Exposition of the Laws of Moses, Exegesis 1 · Part 20
EXERCITAT. XX. Of the Pentecoſt. A ceremoniall appendix of Command. 4.
Levit 23.15. And ye ſhall count unto you from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day that yee brought the ſheafe of the wave-offering, ſeven Sabbaths ſhall be compleat, &c.
THe Pentecoſt is called the feaſt of weekes, becauſe there were ſeven weekes betwixt the morrow after the Paſſeover; and it is called the Pentecoſt, from foreign, fifty, and in Hebrew, Haghaſhibignoth,
There were ſundry memorable things reckoned by the number of fifty in the Scriptures;foreign Many memorable things by the number of fifty. as fifty dayes from their comming out of Egypt, unto the giving of the Law. The Dough which they brought out of Egypt, laſted thirty dayes, for the Manna deſcended the ſixeteenth day of the ſecond monethmonth; now betwixt the fifteenth day of the firſt monethmonth, when they came out of Egypt, to the ſixteenth day of the ſecond monethmonth, are juſt thirty dayes, after that time within fifteene dayes, they came to Sinai, that maketh forty five dayes; then the Lord commanded them to ſanctifie themſelves three dayes, annd that maketh forty eight dayes; then the ſecond day after that, the Law was given. So there were fifty dayes betwixt the morrow after the Paſſeover and the Pentecoſt: So there were fifty dayes after Chriſts Reſurruction, and the comming downe of the Holy Ghoſt upon the Apoſtles: ſo in the fiftieth yeare was the Iubile.
The errour of the Samaritans, in reckoning of the Pentecoſt.There were ſeven weekes from the morrow after the Paſſeover to the Pentecoſt; the Samaritans miſtaking the word Sabbath, they kept ſeven Pentecoſts in one yeare, therefore they were called Hebdomaditai.
They began to reckon the Pentecoſt from the morrow after the Paſſeover, which they called foreign, and the firſt Sabbath after the foreign, was called foreign.
Chriſt roſe upon this foreign, and as there were fifty dayes betwixt foreign, and the Pentecoſt; ſo there were fifty dayes betwixt Chriſts Reſurrection, and the comming downe of the Holy Ghoſt.
The Angell ſtirred the poole at the Paſſeover.At the Pentecoſt, the man which had an infirmitie thirty eight yeeres, was cured, Ioh. 5.5. For it is ſaid, verſe 4. That an Angell went downe foreign, at a certaine ſeaſon; and the Hebrewes ſay, lemognad haſe, and the Hel…niſts ſay foreign, (following the Hebrewes) at this ſeaſon, that is, at the Pentecoſt; foreign, here is taken diſtributivè; ſo Mat. 27.15. The Angell came downe at their feaſts, when many people were met together at Ieruſalem; conferre, Ioh. 4.36. with cap. 5.1. At that Pentecoſt the Angell but came downe, but at the great Pentecoſt the Holy Ghoſt came downe.
When the Barley Harveſt began.VponUpon the foreign was the beginning of their Harveſt, and then there were but handfuls of Barley brought in (therefore at the Paſſeover they read the Hiſtory of Ruth, in the dayes of the Barley Harveſt, Ruth 1.22. In the beginning of the Barley Harveſt; the Chaldee Paraphraſt paraphraſeth it at the Pentecoſt.) But at the Pentecoſt, the full Harveſt was gathered in; their firſt Harveſt was of their Barley, of their baſeſt Graine onelyonly; but the full Harveſt of their beſt Graine, the Wheate, was at the Pentecoſt. Chriſt ſaid, Ioh. 4.35. Say ye not, Alluſion. there are foure Moneths, and then commeth Harveſt? Behold, I ſay unto you, lift up your eyes, and looke on the Fieldes; for they are white already unto Harveſt. But although the Harveſt was great, yet there were few Labourers, Mat. 9, 37. Here is an excellent alluſion betwixt the Pentecoſt, when their Cornes were ripe, being the time of their full Harveſt, and the comming downe of the Holy Ghoſt, for at the Paſcha there was little Harveſt, but at the Pentecoſt all the regions were white: ſo before the holy Spirit came downe, there was but a ſmall Harveſt; but when the Holy Ghoſt came downe,The Apoſtles gathered that which the Prophets had ſowne. there was a plentifull and a great Harveſt; and at the Pentecoſt they gathered that which the Prophets had ſowen, Iohn 4.38. Yee reaped that wherein yee beſtowed no labour.
Chriſt is called the firſt fruits from the dead,Chriſt the firſt fruits from the dead. 1 Cor. 15.20. as a handfull of the firſt fruits, ſanctified the whole field of Corne that was growing; ſo Ieſus Chriſt, the firſt fruits from the dead, ſanctifieth all thoſe who are lying in the Grave to riſe againe by his power, even when they are in the duſt of death, Pſal. 22.15.
The day of the Pentecoſt was called foreign,The Pentecoſt had but one holy day. as the laſt dayes of the Paſſeover, and the feaſt of Tabernacles were called gnazereth, holy dayes, there was but one holy day of the Pentecoſt; but the firſt and the laſt dayes of the other great feaſts were both holy, and yet the Pentecoſt was the moſt excellent Feaſt of all, for then the Comforter came, and the gift of the Holy Ghoſt came downe plentifully upon the Church.
Laſtly, obſerve the phraſe, Act. 2.1. When the dayes of the Pentecoſt were fulfilled, The Scriptures ſpeake of things as done, wh…n they are but in the act of doing.that is, fulfilling, So Ier. 25.12. And it ſhall come to paſſe, when ſeventy yeares are accompliſhed, that I will puniſh the King of Babylon, and that Nation, ſaith the Lord; Seventy yeares were not cōplete here, for in the ſeventieth yeare they returned from the captivity; ſo here, when the dayes of the Pentecoſt were fulfilled, that is, upon the very day of the Pentecoſt, when it was fulfilling.
This word gnazareth is uſually reſtrained by the Iewes to the laſt of the Pentecoſt, and it is tranſlated by the Seventy, Amos 5.21. foreign, which word Paul uſeth, Heb. 12.23. for a generall Aſſembly.