4.

The Feasts of Weeks

1. Biblical

Shavout

Origination

(Leviticus 23:15-22)

Biblical. Lev 23:15-17, 22. Seven full weeks, fifty days, up to the day after
the seventh Sabbath.
o Pentecost = 50th day; Shavuot = weeks
Since First Fruits wave
o Second major feast requiring all Jewish males to Jerusalem
o Celebrating the wheat harvest
Two loaves of bread; with leaven

A.
Shavuot (Ashkenazi pronunciation: Shavuos, Hebrew literally, "Feast of ; :
Weeks") is a Jewish holiday that occurs on the sixth day of the Hebrew month of Sivan
(late May or early June).
It marks the conclusion of the Counting of the Omer and the day the Torah was given to
the Jewish people at Mount Sinai. It is one of the shalosh regalim, the three Biblical
pilgrimage festivals mandated by the Torah.
The celebration of Shavuot is directly linked to the date of Passover. The Torah
mandates the seven-week Counting of the Omer, beginning on the second day of
Passover and culminating after seven weeks, the next day being Shavuot. This counting
of days and weeks expresses anticipation and desire for the Giving of the Torah. At
Passover, the Jewish people were freed from being slaves to Pharaoh; at Shavuot they
accepted the Torah and became a nation committed to serving God.
Shavuot has many aspects and as a consequence is called by several names. In the Torah
it is called Feast of Weeks (Hebrew: , Hag ha-Shavuot, Exodus 34:22,
Deuteronomy 16:10); Festival of Reaping (Hebrew: , Hag ha-Katsir, Ex. 23:16),
and Day of the First Fruits (Hebrew , Yom ha-Bikkurim, Numbers 28:26).
The Mishnah and Talmud refer to Shavuot as Atzeret (Hebrew: , a solemn
assembly), as it provides closure for the festival activities during and following the
holiday of Passover. Since Shavuot occurs 50 days after Passover, Christians gave it the
name Pentecost (, "fiftieth day"). However, the actual Christian
commemoration of Pentecost occurs on the seventh Sunday after Easter.
B.

Dates in dispute

Since the Torah does not specify the actual day on which Shavuot falls, differing
interpretations of this date have arisen both in traditional and non-traditional Jewish
circles. These discussions center around two ways of looking at Shavuot: the day it
actually occurs (i.e., the day the Torah was given on Mount Sinai), and the day it occurs
in relation to the Counting of the Omer (being the 50th day from the first day of the
Counting).

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C.

Giving of the Torah Exodus Ch 19

While most of the Talmudic Sages concur that the Torah was given on the sixth of Sivan;
R. Jose holds that it was given on the seventh of that month. According to the classical
timeline, the Israelites arrived at the wilderness of Sinai on the new moon (Ex. 19:1) and
the Ten Commandments were given on the following Shabbat. The question of whether
the new moon fell on Sunday or Monday is undecided (Talmud, tractate Shabbat 86b). In
practice, Shavuot is observed on the sixth day of Sivan in Israel and a second day is
added in the Jewish diaspora in keeping with a separate rabbinical ruling that applies to
all non-fast biblical holidays, called Yom Tov Sheini Shel Galiyot ("second-day holiday
observance in the Jewish diaspora").
D.

Counting of the Omer

The Torah states that the Omer offering (i.e., the first day of counting the Omer) should
begin "on the morrow after the Shabbat" (Lev. 23:11). The Talmudic Sages determined
that "Shabbat" here means simply a day of rest and refers to the first day of Passover.
Thus, the traditional counting of the Omer begins on the second day of Passover and
continues for the next 49 days, or seven complete weeks, ending on the day before
Shavuot.
According to this calculation, Shavuot will fall on the day of the week after that of the
first day of Passover (e.g. if Passover starts on a Thursday, Shavuot will begin on a
Friday).
The Sadducees and Boethusians, however, disputed this interpretation. They contended
that "Shabbat" really did mean "Shabbat," or Saturday. Accordingly, they reckoned the
seven weeks from the day after the first Shabbat during Passover, so that Shavuot would
always fall on a Sunday.
This interpretation was shared by the second-century BC author of the Book of Jubilees,
and was motivated by the priestly sabbatical solar calendar of the third and second
centuries B.C., which was designed to have festivals and Sabbaths fall on the same day of
the week every year. On this calendar (best known from the Book of Luminaries in 1
Enoch), Shavuot fell on the 15th of Sivan, a Sunday. The date was reckoned fifty days
from the first Sabbath after the Feast of Unleavened Bread (i.e. from the 25th of Nisan).
Thus, Jub. 1:1 claims that Moses ascended Mount Sinai to receive the Torah "on the
sixteenth day of the third month in the first year of the Exodus of the children of Israel
from Egypt".
Karaite Judaism today continues to follow the interpretation that the Counting of the
Omer begins on the Sunday after the first Shabbat during Passover, and thus celebrates
Shavuot on a Sunday.[5]
Similarly the Christian feast of Pentecost, which falls on the fiftieth day counting from
Easter, is always on a Sunday.

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2. Rabbinical traditions (Exodus Ch 19, Ezekiel Ch 1)

A.

Rabbinical.
o No historic biblical or religious event, not a big festival unless you are
Orthodox. Fallen in significance since the loss of the Temple.
o But Rabbis noticed (Exodus 19-24 Torah reading in synagogues that
day):
Ex 19:1-3. third month on the very day- .
47th day since leaving Egypt on the first Passover (15th
day of first month)
Ex 19:10-11. the third day
Lord comes to Mount Sinai on 50th day after first
Passover
Lord gives the 10 Commandments
Notice the imagery fire and sound
Ex 19:16-19. In the Midrash, R. Johanan (Exodus Rabbah 5:9)
suggests G-d's voice, as it was uttered split up into seventy
voices, in seventy languages, so that all the nations should
understand...
Torah offered to every nation in their own language;
only the Jews accepted.

o In synagogue, Rabbis find a section in the Prophets corresponding to

the Torah
Ezek 1:4-6, flashing lightning
Ezek 1:13-14, fire moved back and forth
Ezek 1:24, like the voice of the Almighty

Midrash and Mystery

On the first Pentecost, signs and wonders accompanied the giving of the Torah at Mount
Sinai.5 There was the smoke and fire and cloud on the mountain. The mountain trembled
and the blast of a shofar sounded louder and louder. The voice of God was audibly heard
by the entire nation. According to Midrash,6 the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai was
accompanied by additional wonders, two of which are significant to our reading of Acts
chapter two.
The Midrash speaks of flames of fire which came to each individual at Sinai:
"On the occasion of the giving of the Torah, the Children of Israel not only heard the
LORD's Voice, but actually saw the sound waves as they emerged from the LORD's
mouth. They visualized them as a fiery substance. Each commandment that left the
LORD's mouth traveled around the entire camp and then came back to every Jew
individually."7

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The second miracle the Midrash preserves is the voice of God speaking in every language
known to man.8
"It says, "And all the people witnessed the thunderings." (Exodus 20:15) Note that it does
not say "the thunder," but "the thunderings"; wherefore R. Johanan said that God's voice,
as it was uttered, split up into seventy voices, in seventy languages, so that all the nations
should understand."9
Whether or not these traditions preserve actual historical memories of the Mount Sinai
experience is not important. It is important to remember that the disciples and followers
of Yeshua were all well aware of the Shavuot legends. They knew the story of the Giving
of the Torah on Shavuot. They knew the story of the words of fire resting on each
individual on Shavuot. They knew the story of God's voice speaking to all mankind in
every language on Shavuot. Therefore, the miracles and signs and wonders that came
upon them in Acts chapter two carried deep significance. The tongues of fire and the
speaking in every tongue were both direct allusions to the Mount Sinai experience and
the receiving of the Torah. God was underscoring a connection between his Holy Spirit
and His Holy Torah!
B.

They say seventy languages because:

Bereshit (Genesis) 46:26-27 All those who went to Egypt with Jacob--those who
were his direct descendants, not counting his sons' wives--numbered sixty-six
persons. With the two sons who had been born to Joseph in Egypt, the members of
Jacob's family, which went to Egypt, were seventy in all.

and:
Devarim (Deuteronomy) 32:7-9 Remember the days of old; consider the
generations long past. Ask your father and he will tell you, your elders, and they
will explain to you. When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when
he divided all mankind, he set up boundaries for the peoples according to the
number of the sons of Israel. For HaShem'S portion is his people, Jacob his
allotted inheritance.
It appears that HaShem's plan is to, one day, return to having all of His people speak one
language, Hebrew. We will be returning to the language of the Garden of Eden. We will
be going back to the future!

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3. Messianic (Acts Ch 2)
A.

Pentecost, Weeks, Shavuot - Acts Ch2

Pentecost is derived from the Greek name for Shavuot, one of the three Pilgrimage
Festivals required in the Law of Moses.

A.

Acts 2:1-3. sound like violent wind and tongues of fire; Act 2:4-12 in
our own tongues
o They would have just heard the priests read Exodus 19 (seventy
languages) and Ezekiel 1 (fire moving back and forth).
[After class today, tongues of fire appear]
God is using the rabbinic tradition to speak to the Jews about
Messiah
o Not the first appearance of the Holy Spirit
Gen 1:1-2
Ezek 2:1-2
H.S in O.T. came to specific people, at specific times, for
specific tasks.
Same Spirit and the message does not change:
God is still trying to communicate
o (Meanwhile back across town) As Peter begins preaching, the priest is
waving the two loaves of leaven bread thanking God for more to
harvest
Acts 2: 41. Peter is harvesting souls; first fruits of the Spirit
Start of the church

Messianic Significance of Feast of Weeks

Pentecost not only memorializes the first giving of the law written on tablets of stone, but
it also memorializes, on the same day many years later, the giving of the Ruach
HaKodesh (Holy Spirit), when the law of God is written in the heart of the believer. As it
states in

Three National Feasts

Exodus 23:14 Three times a year you shall celebrate a feast to Me. 15 You shall
observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread; for seven days you are to eat unleavened
bread, as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the month Abib, for in it you
came out of Egypt. And [a]none shall appear before Me empty-handed. 16 Also you
shall observe the Feast of the Harvest of the first fruits of your labors from what you
sow in the field; also the Feast of the Ingathering at the end of the year when you
gather in the fruit of your labors from the field. 17 Three times a year all your males
shall appear before the Lord [b]GODB.

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B.

Messianic Significance of Feast of Weeks

Pentecost not only memorializes the first giving of the law written on tablets of stone,
Like a Violent Windbut it also memorializes, on the same day many years later, the
giving of the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit), when the law of God is written in the heart
of the believer. As it states in
Jeremiah 31:33, But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel;
After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in
their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

C.

The Tongues of Fire

In rabbinic literature, the powerful word of God was compared to a hammer striking an
anvil with sparks flying out from the force of the blow. When the word poured forth from
the mouth of the Almighty, fiery sparks flew in every directionin words from all the
languages of the nations. They were like tongues of fire. The divine revelation of Torah
flowed out bestowing illumination upon the people of God. Gods will and way had been
revealed.
Rabbi Johanan said: "What is meant by the verse, The Lord gives the word: They that
publish the tidings are a great host? (Psalm 68:12). Every single word that went forth
from the Omnipresent was split up into seventy languages." The school of Ishmael
taught: "And like a hammer that breaks the rocks in sparks so every single word that
went forth from the Holy One, blessed be He, split up into seventy languages."8
The mention of seventy languages is symbolic. The rabbis believed that it referred to all
the languages of the world. Acts 2:5 stresses that "devout men from every nation under
heaven" had gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate Pentecost. The description of sparks of
fire, moreover, corresponds to the tongues of fire mentioned in Acts.
The first century Jewish Philosopher, Philo of Alexandria described the words of God at
Mount Sinai in a similar way.
Then from the midst of the fire that streamed from heaven there sounded forth to their
utter amazement a voice, for the flame became articulate speech in the language familiar
to the audience, and so clearly and distinctly were the words formed by it that they
seemed to see them rather than hear them.9
The words of Torah appeared to the people in fire. They saw the flames and heard the
voice in their own language. The tongues of fire in the book of Acts are paralleled by
Jewish descriptions of the theophany at Sinai

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First Pentecost
The Commandments Given
Fifty days from the crossing of the Red
Sea
Law of Yahweh written in Stone
Three thousand slain
The letter of the Law

Pentecost After Christ

The Holy Spirit Given
Fifty days from the resurrection of
Christ
Law of Yahweh written on our
hearts
Three thousand receive salvation
The Spirit of the Law

Before His resurrection, Jesus told His disciples to wait for the Holy Spirit. And, being
assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from
Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.
For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not
many days hence (Acts 1:4).
D.

The Day the Holy Spirit was Given to Believers

And when the day of Pentecost was 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 all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues
like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost,
and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:1-4).
The Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) commemorates this day on which the Holy Spirit was
given to the believers (Acts 2). On that day three thousand souls were saved. It is the
birthday of the church, when the Holy Spirit came to unite the believers in one body. All
believers are baptized into the same body with Christ the head of the church.
From Lukes account in Acts 2 you see the marvelous timing of God. Thousands of Jews
had journeyed to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Weeks. The Teacher's Commentary
explains:
Pentecost was clearly Gods choice time for the initiation of Jesus followers into their
great adventure. Just 50 days before, Jesus Himself had been crucifiedand raised again.
Now, as an indication of the great harvest of everlasting life that Jesus death had won,
the 120 believers were about to be touched by the Spirit of God. They were to be the first
of a vast multitude, the first of millions upon millions who would follow them into a
unique relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
The Bible tells us that the Spirits coming into believers was unmistakably marked. A
mighty wind seemed to rush through the room where the 120 gathered; flames of fire
flickered over each head; and as the Spirit filled them, individuals began to speak in

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languages they did not know.This drew a great crowd of the men who had come to
Jerusalem for the Pentecost festival. Each person heard the disciples speaking in the
language of the land where he was presently living. How is it, wondered the visitors,
that each of us hears them in his own native language? We hear them declaring the
wonders of God in our own tongues! (Acts 2:8, 11) Perplexed and amazed, they asked
each other, What does this mean? (v. 12)
All too often that same question is asked todaywithout listening to Peters response to
those first questioners. All too often the answer given is designed to argue for or against
the existence of what has been called the gift of tongues in our day. Whatever our
opinion might be as to whether God still gives believers this gift, the important point
underlined by Pentecost is that now, at last, the Holy Spirit is given!
And this was Peters response to those who demanded an explanation of the disciples:
This is what was spoken by the Prophet Joel:
In the last days, God says, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Acts 2:1617
That great gift which God had reserved till the last days was being poured out freely now.
All were to know the touch of the Spirit of God; both daughters and sons would be
empowered by Him. Most significant of all, in that day on which the Spirit of God would
flow out to touch and fill Gods own, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will
be saved (v. 21).
E.

The Two Loaves of Bread

The outpouring of the Holy Spirit transpired on the very day that the Jews were offering
the two wave loaves to God representing their reliance on Him. The two wave loaves
with leaven offered to God may represent that Jews and Gentiles, both sinners (leaven in
their lives), are able to receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit through the Messiah.
Promises made earlier by John the Baptist (Luke 3:16) and the risen Messiah (Luke
24:49; Acts 1:8) are now fulfilled on Shavuot (Pentecost): on that day, the Holy Spirit did
indeed come upon the apostles and empowered them to witness of the Messiah. The first
century church was mainly Jewish. The last century church will be mainly Gentile. This
explains Pauls statement that the blessings of God were to the Jew first and also the
Gentile.
The two loaves may also represent two witnesses. He that despised Moses law died
without mercy under two or three witnesses (Heb. 10:28). The law of Moses is associated
with two witnesses. Shavuot is associated with the law and the two loaves (witnesses).

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Symbol
Grain of wheat
Two Loaves with leaven (Lev. 23:15-17)
As the wheat is beaten and
refined as fine flour (Lev. 23:17)
Harvest Salvation

Represents
Messiah (John 12:23-24)
Jewish and Gentile believers in
Messiah
Messiah beaten, sifted, and crushed
(Isa. 28:28, 52:14; 53:1-6)
Rain Outpouring of the Holy Spirit

The two loaves were huge. Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two
tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the
firstfruits unto the LORD (Lev. 23:17): An ephah is a measure of Egyptian origin and
contained ten omers (an omer is about two quarts, so it would be approximately four
quarts of flour). Four quarts of four cups each is about sixteen cups of fine flour. This
would make the loaves approximately 12" x 21" x 3".
The followers of the Messiah obtained a mission through the dramatic descent of the
Holy Spirit. From the moment of birth, this communitythe early churchintended
itself not a new religion but rather an awakening movement within Judaism. The church
members continued to observe the Jewish laws and worshipped regularly in the Temple.
What distinguished them from other Jews was their conviction that Jesus as the promised
Messiah would reappear to restore the kingdom of Israel (Guinness 1988).

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