Shavuot Covenant Renewal
Shavuot is one of the seven feast days of Yahuah.
Not much is widely known about this feast beyond the law given on Mt. Siani and the day of Pentecost when the Spirit was poured out. However, there is actually quite a bit of rich history to this feast as well as future prophetic significance. We are going to study how this feast relates to the covenants, the Holy Spirit, and the New Jerusalem.
Much of this study will be taken from the book of Jubilees. (Jubilees is scripture that was removed from the American Canon of 66 roughly 180 years ago. It is still a part of the traditional bible in many parts of the world). This book gives the same recount of Genesis up to Mt. Siani; it is the angel's historical account given to Moses with time markers and additional details. (See Acts 7:38, 53; Galatians 3:19; Hebrews 2:2 to understand that it was angels who were ministering the law to Moses on Mt. Siani). For your own copy of Jubilees, click here to find it on Amazon.
Noah’s Rainbow
Did you know the classic children’s church lesson of ‘Noah and the rainbow promise’ is directly related to Shavuot? Genesis chapter 9, verses 9-17, speaks of the covenant that Yah established with Noah and with every living creature that came out of the ark to never destroy the earth by flood again. He set His rainbow in the sky as a sign and makes it seen by clouds as a remembrance of His covenant for all flesh upon the earth. Taking a deeper look at this historical account in Jubilees, we have the time indicator that this covenant moment happened in the third month. Genesis 8:14 tells us that on the 27th day of the second new moon (the second month), the land was dry and Noah was able to come out from the ark. It goes on to describe him making a sacrifice of the clean animals he had brought with him. It’s reasonable to place the time of this sacrifice at the end of the second month/ beginning of the third, lining up the Jubilees and Genesis accounts. This day of sacrifice and covenant was the first earthly Feast of Weeks (Shavuot)!
Jubilees 6:15-17 He gave to Noah and his sons for a sign that there should never again be a flood on the earth. He set His bow in the cloud for a sign of the eternal covenant that there should not again be a flood on the earth to destroy it all the days of the earth. For this reason, it is ordained and written on the heavenly tables, that they should celebrate the Feast of Weeks in this month of a year, to renew the covenant every year.
This chapter of Jubilees continues to explain that this festival was already being celebrated in heaven by the angels since the day of creation! It was ordained for man to keep at this covenant moment with Noah. Continuing this account by angels to Moses, they explain how Abraham kept the feast and now all of Israel is commanded to do so also.
Two-Fold Feast
Oftentimes we get the Feast of First Fruits mixed up and lumped into the days of Unleavened Bread- I myself have done this! However, carefully reading Leviticus 23:11-21, there is a first fruit wave offering on the day after the Sabbath during Unleavened Bread but it is not ordained as a holy convocation or a Sabbath. This we most commonly recognize as the day Yeshua was resurrected from the dead, as a first fruit of the resurrection; a pledge of the greater harvest to come (1 Cor. 15:20). This day was to be kept as an observance for the picture of Yeshua’s resurrection, but it is not the actual feast day.
Jubilees 6:21 For this feast of weeks and the feast of first fruits; this feast is twofold and of a double nature; according to what is written and engraved concerning it, celebrate it.
Leviticus 23:15-17, 21 You shall also count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day when you brought in the sheaf of the wave offering; there shall be seven complete Sabbaths. You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall present a new grain offering to Yahuah. You shall bring in from your dwelling places two loaves of bread as a wave offering, made of two-tenths of an ephah; they shall be of a fine flour, baked with leaven as first fruits to Yahuah. . . On this very day you shall make a proclamation as well; you are to have a holy convocation. You shall do no servile work. It is to be a permanent statute in all your dwelling places throughout your generations.
The Feast of Weeks (Shavuot) is the end of the counting of seven weeks. The beginning of the count was the first-fruit observance day; the fiftieth day is when first-fruits are to be waved to Yahuah and a holy convocation is to be held, a day of no servile work. The feast is two-fold as both a day to present first fruits and a set-apart day of covenant renewal/ remembrance.
Another interesting aspect is the grain offering. The first-fruit during Unleavened Bread is flour and oil alone- no leaven! The Shavuot first-fruit is to be baked with leaven. Leaven, we know, can represent sin. Messiah rose as a sinless offering, waved and accepted before Yahuah. But leaven can also represent maturity. We’ll come back to this towards the end, but keep “the matured believers are resurrected” at the forefront of your mind.
The Elohim of Abraham
Abraham is such an interesting, deep character. Jubilees again gives a more detailed account of his life and faith that aligns completely with Genesis. See the Bride of Messiah blog post for a layout of the promises given to Abraham in Genesis 12-15 as well as a brief theology breakdown. We’re going to look specifically at the Gen. 15 sacrifice and covenant- read it for yourself and compare the text to this passage from Jubilees 14.
Jubilees 14:17-18, 20 And he awoke from his sleep, and he arose, and the sun had set; there was a flame, and behold! a furnace was smoking, a flame of fire passed between the pieces. And on that day Yahuah made a covenant with Abram, saying “To thy seed will I give this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the Euphrates river. . .” . . . And on that day we made a covenant with Abram, according as we had covenanted with Noah in this month; and Abram renewed the festival as an ordinance for himself forever.
The beginning of Jubilees 14 provides the time marker “on the new moon of the third month,” so again we have this day of covenant being placed on Shavuot just as verse 20 says “as we covenanted Noah in this month.”
The Law Given on Mt. Siani
I wasn’t aware of this until we began keeping the feasts- the law was given on Shavuot! During a Wednesday evening visiting our old church there was a teaching going on that mentioned this. I was actually surprised until a comment was made regarding “the law brought death but the day of Pentecost when the Spirit was poured out brought life” and basically redeemed the day, in more or less words. Of course, this broke my heart now understanding that Mt. Sinani was a moment of God’s presence coming down and the law being spiritual, was a way of His Spirit being poured out to equip and instruct His people.
During the time that Israel dwelled in Egypt, they lost their ways. The feasts were forgotten and pagan practices became normal. Mt. Siani was the Father’s moment of reminding Israel who they are and to whom they belong. The covenant was being renewed, “You will be My people, and I will be Your God,” and instruction for righteous behavior was given. This, despite modern church doctrine, was not a moment of oppression and death. This was a moment of freedom from sin- by having the knowledge of what sin is- and the renewal promise of blessing, protection, and prosperity for practicing Godly behavior.
Jubilees 6:19-20 But Abraham observed it, and Isaac, and Jacob and his children until the days the children of Israel forgot it until you celebrated it anew on this mountain. Command the children of Israel to observe this festival in all their generations for a commandment unto them: one day in the year in this month they shall celebrate the festival.
The Day of Pentecost
Pentecost is simply the word fifty in Greek, used to name the fiftieth day when the Israelites gathered for the Feast of Weeks. In Acts 2, Yeshua had commanded His disciples to wait in Jerusalem where scattered tribes from all the surrounding regions would gather together to keep the feast. On this day- 50 days after His resurrection- Yeshua performed His first act as High Priest in the heavenly temple. He poured out the Holy Spirit of YHWH on His disciples. These devout men- men and women who were faithful and kept the commandments- were given the ability to proclaim the praises of YHWH and preach the gospel in various languages. The gathered nations were able to hear the Gospel of the Kingdom in their own language and were able to understand that the prophesied Messiah had come. Once again, YHWH renewed the covenant. This was His message that soon every nation and every tongue would be gathered to the New Jerusalem and confess “Yeshua is King!” The Spirit being poured out on Shavuot was a literal first-fruit offering by Yeshua, for the Father. His first harvest of followers was ready!
The End of Days
During the miraculous, Spirit-filled event happening in Jerusalem, people in the crowds began to question if the disciples were drunk because of the multiple languages being used. Peter stood up and quoted this passage from Joel:
Joel 2:28-32 “It will come about after this That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and your daughters will prophesy, Your old men will have dreams, Your young men will see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth, Blood, fire, and columns of smoke. The sun will be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And it will come about that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD Will be saved; For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem There will be those who escape, Just as the LORD has said, Even among the survivors whom the LORD calls.
In proclaiming this prophecy, Peter was alluding to the end of days, “The Day of the LORD.” This is the day of thick darkness and clouds, the sun goes dark and the moon turns to blood (Rev. 8:12), directly before Yeshua returns. Those who repent during the final phases of tribulation will be saved from the wrath being prepared to be poured out. Once Mt. Zion is set down upon the earth, survivors from across the world (who were not in the geographical area of wrath), will come up to Zion to call on Yeshua for mercy and learn the law (Isaiah 2:2-5).
The Downpayment of the Spirit
The Holy Spirit being given was not a new concept. Many times in the Old Testament we read instances of individuals or groups being overcome with the Spirit. The day of Pentecost however, was in greater quantity than had ever been witnessed before. Because of Yeshua’s priesthood and position at the right hand of the Father, He has the access and ability to pour out greater amounts of the power of Yah. Yet, the Spirit we have access to in this life is still only the down payment of what is to come!
2 Cor. 1:22 who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.
2 Cor. 5:5 Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave us the Spirit as a pledge.
Eph. 1:13-14 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of the promise, which is a first installment of our inheritance, in regard to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.
Peter in the Acts 2 account, and Paul in various letters, understood that this gift of the Spirit remaining on a person was the first installment of eternal life. There is so much emphasis on walking in the Spirit and obeying the commands because these are the literal reality of eternal life in the land of promise- Zion.
Yah’s covenant, though replicated on the earth, always pointed to the heavenly land and resurrected, spirit-body life. The downpayment of the Spirit given to us now is intended to teach us in the ways of righteousness and seal us to remain in Him until the day when Joel 2 and 1 Thess. 4 is fulfilled- the day Yeshua returns to rule and His believers are given resurrected Spiritual bodies- the mature harvest.
The Fulfillment
We have gone over Shavuot being kept by the angels since creation. It was first kept by man-kind when Yah made a covenant with Noah to not flood the earth again. Abraham kept the feast when Yah covenanted with him to multiply his seed and give his descendants the land. Isaac, Jacob, and Israel kept the feast until they forgot in Egypt. Yah brought the feast back to Israel on Mt. Siani, and gave them instructions on how to keep the festival yearly in the land of promise. In the book of Acts, the covenant promises were renewed once again by pouring out the Holy Spirit for gathered followers to proclaim the gospel. This all leads up to the day believers are gathered at the resurrection, brought to the land of Zion, and have the law completely written on our hearts. The new covenant in Jeremiah 31 is the consummation of each of the covenants. See this blog post for more on the New Covenant.
Jeremiah 31:33-34 “For this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord: “I will put My law within them and write it on their heart; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. They will not teach again, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will forgive their wrongdoing, and their sin I will no longer remember.”
The Feast of Weeks (Shavuot) is an incredibly important, prophetically significant festival. This year (2023) will be my family’s first year celebrating Shavuot and I am incredibly excited! Now, having a better understanding of the history and what it looks forward to, I feel even closer to the Father and desire to be a part of His set-apart day of rejoicing and covenant renewal. If you’re not already, I highly encourage you to take some time to pray about keeping the feast. It doesn’t have to be complicated- if you can, gather with other believers, have a time of worship and eat a delicious meal together. Offer up spiritual sacrifices by thanksgiving and doing good- the Father will be well pleased with a heart desiring His ways!
If you have young children, check out the kids Shavuot bundle here which includes 5 pages of coloring and activity printables.
