The Promised Holy Spirit
After the Israelites celebrated the Passover and passed through the Red Sea, God guided them to Mount Sinai. Fifty days after crossing the Red Sea, Moses came down the mountain after he received the Ten Commandments from God. God told the Israelites to commemorate this day at the Feast of Weeks (Ex 24:1–18).
In the New Testament, the Feast of Weeks is called the Pentecost (Ac 2). It takes place seven weeks and one day (a total of 50 days) after the Day of Resurrection. In ecclesiastical Latin from Greek, pentēkostē (hēmera) means fiftieth (day).
After His resurrection, Jesus appeared to His disciples over a period of 40 days and spoke about the Kingdom of God (Ac 1:1–11).
“After his death, he showed himself to them and proved in many ways that he was alive. The apostles saw Jesus during the forty days after he was raised from the dead, and he spoke to them about the kingdom of God. Once when he was eating with them, he told them not to leave Jerusalem. He said, ‘Wait here to receive the promise from the Father which I told you about.’”
He instructed them to stay in Jerusalem and wait for the promised Holy Spirit. They prayed continuously for 10 days leading up to the Day of Pentecost asking God for the Holy Spirit.
“When the day of Pentecost came ... All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit.”
Acts 2:1–4
The Early Church celebrated the Pentecost and received the power of the Holy Spirit. Today, too, the World Mission Society Church of God observes the Pentecost as part of the seven annual Feasts of God.
