THE SUMMER FEAST OF SHAVUOT/PENTECOST

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Leviticus 23:15-16 (KJV) 15 And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: 16 Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD.

This feast may have originated with Abraham, one man, who was called out of the heathen nations by God, set apart and chosen to be the father of many nations. According to Jewish writings, when Abraham went up to offer Isaac as a sacrifice on Mt. Moriah, the ram caught in the thicket represented the Messiah. This ram became a substitute for Isaac, just as the Messiah became a substitute for us, and provided life by his death. Abraham’s sacrifice of his only son, Isaac, was prophetic of the offering of another Father of His only Son on the same mountain (Gen 22:14). According to Rabbi Pirke deR’ Eliezer the left horn of that ram is the “First Trump” and the right horn is the “Last Trump” which will be blown to herald the coming of the Messiah. The First Trump (the left horn of the ram) was blown on Mount Sinai with the giving of the Torah. In keeping with His promise to Abraham, Abba Father chose (set apart) a nation, the Children of Israel, to enter into a covenant relationship with Him.  The children of Israel were redeemed from Pharoah in Egypt by the mighty hand of the Lord.  The Lord provided a place for them in the wilderness.  Fifty days after crossing the Red Sea on the Feast of Firstfruits, the Lord gave them the Torah (the Commandments) at Mt. Sinai, on the Feast of Shavuot. The Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel. In the ancient Jewish wedding, this would be considered a “ketubah” (a marriage contract), in which a bridegroom and bride are betrothed (engaged).  The Marriage Contract elevates the bride (the woman) to a new status, and sets her apart to the one to whom she is betrothed.  She is considered “married.” even though the marriage ceremony has not yet taken place.  In this covenant with Israel, the Lord (the bridegroom) chose Israel to be His bride, and set her apart unto Him.  He promised Israel His love, His protection, and a home (a land), establishing them as His people - a kingdom of Kings and Priests (Ex 19:6).

PROPHETIC FULFILLMENT IN CHRIST: The Feast of Shavuot/Pentecost is celebrated 50 days after the Feast of Firstfruits.  After Jesus Christ's resurrection on Firstfruits, it was fulfilled 50 days later at the time of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit recorded in the book of Acts.  This feast is still being fulfilled as “whomsoever will”  come to Jesus Christ for salvation, and receive the New Covenant of His blood for redemption. At the first Feast of Shavuot at Mt. Sinai, the Torah was given to a people who had been redeemed by the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and who were betrothed to Him.  It was the "letter of the law" written on tablets of stone. It was a marriage covenant. This was prophetic of a time when a people redeemed by the outstretched arm of the Lord (Jesus Christ) would receive the "spirit of the law" (the Torah) written on the tablets of hearts of flesh.  This, too, is a marriage covenant - the New Covenant.   The Feast of Shavuot/Pentecost comes at the end of the barley harvest, and the beginning of the wheat harvest.  At this time, the book of Ruth is read in the synagogues - a picture of a Gentile bride being purchased by a Jewish kinsman redeemer, Boaz.   In Temple times, the service for the Feast of Shavuot included an offering of two loaves of "leavened" bread. The "leavened" bread could very well represent Jews and Gentiles who are not without sin (leaven)  but are made perfect by the blood of Jesus Christ, saved through faith.  The two loaves are "one offering" - Jew and Gentile as the "one new man" (Eph 2: 11-22) who are the body of Christ.   It was at the Feast of Shavuot that the Torah was given.  God gave the Israelites a way, through obedience to the Torah, to make peace with Him.  The sacrifices offered in the Tabernacle and Temple were offerings which would make peace/reconciliation with the Lord, for without the shedding of blood, the Scriptures say, there is no remission of sin.   Interestingly, Shavuot/Pentecost was the only feast, during Temple times, in which a "peace" offering was made.  Jesus Christ was that once-for-all sacrifice that satisfied God, the Father's requirement to pay the sin debt so that mankind could once again be reconcile to God.  It is evident in Ephesians 2:14-15 that Jesus Christ accomplished this task, as it states,  "He is our  peace.....to make in Himself of two, one new man, so making peace."  He is the bridegroom who will return for His bride.

 
SPIRITUAL APPLICATION - Consecration: Being set apart - Baptism of Holy Spirit:  Messiah Yeshua Jesus betrothed Himself to a bride, the body of believers known as “called out ones,” - made up of both Jews and Gentiles, who are "one in the body of Christ."  He also gave a Covenant (Marriage Contract - I Cor 6:20; 7:23).  Believers are considered to be married.   We are set apart, “sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of His purchased possession” (Eph 1:13-14).  Our bridegroom is Jewish, so the custom of the ancient Jewish wedding was familiar to Yeshua Jesus.  He uses that idiom in the parable of the 10 virgins (Matthew 25: 1-13).  In the ancient Jewish wedding, after the bridegroom is betrothed to His bride and has paid the redemption price, he goes to his father’s house to prepare a place for her.  The bridegroom will not return until the place for his bride is prepared.  This same idiom is used when Jesus states in John 14:1 - “And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also” (John 14:3).  The bridegroom does not know the day nor the hour when he will return for his bride, for only his father knows.  So, too, Jesus says, “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only” (Matthew 24:36).  While the bridegroom is away, the bride prepares herself for the day her bridegroom will return.  She desires to be pleasing to her bridegroom, and she seeks to be obedient to Him.  She makes sure there is no spot or wrinkle in her wedding garment.  She keeps oil in her lamp and trims the wick, for she does not know at what hour the bridegroom will come for her.  She awaits the sound of the trumpet, and the cry - “Behold the bridegroom cometh” (Matthew 25:1-6).   The Bridegroom, Jesus Christ, has returned to His Father’s house to prepare a place for His bride.  While He is away, the bride, the body of Christ, must prepare for His return.  She must be clothed with His righteousness through His shed blood, walking in the gifts of the Holy Spirit that He has given, and because of her love for the Bridegroom, the bride desires to be obedient to His word, so that she represents her Bridegroom in spirit and truth.  Jesus Christ (our bridegroom) paid the “bride price.”  His shed blood at Calvary was the redemption price. The believer is sealed with the Holy Spirit, and through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, receives the gifts of the Spirit.  The bride eagerly awaits the sounding of the Trumpet - when her bridegroom will return for her, and take her to His Father’s house - “the place He has prepared for her” (John 14:1-3; I Cor 15:50-53; I Thes 4:14-18).  She waits from season to season to hear the sound of the Trumpet.  The Fall Feasts begin with the Feast of Trumpets.  Is this the season of the coming of the Bridegroom?  No one know the day nor the hour.