Leviticus 23:15-22
[15] “You shall count seven full weeks from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering. [16] You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath. Then you shall present a grain offering of new grain to the Lord. [17] You shall bring from your dwelling places two loaves of bread to be waved, made of two tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour, and they shall be baked with leaven, as firstfruits to the Lord. [18] And you shall present with the bread seven lambs a year old without blemish, and one bull from the herd and two rams. They shall be a burnt offering to the Lord, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord. [19] And you shall offer one male goat for a sin offering, and two male lambs a year old as a sacrifice of peace offerings. [20] And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before the Lord, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the Lord for the priest. [21] And you shall make a proclamation on the same day. You shall hold a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work. It is a statute forever in all your dwelling places throughout your generations. [22] And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, nor shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.”
Pentecost is the fulfillment of Shavuot or the Feast of Weeks. The Feast of Weeks was during the Wheat Harvest. They were to not just bring a blood sacrifice from lambs and goats, but a bread offering. Two loaves of bread made from fine flour. It wasn’t just any old flour they used. The flour took more work to produce.
It had to be carefully ground and sifted. Wheat was, apparently, more prestigious. It wasn’t the common grain. Barley was. Pentecost fulfilled this by taking two groups of people: the Israelites and the Gentiles. These two groups of people were brought before the LORD as one body in Christ.
No longer did it matter whether of not you were a Jew, but it is now about your heart. That’s why it’s not just common grain. It’s grain that’s harder to grow and take care of. And that’s not enough. It has to be ground. Sifted. And made fine. It’s not enough to just say you follow Christ or you believe in God. You have to do more than that. You have to deny your flesh. You have to go through the fire. You have to be ground and sifted. Not just anyone can enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Many are called, but few are chosen.
Pentecost is the day the Church was born by the power of the Holy Spirit and the Blood of Christ. It is the day two people’s were waved before the LORD as one. The day the Holy Spirit was poured out on all flesh and the grinding and sifting process of our soul could truly begin. That is Pentecost. It is hope. Hope of changing for the better. Hope of becoming one people in Christ. Hope of becoming a wave offering to the LORD.
Peace. Love. Go Forth and Become Fine Flour.