What is Shavuot? What does it mean for Christians?
The Jewish Feast of Shavuot begins Tuesday, June 3, 2014 at sunset and ends Thursday, June 5, 2014 at nightfall. Do you know the significance of this feast? Is there a prophetic aspect to it? Some food (bread) for thought!
Shavuot is one of the three mandatory pilgrim feasts that were given by the Lord and detailed in the book of Leviticus. The date of Shavuot was, and still is, set by counting from the Feast of Firstfruits, which is an offering to the Lord required at the spring feast of Passover.
The Passover took place at the time of the barley harvest. A wave offering was to be given to the Lord the day after the Sabbath. It was to be a sheaf of first fruits from the harvest (Leviticus 23:10-11). This was to signify the giving back to God of the first fruits of the harvest, which He had provided for His people. It was also an acknowledgment that they knew from where the bounty came and it was a remembrance to whom thanksgiving should be given.
From the day of that offering, the Israelites were told to count seven Sabbaths (seven weeks, or 49 days), and include the day following the seventh Sabbath, making it a total of 50 days (Leviticus 23:15-16). The time then for Shavuot would be early summer, and would vary because the Passover is set according to a lunar calendar Shavuot is usually mid-May to mid-June on our calendars, and it is also the time of the wheat harvest.