What is the Holiday of Shavuot All About?

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Jesus Is The Lamb

   “You shall also count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day when you brought in the sheaf of the wave offering; there shall be seven complete Sabbaths. You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh sabbath; then you shall present a new grain offering to the Lord.” (Leviticus 23:15-17)What is the Holiday of Shavuot All About?Shavuot is one of the three pilgrimage festivals of Israel, – Pesach, (Passover), Shavuot, (First Fruits) and Sukkot, (Tabernacles). The observance of the Feast of First Fruits is recorded in the Old Testament in Exodus 34:22, Leviticus 23:15-22, Deuteronomy 16:16, 2 Chronicles 8:13 and Ezekiel 1. In ancient Israel, Shavuot marked the harvest of the wheat crop, the last grain harvest of the season, and the beginning of the fruit harvest. Jews would journey from all over the land in order to bring the ‘first fruits’, or bikkurim, of the harvest to the Temple as an offering of thanks. According to the Mishnah, during the time of the Second Temple those who came up to Jerusalem would bring any of the seven species that are indigenous to Israel: wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates. Everything was decorated for the occasion: the fruit, the baskets, even the oxen that carried the fruit to the Temple. Homes and synagogues are still traditionally decorated with greenery and flowers for the holiday. However, following the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD, the Shavuot holiday became more focused on the revelation of the Torah, (the Law), at Mount Sinai, although the association between the giving of the Torah and Shavuot is not seen in the Biblical text. There is also the custom which actually began in Salonika in the 1500’s of learning Torah all night on Shavuot. In modern Jerusalem, thousands of people will finish their study in the early hours of the morning and then converge on the Kotel, the remaining wall of the Second Temple. (Photo)”Shavuot”, (which means “weeks” in Hebrew, חג השבועות), is exactly seven weeks after the first day of Pesach, (Passover), therefore it is also called the Feast of Weeks, occurring on the sixth day of the Hebrew month of Sivan (late May or early June). Since Shavuot came 50 days after Passover, Hellenistic Jews gave it the name “Pentecost” (πεντηκοστή, “fiftieth day”) This year, (Jewish Year 5781), Shavuot was celebrated on Monday, May 17th. Pentecost, also called Whitsunday, (Pentecost from Greek pentecostē, “50th day”), is also a major feast day in the Christian church, celebrated on the Sunday that falls on the 50th day after Easter. This year Pentecost Sunday will be observed by the Christian Church on Sunday, May 23rd.Another activity connected to Shavuot is the public reading the Book of Ruth. A central theme of the Book of Ruth is the kindness with which Boaz treated Ruth. One of the main lessons learned from this story is the importance of behaving with kindness towards the poor as well as strangers. God’s laws concerning leaving a portion of ones field for the poor during harvest season are learned from this story as well.On Shavuot it is customary to eat dairy foods, including cheesecake, cheese-filled pancakes and quiches. Some people also bake tall cakes that remind them of the height of Mount Sinai. Other people eat fruit, in particular the seven species of the land of Israel. Additionally, they will decorate their synagogues and homes with greenery, flowers and fruit, all to represent the harvest.The Feast of Weeks, (Pentecost) also became the ‘birthday celebration’ of the “Body of Christ”, (the church), when the Holy Spirit came. Paul said in Colossians 2:16-17 that the Jewish feasts and celebrations were a shadow of the things to come through Jesus Christ. And though as Christians we may not commemorate these holidays in the traditional biblical sense, as we discover the significance of each, we will certainly gain a greater knowledge of God’s Word, an improved understanding of the Bible, and a deeper relationship with the Lord.So it was that one of the most exciting events in the New Testament happened on the Day of Pentecost in the book of Acts, chapter 2. In Acts 1, just before the resurrected Jesus was taken up into heaven, he told the disciples about the Father’s promised gift of the Holy Spirit, which would soon be given to them in the form of a powerful baptism. He told them to wait in Jerusalem until they received the gift of the Holy Spirit, which would empower them to go out into the world and be His witnesses. A few days later, on the Day of Pentecost, as the disciples were all together waiting, the sound of a mighty wind came down from heaven, and tongues like that of fire rested on each one. The Bible says, “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them.” The crowds of Jews who had converged on Jerusalem from all over the Roman Empire to celebrate Shauvot observed this event and heard them praising God each in their own native languages! Then when Peter got up and preached the Good News of salvation, 3000 people accepted the Messiah as their Savior, and were baptized and added to the family of God that very day.Once again we see the Old Testament revealing a shadow of the things to come through the Messiah! The Jews celebrated a joyous harvest on Shavuot, and the church celebrated a joyous harvest of newborn souls on that very same day. In the process of revealing His plan of salvation for mankind, God established His annual Holy Days around the harvest seasons. These Holy Days have meanings that build upon each other. Together they progressively reveal how God works with humanity. They give us a picture of how He is harvesting people for eternal life in His Kingdom.Passover symbolized Messiah’s giving of Himself as the LAMB so that our sins could be forgiven. The Feast of First Fruits celebrated the beginning of His church. From this pivotal point, God’s Spirit came to all who trusted in Jesus as Savior. Firstfruits are the first agricultural products to mature and ripen. Throughout the Bible, God used the analogy of the harvest—and, particularly the firstfruits—to illustrate aspects of His plan of salvation. Israel observed a special offering of the first ripe grain during the Days of Unleavened Bread, called the wave-sheaf offering, which marked the beginning of these harvests. (Leviticus 23:11) The wave-sheaf offering represented the Messiah Jesus, who was the “firstborn over all creation” and the “firstborn from the dead” (Colossians 1:15, 18). He presented Himself to God the Father on the Sunday He was raised, the same day during the Days of Unleavened Bread on which the first sheaf of grain of the spring harvest was to be waved before God!The Church as FirstfruitsYet the New Testament Church is also considered to be firstfruits. In speaking of the Father, James said, “Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.” (James 1:18) Paul also alluded to several first-century Christians as the firstfruits of God’s calling. (Romans 16:5; 1 Corinthians 16:15) The apostle Paul understood this: “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep . . . For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.” (1 Corinthians 15:20, 22-23). Anyone who is now a Christian is included with Christ as God’s firstfruits.The divine power of the Holy Spirit allows us to be led by God. (Romans 8:14). It is this same power that transformed the lives of the early Christians and is the power working in the Church today. Shavuot, (Pentecost), serves as an annual reminder that our Creator is still working miracles, granting His Spirit to those called to be the firstfruits of His spiritual harvest, empowering them to carry out His work in this world.PHOTO: Crowds assemble at the Kotel, the remaining wall of the Second Temple in Israel, in the early morning hours to celebrate Shavuot.

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Rhonda Ballance

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