During Shavuot not only trumpets but also flutes were being played before the altar. “At your times of rejoicing… you are to sound the trumpets over your bu7rnt offerings and fellowship offerings, and they will be a memorial for you before your God….” (Numbers 10:10)
Shavuot after the destruction of the Temples
The main emphasis shifted to the anniversary of receiving the Torah on Mount Sinai. Because the first fruits could not be offered anymore, rabbis suggested replacing it with charity.
Middle Ages
During this period it became tradition to start the formal Jewish (religious) education of young children around the time of Shavuot.
Shavuot and the Book of Jubilees
The Book of Jubilees, also called the “lesser Genesis” - Leptogenesis, and is parallel to Genesis and parts of Exodus. Between 1947 and 1956, 15 Hebrew Jubilee scrolls were found at Qumran. They were probably written between 135-105 BC, and well known by early Christian writers and rabbis.
The book of Jubilees associates the Festival with the Covenant and Torah (Moses) and the Covenants God made with Noah and Abraham as an offering of first fruits.
Today, Oriental Orthodox churches still consider the Jubilees an important part of the Bible. The book traces the first Shavuot to the appearance of the first rainbow - the day God made a covenant with Noah.
Other apocrypha books, Tobit and II Maccabees also mention the “Feast of Weeks”.
Lessons from the book of Ruth
Boaz was a farmer who practiced “leket”- he shared his crop with the poor.
The central theme of the scroll is “chesed” - loving-kindness. We see it in Naomi and Ruth's relationship with each other, and Boaz's chesed when he became their kinsman-redeemer.
Each of the three times the word chesed is used in the scroll, it's directly linked with a blessing from God. Those who perform acts of kindness are rewarded with “redemption from exile”.
Israel had to keep 613 mitzvoth, while gentile nations had only to keep seven. Ruth the Moabites kept seven, and upon her conversion to Judaism accepted the additional 606 mitzvoth.
Ruth = 606 in gematria.
Christians and Pentecost
There are many similarities between the different time periods.
1a. While the people gathered at the foot of Mount Sinai Moses received the Torah, during Shavuot.
1b. After Jesus' resurrection, Jews and proselytes gathered in Jerusalem for the Feast of Weeks. (Book of Acts.)
2a. When the Israelites provoked God to anger fire broke out in the camp. Their complaints led Moses to Moses' choose 70 elders, who prophesied after they received God's spirit.
2b. 70 nations were known in Judaism during the time when Jews and proselytes were baptized with the Holy Spirit and prophesied in Jerusalem, during Shavuot.
3a. At the end of Pesach (Passover) the priest waved a sheaf of barley to anticipate a greater wheat harvest at Shavuot.
3b. Jesus' “weave offering” during Pesach resulted in first fruits during Shavuot. Those present in Jerusalem accepted Jesus' sacrifice as atonement for their sins. A new community came into when those who believed were baptized in water (in Jesus' Name) and in the Holy Spirit. Those who received the new Covenant were cleansed, forgiven, sanctified and equipped with the Spirit of God.
4a. Exodus 24:8 shows that a covenant was made (“cut”) with a sacrifice.
4b. The “first fruits” that gathered “in Jesus' Name” broke bread and shared the wine in remembrance of Jesus' sacrifice for them during Pesach.
In Acts we read that baptism in Jesus' name was followed by the baptism with the Holy Spirit. This was fundamental to faith in Jesus, and not linked to a separate movement, as we see it today.
Shavuot is a Feast of Joy!
May we continue to be grateful and rejoice in God's bountiful blessings towards us, and as a token for our gratefulness, offer Him the first fruits of our lives.
