Pentecost (Acts 2:1) is the Greek word used for the ‘Festival of Weeks’ (Exod. 34:22). From the Sabbath, after Passover, the Hebrew people were to count seven weeks (49 days). On the 50th day, the wheat was to be offered in the form of two loaves of bread. Special sacrifices were made on the brass altar and all men over 20 ascended to Jerusalem to celebrate and give thanks for the wheat harvest, which was a much-needed grain for the survival of the people. It was on the very day of Pentecost that the Holy Spirit was poured out in Jerusalem and the festival of Pentecost became the “official day” of the birth of the church, with 3,000 receiving Christ as their Messiah and following Peter’s admonition to be baptized in water, publicly confessing their sins and their acceptance of Christ’s new covenant.

Pentecost was also the day when Moses returned from Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments, written by the finger of God, and saw the Israelites dancing before a golden calf. Moses, in anger, slammed the tablets on the ground, breaking them, slew 3,000 idolaters, then returned to the top of Mount Sinai for a second 40 days to rewrite the commandments of the Lord.

Pentecost is the second of three pilgrim festivals, meaning, the festivals where all males over 20 were required to leave their homes, travel to Jerusalem, and bring their first fruits to God in a joyful celebration. Once the first fruits were offered, the blessing of the Lord was immediately released upon the obedient believers who participated in presenting a small portion of their blessing back to God. The foods, grains and sacrifices presented at the temple served several purposes, depending upon the type of offering. The various animals were presented to fulfill the divine requirement for the different types of offerings. There were Thanksgiving, Trespass, Sin and Fellowship offerings. The meat was used to feed thousands of priests in full time ministry. The same was true for the grains and dried fruits presented in baskets. These special presentation offerings served as an appreciation offering to the Lord.

As you know, our ministry does NOT send out fundraising letters or spend time asking for offerings on television. However, years ago the Lord instructed me to inform friends and partners during the three main festival seasons, giving them an opportunity to plant a special appreciation offering into Voice of Evangelism Ministries to assist in our seven main outreaches. Notice this verse concerning the ‘Festival of Weeks’ of Pentecost:

“And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto the Lord thy God with a tribute of a freewill offering of thine hand, which thou shalt give unto the Lord thy God, according as the Lord thy God hath blessed thee.” – Deuteronomy 16:10

If our ministry has blessed you in any manner in the past, would you consider planting an appreciation offering that would help us with all our main outreaches and continue to assist us in boldly proclaiming the Word of God. I have signed the contract to begin with editing and preparing the Old Testament Commentary to be released in 2018! Your offering can greatly help me in the preparation of this major project! Thank you so much! You can call the ministry center at (423) 478-3456, write me at Perry Stone, P.O. Box 3595, Cleveland, Tennessee, 37320 or Give Now to give on line.

With Sincere Appreciation,

Perry Stone, Jr.