WHAT IS SHAVUOT?

By Messianic Teacher V. C. Cheney

Shavuot is a major Biblical holy day that is observed seven weeks after Passover. The first day of the first month is always determined by both the new moon and the ripeness of the barley, when it is very green. Hence, we have the name Aviv, which means green, for that first month. On the second day of Passover, an omer of barley is offered and waved at the temple, then the barley harvest begins. The barley harvest is the early or first harvest, symbolic of the first resurrection. Barley is a grain that looks very much like wheat; it has a lighter color, and it always matures first, whereas the wheat harvest comes later, just before the summer. The wheat harvest is symbolic of the second resurrection of believers and all other non-believers. The wheat grows with the tares (weeds), and both are harvested at the same time and separated later.

Barley and Wheat

Shavuot is one of the seven annual festivals that YHWH commands us to observe, as written in Leviticus 23:15–21 and Numbers 28:26–31. Shavuot is a Hebrew word meaning "weeks," and in this case, there are 7 weeks, or 7x7 = 49 days. Shavuot commemorates the day when YHWH gave the Israelites the Torah following Moses’ descent from Mount Sinai.

It is customary to stay up all night during Shavuot to study and discuss the Torah. The Book of Ruth is also read during Shavuot. And why the book of Ruth? Ruth was a gentile from Moab who voluntarily chose to join herself with the people of Israel, and because of her kindness to her mother-in-law, Naomi, she became the great-grandmother of King David, the ancestor of the Messiah, Yeshua of Nazareth. The story goes like this: Naomi's family were Israelites who went to live in Moab during a severe famine in Israel. When Naomi's husband and two sons died, she decided to return to her homeland, Bethlehem (meaning, house of bread). Ruth, her daughter-in-law, joined her, despite the fact that Moab and Israel were enemies. Ruth loved her mother-in-law very much, as demonstrated with these beautiful and moving words:

“Do not press me to leave you.

or to turn back from following you!

Wherever you go, I will go.

Wherever you lodge, I will lodge.

Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.

Wherever you die, I will die.

There, I will be buried.

May YHWH do thus and so to me.

And more as well.

If even death parts me from you!”

Naomi and Ruth arrived in Bethlehem in time for the barley harvest. Boaz, a kinsman or relative of Naomi, fell in love with Ruth while she was gleaning (gathering the leftovers of the harvest) in the barley field. He married her, and they had a child named Obed, who, in an interesting turn of events, was nursed by Naomi, his grandmother. Ruth said to Naomi, “Praise to YHWH, who has not left you this day without a kinsman-redeemer. May his name become famous throughout Israel! He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age.” Eventually, Ruth became the great-grandmother of King David.

Customary scripture reading for Shavuot:

The 10 Commandments, Ex 19-20

The book of Ruth

Ezekiel chapters 1–3

Revelation 10:10

Habakkuk 2:20-3:19

Isaiah 59:20-21

Jeremiah 31:31

Acts 2

Individual requirements according to Deut 16:9–12: freewill offering, rejoice, praise, and worship, remembering freedom from slavery.

It is also a Jewish tradition to eat dairy products mixed with honey, such as cheese blintz or cheesecake. The reason for that is because meat could not be eaten on Shavuot; hence, dairy was the substitute. Shavuot is a Shabbat, and animal slaughter is prohibited during a Shabbat.

It is interesting to note that the cheese blintz (crepe filled with fresh cheese and honey, then rolled) looks very much like the little scroll described in Ezekiel 3. When the prophet was commanded to eat the scroll, it tasted very sweet. The Apostle Yochanan (John) in Revelation 10:10 also ate a scroll that tasted very sweet but turned bitter in his stomach. YHWH’s words are sweet and healing to the soul, but often when they are spoken to the world at large and not accepted, it can turn the stomach bitter. That is the way life is for the believers, who have been set apart from the rest of the world for His purpose.

Have a joyous Shavuot, and may YHWH give you more revelations as you study and meditate on His words. Let the Holy Spirit be your guide and teacher. This is His promise, as foretold to the prophet Jeremiah:

Jeremiah 31:31-34

“The time is coming,” declares YHWH, “when I make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them," declares YHWH. “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel. after that time,” declares YHWH. “I will put my law in their minds. and write it on their hearts. I will be their Elohim, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor. or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know YHWH,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares YHWH. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

© Copyright 2011. By Veronique, Signs & Wonders Ministry. All rights reserved. No part of this story might be reprinted, re-posted on the internet, or forwarded in email without permission.