KJV: of my salvation; on thee do I waitall the day.
INT: of my salvation for wait all the day. Psalm 25:21
There are a few words in Hebrew for wait.
InIsaiah 40:31 we learn that those who
waitupon the Lord will renew their strength.
This wait is qavah
which is a twisting or binding.
It is the word used for making rope and the ancient method of making rope is still used today.
Hundreds of thin strands of fabric, each one alone could easily be broken, but when tightly bound together they form a rope that cannot be broken.
We may here recall the scripture:
A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.
Ecclesiastes 4:12.
In some weddings, a three-cord braid is included as part of the ceremony, here the three cords that are not easily broken represent Our Heavenly Father, the bride and the groom.
So in Isaiah 40:31 this waiting is just not sitting back, doing nothing, it is a process of binding/blending/melding/merging ourselves with the Father and the more we bind ourselves to Him, the stronger we become.
In Isaiah 30:18, however, he uses a different word for wait.
which is the word chakah this is a:
patiently waiting,
like someone waiting for a train.
However, this word is in a Piel or imperfect form,
so it has the meaning of:
a continuing process, it is patiently waiting.
יָחַל verb Niph`al – wait;
Pi`el – await (compare Late Hebrew יִחוּל expectation); to Niph`al – Perfect feminine singular – נחֲלָה in Ezekiel 19:5 also Imperfect: וַיִּיָּ֫חֶל in Genesis 8:12 + 1 Samuel 13:18 וַיּחֶל;
and wait: Genesis 8:12 and he waited yet seven days.
WAITING – CHAKAH – the Hebrew letters: חכה – Cheth Kap Hei.
The word chakah is spelled:
Chet, Kap/Kaph, Hei/Hey.
The Chet indicates:
moving to a higher level,
something like:
waiting in line and then moving forward.
Our Father is patiently allowing us to go through our human/carnal ways, trying to satisfy all our needs by ourselves; then all of a sudden He appears next in line.
Here we find the next letter in the word for
waiting – chakah
which is the letter Kap/kaf
this has the picture word for:
the palm of the hand.
This shows us that all this time our Father has been holding out His hands in order to receive us; and finally after years of searching for answers, we ask Him to come into our lives.
The 3rd Hebrew letter in the word
to wait, chakah, is Hei
and is akin to:
the conclusion of His waiting, entering His presence which is filled with all of His graciousness and mercy.
Isaiah 30:18 tell us about it:
blessed are those who chakah (wait) for Him.
Our chakah is not in the sentence construction/parts of speech as a Hebrew Piel or imperfect form, it is a Hebrew Qal participle (a word formed from a verb (e.g., going, gone, being, been) and used as an adjective or noun.
This means in others words:
blessed are those who
have been waiting for God.
Without realizing it we have been waiting for Him all the time; we just did not know or understand it. At least our Father’s waiting has been in the Hebrew (Piel Imperfect sentence construction) as in: He is waiting
Original Word: יָחַל Part of Speech: Verb Transliteration: yachal Phonetic Spelling: yaw-chal’
In the following versions of Luke 24:49
English words used are:
remain and tarry
Berean Literal Bible And behold, I am sending the promise of My Father upon you. But you, remain in the city until that you should be clothed with power from on high.”
King James Bible And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.
Amplified Bible Listen carefully: I am sending the Promise of My Father [the Holy Spirit] upon you; but you are to remain in the city [of Jerusalem] until you are clothed (fully equipped) with power from on high.”
Hee•ne ano•chi sho•le•ach et asher hiv•ti•ach la•chem Avi ve•a•tem ho•chi•loo ba•eer Ye•roo•sha•la•yim ad ki-til•be•shoo oz mi•ma•rom.
This must have been an extremely stressful time immediately following the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus/Yeshua. There was much unrest in the city which was filled with 1000’s of people who had travelled there for the Spring Meodim/Appointed Times of Passover/Pesach; which was one of the 3 annual Shalosh Regalim. Passover/Pesach/הַפֶּסַח, Pentecost/Shavuot/שבועות & Tabernacles/Sukkot/סוכות.
Though they are called Feasts by many, the correct Hebrew translation is Rehearsal Pattern because it is a rehearsal. It was/is a practice for the real thing to come, similar to rehearsals prior to a wedding ceremony; and why they were required to be in Jerusalem precisely at those times. We looked at this in previous posts.
This had been a momentous time; unlike any other previous year and the turmoil following those events had made the talmidim/disciples and followers of Messiah further targets for those who had plotted to kill Him.
On the road to Emmaus, one of them, named Cleopas, asked Him, “Are You the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in recent days?”
verse 18.
Luke 24:13-24
In verse 25: Then Jesus said to them, “O foolish ones, how slow are your hearts to believe all that the prophets have spoken!…
This was confirming that HE WAS the fulfillment of Gods’ prophetic plan of redemption.
Luke 3:16 John answered all of them: “I baptize you with water, but One more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
John 1:26 “I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands One you do not know.
John 1:33 I myself did not know Him, but the One who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit descend and rest is He who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’
5For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” 6Sowhen theycame together,they askedHim,“Lord,will You atthistimerestorethekingdomto Israel?”7Jesus replied, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority.… But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”…
Acts 1:4V-PNA GRK: χωρίζεσθαι ἀλλὰ περιμένειν τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν NAS: Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father KJV: but wait for the promise INT: to depart but to await the promise
לחכות ל wait for
לחכות wait
The length of time they were told to wait was not just for a couple of days, it was for the next 49 days until Pentecost/Shavuot.
Yeshua/Jesus had said He had come to fulfill the Torah which has the Moedim/Appointed Times of the Lord as pivotal to the annual cycle of Israeli life.
We miss the full revelation of what Messiah accomplished as we in our western christianity and calendar festivals, jump from Passover/Resurrection Sunday (which we have called easter), to Christmas. There is a very precise sequence of Appointed Times/Moedim, whose meanings were prophetic in nature in their annual rehearsal for fulfillment in Messiahs’ life.
What was the purpose of this waiting?
He told them they would be
endued with power from on high
but why did they have to wait so long?
What does it mean for us?
The purpose of waiting is part of our training as talmidim/disciples.
It is for us to get into the right relationship to meet the requirements of our Heavenly Father and His Will not ours. Once those needs /requirements for being His child /disciple are met then He will open the doors and make the WAY clear for us to GO and DO and fulfill His will, plan and purposes.
One thing we should have learned during our 49 day walk/halak, it is this; we cannot artificially accelerate the growth of our crops and we cannot force them to produce out of season!
We need to see that we are not in control and being impatient will only cause frustration.
It will also choke the seeds and prevent them from bringing forth the harvest; which will result in us being impatient farmers with only barren and unfruitful fields. We must bear the fruit of patience if we are to grow in Messiah, without it we become impatient, impetuous, unsatisfied and are always looking for a future we cannot change. This is sad because it means we are ignoring what we have been blessed with today in the here and now.
Our training is accomplished by the power of His Spirit/Ruach within us, as we are also
endued with power from on high!
and for what?
To be witnesses to Him.
We must allow our lives to be slowly and continually transformed by the indwelling life of His Son; which is the ultimate purpose and goal ..that Jesus/Yeshua be exhibited in us.
This Shavuot/Pentecost, let’s be in an attitude of waiting after our days of preparation, and allow Him to do the necessary work in us and then He can fill us again. Just as we recharge batteries and continually refill our cars’ tanks with fuel, we need to be-being filled with His Spirit – continuously.. to go on being filled not just one time. Meaning to completely surrender our life and give Him full control. Ephesians 5:18 commands that we be filled with the Spirit. 1 Thessalonians 5:19 the command is given, “Do not put out the Spirit’s fire.” Paul gives the simple principle when he says, “Live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature” Gal. 5:16. The important experience of becoming a Spirit-filled disciple results in the progressive sanctification of a believer in Messiah. The result will be that the individual will manifest the fruit of the Spirit as stated inGalatians 5:22-23,
The 49 days leading up to Pentecost/Shavuot is a time of looking at our own lives and allowing God to do His work in us so He can work through us.
Hebrews 10:9 Behold I have come to do your will O God.
Jesus/Yeshuas life was one of obedience to His Father and He said Follow Me; so we are to be obedient to His/our Fathers will also.
We must take the time to be continually filled up or we will have nothing to pour out. If all we are doing is seeking to be blessed personally, we are missing the point of servanthood. We are blessed to be a blessing – freely we have received, freely we give. If we are always taking in/receiving, and not giving out, we will stagnate like the waters of a pool with no outflow; then we will become like the Dead sea and not a sea of Galilee. Living waters flow continually, that is what flowed through Messiah and what we are to release to others. Let Him pour into us so we can pour out.
For Them…?
The time of waiting was not a new thing for the disciples as every year the counting of 7 weeks or 49 days from the Omer following Peasch/Passover to Shavuot/Pentecost/Weeks was part of the Spring Feasts/Moedim/Appointed Times of the Lord which they followed every year.
Leviticus 23:1-2 God introduces His Moedim/Appointed Times when He begins by declaring to Moses
My appointed times are these….
This statement makes clear that these Moedim/Appointed Times, originate with our Heavenly Father, they cannot be claimed to have been appointed by any nation, including Israel. While they were initially given to the children of Israel for them to observe as their calendar/way of life, they are just as applicable to the followers of Messiah today.
Many have grown up believing that the Jewish Feasts have nothing to do with the New Testament body of Messiah – the ecclesia, the called apart ones. A few have grown up trying to take back the feasts and celebrate them, while rediscovering Christianity’s Hebrew Heritage. Some have never heard of the Feasts at all, however there are a growing number who are interested in what the Moedim/Appointed Times/Feasts of the Lord, have to impart to us prophetically.
Questions for us are: why are we ignoring what the Father has instructed us to do and why are we only understanding and remembering 2 of the 7?
We have the benefit of the completed Word of God so we can study His plan of redemption; and one of the ways in which He prophetically revealed His big picture plan, is through the Appointed Times/Moedim/Feasts of the Lord. Approximately 4000 years ago, God commanded His people to gather in sacred assembly for very specific celebrations – His Feasts.
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, These are the appointed feasts of the Lord that you shall proclaim as holy convocations; they are my appointed feasts.” (Leviticus 23:1-2)
If we are not aware of the Moedim/Appointed Times when we read that verse, we do not understand the whole picture.
God commanded a yearly remembrance of each of His Holy convocations. The Hebrew word for sacred assembly or holy convocation is miqra, which carries the meaning of a dress rehearsal. Every time these festivals are celebrated, it is a visual and spiritual aid to remind humanity of the prophetic plan of God.
Prior to each feast’s fulfillment, it points forwards to Messiah.
During each feast’s fulfillment, it points directly at Messiah.
Subsequent to each feast’s fulfillment, it points backwards to Messiah.
These seven appointed times are collectively called the mo’edim and are detailed inExodus 12-13, Leviticus 23, Numbers 28-29and Deuteronomy 16. Together, they represent the Fathers’ entire redemptive plan from Messiah’s death through His millennial rule.
This is what Yeshua/Jesus was referring to in Matthew 5:17-18 when He said, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law/teaching till all is fulfilled.”
Because the common western understanding of fulfill
means done away with,
Christians have believed that Yeshua/Jesus meant the prophetic pictures pointing to Him are now no longer needed. This is not what He meant, because to Jewish rabbis at that time, the word that is translated into English as
fulfilled was understood to mean:
the true or correct interpretation of Scripture,
while the word destroy meant: to give a false or incorrect interpretation.
Yeshua/Jesus was telling them that:
He did not come to do away with the Hebrew Scriptures/or destroy i.e. lead them astray by false teachings
Rather, He was:
the human embodiment of their true meaning and spiritual reality.
Again we can see other reasons for the WAITING…
First it was for their own preparation and
second because Messiah was not yet glorified.
As soon as He was glorified Acts 2:33tells us:
therefore being exalted to the right hand of God and having received from the father the promise of the Holy Spirit/His Spirit of Holiness He poured out this which you now see and hear.
The second reason is in the statement in John where he clearly tells us in 7:39..
for the Holy Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified.
This is not the case for us today because His Spirit of Holiness/Ruach haKodesh, has been given and Messiah is glorified; our waiting is not dependent on the promised future outpouring; but rather on our own spiritual condition/preparation, to receive what is readily available.
We know from scripture that the influence and power of His Spirit were at work before Shavout/Pentecost because He was upon individuals, prophets, priests and kings of the Old Testament; and in some instances, He filled them with His Spirit: e.g. both John the Baptists parents. Luke 1:41
However, once Messiah was glorified in His ascension, His Spirit of Holiness/RuachHaKodesh, came into the world in an unrestricted way and has been here for the last 2000+ years. It is critical that we believe and receive this revealed truth that He is indeed here in our midst; and within each believer who welcomes His presence, influence and power. He will not force His presence upon us but patiently waits for us to invite Him in as we yield to His offer.
The attitude of receiving and welcoming His Spirit into our lives is to be the continual attitude of a believer. When we receive His Spirit we receive His life/chaim which revives us, imparting the same resurrection life that raised Him from the dead, which will quicken us and make us alive in Him. Romans 8:11
As our ascended Messiah He is able to give New Life.
It’s not the so termed, baptism of His Holy Spirit, that changes people, but it is the power of the risen Messiah coming in to dwell in our lives that changes us through His Holy Spirit working from the inside out. We sometimes have a tendency to separate things that the New Testament/Brit Chadashah does not separate. The termed, baptism of His spirit of Holiness, is not an experience apart from Jesus/Yeshua – it is the real and living evidence of the risen Messiah. He has given us chaim/life everlasting and full of glory.
John 17:3This is eternal life that they may KNOW You
it’s something that begins at new birth and never ends….
We often speak of types and shadows in the scriptures…
The giving of the Torah (teaching/law) at Sinai was the type/shadow
that was fulfilled at Shavuot/Pentecost.
Sinai marked the birth date of the dispensation of Torah/Teaching/Law, and involved great displays of God’s power through thunderings, lightning, fire and the sound of His reverberating voice.
The fulfillment at Shavuot/Pentecost was the giving of the Spirit of the Law to the followers of the Mashiach/Messiah.
Shavuot/Pentecost, marks the birth date of the ecclesia/church/called apart ones, and what some term as the dispensation of Grace.
This occasion was also accompanied with great displays of God’s power through fire and a sound like a mighty rushing wind. According to Ephesians 4:30, from this point onward, His Ruach HaKodesh/Spirit of Holiness dwells within each follower and seals the Body of Messiah for the day of redemption.
When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:1-4)
The gift of tongues is simply the Holy Spirit giving us the supernatural ability to speak in a foreign tongue/language that we have no knowledge or ability to speak out on our own.
There are two types of tongues He can give us. One is a tongue of this earth; e.g., if our native language is English, then He can give us the ability to speak in Chinese, Japanese, or Spanish, etc. For the simple reason we may be in that country or with people who speak that language and will understand it.
The other type of tongue that He can give us is a tongue direct from heaven, a heavenly language that is not of this earth. The Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 13 that there are tongues of angels.
Whichever it is, it will be a foreign language that we will not be able to speak out on our own, and only His Holy Spirit’s supernatural transmission of this language out of our spirits will give us the ability to be able to speak it using our voice.
Whatever tongue Holy Spirit gives us, we will be able to use it all the time, whenever we want. It will be our own personal, private, prayer language between us and the Lord.
One thing to remember with this gift is that for the most part, we may never know or understand what we are praying about when we operate in this gift, however we can pray to interpret what the Lord has spoken through us.
The Bible tells us that we will be speaking out “mysteries,” and only the Father and His Holy Spirit will know exactly what the prayer is about on any given occasion.“Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” (Romans 8:26)
Here we are told clearly that they were ALL filled and spoke in other tongues… which was the physical evidence of His Spirit in them, there were no exceptions and so we can expect the same today, and includes all the other gifts of His Spirit as in
The Word of Knowledge
The Word of Wisdom
The Gift of Prophecy
The Gift of Faith
The Gifts of Healings
The Working of Miracles
The Discerning of Spirits
Different Kinds of Tongues
The Interpretation of Tongues
our Father has not changed..
He is the same yesterday today and forever. Heb.13:8
In Him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:13-14) Here we see the sealing by His Spirit to enable us to continue our walk.
It is interesting that the Father waited 50 days after Messiahs’ resurrection, (10 days after His Ascension) before He sent His Holy Spirit. As our Father is precise in all His details it is without doubt because He was waiting for the Appointed Time/Shavuot/Pentecost. He is never early and He is never late in fulfilling His promises.
The other symbol of His Spirit and presence is FIRE.
From the Ex.3:2burning bush, to the pillar in the wilderness, to the outpouring in Jerusalem …
our God is a consuming FIRE Heb.12:29
and as Malachi states like a refiners fire.
In Malachi 3:1-4, the prophet declares the
imminent return of the Lord
and with it,
His holy judgment of refining fire.
We are all too well aware that being a follower of Messiah does not spare us from experiencing testings, trials, conflict and trouble; and the process of refinement is one that He continually applies to our lives.
This fire is Holy Fire – Esh Kadosh/qadosh. אש קדושה
The Fire that cleanses, refines and purifies; it burns up all that is not acceptable to the Father and also speaks of His power so that like Jesus/Yeshua, we may work the works of Him who sends us.John 9:4, for greater works than these will you do. John 14:12.
BUT as always, there is a condition, an IF …
We have to be willing..
we have to lay down our lives, our plans and allow Him to be sovereign in our lives.
The choice is ours…His offer is there for whosoever will… The events of Acts 2 includes the
empowering
of His spirit
and the imparting of His boldness to proclaim the good news of Messiah’s Kingdom. The boldness of the fire like Jeremiah* had.
Are we truly on fire for God? .. or
are we just barely glowing embers, dying without the breath of His Spirit … we need the mighty rushing wind of Shavuot to blow on and re-ignite the fire.
Holy Spirit of Truth is certainly God, however, He is not the Person of Yeshua/HaMashiach/Jesus Christ. The scriptures seem to indicate that it was the Father who sent the Holy Spirit – “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” (John 14:16-17) And then Messiah says – “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” (John 14:18)
The early spring Appointed Times/Moedim: (Pesach/Passover, Chag haMatzot /Unleavened Bread, Bikkurim/Firstfruits); were fulfilled in order, all in the same year, through the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ/Yeshua HaMashiach. When we look at the harvest times, Yeshua/Jesus and the many saints that were resurrected with Him, were the barley harvest. Notably, the ripeness of the barley is what decides if a new year can begin, or if a leap month, called Adar2, needs to be added to the calendar. This is always taken into account when the date of the late spring feast – Pentecost/Shavuot is calculated.
Pentecost/Shavuot experienced at least a partial fulfillment in the same year the three spring feasts were fulfilled. As we already noted, 50 days after Firstfruits/Bikkurim, or 10 days after Yeshua/Jesus’ ascension, His Holy Spirit/Ruach HaKodesh, descended upon the Jewish believers waiting in Jerusalem. Partial fulfillment in that He has been indwelling and sealing believers ever since, until the day of their redemption –
as He said, we are to
look up for your redemption draweth nigh,
so it is not yet completed!
And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. Luke 21:28
Since Holy Spirit is God, He is omnipresent, everywhere at the same time.
Pentecost/Shavuot marks the time of the wheat harvest in Israel.
As we have walked through the springAppointed Times/Moedim, we can see a picture of our own walk with Messiah.
At Pesach/Pasover we are reminded of being set free from the bondage of sin and death, then during the Feast of Unleavened Bread/Matzah week, we have the opportunity to practice our unleavenedness; and rejoice in our saviors Resurrection as Firstfruits from the dead. Then as we count from the Omer we are like the wheat crops growing towards maturity, ultimately designed to become an abundant harvest for Him.
During this season of counting we can focus on certain spiritual themes such as: sowing, growing, increase, being fed and nourished by the Father and being mindful of how we are growing toward maturity in Messiah. By examining our ways we discover if they are truly aligned, submitted and conformed to His.
This is why we are to WAIT on the Lord, for His power to fill us and enable us to be witnesses unto Him; this is how He goes with us, and will always be with us, and will never leave us nor forsake us.
Isaiah 30:18: “And therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted that he might be merciful upon you: for the Lord is a God of judgment, blessed are all that WAIT for him.”
Like the farmer who waits for the precious fruit of the earth, we too have to wait for God to mature us and grow us. Part of our being mature in Messiah, is knowing when to put our hand to the plough and work hard but also knowing that when we have done all we can do then it is time to WAIT/CHAKAH. We must ask ourselves if we have been listening/hearing to His call and responding by doing that which He has required of us?..We must walk and work in maturity and continue to be patient, stabilize our hearts because the coming of the Master draws near. James 5:7-8
Let’s be mindful of the season we are in…..
on each of us..
For those new to the site previous posts linked below cover more detail on Shavuot/Pentecost..
Shavuot 2022 begins Saturday, June 4 at sunset and ends Monday, June 6 at nightfall.
Shalom aleikhem
chaverim/friends and mishpachah/family!
Shavua Tov, Have a blessed week,
you are greatly loved and prayed for daily.
REMEMBER..
Please don’t leave here without assurance of your salvation
Not sure ..you can be…
Make certain Messiah Jesus/Yeshua is your Redeemer,
Savior, Lord, and soon returning King
and that you have a personal relationship with Him.
It’s all about Life and Relationship, NOT Religion.
You are very precious in His sight.
SIMPLY SAY THE FOLLOWING MEANING IT FROM YOUR HEART..don’t delay one more minute, SAY IT RIGHT NOW…
Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus/Yeshua 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/Yeshua 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/Yeshua 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/Yeshua. Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’/Yeshua’s name.
Now we are at the fourth Hebrew Feast called Shavuot in Hebrew and Pentecost in Greek, from the word for 50.
Pronounced sha-voo-ote.
In parts of Europe it is also known as Whitsun, Whit Sunday or Whitsuntide.
In Deuteronomy 16:16, 17 Shavuot is known as the Feast of Weeks in addition to being called first fruits.
The name Shavuot, comes from the word, weeks. In Hebrew, the word weeks is Strong’s 7620, Shaabu’ot.
It is not mentioned by name but referenced in John 5:1. So called because it falls exactly 7 weeks and one day after the first fruits of Unleavened Bread following Passover.
Shavout was the Holy day that launched the reaping of wheat, the summer harvest and the second first fruits of the year.
It was during this feast that God’s Holy Spirit filled them and they spoke in tongues and 3000 came to the Lord. They were the first fruits of the congregation of believers.
These 3000 were all Israelites/Jewish men and women who had come in obedience to Jerusalem. This was one of the three pilgrimage festivals of: Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot, where all Israelite males are to appear before God with offerings, and give according to his blessings. They came to see and be seen before the ‘face of God’ in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. This was not a new Holy date for them, their ancestors had been obediently keeping this command since God gave the dates to Moses in Leviticus 23:15
This is why it is also the anniversary of the giving of the 10 Commandments and the Torah, (first five books of the old Testament), on Mount Sinai. Here, God’s covenant was made with the children of Israel to come and dwell with His presence among them, to be contained in the ark of the covenant. Ex.19:1
The Israelites accepted the covenant agreements and declared ‘all He has said we will do.’ It was in effect the marriage of God to His beloved Israel and Israel became a nation that day. A chosen generation, a people set apart to Him a Holy nation, a royal priesthood. Ex 19:6 ‘And ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and an Holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.’
For us as believers, grafted in by grace, Holy, sanctified, set apart as 1Pet 2:9 tells us;
‘But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an Holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvellous light.’
Everything is connected, when we only remember some parts of the Holy days, it does not make as much sense.
50 days earlier, The children of Israel sacrificed their first Passover lambs; ate their first meal consisting of lamb, unleavened bread, and bitter herbs; fled away from Pharaoh and the Egyptians; and emerged alive from the Red Sea, all in the first month (Aviv). They traveled for the remainder of the first month and throughout all of the second month (Zif or Iyyar). The day the children of Israel walked out of the Red Sea (Aviv 17) is counted as day one, then Sivan 1 would have been day 45 of their journey. They then set up camp in front of Mount Sinai which, according to Gal. 4:25, is in (Saudi) Arabia.
Although not specifically stated, it was probably the next day (day 46) that Moses ascended the mountain to speak with God Ex.19:3-6; and the following day (day 47), Moses returned to the people and told them everything God had said (19:7). The people agreed with what God had said, so the next day (day 48) Moses brought this information back to the Lord (19:8,9).
The Lord told Moses to return to the people that very day (day 48) and “…consecrate them today and tomorrow…and be ready by the third day, because on that day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people” (19:10,11). The third day (Sivan 6), then, would be the fiftieth day of their trek, beginning with the day they came up out of the Red Sea (Aviv 17).
For Shavuot, it is added also that ‘you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt,’ (Deut 16:12). In reminding ourselves, we understand both the natural and spiritual meaning to what it means to be a ‘slave in Egypt.’ For us it was to have been, ‘In bondage to the ways of the world’, and without God’s provision through Jesus, we have no hope of gaining freedom, no promise of forgiveness of sin or redemption unto eternal life in the Fathers presence.
God’s appearance upon Mount Sinai, on the sixth day of the sixth month (Sivan), was in a manner that the children of Israel would not soon forget:
On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. … Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire.
The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently, and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder.
Teeth, consume, destroy:sheen – alef:ox, bull, strength,leader, first
Then Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him (Ex.19:16,18,19).
The people were too awestruck and afraid to have God speak directly to them Ex 20:18; Deut 5:5. So, then and later, God spoke to Moses the Ten Commandments and the Law (the Torah):
the instructions and guidelines by which He wanted His people to live and the means by which sacrifices were to be presented.
This was a manifestation of the same fire Moses saw in Midian many years before.
While unleavened bread symbolizes Jesus’ sinless humanity (Luke 22:19),
the two loaves used at Shavuot / Pentecost contain yeast and symbolize that the Body of Messiah Jesus (the congregation) would be made up of sinners as well.
The two loaves used at Shavuot also symbolize Jews and Gentiles, demonstrating the fulfillment of God’s covenant with Abraham to bless all the nations through him (Gen. 12:3; see Gal. 3:26-28).
Here is also where the story of Ruth is remembered.
On the surface a seemingly simple story, however it is profound in depth. It describes the loyalty and kindness of the gentile Moabitess, who sought refuge under the wings of the Divine presence after the death of her Israelite husband. It is also the story of the Scripture guidance and nurturing provided by her mother-in-law. Further it is the account of the older judge who became her kinsman redeemer and from whose union emerged the hidden spark of the Messiah.
Boaz became Ruth’s ‘kinsman redeemer’, (a type of Jesus the Messiah). It was prophetic of the future ‘grafting in‘, of the gentiles. (Also called, the heathen or goyim and refers to all people from non-Israelite nations.)
Boaz was true to his responsibilities and married Ruth. They had a boy and named him Obed, (Oved). He was the father of Jesse, the father of David and therefore part of the ancestral line from which Jesus/Yeshua was descended.
(See video at end for more of the Ruth and Boaz story.)
We as gentiles, are indeed grafted in by grace to the royal household of Jesus the King of Kings. Everything is connected and not one story can be left out, nor does it stand alone.
We are to count 50 days, including the Day of First fruits, to the day after the 7th weekly Sabbath, which is Shavuot (Pentecost) (Leviticus 23:15-16). The 50th day is Shavuot the first fruits of the wheat harvest.
An offering of two loaves of bread was made with fine flour and baked with leaven. The bread is to be waved as a wave offering before the Lord. (Lev. 23:16,17,20).
‘bring two loaves made of fine flour, baked with yeast, as a wave offering of first fruits to the Lord’ ( Lev. 23:17).
These loaves of leavened bread were significant as a ‘mikrah’ (rehearsal), of something that God had in mind for a time in the future.
This subtle instruction indicates a great truth.
These two ‘wave loaves’ are of equal weight and they are baked with leaven called ‘firstfruits.’ Since they are baked with leaven, they represent sinful man (certainly not, for example, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, who are unleavened) and since they are ‘first fruits’, they are redeemed or resurrected men. Obviously God was predicting here that the Body of Jesus would be comprised of two parts, Jew and Gentile, of course it was originally and has always been part Jewish, since the Lord inevitably retains a remnant of His People.
We are the ONE NEW MAN: Israelite/Jew and Gentile/Heathen TOGETHER
Eph. 2:15
Counting the ‘days between’, the disciples continued in prayer. Acts 2:42; and waited obediently and patiently for Jesus had promised the Holy Spirit would come and live in believers’ hearts (John 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7), and He said it would happen soon after His ascension (Acts 1:4-5)
They were Preparing their hearts to receive the gift of Holy Spirit. The comforter, the One who comes alongside to help, to empower, to quicken us, and make us alive.
Acts 2 records the fulfillment of Shavuot as the promised Holy Spirit descends, indwells believers and ushers in the church age, which we are still in.
Holy Spirit descended upon each of them with the same Holy fire that some 3300 years before, had protected their ancestors in the wilderness.
The same ‘fire’ from the mountain that had made Moses face shine.
Now 3300 (approx.) years later His presence is with them and each individual becomes the physical container of His Glory.
On the Day of Pentecost, as descendants of the children of Israel from all over the world gathered in Jerusalem, they read, among other Scriptures, Ezek. 1:1-28 and 3:12; and Hab. 2:20 – 3:19. These passages speak of the brightness of God’s glory. Ezekiel heard wind and voices, and saw fire; later, he witnessed the departure of the Shekinah glory from the Temple.
There was expectation on this special day that the Shekinah glory would return and take its rightful place in the Temple’s Holy of Holies. But instead, as Luke records in Acts 2, there was wind, fire, and voices (the 120 speaking in tongues). Rather than returning to reside in the Temple, the Holy Spirit took up residence in the ‘temple of God’ (1 Cor. 3:16), the bodies of believers in Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth.
(Acts 2:5). When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues [languages] as the Spirit enabled them.
‘…there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound [the speaking in tongues], a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language’. (Acts 2:5,6).
In this way, God began to use believers, indwelled by the Holy Spirit, to be His witnesses, beginning in Jerusalem (Acts 1:8). The 3,000 saved on the Day of Pentecost were Jews. Filling them with a bold spirit that compelled them to testify of Him in joy and truth, preaching the good news to all who would listen.
Just as faithful Israelites brought the first fruits of their wheat harvest to the Temple on Shavuot, so the 3,000 Jewish believers on the Day of Pentecost were the first fruits of the Body of Messiah, (the congregation/church).
Peters was ‘on fire’ for the Lord and his first sermon after Pentecost is recorded in Acts 2:1-41.
This feast is very much about those of us who are grafted in by His Grace.
Jesus/Yeshua and Pentecost/Shavuot
Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, fulfilled the 4th Hebrew Spring festival at Pentecost.
The Feast of Weeks always had been considered a time of offering ‘firstfruits’ to the Lord. Lev 23:20; Num.28:26, just as the Feast of First fruits had been. Similarly, Pentecost was the beginning of the Holy Spirit’s moving upon many people who would be the ‘first fruits’ from spiritual death—‘born again,’ as it were—into spiritual Life in Jesus. John 3:3-7.
At Mount Sinai, there was an unmistakable, extraordinary, supernatural manifestation of God, to those whom He had chosen to perceive it firsthand. At that point in time, though, God still was ‘untouchable’; and the people were so afraid to hear God speak that Moses had to be the ‘mediator’ between God and the children of Israel.
In Jerusalem on Pentecost, the manifestation of God, in Holy Spirit, not only was perceived but also received by those who believed upon Jesus as Messiah and Lord. Jesus, manifested in the Holy Spirit, was (and is) the ultimate “mediator” between God and His people.
Before His crucifixion, Jesus told His disciples that He was “…going to the Father” John 14:12, 28; 16:10. In other words, He was going to leave them by ascending into heaven (after His resurrection) to join God the Father. Then He made this promise:
‘And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor [or Comforter] to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, for He lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.’ John 14:16-19.
Jesus said that He was leaving but that the Father would send another (the Counselor or Comforter) in His place. But then Jesus said, ‘I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you and …you will see me’. Later He said, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me’.
How could this possibly be? Was Jesus ‘coming or going’?
Actually, and wonderfully, He was going to do both. Holy Spirit would come to dwell within all believers, enabling them spiritually to ‘see’ Jesus, John 14:19. There is not a thought, motive, purpose, or action that the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit do not share in common. Therefore, when Jesus claimed that the Counselor (Holy Spirit) was coming, yet in another place implied that ‘He’ was coming, there was no contradiction; Jesus was (and is) present in and through the Holy Spirit of God.
Meaning of Pentecost
Finally, this ties counting the days and the two first fruits together. Just as Jesus ties His Resurrection, Ascension and the giving of the emersion of His Holy Spirit at the Feast of Weeks.
In the same way as the farmers could not use the wheat crop until the offering of the loaves; so also Jesus the Bread of Life, had to ascend, before the rest of ‘the grain’, (His disciples), could take Holy Spirit and be used in power as recorded in Acts 2.
After Pentecost they healed the sick, delivered the oppressed and raised the dead.
It was REAL and they were forever changed. When God truly touches your life you are never the same again. There is a fire in your heart and in your bones (Jer. 20:9), and nothing else but God will satisfy. (Ps. 90:14; 107:9)
The zeal of God consumed them, (Ps.69:9) and they were on fire, a fire that cannot be quenched, the same fire that burns but does not harm, like that which Moses saw in the burning bush.
The description is of tongues of fire upon each one and may seem a little strange as some artists depict it. However, when you experience the power of the living God it is unmistakable.
It is to the Jew first and then to the gentile (Rom 1:16; 2:10) and because of their obedience to the Lord’s commands and also because of Jesus’ sacrifice, we are grafted in by His grace. (Rom. 11:17) This enables us to receive the benefits of salvation, forgiveness, mercy and the opportunity to be filled with His Holy Spirit.
His priceless gift is given to every believer.
He did not come to abolish the law (Matt. 5:17) and as Jesus told the rich young ruler to keep the commandments, He quoted Deuteronomy 6:4–9; 11:13–21 and Numbers 15:37–43
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might and let your desire be for Him. Jesus, the Father and Holy Spirit are one and with His indwelling power we are enabled to accomplish that which is not possible by our own abilities and strength.
For as Matt.19:26; Luke 18:27 remind us..
The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.
We can experience Pentecost every day and not for a purely personal experience but to empower us to do His will and fulfill the purpose for which we are reminded here, Exodus 8:1 .. I set you free to serve Me.
The same is also true for us. We are called to leave all our idols behind, which is often hard in this materialistic, Nikolatian, humanistic, leisure filled age. Old habits die hard! As with the children of Israel in the wilderness and we often fall short in our focus on material things, instead of doing the things Jesus brings out in Matthew 25:35.
Shavout is important to believers because it ties deliverance, freedom and salvation, celebrated at Passover with Jesus crucifixion, to His resurrection and firstfruits of unleavened bread. His ascension 40 days later and then his sending the emersion/saturation of Holy Spirit on the first fruits of Shavout giving us the power to live victorious lives and to witness to non-believers.
Jesus is the promise and reality of the 10 commandments made flesh.
This does not mean these were the first people to receive the gift of eternal life, just that they were the first to obtain access to numerous gifts of the Holy Spirit.
When invited, God’s Holy Spirit dwells inside anyone who believes in Jesus’ physical, bodily resurrection from death, one who accepts Jesus as Savior and Lord of one’s life, and who looks forward with great anticipation to the miraculous resurrection and eternal perfection of one’s own body. Paul said that “…we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies” (Rom.8:23).
This post completes the 4 Spring Feasts series and all of them are relevant to us as Christian Believers.
on each of us..
This does not mean these were the first people to receive the gift of eternal life, just that they were the first to obtain access to numerous gifts of the Holy Spirit.
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