Shavuot Covenant Renewal
Shavuot a.k.a Pentecost
This feast is commonly called Pentecost in the Christian Church, ‘pente’ means 50 in Greek but in the Hebrew it is called Shavuot which is a term of measurement- 7 weeks. Leviticus 23 describes counting 7 Sabbaths plus one day which equals 50 days. This time period was the proper times it took for the grain to reach maturity. We’ll circle back to this! Not much is widely known about this feast beyond the law given on Mt. Sinai and the day of Pentecost when the Spirit was poured out. However, there is actually quite a bit of rich history to this feast as well as future prophetic significance. We are going to study how this feast relates to the covenants, the Holy Spirit, and the New Jerusalem.
Much of this study will be taken from the book of Jubilees. (Jubilees is scripture that was removed from the American Canon of 66 roughly 180 years ago. It is still a part of the traditional bible in many parts of the world- Ethiopian and Greek Orthodox). This book gives the same recount of Genesis up to Mt. Sinai; it is the angel's historical account given to Moses with time markers and additional details. (See Acts 7:38, 53; Galatians 3:19; Hebrews 2:2 to understand that it was angels who were ministering the law to Moses on Mt. Sinai). For your own copy of Jubilees, click here to find it on Amazon.
Noah’s Rainbow
Did you know the classic children’s church lesson of ‘Noah and the rainbow promise’ is directly related to Shavuot? Genesis chapter 9, verses 9-17, speaks of the covenant that YHWH established with Noah and with every living creature that came out of the ark to never destroy the earth by flood again. He set His rainbow in the sky as a sign and makes it seen as a remembrance of His covenant for all flesh upon the earth. But let’s back up just a little. In Genesis 8 we see Noah come out of the ark with his family on the 27th day of the second month. It says that he built an altar to Yahuah and taking from every kind of clean animal and clean bird, he offered burnt offerings on the altar. When Yahuah smelled the pleasing aroma he set His heart to make a covenant that would protect the earth and all living things for all generations to come. This account in Jubilees chapter 6 says that this happened on the new moon of the third month, (I imagine it took a period of time to unload so many creatures) he went forth from the ark and built an altar there. He took the clean animals and poured over the sacrifice wine and oil and frankincense to cause a goodly savor to arise. What’s really neat is that this covenantal sacrifice happened on the feast of weeks, also known as the feast of first fruits.
Genesis 8:18-22 Noah came out, along with his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives. Every living creature, every creeping thing, and every bird—everything that moves upon the earth—came out of the ark, kind by kind. Then Noah built an altar to the LORD. And taking from every kind of clean animal and clean bird, he offered burnt offerings on the altar. When the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, He said in His heart, “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from his youth. And never again will I destroy all living creatures as I have done. As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall never cease.”
Jubilees 6:16-17 He set His bow in the cloud for a sign of the eternal covenant that there should not again be a flood on the earth to destroy it all the days of the earth. For this reason it is ordained and written on the heavenly tablets, that they should celebrate the feast of weeks in this month once a year, to renew the covenant every year.
Two-Fold Feast
Oftentimes the Feast of First Fruits gets mixed up and lumped into the days of Unleavened Bread- I myself have done this! However, carefully reading Leviticus 23:11-21, there is a first fruit wave offering on the day after the Sabbath, following the ending of Unleavened Bread but it is not ordained as a holy convocation or a High-Sabbath.
First Fruits is sometimes recognized as the day Yeshua was resurrected from the dead, as a first fruit of the resurrection; a pledge of the greater harvest to come (1 Cor. 15:20). The timeline doesn’t actually align that way but the significance of being a First Fruit is still applicable. And the wave offering following the commencement of Unleavened Bread is still commanded, it’s just not the fullness of the feast that will come seven weeks later.
Jubilees 6:21 For this feast of weeks and the feast of first fruits; this feast is twofold and of a double nature; according to what is written and engraved concerning it, celebrate it.
Leviticus 23:15-17, 21 You shall also count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day when you brought in the sheaf of the wave offering; there shall be seven complete Sabbaths. You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall present a new grain offering to Yahuah. You shall bring in from your dwelling places two loaves of bread as a wave offering, made of two-tenths of an ephah; they shall be of a fine flour, baked with leaven as first fruits to Yahuah. . . On this very day you shall make a proclamation as well; you are to have a holy convocation. You shall do no servile work. It is to be a permanent statute in all your dwelling places throughout your generations.
There is a wave offering of new grain, a 7 week count, and then the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot) will land on the 15th day of the third biblical month when the grain harvest is mature. The feast is two-fold, meaning it is a day to present mature first fruits as well as a set-apart day of covenant renewal. Stick around for more on the spiritual maturity aspect of this feast!
The Elohim of Abraham
In Genesis 15 Abram is promised an heir in a vision. He is told to count the stars if possible- that his descendants would be more numerous than the stars. Then, he is instructed to bring specific animals to make a sacrifice. The same account in Jubilees chapter 14 says that this happened on the new moon of the third month- the word of Yahuah came to Abram. The promise was given so he built an altar there and sacrificed all of the animals according to the instruction he was given. Abram fell into a sleep and when he awoke Yahuah made a covenant- a promise of land from the great river of Egypt to the great river Euphrates. When this was finished Abram completed the offering along with fruit offerings and drink offerings. This covenant was made on the same day that Noah was given a covenant- the feast of weeks.
Genesis 15:8-10 But Abram replied, “Lord GOD, how can I know that I will possess it?’ And the LORD said to him, “Bring Me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, along with a turtledove and a young pigeon.” So Abram brought all these to Him, split each of them down the middle, and laid the halves opposite each other. The birds, however, he did not cut in half.
Jubilees 14:18-20 And on that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: 'To thy seed will I give this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates, the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Perizzites, and the Rephaim, the Phakorites, and the Hivites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites. And the day passed, and Abram offered the pieces, and the birds, and their fruit offerings, and their drink offerings, and the fire devoured them. And on that day we made a covenant with Abram, according as we had covenanted with Noah in this month; and Abram renewed the festival and ordinance for himself forever.
If we look at Jubilees 15, it says that in the third month Abram celebrated the feast of first-fruits of the grain harvest. He offered new offerings on the altar, first-fruits of produce unto Yahuah along with a heifer, a goat, and a sheep as a burnt sacrifice. These were offered with drink-offerings and frankincense. Yahuah appeared before Abram and said “I am Elohim Almighty, approve yourself before me and be perfect. And I will make my covenant with you.” This is where Abram’s name was changed to Abraham. It is also where the instruction for circumcision is given as a sign of the covenant. You can cross reference this information in Genesis 17, it just doesn’t contain the time marker or the sacrifices made for first-fruits.
Jubilees 15:1-4 In the third month, in the middle of the month, Abram celebrated the feast of the first-fruits of the grain harvest. And he offered new offerings on the altar, the first-fruits of the produce, unto the Lord, an heifer and a goat and a sheep on the altar as a burnt sacrifice unto the Lord; their fruit offerings and their drink offerings he offered upon the altar with frankincense. And the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him: 'I am God Almighty; approve thyself before me and be thou perfect. And I will make My covenant between Me and thee, and I will multiply thee exceedingly.'
Mt. Sinai to Pentecost
I heard a sermon one time “the law brought death but the day of Pentecost brought life.” The teaching was about Pentecost redeeming the day the Law was given. Yes, the Law was given on Shavuot but even Paul says “the law is spiritual,” we are the ones who are carnal. The thing that many believers struggle to understand is that there was never meant to be a separation of Law and Spirit, or covenant and grace. Yahuah’s Spirit filled Mt. Sinai as His angels dictated the Law to Moses- bro was glowing when He came back from the mountain! Even today, when the Spirit is moving within us, it is leading us into truth; into Yahuah’s righteous ways.
When the Spirit was poured out in great quantity in Acts 2, it was a renewal of covenant; a remembrance of the Elohim who delivers- the Elohim who raised Yeshua from the dead. And the gift of languages was Yeshua’s message that soon every nation and every tongue would be gathered to the New Jerusalem and confess “Yeshua is King!” (Gift of Tongues study.)
Acts 2:1-4 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like a mighty rushing wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw tongues like flames of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
When Moses received the Law on Mt. Sinai, it was the Father’s moment of reminding Israel who they are and to whom they belong. It was a renewal of covenant, “You will be My people, and I will be Your God.” In-spite of what modern church doctrine teaches, this was not a moment of oppression. This was a moment of freedom from sin- because they were given the knowledge of what sin is. The “death” that the Law brought was “dying to self,” the same proclamation that Yeshua made- die to yourself and follow Me. Yeshua instructed His disciples to make sure they remained to keep the feast, just as Israel kept the feast.
Exodus 5:1 After that, Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let My people go, so that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.”
Exodus 24:10 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people, who replied, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.”
Jubilees 6:19-20 But Abraham observed it, and Isaac, and Jacob and his children until the days the children of Israel forgot it until you celebrated it anew on this mountain. Command the children of Israel to observe this festival in all their generations for a commandment unto them: one day in the year in this month they shall celebrate the festival.
The End of Days
Looking back at Acts 2 for a moment, we see people in the crowds began to question if the disciples were drunk because of the multiple languages being used. Peter stood up and quoted this passage from Joel:
Joel 2:28-32 “It will come about after this That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and your daughters will prophesy, Your old men will have dreams, Your young men will see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth, Blood, fire, and columns of smoke. The sun will be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And it will come about that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD Will be saved; For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem There will be those who escape, Just as the LORD has said, Even among the survivors whom the LORD calls.
In proclaiming this prophecy, Peter was alluding to the end of days, “The Day of the LORD.” No, it is not Sunday. The Day of Yahuah is a day of thick darkness and clouds, the sun goes dark and the moon turns to blood (Rev. 8:12), directly before Yeshua returns.
Joel 2:1-2 Blow the ram’s horn in Zion; sound the alarm on My holy mountain! Let all who dwell in the land tremble, for the Day of the LORD is coming; indeed, it is near- a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness.
Those who repent during the final phases of tribulation will be saved from the wrath being prepared to be poured out, (Amos 2:7, Isaiah 26). Once Mt. Zion is set down upon the earth, survivors from across the world (who were not in the geographical area of wrath), will come up to Zion to call on Yeshua for mercy and learn the law (Isaiah 2:2-5).
The resurrected believers are the mature harvest entering into the fullness of the Renewed Covenant! The wheat is resurrected from the earth and gathered into the barn of Zion.
1 Corinthians 15:22-23 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ the first-fruits; then at His coming, those who belong to Him.
Luke 3:17 His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.
1 Corinthians 15:37-38, 42 And what you sow is not the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or something else. But God gives it a body as He has designed, and to each kind of seed He gives its own body. . . So will it be with the resurrection of the dead: What is sown is perishable; it is raised imperishable.
The Downpayment of the Spirit
The Holy Spirit being given was not a new concept. Many times in the Old Testament we read instances of individuals or groups being overcome with the Spirit. The day of Pentecost however, was in greater quantity than had ever been witnessed before. Because of Yeshua’s priesthood and position at the right hand of the Father, He has the access and ability to pour out greater amounts of the power of Yahuah. Yet, the Spirit we have access to in this life is still only the down payment of what is to come!
2 Corinthians 1:22 who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.
2 Corinthians 5:5 Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave us the Spirit as a pledge.
Ephesians 1:13-14 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of the promise, which is a first installment of our inheritance, in regard to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.
Peter in the Acts 2 account, and Paul in various letters, understood that this gift of the Spirit remaining on a person was the first installment of eternal life. There is so much emphasis on walking in the Spirit and obeying the commands because these are the literal reality of eternal life in the land of promise- Zion.
Yahuah’s covenant, though replicated on the earth, always pointed to the heavenly land and resurrected Spirit bodies. The down payment of the Spirit that is given to us now is intended to teach us in the ways of righteousness and seal us to remain in Him until the day when Joel 2 and 1 Thessalonians 4 is fulfilled.
The Fulfillment
Shavuot was kept by the angels since creation. It was first kept by man-kind when Yahuah made a covenant with Noah to not flood the earth again. Abraham kept the feast when Yahuah covenanted with him to multiply his seed and give his descendants the land. Yahuah renewed the feast with all of Israel and the foreigners who joined them on Mt. Sinai when He gave them His righteous ways. In the book of Acts, the covenant promises were renewed once again by pouring out the Holy Spirit for gathered followers to proclaim the gospel. This all leads up to the day when believers are resurrected, brought to the land of Zion, and the receive the Law engraved on our hearts. (New Covenant Promises study).
Jeremiah 31:33-34 “For this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord: “I will put My law within them and write it on their heart; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. They will not teach again, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will forgive their wrongdoing, and their sin I will no longer remember.”
Ezekiel 37:12-14 O My people, I will open your graves and bring you up from them, and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you, My people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. Iwill put My Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will do it, declares the LORD.