Pentecost; Promise and Fulfillment (Lev.23; Acts 2) ~ 20260524~ Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org
2026 05/24 Pentecost; Promise and Fulfillment [Leviticus 23; Acts 2];Audio available at: http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20260524_pentecost.mp3
Today is a really important day for the church; today we celebrate the birthday of the church. No, I’m not talking about Ephraim Church of the Bible; I’m talking about THE Church, Jesus’ church, of which we are a tiny part. He said in Matthew 16 “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Here we are, more than 2,000 years later, on the other side of the planet, at the ends of the earth, and the gates of hell are still not prevailing over Jesus’ church.
We’ve been walking with the people of Israel through the wilderness in our study through the book of Numbers, and I’d like to make some connections and give some background on Pentecost to help us see and appreciate this holy day. Pentecost is a Greek word that means ‘fifty’, for the feast of Weeks or Firstfruits, originally mentioned by God in Exodus 23 and 34, and the detailed instructions are given in Leviticus 23.
Passover – Unleavened Bread – Firstfruits – Weeks
Leviticus 23:4-5 give instructions for the LORD’s Passover, on the fourteenth day of the first month, commemorating that first Passover when God set his people free from Egypt. Verses 6-8 give instructions for the feast of unleavened bread, which began the day after the Passover, when Israel was to eat unleavened bread for seven days, remembering the haste with which they left Egypt. Verses 9-14 instruct the offering of firstfruits of the early barley harvest on the Sunday during that feast of unleavened bread. Then in verses 15-21 describe counting seven weeks or fifty days from that early firstfruits offering to the seventh Sunday, the feast of Weeks or Firtstfruits of the wheat harvest.
So Pentecost, or the feast of weeks, is inextricably connected with Passover. 1 Corinthians 5:7 says
1 Corinthians 5:7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.
50 days ago (or 7 weeks ago), we celebrated Resurrection Sunday, and three days before that, Good Friday, the day Jesus was crucified as our Passover Lamb. 1 Corinthians 15:20 says
1 Corinthians 15:20 ...Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
40 Days Resurrection to Ascension
Now here we are, 50 days after Easter, celebrating Pentecost. Remember back to Good Friday and Easter Sunday? That feels like a long time ago. The good news message we believe and proclaim is that Christ died for our sins, was buried, was raised on the third day, appeared to many, and ascended to the right hand of his Father in glory. I don’t know about you, but I tend to compress those events together; death, burial, resurrection, ascension. I know that Jesus died on a Friday, was buried before sunset Friday night when the Sabbath began, and was raised early Sunday morning. I know he appeared to the women, and to the disciples, and a week later to the disciples with Thomas. And Luke records:
Luke 24:50 Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. 51 While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. 52 And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy,
Luke seems to make it sound like the ascension followed rather quickly after the resurrection. But if we continue on to Luke’s second volume, what we know as the book of Acts, we read this:
Acts 1:1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
Forty days. He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days, spending time with his disciples, teaching them. How do we know the gospels are accurate? How do we know that the disciples, who seemed clueless during the time Jesus was with them, got it right? How do we know that we can trust what they wrote? One reason is this, that Jesus spent 40 days with them, teaching them. 40 days to ask questions, to reminisce, to remember, 40 days for the lights to turn on as they finally began to get what he meant by so many of the things that he said. In Acts 10, Peter preached the good news of peace through Jesus Christ who is Lord of all:
Acts 10:39 ...They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, 40 but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, 41 not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.
We ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. In Acts 13, Paul proclaimed the message of salvation in Jesus, crucified, buried, raised,
Acts 13:31 and for many days he appeared to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people.
For many days. Jesus appeared to his disciples ‘for many days’. Luke quantifies this as 40 days.
We get a snapshot of this in Luke 24 with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, where Jesus listened to their confusion, and then taught them:
Luke 24:26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
Jesus gave them an Old Testament Bible study showing them that all the Scriptures pointed to him!
We are given some more snapshots in John’s gospel; After the accounts of Jesus’ interactions with the women who came to the tomb, and with his disciples, and then a week later with Thomas, John writes
John 20:30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
And then John gives us another snapshot of Jesus’ interaction with his disciples in Galilee by the sea.
Paul reminds us of the gospel in 1 Corinthians 15; that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, was buried, was raised,
1 Corinthians 15:5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.
Wait For the Promise of the Father (Luke 24; Acts 1)
These appearances took place over 40 days. But there was more. In Luke 24, Jesus
Luke 24:44 Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
And in the next verses, he ascended. After 40 days of spending time with his disciples, teaching them, opening their minds to understand the Scriptures, before he ascended, he told them to wait. I am about to send you on mission to the nations, but wait. Stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high. Luke recaps in Acts 1
Acts 1:1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. 4 And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” 6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.
Jesus spent 40 days with them, and before he ascended, “while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father”; “you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses…” 40 days after his firstfruits resurrection, he ascended to the Father, and he commanded his disciples to wait. 10 days later, 50 days after the resurrection, on Pentecost Sunday,
Acts 2:1 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Wait until you receive the promise of the Father; Jesus had taught his disciples in John 14-16 of the promised Helper who had dwelt with them and would then live in them,
John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
Exodus – Pentecost Parallels
If we jump back to Exodus, we see a lot of similarities between the origin of the feasts and their fulfillment.
Israelite and Egyptian were both in danger until the Passover lamb was killed, the blood applied to the homes of those who would be protected from the wrath of God. God saved his people from his own judgment, and delivered them out of slavery, brought them to the mountain, where he entered into a covenant with them and took them to be his people. Some time later, they were gathered at the foot of Sinai experiencing the thunder and lightning, fire and smoke and thick darkness of God’s holy presence as he revealed to them his holy law.
Both Israel at Sinai and the followers of Jesus in the upper room in Jerusalem were newly redeemed people, redeemed by the blood of the lamb; Israel by thousands of literal lambs whose blood was applied to the doors of their dwellings; the disciples by the blood of the spotless Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (Jn.1:29; 1Pet.1:18-19).
Moses, the mediator of the Old Covenant, went up on the mountain alone, away from the people to meet with God for 40 days, insulating the people from God’s holy presence (Ex.24:18). But Jesus, mediator of a better covenant (Heb.8:6), spent 40 days with his followers, God with us (Mt.1:23; Jn.1:14), teaching them, instructing them, eating with them, spending time with them.
In both, God’s presence was made known through fire; fire and thick darkness on the mountain, from which the people fled in terror, then a pillar of fire and cloud descending on the Tabernacle, again separated from the people by the tabernacle courts and the priests and Levites camped around the tabernacle. But the fire of God’s presence came down on each one of Jesus’ followers, setting them apart as God’s temple, the place where his glory now dwells.
1 Corinthians 3:16 Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?
Both Israel and Jesus’ followers entered into a covenant; Israel entered into the Old Covenant, which they failed to keep, and their dead bodies fell in the wilderness (Heb.3:17). Jesus made a new covenant in his blood (Lk.22:20). The old covenant was written on tablets of stone; the new on tablets of human hearts (2Cor.3:3); the old covenant letter kills, but the New Covenant gift of the Holy Spirit gives life (2Cor.3:6). No longer an outward standard against which we are measured and found wanting, but inward Holy Spirit transformation, by which we are made perfect forever (Heb.7:18-19).
This is the promise of the Father, the New Covenant transformation of the heart by the Spirit of the living God. Ezekiel 36 says:
Ezekiel 36:25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. 28 You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.
Jeremiah 31 says:
Jeremiah 31:31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
John the baptizer said:
Matthew 3:11 “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
This is the New Covenant blessing we now enjoy;
Ephesians 1:13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
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2026.05.24 Sermon Notes
Pentecost; Promise and Fulfillment
I will build my church
Matthew 16:18
Passover and Pentecost
Leviticus 23:4-5; Passover 14th day of 1st month (1Cor.5:7)
Leviticus 23:6-8; Feast of Unleavened Bread 15th - 21st of 1st month
Leviticus 23:9-14; Firstfruits Sunday during Unleavened Bread (1Cor.15:20)
Leviticus 23:15-21; Weeks 7 weeks (50 days) after Firstfruits
Jesus spent 40 days with his disciples after his resurrection
Luke 24:26-27, 50-52; Acts 1:1-3; 10:39-41; 13:31; John 20:30-31; 1 Corinthians 15:5-7
Wait for the promise of the Father
Luke 24:44-49; Acts 1:1-9; 2:1-4; John 14-16
Pentecost Parallels:
Promise……………………………………….Fulfillment
……….redeemed; blood of lamb protects from wrath
Exodus 12:13,23……………………………...John 1:29; 1 Peter 1:18-19
………..mediator protects from / brings God’s presence
Exodus 24:18; Deut. 18:16…………………...Matthew 1:23; John 1:14
………...God’s presence displayed through fire
Deuteronomy 5:23-27; Lev.9:24…………....Acts 2:3; 1 Corinthians 3:16
tablets of stone……………………………….tablets of human hearts
……………………..2 Corinthians 3:3
kills…………………………………………...gives life
Hebrews 3:17; 2 Corinthians 3:6…………….Hebrews 7:18-19
outward standard……………………………..inward transformation
Ezekiel 36:25-28; Jeremiah 31:31-34; Matt. 3:11; Ephesians 1:13-14
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Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org