The Feast of Weeks

The Feast of Weeks, referred to as the “Pentecost” in the New Testament times, was celebrated on the fiftieth day from the Day of Firstfruits. The reason this feast was named the “Feast of Weeks” was that there were seven Sabbaths between the Day of Firstfruits and the Pentecost.

Leviticus 23:15-16 From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, count off seven full weeks. Count off fifty days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath, and then present an offering of new grain to the Lord.

On the fortieth day after crossing the Red Sea, Moses went up to Mount Sinai for the first time and only came down after receiving all of God’s instructions and will. Ten days later, Moses returned to Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments.Thus this is the origin of the Feast of Weeks which God commanded His people to commemorate.

Exodus 24:1-18 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord … When Moses went and told the people all the Lord’s words and laws, they responded with one voice, “Everything the Lord has said we will do.” Moses then wrote down everything the Lord had said … The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you the tablets of stone with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction.” … Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

In the New Testament times, the Feast of Weeks—that is the Pentecost—is the day when God promised to bestow the blessings of the Holy Spirit upon His people. This became the motivating power that spurred the gospel growth of the Early Church (Acts 2:1-47).

However, after the Pentecost, God eventually withdrew His Holy Spirit as the church was rampantly undergoing secularization. This had already been prophesied through Moses when He threw the two tablets of the Ten Commandments on the foot of the mountain after he saw God’s people worshiping a golden calf.

Exodus 32:19 When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain.

This event was a prophecy revealing that the Holy Spirit would be withdrawn due to the inherent secularization of the church since A.D. 313, through the introduction of various pagan customs and idolatry. This is why the truth of the Early Church established by Jesus and practiced by the Apostles could no longer be found anywhere on this earth.

However, God has shown us that keeping the Feast of Weeks [Pentecost] is an absolute criteria for God’s saints to receive the Holy Spirit. Let us endeavour to find the church that keeps the seven feasts in three times perfectly so that we may all receive the Holy Spirit and the salvation of our souls.