Pentecost and Its Sacrifices

Feasts of Israel Series: Part 15

We often think of Pentecost only in its relationship to the flames dancing over the heads of the disciples in the second chapter of Acts. But there was more burning in Jerusalem than the hearts of Jesus’ followers. As they shouted praises in the upper room, tongues of fire crackled around the sacrifices burning in the temple courtyard.

Leviticus 23:15–21 describes three types of sacrifices used that day—a whole burnt offering, a sin offering, and a peace offering. A burnt offering consisted of an entire animal, representing a life entirely dedicated to God. The sin offering was made to receive the iniquities of the nation on its flesh and be burned outside the temple complex with its burden. The peace offering celebrated the finished work of the first two offerings in thanksgiving for the newly restored relationship between God and His people.

The Burnt Offering

A burnt offering was the only animal sacrifice associated with Passover. A single year-old lamb was roasted for each family. (see a previous post about Passover). Each lamb represented the Messiah who would, like the offering, give Himself wholly over to the Lord. His life would be given up for the lives of God’s people and death would pass over them. It was the only offering needed for this feast, because salvation rested on the perfection of the sacrifice rather than the perfection of the worshipper.

Pentecost also required a whole burnt offering, but this one consisted of three types of sacrifices—seven perfect year-old lambs, one young bull, and two rams. The variety of animal types may have represented the diversity of souls asking for God’s acceptance—individuals who likely had every intention of giving their all to the Lord as their sacrificial counterparts, but still fell short.

How familiar these good intentions should feel to us. However hard we try to maintain our dedication, we inevitably fail. Fortunately, God was already prepared with a remedy—the sin offering.

The Sin and Peace Offerings

The young goat came to the altar and the priests laid their hands on its head. As they confessed over it, the sins of the nation transferred to the goat. They splashed the blood of the sacrifice about the altar and banished its flesh to a fire outside the temple. This Pentecost ritual became the very picture of Psalm 103:12. “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”

To celebrate the freshly renewed fellowship with God, the priests presented the peace offering in thanksgiving. Two more lambs were slain, but this time, they didn’t go directly onto the altar. Instead, the priests lifted them up along with the two loaves of bread mentioned in a previous post and waved them before the Lord.

The double lambs and double loaves of Pentecost suggest a reference to the number two—a number which carries the idea of confirmation or bearing witness in Scripture (Matthew 18:16). Swinging like double amens before the Lord, these elements of the peace offering certified that all was now right between God and man.

This is the joy of Acts 2. Because Christ fulfilled the sacrificial needs of the Law presented during the first Pentecost, we are no longer crushed under its weight. The confirmation of His peace is now upon us. With the strengthening help of the Holy Spirit, we can stand freely in the presence of God.