded Jerusalem in A.D. 70. Forty years before this invasion, Jesus predicted that this second temple would be destroyed - Matthew 24:2; Luke 19:41-43.
5. Every individual born again Christian is a living Temple of God in whom the Holy Spirit of God dwells I Cor. 6:19; 2 Cor. 6:16; Col. 1:27; 3:3. The Church corporately, as the spiritual Body of Christ, is the Temple of the Living God (Eph. 2:11, 22; I Cor. 3:16.)
When Paul talks of us being temples of the Holy Spirit, this is not an analogy he uses lightly. In his mind, or any orthodox Jewish mind, there are volumes being said when that reference is made.
God dwelt in the Old Testament temple. It was the place where He met with His people -.Exodus 25:8. He desired to be among them, as He now desires our fellowship as evidenced by His atoning work for us and regenerating and sanctifying work in us. In Exodus, the Lord summons Israel to be a "priestly kingdom" and a "holy nation" Exod 19:6. Further, the Lord proclaims his desire to pitch his tent (tabernacle) and live among his people Exod 25:8.
The Tabernacle was a holy place throughout. It was treated with great dignity and solemnity by the nation of Israel, and certainly by the Priests who served there, because they understood that this was where God and man met together.
All of the Tabernacle; the structure itself, the furnishings, the decor, the worship utensils, the veil of the inner sanctuary, every piece of it was a "type" or foreshadowing of Christ and what was to come in Him.
That was why God, when He gave Moses instructions for the building of it, warned, “See that you make them after the pattern for them, which was shown to you on the mountain.” (Ex 25:40)
All of it was representative of Christ’s atoning work and His office as our Merciful and Faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, and therefore all of it had to be prepared perfectly according to that plan, to be a perfect representation of what was to come.
Now, as God dwelt in the Holy of Holies of the ancient temple, Christ now lives in us, living temples of the Holy Spirit.
What does this mean - That we who are of God’s house are also His dwelling place. We are the mansions. We are His abode, by His choice. He dwelt in the Holy of Holies to be close to His people, and now He has made us the new Holy of Holies. We, who are of God’s household, are His place of dwelling.
Though the "church" is not mentioned in 2:19-22 this is the main thought behind the phrase "a holy temple in the Lord." The Ephesians had its temple to the goddess Diana and the Jews had its Temple in Jerusalem dedicated to the worship of the One True God. Paul now informs the Gentiles in Ephesus that the Christians too have a permanent temple of which Jesus Christ is the corner stone.(vs 22)
What does this mean in everyday life?
In I Corinthians 3:16,17 Paul is addressing a specific problem in the young Corinthian church. They were bickering over who was more important, boasting either that they were disciples of Paul or of Apollos, looking for esteem that comes from being connected with celebrities...well-known and admired men. Let’s read the verses:
“Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.”
So we see at least two things here.
(One,) rather than boasting of following a mere man, they should understand that they are God’s and His alone,
and (two) that they should be given over to His use in service for Him, just as the temple was entirely dedicated to worship and service in His name.
Next go to I Corinthians 6:18-20
“Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.”
Corinth had been, and was still at this time, a place where there were many temples to idol gods, and many immoral practices still being performed in the name of religion. There were temple prostitutes to whom the men would go under the pretense of worshiping fertility gods. There was much sacrifice being made to these demon gods, and the meat from those sacrifices was still being sold in the market place, which then raised some serious ethical questions for Christians.
Because many believers had recently come from these other religions and their practices, a lot of these practices were finding their way into the church. These baby believers had not yet learned the basics of their new faith, and were not seeing the harm in continuing in their old ways.
So Paul is teaching them that they are now to see themselves as temples of God’s Holy Spirit, and begin responding to life and the world around them accordingly.
Another passage you can read later, addressing these same issues, is II Corinthians 6:14-18, and it is a great passage that includes the wonderful promise, quoted by Paul from the Old Testament, that God would dwell in us and walk among us, and be our God and we would be His people. But it also comes with some exhortations to walk separately from this world, and I strongly urge you to look it up, read it and meditate upon it.
From the feast of Pentecost to the next feast is a time of harvest and the gathering and storing of the harvests. So it is in God's calendar. This period is also the time of harvest - but it is from all nations. Here is God's command to Israel concerning that period.
"And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field to its very border, nor shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest; you shall leave them for the poor and for the stranger: I am the LORD your God." (Leviticus 23:22 RSV)
Sandwiched between the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Trumpets is this single verse normally called the Law of Gleanings. This verse is a mirror of Lev. 19:19-22 and Deut. 24: 19-22.
Although ancient methods of harvesting were not as efficient as today, yet Leviticus 19:9-10, Lev. . 23:22 and Deut 24:19-22 instructs Isrealites to make them even less so.
First, they were to leave the margins of their grain fields unharvested. The width of this margin appears to be up to the owner to decide.
Second, they were not to pick up whatever produce fell to the ground. This would apply when a harvester grasped a bundle of stalks and cut them with the sickle, as well as when grapes fell from a cluster just cut from the vine.
Third, they were to harvest their vineyards just once, presumably taking only the ripe grapes so as to leave the later ripening ones for their poor and the aliens living among them. Other texts specify the widow and the orphan as members of this category. (Other biblical references to gleaning include Exod. 22:21-27; Deut. 24:19-21; Judg. 8:2; Ruth 2:17-23; Job 24:6; Isa. 17:5-6, 24:13; Jer. 6:9, 49:9; Obad. 1:5; Mic. 7:1.)
We might classify gleaning as an expression of compassion or charity, but according to Leviticus, al-lowing others to glean on the property is the fruit of holiness. Israel did it because God says, “I am the Lord your God” (Lev. 19:10). This was yet another way that God’s people were to be distinct from the surrounding nations. This highlights the distinction between charity and gleaning. In charity, peo-ple voluntarily give to others who are in need. This is a good and noble thing to do, but it is not what Leviticus is talking about. Gleaning is a process in which landowners obey the command of God to love their neighbors in sharing with them the blessings of the Lord. Unlike charity, it does not depend on the generosity of landowner. There are two primary commands in chapter 19:
(1) the command to be holy - Lev. 19:1-2.
and (2) to love one’s neighbor as one’s self
The holiness of God is demonstrated by His people as they love their neighbor. The term “neighbor,” has a wide range of meaning in this chapter:
• One’s neighbor is one’s fellow-countryman (v. 11, 17)
• One’s neighbor is alien, foreigner (v. 10, 32-33, 34)
• One’s neighbor is those who are weak and vulnerable (v. 10, 14)
• One’s neighbor is one’s enemy (v. 17-18)
By this time Israel was in the process of having its harvests stored into barns or vats as the case may be. They testified to the generosity of the God they worshipped. And now the poor, fatherless, and the alien also feasted on the bounty of this same God.
That is, after the day of Pentecost there was to be for a long period of time before the next feast . This period was an open door for the Gentiles to come in and feed on the richness of the fields of Israel. This is also the period of "gleanings" for the Jew. God in His goodness had made the har-vests of Israel overflow so that the poor, destitute and gentiles could enjoy the bounty of the Lord. This is what is happening now in a spiritual sense. Just as in the old order the Jew testified to the goodness and the generosity of God so also in the new order the "new man" represented by the Spirit born Jew and Gentile testified to the goodness and the generosity of God- Acts 1:8.
This is the meaning of Pentecost. The birth of the church consisting of the Jew and the Gentile born of the Spirit and worshipping the Lord as one holy body and testifying to the works of God. And the rest of the world is enjoying this blessing in a spiritual sense.
