When Was the Day of Pentecost? Shavuot or the Feast of New Wine?

Satan’s Attacks on the Word of God

Scripture reveals to us the various ways that Satan attacks the Holy Word of God.

In the Garden of Eden, we find Satan tempting Eve by attacking the integrity of God’s Word. He said to Eve, “…Yea, hath God said…” (Genesis 3:1), implying that God was hiding something from her and Adam.

Later, the Devil tempted Jesus after His 40-day fast in the Wilderness. He tried to get Jesus to abandon His mission of redeeming man by acting against His Father’s will. He tempted Him to “turn the stones into bread” (Matthew 4:3).

In that we know that the Devil is a thief (John 10:10), we know he also seeks to steal away the Word of God.

Evidence of this can be readily seen in many of our Modern Bible Translations. They contain tens of thousands of fewer words than the King James Bible Version. The King James Version is based on the historically reliable Textus Receptus manuscripts, and not on the debunked manuscripts that had been altered by Origen and others.

Biblical Dates, Times, and God’s Perfect Plan

One of the more insidious ways that the Devil seeks to destroy proper Christian Theology is by obscuring the important dates and times of God’s Perfect Plan for man’s redemption.

Good examples of this can be seen in the Roman Catholic Church’s linking of important dates to paganistic Babylonian Religious System beliefs. These include dates associated with the birth of Jesus and His Crucifixion.

The Book of Daniel describes Satan’s right-hand man, the Anti-Christ, as one who “changes times and laws” (Daniel 7:25).

This tactic of obscuring important Biblical dates is perhaps best evidenced in the initiation of the Church. That date is the “Day of Pentecost.”

Throughout Church history, Pentecost has been associated with the 4th major Jewish Feast, the Feast of Shavuot.

This feast occurs 50 days after the Feast of Passover. It is one of the 3 major Jewish Feasts in which all Jewish males were required to appear before the LORD at the Temple in Jerusalem.

The Jewish Feast of Shavuot represents the first fruits of the wheat harvest. This occurs in the spring of the year.

This harvest continues for a full 50 days until it is finally completed in the summer, at the time of the Feast of New Wine

This harvest continues for a full 50 days. It is finally completed in the summer, at the time of the Feast of New Wine.

Did Pentecost Actually Occur on the 9th of Av?

We shall see in this study that Scripture indicates that the Day of Pentecost actually occurred on the Hebrew calendar’s 9th of Av. This would place it at the summer-time Feast of New Wine, and not at the spring Feast of Shavuot.

God’s Precise Timing of Passover and the Crucifixion

God’s Word is precise concerning the timing of important events in World History. For example, it is not an accident that the Crucifixion occurred on the same day as the Feast of Passover.

The Feast of Passover memorialized the Hebrew people being delivered from their bondage in Egypt. It also foretold an even more important future historical event: the Crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ and His fulfillment as the Passover Lamb.

 Thus, in the Plan of God for human history, both events occur on the exact same calendar day.

In like manner, it was not a coincidence that Jesus was buried on the same day as the Feast of Unleavened Bread. He also arose from the dead on the same day as the Feast of First-fruits. He was the first person to be eternally resurrected from the dead.

The precision of these events illustrates a broader biblical principle. History is not controlled by mere chance or “coincidence,” but by a Sovereign God who ordains events according to His timetable.

When Did the Ascension of Jesus Occur?

After this, the timing of the historical events of the Church Age begins to get muddled. For the next significant historical event in the Church’s history is the Day of Ascension.

Within Christendom, the Day of Ascension is commonly considered to have occurred 40 days after Passover. According to this argument, however, this was not the actual date of Jesus’ Ascension into Heaven.

In the Book of Acts we are told that Jesus, after His Passion, showed Himself to the Apostles for a period of 40 days (Acts 1:3). However, this does not mean that the Day of Ascension occurred 40 days after the Crucifixion.

Jesus was in the grave for 2 days after the Crucifixion. He was not technically fully seen by the 11 Apostles until 8 days after His resurrection. Thomas was not with the other 10 Apostles on their first encounter with the Lord on Resurrection Day (John 20:19-26, Mark 16:14).

This would make the actual date of the Day of Ascension exactly 50 days after the Crucifixion. This would place it at the celebration of the “first fruits” of the wheat harvest, the Feast of Shavuot.

The Church is symbolized as wheat in Scripture (Matthew 13:24-30). It would therefore be perfect typology for the Head of the Church, Jesus Christ, to be the first fruits of the wheat harvest. He would go to Heaven at the Feast of Shavuot, later to be followed by the full harvest of the Church at the time of the Rapture.

Were the Jews in Jerusalem for the Feast of Shavuot?

It is commonly assumed that the initiation of the Church at the outpouring of the Holy Spirit happened during the Feast of Shavuot. The Book of Acts states that numerous Jews were “dwelling” there from various nations of the world.

This would seem to indicate that they were there on pilgrimage to mandatorily attend the Feast of Shavuot.

This however is not the case. The Greek word for “dwelling” used in the text, “Katoikeo,” specifically denotes a permanent dwelling. It does not refer to a temporary dwelling such as a tent or an inn commonly used by travelers.

These Jews mentioned on the Day of Pentecost were therefore people who had migrated to Jerusalem from various nations of the world. They were not temporary visitors who had made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the Feast of Shavuot.

The “New Wine” Evidence in Acts 2

In addition to this, the disciples who were “speaking in tongues” were accused of having been drinking “new wine” (Acts 2:13).

This would have been an impossibility if the Day of Pentecost had occurred on the Feast of Shavuot. The grape harvest would not occur until summer. The “new wine” could not have been imbibed until the High Priest had blessed it by pouring it on the Temple’s altar at the Feast of New Wine on the 9th of Av.

Pentecost and the Feast of New Wine

We therefore must conclude that the Day of Pentecost and the initiation of the Church did not occur until 50 days after Shavuot. This would be a full 100 days after the Crucifixion, on the 9th of Av at the time of the Feast of New Wine.

This timetable places the Day of Ascension on the Feast of Shavuot and the Day of Pentecost at the Feast of New Wine. It is further buttressed by God’s Word: “God will do nothing until he first reveals his secret unto his servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7).

This same principle—that God reveals His plans through prophetic patterns and timetables—is explored further in the study of God’s Daniel Chapter 9 prophetic timeline.

Pentecost in Biblical Prophecy

In the Old Testament record, there is no linking of the Ascension of Jesus to the 40 days after Passover. Nor is any other significant occurrence linked to that time period.

On the other hand, we shall see in later studies that there are indeed numerous instances in the Old Testament that link the Day of Pentecost to the Feast of New Wine.

The importance of carefully examining biblical time periods can likewise be seen in Daniel 9:27 and the larger prophetic timetable, where periods of days and years form an important part of the prophetic argument.

Related Studies from Paradigms Tossed

Continue exploring biblical timing, prophetic patterns, the return of Christ, and the importance of carefully examining Scripture through these related studies:

2030 A.D. Prophetic Timeline: The 70 Jubilee Cycles of Daniel
This study examines how Scripture measures time through weeks, sabbatical years, and Jubilee cycles, and applies those patterns to Daniel’s prophetic timetable.

2030 A.D. Prophetic Timeline: Daniel’s 490 Years and the Restoration of Jerusalem
Explore Daniel 9, the restoration of Jerusalem, near-and-far prophetic fulfillment, and the importance of precise biblical chronology.

Predicting the End of the Age
This study examines whether Christians should be watching for the return of Christ and considers biblical signs, prophetic timing, the Rapture, and Daniel’s 70th week.

Moses as a Type of Christ: Biblical Prophecy, the Rapture, and the Second Coming
This article is especially relevant because it also examines Passover, Pentecost, trumpet imagery, Mount Sinai, and the timing of major events in God’s prophetic program.

Is Jesus Jehovah of the Old Testament?
A study of Jesus Christ as the pre-incarnate Jehovah of the Old Testament and the continuity of His identity and work throughout Scripture.