What is Shavuot?
In Hebrew, this Biblical holiday is known as the “Feast of Weeks”. In Biblical times, Shavuot was also the beginning of the wheat harvest in Israel.
God’s people, Israel, were told to count seven weeks or seven sabbaths. They were to begin counting the day after the weekly sabbath that occurred after Passover.
They were to count 50 days total. The 1st and 50th day are always on a Sunday.
You begin counting on the Biblical holiday of Firstfruits, the day Christ rose from the grave.
If you count 50 days forward, you will end on another Sunday, the Biblical holiday of Shavuot, known as Pentacost to Christians.
Fun fact: Pentacost means “50th” in Greek.
Pentacost is 50 days after Resurrection day.
Shavuot and Pentacost are the exact same day.
Most Christians are very familiar with Pentacost. This day is considered the “birthday” of the church as the Holy Spirit was poured out on believers in Christ that day. About 3,000 souls were baptized. This event happened very close to the Temple. Christianity began that day in Jerusalem.
The Lord Jesus had risen from the grave there in Jerusalem just 50 days earlier. He ascended back into heaven from Jerusalem just 10 days before.
On Pentacost, God poured out His Spirit.
What happened on Shavuot?
On Shavuot, God gave His people, Israel, His Word, His Law, His Torah. His instruction.
At Mount Sinai, God gave His people the 10 Commandments - the Words of the Covenant.
Israel became God’s people, as a nation, on Shavuot at Mount Sinai.
Do you see the connection?
God gave His Word and His Spirit on the same day. Those events happened well over 1,000 years apart, but they happened on the exact same day.
God gave His people His Word on Shavuot.
God poured out His Spirit on Shavuot.
This Biblical holiday is worth remembering and celebrating. It was on this day that God gave us His Word and poured out His Spirit.
The Holy Spirit and the Word of God are one. The Holy Spirit inspired the written Word of God.
The Holy Spirit will never go against the written Word of God. They are one and the same.
It is God’s Spirit that writes God’s Word on our heart and mind. Hallelujah!
The Word of God is our guidebook. It tells us and shows us the heart of God.
God’s Word is eternal, and it is priceless and precious. God’s Word is our instruction manual.
Most products built by people today come with an instruction manual. Did you know that people, human beings made in the very image of God, also come with an instruction manual?
We do!
That instruction manual is God’s Word.
When people do not have or do not follow God’s Word, they do not do as well in life. Why?
Because of not following our instruction manual - God’s Word.
Without God, life has no real purpose or meaning.
God’s Word brings life. When we disobey God’s Word, it brings death.
A while ago, I wondered why God told His people, Israel, to count 50 days forward from the Biblical holiday of Firstfruits? What was the purpose?
Then one day, I finally got it. I understood. It pointed them forward to an ultimate goal.
What was that ultimate goal?
It was so precious to me, it nearly made me cry.
I thought about the very first Passover in Egypt, when God delivered His people, Israel, from the hand of Pharaoh and from their bondage and slavery in Egypt.
I thought about Israel crossing the Red Sea on dry ground by the mighty Hand of God.
I thought about God bringing them through the desert to Mount Sinai.
After God brought Israel to that mountain, He did not say to them:
“Well, here you go. I delivered you out of Egypt, out of bondage and slavery. You are free now. It has been nice knowing you. See you later. Bye!”
God did not do that or say that to them.
God delivered Israel out of bondage, not only to set them free, but to make them His people and to give them His Word.
That was the ultimate goal and purpose.
God wanted a people for Himself. God wanted a people to love, to guide, to help, to protect, and to provide for which He did when Israel was in the wilderness.
God wanted to give His people His Words of love and life. God wanted a people to represent Him to the other nations of the world.
Israel became God’s people at the base of Mount Sinai on Shavuot when God gave them the words of the Covenant, written on two tables of stone with the very finger God. The 10 Commandments.
God descended in fire upon Mount Sinai, like a bridegroom with fiery passion for his bride, to give Israel His very own Words, His heart, His law.
God gave them the words of the Covenant.Israel’s reply?
“We will”
“We do”
Reminiscent of betrothal words. Wedding words. Covenant words.
“I do”
Israel became God’s people that day - His bride.
The 10 Commandments is God’s Law.
The apostle John made this very clear in the New Testament as well.
This is why Bible evangelists, like Ray Comfort, use the 10 commandments when sharing the Gospel. The 10 commandments show us our sin.
God’s purpose in delivering Israel out of bondage?It was to set them free by giving them His Word. That was the goal. That was the purpose.
God’s purpose today? It hasn’t changed.
What was the ultimate purpose of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ?
With His death, Christ paid for our sins with His own blood.
On the day that Christ rose from the dead, early believers in Christ began counting up to 50 just as they had always done.
Why? It pointed them to the ultimate purpose.
On the 50th day from Christ’s resurrection, God poured out His Spirit on those early believers.
God’s purpose in delivering His people has always been for them to obey His Word. To walk with Him. God desires a personal relationship with us.
On the day of Pentacost (Shavuot), He gave them His Spirit which wrote His law upon their heart.
God gave us His Spirit so that we would have the power to obey His Word.
May we allow God’s Word to be written on our heart, the very center of our being, by His Spirit.
God’s Word brings freedom. God’s Word is life.
God’s Word is eternal. God’s Word is a priceless and precious gift.
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