A Jewish Holy Day 2

Many people today believe that Acts chapter two is the gospel for today and that the salvation message for today is in Acts 2:38. Billboards and signs on church buildings proclaim “Obey Acts 2:38.” Well, Acts 2:38 is NOT the gospel to you, and here’s why.

The Day of Pentecost in Acts chapter two is a Jewish Holy Day. It comes fifty days after the Passover. The very word PENTE literally means fifty. The Jews were to number seven Sabbaths, or in other words, 49 days, and then the FIFTIETH day, the morrow after the Sabbath was the Day of Pentecost. It was a high day, a Jewish feast day. It was one of the three days of each year that all Jewish men were required to show up. Look at what the bible says:

Acts 2:5 And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.

Now you can see a list of nations that all those devout Jews were from in verses nine, ten and eleven. They are all Jews and they are all there because it is a Jewish feast day according to the Law of Moses, as in:

Deuteronomy 16:16 Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty:

Now the feast of weeks in the verse is the feast of Pentecost and notice it says they shall not appear before the LORD empty. That means they were to bring gifts. These men were under the Law of Moses, they were keeping the Law and were zealous of the Law, otherwise they wouldn’t have been there. No Gentiles are they on the day of Pentecost. They are all Jews. Peter is a Jew observing the Law on the Day of Pentecost and all the people he addresses are Jews. Listen to his words:

Acts 2:14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:

Acts 2:22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:

Acts 2:36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made the same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.

So what happened in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost is not good news for you. It was about Israel, for Israel and to Israel. Instead of the news being good, it is pretty grim. Peter accuses his listeners of murdering their King. The good news is that GOD RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD, according to Peter, to SIT ON DAVID’S THRONE. Nothing at all about Christ dying for your sins. Nothing at all about Gentile salvation. Nothing at all about the church, the body of Christ.