One of the Jewish feasts in the Old Testament was the Feast of Weeks, or Shavuot. During this feast, Israel gave thanks to God for the harvest by offering bread as well as grain, burnt, and sin offerings (Leviticus 23:15-16; Numbers 28:26-31). The two loaves of bread were special firstfruits that were waved before the Lord, known as the bread of the firstfruits (Leviticus 23:20). Each year, the Jews would travel to Jerusalem to celebrate this feast which occurred fifty days after the Feast of Firstfruits (the fifty days is the reason we have the Greek name “Pentecost”).
In addition to being a celebration of thanksgiving for the harvest, Shavuot is also associated in Jewish tradition with the giving of the Torah. Many Jews today emphasize this tradition by remembering when God gave Moses the Law on Mount Sinai (Exodus 24:12-18). Usually, the Ten Commandments are read, and people eat honey and dairy products in celebration of the gift of God’s Word.
It is no coincidence that the Father and Son sent the Spirit on the day of Pentecost. A feast day associated with the giving of the Law, a symbol of the Old Covenant, was the same day that the Holy Spirit came. On Pentecost, we celebrate that the Old Covenant has been fulfilled, as evidenced by the giving of the Spirit – a sign of the New Covenant. As was prophesied, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” (Ezekiel 36:26-27, NIV).
The mystery of the New Covenant age is that salvation is available to the Jew and Gentile alike, and both can enter God’s family as equal members and heirs (Ephesians 3:6). He has poured out His Spirit, first at Pentecost, and then later to Samaritans and Gentiles, to show that they also belong to Christ. He is the firstfruits of the resurrection, and the later harvest will take place when all believers – including Jews and Gentiles – are resurrected at Christ’s coming (1 Corinthians 15:20-23). Until then, we give thanks for the ongoing harvest of people across the world who place faith in Jesus.
God’s plan of redemption for the world always involved the Jewish people and every other nation in the world, as the connection between Shavuot and the coming of the Holy Spirit demonstrates.
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Tinnakorn Jorruang
