We give thanks for the Day of Pentecost as it reminds us of the coming of the Holy Spirit to all believers. It is often celebrated as the birth of the Church.
The Passover is a reminder of God’s miraculous intervention and salvation of His people from Egypt to Israel, from slavery to freedom. Incredible that God should use the Passover festival for the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross that we call Easter. The Passover is also around the time of the celebration of the beginning of the barley harvest or the Feast of Firstfruits.
Amazingly the beginning of the wheat harvest or the feast of weeks is 50 days after Easter and known as Pentecost. The Bible frequently uses wheat to symbolize wealth, fertility, and abundance. As seen in the book of Deuteronomy 8:7-9, a land with milk, honey, and wheat fields was promised to the Israelites.
In Christianity.com we learn a little of the traditions surrounding the festivals especially the Passover and Pentecost.
“There are three things you need to know about Pentecost that will help you understand Acts 2.
1. Pentecost was a pilgrim festival. That meant that according to Jewish Law, all the adult Jewish men would come from wherever they were living to Jerusalem and personally be in attendance during this celebration.
2. Pentecost was a holiday. No servile work was to be done. Schools were out. The shops were closed. It was a day to celebrate.
3. There were certain celebrations and sacrifices and offerings which were prescribed in the Law for the day of Pentecost. On Pentecost, the High Priest was to take two loaves of freshly baked wheat bread and offer them before the Lord. The wheat bread was made from newly harvested wheat.
In short, Pentecost in the time of the Apostles was a great and grand harvest celebration. The streets of Jerusalem were clogged with thousands of pilgrims who had come from every point of the compass to celebrate the goodness of God and the bringing in of the wheat harvest.”
God’s timing is always perfect.