by Kevin Tillman | May 21, 2026 | Bible Study, Blog, Thoughts
It’s 1446 BC. God gives instructions for the Israelites to place the blood of a lamb on the doorposts of their homes. That blood would be the sign for the angel to pass over that house and spare the firstborn. This was the final and most horrific of the plagues, and it was the event that finally set the Hebrews free from slavery in Egypt. That annual celebration would become known as Passover.
But, interestingly enough, another feast was also instituted that same year.
Leviticus 23:15–16
“You shall also count for yourselves from the day after the sabbath, from the day when you brought in the sheaf of the wave offering; there shall be seven complete sabbaths. You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh sabbath; then you shall present a new grain offering to the Lord.”
This feast was to be celebrated fifty days later. Israel was instructed to count seven weeks, and because of that counting, the feast became known as Shavuot, meaning “Feast of Weeks.”
At first glance, Shavuot appears to simply be an agricultural feast … a celebration of harvest. Israel would bring the firstfruits of wheat before the Lord in gratitude for His provision. But like so many Old Testament feasts, it pointed beyond itself. This feast was prophetic.
Fifty days after the original Passover and the Exodus from Egypt, the nation of Israel found itself standing at the base of Mount Sinai. They had been delivered … but what now? On that mountain God revealed His Law to His people.
Passover was for their deliverance, but Shavuot was for their empowerment. Shavuot was God showing His people how to live in the freedom He had given them.
Every year afterward, the Feast of Weeks reminded Israel of God’s goodness in the giving of the Torah … His instruction, His Law. But like all the Feasts of the Lord, a deeper meaning was still coming.
Now it’s AD 33.
Passover and Shavuot had been celebrated annually for nearly fifteen centuries. Every year reminded Israel of God’s deliverance from Egypt and His gift of the Law. But in AD 33, everything changed.
Jesus died on the cross during Passover. The blood that had once been placed on doorposts was now flowing from the cross as the spotless Lamb of God gave His life for the sins of the world.
Then came two more feasts. The Feast of Unleavened Bread was a week-long reminder that Israel had left Egypt behind completely. There was no returning to bondage. During that feast in AD 33, Jesus’ sinless body lay in the tomb. Then came the Feast of Firstfruits, when the first portion of the harvest was presented to God in anticipation of everything still to come. On that very feast day, Jesus rose from the grave, defeating sin and death forever.
Think about that.
For centuries these feasts had been celebrated year after year as reminders of God’s faithfulness. Then in AD 33, Passover, Unleavened Bread, and Firstfruits took on deeper meaning through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. Each event happened precisely on the feast day itself. Some may call that coincidence … but that sure is a lot of coincidence.
While many Bible students recognize the connection between those feasts and the cross and resurrection, the next feast often becomes the forgotten feast.
Fifty days after Passover in 1446 BC, God gave His Law to a newly delivered people. It was empowerment after deliverance. That was Shavuot.
Now fast forward again to AD 33. Jesus tells His disciples to wait in an upper room.
What were they doing while they waited? I can’t prove this, but part of me wonders if there was anticipation in that room. Jesus had died on Passover. He had been buried during Unleavened Bread. He had risen on Firstfruits. Could it be they wondered if God was about to do something again on Shavuot?
I think it’s possible. And oh, did something happen.
The Greek translation of Shavuot is Pentecost, a word meaning “fiftieth.” Pentecost was not a new Christian invention. Shavuot is Pentecost. Pentecost is Shavuot. It is simply the Greek translation of the Hebrew feast. That means that by AD 33, Pentecost had already been celebrated for fifteen hundred years, just like Passover, Unleavened Bread, and Firstfruits.
This was not a new day. It was a feast day. This was not a Christian creation, this was an annual reminder.
Could it be that while sitting in that upper room they wondered, “What is God going to do on Pentecost?” Deliverance had already come through the cross and resurrection, but now it was time for empowerment.
On Pentecost in 1446 BC, God gave the Law. On Pentecost in AD 33, God gave the Holy Spirit.
At Sinai, God formed a people. In the upper room, God filled a people. At Sinai, the Law came down. In the upper room, the Spirit came in.
Why is this feast so often forgotten? It’s hard to say. It aligns perfectly with the others chronologically and theologically. Maybe it’s time we remember it again.
Passover and the cross brought deliverance.
Pentecost and the Holy Spirit brought and still brings empowerment.
It all fits together with exact precision. Why are we surprised? Some may call it coincidence … but once again, that sure is a lot of coincidence.
Happy Pentecost. Let’s remember that God didn’t just send Jesus to set us free, He also sent the Holy Spirit to live inside of us, to guide us, and yes, to empower us. The same Spirit that filled that upper room in AD 33 is still filling believers today.
by Shannon Tillman | May 14, 2026 | Bible Study, Blog, Thoughts
We live in a world of comparison. Who is prettier? Smarter? Richer? Funnier? Nicer? Anything can be compared. We size up people and put them in a category of either “above” or “below” us in whatever classification we choose. Spirituality, or lack thereof, can also be compared. Often, we judge others harsher than ourselves. Their wrongdoing is somehow worse than our sin. Such is the case of Jehu, a military commander, who became king in a day.
2 Kings 9:1-3
The prophet Elisha summoned a man from the company of the prophets and said to him, “Tuck your cloak into your belt, take this flask of olive oil with you and go to Ramoth Gilead. When you get there, look for Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi. Go to him, get him away from his companions and take him into an inner room. Then take the flask and pour the oil on his head and declare, ‘This is what the Lord says: I anoint you king over Israel.’ Then open the door and run; don’t delay!”
The prophet did as Elisha had commanded. Jehu told his men the message and they hailed him as king. The soldiers followed Jehu to defeat the king in power, an evil man named Joram, who had a wicked mother named Jezebel. Jehu approached the palace with his men.
2 Kings 9:22-24
When Joram saw Jehu he asked, “Have you come in peace, Jehu?” “How can there be peace,” Jehu replied, “as long as all the idolatry and witchcraft of your mother Jezebel abound?” Joram turned about and fled, calling out to Ahaziah, “Treachery, Ahaziah!” Then Jehu drew his bow and shot Joram between the shoulders. The arrow pierced his heart and he slumped down in his chariot.
Jehu confronted Joram on the idolatry and witchcraft in the kingdom. Jezebel was the chief orchestrator and financer of these atrocities. Jehu, after killing Joram, went to deal with Jezebel.
2 Kings 9:30-33
Then Jehu went to Jezreel. When Jezebel heard about it, she put on eye makeup, arranged her hair and looked out of a window. As Jehu entered the gate, she asked, “Have you come in peace, you Zimri, you murderer of your master?” He looked up at the window and called out, “Who is on my side? Who?” Two or three eunuchs looked down at him. “Throw her down!” Jehu said. So they threw her down, and some of her blood spattered the wall and the horses as they trampled her underfoot.
Jezebel was also killed due to her wicked ways. But Jehu did not stop there. He realized he must cleanse Israel of the worship of the false god, Baal. He orchestrated a plan to kill all of the Baal worshippers.
2 Kings 10:25-28
As soon as Jehu had finished making the burnt offering, he ordered the guards and officers: “Go in and kill them; let no one escape.” So they cut them down with the sword. The guards and officers threw the bodies out and then entered the inner shrine of the temple of Baal. They brought the sacred stone out of the temple of Baal and burned it. They demolished the sacred stone of Baal and tore down the temple of Baal, and people have used it for a latrine to this day.So Jehu destroyed Baal worship in Israel.
Jehu responded to the Lord’s call and wiped-out Baal worship. He was on mission to purge Israel of this sin. This should have been a time of national revival in the worship of the true God. However, there was a problem.
2 Kings 10:29
However, he did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit—the worship of the golden calves at Bethel and Dan.
What? Jehu destroyed Baal worship, took down hundreds of pagans in the name of the Lord, inflicted justice on the royal family in the zeal of the Lord, yet still decided to keep a personal set of idols. Somehow, he thought his idols were not as bad as their idols. He believed they should be killed for their false beliefs while he could live in his compromise.
How often do we judge the sins of others while holding tightly onto our own? We think what they do is wrong, while excusing our own actions with “it is not so bad.” We compare out with “well, at least I am not doing that”. As if what we are doing wrong did not still need the blood shed on the cross to forgive us. Our excuses for our own sins only delay repentance and could even lead others into sin.
2 Kings 10:31
Yet Jehu was not careful to keep the law of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, which he had caused Israel to commit.
Not only did one man’s sin encourage others to sin, it also caused a nation to experience war.
2 Kings 10:32
In those days the Lord began to reduce the size of Israel. Hazael overpowered the Israelites throughout their territory…
When we do not repent from sin, we will experience much-deserved discipline. The consequences were not for Jehu alone but for Israel as well since many worshipped the golden calves. However, all of this could have been avoided if Jehu had been as zealous to remove his idols as much as the idols of others. We need to approach our sin with the same opinion as we do others, and to cut it out quickly. It is not to be compared but to be conquered.
