Ushering in the summer, Shavuot is a spring harvest festival. It concludes the spring cycle of holidays that began with the Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Counting of the Omer. Shavuot simply means "weeks" and is derived from the fact that it is observed seven full weeks from the second day after Passover thus making it part of the cycle of G-d's appointed times.(Leviticus 23:1-3)
Shavuot was one of the three great Pilgrimage festivals in ancient times in which every Jewish male had to appear before the Lord at the Temple in Jerusalem. It has also come to be known as the birthday of the Torah and celebrates the giving of the Mosaic Covenant on Mt. Sinai (Exodus 19).
The Festival was celebrated by wheat and animal sacrifices. Part of the wheat offering was baked into two loaves of leavened bread and brought to the Temple and, with great ceremony, waved in every direction before the Lord. This publicly acknowledged G-d's provision for His people with the promise of His
continued provision.
The animal sacrifices reminded the people of their need for atonement. An innocent victim had to die to remove the sin from the people. These sacrifices foreshadowed the fulfillment by Yeshua, the Messiah, the perfect sacrifice for atonement.
Since the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD, Jewish observance of Shavuot has changed. The rabbis have determined that the Torah was given on Shavuot. So, a special custom has developed that shows the Jewish people's love for the Torah (the first five books of the Bible). They stay up the first night of the festival to study Torah, traditionally reading the book of Ruth!
Homes and synagogues are decorated with greens, flowers and fruit to symbolize the harvest aspect of the holiday, as well as looking ahead to the fall harvest yet to come. Traditionally, first fruits, cheese blintzes and other dairy foods are eaten in honor of the Torah, which is compared to milk and honey.
Tradition teaches that the Lord offered the Ten Commandments to 70 nations in Deuteronomy 32:8. His voice was divided into 70 languages amidst thunder, lightning and a trumpet blast. The giving of the Torah was surrounded by signs and wonders. Therefore, what happened in Acts 2 would have a certain ring to it for the people who were in Jerusalem at Shavuot.
Imagine thousands of Jewish worshipers leaving the Temple after the morning service having just read Ezekiel 1 (the traditional Scripture for the Festival). Suddenly some of the same manifestations of the Ruach HaKodesh1 mentioned in that passage were happening right there before their eyes! No wonder they were amazed and perplexed.
All that happened that day of Shavuot, was to point the Jewish people to their Messiah and then to empower them to go forth and tell others, beginning in Jerusalem and then to the rest of the world2. As these Messianic believers went out,"the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved."3
This day has come to symbolize the ingathering of the last spring harvest, and, more importantly, the gathering of the people to the Torah and, since Pentecost, the gathering of people to Yeshua. It is certainly another Biblical celebration full of meaning and lessons for Messianic believers.
1 Hebrew for Holy Spirit
2 Acts 1:9
3 Acts 2:47
