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Furthermore, there is a lack of understanding of the significance of the second First Fruit holiday. The first First Fruit holiday commemorated Israel's coming into the land and reaping where she had not sown. This reminds us of our salvation in Christ — given by God's grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9).

The second First Fruit holiday was Israel's first harvest, where they had sown and were now reaping. In other words, this harvest manifested their having taken and settled the land, much like our process of sanctification and the journey of faith.

Although Peter in Acts 2 references the prophet Joel, many Christians do not understand the full context of Joel's message and the significance of God's past and prophetic covenant with Israel. The gift of the Holy Spirit in that context is important. Finally, the church often misses the significance of the priest's unique wave offering foreshadowing the creation of the "one new man."

You say that the church was empowered on the Feast of Weeks. What does this mean for leaders of church worship?

We need to understand the meaning of "power" as used in the New Testament, and its purpose. We all know that dunamis is the root of our word dynamite. The word is often used in context with God's power. We are given that same power for the purpose of declaring his glory.

The feasts were times of evangelism and revival. As biblical worship always followed a revelation of God, leaders of church worship need to create an opportunity for God to "show up and show off." God inhabits the praises of his people, so let us give people an opportunity to praise him individually as well as corporately.

By the Holy Spirit, all believers are given the power to testify. Encourage everyone to come with a spiritual song, a hymn, a testimony, or a prophetic word. As Pentecost is a harvest festival, provide an opportunity for the harvest. Celebrations are opportunities for the lost to join and participate in a non-traditional church environment. As we celebrate the person of Jesus, who he is and what he has done in our personal lives, the lost will be touched and he will bring in the harvest.

Too often the church forgets the truth of Romans 11:11: "to provoke [the Jewish people] to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles." The celebration of Pentecost is a great time to bring together the Jewish and Gentile parts of the body. As a Jewish believer who was provoked to jealousy by a Gentile friend, I attest to the power of the testimony of the one new man.

Pentecost can be a rousing family reunion.

Copyright © 2009 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Celebrate Jesus: A Christian Perspective of the Biblical Feasts is available at http:/www.celebratejesusthebook.com/.

More articles on Pentecost include:

Teaching a Calvinist to Dance | In Pentecostal worship, my Reformed theology finds its groove. (May 16, 2008)

Indian Pentecost | How a "Holy Ghost revival" among child widows in India became an international sensation and a local wellspring of Christian outreach. (September 9, 2005)

American Pentecost | The story behind the Azusa Street revival, the most phenomenal event of twentieth-century Christianity. (Christian History, April 1, 1998)

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May (Web-only) 2009, Vol. 53