The Meaning of Shavuot (Pentecost) and How to Celebrate It.
In Exodus 19, the wandering people of God get to their destination. They arrive at Mount Sinai for the first Shavuot. God has been teaching them all along that He is the initiator of relationship and its boundary-setter. He freed them through Passover according to His rules. He allowed them to cross the Red Sea according to his power. He delivered spiritual food and spiritual drink if they would obey His plan, and He defeated Amalek through a very peculiar methodology, so that all would know that it was the hand of God that had brought the victory. He invites. He sets the rules. That is nowhere more true than here, at the giving of the Law.
First, God lays out the invitation:
"The Lord called to him [Moses] out of the mountain, saying, 'Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.'” Exodus 19:3-6
"Come to me. Know me," God invites them. This is not a God who needs to be sought out, whose will and nature are hidden from mankind. We are not working toward a relationship with the Almighty. He has come to us! The has born us "on eagles' wings and brought [us] to [Himself]!" This is the God who calls to the Jew here but to all of mankind through Jesus' church and invites us all to come and know His love, His grace, and His nature.
The invitation does not come on our terms, though. We are invited to know Him, but we cannot come any old way. All roads do not lead to God. In fact, only the one road that He has laid takes us to Himself. The way is open, but narrow. Notice the terms of the invitation: "If you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant...." Come everyone! The invitation is open, and the road to fellowship is called, "obedience."
God then defends his holiness.
"Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments and be ready for the third day. For on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. And you shall set limits for the people all around, saying, ‘Take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death. No hand shall touch him, but he shall be stoned or shot; whether beast or man, he shall not live.’ When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.” Exodus 19:10-13
God's holiness is tied to His glory, and as such is closely guarded by the Almighty. Over and over again, we are warned that sinful man cannot see a holy God and live. Here, God is making a special provision for them. Again, it's invitation and regulation together: "Purify yourself and keep away until you do." Then, when I tell you to, come into my presence.
God's instructions are obeyed, and the people prepare for an encounter with the Living God. The smoke, fire, wind, and trumpet blasts increase until the end of the third day, when God descends to the top of the mountain, and a long blast on the trumpet is heard. We know from the text's instructions that the trumpets were not the shofar horns of the Levites but were in fact the blast of heavenly instruments (think the rapture's announcement). At the signal, the people assemble at the base of the mountain.
It is a point of contention among Rabbis if the people were meant to stay only at the foot of the mountain throughout the experience or if they were meant to ascend with Moses after the initial giving of the law. God makes it clear to Moses that the initial decalogue is meant for Moses alone. He reiterates the prohibition against touching the mountain, and Moses conveys it again to the people, but if they were not to ever come up, why did God say, in vs 13, that they were to go "up to the mountain"?
In either case, when Moses comes down again, the people are terrified by what they have seen and heard. If the point of this experience was an invitation into intimate relationship trough the law and then the sharing the Spirit with them (which is the opinion of the majority of Messianic Jews) to empower this obedience, the people only get half the gift. Instead of the invitation being accepted, they reject the fullness of the gift on Sinai and settle only for the law.
"Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was. Exodus 20:18-21
This is where many Rabbis believe that the people were meant to ascend the mountain and receive, along with the law, the indwelling of the Spirit to empower its obedience. They don't follow through, though. Moses tells them not to fear, that this display is meant to instill a holy fear into them, and he invites them up and in. They reject the invitation, though. Instead of intimacy, they choose distance, and instead of hearing God directly, they choose to use Moses as a mediator. They stand far off, and Moses draws near.
Thus begins the sad story of Israel's failure to obey the law. They have the instruction, but they are lacking the strength--and even the desire--to obey. Moses is standing on the hill alone, overlooking the battle, and there is neither an Aaron nor a Hur to hold him up. No wonder Amalek wins over and over in their history.
In case you think that this is an aberrant belief, that the Jews would never reject an offer of intimacy with God made so plainly as an invitation up the mountain, remember what Jesus went through. He came to bring the Kingdom of God on His terms--invitation and boundaries--and they rejected Him as well.
Several thousand years later, on the same day--Shavuot--the invitation was finally accepted. The Law had not been written on stone, but on the hearts of Jesus' followers in fulfillment of Jeremiah 31. The way of righteous living was not merely described to them, but actually lived in perfection before their eyes in the life of Christ. They were not called merely to obey but to live in the power of the perfected obedience of Christ, applied to their account. The followers had at first chosen distance when Christ was crucified, but His resurrection had brought them back together, and they were waiting in the upper room, in Jerusalem, on top of the Mountain of God. They showed up, and so did the Holy spirit.
Read Acts 2 alongside Exodus 19 and 20, and you'll be astonished at the similarities. God shows up, and miraculous fire declares his presence, accompanied by wind and strange voices (In Exodus, it is not just the "sound" of the trumpets and the lightning, but it is literally the "tongues" of the trumpets and lightning). In both places, the manifestation of God comes with similar signs. This time, however, the people are ready. The Holy Spirit comes, and they don't run away. They are filled.
What the Jews of the Exodus rejected, the Jewish Apostles of Jesus accepted. Whereas the Jews after Sinai were condemned to run after obedience to a law they could never fulfill, Jesus' followers can live in the obedience already wrought for them by Christ. The law served then and still serves today as a reminder of our sin, but in Christ, we have been made new, and with the Holy Spirit's indwelling, we are free to live in obedience. The picture, only half-rendered at the first Shavuot, was completed at the day that the church has chosen to refer to with its Greek designation: Pentecost.
How appropriate, then, that Peter should echo the invitation of God at Sinai when He declares that the church is, "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." 1Pe 2:9
Praise God that He has not only called us to obey (although that is no less true today), but He has been perfect obedience for us, so that in our failing, we are made whole by Christ. Praise God that He has not expected us to obey on our own strength and by the power of our own will, but that He has provided the Holy Spirit to be our strength and the buttress of our will when it fails. He has called us to perfection, but He has become the perfection for us. Bless the Lord!
If you are still trying to live "right" or be "good enough" for God, learn from the failure of the Jews for two thousand years between Shavuot and Pentecost. It cannot be done. Call out to God, give Him your failures, you sins, and accept the invitation of the Lord to intimacy through God-empowered obedience.
How To Celebrate It
Shavuot is a complex holiday. Much like most other Judeo-Christian observances, it has portions which are strictly Biblical, portions which are tied to yearly cycles of seasons and life events, and portions of it which are, in all honesty, just silly. The plan I'm posting here is what we do, borrowing some of the extra-biblical "tradition" of the Jewish celebration, to lend a sense of authenticity to the history of the holiday, and packing in as much Biblical symbolism as possible.
The Food: No holiday gets past "go" without food. This holiday coincides with the barley harvest, and as such, much bread is baked and eaten. It is also a peak production period for milk in Israel, so dairy is high on the list as well. We start by baking bagels in the morning. Recipes abound online. Pick one. They take time to make, so don't make everyone wait for breakfast for them. Have something quick to hold you over, then make these. Enjoy the process. While they're baking, we make fresh homemade butter by shaking heavy whipping cream in cleaned out plastic ware or baby food containers.
Throughout the rest of day, food should be bread-and-dairy focused. We had homemade Fettuccine Alfredo with Chicken last year for dinner (That's a no-no in Kosher food laws--combining dairy and meat in one meal--but we get to celebrate the fulfillment of the Law on our behalf, right? We also get to live on this side of Acts 10!).
The Family Time: This is one of the three pilgrim feasts of the year. In Israel, that means that Jewish men over the age of 12 must appear before the Lord in Jerusalem. Usually, whole families went. That means that families spent a lot of time together, talking about the Lord and learning from one another. Find time to just talk about God with your family. Ask questions, answer them with scripture. Marinade in the greatness of God together.
If you have younger children, as I do, google "Shavuot Crafts." There are many. Do something together to help them understand what this day is about.
The Scripture: Two sections of scripture are typically read on this holiday. I'd suggest you may add a third. First, sometime early in the day (perhaps over fresh homemade bagels and fresh butter) read the book of Ruth together. It takes place during this time of year (the barley harvest) and is about the inclusion of foreigners (gentiles) into the plan of God's salvation through the Jew. That's a pretty awesome fit for us gentiles who are celebrating this high Jewish holiday.
Later in the day (maybe as dinner is cooking), read the story of the 10 commandments from Exodus 19 and 20. Talk about the meaning of the Law for the Jew and its fulfillment for those of us who follow Messiah. In a typical Jewish home, this conversation, the studying and discussing of the law, goes all night. I'd suggest you change subjects after dinner.
In the evening, at the conclusion of the day, read some of the New Testament scriptures which discuss Jesus' fulfillment of the Law and our ability to live in His perfect completion of the Father's demands. Examples might be taken from numerous places in the book of Romans or Hebrews. You may even read some of Jesus' own statements about His relationship to the Law in the gospels.
Read Acts 2 to bring the symbolism into the New Testament. God has not only given us an invitation to relationship, but He has filled us with Himself! What an amazing truth in which we get to live!
Close the day by thanking God that He invites us to know Him, has given us His standard for living in the Law, and has fulfilled His own requirement by sending Jesus to live it perfectly for us!
Happy Shavuot!
