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Scripture Reading: Acts 2:1-13
Having covered the introduction (Acts 1:1-2) and the preparation (Acts 1:3-26), we come now to the third section of the book of Acts, a very long portion that goes from 2:1 through 28:31. This section is concerned with propagation. We have seen that the subject of Acts is the propagation of the resurrected Christ in His ascension, by the Spirit, through the disciples, for the producing of the churches — the kingdom of God. The propagation of the resurrected Christ begins in Jerusalem and then spreads to Judea, Samaria, and the entire world. In chapter two we have the beginning of the propagation in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria through the ministry of Peter’s company.
In Acts there are two companies of ministry: Peter’s company and Paul’s company. In chapters two through twelve we see the ministry carried out by Peter and his co-workers. Then in chapters thirteen through twenty-eight we see the ministry carried out by Paul and his co-workers. Both companies carried out the propagation of the resurrected Christ in His ascension.
The first thing that took place in this propagation was the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. This outpouring was the baptism in the Holy Spirit carried out by the heavenly Head upon His Body.
Concerning this matter of the baptism in the Holy Spirit, there are a number of different teachings. Throughout the centuries, these teachings have caused confusion among Christians. Therefore, regarding the baptism in the Holy Spirit we need to come back to the pure Word, set aside other teachings, and pay attention to the revelation in the holy Word of God.
Acts 2:1 says, “And when the day of Pentecost was being fulfilled, they were all together in the same place.” The word “Pentecost” means fiftieth. It was the fiftieth day from the Lord’s resurrection, seven weeks in between, counting from the second day (the first day of the week — Luke 23:54-56; 24:1) after the Passover on which the Lord was crucified (John 19:14). It was the fulfillment of the feast of Weeks (Deut. 16:10), which was also called the feast of Harvest (Exo. 23:16), counting from the day of offering a sheaf of the firstfruits of the harvest unto the morrow after the seventh Sabbath (Lev. 23:10-11, 15-16). The offering of a sheaf of the firstfruits was a type of the resurrected Christ offered to God on the day of His resurrection (John 20:17), which was the day after the Sabbath (John 20:1). From that day to the day of Pentecost was exactly fifty days.
The feast of Harvest typifies the enjoyment of the rich produce brought in by the resurrected Christ. This rich produce is the all-inclusive Spirit of the processed Triune God given by Him to His chosen people as the blessing of the gospel (Gal. 3:14) so that they may enjoy the all-inclusive Christ (the very embodiment of the Triune God) as their good land. This signifies that the believers, through receiving the bountiful Spirit on the day of Pentecost, not only have entered into the good land, but also have participated in the bountiful riches of the all-inclusive Christ (Eph. 3:8) in His resurrection and ascension as God’s full allotment in His New Testament economy.
We have seen that Pentecost was the fiftieth day from the Lord’s resurrection. The Lord’s resurrection was three days after His death. However, these were not three full days as we count days. Regarding these three days, a small part of a day was counted as a whole day. This means that the first of the three days, a Friday, was the day on which the Lord Jesus was crucified. The Lord was on the cross from nine o’clock in the morning until three o’clock in the afternoon. Then, in the evening, He was taken down from the cross and buried. According to the Jewish way of reckoning days, the remaining part of that day was counted as a whole day. Hence, the three days were counted from the last part of the first day. Furthermore, according to the Jewish way of counting days, a day began not in the morning but in the evening. For example, Genesis 1:5 says, “And the evening and the morning were the first day.”
If we count part of a day as a whole day, then from the Friday evening when the Lord Jesus was buried to the morning of His resurrection would be three days. The last part of Friday is one day; the whole of Saturday is the second day; and part of what is today called Sunday is the third day. However, the actual time the Lord was in the tomb may be less than forty hours. In the early part of the third day, perhaps less than forty hours after He died, the Lord Jesus was resurrected.
The day of the Lord’s resurrection, the Lord’s Day, was the first day after the Sabbath. The Jewish Sabbath, of course, was on Saturday. The Lord was resurrected on the first day of the week, which was the day after the Sabbath. If we count from the second day after the Passover on which the Lord was crucified, Pentecost was the fiftieth day from His resurrection. Therefore, there were seven weeks in between the Lord’s resurrection and Pentecost, which also was on the Lord’s Day, the first day of the week.
Pentecost was the fulfillment of the feast of Weeks, and this feast was also called the feast of Harvest (Exo. 23:16). Pentecost is very closely related to the harvest, to the reaping of the rich produce of the good land. Pentecost was fifty days after the offering of a sheaf of the firstfruits of the harvest. Concerning the sheaf of the firstfruits of the harvest, Leviticus 23:10 and 11 say, “Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest: and he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.” Then the people were to count seven Sabbaths from the day of the offering of the sheaf of the firstfruits of the harvest: “And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days” (Lev. 23:15-16). According to Leviticus 23, a sheaf of the firstfruits of the harvest was offered to the Lord as a wave offering on the morrow after the Sabbath. That sheaf of the firstfruits was a type of Christ as the firstfruit in resurrection (1 Cor. 15:20, 23). In the Old Testament, when the harvest was ripe, a sheaf of the firstfruits of that harvest was offered to God. This sheaf is a type of the resurrected Christ offered to God on the day of His resurrection.
The offering of Christ as the firstfruit in resurrection involves His secret ascension to the Father. When Mary wanted to touch Him, He said to her, “Do not touch Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brothers and say to them, I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God” (John 20:17). On the day of His resurrection the Lord ascended to the Father. This was a secret ascension, forty days prior to His public ascension in the sight of His disciples. On the day of resurrection, early in the morning, He ascended to satisfy the Father. The freshness of His resurrection was first for the Father’s enjoyment, as the firstfruit of the harvest was brought first to God in type.
Many Christians do not realize that Christ secretly ascended to the Father early in the morning on the day of His resurrection. Of course, He ascended openly forty days later. On the day of His resurrection the Lord went to the heavens to offer Himself as the firstfruit of God’s harvest for the satisfaction of God the Father. That was a secret ascension. The day of Pentecost was fifty days later.
As we have pointed out, the feast of Pentecost was the fulfillment of the feast of Weeks, which was also called the feast of Harvest. The feast of Harvest typifies the enjoyment of the rich produce brought in by the resurrected Christ. Not many readers of the Bible pay adequate attention to the fact that Pentecost actually refers to the harvest and that the harvest typifies the enjoyment of all the riches of the resurrected Christ. This rich produce is actually the all-inclusive Spirit.
Do you know what happened on the day of Pentecost? On that day there was the outpouring of the all-inclusive Spirit. This Spirit is the rich produce of the processed Triune God given by Him to His chosen people as the blessing of the gospel. Concerning this, Galatians 3:14 says, “In order that the blessing of Abraham might come to the nations in Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” This indicates that the unique blessing of the gospel is not heaven or even the forgiveness of sins; the unique blessing of the gospel is the Spirit, even the all-inclusive Spirit of the processed Triune God. This Spirit as the blessing of the gospel is given to us so that we may enjoy the all-inclusive Christ, who is the embodiment of the Triune God, as our good land.
In typology we have both the feast of Passover and the feast of Pentecost, called the feast of Weeks and also the feast of Harvest. The feast of Harvest typifies the enjoyment of Christ in His resurrection, whereas the Passover typifies Christ as the Lamb of God in His crucifixion. The Passover, therefore, refers to the crucifixion of Christ. Christ’s crucifixion has become a feast, called the feast of Passover. In this feast we enjoy Christ in His crucifixion as the redeeming Lamb. Three days after His crucifixion, Christ rose up from among the dead. Fifty days later, the ascended Christ poured Himself out upon His believers as the all-inclusive Spirit, that is, as the ultimate consummation of the Triune God. That pouring out of the Spirit is the enjoyment of the harvest.
In the Old Testament we have the Passover, the offering of a sheaf of the firstfruit of the harvest, and then the feast of Harvest, Pentecost. On the Passover Christ was crucified for our redemption so that we might enjoy Him. Then, three days later, on the day of His resurrection, He offered Himself to God as the firstfruit. The reason He did not want Mary to touch Him was that He was going to the Father to offer Himself in the freshness of His resurrection for the Father’s enjoyment. On the day of His resurrection the Lord went to the heavens and also appeared to the disciples in the evening. After revealing Himself to the disciples, He breathed Himself into them as the life-giving Spirit.
On the day of Christ’s resurrection there was the fulfillment of the type of the firstfruit of the harvest. Then fifty days later, on the day of Pentecost, there was the enjoyment of the harvest of the rich produce of the good land. That was a type of Christ becoming the full enjoyment to His redeemed people as the life-giving Spirit poured out upon them from the heavens. Through the outpouring of the Spirit, God’s people may enjoy the all-inclusive Christ as their good land. Their receiving of the bountiful Spirit on the day of Pentecost indicates not only that they have entered into the good land, but also that they participate in the bountiful riches of the all-inclusive Christ in His resurrection and ascension as God’s full allotment in His New Testament economy.
Exodus 23:19a says, “The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the Lord thy God.” We have seen that the sheaf of the firstfruit typifies Christ in His resurrection. As the firstfruit, Christ is new and fresh. On the morning of His resurrection, He intended to go directly to the Father and present Himself to the Father as the firstfruit. However, He was detained by Mary, who enjoyed Him as the “sheaf” in resurrection. Even before God the Father enjoyed the resurrected Christ, Mary had some enjoyment of Him in this way.
We need to be impressed with the fact that regarding Christ’s ascension there is a secret aspect and also an open aspect. Christ’s secret ascension took place on the morning of the day of His resurrection. His open ascension took place forty days later, when He ascended in the sight of His disciples from Mount Olivet. Christ’s secret ascension was for the presenting of Himself to the Father as the firstfruit in His resurrection. Later on the same day He came back to the disciples and breathed Himself into them. In this way they participated in the enjoyment of Christ as the sheaf of the firstfruit of the harvest.
After enjoying Christ as the firstfruit, the disciples went on to enjoy Him as the harvest on the day of Pentecost. To enjoy the essential Spirit is to have the enjoyment as the sheaf of the firstfruit. But to enjoy the economical Spirit is to have the enjoyment of Christ as the harvest in an open, public way.
We should not neglect the enjoyment of Christ as the harvest. Some may want to be like Mary, who met with the Lord on the morning of His resurrection, or at least like the disciples, who met with Him in the evening. We all need the full enjoyment of Christ as the feast of Harvest.
The enjoyment of Christ did not become full until He, as the Head of the church, poured Himself out upon His Body as the economical Spirit. Through this outpouring on the day of Pentecost, the enjoyment of Christ became full. This full enjoyment of Christ as the harvest is actually the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit as the consummation of the processed Triune God reaching us. Furthermore, as mentioned in Galatians 3:14, this Spirit is the blessing of the gospel.
In Philippians 1:19 Paul speaks of the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. The supply we receive as the firstfruit of the harvest is fresh, but it is not bountiful. Only when we have the harvest do we have the bountiful supply. This means that not until the Spirit was poured out economically upon the Body of Christ did the Lord’s people have the full enjoyment of Christ. When the economical Spirit was poured out upon the Body of Christ on the day of Pentecost, the enjoyment of Christ became bountiful. Now the supply is the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, and this Spirit is the blessing of the gospel. The blessing of the gospel is actually the Triune God processed to become the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit reaching all the believers. This is the bountiful enjoyment of Christ in His ascension.
