Did you know that God keeps a calendar of special days for His people to remember? Found in chapter 23 of the book of Leviticus, these special days, or feasts, serve as reminders of significant events in Israel’s history, such as the deliverance from slavery in Egypt (Passover), the giving of the Law at Mount Sinai (Feast of Weeks), and the wilderness wanderings prior to entering the Promised Land (Feast of Tabernacles).
Often referred to by many Christians as ‘Jewish feasts,’ they are more appropriately called Biblical Feasts or Feasts of the Lord. This is because, in the Bible, God simply refers to these festivals as His own. Just look at how many times that phrase is repeated in a single chapter of Leviticus:
These are the feasts of the Lord, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times. (23:4) These are the feasts of the Lord which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations. (23:37) You shall keep it as a feast to the Lord… (23:41) So Moses declared to the children of Israel the feasts of the Lord. (23:44)
Pentecost or Shavuot
The Feasts of the Lord are unique in that each one builds upon the other in meaning, progressively revealing God’s plan of redemption for mankind and the world. Pentecost falls right in the middle of those seven feasts, indicating a pivotal point on God’s calendar.
Biblically known as the Feast of Weeks, or Shavuot (weeks) in Hebrew, this feast is celebrated seven “weeks” after Passover on the Biblical calendar, whereas Pentecost comes from a Greek word that means “fiftieth” and is celebrated fifty days after Easter on the liturgical calendar. Biblically, the feast coincides with the spring harvest of Israel, and the offering of the first fruits of wheat to God. It also commemorates the date that God gave the Torah to the Jewish people at Mount Sinai over 3,000 years ago. And yet both words can be used to identify what God fulfilled by His Spirit when He “poured out” His Spirit on this feast day after Jesus’ ascension to heaven. First, Spirit-filled believers were now part of the first fruits of a much larger harvest to come. Being empowered by His Spirit would enable them, and all of us, to take the gospel far and wide, sowing into the end-time harvest to come. And second, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit made it possible for the Law to be written on our hearts, in contrast to receiving stone tablets of the Law as in the days of Moses, enabling us to live by His Spirt, in obedience.
This year, Easter and Passover fell on different dates, which affects the dates of when this feast is celebrated. Pentecost, for those following a liturgical calendar, was celebrated in May. Shavuot, based on the Biblical calendar, takes place in June. Regardless of when you celebrate, it’s still a time for us to celebrate and be grateful:
For the gift of the Holy Spirit
For being counted as part of the harvest
For being counted with those sowing into a future harvest
God Bless You Today,
Carole
To learn more about the Holy Spirit, listen to our Holy Spirit series on JCM Prepare the Way Podcast HERE.
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