A Brief History of Pentecost
Celebrating the Day of Pentecost at a Pentecostal church seems like a logical thing to do, but what does this day mean, and where did it come from? A short dive into the history of this important spiritual holiday makes its significance even more personal to us today.
With tomorrow being Pentecost Sunday, let’s dive into the background of this significant celebration that happens every year at Parkway Church and in other communities of believers around the world!
THE BIBLICAL FEASTS AND THEIR RELEVANCE IN PENTECOST
There are three feasts relevant to the modern celebration of the Day of Pentecost:
The Feast of First Fruits
The Feast of Weeks, later called the Feast of Pentecost
The Year of Jubilee
THE FEASTS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
The Book of Leviticus lists these feasts among many other celebrations. Leviticus 23 notes that the purpose of the first two feasts was to honor God for providing food for the year.
The Feast of First Fruits required the Israelites to give a portion of their early harvest as an act of faith, showing their trust that God would provide enough to feed everyone for the year.
The second component, the Feast of Weeks (which would later be called the Feast of Pentecost), was 50 days after the Feast of First Fruits. This seven-day event required all Israelite men to sacrifice from their harvest in response to what God had given their families.
The Year of Jubilee is described in Leviticus 25. Every 50 years, the Israelites were to spend the entire year celebrating the goodness of God. The land was to lie fallow and rest. Debtors were to be released of their debts. Everyone was to live off of the fruits of their previous labor and not work.
THE FEASTS AND THE MINISTRY OF JESUS
These feasts were long established in Hebrew culture by the time of Jesus. In fact, by this point in history, it was customary for Jewish men from all over the world to convene in Jerusalem. It is worth noting that the crucifixion of Jesus happened at the same time as the Feast of First Fruits. He was the sacrifice in faith for what was to come. Further, the year of the Crucifixion was also a Jubilee Year, when everyone would be free of their debts. The correlation between the ultimate sacrifice and the release of the debt of sin is easy to identify.
Before His ascension, Jesus gave a promise to the disciples as recorded in Acts:
“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
THE DAY OF PENTECOST IN THE BOOK OF ACTS
This promise was fulfilled "when the day of Pentecost was fully come," (Acts 2:1) which means that the Feast of Weeks (the celebration of provision) had fully arrived. Chapter 2 of Acts details the miraculous and shocking event where all those gathered began to speak fluently in other languages "as the Spirit gave them utterance" (Acts 2:4).
Another element of the importance of God's timing for this miracle is seen in Acts 2:5-12 where it's noted that men from all around the world heard their native languages spoken by the disciples. All the people around them were shocked to hear this as it was evident that the disciples were not likely educated or men, yet they all spoke clearly in other languages.
When some began to mock the disciples because they thought they were drunk, Peter explained to them that what they were seeing was the fulfillment of the promise of God from the Book of Joel:
“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh.”
This familiar promise was given to Israel at a time of great hardship. It spoke of a time when Israel would be refreshed.
A 1st CENTURY CALL TO REPENTANCE
When the crowd realized they were seeing a great miracle, they asked how they could receive this promise.
Peter gave a succinct response:
“Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.”
Many of those who heard Peter believed, were baptized, and also filled with the Spirit. The Bible records that 3,000 people were born again of the water and the Spirit on that day!
This excitement fueled church growth, but persecution also grew. Believers were scattered far and wide, and the message of the Day of Pentecost became lost in tradition, religiosity, and disbelief.
Although there were always those who preached this born-again message, it is challenging to find accurate reports.
AZUZA STREET: A 20TH-CENTURY REVIVAL
That is until the early 1900s when believers began to earnestly seek this gift again. It all began again on New Year's Day of 1901 when Agnes Ozman is recorded as speaking in another language during a prayer meeting in Topeka, Kansas.
After that, the Pentecostal experience began to spread across the United States. In 1906, William Seymour began a revival service in Los Angeles, California at a small storefront church on Azusa Street. For the next several years, thousands of people would receive their own personal Pentecostal experience evidenced by speaking in other languages – just like in the Book of Acts. This was the jumping-off point of the modern Pentecostal movement.
A GIFT THAT’S STILL AVAILABLE TODAY
No longer bound to a required, calendared feast, Pentecost can be experienced any day of the week. In modern vernacular, we call this “receiving the baptism of the Holy Ghost and speaking in other tongues.: It is a personal gift given by God to anyone who has repented (turned away) from their sins and asked God to forgive them. Often it happens after baptism by water.
HOW PARKWAY CELEBRATES THE DAY OF PENTECOST
The community of Parkway Church celebrates Pentecost Sunday in recognition of all that God has done for us individually and collectively. This year we commemorate this promise with tomorrow’s Pentecost Sunday, where we are expecting miracles of new birth, healing, and restoration for everyone who needs them.
This day will be a day of freedom from sin, healing of heart and body, and hope to overcome life's challenges… the biblical Pentecostal promise realized for all – today!