After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” – Revelation 7:9-10
Christian History Leviticus 23 and Deuteronomy 16 tells us about three main Jewish Festivals. First, the Festival of Unleavened Bread had the wavesheaf as the firstfruits of barley; this foreshadowed Yahshua himself the firstfruit of man resurrected to eternal form. The Festival of Harvest is the 2nd festival, seven weeks later. It is the day which two loaves of bread are made with yeast were offered as the firstfruits of the wheat harvest; a foreshadow of the Hebrews and Gentiles being the firstfruit of a now joined people, the people of Yahweh.
Biblical Understanding In Acts 2 on the Day of Pentecost, we see the Holy Spirit give different languages to the believers in Jesus just a week after He ascended into heaven. The Holy Spirit’s purpose is to bring attention to Jesus through His willing and obedient children. Through the different languages given to them, these believers were able to grab the attention of thousands from various nations who were in town to celebrate the festival of Harvest. When the crowd heard something in their own language, related to their culture, they were attracted to the Jews who believed in Jesus. Peter confidently grabbed a holds of this opportunity and gave testimony to who Jesus is, what He did on the cross, and how God raised Him and later brought Him to heaven. On that day 3000 came to believe Jesus is the Christ as a result of the Holy Spirit working through the disciples to interact cross-culturally.
Within the last month, I had several opportunities to share with people from Acts 2. God desires that we steward our ethnicity, the cultural values that we come from, the culture we currently lived in, and all who He’s created us to be so that many more will enter His family. At the end of chapter 2, we see that this new community, called Christians (as a derogatory term), are together daily studying scripture, praying, eating, and caring for those around them in need. As a result, the Holy Spirit works through their united diverse community and loving compassion for the outsider to bring people into a relationship with Jesus daily!
TabbysTab 