SHAVUOT – FEAST OF WEEKS

Readings: Exodus 19:1 - 20:23, 23:16, 34:22, Numbers 28:26-31,

Ezekiel 1:1-128, 3:12, Acts 2, John 14:15-18, Ephesians 2:11-22

Additional Readings: Ezekiel 36:26-27, Jeremiah 31:31-34, Hebrews 8:8-13, Hebrews 10-15:18

The Feasts of YHVH are a shadow of prophecy fulfilment in Messiah Yahoshua as we will see in this study.

The Spring Feasts – Pesach, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits and Shavuot have been prophesised and fulfilled
during Messiah’s first coming and we are to keep them in remembrance of the Plan of Salvation of our
Heavenly Father which He has established for the World through Messiah. They constitute The Engagement
between Messiah and His chosen Bride called from among His chosen people. During these feasts the Bride
must present herself without spot or blemish by making herself ready for this spiritual Engagement.

We see all the details of the Engagement according to the laws pertaining to the Marriage Covenant found in
the Torah. Thus, we have the dowry which is the blood shed by Messiah who paid His Bride in full. Through His
righteous act as a Bridegroom, Messiah laid down his life for her redemption from eternal damnation, paying
the price of death for her sins (the wages of sin is death) which otherwise she would have had to bear. Once
redeemed and paid the penalty of death, the Bridegroom commits to keeping the wedding vows on Shavuot
when the Torah (which is the wedding contract known in Hebrew as ketubah) was given to the people of
Israel. On the same day, approximately 1500years later Scripture we see the events recorded in Acts2 when
the Ruach

HaKodesh, The Ruach/Spirit of YHVH also known as ‘the Helper’, (whose purpose is that of guiding and
preparing the Bride for the encounter with her Bridegroom) descending on the apostles. The Ruach is the work
of the Father within us, and as we go through the process of refinement, we have the Torah written upon our
hearts (Ezekiel 36:26-27, Jeremiah 31:31-34, Hebrews 8:8-13, Hebrews 10-15:18), symbolizing the Ark of the
Covenant, which will then create a ‘willing heart’ to SHEMA (listen & obey) the Commandments of YHVH
Elohim out of Love.

Ultimately Shema is the sign of the circumcision of the heart as we decide to honour the Commandments
through the sacrifice of obedience by doing it out of love and respect and not out of fear of penalty or to be
gain our own salvation, which would be impossible for us to do!

The Fall Feasts – Trumpets, Atonement and Sukkot/Tabernacles are prophesised to be fulfilled during
Messiah’s second coming and are to be kept in accordance with the Torah as rehearsals for our Wedding with
the Bridegroom, the Messiah.

His Bride must be signed, sealed, and delivered by keeping His Law, we respect the Shabbat (as the sign of
being in Covenant), we display the sign, we seal our mind with the ‘SHEMA’, we keep Passover/Pesach
expressing FAITH in the blood of the Passover Lamb who is the only worthy One to deliver us from the second
death. Thus, we will be signed, sealed, and delivered into the Kingdom of YHVH as our name will be found in
the Lamb’s Book of Life, and as we hold on to the promise that YHVH will revive our dead spirit to eternal life,
as He did with our Messiah.

What does Shavuot stand for?

Shavuot comes from the Hebrew words

 Sheva = seven
 Shebuah = oath, sworn, commitment
 Shaba = to swear
Shavua stands for ‘week’ and Shavuot is its plural form – ‘weeks’
 Shavuot and its significance

The Spring Feast rehearsals are pointing to a transition between the physical sacrifice through physical death
to a spiritually Living Sacrifice of death to Self, both of which we see in the example set by Messiah. They point
to Repentance which is the rejection of Self (acknowledging my mistake or wrong doing) and transition
towards Selflessness which is self-sacrifice through practicing obedience to YAH’s laws, ordinances, and
testimonies, as Paul/Shaul says in Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Messiah, I no longer live but
Messiah lives in me”, thus is no longer all about ME, MYSELF and I, but it's about HIM, and about what pleases
our Father as we move into that higher calling and purpose of life, and as we seek the anointing with the oil of
gladness, the receiving of the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit).

Passover is the remembrance of coming out of Egypt/Bondage to the world. Approx. 1500 years later Messiah
changes the physical exodus from Egypt and slavery to the world, to the spiritual exodus from
Self/Sin/Bondage to death giving Himself as an example for us to follow.

Shavuot is in turn the celebration of LOVE, a remembrance of our wedding vows – the Engagement and a
rehearsal before the Wedding Supper of the Lamb, prophesized to happen in a future year during the Fall
Feasts.

Shavuot is the celebration of the Marriage Covenant, a remembrance of the Wedding Contract at Mount Sinai
when the Torah (Instructions in Righteousness) were given to the people of Israel and to the foreigners who
attached themselves to Israel after coming out from Egypt, and to which Israel said YES twice “And all the
people answered together, “We will do everything YHVH has spoken.” (Exodus 19:8) and “Then he took the
Book of the Covenant and read it to the people, who replied, “All that the YHVH has spoken we will do, and we
will be obedient.”” (Exodus 24:7). Shavuot also commemorates the second important moment recorded in
Acts 2 where YHVH poured out His Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) upon the apostles. We will see the
significance of these two moments of GREAT importance in the next paragraphs, but for now let’s define the
elements pertaining to the Feast of Shavuot.

Messiah is the First of the First Fruits (barley harvest is the first spring harvest). During Passover season ONE
Sheaf of Barley is brought to the High Priest which he would then wave before YHVH as the very FIRST FRUIT of
the harvest symbolizing Messiah who just as the sheaf, died, resurrected, and ascended to the Father. In
similar manner during the feast of Shavuot which takes place right after the wheat harvest, freshly harvested
refined wheat is baked into TWO LOAVES of bread, symbolizing the First Fruits of the Wheat Harvest – the Two
Houses of Ephraim and Yehuda. In other words, if ONE SHEAF is Messiah, the TWO LOAVES are the two Houses
of Yisrael, a multitude of people, a larger harvest. In other places in Scripture, we see symbolically refined
wheat as the elect (Matthew 13:24-43, 3:12, Luke 3:17, John 12:24, 1 Corinthians 15:35-49) or as a blessing
coming from a good, merciful, generous, and giving Father (Ps 147:14 He makes peace in your borders and fills
you with the finest of the wheat.)..

In Scripture first fruits are a symbol of the elect, and who better to represent the elect of the Most-High Elohim
if not Messiah as the Passover Lamb, as the Sheaf of the First Fruits of the Barley, as the first resurrected from
the dead. Moreover, through the symbolism of the larger harvests of the year – the spring harvest (Shavuot)
and the fall harvest (Sukkot), we also see a depiction of the elect being ‘harvested’ from the earth during two
distinct harvests.

Coming back to Shavuot, the instruction given in the Torah is to count 7 Shabbats (7weeks) between the first
fruits of the barley harvest and Shavuot. That is to say that after 49 days, on the 50 th day we celebrate Shavuot
also known as the Feats of Weeks. Many recognize it by the name of Pentecost since ‘Penta’ in Latin stands for
50, while others might remember it by the giving of the Ruach HaKodesh (the Holy Spirit descending on the
apostles after Messiah’s ascension to heavens in Acts chapter2). The 49 days leading to Shavuot/Pentecost
represent the 49 Jubilee years (as per the Scriptural Calendar) years are calculated in the same manner as the
weekly cycle – 1st year, 2nd year, where the 7th year is a Shmita/Shabbat Year during which we stop ploughing,
seeding, or harvesting the land. During the 7 th year/Shmita we are instructed to let the land REST, and just like
man does the whole creation follows the same cycle of 6+1 years with the 7 th being a year of rest. YHVH
promises His people that the 6 th year’s harvest will be triple the amount of all the years prior as is meant to
cover for the 6th year, for the 7th year/ Shmita and for the 8th year. He promises enough provisions to last until
the harvest of the 8th year. This was a MAJOR problem with the people of Israel who did not allow the land to
rest, and because of that the land spewed them out (see the Assyrian & Babylonian conquering and taking
Yisrael and Yehuda into captivity and away from the Promised Land).

Coming back to the 49 Jubilee years, they each represent 49 Shmita cycles (7X7) and symbolize the period
before the start of the Millennium Shabbat – the 7 th millennium from Creation which is what Shabbat is
pointing us to. The Millennium Shabbat during which Messiah will reign on earth is that Shabbat we’re all
waiting for! It is not a curse but the biggest blessing for anyone who obeys YAH. The Millennium Shabbat is
also symbolized by Shavuot being the 49+1 Jubilee, the perfect fulfilment of that cycle which points us even
further pass the Millennium and into the eternity we will spend with the Most-High YAH! Shavuot is a symbol
of that future eternal period during which man will be co-existing with the Glorious Presence of YHVH for an
eternity! It’s nothing less than MAJOR the significance and the symbolism of Shavuot. To add to that, Messiah
is coming in a year of Jubilee (50), that is at the end of the 49 th Jubilee year. Despite having lost the actual
count of the jubilee cycle years, we feel His coming is not in a far distant future, but that He is right at the
door!

The Two Great Harvests

There are 2 harvest periods during which YHVH will gather His Children unto Himself, during the Spring harvest
He will gather the First Fruits (the wheat and NOT the tares). As for the Fall harvest which is also the much
LARGER and bountiful harvest, this is represented by the children born during the Millennium Shabbat, during
the 1000 years of Messiah’s reign on earth, that is when the largest ‘yield of the field’ will be harvested.
Analysing the proportions of the two harvests, the latter will be a very large harvest of Righteousness Seekers
during the Messianic Age.

Since we are focusing on the Spring Harvest/Shavuot in this study, let’s analyse the symbol of the 2 wheat
loaves which are to be brought to the High Priest during the Feast of Shavuot to be waived before YHVH, just
as the first sheaf of barley was. These 2 loaves are the 2 Houses of Yisrael – Ephraim and Yehuda. The loaves
are made of 2/10 parts of an ephah from the finest flour (chosen), baked with leavening agent, grinded
through a long enduring suffering and pressing process, and baked in the furnace of affliction. The Remnant of
the Lost Sheep of the House of Yisrael scattered among the gentile nations will be finally reunited with his
brother Yehuda, as the TWO become ONE in the hands of the High Priest in fulfilment of Ezekiel 37:15–28
prophecy. Shavuot points us to the absolute marvellous and perfect plan of Messiah’s Restauration of the Two
Houses of Yisrael in a not-so-distant future which we all look forward to!

Shavuot and the Torah

The Torah had existed from the very beginning of Creation itself. YHVH had a perfect plan, not only to Create
the world, but also to establish an order and to manage His Creation through a righteous set of rules that
would later be transposed into all parts of the Creation itself, including man. Since He gave man FREE WILL,
YHVH had to provide the basis of what Righteousness and Good (Light) is along with its applications, and to
separate it from Unrighteousness and Evil (Darkness). That choice was made first in Gan Eden, when Adam
chose to disobey YAH’s first instruction/torah. Many believe that the first SIN that entered the world is pride,
and it might well be in the case of the fallen one, but the first sin of MAN was and still is disobedience, whilst
the second is murder, with much connection existing between these two. The first lesson we take from the
Scripture is that the consequence of sin/disobedience to YAH’s instructions/torah leads to death, in fact
Adam’s disobedience led to death, first the death of his son, and much later of his own physical death. Adam
unknowingly enabled the Law of Sin & Death to come into the world. Rabbi Shaul/Apostle Paul speaks much
about THIS law in his epistles, in many of which he is completely taken out of context, to the point where
people do not differentiate between the Law of Sin & Death and the LAW of YHVH - the Torah confusing the
two. Paul/Shaul speaks at large in his writings about another 5 different types of laws, all of which
undiscerning people automatically associate all of them to the Torah to the point where Paul contradicts Paul
in the same sentence. Because of this HUGE misinterpretation of Paul’s/Shaul’s writings, the eternal LAW of
YHVH becomes a burden, a curse, a heavy yoke. It is despised or seen as ‘a strange thing’, is taught to be
exclusively ‘jewish’, asoasf. Many suggest that quite simply YHVH changed His Own Laws, He must have
changed His Mind perhaps… But since we know that ‘the god of this world has blinded the minds of the
unbelieving’ (2 Corinthians 4:4), it is not surprisingly that the serpent’s craftiness is still at play today "Did
YHVH really say, `You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?" (Gen 3:1). Today the same crafty serpent
says ‘YHVH sent His Son to do away with His own Laws, He nailed them to the cross, He changed them into
laws of love, Jesus did all for you, so you don’t need to do anything anymore.”

To counter these LIES, let’s see WHY is the Torah of utmost importance to all of us and why the Word of YAH is
NEVER to be changed “YHVH is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent”
(Numbers 23:19) for “I AM YHVH, I change not” (Malachi 3:6). So who’s the LIAR but the one who lied from
the beginning, “because he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44).

As mentioned above the Torah/instructions in righteousness existed from the very beginning of Creation itself
in YHVH’s MIND. After giving Adam the first instruction and upon him failing it, YAH transmitted the
Torah/instructions ORALLY to Adam and they were orally passed down from father to son for 20 generations
all the way to Abraham and furthermore to Yitzchak, Yaakov and his 12 sons of Yisrael. During this period, we
see judgement for disobedience and wickedness brought on earth (the flood, Sodom & Gomorrah) in absolute
contrast to Abraham’s obedience who “listened to My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My
statutes, and My laws.” (Gen 26:5).

After the exodus from Egypt YHVH gives the Torah/instructions in a WRITTEN form to Moses and to the people
of Yisrael at Mount Sinai as an eternal Marriage Covenant written by YAH’s right hand on sapphire stones, to
remain forever.

All throughout the period between Yisrael entering the Promised Land leading up to Messiah’s first coming, we
see the tribes of Yisrael struggling to keep the laws, we see several cycles of disobedience which lead to
complete rebelliousness to YAH’s Torah/instructions, which then lead to judgment, repentance and coming
back to Torah (teshuva). Messiah later comes and points all to the Father and to His righteous instructions,
establishing the spiritual interpretation of YAH’s laws raising them to a deeper and higher moral standard and
practical application, making them known to those who have ‘eyes to see and ears to hear what the Word
says’. 10 days after His resurrection and ascension into heavens, we have the event in Acts 2 where the Ruach
HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) descends upon the disciples as a fulfilment of Messiah’s promise that He would ask the
Father to send us a Helper who would continue to teach us SPIRITUALLY YAH’s instructions/Torah. The giving
and indwelling of the Ruach HaKodesh is a continuation of the process of transmission and transcription which
will culminate with the spiritual WRITING the Torah on our hearts. Ezekiel 36:26-27, Jeremiah 31:31-34,
Hebrews 8:8-13, Hebrews 10-15:18 are four testimonies who prophesy this event.

In summary, YAH’s Torah/Instructions in Righteousness have existed in 4 different states – MIND, ORAL,
LETTER, and SPIRIT/HEART. YAH had in Mind all along the Torah (Instructions in Righteousness) to be inside our
hearts and minds but He would not do it against our own free will! Thus He spoke it orally making it known to
man, to those who have “ears to hear” it. He later wrote it down with His Own finger for those who have
“eyes to see” it. He explained and manifested it through the Prophets in the Writings of the Scripture and
fulfilled it through Yahoshua who set an amazing example of selfless and perfect obedience to Father’s
instructions “think NOT that I have come to abolish the Law/Torah or the Prophets. I have NOT come to
abolish them, but to FULFILL them” (Matthew 5:17). That example of perfect obedience Yahoshua Messiah has
established for us is confirmed twice by the Father “a voice from heaven said, "This is My beloved Son, in
whom I am well pleased!" (Matthew 3:17) showing us His heart’s desire is to listen and obey His instructions in
righteousness.

Isaiah 48:3 “I foreTOLD the former things long ago; they came out of My MOUTH, and I PROCLAIMED them.
Suddenly I ACTED, and they CAME TO PASS.”

Ultimately, YHVH through the indwelling of the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) writes YAH’s instructions in
Righteousness into our hearts so that we value them, understand their transformative purpose, and
understand their function, and the great honour we are given to be called to a higher standard of walk with
YAH. Such a privilege to see the enormous amount of LOVE the Father has for us, He call us ‘sons and
daughters of the Most-High Elohim’! (2 Cor 6:18) “I will be a Father to you, and you will be My sons and
daughters, says Almighty YHVH.”

The Marriage Covenant of Love is written on our New Heart after we become a New Creation (born-again of
water and Ruach/Spirit), having a circumcised heart for obedience as we desire to do His Will (not continue in
our own rebellion to His instructions), showing the fruits of the Ruach/Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, as we pursue to walk in Spirit and Truth. ( Read
Ezekiel  36:16–38; Romans 8:9–11) “O man of Elohim, flee from these things and pursue righteousness,
godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness.” (1 Timothy 6:11)

Our Heavenly Father’s desire was for us to be given a New Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh) of loving obedience to the
Marriage Covenant, to remove the heart of stone – of disobedience or legalistic observance void of LOVE.
Instead He desires for us to have a heart of flesh – tender, compassionate, loving, forgiving, selfless, all in all to
inherit all those beautiful attributes that make us His Children, as we were created in His image, His attributes
connect and draw us closer to Him, see Messiah’s example and his contrite heart and reverent submission to
YAH’s will!

Shavuot is a time to recommit to our wedding vows as we pursue that marvellous Day when we will be
reunited with our Bridegroom on the Wedding Day. As the future-to-be Bride of our Messiah we celebrate
every year our vows, our Covenant with the King, our Betrothal/Engagement. We see almost every day couples
around us celebrating their love, be it first time they met, when they got engaged or when they got married,
some are even recommitting to their initial vows every 5 or 10 years. How much more important is for us to
remember the Covenant the Father has made with us through His Son!

Isaiah 44:3-5 “I will pour out My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring. They will
sprout among the grass like willows by flowing streams. One will say, ‘I belong to YHVH,’ another will call
himself by the name of Yaakov, and still another will write on his hand, ‘YHVH’s’, and will take the name of
Yisrael.”

Isaiah 49:15-16 “Can a woman forget her nursing child, or lack compassion for the son of her womb? Even if
she could forget, I will not forget you! Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; your walls are
ever before Me.”

In summary, the Torah along with being the governing Constitution of YAH’s Kingdom, it represents the
Marriage Vows of His Covenant with an elect people/Israel. Thus, those with ‘a heart for His laws’ (in spiritual
language this means those who love to obey) are considered circumcised in their hearts, and are lovingly
keeping the marriage vows, waiting patiently for the return of the Bridegroom to be found worthy of eternal
life.

All YAH’s Covenants made with His people are fulfilled and perfected by the Marriage Covenant of Messiah
and His Bride Yisrael, culminating ultimately with the adoption of Yisrael as ‘sons and daughters of the
Almighty YHVH’. Therefore, the Torah/Instructions in Righteousness are eternally given to Israel (His Chosen
Bride) and are everlasting commitments given to all who have a heart to obey.

May this Shavuot be a blessing to you in all your dwellings!

HalleluYAH!