Verse: Deuteronomy 6:23 and he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in and give us the land that he swore to give to our fathers.
From Messiah in the Feasts of Israel by Sam Nadler (pp. 86-87).
THE TORAH TIMING OF SHAVUOT
You shall also count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day when you brought in
the sheaf of the wave offering; there shall be seven complete Sabbaths. You shall count fifty days to the
day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall present a new grain offering to the Lord. (Leviticus 23:15-
17) of all the three major pilgrim festivals, Shavuot is unique. “Shavuot” actually means “Weeks.” Why is
it called this? It is not because the festival lasts for many weeks! Rather, it is called the Feast of Weeks
because of the way you find out when it is to be celebrated. Unlike Passover and The Feast of
Tabernacles, the Feast of Weeks is dateless.
In order to celebrate Shavuot you had to count “seven weeks” from “the day after the Sabbath” of the
Passover, and the next day, the fiftieth day, would be Shavuot (Leviticus 23:15-16).
Why don’t the Scriptures just give the date? In this fast paced “Day-Timer” controlled world we live in,
we would have been inclined to say to Moses, “Forget counting fifty days, and just give me the date and
I’ll show up and worship!” No, you had to count fifty days regardless of how busy your schedule might
be. Why?
In the same way, can you imagine if your mother never told you your birthday? Rather, she told you to
celebrate it fifty days after the anniversary of your Uncle Murray’s death. When you are very young, this
might be okay, but in high school, it would be embarrassing not to know the date of your birth. “Hey
Joel, when’s your birthday?” “Well, it’s fifty days after the day my Uncle Murray died.” You would
eventually run home, insisting on knowing the date of your birthday. Mom would reply, “It’s fifty days
after your uncle Murray died.”
“But Mom why do I have to count fifty days from Uncle Murray’s death?”
“Because, your Uncle Murray left you his fortune and I never want you to forget your Uncle Murray!”
Similarly, Israel was to count fifty days so that in order to celebrate Shavuot they would never forget
Passover.
May it never be that Israel would reckon itself from the giving of the Law and not from the true
foundation of their life as a people at Passover. Shavuot is traditionally remembered as a time when
God made Israel one people in the Law. Nevertheless, it was Passover when God redeemed us from
bondage and destruction through the blood of the Lamb.
Passover is to be the foundation and head of the year (Exodus 12:2). It celebrates Israel’s redemption
from bondage, and redemption is the foundation of our salvation. Thus the foundation of Israel’s
redemption was provided only in Passover, not Shavuot. Every year as Israel counted the weeks from
Passover to Pentecost they remembered that their redemption as a people was found in the lamb of
Passover.
Likewise, we are never to forget our Messiah who gave His life for us, and with that, the unspeakable
riches of our new birth in Him. Like Israel’s redemption from bondage, our foundation of faith as
believers in Messiah Yeshua is forever tied to Passover and our redemption in the Lamb of God. We are
not first fruits to God just because we look to the Holy Spirit, but when we look to Yeshua as the true
foundation for our spiritual lives. Through Him we are a first fruits offering, for God’s use only.
They sat down to eat and drink and they rose up to play (Exodus 32:6).
Deliverance from Egypt is one thing. It is an awesome thing as God delivered Israel “with a mighty hand
and an outstretched arm, with great deeds of terror, with signs and wonders” (Deuteronomy 26:8), but
without any training or teaching on how to live in covenant intimacy with YHWH, their deliverance was
and is incomplete. The Torah, and later the Holy Spirit, is the “fortune” given to us from “Uncle Murray”.
Starting in Exodus 19, Moses acted as the intercessor between God and the people of Israel.
Exodus 19:7-8
So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the
Lord had commanded him. All the people answered together and said, "All that the Lord has
spoken we will do." ESV
Shortly after that event, God descended on the mountain and spoke out the Ten Commands, which He
also wrote on two tablets of stone. The people at that time could not stand to hear the voice of God, but
pleaded with Moses to communicate God’s instructions through himself. Moses went again up into the
mountain for 40 days where he received the detailed instructions for the priesthood, tabernacle
construction and service, and all the social and moral laws of the newly released nation that was to live
in covenant relationship with YHWH. Before Moses returned with these instructions (Torah) from the
Lord, Aaron had already led the people (through their persuasion) back to worshipping the old calf god
of Egypt.
Up until this point, the people were absolutely clueless to the depravity that rested in their own hearts
and minds. Even though they had seen the ten plagues and YHWH’s methodical destruction of every
false deity in Egypt, they did not know His ways. After their release from Egypt, they saw the
destruction of the highly advanced Egyptian army in the Red Sea, they ate manna from heaven, and
drank water from a rock in the desert (that became a lake from which thousands of people came to
drink). They also heard the voice of YHWH speaking directly to them. The fact is that “signs and
wonders” alone cannot transform people’s mind and soul, much more is required.
The conclusion of our deliverance can only come as we are instructed in the ways of God’s kingdom. In
Exodus, the people were delivered out of the oppression of the Egyptians, but they had no idea about
how to relate to YHWH without the Torah. Torah was and is a written code on tablets of stone and
parchment. It is also read aloud from generation to generation and the truth of Torah is confirmed by
Jesus Himself (Matthew 5:17-18). Yet Torah always teaches from the outside of the man to the inside.
The Torah is truth, but it does not give us the power to walk in truth. The Torah teaches us how much
we lack. It is a hard standard that we cannot attain in our own strength.
Matthew 5:20
“For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will
never enter the kingdom of heaven.” ESV
Fifty days after the crucifixion of Jesus, Jews from all over the world were assembled for the Feast of
Shavuot (Weeks). Shavuot is the second of three annual gatherings for all of God’s people. It is recorded in Acts 2 that the Holy Spirit was released upon and into the hearts of men. We will talk more on these events in upcoming lessons.
The Holy Spirit is our Teacher; He is called the Spirit of Truth. The Holy Spirit speak to us from the inside
out transforming our hearts so that our actions then reflect the Kingdom of Heaven. Our foundation
certainly is rested upon Jesus Christ, but accepting your initial salvation from Him is not the completion
of life in the Kingdom. Jesus said:
John 16:12-14
"I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth
comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but
whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will
glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. ESV
He brought us out to bring us in. This was first done with the law (Torah) and the prophets and finally
completed with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
2 Corinthians 3:3
You show and make obvious that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, not written with
ink but with [the] Spirit of [the] living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human
hearts [Exodus 24:12; Exodus 31:18; Exodus 32:15,16; Jeremiah 31:33]. AMP
We are not set free to “rise up and play” in our own ignorance and folly, we are set free to possess the
inheritance of Abraham where YHWH is our God and we are His people who dwell in peace and safety.
The beginning of these instructions begin at Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks, and this is the true conclusion
of Passover.
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