Count off seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain. Then celebrate the Feast of Weeks to the LORD your God by giving a freewill offering in proportion to the blessings the LORD your God has given you. And rejoice before the LORD your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name–you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, the Levites in your towns, and the aliens, the fatherless and the widows living among you. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, and follow carefully these decrees.
Deuteronomy 16:9-12
Seven weeks ago I wrote about the Feast of Firstfruits, coming just after Passover. We have spent seven weeks counting the omer. Today is day 50. That brings us to another significant festival on the Biblical calendar: Shavuot, or the Feast of Weeks (the name coming from the seven weeks to count off). It is another festival of firstfruits. Whereas the earlier festival celebrated the beginning of the barley harvest, this serves a similar purpose with the wheat harvest. Barley and wheat are planted about the same time and grow during the rainy winter months in Israel. Barley matures faster and is ready sooner, but wheat takes longer.
The Feast of Weeks also commemorates the giving of the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai (Exodus 19-20). It says the Israelites came to Mount Sinai at the beginning of the third month (Exodus 19:1-2), which is the same time as the Feast of Weeks. The Jews view Mount Sinai as the time when God married his people, giving them the Ten Commandments as the wedding vows.
This day figures prominently in the opening pages of Acts. The Greek name for Feast of Weeks is Pentecost (named for the 50 days counted). Acts 2 tells how the early believers were celebrating Shavuot in Jerusalem.
Both instances talk about the presence of God coming down in a radically new way. In both cases fire comes down. At Sinai God spoke to his people (and in Rabbinic tradition he spoke in all the languages of the world). In Acts God’s Spirit rests on his people and enables them to speak in many languages. In the first case, God inscribed his laws on two stone tablets (Exodus 31:18). In the latter days he writes his laws on the hearts of his people (Jeremiah 31:33).
The deeper something is written within you, the more permanent it is.
(From Medinet Habu in Egypt)
Take a moment today to thank God for giving his laws and for sending his Spirit! It is something worth celebrating!