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Acts 2:1 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
The day of Pentecost is the third annual festival given to ancient Israel. Its Old Testament name was Feast of Firstfruits, since it came at the end of the first or spring harvest in the Northern Hemisphere (Exodus 23:16; 34:22; Numbers 28:26). It was also called the Feast of Weeks, since it came seven weeks after the first Sunday following the Sabbath during the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Deuteronomy 16:9-10, 16). Since it was also the fiftieth day of the spring harvest season, Greek-speaking Jews and Christians called it pentekoste, which means "fiftieth." Pentecost AD 31 marked the beginning of God's Spirit-begotten New Testament church. Ekklesia, the Greek word for "church," means an assembly of "called-out ones." The whole world is not "called out"—only a tiny minority are predestined to be called for a special purpose. This is pictured by and commemorated by the annual festival of Pentecost.
Pentecost: Only 'Firstfruits' Now Called!
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