On May 23, 2010 we will celebrate Pentecost Sunday. This is a Christian Church celebration based on the same day as a Jewish Temple Feast called Shavu'ot. The Feast of Weeks is the last of the Spring Celebrations for the Temple. It is sometimes called Atzaret Pesach – The Conclusion of Passover, it is connected to Passover in that the People of Israel were told (Deut. 16:9-11) to count the days from the Celebration of First Fruits (the day after Passover), 49 days. On the 50th day, as a tribute and freewill offering, they would harvest the wheat grain, grind it into fine flour, mix it into yeast bread and bake it. Two loaves of the bread were offered to the Lord as a wave offering, concluding the service. This is the only time leavened bread was used by the priests for the avodah (service).
Shavu'ot stands in contrast to Passover which requires unleavened bread (Exodus 12:14-15), since the two loaves made from the first fruit of the wheat harvest were baked with chametz (yeast) before being 'waved before the Lord' (Lev. 23:15-20). Prophetically the bread is a picture of the 'one new man' (composed of both the Jew and the Gentile) before the altar of the Lord (Eph 2:14-15).
While the Temple was still standing, Shavu'ot (along with Passover and Sukkot) was one of the three pilgrimage holidays (shalosh regalim) when the People of Israel would come to Jerusalem to make a sacrifice of their crop's first fruits. After the Temple was destroyed in 70 A.D., the agricultural aspect of Shavu'ot could no longer be observed, and the Talmudic sages later re-connected this festival with the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai during the month of Sivan (Ex 19:1). There is a connection between Passover, the Omer Count (counting of the days) and the holiday of Shavu'ot that is rooted in the redemptive actions of the Lord, that we will explore some other time. There is another aspect of the holidays that I would like to explore, the aspect of marriage.
According to my source, John Parsons of Hebrew4Christians.com, in the Talmud, Shavu'ot is referred to as the 'marriage day' between God and the People of Israel, between heaven and earth (Passover is considered the time of Israel's 'betrothal' or engagement to God). The Ten Commandments represent the Marriage Contract and the People of Israel represent the beloved bride. In like manner, I look at Pentecost as the time when Christ asked the Church (believers) to be His Kallat Mashiach (the Bride of the Messiah).
In Jewish tradition a man offers his 'intended' a cup of wine in asking her to 'be mine'. If the young lady finds the offering acceptable, she will accept the cup and drink of it. He then goes to prepare their home and a Wedding Feast, while she gathers her clothes dons here wedding gown and waits for him to come and get her. Sometimes she will have friends (bridesmaids) sit with her while she waits; because they never knew when the groom would come (quite often they would come at midnight). To show that she was ready, the young lady would have a lamp with her that was lit all the time she was waiting, so would her bridesmaids.
In the same manner Christ has offered us a cup (the new covenant (Luke 22:20)), all we have to do is accept the cup offered. He has already gone to prepare our wedding suite (John 14:1-3), now all we have to do is gather our clothes, don our wedding gowns, light our lamps and wait.
On that fateful betrothal day almost 2000 years ago, Christ sent His own Fire down to light our wedding lamps. When the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) came and rested on each of the Disciples and other followers of Jesus (Acts 2:1-4), He 'lit the lamp' of each of those First Christians. Our 'lamp' is our spirit filled life, let not the cares of the world lead us to sleepy lives to where we let our lamps go out like the foolish bridesmaids (Matthew 25:1-13), but be prepared with the extra oil of the Word of God to keep that spirit burning bright.
"You, O Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light" Psalms 18:28
Shalom
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