Daily Devotion

 

There were three great Jewish festivals to which every male Jew living within twenty miles of Jerusalem was legally bound to attend: the Passover, Pentecost and the Feast of Tabernacles. Pentecost means the "The Fiftieth." Another name for Pentecost was "The Feast of Weeks." It was so called because it fell on the fiftieth day, a week of weeks, after the Passover. The Passover fell in the middle of April; Pentecost fell at the beginning of June. At least as many came to the Feast of Pentecost as came to the Passover. Never was there a more international crowd in Jerusalem than at the time of Pentecost.

The feast itself had two main celebrations: (1) it had a historical significance. It commemorated the giving of the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai. (2nd) it had an agricultural significance. At the Passover, the crop's first omer of barley was offered to God, and at Pentecost, two loaves were offered in gratitude for the harvest. The law laid down that on that day no servile work should be done. So, it was a holiday for all.

Speaking in tongues or glossolalia (Greek) was considered by the New Testament Christians as a God-given sign accompanying the baptism in the Holy Spirit. The Biblical pattern for the Spirit-filled life is still valid for us today.

Speaking in tongues is a supernatural manifestation of the Holy Spirit, i.e., a Spirit-inspired utterance whereby believers speak in a language they have never learned. It is not "ecstatic speech" as rendered in some translations, for the Bible never uses the term "ecstatic utterance" to refer to speaking in tongues.