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WHYCHRISTIANS KEEP
WHITSUNDAY
(THE
DAY OF
PENTECOST)
W
hitsunday," says the
En–
cyclopaedia Britannica,
is
one of the three majo r
festivals of the Chri stian Church"
(article " Whit s und ay," 1973
edition).
But you will never find it by tha t
name in the Bi ble. lnstead. you will
read of Christians observing " Pente–
cos t," a term derived from the
Greek language. And in the Old
Testament, where Hebrew was the
original language. you wi ll find it
variously called the "feast of first
fruits," "feast of harvest." and "feast
ofweeks."
All of these terms refer to the
same festival - origina lly taught by
Moses to Israel, and observed by the
people of God ever since. Each
name is descriptivc of sorne phase of
its observance, and each of these
terms is connected with a different
aspect of the meaning of this deeply
mean ingful day.
Whitsunday
"Wh itsunday," pos tbiblica l and
English, is of course a la te te rm and
biblically nonsignificant. l t has ref–
erence to the practice of the newly
baptized wearing special gleaming
white garments on this day, which
they fe lt for the first time worthy to
wear. (See Revelation 19:8 for the
spi ritua l symbolism ofthis.) The tra–
dition of Whitsunday does illustrate
the great importance (i t is empha–
sized in the Bible) of the indwelling
work of the Holy Spirit of God for
the Ch urch. For the Holy Spirit's
function is to reproduce the spotless
works and character of God in man.
Th e Spirit was first made gene rally
avai lable to humani ty on the day of
Pen tecost, A. D. 31.
28
by
Lawson C. Briggs
Let's explore the biblical basis for
Pentecost observance.
Pentecost
"Pentecost" is a Greek term mean–
ing " fiJtieth. "
It
has noth ing to do
wi th supposed or a lleged modcrn
charismatic manifestations. lt does
not signify a style o r degree of
Christianity. lt does, however, refer
to the way by which the date of the
fes tival rnust be set, and links it to
preceding episodes
in
the plan of
salva tion represented by the Pass–
over and the Days of Unleavened
Bread.
Pentecost, continues the
Encyclo–
paedia Britannica,
is "celebra ted on
the Sunday tha t marks the 50th day
after Easter, to commemorate the
descent of the Ho ly Spirit on the
di sciples following J esus' passion,
resurrection and ascension (Acts
2).... " One correction needs to be
made to this statement: The fifty
days should be counted not from
Easter, but from the first Sunday
following the Passover ( Lev. 23: 15).
On that Sunday certain Old T esta–
ment rituals were perfo rmed which
prefigured the first day of thc rc–
stored life of the resurrected J esus
Christ. Symbolically represented
were His presenting Himself before
God the Fa ther and His acceptance
there as the very first to be fully
reborn from the dead (Col. 1: 18).
" raised from the dead. the first fruits
of those who have fallen as leep"
( 1
Cor. 15:20).
Following that. on the fiftieth
day, comes the time which. among
o ther things, prefigures the Chris–
tian's future tirst glo rious day in a
simi lar state. But before we come to
a discussion of today's Christians as
firstfruits, no tice sorne additional
meanings in the names of this day.
The Feast of Weeks
Deuteronomy 16:9-10, 16 gives an
al te rna te method of counting the 50
days: Simply count forward seven
weeks, and the next day, the firs t
day of the week. is " the feast of
weeks," the same day as the "festi–
val ofthe fiftieth ."
The Feast of Harvest
Exodus 34:22 links the concept of
the feast of weeks to the harvest of
early spring: "And you shall ob–
serve the feast of weeks. the first
fruits of wheat harvest. ... " The
samc theme occurs in Exodus 23:16:
" You shall keep the feast of harvest,
of the first fruits of your labor, of
what you sow in the field ." In Num–
bers 28:26 this festival is again
equa ted with the harvest: " ... th e
day of the first fru its ... you r fea st
of weeks, you sha ll have a holy con–
vocation."
Th is la te spring festival, then , is
linked to the idea of the year's ea rly
ha rves t. Si nce later harvest periods
extend on into the autumn of the
long Pales tinian growing season. the
ea rly harvest is only a part of the
ultimate increase to be garnered.
T his has spi ritua l meaning.
But what has this material harvest
in Pa lest ine todo with Christianity?
The Day of the Firstfruits
Most kn ow th a t the Christian
Church began with the outpouring
of the Ho ly Spi rit on the day of
Pentecost, on that "feast of weeks"
shortly after the ascension of Christ
from this ea rth . But what is not
commonly understood is the har-
The
PLAIN TRUTH May 1978