What is the difference between Jewish beliefs of Pentecost and Christian beliefs?

Answer 1

A:The Jewish Pentecost or Shavuot, celebrated from the second century BCE onwards, commemorates the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai, and takes place fifty days after Passover. Numbers 11:25 says that on the day of the Jewish Pentecost, the spirit of God came down on the seventy elders and they began to prophesy in ecstasy. This day had a much longer tradition as the day of the harvest festival.

The Christian Pentecost takes place fifty days after Easter, which originally coincided with the Passover. Acts of the Apostles says that on the day of Pentecost, everyone that was in the upper room, was filled with the Holy Spirit coming down on them as tongues of fire and the began to speak in tongues as the spirit gave them the utterance. There are parallels to the earlier account in the story of the Christian Pentecost, which was seemingly inspired by the Jewish Pentecost.

Another Answer:

Arguably, the only 'differences' between the two observances were in the physical versus spiritual aspects of them. Though only the Jewish peoples today, descendants of the tribe of Judah, continue to observe the Leviticus 23 command for the Feast Day called Pentecost in the New Testament (Feast of Harvest; Ingathering; Weeks; and Firstfruits), it is important to realize it was given to the Church/Congregation of Israel - the physical called out 12 tribes.

Continuing, the Feast of Pentecost pictured the coming Christ. It was counted from the 'wave sheaf' offering (Leviticus 23:10) of the firstfruits. The High Priest waved this offering of the first of the early harvest to be accepted to God. Then count 50 days to come to Pentecost. This pictured Jesus' resurrection as the first of the firstfruits - the first human to be actually born of God by the resurrection (compare Matthew 28:9 and John 20:17).

Also, the OT Feast Day, Leviticus 23:15-17 instructed the people to bring two wave loaves of fine flour baked with leaven. They are the firstfruits to the LORD. These loaves pictured both OT and NT people of God who had His Holy Spirit - in OT they were primarily the Patriarchs and the Prophets as the Holy Spirit was withheld from the Garden of Eden until the NT Pentecost of 31 AD (1 Peter 1:10-11).

Concluding, the OT Holy Day was a physical ceremony to picture the actual giving of God's Holy Spirit and start of the Church of God which would now include all peoples. It is the 'smaller harvest' of God observed 50 days from a fixed date as it was always. The 'Christian' Pentecost fulfills the ceremonial intent of the Israelite or as you called it Jewish Pentecost. Indeed, all of God's Holy Days given in the OT were 'pictures' of future events that would come from the the first Coming until the 2nd Coming of Jesus, to complete the salvation of mankind.