Last week, we discussed First-Fruits and how we were to begin counting the 50-days to get to Shavuot. Shavuot means “weeks” in Hebrew being that we have to count 7 complete weeks to arrive to Shavuot. Shavuot is also known as the Festival of First Fruits, Festival of Weeks or Pentecost (Which means 50 in Greek). Shavuot is on June 4th on our Gregorian calendars which is technically the 15th day of the 3rd month and is a High Shabbat, which means we are not allowed to work. In this message we will discuss who celebrated Shavuot, importance of Shavuot, and instructions for Shavuot and the freewill offering.
Shavuot scriptures:
Exodus 23:16 (Samaritan)
“And the FESTIVAL OF THE HARVEST OF THE FIRST FRUITS of your labors of which you have sown in the field…”
Exodus 34:22
“And you shall make the FEAST OF WEEKS, THE FIRST FRUITS OF THE WHEAT HARVEST…”
Numbers 28:26
“And on the day of FIRST FRUITS, when you bring a new grain offering to YAHWEH at your FESTIVAL OF SHAVUOT, you have a set-apart gathering, you do no work.”
Deuteronomy 16:9-12 (Samaritan)
“You shall count seven weeks to yourselves; begin to count the seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain. And then you shall keep the FEAST OF WEEKS with a tribute of a freewill offering of your hands, which you shall give as YAHWEH your ELOHIM blessed you. And you shall rejoice before YAHWEH your ELOHIM, you, and your son, and your daughter your male slave, and your female slave, and the Levite who is in your gates, and the PROSELYTE, and the orphan, and the widow, who are in your midst…
Temple Scroll Column 19:7-9
“And this day shall be for you a set-apart convocation, ETERNAL STATUTES for their generations, ALL LABORIOUS WORK THEY SHALL NOT DO ON IT. It is the FEAST OF WEEKS AND THE FEAST OF FIRST-FRUITS for a memorial forever.”
Jubilees 6:21
For it is the Festival of SHAVUOT AND THE FEAST OF FIRST-FRUITS: This Feast is twofold and double nature: according to what is written and engraved concerning it, celebrate it.”
Luke 9:12-16 (Complete Jewish Bible)
“The day began to draw to a close. The Twelve came to Him and said, “Send the crowd away, so that they can go and get lodging and food in the towns and farms around here, because where we are is a remote place. But He said to them, “Give them something to eat, yourselves!” They said, “We have no more than five loaves of bread and two fish—unless we ourselves are supposed to go and buy food for all these people! (For there were about five thousand men.” He said to His disciples, “Make them sit down in groups of about FIFTY each.”
John 6:9 (Hebrew)
“Here is a young man who has five loaves of BARLEY BREAD and two fishes—but what will that be among all of them?”
YESHUA told them to sit in groups of 50 which represents the 50 Day count to Shavuot and Shavuot is the beginning of the barley harvest, and YESHUA fed them barley loaves of bread! I believe that this is a spiritual connection pointing to Shavuot and the abundance of the barley harvest to show that our ELOHIM provides, just as YESHUA provided an abundance of barley bread to feed the 5,000 and had 12 baskets left over.
Let’s look at Scripture to see who celebrated Shavuot and who was born on it!
Modern day Christianity says that the Appointed Times of YAHWEH are for the Jews only and that Apostle Paul did away with the law. However, you will see that Paul himself observed Shavuot as all the righteous men of scripture did.
Acts 20:16 (Complete Jewish Bible)
“For Paul had decided to bypass Ephesus on his voyage, in order to avoid losing time in the province of Asia, because he was hurrying to get to Jerusalem, if possible to CELEBRATE SHAVUOT.”
1 Corinthians 16:8
“But I will remain in Ephesus UNTIL SHAVUOT…”
Why was Paul hurrying to be a Jerusalem for Shavuot? Was he following the Torah?
Deuteronomy 16:16 (Aramaic)
“Three times in a year shall all your memorial gifts be brought before YAHWEH your ELOHIM in the place which He shall choose; in the Feast of Unleavened Bread, SHAVUOT (The FEAST OF WEEKS), and The Feast of Tabernacles; and you shall not appear before YAHWEH your ELOHIM empty handed…”
Jubilees 6:15-21
“And He gave to Noah and his sons a sign that there should not be a flood on the earth again. He placed a rainbow in the cloud for a sign of the everlasting Covenant that there should not be a flood again on the earth to destroy it all the days of the earth. For this reason it is ordained and written on the tablets of the heavens, that they should celebrate the FESTIVAL OF SHAVUOT IN THIS MONTH ONCE A YEAR to RENEW the Covenant every year.” And this whole Festival was celebrated in the HEAVENS FROM THE DAYS OF CREATION TILL THE DAYS OF NOAH: twenty-six Jubilees and five weeks of years. And Noah AND HIS SONS OBSERVED IT for seven Jubilees and one week of years, till the day of Noah’s death. And from the day of Noah’s death his sons forsook it until the days of Abraham, and they ate blood “But ABRAHAM OBSERVED IT, AND ISAAC, and JACOB, AND HIS CHILDREN OBSERVED IT up to your days, and in your days the children of Yisra’el forgot it until you celebrated it anew on this mountain. And you shall command the children of Yisra’el to observe this Festival in all their generations for a Command unto them; one day in the year in this month (3rd month) they shall celebrate the Festival. For it is the Festival of SHAVUOT AND THE FEAST OF FIRST-FRUITS: This Feast is twofold and double nature: according to what is written and engraved concerning it, celebrate it.”
Numbers 28:26
“And on the day of FIRST FRUITS, when you bring a new grain offering to YAHWEH at your FESTIVAL OF SHAVUOT, you have a set-apart gathering, you do no work.”
Both Jubilees and Numbers shows that First-Fruits and Shavuot are connected and are the same feast. Especially, since we counted the 50 days starting on First-Fruits.
Jubilees 15:1
“And in the fifth year of the fourth week of this Jubilee, in the THIRD MONTH, IN THE MIDDLE OF THE MONTH (15th Day) ABRAM CELEBRATED the Festival of the First-Fruits (Shavuot) of the grain harvest.”
There are only 30 days in a month on the Zadok Priestly calendar spelled out in Enoch and Jubilees; therefore, we know that the middle of the month is the 15th day. Our earliest indication of this is found if Genesis 7:24 which reads:
“And the waters were mighty on the earth, one hundred and fifty days.”
30 days X 5 months= 150 days; therefore 12 months X 30 days in a month= 360 days in a base year. Then Enoch tells us to add one intercalary day at the end of each season of spring, summer, fall, and winter to get a total of 364 days.
Jubilees 22:1
“And it came to be in the first week in the forty-fourth Jubilee, in the second year, that is, the year in which Abraham died, that ISAAC AND ISHAMEL came from Beersheba to celebrate the FEAST OF SHAVUOT-that is, THE FEAST OF THE FIRST-FRUITS of the harvest-to Abraham, their father. And Abraham rejoiced because his two sons had come.”
Jubilees 44:1-5
“And Yisra’el (Jacob) took his journey from Haran from his house on the new month of the THIRD MONTH, and he went on the way of Beersheba, and he offered an offering to the ELOHIM of his dad Isaac on the seventh of this month. And Jacob remembered the dream that he had seen at Beyth El, and he feared to go down to Egypt. And while he was thinking of sending word to Joseph to come to him, and that he would not go down, he remained there seven days, if it came to be he should see a vision as to whether he should remain or go down. AND HE CELEBRATED the HARVEST FESTIVAL OF THE FIRST-FRUITS with old grain, for in all the land of Canaan there was not a handful of seed, for scarcity of food was over all the beasts and cattle and birds, and also over man.” And on the sixteenth day YAHWEH appeared to him, and said to him, “Jacob, Jacob…”
As we see it was the 7th day of the 3rd month when Jacob offered an offering to ELOHIM, then 7 more days passed which puts us on the 14th day of the 3rd month, and on the next day being the 15th day of the 3rd month Jacob celebrated Shavuot. After the celebration of Shavuot YAHWEH spoke to Jacob the next day which was the 16th.
Tobit 2:1 (Apocrypha)
“Now when I had come home again and my wife Hannah was restored to me with my son Tobi, at the FESTIVAL OF SHAVUOT-which is the (kodesh) set-apart Feast of the SEVEN WEEKS-there was a good dinner prepared for me, for which I sat down to eat.”
As we see in one of the books that was removed from the Scriptures that was included in the 1611 KJV, Tobit celebrated Shavuot and notice he says “the kodesh (set-apart) feast of the seven weeks” and we know that we count 50 days which is 7 completed Shabbats to arrive at the date of June 4th (15th day of the 3rd month). Tobit was a righteous man and he understood we should keep the appointed times even while he was in exile in Nineveh. He followed the command according to how it is written in the Torah which says:
Leviticus 23:15-16
“And from the morrow after the Shabbat, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, you shall count for yourselves: SEVEN COMPLETED SHABBATS, then you shall bring a new grain offering to YAHWEH.”
2 Maccabees 12:31-32
“They thanked them, desiring them to continue being friendly toward them. And so they came to Jerusalem-The FESTIVAL OF SHAVUOT was approaching. And AFTER the FESTIVAL OF SHAVUOT, they went out against Gorgias the governor of Edom, who came out with three thousand footmen and four hundred horsemen.
Jubilees 16:13
“And in the middle of the sixth month YAHWEH visited Sarah and did to her as He had spoken, and she conceived. And she bore a son in the THIRD MONTH, and in the MIDDLE OF THE MONTH (15th Day) at the time of which YAHWEH had spoken to Abraham, on the Festival of the First-Fruits (Shavuot) of the Harvest, Isaac was born.”
Jubilees 28:15
“And again Jacob went in to her, and she conceived, and bore him a fourth son, and he called his name Judah, ON THE FIFTEENTH OF THE THIRD MONTH (SHAVUOT), in the first year of the fourth week.” Isaac and Judah were both born on Shavuot.
As we can see from all the scriptures above is that Noah and his sons, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Apostle Paul, Maccabees, and Tobit all observed Shavuot, The Festival of First-Fruits aka Pentecost. Further pointing to the fact that Noah and Abraham celebrated the Feast before there ever was a Jew.
Covenant cut with Abraham on Shavuot:
Genesis 15:17
“And it came to pass that when the sun had set and it was dark, behold there appeared a smoking furnace and a burning torch passed between those pieces. On that day YAHWEH made a covenant with Abram…”
Jubilees 14:7-20
“And He said to him, “I am YAHWEH who brought you out of Ur Kasdim, to give you the land of the Kana’anites (Cannanites) to possess it forever. And I will be ELOHIM to you and to your seed after you.” And he said, “Master, Master, how will I know that I will inherit it? And He said to him, “Bring Me a heifer of three years, and a goat of three years, and a sheep of three years, and a turtle-dove, and a pigeon.” And he took all these in the MIDDLE OF THE MONTH.”
For the context to see what month it was we need to go back to verse 1 of this same chapter:
Jubilees 14:1
“After these things, in the fourth year of this week, on the first day of the THIRD MONTH the WORD of YAHWEH came to Abram in a dream.”
Jubilees 14: 10-19 continued: And he was dwelling at the oak of Mamre, which is near Hebron. And he built there an altar, and slaughtered all these animals; and he poured their blood upon the altar, and divided them in the middle, and laid them over against each other; but he did not divide the birds. And birds came down upon the pieces, and Abram drove them away, and did not allow the birds to touch them.” Verse 20 And ON THAT DAY we cut a covenant with Abram, just as we had covenanted with Noah in THIS MONTH (Jubilees 6:15-21); and Abram renewed the Feast and ordinance for himself forever.”
The covenant was cut with Abraham in the middle of the month being the 15th day of 3rd month.
Jacob and Laban make covenant on Shavuot:
Jubilees 29:5
“And in the seventh year of the fourth week Jacob turned toward Gilad in the first month, on the twenty-first day. And Laban pursued after him and overtook Jacob in the mountain of Gilad in the THIRD MONTH, on the thirteenth day. Verse 7 And on the FIFTEENTH of those days (15th Day of 3rd month) Jacob made a banquet for Laban, and all for all who came with him, and Jacob swore to Laban that day, and Laban swore also to Jacob, that neither should cross the mountain of Gilad to the other with evil purpose.”
Genesis 31:46-49 (Complete Jewish Bible)
“Then Jacob said to his kinsmen, “Gather some stones”; and they took stones, made a pile of them and ate there by the pile of stones. Laban called it Y’gar-Sahaduta [“pile of witness” in Aramaic], while Jacob called it Gal-‘Ed [“pile of witness” in Hebrew]. Laban said “This pile witnesses between me and you today.” This is why it is called Gal-‘Ed and also HaMitzpah [the watchtower], because he said, “May YAHWEH watch between me and you when we are apart from each other.”
What is the importance of this day?
The importance of this day is connected with the 50-day count on first-fruits which is why it’s called Shavuot the festival of the first-fruits. ELOHIM was telling Moses that He was taking His people to a fertile land that He was giving them and would like them to acknowledge this gift. Each spring, when the harvest of the year is available the people should bring their initial crops (first-fruits) to the priest to acknowledge them before ELOHIM. YAHWEH wants us to acknowledge that He has provided for us by bringing our best offering to Him; and it also shows our trust in Him by offering our best knowing that He will provide an abundant harvest and bless us. So, when Shavuot comes 50 days later, they would reap a harvest of barely/wheat.
How do we celebrate Shavuot? Instructions!
There are many traditions and celebrations that surround Shavuot in modern day Judaism such as the giving of the Torah to Moses; however, Jubilees 1 shows us the tablets of stone of testimony were given on the 16th which was a Monday and not on Sunday the 15th.
Jubilees 1:1
“And it happened in the first year of the exodus of the children of Yisra’el out of Egypt, in the THIRD MONTH, ON THE SIXTEENTH DAY OF THE MONTH, that YAHWEH spoke to Moses, saying, “Come up to Me on the Mount, and I will give you two tablets of stone of the Torah and the command, which I have written, that you may teach them.”
So stemming from that belief they will read the 10 commandments on Shavuot. Is it wrong to read the 10 commandments? No! I just want to point out that their reason for doing so is not established on the facts and furthermore we are told to have a set-apart convocation/reading on the appointed times which means that we should be reading scriptures that pertain to that certain appointed. Another tradition of Judaism is the eating of dairy products, trust me, I’m NOT saying we cannot eat ice cream or cheesecake on this day, I’m merely pointing out that these traditions are not commanded in scripture. How are we to observe this day according to scripture?
Shavuot/Pentecost is a NO work day. So remember that June 4th is a High Shabbat of no work.
Leviticus 23:21 (Aramaic)
“And you shall proclaim on that same day, that it may be a set-apart gathering for yourselves, you do NO SERVILE WORK ON IT a Law forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.”
Leviticus 23:21 (Samaritan)
“And on this same day you shall READ as well. You are to have a set-apart READING. YOU SHALL DO NO LABORIOUS WORK. It is to be a perpetual statute in all your dwelling places throughout your generations.”
Numbers 28:26 (Aramaic)
“And on the day of FIRST FRUITS, when you bring a new grain offering to YAHWEH at your FEAST OF WEEKS, you have a set-apart gathering, YOU DO NO MANNER OF HARD WORK.”
Numbers 28:26 (Samaritan)
“On the day of the FIRST-FRUITS, when you present a new grain offering to YAHWEH in your FEAST OF WEEKS, you shall have a SET-APART READING. YOU SHALL DO NO LABORIOUS WORK.”
Temple Scroll Column 19:7-9
“And this day shall be for you a set-apart convocation, ETERNAL STATUTES for their generations, ALL LABORIOUS WORK THEY SHALL NOT DO ON IT. It is the FEAST OF WEEKS AND THE FEAST OF FIRST-FRUITS for a memorial forever.”
Freewill offering:
Deuteronomy 16:9-12 (Samaritan)
“You shall count seven weeks to yourselves; begin to count the seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain. And then you shall keep the FEAST OF WEEKS with a TRIBUTE OF A FREE-WILL OFFERING of your hands, which you shall give as YAHWEH your ELOHIM blessed you. And you shall rejoice before YAHWEH your ELOHIM, you, and your son, and your daughter your male slave, and your female slave, and the Levite who is in your gates, and the PROSELYTE, and the orphan, and the widow, who are in your midst…
The definition of tribute according to Oxford languages is: an act, statement, OR GIFT THAT IS INTENDED TO SHOW GRATITUDE, RESPECT, OR ADMIRATION.”
What a beautiful opportunity to be able to show YAHWEH how much gratitude, respect, and admiration you have for Him by giving the best free-will offering you can according to how He has blessed you, and doing so with a joyful heart!
An example of the type of attitude believers should have towards the voluntary/freewill offering is defined perfectly in Exodus 35:
Exodus 35:5 (Aramaic)
“Take from among you AN OFFERING for YAHWEH; whosoever is of A WILLING HEART, let him bring an OFFERING to YAHWEH, gold, silver, and brass, blue, purple, and scarlet material…”
Exodus 35: 20-22 (Aramaic)
“And the whole congregation of the children of Yisra’el departed from the presence of Moses. And they came, everyone who was WILLING in HIS HEART and everyone whose spirit made him willing, and they brought offerings for YAHWEH, to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation, and for all its service, and for the set-apart vestments. And they came, both MEN AND WOMEN, as many as were WILLING-HEARTED, and brought bracelets and earrings and rings and necklaces and all sorts of jewels of gold; and every man that had set aside an offering of gold brought it to YAHWEH.”
Exodus 36:5-7 (Aramaic)
“And they said to Moses, the people bring much more than is necessary for the service of the work which YAHWEH commanded to make. And Moses gave command, which the heralds proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, “Let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary. So the people were restrained. For the stuff they had was sufficient for all the things they had to make, and some was LEFT OVER.”
Exodus 30:22 (Samaritan)
“And the men brought with the women, every GENEROUS-HEARTED, brought a bracelet and nose ring a ring, an earring, and an adornment, all articles of gold, and all…that presented AN OFFERING of gold to YAHWEH.”
2 Corinthians 9:6-9 (Complete Jewish Bible)
“Here’s the point: he who plants sparingly also harvests sparingly. Each should GIVE ACCORDING TO WHAT HE HAS DECIDED IN HIS HEART, NOT GRUDGINGLY OR UNDER COMPULSION, FOR ELOHIM LOVES A CHEERFUL GIVER. Moreover, ELOHIM has the power to provide you with every gracious gift in abundance, so that always in every way you will have all you need yourselves and be able to provide abundantly for every good cause—as the Tanakh says, “He gave generously to the poor; his righteousness lasts forever.”
The people brought so much that they had to stop them from bringing anything else, this is the cheerful giver that YAHWEH seeks especially when He is the One who has provided everything we have to begin with. And as Paul wrote to the Corinthians about being cheerful givers was concerning a gift to the saints and the poor. Examples of a free-will offering that we can do today can be donating to a ministry, giving to the poor, giving to orphans and widows, etc. This is not an exhaustive list, but you can pray to our ELOHIM and see how He leads you concerning this.
Rejoice:
YAHWEH also commands EVERYONE to rejoice before Him on this day. We are not to be sorrowful or in a bad mood because YAHWEH clearly commands us to be joyous on this day.
Deuteronomy 16:11-12 says:
“And you shall REJOICE before YAHWEH your ELOHIM, YOU AND YOUR SON AND YOUR DAUGHTER AND YOUR MANSERVANT AND YOUR MAIDSERVANT AND THE LEVITE WHO IS WITHIN YOUR TOWNS AND THE PROSELYTE AND THE FATHERLESS AND THE WIDOW WHO IS AMONG YOU.”
Remember the slavery in Egypt:
Deuteronomy 16:12
“And you must remember that you were a bondman in Egypt; so you shall observe and do these statutes.”
Shavuot/Pentecost is the last Moedim/Appointed Time of the spring/summer and as you can see YAHWEH wants us to remember that He brought us up out of Egypt and on Shavuot we are to remember that we were slaves in Egypt. He wants us to remember this fact so that we do not backslide and forget His blessings. By having us remember that we were slaves keeps our focus on Him and His commandments, so we do not become disobedient.
To renew the Covenant from the flood:
Jubilees 6:16
“He placed His rainbow in the cloud for a sign of the everlasting Covenant that there should not be a flood again on the earth to destroy it all the days of the earth. For this reason it is ordained and written on the tablets of the heavens, that they should celebrate the FESTIVAL OF SHAVUOT in this month once a year, to RENEW THE COVENANT every year.”
Two loaves baked WITH LEAVEN and its meaning:
Leviticus 23:17-18
“Bring from your dwellings for a wave offering two loaves of bread, of two-tenth parts of fine flour they are, BAKED WITH LEAVEN, first-fruits to YAHWEH.” And you shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year and one young bullock and two rams; they shall be for a burnt offering to YAHWEH, with their grain offering and their drink offering made by fire, an offering for a SWEET SAVOR to YAHWEH.”
Note: 1/10 of an ephah is 2 quarts which is 8 cups, so 2/10 of an ephah is a total of 16 cups of flour or 8 cups of flour per loaf. The Complete Jewish Bible says “A gallon of flour” which equates to 16 cups.
Ephesians 5:2
“And walk in love; as the MASHIACH also have loved us and has given up Himself for us, and offering and a sacrifice to ELOHIM for a SWEET SAVOR.”
Leviticus 23:19
“Then you shall sacrifice one kid of the goats for a transgress offering and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of PEACE OFFERING.”
Ephesians 2:17-20 (Amplified Bible)
“And He came and preached the Good News of PEACE to you (Gentiles) who were far way, and PEACE to those (Jews) who were near. For it is through Him that we both have a direct way of approach in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens [outsiders without rights of citizenship], but you are fellow citizens with the saints (ELOHIM’s people), and are members of ELOHIM’S household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Messiah YESHUA Himself as the Chief Cornerstone, in whom the whole structure is JOINED TOGETHER…”
We see in Leviticus 23:19 that a “Peace Offering” was required on Shavuot and Paul mentions that YESHUA brought “Peace” to both native-born and gentiles by Him shedding His blood for us all to be joined together as One Body, with Him at the head, which represents the two loaves baked with leaven.
Revelation 14:4 (Parenthesis mine)
“These are they who have not defiled themselves with, for they are virgins. These are they who followed the Lamb wherever He went, these have been REDEEMED by YESHUA from among men, the FIRST-FRUITS TO ELOHIM and the Lamb.”
The native-born and the righteous gentile convert (proselyte) are one, meaning those who keep the commandments and trust in YESHUA will be the first-fruits, similar to those two loaves and Paul’s connection. And the same way the first-fruits is the BEST of the barley harvest is the same way that those who follow YESHUA to the end are THE FIRST-FRUITS the BEST (righteous) of the earth who followed the Lamb YESHUA wherever He went.
These events connect to the RUACH HA’KODESH being poured out on Shavuot as we see Jews and proselytes joined in with Yisra’el devout men as ONE. A perfect connection of the instructions that are mentioned in the Torah concerning Shavuot.
Summary of instructions:
Shavuot is about giving thanks for the blessings of YAHWEH, giving a freewill/voluntary offering, rejoicing, renewing the Covenant YAHWEH cut with Noah, NO WORK, remembering that we were slaves in Egypt, baking two loaves of bread with leaven as first-fruits and the pouring out of the RUACH HA’KODESH (Set-Apart Spirit.)
Giving of the RUACH HA’KODESH/The Set-Apart Spirit
Another important fact for this day is the promise that YESHUA gave before He ascended into heaven. YESHUA tells us in:
John 16:7 (Hebrew)
“But I say the truth to you. It is better for you that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper shall not come to you at all, but if I go, I shall send Him to you.”
It was important for YESHUA to ascend into heaven because He sent the RUACH HA’KODESH to dwell within us and verse 13 He tells us what the Set Apart Spirit will do:
“But when that RUACH of truth will come, He will teach you all truth. For He will not speak of His own heart, only the words which He hears He will speak, and make known to you those words. He will esteem Me-from My Father He will take, and will make known to you all the things which are My Father’s-which are Mine-and He will make them known to you.”
The RUACH HA’KODESH will guide and us lead us into all truth; and show us how to obey the commandments just as Paul says in Romans 8 and Galatians 5. It is important to mention YESHUA’s promise of The SET-APART SPIRIT during the Festival of Shavuot because The SET-APART SPIRIT was poured out on His disciples on this very day.
Acts 2:1-4 says: (Aramaic)
“And when the day of SHAVUOT/Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one purpose 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 RUACH HA’KODESH/Set-Apart Spirit, and began to speak in various languages as the Spirit gave them utterance.”
The Book of Ruth is worth reading because it ties into Shavuot
Ruth 1:22 says:
“So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter in law, with her, which returned out of the country, of Moab: and they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of the BARLEY HARVEST (SHAVUOT).”
Another interesting connection with the Book of Ruth and Shavuot is the command that YAHWEH gave concerning the land, He says in:
Leviticus 19:9-10
“And when you reap the harvest of your land, do not completely reap the corners of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. And do not glean your vineyard or gather every grape of your vineyard, leave them for the poor and the stranger. I am YAHWEH your ELOHIM.”
Leviticus 23:22
“And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not make clean riddance of the corners of your field when you reap, neither shall you gather any gleaning of the harvest: you shall leave them for the poor, and to the stranger: I am YAHWEH your ELOHIM.”
Deuteronomy 24:19-22
“When you reap your harvest in you field, and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, do not go back to get it. Let it be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow, so that YAHWEH your ELOHIM might bless you in all the work of your hands. When you beat your olive trees, do not examine the branch behind you. Let it be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow. When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, do not glean behind you. Let it be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.”
YAHWEH made a specific command to not be greedy and clean the fields out when you reap the harvest because you are supposed to leave what is left for the poor, stranger, fatherless, and widow. The connection was made in Ruth, because Boaz did exactly as YAHWEH commanded:
Ruth 2:2-7 says:
“And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean heads of grain AFTER him in whose sight I shall find favor. And she said unto her; Go, my daughter. And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field AFTER the reapers; as it turned out, she came to the part of the field belonging to Bo’az, the near relative of Elimelek.”
As we see Boaz was obedient to YAHWEH’s command from the Torah and Ruth who was a widow benefited by being able to glean over his fields and also find favor in the sight of Boaz. And a side note is that Boaz and Ruth were blessed to be in the lineage of YESHUA:
1 Chronicles 2:11-15 (Aramaic)
“Nashon brought forth Salmon, and Salmon brought forth Boaz; Boaz brought Obed, and Obed brought forth Yishai (Jessie); and Jessie brought forth Eliyab his first-born, and Abinadab the second, and Shim’a the third, Nethan’el the fourth, Raddai the fifth, Ostem the sixth, Eliho the seventh and David the eighth.”
Matthew 1:5-6 (Hebrew)
“Salmon begot Boaz, Boaz begot Oved, Oved begot Yishai (Jessie). Jessie begot David—the king od Yisrael…”
And YESHUA comes from the blood line of David which makes Him the rightful heir to the throne. Let us prepare our hearts to get ready to rejoice before our Father YAHWEH and His Son YESHUA filled with joy through the RUACH HA’KODESH and enjoy the last Festival of the spring/summer before it picks back up again in the fall. As always please share this with those who need to hear this important message and may YAHWEH barak (bless) you in YESHUA’s Name!