The Link Between Shavuot and Pentecost
Old and New Testament Connections
... every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old.— Matthew 13:52
The Old Testament doesn't get much attention these days, and sadly, it shouldn't, given that Paul tells us how valuable it is.
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
— 2 Timothy 3:16-17
Remember that the only Scripture available at that time was the Old Testament. If Paul affirmed its validity and value, shouldn't we be mindful of our obligation to its lessons? Neglecting the Old Testament leaves us with only a partial picture of the truths of the New Testament, which are often understood superficially, traditionally, and culturally without it. When we disregard this part of God's Word, we miss the rich, vibrant images, illustrations, examples, and lessons essential to our understanding and growth. Paul encourages us to learn from the Old Testament when he writes the following.
... whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.
— Romans 15:4
Nothing about God has changed. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is the God of the Old and the New.
... these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.
— 1 Corinthians 10:11
Therefore, this study will explore how the modern Pentecost tradition in Christian churches is rooted in the Old Testament observance of Shavuot, or the Feast of Weeks. Shavuot and Pentecost are closely related and interconnected. As we will discover, both include essential elements of our Christian faith and walk.
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| Shavuot by Moritz Daniel Oppenheim |
Shavuot—Feast of Weeks
... you shall observe the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot), of the first fruits of the wheat harvest.— Exodus 34:22... you shall keep the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot) to the Lord your God.— Deuteronomy 16:10
Shavuot was the fourth and the centerpiece of the seven Biblical feasts. It also stands at the heart of three of these pilgrimage festivals. The three Pilgrim Feasts called for the men of God to appear before the Lord at the Temple in Jerusalem. Its central position shows that this Feast is crucial to understanding God's plan.
Three times in the year, all your men shall appear before the Lord, the Lord God of Israel.
— Exodus 34:23 (Unleavened bread, Shavuot, Tabernacles)
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| Members with scythes at the harvest of the Omer. |
The Counting of the Omer
... you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf (omer in Hebrew) of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the Lord.— Leviticus 23:15-16
The Torah (the first five books of the Bible) was God's Word, agreement, and instruction for His covenant people, through whom Christ would come. It was written for those who accepted Him and intended to follow Him and His instructions. The meeting at Sinai was seen as a wedding or marriage to God, ratifying that agreement.
This ratification serves as an example for those who come to God through faith in Christ and the covenant He made with the Father on the cross on our behalf. The offer still stands for those willing to follow Him and His ways. The promised land refers to eternal life with Him.
In her book "The Three Pillars," Deborah M. Melamed wrote that this holiday celebrates Israel's spiritual liberation. Passover marks their freedom from slavery. Shavuot signifies their freedom to be God's. Just as Christ's death frees us from sin, His Spirit frees us to obey.
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| James Tissot Brooklyn Museum |
The Omer's Relationship to Manna and the Word of God
Our fathers ate the manna in the desert ... but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.— John:6:31-32
Benson's Commentary writes concerning Christ, the Word, and our Manna.
Christ himself is the true manna, the bread of life, of which that was a figure, John 6:49-51. The word of God is the manna by which our souls are nourished, Matthew 4:4. The comforts of the Spirit are hidden manna, Revelation 2:17. These comforts come from heaven, as the manna did, and are the support of the divine life in the soul, while we are in the wilderness of this world: it is food for Israelites, for those only that follow the pillar of cloud and fire: it is to be gathered; Christ in the word is to be applied to the soul, and the means of grace must be used: we must every one of us gather for ourselves. There was manna enough for all, enough for each, and none had too much; so in Christ, there is a complete sufficiency, and no superfluity. But they that did eat manna hungered again, died at last, and with many of them God was not well pleased: whereas they that feed on Christ by faith shall never hunger, and shall die no more, and with them God will be for ever well pleased. The Lord evermore give us this bread!
The Lord commanded His people to set aside an omer of Manna in a pot as a reminder of how God had sustained and provided for them in this miraculous way. Again, what a worthy remembrance!
And Moses said to Aaron, “Take a pot and put an omer of manna in it, and lay it up before the Lord, to be kept for your generations.”
— Exodus 16:33
Omer—Manna—Wheat—Word
In his book Connections, Glenn Carpenter brings these ideas together—wheat, manna, and the Word for us—and offers the New Testament application to all in this Commentary.
The Feast of Weeks (Shavuot/wheat harvest) was to begin only after crossing into Canaan... after their first harvest in the Promised Land... In Judaism, this day was also traditionally the day the tablets of the Law were given to Moses in the wilderness... It is certain that manna fell in the wilderness on the calendar date of the yet-to-be-celebrated feast that symbolizes Jesus, the bread of life (John 6:48)... He is the first fruits of a great spiritual harvest. He is also the "Living Bread" who came down from heaven (Jn 6:51).
The Wheat Harvest
"Wheat is a symbol for the abundance of God's provision for his people, especially as a picture of their spiritual nourishment, i.e., the Word of God (like the Manna) ... Symbol for one's stock of provisions of the everyday necessities of life."
It speaks of the satisfaction and sustenance of obedience to God's Word, instruction, and revelation.
"Oh, that My people would listen to Me,
That Israel would walk in My ways!
... He would have fed them also with the finest of wheat ... ”
— Psalm 81:13-16
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Wheat—Fact and History
And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.— Matthew 24:14
Regarding the harvest of men's souls, the omer of barley offered during the days before Shavuot symbolizes the Jewish people, whom God covenanted with through the "Passover Lamb" and the revelation of His Word. This observance pointed forward to Christ. They were the first to receive the Word of God and the Gospel. The wheat on the 50th day illustrates the Gentile harvest of souls who would receive this good news and His Spirit.
Its Modern Observance
Honey and milk are under your tongue.— Song of Solomon 4:11
The New Testament makes this same connection.
... as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby.
— 1 Peter 2:2
The Shavuot Pentecost Connection
For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.— 1 Corinthians 5:7
After His death, Jesus's disciples continued to observe the prescribed religious feasts and observances. "Pente," from which the word Pentecost is derived, means fifty in Greek. The disciples were observing Shavuot.
The book of Acts records that after His death, Jesus appeared to them for forty days.
He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.
— Acts 1:3
Forty days after His death (hearkening back to Moses on Sinai) would have been ten days (the number associated with testing man's obedience to God) before the prescribed Shavuot feast, which all Jewish men were required to attend. Shavuot was why all the people gathered in Jerusalem at this time, as described in the book of Acts. The following was His command to them before He ascended after those forty days.
And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said,“you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
— Acts 1:4-5
What they did during those ten days is relevant to the gift the Lord's disciples would receive.
These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication . . . When the Day of Pentecost (Shavuot) had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
— Acts 1:14, 2:1-4
This scene of the giving of the Holy Spirit echoes the Old Testament giving of the Torah, with the gathering of God's people, the sound from heaven, and fire (see Exodus chapter 19). Both events include a call for those assembled to commit to following Him (see Acts chapter 2). Together, they invite us and remind us of the need for both the Word and the Spirit in the Christian life.
For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit.
— 1 Thessalonians 1:5
Notice that they were in prayer when the Spirit came. Word and prayer are both essential.
Another observation linking these two events to both the Word and the Spirit is that each is connected to God's covenant relationship with His people and to the mutual outcomes of that relationship. The first event, the giving of the Word alone, was not fulfilled.
... three thousand men of the people fell that day.
— Exodus 32:28
At the giving of the Spirit and the reception of His Word, it was fulfilled.
... those who gladly received His Word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.
— Acts 2:41
We cannot have one without the other.
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| David Silver |
Two Loaves—Jew and Gentile
You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are the firstfruits to the Lord.— Leviticus 23:17
Notice that these loaves are baked with leaven (yeast), unlike the unleavened bread of Passover. Recall that Jesus, our Passover, is the unleavened bread of that feast. He was resurrected and is now our officiating High Priest. He was human yet without sin (without leaven) and presented Himself as the firstfruits of man's salvation. What could these leavened firstfruits represent?
Of His own will, He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of His creatures.
— James 1:18
We who had sinned (leavened bread) became firstfruits with Him and were presented (waved before) the Lord by the officiating High Priest.
... all (both Jew and Greek) have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
— Romans 3:23-24
Romans chapter three discusses the two loaves, Jews and Gentiles, saved by His grace.
... unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies (Jesus - First fruits), it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain (Jew and Gentile - First fruits of His creation)
— John 12:23-24
Recall the feeding of the 4000 (Gentiles) and 5000 (Jews), symbolizing the all-encompassing salvation (bread) and the harvest of all men's souls.
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| Teodor Axemtowicz |
Conclusion
... they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.— Acts 4:31
This lesson will inspire you to do the following.
Seek the Lord while He may be found,
Call upon Him while He is near.
— Isaiah 55:6
© 2016 Tamarajo
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