The Spring Festivals of Israel – Prophecy Fulfilled
The Feast of Weeks – Shavuot or Pentecost [Greek]
“And you shall celebrate the Feast of Weeks, that is, the first fruits of the wheat harvest. . . “ Ex 34:11
“You shall count seven weeks for yourself; you shall begin to count seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain. Then you shall celebrate the Feast off Weeks to the Lord your God with a tribute of a freewill offering of your hand, which you shall give just as the Lord your God blesses you.” Deut 16:9-10
The Jewish feast of Shavuot, Israel’s fourth holy day does not have a date associated with it in the Bible. Yet, ask any observant Jew concerning Shavuot and he will answer that it is always celebrated fifty days after the Feast of Firstfruits. “And you shall observe the Feast of Weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest.” Ex 34:22.
The most common Hebrew name for this feast is the Feast of Weeks. Shavuot was called the Feast of Weeks because seven weeks were counted from the Feast of Firstfruits until observing this feast. The primary meaning of the feast was reflected in the Hebrew name, Yom Habikkurim, or the Day of Firstfruits, since Shavuot was the day on which the firstfruits offerings of the summer wheat crop were brought to the Temple. Shavuot marked the beginning of the summer wheat harvest even as Israel’s earlier Feast of Firstfruits marked the beginning of the spring barley harvest. The third name is The Feast of Harvest, which reflected the fact that this festival was the official beginning of the summer harvest season. It was also referred to as Atzeret, meaning conclusion. It was viewed as the conclusion of the Passover season and of the seven week spring harvest since there are no other major Jewish holy days until the autumn. In the Greek, Shavuot was known as Pentecost, meaning “fiftieth” since it was celebrated on the fiftieth day from the Feast of Firstfruits.
Shavuot was one of the most important of the feasts, in that it was one of the feasts that required every male to present himself to the Lord at the Temple in Jerusalem. It is observed in late spring, late May or early June. On the Hebrew calendar, Shavuot falls on the 6th day of the month of Sivan. The measure of barley which was brought to the Temple as a firstfruit offering on the Feast of Firstfruits was known as the omer. Since the counting of the days was to begin with the offering of the omer, this fifty-day period is also known as “the omer”.
According to the Bible, it was forbidden to eat of the new barley crop until the barley firstfruits (omer) were offered on the Feast of Firstfruits. The same principle was applied to the wheat corp. Therefore, the numerous meal offerings and showbread for the sanctuary were not made from the new wheat crop until after the wheat firstfruits were presented on Shavuot.
The Temple services for Shavuot followed much the same pattern as that of the Feast of Firstfruits since both holy days were celebrated with first fruit offerings. However, the offering for Shavuot was unique. It consisted of two long, flat leavened loaves of wheat bread as commanded by the Lord. The loaves were not burned because the Lord had forbidden leaven on the altar. Instead these loaves and two lambs as a peace offering formed the wave offering for Shavuot. The priest waved them before the altar forwards and backwards, then up and down. Afterward, they were set aside for the priests and formed the festive meal eaten by the priests later that day in the Temple.
Biblical Instruction
“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. You shall bring in from your dwelling places two loaves of bread for a wave offering, . . .On this same day you shall make a proclamation as well; you are to have a holy convocation. You shall do no laborious work. It is to be a perpetual statute in all your dwelling places throughout your generations.” Levi 23:15-17, 21]
Because of this ritual of counting, the period between Passover and Pentecost came to be known as the omer. Pentecost does not have a fixed day – it is fifty days after the omer offering is brought.
Historical Significance
In the third month after the Jews left Egypt, they arrived in the Sinai desert and camped opposite Mount Sinai. Moses was then told by God to gather the Israelites together to receive the Torah [Ex 19:1-8.]. The Israelites answered, “all that the Lord has spoken we will do!” In Hebrew, it is Na’aseh V’Nishmah, which means, “We agree to do even before we have listened.” Moses then gave the people two days to cleanse themselves, with the promise that the Lord would visit them to receive Torah on the third day. From early morning, dense clouds covered the peak of the mountain. Thunder and lightning were frequently seen and heard. The sound of the shofar came very strong, and the top of the mountain was enveloped in fire and smoke. The Israelites at the foot of Mount Sinai stood in great awe. Moses then went up alone on the mountain, and as he neared the top, a mighty voice announced the Ten Commandments.
Themes of Shavuot
1) New Revelation of God’s will [Levi 23:15-16,21], including the Ten Commandments, or Torah in Hebrew. Please understand that the word Torah in Hebrew means instruction or teaching, so that ‘Torah’ was never intended to be understood as a code of do’s and don’ts. Rather it should be seen as God’s instruction and teaching to us so we can understand Him better.
2) The giving of the Holy Spirit [Ruach HaKodesh] by God. Yeshua was resurrected on the Feast of Firstfruits, and fifty days later the Holy Spirit came to dwell in the hearts and lives of all the believers in Yeshua. [Acts 1:8].
3) Shavuot as a Betrothal, or Engagement between God and Israel. One of the most beautiful images of Shavuot is that of the engagement between God [the groom] and Israel [the bride]. In Biblical wedding services, the marriage consisted of two stages. The first stage is betrothal, a word in Hebrew that comes from the root word meaning “to bind”. You enter this first stage as soon as a betrothal contract is made between the two parties. You are legally married, but do not physically dwell with your mate. Betrothal is legally binding that you cannot get out of it without a divorce [called a get in Hebrew].
Historical Fulfillment
The Bible tells us in Jeremiah 2:2 that at Mount Sinai, God betrothed Himself to Israel, as it is written: “Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus says the Lord; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thy espousals, when thou went after Me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown. Israel was holiness unto the Lord, and the firstfruits of His increase.” In Exodus 19, when God by the leading of Moses brought the children of Israel to Mount Sinai, God betrothed Himself to Israel. On Mount Sinai, God gave the Torah to Israel. At this time, God was making a betrothal contract with Israel. The biblical wedding ceremony that God gave requires that the marriage be consummated under a wedding canopy known as the chupah. In Exodus, Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet God and they stood at the nether part of the mount. The word nether in Hebrew implies that the people stood under the mountain, representing the chupah.
In addition, every wedding will have two witnesses, one for the groom and one for the bride. They are called ‘the friends of the bridegroom’. In Exodus, Moses is seen as one of the two witnesses whose job is to escort the bride to meet the groom under the chupah [Mount Sinai].
Messianic Fulfillment
On a bright and sunny Sunday, fifty days after the Feast of Firstfruits in a year that was close to 30 C.E., the pilgrims were attending the required services in the Temple. All males living in Israel were required to be there. Suddenly, the sound of a strong wind was heard throughout the city. In one particular house, tongues of flame appeared above the heads of the cowering disciples of Yeshua, who were timidly, but obediently, remaining in Jerusalem as the Messiah had bid them. Suddenly, the room full of fearful men was transformed into fearless men who went out and proclaimed the gospel of the Lord in languages they had never spoken before. Because they were Galileans, who were uneducated, they were accused of being drunk. The accusation was correct – they were drunk on the Spirit of God. Peter reminded the crowds of the prophecy given by Joel, that a great outpouring of the Spirit of God would come, and their sons and daughters would dream and prophecy by the spirit of God. Peter went on to expound on the scriptures and how they spoke of Yeshua, and that day 3,000 men were saved – the beginning of the harvest of souls from among mankind.
Spiritual Fulfillment
Because Shavuot culminates with the counting of the omer for 50 days, Shavuot is called the Atzeret or conclusion of Passover. Spiritually speaking, the believers in the Messiah Yeshua are on a journey out of Egypt [a type of the world’s system and its evil ways] in the wilderness of life, awaiting our time to meet God face to face on Mount Sinai [Ex 3:12]. There at Mount Sinai, [spiritually] God will forever reveal Himself to us in a new and greater way. For all believers in the Messiah Yeshua, the Torah that was given at Mount Sinai represents the Word of God, the entire Bible. The believer in Yeshua spiritually experiences Shavuot when the Holy Spirit of God [Ruach HaKodesh] reveals the Word of God to him in a deeper and more powerful way, and his understanding and desire for the Bible increases accordingly.
In Messianic terms, Yeshua is the bridegroom and believers in the Messiah are betrothed to Him. When Yeshua came to the earth almost 2,000 years ago, He came so that whosoever would put their trust and confidence in Him would be wedded to Him forever. This would include both Jews and non-Jews. Because Yeshua came as the suffering Messiah, Messiah ben Joseph, during His first coming, He ascended to Heaven to be with God the Father until He returns during second coming to be the King Messiah, Messiah ben David. Today, Yeshua does not physically dwell with those who trust in Him. Therefore, the believers in the Messiah Yeshua are currently spiritually betrothed to Him. We will enter the full marriage and physically dwell with Him during the Messianic age on earth, but the wedding ceremony when the believers in the Messiah Yeshua will be wedded to Him must take place first. This occurs at Sukkot, as we will see when we study the fall feasts of Israel. Sukkot is a seven day festival where the wedding supper of the Lamb will take place.
Sources, Howard and Rosenthal, The Feasts of the Lord, pp. 89-100; Chumney, The Seven Festivals of the Messiah, pp 77-101.
The Significance of Each of the Harvests
Exodus 23:14-16 : Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year. Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou came out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:) And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labors, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labors out of the field.
There are 3 different methods used in the harvesting of these three firstfruits. Consider the difference between the methods required to reap their fruits.
The Barley is a soft grain. The chaff falls easily away from the grain. Therefore only winnowing is necessary for the harvest. A light wind (ruach) or "fanning" is needed for this fruit. God has reserved His elect unto every generation.
The Wheat has a stronger grain head. It must be threshed before the grain is ready for use. This is a more severe action than required for the barley. The Latin word tribulum, is a threshing instrument. Many must bare tribulation before their fruit is acceptable.
The Grape does not have chaff. It does, however, have flesh. To obtain the "fruit of the vine" requires the grapes be "trodden under foot". The winepress is necessary to produce the fruit (wine). There will be those who will know this severe judgment from the Winemaker.
Which of these are you?
