SHAVOUT

Saturday 23^rd May 2026                                       7^th Sivan 5786

SHAVOUT

Exodus 19:1–20:23; Ezekiel 1:1–28, 3:12; Acts 2:1-21

In Leviticus 23, the festivals, including the Sabbath, are referred to as G-d’s mo’adim – His appointed times.

The Festival of Sukkot concludes with the 8^th day festivity 0f Shemini Atzeret – the Eighth Day of the Solemn Assembly - and it functions as an independent holiday designed for intimate spiritual connection after the universal, public celebrations of Sukkot. It completes the festival of Sukkot.

The Talmud presents a famous parable of a king who hosts a massive week-long feast for international guests (representing the 70 bulls sacrificed on Sukkot for the 70 nations). When everyone leaves, he whispers to his beloved children, "Please, stay with me one more day; your departure is difficult for me." Shemini Atzeret is that extra, intimate day.

Similarly, the completion of Passover is Shavuot. It is the atzeret of Pesach and the two chaggim are interconnected.  At Pesach, we received our physical redemption but physical redemption in itself is incomplete without its spiritual counterpart. And so, exactly 50 days after their deliverance from the Egyptian oppression, they stood as one before the Mountain of Revelation to receive the Father’s self-revelation and the atzeret of the deliverance experience, the giving and receiving of the Torah.

Similarly, after Yeshua’s ascension, Messiah instructed them to wait for the promise of the Father and exactly 50 days later, as the waited in prayer and the counting of the omer, the Spirit of God came upon them in a new and profound way. In this sense, Shavuot is the Atzeret of Pesach; it provides the spiritual empowering necessary to enter into their inheritance, the Promised Land of intimacy with the Father.

And so, Shavuot is considered to be the atzeret of Pesach for it celebrates both the giving and receiving of the Torah at Mount Sinai when the fire of God’s Presence descended onto the top of the mountain, and the outpouring of the Ru’ach HaKodesh on the day of Shavuot.  Both events involved HaShem coming down to be among His people in a profound and significant way that involved and included fire.

Concerning these mo’adim, R' Hirsch (Horeb ch. 23) says:  

"Moadim, appointed seasons, summon us to submit ourselves entirely to the contemplation and inner realization of those ideals which lie at their foundation. Just as Mo’ed in space refers to the locality which men have as their appointed place of assembly for an appointed purpose, so Mo’ed in time is a point in time which summons us communally to an appointed activity -- in this case an inner activity.

Thus, Moadim are the days which stand out from the other days of the year. They summon us from our everyday life to halt and to dedicate all our spiritual activities to them. These set apart times interrupt the ordinary activities of our life and give us the spirit, power, and consecration for the future by revivifying those ideas upon which our whole life is based. In choosing this path, we openly confess and repent of past activity that are destructive to body and spirit. And, in walking on our knees in repentance, we ask that by Your Spirit, You would restore to us lost purity and the hope of blessing."

This is a wonderful and insightful summary of the purpose of the set-apart times. They are moments when we can encounter the Holy One of Israel and recommit and rededicate our lives to Him, in His service! They are also propitious times when we can draw nearer to HaShem. It is as if the Father opens a door, beckoning us to draw nearer. These are holy and auspicious moments in time!

In Luke 19, Yeshua wept over the city of Jerusalem, the city where God said “I will put My Name there”. He wept because the majority of the Jewish people were oblivious to the ‘day of their visitation” (Luke 19:44). In the same city where Messiah was welcomed by crowds of people with these words - “Baruch haba beshem Adonai – “Blessed is He who cometh in the name of the Lord”, later, a much smaller crowd cried out “crucify Him, crucify Him; his blood be upon us and our children”!

Family, we too can miss the day of His visitation! We are so caught up in the busyness of life, that we become insensitive to God’s presence in our midst. In Matthew 18:19-20, Yeshua said “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”  

Jeremiah 29:12-14

“Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the LORD…”.

And so, when we come together to celebrate His appointed times, to serve one another and to worship the LORD, and if we draw near with the correct heart attitude, His eternal promise is that we will encounter His holy presence. This is Yeshua’s promise to us! It is an appointed time.

However, the presence of the Lord is not limited only to the mo’adim. Whenever we come together on the Shabbat or on a chag (festival), if we turn our hearts toward Him, God meets with us and we experience the wonder of His Presence in our midst.

Now, the root word for Shavuot and shevua (oath) is the same - שבועה. The Hebrew for the number ‘7’ is שבע. Shavua means ‘to seventh’ and seven in Gamatria is known as G-d’s perfect number. And so, to ‘sevens’ oneself is to make a binding commitment to God to walk in His ways and to follow Him upon the narrow way.

Shavuot is also a day of remembrance. We recall the giving and receiving of Torah at Mount Sinai and we are reminded of the vow that Israel took at Sinai. When Moses told the gathered nation all that God had spoken, their immediate response was:

Exodus 24:7 – ‘all that you have said, we will do’ – “ְוָנִשְׁמָע כֹּל אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר יְהֹוָה נַעֲשֶׂה”

Kol asher dibeir Adonai, na’aseh v’nishma

“Na’aseh venishma” – with one voice, they committed themselves to the terms of the covenant treaty. But, not only that. Moshe also sprinkled them with the blood of the sacrifice:

Exodus 24:8 – “Then Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, "Behold the blood of the covenant, which Adonai has cut with you, in agreement with all these words."

Israel voluntarily pledged allegiance and fidelity to God with no strings attached. No oath was cast upon her by force or coercion; she voluntarily took that oath upon herself.

In Acts chapter 1, we see the disciples gathered together in one place awaiting the promised outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 1:4-5 4

And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, “which,” He said,     “you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

Here, assembled together as one, they counted the omer for 49 days and they patiently waited until the 50^th day for the promised encounter with the divine presence. They were obedient to the terms of the covenant cut in Messiah’s shed blood!

In Judaism, Shavuot is the time to renew the vows of faithfulness and obedience to the covenant that HaShem cut with us. The set apart times are auspicious occasions to encounter God, and therefore, Shavuoth is viewed as a G-d given opportunity in time and space where through the avenue of teshuva, one could rededicate him or herself to G-d. Individually but also, as a community!

May this come to pass even in our time, we ask and pray beshem Yeshua.