Ep 719 – Leviticus 23-24

The Feast of Pentecost is just one of the many feasts God ordained and gave to the people of Israel to keep in perpetuity. But of all the feasts, this one has a special significance that carries over to us as Gentile believers in Jesus Christ. On this one day of the year, the Jews were allowed to bake bread containing leaven or yeast and use it as part of their sacrifice to God. For the Jews, leaven was a symbol for sin. Its ability to spread through a lump of dough was an illustration of sin's pervasive and permeating power. At the Feast of Passover, they were to remove all remnants of leaven from their home, essentially modeling their desire to remove sin from their lives. But on the Feast of Pentecost, they were commanded to bake bread with yeast and present it to God as a wave offering. There is so much symbolism in this passage and it points to a future date when the Holy Spirit would come upon the apostles and the church would begin. From that day forward, the body of Christ, the church would be made up of a surprising blend of Jews and Gentiles.