In our study of Shavuot (Feast of Weeks / Feast of Pentecost), we ask what these “tongues as of fire” were that came upon each believer in Acts 2. What might they have meant for the Jewish people gathered in Jerusalem for Shavuot? There is a beautiful truth behind these tongues.
To us, the phrase may sound unusual, but to many Jews of that time, the image of a “tongue” associated with atonement was not unfamiliar. In the rabbinic writings concerning another feast, the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, we read about a crimson strip of wool called לָשׁוֹן שֶׁל זְהוֹרִית , lashon shel zehorit, literally, “a crimson tongue.” The word lashon means “tongue.” This crimson strip was tied to the head of the scapegoat sent into the wilderness on the Day of Atonement, the Feast of Yom Kippur (Yoma 4:2; 67a).
When the goat reached the wilderness, the Talmud explains that the thread turned white, symbolizing the removal of Israel’s sins, as Isaiah 1:18 states: “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” This tradition appears in Yoma 67a. This is what they themselves report. The image was powerful: a crimson “tongue” associated with sin, atonement, forgiveness, and freedom. The red strip symbolized guilt and sin, and when it turned white, it signified cleansing and acceptance before God.
The Talmud also records something noteworthy. It says that during the forty years before the Temple’s destruction, the crimson strip no longer turned white (Yoma 39b). Remarkably, 40 years before the Temple’s destruction, which brings us to 30 AD, is the year associated with the death and resurrection of Yeshua.
The timing is striking. In Acts 2, we learn that in the same year at Pentecost, the year Yeshua died and was resurrected (30 AD), we read of this powerful sign, tongues of fire coming to rest on people. The same name, the same appellation as this red ribbon. This time, it was neither a crimson tongue tied to a goat nor a red strip attached to the Temple, which they also used. Instead, it was tongues of fire resting upon the believers themselves. This is deeply significant. On the Day of Atonement, the crimson tongue pointed to humanity’s need for forgiveness. At Pentecost, the tongues of fire pointed to the coming of the Holy Spirit.
It signified that redemption had been accomplished in the Messiah and that God was now forming a new body, the Body of the Messiah; this is the significance of Pentecost. Salvation has come to the whole world through the Spirit of God, who uses men and women to spread His Word. Every year, Shavuot reminds us that the miracle endures. God is still forgiving, still filling, still sending, and still using His people to proclaim the good news of redemption in Yeshua the Messiah.
One important question naturally arises from the text: why were so many people from so many nations gathered in Jerusalem at Pentecost? Pentecost is one of the three feasts for which the Lord ordered every Israelite to be present at the Temple. At that time, hundreds of thousands of people were roaming the streets of Jerusalem, coming from across the Roman Empire and beyond.
They were following the commandment in Deuteronomy 16:16, “Three times in a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God in the place which He chooses, at the Feast of Unleavened Bread and at the Feast of Weeks and at the Feast of Booths, and they shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed.” The Jewish people were commanded to come up to the Temple three times a year: during the Feast of Unleavened Bread (also called Passover), the Feast of Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles. But why did God choose these three feasts among all the Feasts of the Lord?
First, at the heart of it is something deeply beautiful: God desires to be with His people.
Beyond all the theology and symbolism, this has always been one of God’s great longings: not only to dwell among us but also to spend eternity with us.
These feast days were therefore not merely religious obligations; they were sacred moments of fellowship and joy before the Lord. Families would gather, share meals, and rejoice in God’s presence. In many ways, they were great celebrations of communion, where worship and fellowship converged around the table. Even the New Testament practice of the Breaking of Bread reflects this beautiful pattern: God calling His people to gather, rejoice together, and remember that He delights in dwelling among them. Yet this still does not fully explain why God chose these three particular feasts. Remarkably, these three feasts together point to three major offices or works of the Messiah.
At the Feast of Unleavened Bread, or Passover, the Messiah first came as the Prophet, announcing the good news of salvation. Yet, like the prophets before Him, He was rejected by many. He was the very Prophet Moses had foretold when he declared, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen; you shall listen to Him” (Deuteronomy 18:15). Both ancient Jewish interpretation and the New Testament understood this prophecy to refer to the Messiah. Yeshua fulfilled this prophetic office at His first coming by revealing the Word of God and ultimately giving His life for the salvation of humanity.
At the Feast of Shavuot (Pentecost), the Messiah performs His office as High Priest. He offered Himself as the ultimate sacrifice, the perfect sacrifice after which no others were necessary. After His death and resurrection, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God, thereby proving the sacrifice perfect and fully accomplished. This is explained in many parts of the New Testament, especially in Hebrews 1:3, which says that after purging our sins by Himself, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. This is His current office. The term High Priest is a major theme in the book of Hebrews; it is mentioned 16 times in that book, more often than in the Torah itself.
At the Feast of Succoth, or Tabernacles, the last of the seven feasts that symbolize the Messianic Times, the Messiah returns as the King of kings and establishes His kingdom on earth.
This is the title given Him at His Second Coming, the Lamb who is Lord of lords and King of kings (Rev. 17:14). Together, these three dates are for rejoicing, as God points to the Messiah Himself.
Furthermore, these 3 Feasts establish three major dispensations or eras of time.
One is past. One is present. One is future. At the Feast of Passover, God appeared on Mount Sinai to give the Mosaic Law, marking the dispensation of the Law. At the Feast of Pentecost, His Spirit came upon the Mount of Olives, establishing the dispensation of Grace. At the Feast of Tabernacles, the Messiah returns to the same mountain to establish His Kingdom, the Millennium. From Sinai to the Mount of Olives to the Messianic Age.
Go to the video – Shavuot / Pentecost 2026 – The Dawn of a New Day