UNLEARN THE LIES - WHAT IS THE FEAST OF WEEKS (SHALLOT OR PENTECOST) AND WHAT IS ITS SIGNIFICANCE?

Published on Jun 4, 2017
What is the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot or Pentecost), and what is its significance?

The Feast of Weeks is a spring harvest festival following Passover. It begins with the the waving of a single sheaf of the FirstFruits on the day after the Sabbath. Then seven weeks are counted leading up to the culmination on the 50th day, the day after the 7th Sabbath.

The Feast of weeks marks the conclusion of the Counting of 7 weeks and is known by several different names in the Bibe. In Hebrew, it's called Shavuot, which means weeks, and refers to the counting of 7 weeks. In Greek, it's called Pentecost, which means 50, and refers to the 50 days of counting. It is also called the Festival of Reaping and Day of the First Fruits because it is a spring harvest festival.

However, calling it FirstFuits seems a bit confusing since the day beginning the count is also called FirstFruits. On the first day a single sheaf is waved to begin the grain harvest, and at the end of 7 weeks a celebration takes place with it is the day when the FirstFruits wave offering is made. So, why are both the beginning and the end called FirstFruits?

In ancient times, the grain harvest lasted seven weeks. It began with the harvesting of barley at Passover and ended with the harvesting of wheat at Shavuot. Shavuot was thus the concluding festival of the grain harvest. This is why it is a tradition to read the Book of Ruth at Pentecost because the story is tied to the grain harvest.

The Torah states that the sheaf offering is the FirstFruits of the barley harvest, and is to begin "on the morrow after the Sabbath" and continue to be counted for seven Sabbaths leading up to "the morrow after the seventh sabbath" when the bread of the FirstFruits is offered. It is interesting to note that this bread is to be offered with yeast because this feast follows the Feast of Unleavened bread in which all yeast was to be removed.

This is significant because we remove the old yeast and then bring in new yeast. Yeshua explained that leaven represents teaching, and He warned against the leaven of the Pharisees, which is the doctrines and traditions of men. So, at Passover, we learn to remove that old leaven, but at Shavuot, we are given new leaven, new teaching to apply. What is the new leaven that we are given?

Shavuot commemorates the anniversary of the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai and the giving of the Holy Spirit in Acts. On Passover, the people of Israel were freed from bondage, and on Shavuot, they were given the instruction about how to be the people of God. We remove the leaven of men at Passover, and we add the leaven of God at Shavuot. This is why it is so important for us to UNLEARN the lies of men, and learn the truth of God's Word.

The word “Torah” means teaching and in John 14:26 Yeshua spoke about the coming of the Holy Spirit and explained that He would teach them and remind them of everything.

Then we see the fulfillment of this on Pentecost in Acts chapter 2 when the Holy Spirit was given.

There are some interesting connections between the giving of the Torah and the giving of the Holy Spirit. Both events had similar sounds and symbols such as wind, fire, smoke, and voices. The Hebrew word translated thunder in Exodus 20:18 is “qolot” and means voices or languages.

According to Jewish tradition, the Ten Commandments were spoken in all of the languages of the world in the thunderings so that the whole world might understand it.

Again, this is Jewish tradition, but I find it very interesting because at Pentecost the Holy Spirit enabled the Disciples to speak in other languages to equip them for the Great Commission, to take the Gospel to all nations.

At Sinai Yahweh gave the Law written on stone tablets, but at Pentecost, He gave the Law written on the Hearts of the people through the Holy Spirit.

My prayer is that the Holy Spirit will be given to you this Shavuot and that He would write the Torah on your heart and cause you to walk in all of the commandments.

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