The Sign of Shavuot

As we get ready to celebrate and remember this Spring feast, I would like to share some thoughts about the purpose of signs and wonders.

At the beginning of the book of Acts, the Holy Spirit comes upon the disciples in the upper room, and they begin to speak in tongues, each one understanding the other's language. All of this happens on the day of Pentecost.

If you don't understand the prophetic significance of this appointed time, you can miss the message behind the sign and the wonder.

If we don't understand the purpose of signs and wonders, then we don't value them because they seem like a gimmick. A sign often points to something larger.

One Language

Pentecost, in a historical context, celebrates the wheat harvest, and it's one of three festivals where you travel to Jerusalem to celebrate it. We even see Paul in Acts 20 trying to get to Jerusalem for Pentecost.

For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus so that he would not have to spend time in Asia; for he was hurrying to be in Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost. — Acts 20

The Acts 2 Pentecost was the perfect setup for the Gospel to spread to the nations. Jews from other nations were present to experience this sign and wonder in the upper room. The events in the Acts 2 narrative have prophetic significance.

Peter references Joel 2 and tells the crowd that the outpouring of the Spirit is prophesied and that "this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel..." – Acts 2:16

The nations mentioned in Acts 2:9-11 point us back to an old story in Genesis 11, the story of Babel. In response to the people's rebellion, God comes down to inspect them and decides to confuse their speech. God disinherits the other nations and chooses Israel for His people.

If you connect the dots, the prophetic significance of the Acts 2 Pentecost events show us a couple of things:

• It points to the future when God reclaims the nations as His own in His Kingdom in the new heavens and new earth.
• It points to Jew and Gentile becoming one new man.
• It's also no coincidence that a significant harvest of souls in the Kingdom of God started on Shavuot, and the rest of the Book of Acts shows us the Spirit's power.

These signs lead to the King and His coming Kingdom.

And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” – Revelation 21

The harvest of souls never stopped after Acts 2; it has continued for the last 2,000 years. May the harvest continue to grow, because God is patient and desires that no one should perish.