By various means, people have calculated that it was 50 days (inclusive) after Passover that the 10 Commandments were give by God to Moses. One can count the days in the Bible, but it’s complex, and not really relevant here. There is also other extra-biblical support for this.
The significance of this is important for Adventists.
The sending of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles
The 10 Commandments, as I’ve shown before, are the Old Covenant law. Their precepts remain valid as they are part of the eternal natural law, the moral law infused in us by God, and the New Law of the New Covenant given by the Holy Spirit.
The Old Covenant prepared us for the New Covenant, and the Old Law prepared us for the New Law.
Today, those Christians who celebrate Jesus’ resurrection from the dead count 50 days from Resurrection Sunday to arrive at Pentecost, where we celebrate the giving of the Holy Spirit to the Church (Acts 2).
Psalm 140:30 (KJV) – Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth.
So it’s not really a surprise to see that, on the anniversary of the giving of the Old Law, the Holy Spirit descends on the Church. Just another sign that we, as Christians, are under a greater moral code than any given in the Old Testament.
The old law was given to Israel. The Holy Spirit was given to the world.
Adventists, who typically do not celebrate much to do with Jesus’ life the way Catholics and other Christians do, will miss out on this inconvenient typology. Instead of celebrating the arrival of the Holy Spirit as promised by Jesus, they remain trapped in the Old Covenant, unable to see the New.
Further reading:
Pentecost and the Ten Commandments … by Peggy Bowes
