You shall bring from your settlements two loaves of bread as an elevation offering, each made of two-tenths of an ephah; they shall be of choice flour, baked with leaven, as first fruits to the Lord. You shall present with the bread seven lambs a year old without blemish, one bull of the herd, and two rams; they shall be a burnt offering to the Lord, along with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering by fire of pleasing odor to the Lord. You shall also offer one male goat for a purification offering and two lambs a year old as a sacrifice of well-being. The priest shall raise them with the bread of the first fruits as an elevation offering before the Lord, together with the two lambs; they shall be holy to the Lord for the priest. On that same day you shall make proclamation; you shall hold a holy convocation; you shall not work at your occupations. This is a statute forever in all your settlements throughout your generations (Leviticus 23:17-21).
The text above establishes the Feast of Weeks, or Harvest, or Pentecost. By the time of the Roman occupation of Palestine, the festival also became associated with the giving of the Ten Commandments on Mt. Sinai. That is the context in which the Church is born. This was the Jewish festival at which the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples and the crowds gathered around them:
And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability (Acts 2:2-4).
The parallels are striking. Paul describes Jesus as, “… the first fruits of those who have died” (1 Corinthians 15:20). How fitting that the “other Paraclete” that Jesus promised the disciples (John 14:16) should descend upon them at a firstfruits festival. The same is true of another image of Jesus, the Lamb of God, which John the Baptist proclaimed (John 1:29). Here, the Church (the Ecclesia – the assembly of the people of God) is inaugurated at the festival of the lamb.
True, the Holy Spirit (the presence of God) is not located in the Temple. The people do not stand facing the Temple altar, as in the Leviticus text. However, the presence of the Divine is revealed in the tongues of flame – an easily recognizable manifestation of the Divine seen repeatedly in the Old Testament: The burning bush (Exodus 3); Elijah’s ascension (2 Kings 2:11); Daniel’s vision of God’s throne/chariot (Daniel 7); and in the translation of Psalm 28:7 in use at the time of Jesus: “The voice of the Lord flashes forth in flames and fire.” And, the “rush of a violent wind” (vs. 2) recalls the theophany on Mt. Sinai described in Exodus 19:16-19. Of course, the festival is also associated with the Decalogue, as noted above. Yet here too we can see associations with Jesus. For, as the Hebrews were liberated from slavery in Egypt, their community given shape by the Commandments, and freedom lived out in the Promised Land; so in Jesus we are liberated from sin and death and given new life in him (Romans 8).
Some questions come to mind at this point. What is the meaning and importance of the disciples “speaking in other languages” (vs. 4)? And why does Peter quote – at length, and somewhat loosely – the prophecy of Joel (vs. 17-21)? Clearly, Luke – the author of Acts – is describing a linguistic miracle, and not the disciples ‘speaking in tongues’ (glossolalia). This is a miracle, not an ecstatic experience; it is a revelation, not a divine possession. And so, Luke’s point seems to be that at Pentecost, the division of humanity inflicted by God as punishment at the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9) is now removed by God through the Holy Spirit. This also seems to be reflected in Peter’s interpretation of Joel’s prophecy (Joel 2:28-32). “All flesh” (vs. 17) refers to all of humanity. Even slaves (servants of God, in this context) are included, as too are sons and daughters, young men and old men, men and women (vs. 17-18). This is a universal “pouring out of the Sprit.” As Luke describes in his gospel account, “All flesh will see the salvation that comes from the Lord” (Luke 3:4-6). And this occurs not on some future “day of the Lord” as Joel puts it, which shall usher in the end of the world. Instead, it occurs with the coming of the Son of Man, Jesus the Christ. As one commentator puts it, this is a “reshaping of Creation.”
