It is best, then, to see Pentecost’s significance in light of the Old Testament feast that celebrated God’s goodness and faithfulness in providing the ingathered harvest. Two further observations support this conclusion. First, God commanded Israel at Pentecost to present the ‘firstfruits of [their] labour, of what [they] sow in the field’ (Exod. 23:16, ESV). Correspondingly, the apostle Paul can say that New Testament believers have received the ‘firstfruits of the Spirit’ (Rom. 8:23). In identifying
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