(4) The Gift of the Holy Spirit

Jerusalem was packed. Thousands of "Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven" (Acts 2:5) had gathered to observe the Feast of Weeks (Lev. 28:26) or Feast of Harvest (Ex. 23:16). The feast happened seven weeks or 50 days from Passover so Luke gives it the Greek numeral Pentecostos, fiftieth.

Pentecost celebrated the early harvest; the completion of the barley and wheat harvest, a bit like Thanksgiving Day. It was one of the three feasts for which every male in Israel were to travel to Jerusalem to bring their offerings on behalf of their families (Ex. 34:22, 23; Deut. 16:16).

But something happened that almost no one expected. The event "publicly mark[ed] the transition from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant." It was the gunshot at the start of the marathon called the Great Commission. And it has powerful implications for everyone who knows they need the power of God to live as God wants.