We see that the disciples received the Holy Spirit from Jesus when He appeared to them, and that they were baptized into the body of Christ "by" and "with" the Holy Spirit. This is accomplished by the blood of Christ at Calvary. But to understand it from the perspective of the feasts of the Lord, we must understand the meaning of the blood of the lamb killed at Passover as a type of the blood of Christ. "We have redemption through his blood." ¹ Jesus "hath purchased [us] with his own blood." ²

The Children of Israel were told by God, "And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you." ³ In Egypt when the Lord passed over the houses with the blood over the door, He "sealed" or "protected" the people within from the plague. Without this protection "every open vessel, which hath no covering bound upon it, is unclean." ⁴

This is why the celebration of Passover requires that "there be no leaven found in [the] houses." ⁵ Leaven is a type of sin, and our "sins are forgiven." ⁶ Therefore, since no leaven is "in our house" because we are "clean through the word which [Jesus has] spoken unto [us], ⁷ we are protected by the "seal" or "covering" of the Holy Spirit at redemption.

Israel's Journey as a Picture of Being Sealed and Led by the Holy Spirit

As believers we are "changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord" ⁸ just as Israel was brought "out of the land of...Egypt through a land that no man passed through." ⁹ It was a walk "in the Spirit" ¹⁰ by following the Lord "Who went in the way before [them]...in fire by night, to shew [them] by what way [they] should go, and in a cloud by day." ¹¹

Israel was all "under the cloud" ¹² which illustrates that God seals us with the Holy Spirit when we are saved. He does not take "away the pillar of the cloud." ¹³ In the same manner the disciples received the Holy Spirit ¹⁴ when they were baptized into the body of Christ ¹⁵ and "sealed..., and given the earnest of the Spirit in [their] hearts." ¹⁶

Therefore, as believers, in order for us to do the "work of God...[we must] believe on him whom he hath sent."¹⁷ That's all that is necessary to be "led by the Spirit of God." ¹⁸ Just as Israel was sealed and led from Egypt to Mt. Sinai, so we as believers are sealed and guided in our lives.

How else is Israel's experience an example for us, or a pattern by which to better understand our own relationship with God?

Israel continued to celebrate the feast of Passover on their journey through the wilderness, just as we daily celebrate our being saved. The Lord said to them, "This day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord through your generations." ¹⁹ In addition, the Lord said, "Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year." ²⁰ Leviticus 23:2,3 shows that feasts are sabbaths, and God has commanded, "Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you." ²¹

The feasts are separate, individual celebrations in Israel's history as well as experientially in our lives. "But when the people of the land shall come before the Lord in the solemn feasts, he that entereth in...shall not return by the way of the gate whereby he came in." ²² Each time we meet with the Lord, we are changed and "leave by another gate" which illustrates that the feasts are unique but celebrated in the context of the believers' spiritual lives "three times a year."

You see, then, that there is a continuity in the feasts. There is a progression between Passover and Pentecost in our spiritual lives just as Israel journeyed between Egypt and Mt. Sinal. The progression is fulfilled by observing to "keep the feast of unleavened bread" ²³ and then the "feast of harvest." ²⁴ Also, "Thou shalt keep the feast of weeks." ²⁵

"In the fourteenth day of the first month...is the Lord's passover." ²⁶ Then "it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt." ²⁷ Next "in the third month...the same day came they unto the wilderness of Sinai." ²⁸ If God causes an event to take place on exactly the "selfsame day," then it behooves us to consider the timing of other events as well.

For instance, there is about one-half of a month after Passover remaining in the first month and at least three days ²⁹ transpire in the third month, which is a passage of approximately fifty days (the word pentecost means "fiftieth"). The Lord said, "shall ye number fifty days" ³⁰ and celebrate the Feast of Pentecost. "The day of Pentecost was fully come" ³¹ when the Spirit was poured forth because God waited until precisely the right day for it to happen.

We see a similar passage of time in the New Testament between the resurrection and Pentecost where Jesus "shewed himself...forty days", ³² and after He departed the disciples returned to Jerusalem, which was a "sabbath day's journey" ³³ away. Then in the Old Testament "the Lord said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them...and be ready against the third day." ³⁴ So Moses and Joshua waited for God to invite them up to Mt. Sinai. ³⁵ In the New Testament Jesus "commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me." ³⁶ So they tarried in Jerusalem ³⁷ and "continued with one accord in prayer and supplication" ³⁸ in the "upper room." ³⁹ in preparation for the Feast of Pentecost. We see that the travel, consecration, and waiting situations are similar in the Old and New Testaments.

When we see that "all these things happened unto [Israel] for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition," ⁴⁰ we can understand how the event of Passover has meaning in our lives. In addition, we see clearly because the Old Testament "vail is done away in Christ." ⁴¹ Finally, we know that the scriptures "beginning at Moses" ⁴² concern Jesus because in His life He fulfilled the Old Testament types of Passover and Pentecost.

Since Calvary is a fulfillment of the historical event of Passover, and since a direct parallel exists between the expiration of time and experience of Old Testament Israel and the New Testament disciples, then Pentecost must be a fulfillment of the historical event of Israel's Mt. Sinai experience. Consequently, since Calvary is a picture of redemption, Pentecost must be a picture of what is called the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

"Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance." ⁴³ The "joyful sound" is the trumpet which signals the feasts, and those who understand its implication are able to personally celebrate the feasts of Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles in their lives.

We remember that the disciples received the Holy Spirit when Jesus breathed upon them. Then we know that they were sealed and had the Holy Spirit in them. But next, Jesus said, "Behold, I send the promise of my father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high" ⁴⁴ for "ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence." ⁴⁵ How could they be baptized after they had been baptized into His body when they received the Spirit?

The answer concerns the Greek word bapto, which was a common term used in the garment industry. It has the connotation of being made fully wet with fluid in the manner of staining as with a dye. The disciples had received the promise of the Spirit in their hearts ⁴⁶ and now they were to receive the promise in the form of power "upon" them. This is shown by the fact that "all were baptized unto Moses in the cloud." ⁴⁷ "A cloud covered the mount" ⁴⁸ "And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount." ⁴⁹

Therefore, the word baptism applied here is a picture of another "immersion" of the believer into an additional truth or capacity within God. The Holy Spirit comes "upon" him as if the Spirit has approached (ie. come upon) him in a new way. We remember that the believer "entereth in" ⁵⁰ to a new worship experience or meeting with God in each of the three feasts of the Lord. ⁵¹

"And when the day of Pentecost was fully come...there came a sound from heaven" ⁵² "and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost" ⁵³ and they received "the gift of the Holy Ghost." ⁵⁴ The disciples had waited fifty days since receiving the Spirit when Jesus breathed upon them, and now had received the gift of the Spirit "upon" them from "on high."

Therefore, we conclude that the first feast of Pentecost after the resurrection was not the official beginning of the ministry of the Holy Spirit on earth, but that He was already present when Jesus breathed upon the disciples. In this sense, the proximity of Passover and Pentecost (being only fifty days apart) is significant.

Jesus said, "Behold, I send (ie. am continuously sending) the promise of my Father upon you." ⁵⁵ The disciples had received, were receiving, and would receive again the presence of the Holy Spirit as He was poured forth.

It is clear that New Testament Pentecost is related to Israel's Mt. Sinai experience. The disciples in the upper room heard God's voice such as it was "a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind", ⁵⁶ whereas Israel said, "Let not God speak with us, lest we die." ⁵⁷ At Mt. Sinal "there fell of the people that day about three thousand men", ⁵⁸ and at Jerusalem "there were added unto them about three thousand souls." ⁵⁹

Since the disciples had already received the Holy Spirit, "This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh." ⁶⁰ So if we wait for Him, ⁶¹ we will experience this outpouring and see the greatness of God because He will do "terrible things which we looked for." ⁶²