In the Hebrew Spiritual Calendar, we have just come from 1st Spring Appointed Time of Passover/Pesach to the 4th Spring Appointed Time, Pentecost/Shavuot.
Pronounced sha-voo-ote.
We may have met Messiah along the Emmaus road and been compelled to return to Jerusalem and WAIT for the Promise while Counting the Omer.
These 50 days between the Feasts, are designated as a time of introspection, repentance and preparation; making ourselves ready for His coming, the outpouring of Holy Spirit/Ruach HaKodesh.
The infilling of His power for us to become His witnesses. The Appointed Times/Feasts of the Lord, were part of the annual cycle of Adonai’s Plan of redemption and kept by the Israelites as part of their normal lifestyle.
So why are these Appointed Times important to us?
Here are some things to consider.
If we are the grafted in believers that we say we are; then, as part of the Olive Tree/ spiritual Israel, what affects Israel and what is important to them should also be important to us. We cannot be joined to them in one way and not in others and it’s not for us to pick and choose which bits we want or not.
An understanding of the meaning behind their observances gives a clear picture of Messiah and how it all fits together.
In Deut.16:10-11 and Leviticus 23:15-21, God commands the Israelites to count 50 days from Passover/Pesach to Pentecost/Shavuot. (Another name for Shavuot is Feast of Weeks). This 50 day count is known as “the counting of the Omer.” An omer is a biblical measure of grain.
On the second day of Passover, an omer of barley was offered in the temple signaling the start of the harvest and the beginning of the 50 day count to Shavuot. This is because it’s a commandment of the Lord/Adonai, to always remember the appointed times that He set into the calendar at the time He made His first covenant with the children of Israel.And because this was an annual rehearsal for them, which they would pass down through the generations until the time that it was fulfilled in the person of Messiah.
Exodus 32:20; Leviticus 23:15– 21. You shall count 50 days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the Lord.The Omer was parched in fire –
Fire represents Judgment – Gen 19:24; Ex 9:23 Jer 52:13, Rev 20:10
Fire represents Refinement and Purification Ps 12:6; Zech 13:9,M 3:3
Fire represents the Trials of our Faith – 1 Pet 1:7, James 1:2,3,12
The Omer was tossed in the wind – Omer tossed to the wind represents Every Kind of Doctrine – Eph 4:8-14;
A time of counting the days for (50) PENTE the COST of being His disciple. Luke 14:25. Prepares us to receive all He will release preparation through fire, repentance and cleansing leads to deliverance and freedom.
I set you free to serve Me.
(Actually meaning to return to the WAY that He had intended for humanity to walk before Him, was now given in Torah/Instructions)
This is in reference to the prophecy in Malachi and will be mentioned later.
This was the observance for the feast of Shavuot.It takes place seven weeks, or 50 days after the Passover/Pesach. The rabbis realized that this was the same time Moses had gone up on Mount Sinai to receive the guidelines for their new lifestyle having come out of the bondage of Egypt.(We know it as the 10 Commandments).
So Shavuot became a day to remember the giving of the Torah directions.
It is one of and the 3 annual appointed times of the Lord when all men were required to go to Jerusalem.
then
and now. (Passover, Pentecost and Yom Kippur)So on the 50th day, the barley harvest ends and the wheat harvest begins, the change in harvest symbolized by the waving of two wheat loaves by the High Priest in the temple before the Lord.The waving of the two leavened loaves, also, representing those who would be harvested;
both Jew and Gentile – which is why the Torah and the ‘Church’/Ecclesia/Congregation/Called out ones, share the same birthday.
On Shavuot, the holiday celebrating the harvest, the holiday of the first fruits.
Israel marks not just the giving of the Torah by God, (also known as ‘Zman Mattan Torah’, ‘the time of the giving of the Torah’.) but their acceptance of the Torah.
The integration between celebrating the giving of the Torah and our gratitude for the land, between a holiday that is solely connected to “heaven” and one connected to the earth, to the land of Israel. On the one hand, we aspire to reach the highest place, to receive the Torah, and on the other hand, we are connecting to what is under our feet, to the land and its crops to understand that building the Israelite homeland is a process that starts with the earth and continues on up to heaven.Nothing in scripture stands alone everything is interconnected and when we see how, it becomes clear and all begins to make sense.
One way the holiday is observed is through the reading of the Book of Ruth, the story of a woman who converts to Judaism and accepts the Torah.It is appropriate to read the Book of Ruth on Shavuot for several reasons:
First, because it gives us a picture of how the poor were treated in the harvest season with sympathy and love.
Secondly, because in the Book of Ruth we are shown the origin of the House of David — King David was the great-grandson of Ruth and Boaz. And it recounts the story of the Gentile woman (Ruth) who becomes the bride of the Hebrew Boaz, the kinsman redeemer.
Their union produced the most famous of all Israel’s kings, King David. Who incidentally, was born on this very same date (Shavuot) and amazingly Shavuot is also the yahrzeit (anniversary of the death) of King David.
In the Book of Ruth, it is written that when Ruth wanted to stay with Naomi she said, “Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay.Your people will be my people and your God my God.” Ruth first committed herself to another human being, to Naomi, and afterwards to her people and then to her God.It is well accepted that Ruth, the foreigner represents the largely gentile church redeemed by Messiah Yeshua/Jesus, the Lord of the harvest, as represented by Boaz, who functioned as her kinsman redeemer.It’s interesting that Boaz instructs her to stay through out the barley and the wheat harvest. For as we have noted in Jewish tradition, the counting of the Omer is said to be a time of preparation for receiving the Torah.The Exodus was looked on as a gift, while the giving of the Torah required some spiritual preparation or readiness. This presents an interesting picture. Do the fifty days between the First fruits resurrection of Messiah Yeshua/Jesus and the receiving of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost constitute a period of ‘readiness’ for the congregation of believers, Body of Yesuhua, (church), as well? The book of Ruth is replete with symbolism regarding the gentile bride and her kinsmen redeemer.
“So Boaz, said to Ruth, “My daughter listen to me. Don’t go and glean in another field and don’t go away from here …So, Ruth stayed close to the servant girls of Boaz to glean until the barley and the wheat harvest were finished.” Ruth 2:8,23
If Messiah Yeshua/Jesus returns for His bride before the 50th day, she would qualify as a first fruits bride (barley); a bride who has made her self ready. While those who are not ready would still be here after the 50th day and become part of the wheat harvest – foreshadowed, possibly by Ruth who gleaned throughout the barley and the wheat harvests? A connection to the parable of the 10 virgins and the condition of their spiritual preparedness?
Also indicated in the instructions Messiah Yeshua/Jesus gave His disciples before He ascended into heaven –
“Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift My Father has promised ” Acts 1:4
Is this why He met them on the Emmaus Road? To make sure they were where they were supposed to be?And meeting with them, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “But you shall receive power when the Set-apart Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judah and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:4,8Messiah Yeshua/Jesus told His disciples to wait in Jerusalem until the promise of receiving the power of the Set-apart Spirit came upon them; because, ONLY when this happened could they begin to spread the message of the Good News!
Why did they have to wait in Jerusalem?First, we are instructed by YHVH that Shavuot is a feast celebrated in Jerusalem – Messiah Yeshua/Jesus was instructing His disciples to keep Torah.Second, judgment – and blessing – are first for the house of Israel and then for the surrounding nations. Likewise, the Good News began in Jerusalem and was sent out from there.This is also one of the reasons that Messiah’s disciples and so many other crowds of people, were still together in Jerusalem.For most the trip back home, only to return it again 50 days later, would have been too arduous, (most walked), so they stayed their through the counting of the Omer.Briefly noted above,
the love story between Boaz and Ruth
that took place during Shavuot.But there is another love story
that takes place during the
season of Shavuot.
A love story 5,000 years in the making.
The story of a King who is scorned by His beloved bride and vows to redeem her to Himself. The story of a King’s waiting that transcends time…a price He willingly pays in order to reclaim His precious bride.
Over a thousand years after the giving of the law, when the first covenant was given on Mount Sinai,
the renewed covenantobtained through Messiah Yeshua’s /Jesus’ death and resurrection…was energized and quickened by the Spirit of God on the Hebrew feast of Shavuot.It became known as the feast of the 50thday or pentecoste because the rabbis of the Greek world had to give a Greek name to the Hebrew holy day.One of the major elements of the Good News is redemption and restoration, another parallel.
We learned from the story of Ruth and Boaz that the season of Shavuot is a season of redemption and restoration. To further this point, we learn that in Jerusalem 3,000 people were added to the assembly of believers.
Why is this 3,000 number important?
At Mt. Sinai, there were 3,000 missing from the House of Israel who should have received the Torah and didn’t because of the sin of the golden calf.And Moses saw that the people were let loose, for Aaron had let them loose, to their shame among their enemies. And Moses stood in the entrance of the camp, and said,
“Who is for YHVH? Come to me.” And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves to him. And he said to them, “Thus said YHVH Elohim of Israel: ‘Each one put his sword on his side, pass over to and fro from gate to gate in the camp, and each one slay his brother, and each one his friend, and each one his relative.’ ” And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And about three thousand men of the people fell that day.” Exodus 32:25-
Once the people of Israel were redeemed, they could then offer their first-fruits to YHVH. At Mt. Sinai we see this redemption take place by the marriage covenant that was established.
In comparing the exchange to a marriage or other sacred covenant. Hebrew scholars have shown that it’s Not simply the giving of Torah and giving of the Holy Spirit,but a covenant of marriage between Adonai and His beloved Israel.
The form of marriage covenant agreement is called a Ketubah;the Torah (10 commandments) were part of the ketubah/written agreement,hence the scripture
In Jerusalem thousands of years later, we see this by the ingathering of the lost sheep of Israel; the ingathering of exiled Israel from the nations.
The Spirit of God was given to the believers on the same day that the law of God was given to Israel. The old or first covenant and the re-newed covenant are joined together both being initiated on the same day.
The correlation here is that when the Law was given to Moses, judgment followed, people perished and according to the Scriptures it was about 3000.
However the amazing thing is that on the second sealing of the covenant with His people, when His spirit was given, there was salvation and eternal life for the number of those who came to new life was about 3000. Acts 2:41;
(Israel, His Beloved became His ‘wife’ אִשָּׁה Ishah, pronounced Ee-sha)
Then there’s the more complimentary, dignified word – רַעְיָה Rayayah.
3000died
and centuries later
3000came to life
on the exact same Holy Appointed Day of the Lord.
In 2 Corinthians 3:4 -6. Paul wrote, the letter kills but the Spirit gives life. The spirit was given on the same day as the commandments were given.
This was because the Law (\commandments\ directions for living Life before the Lord;) can tell us the will of God.
However only the Spirit can give us the power to live it.
If we live by the Spirit of God we will fulfill the will of God for our lives in the same precise way that the coming of the Spirit on Pentecost fulfilled the Law of the Covenant.The outpouring of the fire of the Holy Spirit was to empower and enable His disciples then and now. Effectively, to fulfill the plan and purpose of His will in the Earth.
The manifestation of the fire was in direct correlation to the pillar of fire that was with them in the wilderness.It was His manifest presence with them along with the pillar of cloud during the day.
Elohay Ha Elohim Our God is a consuming fire.
Conclusion to follow soon = marriage made in heaven…
Please don’t leave this page before making certain Jesus is your Redeemer, Savior, Lord and soon returning King and that you have a personal relationship with Him.
You are greatly loved and precious in His sight.
Its all about Life and Relationship, not Religion.
NOT SURE? YOU CAN BE..
SAY THE FOLLOWING FROM YOUR HEART RIGHT NOW…
Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus asking for forgiveness of my sins for which I am truly sorry. I repent of them all and turn away from my past.
I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus is your Son and that He died on the cross at calvary to pay the price for my sin, so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven. Father I believe that Jesus rose from the dead and I ask you to come into my life right now and be my personal Savior and Lord and I will worship you all the days of my life. Because your word is truth I say that I am now forgiven and born again and by faith I am washed clean with the blood of Jesus. Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’ name. Amen.
(Another name for Shavuot is Feast of Weeks). 
This 50 day count is known as “the counting of the Omer.” An omer is a biblical measure of grain. 
This is because it’s a commandment of the Lord/Adonai, to always remember the appointed times that He set into the calendar at the time He made His first covenant with the children of Israel.
And because this was an annual rehearsal for them, which they would pass down through the generations until the time that it was fulfilled in the person of Messiah.
The Omer was parched in fire –
Luke 14:25. Prepares us to receive all He will release preparation through fire, repentance and cleansing leads to deliverance and freedom.
It takes place seven weeks, or 50 days after the Passover/Pesach. The rabbis realized that this was the same time Moses had gone up on Mount Sinai to receive the guidelines for their new lifestyle having come out of the bondage of Egypt.
(We know it as the 10 Commandments).
So Shavuot became a day to remember the giving of the Torah directions.
then 
and now. (Passover, Pentecost and Yom Kippur)
So on the 50th day, the barley harvest ends and the wheat harvest begins, the change in harvest symbolized by the waving of two wheat loaves by the High Priest in the temple before the Lord.
The waving of the two leavened loaves, also, representing those who would be harvested;
both Jew and Gentile – which is why the Torah and the ‘Church’/Ecclesia/Congregation/Called out ones, share the same birthday.
Nothing in scripture stands alone everything is interconnected and when we see how, it becomes clear and all begins to make sense.
It is appropriate to read the Book of Ruth on Shavuot for several reasons:
“Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay.
Your people will be my people and your God my God.” Ruth first committed herself to another human being, to Naomi, and afterwards to her people and then to her God.
It is well accepted that Ruth, the foreigner represents the largely gentile church redeemed by Messiah Yeshua/Jesus, the Lord of the harvest, as represented by Boaz, who functioned as her kinsman redeemer.
It’s interesting that Boaz instructs her to stay through out the barley and the wheat harvest. For as we have noted in Jewish tradition, the counting of the Omer is said to be a time of preparation for receiving the Torah.
The Exodus was looked on as a gift, while the giving of the Torah required some spiritual preparation or readiness. 
This presents an interesting picture. Do the fifty days between the First fruits resurrection of Messiah Yeshua/Jesus and the receiving of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost constitute a period of ‘readiness’ for the congregation of believers, Body of Yesuhua, (church), as well? 
The book of Ruth is replete with symbolism regarding the gentile bride and her kinsmen redeemer.
A connection to the parable of the 10 virgins and the condition of their spiritual preparedness?
And meeting with them, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “But you shall receive power when the Set-apart Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judah and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:4,8
Messiah Yeshua/Jesus told His disciples to wait in Jerusalem until the promise of receiving the power of the Set-apart Spirit came upon them; because, ONLY when this happened could they begin to spread the message of the Good News! 
First, we are instructed by YHVH that Shavuot is a feast celebrated in Jerusalem – Messiah Yeshua/Jesus was instructing His disciples to keep Torah.
Second, judgment – and blessing – are first for the house of Israel and then for the surrounding nations. Likewise, the Good News began in Jerusalem and was sent out from there.
This is also one of the reasons that Messiah’s disciples and so many other crowds of people, were still together in Jerusalem.
For most the trip back home, only to return it again 50 days later, would have been too arduous, (most walked), so they stayed their through the counting of the Omer.
Briefly noted above,
But there is another love story 
the renewed covenant
obtained through Messiah Yeshua’s /Jesus’ death and resurrection…
was energized and quickened by the Spirit of God on the Hebrew feast of Shavuot.
It became known as the feast of the 50th day or pentecoste because the rabbis of the Greek world had to give a Greek name to the Hebrew holy day.
One of the major elements of the Good News is redemption and restoration, another parallel.
And Moses saw that the people were let loose, for Aaron had let them loose, to their shame among their enemies. And Moses stood in the entrance of the camp, and said,
but a covenant of marriage between Adonai and His beloved Israel.
the Torah (10 commandments) were part of the ketubah/written agreement,
hence the scripture
The outpouring of the fire of the Holy Spirit was to empower and enable His disciples then and now. Effectively, to fulfill the plan and purpose of His will in the Earth.
It was His manifest presence with them along with the pillar of cloud during the day. 
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