[Post updated 5/15/2013]

 

 

To compare, the NASB reads,

 

 

Now is the time of the Biblical feast of Shavuot.  Shavuot is the Hebrew word for weeks, and this feast marks seven weeks from Passover.  Jews count the 50 days between the commemoration of the Exodus and the time when they gathered at the foot of Mt. Sinai to receive the Torah and entered into a covenant with the Most High God.

 

This celebration is the second of three days Jewish people are commanded to gather before the LORD in Jerusalem to celebrate and rededicate themselves to the covenant.  The first day is Passover, and the third day is the Feast of Tabernacles.

 

Why did God command that they gather in Jerusalem on particular days?  Simply so that they would be there when He showed His great love and compassion in the fulfillment of these important feasts.  As they traveled to Jerusalem they prepared their hearts and were full of expectation hoping for the Messiah.  As they traveled, many prayed throught Psalms 120-134 (the songs of ascent).  Read through all of these in order non-stop.  It’s awesome that in Psalm 120 the focus is on daily troubles and by the time you get to Psalm 134 all focus is on the LORD.

 

Passover is the prophetic foreshadowing of of the betrothal.  The Jewish people were betrothed to God when they left Egypt to follow Him.  This was fulfilled when Jesus, the Bridegroom, met the Torah’s requirements and became the FINAL sacrifice paving the way for all people, Jew and Gentile, to be reconciled to God.  Those gathered in Jerusalem for Passover were there to witness His triumphant arrival into the City on a lowly donkey.  They were there when Jesus was arrested, tried, condemned, crucified, and ultimately rose from the dead.  Simon of Cyrene was there for Passover, but ended up helping to carry His cross.  Sadly, many were part of the crowd that shouted, “Crucity Him!”

 

Shavuot, is the prophetic foreshadowing of the marriage.  50 days after they left Egypt, the Israelites gathered before God at Mt. Sinai and entered into a covenant with Him as they received the Torah.  This feast later became agriculturally focused as the gathering of first fruits.  This was fulfilled while Jews were gathered to celebrate the first covenant, and Jesus’ disciplies were gathered in the Upper Room when the Holy Spirit empowered them and wrote the Torah on their hearts–a New Covenant–and they all began to speak in tongues declaring the praises of God in languages they never learned. I believe that those in the crowd of 3,000 who received Messiah and were baptized that day were also there 50 days earlier shouting “Crucify Him!”, and this was an answer to Jesus prayer, “Father, forgive them for they don’t know what they do.”

 

The third day, Sukkot (Tabernacles), will be the prophetic fulfillment of the gathering of all nations to Jerusalem and the advent of the Millenial Kingdom.  This is yet to come; however, these days are times when we are to be full of expectation and anticipation of God’s faithfulness to His covenant.

 

God’s heart is longing to pour out His love and compassion, and He is waiting for His people, Jew and Gentile, to turn their hearts to Him, and then there will be a convergence of His heart and our hearts joining as one.  This is my prayer for you, and for Jerusalem and the Jewish people…for another mighty outpouring of the Ruach Ha-Kodesh (The Holy Spirit) to open hearts to receive all that Jesus accomplished, and that Jesus would be the recognized Messiah!