This year we celebrate Shavuot on the 6th of Sivan, starting Saturday night, June 4th. What is Shavuot? Scripturally, Shavuot, also called Pentecost or the Festival of Weeks, commemorates the completion of “the counting of the Omer”, the 50 days from after the first day of Passover to the date that traditionally was when G-d gave the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai: Shavuot.
As we can read in Exodus, when the Jewish People first celebrated Passover and then Shavuot, they were in a period of transition; they had been saved from slavery in Egypt by the G-d who claimed to be the G-d of their ancestors and they had to figure out what it meant to live as a nation under the leadership of the G-d of Abraham. This is why Shavuot is traditionally understood to be the time G-d gave the Law of Moses to the Jewish People. Interestingly enough, Shavuot is also known as the Day of Pentecost – when G-d gave the Holy Spirit to the first disciples of Yeshua as recorded in Acts 2!
It is common for observant Jewish people to celebrate Shavuot by staying up all night to study Scripture to demonstrate their dedication and appreciation for the instruction G-d gave His People. It is also traditional to read the story of Ruth. It is believed that the Megillat of Ruth (the Scroll of Ruth) became the traditional text read because of the manner in which Ruth enters into covenant with the G-d of the Jewish People. Yet, in the holiday of Shavuot, the emphasis is not so much on the people who enter into the covenant as it is on the G-d who desires to be in covenant relationship with His People! This is the most important point and even our lesson for today: G-d desires to be in covenant relationship with us! This is the reason He gave the Jewish People the Torah, this is why He gives followers of Messiah Yeshua His Holy Spirit, and this is why He is coming back to be with us for eternity! G-d is the only G-d, and He initiates relationship with us. Isn’t that amazing! Yet it begs the question: “How are we celebrating and demonstrating daily our zeal to be in deeper relationship with G-d?”
Forward for Messiah!
Kirk Gliebe
Rabbi &
Director
