Tag Archives: Feast of Weeks

Understanding the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot)

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Shavuot is the third of the seven festivals (after Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread) of YHVH and occurs in the late spring of the year.

Passover pictures coming out of one’s spiritual Egypt or the world, putting faith in Yeshua the Messiah, and having one’s sins covered by the blood of Yeshua the Lamb of Elohim. As one comes out of the world and turns one’s life over to lordship of Yeshua, one turns from a life of sin and turns to loving and obeying the commands of Yeshua (John 14:15). In other words, one must leave one’s sin (as pictured by leavening in bread) in Egypt, and live a new sin-free life under Yeshua. The Feast of Unleavened Bread pictures this process of de-leavening one’s life of sin, and “eating” the unleavened bread of YHVH’s Word.

However, humans are not able to remove sin from their own lives by their own efforts anymore than one can pull oneself up by the ­bootstraps. Sin is too much a part of our mind, will and emotions that we need the working and enabling power of YHVH’s Set-Apart Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh) in our lives to bring sin to light and to empower us to overcome it. This happens as we begin to feed upon the Word of YHVH-Yeshua (the Bible) and little-by-little our lives come into conformity with that Word and with the life of Yeshua. He is the Word of YHVH made flesh (John 1:14; Rom 8:29). This is pictured by the children of Israel receiving the words and instructions on how to live a set-apart and sanctified life (contained in the Torah-law) of YHVH Elohim at Mount Sinai during the Feast of Weeks. This was repeated during the apostolic era on the Day of Pentecost as Yeshua promised to send the Comforter to live inside of redeemed believers aiding them at arriving at the truth of YHVH (John 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7, 13). This promise was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2).

In the Bible, Shavuot is also known as the Feast of the Harvest of the First Fruits (Exod 23:16), Day of First Fruits (Num 28:26) and the Feast of Weeks or Shavuot (which is Hebrew for weeks, Exod 34:22; Deut 16:10, 16; 2 Chr 8:13). Shavuot falls fifty days “from the day after the [weekly] Sabbath” (NKJV) that falls during the Days of Unleavened Bread, and hence the derivation of the name Pentecost (meaning “to count fifty”) as recorded in the Testimony of Yeshua (or New Testament/NT, Acts 2:16).

YHVH through his Torah (the law of Moses) instructed his people that Shavuot was…

  • a day of rest where laborious or servile work was prohibited (Lev 23:21)
  • a commanded assembly (Lev 23:21)
  • a time when the priests offered up offerings and sacrifices (Lev 23:18–20)
  • a time when all males were to bring the tithes of the increase of their income (Exod 23:14; Deut 16:16)
  • a time when the priests were to offer up as a wave offering to YHVH two loaves of leavened bread made of the freshly harvested wheat (Lev. 23:17–20)
  • to occur where YHVH would place his name and all were to go there to celebrate it (Deut 16:11)
  • a time of rejoicing (Deut 16:11)
  • to be forever (Lev 23:21)
  • The early first-century, Book of Acts believers celebrated Shavuot (or Pentecost) in Acts 2:1 as did Paul (Acts 20:16).

Happy Shavuot!

 

Why Celebrate YHVH’s Feasts?

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Shavuot/Pentecost is next Sunday (May 27, 2012). Are you ready to celebrate this biblical feast of YHVH? Here are seven reasons from the Bible why you should:

  1. YHVH’s feasts are a prophetic shadow-picture of things to come (Col 2:16–17; Heb 10:1). When they were given to ancient Israel, they pointed forward to future events that would occur to that nation. The spring feast days, for example, pointed to Messiah’s first coming, while the fall feast days point to his second coming leading into the Messianic Age (or Millennium) and into eternity beyond.
  2. All the feast days point to Yeshua. The name Yeshua means “salvation” and these days all point to the various steps along the path of salvation that redeemed believers find themselves on.
  3. Many of the feast days point back to historical events that occurred in Israel’s history from which we can learn lessons and that are representative of our own spiritual journey (1 Cor 10:1–6,11).
  4. In the Scriptures, YHVH commands his people to keep the biblical feasts. They are called moedim, which is a Hebrew word meaning “divine appointment.” They are times when YHVH makes a spiritual appointment to meet with his people (Lev 23:1–2, 4). At that time, YHVH teaches his people about his wonderful plan of salvation or redemption of the world through Yeshua the Messiah.
  5. The feasts are in the Bible, which is the inspired Word of Elohim (2 Tim 3:16). He commands his people everywhere to obey his Word and to observe his feasts (Matt 4:4; Lev 23; Matt 5:17–20) forever (Lev 23:14, 21, 41; Mal 3:6; Heb 13:8)!
  6. The feast days set forth the pattern of heavenly things on earth (Heb 8:1–2, 5; 9:8–9, 23; Exod 25:8–9, 40; 26:30; Num 8:4; Ezek 43:1–6, 10–12).
  7. We as physical beings need physical means and methods to help us understand spiritual realities. YHVH gives us things to do in this physical dimension to help us to understand the supernatural (or spiritual) level (1 Cor 2:9–13).

 Happy Shavuot!

 

Shavuot — What, Why and When?

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On May 27, 2012, we will be celebrating the biblical feast of Shavuot (aka Pentecost and the Feast of Weeks) as did the ancient Israelites, and the Book of Acts believers, and Paul (Lev 23:15–22, Acts 2:1; 20:16).

What is Shavuot All About?

In the roughly 49 days between Passover (Pesach) and the Feast of Weeks (Chag haShavuot), a momentous spiritual dynamic occurs. This period of time is comprised of forty-nine days or seven days of seven weeks, which is seven times seven—the biblical number for complete or full perfection. Add one day and you arrive at Pentecost. Fifty is the biblical picture of jubilee picturing redemption from the enslavement to this world.

Historically, the children of Israel were redeemed from their sins by the blood of the lamb on the first Passover in Egypt. At this time, YHVH betrothed himself to Israel (Exod 6:7). YHVH then led them out of Egypt into the wilderness, and on Shavuot he married them at Sinai (Exod 24 cp. Ezek 16:8; Jer 2:2; 31:32). At the same time, YHVH gave them his Torah, which was their ketubah or marriage vows.

Shavuot is a picture of the bride of Yeshua the Messiah coming into full maturity spiritually and coming to marriageable age. She has gone from being a spiritual child and slave in Egypt to becoming the fully mature spiritual bride and queen of the King of the universe.

At the time of Yeshua, he betrothed himself to both houses of Israel on Passover. Then, on Pentecost, he then sent his Spirit, the Comforter, as a seal of this covenant. He hasn’t married this bride (that’s you and me) yet — something that occurs at his second coming. In the mean time, he has placed her in a 2000-years-long wilderness to get ready for him — to fall in love with him (to love him by keeping his Torah commands; John 14:15) by receiving his Torah into their hearts.

In the end times, he’s going to bring his bride (the saints) out of the wilderness of Babylon (called the Second Exodus), and they will repent of their Torahless ways. We are now getting ready for this day. Understanding the prophecies of the Bible that speak of these end-time events, and understanding who the principal players are (the two houses of Israel) is the key to insure that we’re ready for our Messiah — that we’ll be wise and not foolish virgins who have our lamps full of oil (the Torah and Spirit of Elohim).

Shavuot, along with Passover (Pesach) and the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) are three times each year when YHVH commands his people to gather together to celebrate before him (Exod 23:14–17).

You can fulfill this command and move forward into your spiritual destiny by joining with your fellow redeemed Israelites from the greater Portland, Oregon
 area at Shavuot NW in Canby, Oregon on May 27, 2012.
 

Is Celebrating Shavuot (Pentecost) Optional?

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Is celebrating the biblical feast of Shavuot (aka the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost) optional for the born-again, redeemed Israelite believer in Yeshua the Messiah in the 21st century?

The short answer is, “NO!” unless one considers the clear commands of the Word of Elohim to be merely suggestions and not commands. “NO!” unless one rejects following the examples of Yeshua, the Apostle Paul and the Book of Acts followers of Yeshua. “NO!” unless one has become so conditioned to following the traditions of men that have made of non-effect the Word of Elohim that they have become blind and deaf to the clear truth of the Scriptures.

You see, we live in an age where the majority of so-called “Bible believers” and church people are more concerned about feelings, popularity, majority consensus, what others think, having fun, being entertained, the lust of the flesh and eyes that most either don’t know what the Word of Elohim says, or don’t care. Oh, they will swear otherwise, but their actions speak louder than their words. Amos the prophet describes this spiritual sickness well when he referred to apostate Israel as suffering from a “famine of the hearing of the words of YHVH,” (Amos 8:11). You see, the word “hearing” in Hebrew is shema, which means not just “to hear,” but “to do and to obey” as well. It seems that nowadays, like then, a lot of folks hear, but few obey.

On May 27, 2012, we will be celebrating the biblical feast of Shavuot (Lev 23:15–22, Acts 2:1; 20:16). On this blog, and on our ministry website (hoshanarabbah.org) we have been promoting our congregation’s and our ministry’s Shavuot celebration to those in our local area (the Pacific Northwest U.S. region). Well, what prompted this blog post was an interesting response I received today from someone who thanked us for the announcement, but was sorry they couldn’t make it to Shavuot because they had a birthday party to attend instead.

So, I submit, once again, the question, is celebrating Shavuot optional? Let me list the reasons why it is not — according to the Word of Elohim:

  • Shavuot is a miqra kodesh (holy convocation) and sabbath when YHVH commands his people to stop whatever they are doing, gather together, and to meet with him on this day (Lev 23:1,15–21).
  • YHVH enacted Shavuot as a statute forever for his people Israel (Lev 23:21).
  • If you’re a follower of and believer in Yeshua then that makes you a son of Abraham (Gal 3:29), and an Israelite (Eph 2:11–19), and so the command to observe Shavuot applies to you. Only the heathens are exempted from this celebration, and that exemption isn’t without eternal consequences, for to not obey the Torah-commands of YHVH-Yeshua is sin (1 John 3:4), and the wages of sin is eternal death (Rom 6:23).
  • If you call yourself a Christian, Messianic, or a follower of Yeshua, then you’ll not want to risk being a hypocrite (or a sinner), but rather, you’ll want to do what he did and celebrate all of the biblical feasts including Shavuot. You’ll also want to follow the example of Paul who instructed us to imitate Yeshua as he imitated Yeshua by doing what Yeshua did (1 Cor 11:1). To imitate means to do exactly what someone else does. Paul celebrated Shavuot (Acts 20:16).
  • If you love Yeshua, you will be keeping his Torah-commandments (John 14:15) of which Shavuot is one.
  • Some believers in Yeshua feel that we only need to do what he directly commanded us to do. Well, he commanded his disciples to tarry in Jerusalem until they were endued with power from on high, which occurred on the day of Pentecost (Luke 24:49; Acts 2:1–4). Therefore, he was commanding them to celebrate it, which they continued to do as we see from the example of Paul above.
  • Finally, if there is any biblical feast that has precedence to be celebrated in our day, it would be the Feast of Pentecost, since, as many of us have been taught in our churches, the NT church was birthed on this day. So, if it was good enough for them, why not for us? Moreover, it seems to me, that if there is any church group out there that should be leading the way in celebrating the biblical Feast of Shavuot or Pentecost, it should be the Pentecostals, right?

So now what’s your excuse for not celebrating Shavuot as YHVH Elohim in the Scriptures commands?

 

Counting Down the Omer—From Slavery to Divine Empowerment!

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From the Depths of Slavery to a Kingdom of  Priests

YHVH’s command for us to count the omer as a countdown to the Feast of Weeks or Shavuot (or Pentecost, Lev 23:15–16 and Acts 2:1) memorializes the Israelites journey from spiritual babyhood to adulthood. During this 49-day count, Israel ascended from out of the depths of slavery and suffering in Egypt, was baptized in the Red Sea, and then arrived at Mount Sinai—a place of a spiritual standing before YHVH as a kingdom of priests (Exod 19:6). It was there that YHVH gave them his instructions in righteousness—the Torah on Shavuot. This time period represents Israel’s passage from slavery to freedom. They came out of slavery permeated with the leaven—the sins, values, and pagan concepts—of Egypt leaving it all behind as pictured by the Feast of Unleavened Bread. YHVH gave Israel 49 days to overcome and to get rid of the impurities of Egypt, and to  become the nation Israel—a holy priesthood (Exod 19:6) and the bride of YHVH (Ezek 16:8; Jer 2:2; 31:32). There, at the foot of Mount Sinai, YHVH wanted them to become his ambassadors to this world of his heavenly kingdom and truths.  Continue reading →