Pentecost comes in the early summer (May-June).   It’s the only Levitical Feast Day between the 3 Spring Feasts (Passover, Unleavened Bread, and First Fruits) and the 3 in the fall (Rosh Hashanna, Yom Kippur, and Tabernacles). The Hebrew name for this Day is Shavuot, which means weeks, so in Israel it’s called the Feast of Weeks.

This is because it’s supposed to occur  7 weeks after the Feast of First Fruits (Lev. 23:15-16).  Deut. 16:9 confirms this.  “Count off seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain.” The first cutting of the grain harvest took place on the Feast of First Fruits.   Since First Fruits is the first Sunday after Passover, Shavuot should always be on a Sunday, too.  But somewhere along the way the Jews began counting from Passover itself, so now Shavuot can come any day of the week, depending on what day Passover is. This year (2010) it began at sundown May 18 on our calendar.

Christians call this day by its Greek name, Pentecost, from a Greek word that means “50 days”.  There were 50 days from the Sabbath that followed Passover to the Feast of Weeks, and that’s where the Greek name comes from.  But whether you count seven weeks (49 days) from First Fruits to the day the Jews call the Feast of Weeks or count 50 days from the first Sabbath after Passover to the day Christians call Pentecost, you will arrive at the same day and it will be a Sunday.

But like the Jews we’ve also changed things although we’ve retained the Sunday part.  Christians now start counting on the day we call Easter Sunday, which is officially the first Sunday after the first full moon that follows the Spring Equinox. We include Easter Sunday as day one, so Pentecost is always seven weeks from Easter.   Because of differences between the Western Solar calendar and the Jewish Lunar one, Easter does not always come on the first Sunday after Passover, so we don’t always celebrate Pentecost on the correct date either.  But this year Easter came on April 4, which was the first Sunday after Passover, the Feast of First Fruits.   That means May 23, called Pentecost Sunday in 2010, is the correct date for the Feast of Weeks, according to Lev. 23:15-16 and Deut. 16:9. It’s the 7th Sunday after April 4.

What’s a Pentecost?
Jews celebrate Pentecost (I’ll just use its Greek name to avoid any more confusion than necessary) as the day Moses received the Law on Mt. Sinai and the nation Israel was born. (Exodus 19-20) Christians celebrate it as the day the Holy Spirit fell on the Disciples in Jerusalem and the Church was born (Acts 2).  If you agree with my view that the parables of Matthew 13 describe the church on Earth and that the parable of the yeast predicts there will be sin in the church, you’ll be interested in the fact that unlike all the other Jewish Feasts that call for unleavened bread (no yeast), Pentecost requires bread baked with yeast (Lev. 23:17).  In the Bible leaven, or yeast, is a model of sin because it causes the dough to begin spoiling.

The Jewish Pentecost ceremonies reveal a subtle link to the coming church. In synagogues, the Book of Ruth is read on Pentecost. The story of Ruth has been called “The Romance of Redemption”.   It’s about Naomi, a Jewish woman from Bethlehem who lost her land and position and was forced into exile in a foreign country (Moab).  Shortly thereafter her husband passed away leaving her penniless and alone. She returns to Bethlehem accompanied by Ruth, a gentile woman who has sworn never to leave her.  Ruth was a Moabite who had married one of Naomi’s sons (who also died) making her Naomi’s daughter-in-law and a destitute widow as well.  Once back in Bethlehem Naomi’s close relative, a prominent Jewish man named Boaz falls in love with Ruth and marries her while in the process of redeeming Naomi’s land. Both these events were accomplished according to the Law.  For Naomi it was the law of redemption (Lev 25:25), and for Ruth it was the law of leverite marriage (Deut. 25:5-6).

The modeling here is dramatic, with Naomi in the role of Israel, destitute and alone; Ruth as the Church, the gentile bride; Boaz as the Kinsman Redeemer (Messiah) and the story a prediction of the relationship between them. In the process of redeeming Israel, the Messiah takes a gentile bride. In doing so, He saves both from destitution and redeems Israel’s land. The identification of the Church with Pentecost began in the prophecies of Ruth. To learn more about these incredible prophecies, and enjoy one of the world’s classic love stories, read Ruth’s Story.

By the way, Boaz was the son of Rahab, the harlot from the Book of Joshua (read “The Gospel in Joshua … The Story of Rahab” ), and 3 generations later his great-grandson David became King of Israel. Rahab and Ruth both show up in the Genealogy of the Lord Jesus (Matt. 1:5), and King Solomon named one of the pillars at the entrance to the Temple after Boaz.

When’s Your Birthday?
By tradition Enoch, one of the patriarchs from Genesis 5, was born on the day later to be known as Pentecost. Enoch’s name means “teaching”, a primary function of the Church (Matt. 28:19-20)  For this reason many scholars see him as a “type” of the church as well. Genesis 5:21-23 indicates that Enoch was very close to God and was actually taken live (raptured) into Heaven before the Great Flood. Pre-Trib scholars see this event as one of several Old Testament hints that the Church will disappear from Earth before the Great Tribulation.

These same traditions also hold that Enoch was taken on his birthday. So here’s a model in Genesis 5 of a man identified with the church being born and raptured on the day that would become Pentecost, the day the church was also born.  Will the Church be raptured on our birthday too?  Personally I don’t believe the Rapture of the Church will be the prophetic fulfillment of any of Israel’s Holy Days.  But if I’m wrong and the Rapture does fulfill a Jewish Feast, Pentecost is by far the most obvious candidate.

As you probably know, I believe the reason no one on Earth can accurately predict the day of the Rapture is because it’s a number specific event, not a date specific one. In Romans 11:25 Paul implied the church has a “full number”, when its ranks will be considered complete.  When that number is reached the Church will “come in” which means it will arrive at its scheduled destination, like when a ship “comes in.”  Jesus said the destination of the Church is His Father’s house (John 14:2). Put it together and I believe it means we’ll be raptured as soon as the pre-determined number of Christians has been born again, no matter what day of the week it is.

Soon And Very Soon
One day soon now, all who are in Christ, having heard and believed the Word of Truth, the Gospel of our salvation (thereby receiving the mark of the promised Holy Spirit) will suddenly disappear from the face of the Earth along with all children and those mentally incapable of making informed choices. In one instant we will have been going about our daily routines on Earth and in the next we’ll be standing in the presence of our Redeemer, our sins forgiven and forgotten, and all our imperfections gone. Among us will be all the faithful dead of the Church Age, reunited with perfected bodies and restored to eternal physical life. Together we will begin the most incredible journey of exploration and realization ever dreamed of.

Neither we, nor the unbelieving world, will have received any advance warning of the timing for this event; it will have come totally by surprise. Maybe it will happen on Pentecost, maybe not. But one thing is certain, when it does happen, none of us will care one whit whether we had predicted it’s timing accurately. We will only express in unimaginable joy our gratitude for being there. For it is by grace you have been saved through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephe. 2:8-9) As it is written: No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him – but God has revealed it to us by His Spirit.(1 Cor. 2:9-10).

From our studies you can see that for the past 20 years or more the battle of

Ezekiel 38-39 has been on hold just on the verge of fulfillment.  There have always been the same few preceding conditions left to be met.  For the most part they’ve been Turkey switching sides, the US being taken out of the picture, and Israel living in an assumed state of peace with its neighbors.

Within the past year or so we’ve seen Turkey do a major about face, aligning itself with the Moslem world and taking an ever more public stand against Israel.  We know this is due to Turkish President Erdogan’s vision of leading the Moslem world by restoring the Ottoman Empire to its former glory.

Now there’s the way the US has gone all wishy-washy where Israel is concerned, saying the absence of peace in the Middle East is costing both blood and treasure and is against the national interest. This is a reference to the Obama administration’s view that if we could achieve peace between Israel and the Palestinians, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan would quickly wind down, Iran would become more reasonable, and even al Qaeda would relax a little.   Therefore they’ve have pretty much said it’s up to Israel to either make the Peace Program happen by the end of the year or face an imposed settlement.

That leaves the biggest one, Israel becoming a peaceful and unsuspecting nation.  Could an imposed settlement somehow make that happen? Time will tell.

In the sixty years of Israel’s modern existence, there really hasn’t been a day when this condition has been met, although enemy sneak attacks in 1967 and especially 1973 did take the country by surprise as to timing. The simultaneous invasion by Egypt and Syria on Yom Kippur 1973 brought Israel perilously close to defeat. Historians report that due to “a rare moment of flabbiness in Israeli intelligence and in the government, Israel did not expect any attacks from its neighbors just at this point in time.” (Both the Jewish Yom Kippur and Moslem Ramadan Holy Days forbid waging war during their observance, and in October 1973 as the attack began these two observances overlapped.)

It took a week for Israel’s forces to recover and go on the offense. Two weeks after that the war was over, cease-fire arrangements having been negotiated by the UN. In the ensuing agreements Egypt regained control of the Suez Canal and the Sinai Peninsula lost in 1967 and Syria got back a small portion of the Golan Heights, although had the UN not stepped in, Israeli forces would have soon entered both Cairo and Damascus.

Those Who Don’t Learn From History …

Not since then has there been such a relaxed state of preparedness by Israel and indeed it’s hard to see how one could happen in the future. In fact the Bible mentions only two possibilities for a time of peace in the End Times, and neither fits the bill. The first occurs at the outset of Daniel’s seventieth week when the anti-Christ makes his initial appearance. By means of peace he will deceive many, Daniel 8:25 (KJV) tells us.

The other time is the 1000 years of peace known as the Millennium or Kingdom Age. Let’s rule that one out right away. First of all it’s an unparalleled time of peace personally administered by the Prince of Peace. No enemy of Israel’s will dare attempt a sneak attack until right at the end when Satan is freed from his 1000 years of captivity to lead them.

And second, the end time prophecies in Ezekiel are sequential, first the latter days re-gathering of the Jews to Israel in chapters 36-37, then the battle of Ezekiel 38-39, then from chapter 40 on it’s their Kingdom Age, aka the Millennium. The Battle of Ezekiel 38-39 has to follow the modern re-gathering but precede the Millennium. It can’t happen at the Millennium’s end.

So let’s go back to the first possibility, the beginning of Daniel’s 70th week. Daniel 9:27 reveals that the anti-Christ will begin his reign by enforcing  a seven-year covenant with Israel that includes permission to build a Temple. (This seven year period is called Daniel’s 70th week.) But because of the controversy it would stir up, the Jewish leadership today doesn’t want a Temple and won’t want one till the Creator of the Universe dramatically reveals Himself to them. According to Ezekiel 29:22 He does so in this battle, and after that they’ll be clamoring for a Temple, regardless of the consequences. Old Covenant observance requires it. So it appears Ezekiel’s battle has to precede Daniel’s 70th week.

Also, the fact that the anti-Christ emerges as a peacemaker implies that some parts of the world will have recently been at war. Perhaps even a war involving a nuclear exchange, which will have left the world in shock, desperate for a plan that would prevent that ever happening again. Satan’s “man of peace” with his seven year covenant will have just the thing to put the world at ease and allow him to begin his meteoric rise to world dominance.

Have You Reached A Verdict?

As we see, circumstantial evidence weighs heavily in favor of the anti-Christ revealing himself on the heels of the Battle of Ezekiel 38-39 to kick off Daniel’s 70th week. And so neither of the Bible’s identified possibilities for peace will take place in time for this battle. That means that some dramatic chain of events, similar to those that led to the “sudden” fall of the Soviet Union, will have to occur soon to place Israel in the vulnerable state necessary for Ezekiel’s prophecy to be fulfilled.  It’s still too early to see if the US can really impose a peace treaty that will lull them into a false sense of security.  More likely, fulfilling the prophecies from Psalm 83 andIsaiah 17 will create the circumstances.

So What’s The Point?

Now why is all this so important to us? Well, we’ve already made a case for the anti-Christ to appear right after the battle of Ezekiel 38 and we know from the passage itself that the Lord uses it to reveal Himself to Israel and draw them back to Him.

We’ve also seen that for the final seven years of the dispensation of Law to be completed the Dispensation of Grace, which interrupted it, has to first come to an end.  That means the Church has to disappear before Daniel’s 70th Week can begin.  This is what Paul meant by saying Israel had been hardened in part until the full number of Gentiles has come in (Romans 11:25).  This same idea was first put forth by James at the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15:14-18) when he said that before returning to rebuild David’s fallen tabernacle the Lord would first take from among the Gentiles a people for Himself.  Both passages speak of the Lord taking His Church away before turning His attention to Israel again.

So if the Church has to disappear before the Lord turns again to Israel, and if this is the outcome of the Battle of Ezekiel 38-39, you can see why it’s so important to us.  The Rapture has to precede Ezekiel’s battle.  You can almost hear the footsteps of the Messiah