Christian Pentecost: Resurrection of the followers

Pentecost event, as recounted in Acts 2:1-13, where there is an outpouring of the Holy Spirit with all of the signs that accompany it, can not be understood without looking at the background of Jewish rituals and celebrations, because the Christian Pentecost event all point back to Jewish rites, even fulfill.

Greek terms: Pentēkostē, is a transliteration of the Hebrew term: hag ha-Shavu'ot (Feast of Weeks). The term Pentecost is found in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament used by Jews in the overseas (Diaspora), about two centuries before Jesus was born. The word Pentecost means the fiftieth, which is taken from a count of seven weeks are counted starting from the celebration of Passover (when Matzah (מַצָּה) or unleavened bread), which ended on 21 Nisan, until the date six months of Sivan.

One of the most interesting thing from the prayers to be read before reading the books in celebration of the hag ha-Shavu'ot (Pentecost), there is a prayer request to the Lord immediately sent the Messiah Son of David, His servant, as has been promised by God to previous prophets. Prayer, among others as follows: With the dhikr of our ancestors, as well as the Messiah, the Son of David Thy servant, Thy holy city of Jerusalem and the rest of Thy people Israel and the whole family in front of Thou, who brought the release, kindness, grace, mercy and favor, the lives and peace in this Feast of Weeks.

For Christians, Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of those prayers. Likewise, if associated with Psalm 110, the Apostle Peter affirmed that Jesus was the Messiah, who by His eternal priesthood, has fulfilled all the sacrifices and the annual celebration that must be raised by the priests the sons of Aaron.

Pentecostal celebrations associated with the "the time of the Torah given to us" (zeman mattan toratenu), which is when God's covenant with His people at Sinai with the giving Atseret ha-Debarim (Ten Commandments). There was the sound of the trumpet (שׁפר, shôphâr), gusts of winds and flames visible around the mountain. And formed a congregation of the Old Testament, the people of Israel (Exodus 19:16-25).

Christian Pentecost are also held during the seven weeks after Passover, Jesus and His ascension into heaven. Christian Pentecost event is also accompanied by the signs: a blast from the sky high wind, tongues of fire burning and foreign languages were spoken from the mouths of the disciples. This event later became the starting point of the resurrection of the followers of Jesus who claims to be the people of the New Testament, namely the new Israel. This is the fulfillment of the prophecy of Jeremiah: "... I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah ...," declares the LORD. "... I will put my law in on their minds and write it on on their hearts. I will be on their God, and they want my will from some people. (Jeremiah 31:31-33)

The phenomenon of the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles at Pentecost and they "began to speak in other Tongues as the Spirit enabled Them." (Acts 2:4). As a result, many people from various nations, who had gathered in Jerusalem “each one heard them speaking in his own language.” (Acts 2:6). Miracles happen ie “each of us hears them in his own native language (διαλεκτω, dialekto, ie dialects, patois)?" (Acts 2:8). Miracles is a dialect or accent, not tongues (a language no one understands (1 Corinthians 14:2)), because the people who were present at that place to understand the words spoken by the apostles. Messages that can be drawn from that event is if the sin in the tower of Babel has caused divisions through the chaos of languages, but instead the Holy Spirit to bring all human beings with different languages, together enter into unity through the gospel of Christ at Pentecost, the people of the NT, the new Israel.


READING LIST

- A. Th. Philips (ed.), Sepher Tefilah makol Hasanah. Daily Prayer with Home Translation (New York: Hebrews Publishing Company)
- Eugen Hoade, Guide to The Holy Land (Jerusalem: Franciscan Printing Press, 1983)
- The New Bible Dictionary (Leicester, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 1990)