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Leviticus 23: 15-21
15 “Then you are to count from the morrow after the Shabbat, from the day that you brought the omer[c] of the wave offering, seven complete Shabbatot. 16 Until the morrow after the seventh Shabbat you are to count fifty days,[d] and then present a new grain offering to Adonai. 17 You are to bring out of your houses two loaves of bread for a wave offering, made of two tenths of an ephah of fine flour. They are to be baked with hametz as firstfruits to Adonai. 18 You are to present, along with the bread, seven one-year-old lambs without blemish, one young bull, and two rams. They will become a burnt offering to Adonai, with their meal offering, and their drink offerings, an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to Adonai. 19 Also you are to offer one male goat for a sin offering and a pair of year-old male lambs for a sacrifice of fellowship offerings. 20 The kohen is to wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before Adonai, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to Adonai for the kohen. 21 You are to make a proclamation on the same day that there is to be a holy convocation, and you should do no regular work. This is a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.
During the times before Yeshua, this Feast of the Lord, Appointed Time, or Moad, was dedicated to agricultural affairs. After the Jewish 2nd Temple was destroyed in 70 AD and sacrifices could no longer take place, Jewish tradition made the connection of this Feast with the giving of Torah to Moses on Mt. Sinai, being the 50th day after the Passover of Egypt. Since this time, this period has come to be called "The Season of the Giving of the Law" and is culminated on Shavuot by staying up all night studying Torah. Modern Jewish tradition includes also
consuming many dairy products, centered around cheese cake because Jewish tradition compares the words of Torah to the sweetness of milk and honey- a tradition I am all for by the way. This is a period when the First Fruits of the summer harvest were offered to the Lord. There are good traditions that have grown up around the Feast. Please keep in mind, however, that some traditions, family or otherwise, can be good as long as they are honoring Adonai. For this reason, many Messianic believers will study not only the Torah this day, but also Yeshua's expounding on the Torah as he was the Living Torah, the Living Word of God. He, after all, stated in Matthew 5 that He came to teach Torah properly.
In the Brit Chadashah (New Covenant Scriptures) we are told of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on those awaiting the Helper as Yeshua had promised. This occurred on Shavuot in fulfillment of this Appointed Time of the Lord. In the passage below the Hebrew word "Ruach" is used for Spirit and "Ruach ha-Kodesh" for the Holy Spirit.
Acts 2:1-4
"When the day of Shavuot had come, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 And tongues like fire spreading out appeared to them and settled on each one of them. 4 They were all filled with the Ruach ha-Kodesh and began to speak in other tongues as the Ruach enabled them to speak out."
Verse 5 explains "Now Jewish people were staying in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven." This was occurring because it was one of the three required Feasts when all men were to come to Jerusalem. This also shows that the Apostles were counting the Sabbaths to the required Feast and so keeping the Sabbaths as well (for those that don't follow the Seventh Day Shabbat). So Hebrews from all nations and tongues would have been in the city at the time to celebrate. As can be seen above, in Leviticus 23:21, the Word states that this Feast is a "Statute forever". Forever here is the word "olam" and can also mean "everlasting" as in El Olam, the Everlasting God meaning forever past and forever future. It can also mean perpetual, or reoccurring, forever which is the usual meaning applied to this verse. It is also the word used in Genesis 9 to describe the covenant with Noah and all flesh, forever. It is no coincidence that this day, Shavuot, is the day the Torah was given to Moses, as God also keeps His own Appointed Times.
In Acts, Kefa (Peter) goes on to explain that this outpouring of the Ruach was in fulfillment of the prophesy recorded in Joel 2. Acts 2:16-21
16 But this is what was spoken about through the prophet Joel:
17 ‘And it shall be in the last days,’ says God,
‘that I will pour out My Ruach on all flesh.
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams.
18 Even on My slaves, male and female,
I will pour out My Ruach in those days,
and they shall prophesy.
19 And I will give wonders in the sky above
and signs on the earth beneath—
blood, and fire, and smoky vapor.
20 The sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the great and glorious Day of Adonai comes.
21 And it shall be that everyone who calls
on the name of Adonai shall be saved."
This is an "end of days" passage most mainstream churches will agree. This means that we are living in the "end of days" now as this period has not ended. This also means that these events should be ongoing in the "Holy Assembly" today and I am sure that they would be if the Assembly was truly following in Yeshua's footsteps.
What most mainstream denominations failed to recognize in the past but many are waking up to today is the continued fulfillment of God's Appointments that Yeshua brought about, beginning with Passover, Unleavened Bread, and First Fruits. The Ruach was given, or poured out, in fulfillment of this Appointment just as the Fall feasts will be fulfilled at Yeshua's second coming. This giving of the Ruach also created the ability for man, once accepting of Yeshua as Lord and Savior, to be filled with the Ruach of Elohim and carry the Torah in the heart, in fulfillment of Jeremiah 31-.
Jeremiah 31:30-36
30 “Behold, days are coming”
—it is a declaration of Adonai—
“when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah—
31 not like the covenant
I made with their fathers
in the day I took them by the hand
to bring them out of the land of Egypt.
For they broke My covenant,
though I was a husband to them.”
it is a declaration of Adonai.
32 “But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days”
—it is a declaration of Adonai—
“I will put My Torah within them.
Yes, I will write it on their heart.
I will be their God
and they will be My people.
33 No longer will each teach his neighbor
or each his brother, saying: ‘Know Adonai,’
for they will all know Me,
from the least of them to the greatest.”
it is a declaration of Adonai.
“For I will forgive their iniquity,
their sin I will remember no more.”
34 Thus says Adonai,
who gives the sun as a light by day
and the fixed order of the moon
and the stars as a light by night,
who stirs up the sea so its waves roar,
Adonai-Tzva’ot is His Name:
35 “Only if this fixed order departs from before Me”
—it is a declaration of Adonai—
“then also might Israel’s offspring cease
from being a nation
before Me—for all time.”
36 Thus says Adonai:
“Only if heaven above can be measured
and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath,
then also I will cast off the offspring of Israel
—for all they have done.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
After Kefa gave this declaration from Joel 2, he goes on to share the Messiah Yeshua with those that witnessed this event. Then gives them instructions as they were all of them "cut to the heart":
38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and let each of you be immersed in the name of Messiah Yeshua for the removal of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Ruach ha-Kodesh. 39 For the promise is for you and your children, and for all who are far away—as many as Adonai our God calls to Himself.”
Scripture says that 3000 were added to the Assembly that day (Acts 2:41) which is also not a coincidence for it was this same day at the giving of the Law, that the following occurred from Exodus 32:28 So the sons of Levi did as Moses said, and that day from among the people there fell about 3,000 men. The same number were added to the Holy Assembly that were slain that same Feast day. I disagree that the "church" was born that day. Instead you see that the 3000 were "added to" the Holy Assembly. It is contrary to logical thought that this "event was the beginning of a movement which would divorce itself from the Land, the people, and the Scriptures of Israel." - a rough quote from Ariel Berkowitz expressing similar views as we have here at Root and Vine. Instead what is shown is a continuity of scripture.
The beauty of Yeshua's fulfillment of this Feast lies in what actually happened, a covenantal transition showing that the dwelling place of God's Spirit is within the people of God. First, this took the form of the Tabernacle, which moved with the people of God. Then the Temple, a stationary edifice, was created which God's Spirit dwelt in. But Jeremiah prophesied of the day when his dwelling would be in the heart of the believer; that is what took place. An event that marked the moment when the Spirit would dwell within all, Jew first then Gentile, that accept the Messiah, the Perfect Sacrifice, and the gift of God's Grace applied to all that accept.
This day, Shavuot, is a day of rejoicing, for God is a God who keeps His promises. He states that we are to keep His Appointed Times. Some may say that Leviticus is specifically speaking to the Jews only along with the foreigners that were with them at the time. This is true, but it also says "all those who bind themselves to the Lord". The prophesy in Jeremiah of the placing the Spirit on our hearts also state the Jewish tribes only, but most modern scholars state that we are part of that promise as grafted in to the tree of Abraham, wild olive branches as Paul states. Either both apply or none of them do. Gentiles who accept Yeshua as Messiah are grafted in and partakers of the promise as the New Covenant states. The gift of the Holy Spirit on Shavuot was for ALL who accept. So anyone that accepts Yeshua as Lord and Savior, has every reason to celebrate this fulfillment of the Feast.
Romans 11:16-24
16 If the firstfruit is holy, so is the whole batch of dough; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. 17 But if some of the branches were broken off and you—being a wild olive—were grafted in among them and became a partaker of the root of the olive tree with its richness, 18 do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, it is not you who support the root but the root supports you. 19 You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” 20 True enough. They were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but fear— 21 for if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will He spare you. 22 Notice then the kindness and severity of God: severity toward those who fell; but God’s kindness toward you, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you too will be cut off! 23 And they also, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in; for God is able to graft them in again. 24 For if you were cut out of that which by nature is a wild olive tree, and grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree?
Rejoice, and share in the festivities. Adopt traditions for you and your family that honor God. Some modern Jewish traditions may be good, but there are few surrounding Shavuot today. Honor God and sing praises to Yeshua. If you have not accepted Yeshua as Lord and Savior, consider trusting in Him as Messiah and add one more to the Holy Assembly this day, in keeping with this tradition.
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