Pentecost in the Bible

Pentecost was one of the three required Jewish holidays each year. Every male Jew living within twenty miles of Jerusalem had to go to the city at that time. However, thousands of other Jews also came from all over. Everyone got the day off for Pentecost.

Pentecost means fiftieth. It came fifty days after the celebration of Passover. Pentecost commemorated the day when Moses received the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai, which many believe to have come fifty days after the Israelites left Egypt.

Pentecost was also the Jewish equivalent of Thanksgiving Day. It came at the end of the harvest season and was sometimes called the Feast of Harvest or the Feast of Weeks. The harvest began at Passover and lasted for fifty days. In this part of the world, the weather was often better for traveling in June for Pentecost than in April for Passover.

Pentecost is also important because it's the time the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples while they waited in Jerusalem as Jesus had instructed. Because of the indwelling and working of the Holy Spirit, Peter spoke to a crowd and had at least 3,000 converts that day. Can you imagine the excitement of that?

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