Then what was the difference at Pentacost?
Hi, again, Joidevivre.
Whatever the difference was (if there was a difference...and I'll explain that comment in a minute), we're still confronted with the fact that Old Testament saints had the Spirit of God in them, so let's not let that truth slip away from us. As far as Pentecost itself is concerned, like the other Springtime Feasts, its origins are found way back in the Old Testament:
Leviticus chapter 23
[1] And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
[2] Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts.
[3] Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.
[4] These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons.
[5] In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD's passover.
[6] And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.
[7] In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
[8] But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
[9] And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
[10] Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest:
[11] And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.
[12] And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the LORD.
[13] And the meat offering thereof shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the LORD for a sweet savour: and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of an hin.
[14] And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
[15] And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete:
[16] Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD.
[17] Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD.
[18] And ye shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year, and one young bullock, and two rams: they shall be for a burnt offering unto the LORD, with their meat offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of sweet savour unto the LORD.
[19] Then ye shall sacrifice one kid of the goats for a sin offering, and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offerings.
[20] And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits for a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs: they shall be holy to the LORD for the priest.
[21] And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be an holy convocation unto you: ye shall do no servile work therein: it shall be a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.
[22] And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest: thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I am the LORD your God.
In what I just cited, God gave Moses instruction concerning the four Springtime Feasts or "rehearsals":
1. Passover (vs. 5)
2. Unleavened Bread (vss. 6-8)
3. Firstfruits (vss. 9-14)
4. Pentecost or the Feast of weeks (vss. 15-22)
At His first coming, Jesus fulfilled all of these Springtime Feasts on their literal calendar days.
Jesus was crucified on the Feast of Passover, as the gospel accounts attest to, and having partaken of Christ as our True Passover Lamb we ought to be removing all "leaven" from our lives or anything which might cause us to "rise up" or to be "puffed up" against God. In relation to the same, we read:
I Corinthians chapter 5
[6] Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?
[7] Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
[8] Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
Similarly, Christ rose from the dead on the Feast of Firstfruits and for this very purpose, in the midst of his discourse on the resurrection from the dead, Paul twice referred to Christ as "the firstfruits" in this same epistle to the Corinthians:
I Corinthians chapter 15
[20] But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
[21] For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
[22] For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
[23] But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.
The fourth Springtime Feast, the Feast of Pentecost or the Feast of weeks, occurred exactly 50 days after the Feast of Firstfruits. With this in mind, we read:
Acts chapter 1
[1] The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,
[2] Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen:
[3] To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:
[4] And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.
[5] For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
"After His passion" or after He was crucified, buried AND RAISED FROM THE DEAD, Jesus "shewed himself alive...by many infallible proofs, BEING SEEN OF THEM FORTY DAYS". This "FORTY DAYS" is significant because, again, the Feast of Pentecost occurs precisely 50 days after the Feast of Firstfruits or precisely 50 days after the day in which Christ was raised from the dead and became "THE FIRSTFRUITS of them which slept". With this in mind, Christ knew that there had to be 10 more days before the Feast of Pentecost could be fulfilled on its literal calendar day, so He instructed His disciples to "not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father" or the Holy Ghost baptism which He said would come "NOT MANY DAYS HENCE". Believe me, Jesus knew EXACTLY how many "NOT MANY DAYS HENCE" that it would be. IOW, He knew that it would be 10 more days until the Feast of Pentecost could be fulfilled on its literal calendar day. In relation to the same, we read:
Acts chapter 2
1] And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
[2] And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
[3] And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
[4] And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
"And when the day of Pentecost was fully come..."
Again, Christ knew that each of these four Springtime Feasts had to find their fulfillment on their literal calendar days, BUT THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT THEY NEVER HAD ANY FULFILLMENT PRIOR TO THIS. What do I mean by that? Well, I mean this...
Consider the Feast of Passover, for example. Although it wasn't fulfilled until nearly two thousand years ago, this does not mean that nobody benefitted from the same prior to that time. IOW, Old Testament saints who saw the Feast of Passover as a "type" or "shadow" of what Christ would ultimately accomplish on the cross and who placed their faith in the same reaped the benefit of salvation from the same. Similarly, Old Testament saints who saw the Feast of Firstfruits as a "type" or "shadow" of Christ's resurrection from the dead similarly benefitted from the same. IOW, we, as New Testament Christians, LOOK BACK to the cross and the empty tomb whereas Old Testament saints LOOKED FORWARD to the same, but we both reap the same benefits. If such is indeed the case, then why couldn't any Old Testament saints similarly have reaped some benefits in relation to the Feast of Pentecost BEFORE its ultimate fulfillment nearly two thousand years ago?
Anyhow, just something for you to hopefully prayerfully ponder.
That is very sad yes, and I do see that he rejected the Holy Spirit. I am wondering if you thought he was ever indwelt by the Spirit.
