Pentecost or Shavuot
Overview
There are many names for the Feast of Weeks.
It is identified in the Old Testament as the Feast
of Weeks (Ex. 34:22) and the Feast of Harvest
(Ex. 23:16). As explained in the previous chapter,
this feast is referred to as Latter Firstfruits.
The Hebrew name is Shavuot (pronounced sha-voo-ote).
The Greek name Pentecost is only found in the
New Testament (Acts 2:1).
Pentecost is a major festival and has a dual
significance: historical and agricultural, just
as Passover and Tabernacles. Unlike Passover and
Tabernacles, it is observed for only two days
(only one in the Reform Movement). Pentecost marks
the end of the barley harvest and beginning of
the wheat harvest. Counting the days from the
second day of Passover to Pentecost is called
the “Counting of the Omer” (see previous
chapter). The cutting of the omer of the new barley
marked the beginning of the counting period; on
the fiftieth day, Pentecost is observed. Pentecost
is a Greek word meaning fiftieth.
|
First Pentecost
|
Pentecost After
Christ
|
| The Commandments Given |
The Holy Spirit Given |
| Fifty days from the crossing
of the Red Sea |
Fifty days from the resurrection
of Christ |
| Law of Yahweh written in Stone |
Law of Yahweh written on our
hearts |
| Three thousand slain |
Three thousand receive salvation |
| The letter of the Law |
The Spirit of the Law |
Pentecost is considered the closing festival
of the Passover season (Ex. 34:22; Lev. 23:15;
Deut. 16:9-10). This day is further referred to
as “latter firstfruits” of the spring
harvest. The “early firstfruits” (barley)
were waved before the Lord during the Feast of
Firstfruits (see Passover chapter) and the “latter
firstfruits” (wheat) were offered unto the
Lord during the Feast of Weeks. It is also referred
to as the Day of the Congregation (Deuteronomy
18:16). Another name is Atserret, meaning stop
or cease or conclusion of seven weeks of counting.
Pentecost is the only festival for which no
specific date is given in the Bible. Rather, the
people were instructed to count seven weeks “...from
the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day that
ye brought the sheaf [omer] of the wave offering
(Lev. 23:15). This holiday occurs in the months
of May or June on the American calendar. It is
the successful conclusion of the first wheat-growing
season and the anniversary celebration of the
giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai.
It is a celebration to reawaken and strengthen
personal relationships with God by rededication
to the observance and study of the Torah —
the most precious heritage. When Yahweh revealed
Himself on Mount Sinai, His people heard His voice
proclaiming the Ten Commandments. Then the Israelites
pledged their allegiance to Yahweh by saying,
“…All that the Lord has hath said will
we do and be obedient” (Exod. 24:7).
Passover freed God’s people physically
from bondage, but the giving of the Torah on Shavuot
redeemed us spiritually from our bondage to idolatry
and immorality. The Torah contains the Five Book
of Moses, the Prophets, and the Writings.
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