Feast of Shavuot/Pentecost
Sunday, June 3, 2007
By: Jim Schutz

ICEJ

The biblical Feast of Shavuot (literally “seven weeks”) is one of the three major “Feasts of the Lord,” along with Passover and Tabernacles, for which Jewish men during Temple times made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem and gave first-fruit offerings.

Also referred to as the Feast of Harvest (Exodus 23:16) and the Day of First Fruits (Numbers 28:26), it acquired the name Pentecost by Greek-speaking Jews due to the fact that it occurs exactly 50 days after Passover (or seven weeks after the second day of ­Passover). Although it is much shorter (one day instead of seven) and tends to be lesser known than the other two pilgrimage Feasts, it is no less rich in biblical, historical and prophetic significance.

Passover occurs in early spring at the time of the barley harvest, while Shavuot coincides with the wheat harvest at the beginning of summer. Each of the 49 days between Passover and Shavuot is marked by a process called the “counting of the omer” according to Lev. 23:15-16. An omer, or “sheaf,” is a specific measure of grain (about 43 oz.), in this case barley, that was offered to God each day with a specific blessing. Only when this was completed could a “new grain” be offered. On the day of Pentecost a first-fruits “wave offering” was made of two loaves consisting of specially refined but leavened wheat. This symbolized consecration of the whole harvest to God and expressed dependence upon Him for future provision. More than barley, wheat - the last grain of the harvest season in Israel - was considered a universal staple for mankind, a gift from heaven for survival. Individual families also were able to give their own first-fruits Temple offering of wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates.

Based on calculations from Exodus, Shavuot is also believed to be the day Moses received the Ten Commandments from God. After the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD rendered first-fruit offerings impossible, it was this aspect of the Feast that became central. The Torah was considered the “ketuba” or wedding contract between God and the people of Israel.

As Jews of every generation have been required to see themselves as having been personally delivered from slavery during Passover, during Shavuot they are to see themselves as having encountered God face to face at Sinai as part of God’s special people Israel. At Passover they were set free from bondage, but at Shavuot they were called to intimacy with God and shown how to live for Him as a united community. In honor of this gift from heaven and partly because it is believed that the Israelites neglectfully slept while Moses originally received the Torah, the tradition arose to stay up all night before the 50th day and read the Torah. This is still observed by many orthodox Jews today in Israel.

Another living tradition associated with Shavuot that developed during the Diaspora is the reading of the biblical book or scroll of Ruth. This is partly because the story of Ruth took place between the barley and wheat harvests. But more than that, Ruth stands out as a non-Jew who voluntarily chose to love Israel and Israel’s God and to give her life for them. In so doing, her life was like a first-fruits offering of the best she could give, fully acceptable to God, as she became inseparably bound to the calling and destiny of Israel. King David, who is believed to have been born and died on Shavuot, was Ruth’s great-grandson. The Messiah Himself, therefore, would be amongst her progeny.

Shavuot in Israel today is a festive time for both religious and secular Jews. The return to the land has enabled a revival of the harvest celebration aspect of the Feast, as kibbutzim and moshavim hold their own first-fruit events with singing and dancing. Many Israelis decorate their home with greenery and flowers; and families sit down to dairy rather than meat meals, feasting on the abundance of available fruits, nuts, vegetables and dairy products, remembering the promise of a land filled with milk and honey. Mean­while orthodox Jews and Yeshiva students sing and dance the night away, as they read through large parts of the Torah with great joy and anticipation.

For Christians the biblical and historical aspects of Shavuot/Pentecost become even more meaningful. During New Testament times Jerusalem exploded from its normal population of about 600,000 to over 1 million, as Jewish pilgrims from Israel and distant lands made their pilgrimages in obedience to the Torah. On the very day the Torah had been given, when “Pentecost had fully come” (Acts 2:1), and the two loaves were being offered to God, the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the disciples and the Torah was written upon their hearts. The two loaves of leavened wheat, which were made distinctly according to a precise procedure, have been understood to rep­resent Jews and Gentiles together.

As 3,000 Israelites perished in judgment for idolatry and disobedience at Sinai, a different 3,000 repented and received the prophesied New Covenant at Pentecost, thereby becoming first-fruit carriers of the “good news” to the Gentiles, who knew not God and His ways. All this became possible because Jesus, the seed of David, was Himself the first-fruits grain of wheat offered for the sin of mankind.

Like Ruth, Christians from the nations are challenged in the New Testament to see themselves as grafted into Israel’s divine destiny and to enter into God’s love for the Jewish people. Unfortunately, to Jewish eyes this has not been the prevailing testimony of Christianity through the centuries.