Pentacost by the Numbers

[TimothyH]

It’s Pentacost! It is a great day…

During those days Peter stood up in the midst of the brothers (there was a group of about one hundred and twenty persons in the one place). (Acts 1:15)

The number 120 was significant. 120 people were required in Isreal if you wanted to go off and start your own city, with it’s own civil and rabinical authorites, with it’s own judges and courts, and with it’s own synagogue. Pentacost was exactly that. It was the start of such a city. It was the start of the City of God, the new Jerusalem, the Church!

Peter (said) to them, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the holy Spirit. For the promise is made to you and to your children and to all those far off, whomever the Lord our God will call.” He testified with many other arguments, and was exhorting them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand persons were added that day. (Acts 2:38-41)

Note that 3000 were added on the day of Pentacost. Contrast that with what happened at Mt. Sinai.

When Moses realized that, to the scornful joy of their foes, Aaron had let the people run wild, he stood at the gate of the camp and cried, “Whoever is for the LORD, let him come to me!” All the Levites then rallied to him, and he told them, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Put your sword on your hip, every one of you! Now go up and down the camp, from gate to gate, and slay your own kinsmen, your friends and neighbors!” The Levites carried out the command of Moses, and that day there fell about three thousand of the people. (Exodus 32:24-28)

The number 3000 is also significant. 3000 were killed at Mt. Sinai but at Pentacost, 3000 were added. The Jews inablity to trust God at Mt. Sinai was reversed at Pentacost, and now, through Christ’s death on the cross and the advent of his Church, with the risen Chris as it’s head and Peter as it’s prime minister, with the authority to bind and loose, with the authority to baptize and forgive sins, man’s ability to trust in God, if he so chose, was restored.

Yes, a red letter day!

-Tim-

 

[NotWorthy]

A couple of points:

I like to refer to the Pentecost 3000 as:
In the old Testament, 3000 died.
In the New Testament, 3000 died to this world in Baptism.

But the 120 number, I was under the impression that a city needed either 10 or 50 Jews in a city before they could have a synagogue. I seem to recall seeing that when reading in Acts that St. Paul met Lydia and some others outside the city near a river. This was probably because there were not enough people for the synagogue.

With that in mind, where did you get the 120 people number from?

 

[patrick457]

But the 120 number, I was under the impression that a city needed either 10 or 50 Jews in a city before they could have a synagogue. I seem to recall seeing that when reading in Acts that St. Paul met Lydia and some others outside the city near a river. This was probably because there were not enough people for the synagogue.

That is a minyan. In order for certain religious obligations to be carried out you traditionally needed at least ten Jewish males, at the least. The author of Acts refers only to women, which may suggest that they probably lacked Jewish men to found a synagogue (and that they were probably ‘God-fearing’ non-Jews) - which did not originally refer to the building, mind you, but to the congregation that gathered in it, very much like the word ‘church’ or ekklēsia (synagogē, from syn- ‘with’, ‘together’ and agō ‘to lead/bring’ = ‘assembly’).

 

[TimothyH]

A couple of points:

I like to refer to the Pentecost 3000 as:
In the old Testament, 3000 died.
In the New Testament, 3000 died to this world in Baptism.

But the 120 number, I was under the impression that a city needed either 10 or 50 Jews in a city before they could have a synagogue. I seem to recall seeing that when reading in Acts that St. Paul met Lydia and some others outside the city near a river. This was probably because there were not enough people for the synagogue.

With that in mind, where did you get the 120 people number from?

Dr. Stephen Ray quoted this number in his talk on the Gospel of John, I believe it was a CD from Catholic Lighthouse Media.

-Tim-

 

[NotWorthy]

Dr. Stephen Ray quoted this number in his talk on the Gospel of John, I believe it was a CD from Catholic Lighthouse Media.

-Tim-

Great. Thanks, Tim!

I’ll see what I can find on it. I’ve got Steve’s Gospel of John bible study, but I need to go back to my Acts bible studies and see if this was covered. I remember that it was referenced in the scene where Paul meets Lydia, so it should be easy to find.

Thanks, again!