WHY DOES SHAVUOT MATTER???

Exodus chapter 24










Today we are walking in: Why Does Shavuot Matter???







Today we look to the word-GIVE-H5414 nathan-- to give, grant, permit, ascribe, dedicate, pay wages, entrust, give over, deliver up, yield produce, report











The Torah testifies...............




Deuteronomy 3:18




And I commanded you at that time, saying, The LORD your God hath given H5414 you this land to possess it: ye shall pass over armed before your brethren the children of Israel, all that are meet for the war.













The prophets proclaim..................




Isaiah 40:29




He giveth H5414 power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.










The writings bear witness...........................



Psalm 84:11




For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give H5414 grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.







WHY SHAVUOT MATTERS







We are nearing the end of the 49 day "countdown" that runs from the second day of Passover until the holiday of Shavuot ("Weeks" or "Pentecost"). This seven week countdown period is called "Counting the Omer" (Lev. 23:15-16), and the 49 days between Passover and Shavuot create a growing "chain" that link the two festivals together:




Here are a few reasons why the appointed time of Shavuot is significant for followers of Yahusha (additional reasons are provided on the Shavuot pages):



Shavuot is regarded as the culmination of the experience of redemption, sometimes called Atzaret Pesach, the "Conclusion of Passover." It is therefore the end or goal of the redemption experience for Kingdom Citizens. Just as the redemption by the blood of the lambs led to Israel's deliverance and the giving of the Torah at Sinai, so the redemption by the blood of Yahusha led to the world's deliverance and the giving of the Ruach Hackodesh at Zion. And just as the covenant at Sinai created the nation of Israel, so the new covenant at Zion created the worldwide people of Yah, redeemed from "every tribe and tongue" (Rev. 5:9).




The goal of the great Passover redemption was to set us free to become Yah's own treasured people, a light to the nations: ambassadors for Heaven's voice. The outpouring of the Ruach Hackodesh may therefore be regarded as the climax of redemption, imparting the presence of the Comforter to help us live sanctified lives (Acts 1:8).






Shavuot at Mount Sinai is sometimes considered the day on which "Hebrewism" was born, remembering the time when the sefer habrit was sprinkled with blood and ratified by the elders of Israel (Exod. 24:3-11) and the giving of the Ten Commandments to Israel. Shavuot in Jerusalem (i.e., Mount Zion) is the day on which the Ecclesia was born, remembering the time when the New Covenant of the Most High was ratified by the outpouring of the Ruach Hackodesh upon the followers of Yahusha.





Agriculturally, Shavuot commemorates the time when the firstfruits were harvested and brought to the Temple, and is known as Chag ha-Bikkurim (the Festival of the Firstfruits). Followers of the Messiah evidence spiritual fruit in their lives as the direct result of the Ruach Hackodesh's regeneration of the heart.




Traditional Hebrewism identifies various middot ha-lev (qualities of heart) that attend to a genuinely Hebrew life. These include(studying Scripture), ahavat Adonai (loving Yah), gemilut chasidim (doing works of righteousness), bikkur cholim (visiting the sick), and so on.




The follower of Yahusha likewise must evidence, though the Source for such comes directly from the power of the Ruach Ha-Kodesh working within the heart of faith. The fruit of the Ruach Hackodesh listed in Galatians 5:22-23 represent nine visible attributes of a true follower of Yahusha:










Note that these priot (fruits) are not obtained through self-effort or various attempts at human "reformation," but rather are a supernatural outgrowth of the grace and love of Yah in the life of one who puts their trust in Yahusha as Mashiach. See John 15:1-8. Our lives are sanctified in the manner in which they were initially justified: wholly by faith in the love and grace of Yah - not by works of our own righteousness (Titus 3:5-6). If we are saved by Yah's grace through faith, we are likewise sanctified by Yah's grace through faith...




The tough question we need to ask ourselves is whether our lives genuinely give evidence of the power and agency of the Ruach Hackodesh within us. Strictly speaking, these nine attributes are qualities that only Yah Himself possesses, since He alone is perfectly loving, perfectly joyful, and so on. But since we are created in the image of Yah and were given the Ruach Hackodesh to help us resemble our Teacher (Luke 6:40), spiritual fruit should be seen in our own lives (John 14:12; 15:1-8; 26-7). Obtaining such fruit is invariably a matter of faith - trusting that Yah will help us live our lives in truthful union with Him. (May it please our Heavenly Father to make each of us fruitful - for the sake of the Name of our beloved One!)






Shavuot stands in contrast to Passover that requires unleavened bread (matzah), since the two loaves of bread made from the first fruit of the wheat harvest were baked with yeast before being "waved before the Most High" (Lev. 23:15-20). There is some uncertainty among Hebrews regarding the meaning of the use of the otherwise forbidden leaven (Lev. 2:11), though prophetically it pictures the "one new man" before the altar of the Most High (Eph. 2:14). The waving of the "two loaves" of leavened bread therefore prophesied the firstfruits creation of the "one new man," that would "firstfruits" of the Kingdom of Yah. As Yahusha plainly taught, ultimately there will be one flock, and one Shepherd (John 10:16).




Each of us - and this is especially true and vital for those who belong to Yahusha the Mashiach - are connected to one another as one new man (Eph. 2:15). Our welfare, blessing, and ultimate salvation is bound up with one another. Just as the midrash says that each soul is linked to a letter of the Torah, so each of us is linked to the Most High Yahusha who gave Himself up for us in order to reconcile us to Yah. Each child of Yah is part of the message of Yahusha's life and love in this world.






At Mount Sinai the Ten Commandments were written on tablets of stone by the "finger of Yah" (Exod. 31:18), but at Mount Zion, the Torah is written on tables of the heart by the Ruach of Yah (2 Cor. 3:3; Heb. 8:10). Regarding the prophecy of the New Covenant, it is written: "I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts" (Jer. 31:33). We are "letters of Messiah, written with the Ruach of the Living Yah (2 Cor. 3:2-3).




Just as the Israelites were affirmed as Yah's chosen people on Shavuot with the giving of the Torah, so the Ecclesia was affirmed as Yah's chosen people at Shavuot after the Mashiach's ascension into heaven as the Mediator of a Better Covenant (Heb. 8:6). The 3,000 souls that were added to the Ecclesia that day were first fruits of the redeemed people of Yah. Followers of Yahusha are "chosen people" through sanctification of the Ruach Hackodesh and faith in the truth (2 Thess. 2:13). We are chosen to be priests and kings to show forth the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 5:10)






In the Hebrew tradition, Shavuot is compared to a wedding, for it was at this time that the covenant between Yah and the Hebrew People was sealed at Mount Sinai (Passover is considered the time of Israel's "betrothal" or engagement to Yah). The Most High is the Heavenly groom who said, "Accept Me"; the Hebrew people represent the beloved bride; and the Torah represents the ketubah (marriage contract). Likewise, the Ecclesia is called - the Bride of Messiah (Rev. 21:2,9), and we eagerly await the marriage supper to come (Rev. 19:9).




The Scroll of Ruth is read during Shavuot - a beautiful story about Yah's redemptive love. As, Boaz was a wealthy man of the tribe of Judah (Bethlehem) who married a Gentile bride. Boaz's name means "in Him is strength," a picture of the Mashiach Yahusha, his greater Descendant, who also redeemed for himself a bride from among the nations.




We are all in great need for a renewal of the Ruach Hackodesh within our hearts... We are therefore asking the Most High for a renewed experience of His glory and grace during this season.... Shavuot Sameach, chaverim... May you be filled with the Ruach Hackodesh, fruitful in your service, and "clothed with power from on high..."