Jewish Feasts: (4) Pentecost (Feast of Weeks), Shavuot

Leviticus 23:15–21 (RSV)
15 “And you shall count from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven full weeks shall they be, 16 counting fifty days to the morrow after the seventh sabbath; then you shall present a cereal offering of new grain to the Lord. 17 You shall bring from your dwellings two loaves of bread to be waved, made of two tenths of an ephah; they shall be of fine flour, they shall be baked with leaven, as first fruits to the Lord. 18 And you shall present with the bread seven lambs a year old without blemish, and one young bull, and two rams; they shall be a burnt offering to the Lord, with their cereal offering and their drink offerings, an offering by fire, a pleasing odor to the Lord. 19 And you shall offer one male goat for a sin offering, and two male lambs a year old as a sacrifice of peace offerings. 20 And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the first fruits as a wave offering before the Lord, with the two lambs; they shall be holy to the Lord for the priest. 21 And you shall make proclamation on the same day; you shall hold a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work: it is a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.


• Special thanks to Arnold Fruchtenbaum, MBS062, The Feasts of Israel
• References
• Four OT passages (Exo 23:16; Exo 34:22; Num 28:26; and Deut 16:9-12)
• Three NT passages
• Acts 2:1-4 the Holy Spirit begins His work of Spirit baptism. The church is born on this day
• Acts 20:16 Paul desired (not required) to be in Jerusalem to observe this feast
• 1 Cor 16:8 Paul mentions that he would be in Ephesus until this feast
• Names for the feast
1. Called the "Feast of Weeks" because it occurs 7 weeks after the Passover
1. Shavuot is Hebrew for Weeks
2. Called the "Feast of Harvest" because it marked the end of the Spring harvest
3. Called the "Day of Firstfruits" to distinguish it from the "Feast of Firstfruits"
1. The firstfruits of the summer harvest are offered on this occasion
2. The firstfruits of the spring harvest are offered on the previous feasts
4. Called the "Closing Festival" because it marked the end of the first cycle of Festivals
5. Called the "Closing Season of Passover" for same reason
6. Called the "Season of the Giving of the Law" because by tradition, the Mosaic Law, particularly the ten commandments were given on this occasion (also forms an interesting contract to the NT event on this day)
7. Called the "Feast of Pentecost" from the Greek term meaning "fifty" because it occurs 50 days after Passover
• Biblical Practice
1. Two wave offerings on a single sheet
2. The loaves of bread were leavened (only festival where leaven was permitted to be added to the sacrifice)
3. The sixth day of the month of Sivan (seven weeks plus one day after the second day of Passover)
• This would not always be Sunday (only once every several years)
• Jewish Observance
• The book of Ruth is read
• Part of the story of Ruth occurs in this time
• Ruth was a Gentile who became a convert to the Law. And Rabbis taught that the Law was given on this occasion
• Jewish tradition is that King David was born during the Feast of Weeks
• One stays up all night in order to study the Mosaic Law. Reason: there was  thunder and lightning at the time the Law was given and this kept the Jews awake all night
• Jews eat kreplach, a form of Jewish ravioli, consisting of meat, garlic, and onions enclosed in pasta. It is served fried or in chicken soup. Ravioli is in the form of a triangle
• Three patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
• Three divisions of the OT: the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings
• Moses was the third of the three children
• Three days were necessary in the preparation of receiving the law
• Another Jewish food custom is the eating of cheese. Also, cheese blintz, closely resembling a crepe suzette, a very think pancake, filled with cream cheese and folded in a rectangular form. Two are served side by side representing the two tablets of the Law


Acts 2:1–4 (RSV) When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.


• Key point #1: The feast of Weeks is fulfilled by the first of the church
• The coming of the HS was not new
• The baptism of the HS was a new ministry
• The OT covenant was characterized by the Law
• The NT covenant is characterized by Grace and the Baptism of the HS
• Ephesians 1:13–14 (RSV)  In him you also, who have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and have believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 which is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
• Baptism seals us into the church, the body of Christ
1 Corinthians 12:12–13 (RSV) 12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
• The Church is composed of both Jews and Gentiles, slaves or free. There is not distinction
• We all baptized into ONE body
• Key point #2: the two loaves were offered on a single sheet in the biblical practice of the feast. Also, both loaves were leavened
• Two different people, Jews and Gentiles, are represented by the two loaves
• Both groups are sinners, represented by the leaven
• Key point #3: The day is also called the day of "firstfruits." On that day when the HS Spirit came, 3000 people came to faith and these Jewish believers were truly the firstfruits
Acts 2:37–42 (RSV)
37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” 38 And Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is to you and to your children and to all that are far off, every one whom the Lord our God calls to him.” 40 And he testified with many other words and exhorted them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” 41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. 42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
James 1:16–18 (RSV)
16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. 17 Every good endowment and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.


APPLICATION:
1. The Church is the application of the feast of firstfruits. We are the two leavened pieces of bread
• The church body is an important part of the plan of God. We do not live our Christian lives in isolation but in community and fellowship
• We need to be a part of the body. We need to serve in the body. We need to exercise our gifts as a part of the body
2. Grace supersedes law
John 1:17 (RSV)  17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
• Rules can be useful, but they don't produce meaningful change in our hearts
• We need to focus on changing the heart and mind (the inside) not on following rules
• God is pleased not with following rules but on our character …
Hosea 6:6 (RSV) 6 For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,
the knowledge of God, rather than burnt offerings.
Matthew 12:7–8 (RSV) 7 And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of man is lord of the sabbath.”
Micah 6:8 (RSV)
8 He has showed you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?