Shalom, friends!
We are looking ahead with anticipation of
what our life will be like after the coronavirus
pandemic. With Passover and Easter behind us,
celebration of Pentecost (Shavuot in Hebrew).
Shavuot (Hebrew for “weeks”) is known
to Christians as Pentecost. It is one of three
pilgrimage feasts found in the Hebrew Scriptures
when God commands the Jewish people to go up
to Jerusalem and worship at the Temple, and it is
also the last of the spring festivals. The festivals
of Israel were designed by God to focus the
hearts and minds of the Jewish people on God’s
redemptive message.
The Spring Festivals
are Passover and the
Feast of Unleavened
of these observances
points to the Messiah in
is a prophetic portrait
takes away the sin of the
world. The celebration
of unleavened bread
reminds us of the sinless
nature of the Savior. The
Shavuot,
literally “weeks” in Hebrew, from the root word
point they observed Shavuot. In Jewish tradition,
Shavuot is the day when Moses received the Ten
Commandments from God on Mount Sinai. In
Christian tradition, this same festival is called
There are other Jewish traditions associated
with Shavuot, such as reading the book of Ruth,
2 The Chosen People | MAY 2020
spending the entire night studying the Torah,
chanting the Ten Commandments, decorating
synagogues and homes with aromatic spices, and
partaking of a dairy meal.
We read the book of Ruth because Shavuot
is a harvest-time account of Ruth, a Gentile, who
Israelite mother-in-law, Naomi, and her God.
Ruth is the great-grandmother of King David and
speaks of God’s intention to include Gentiles in
the outpouring of His Messianic blessings.
The Foods of Shavuot
No Jewish holiday is complete without its signature
cuisine! According to long-standing custom, dairy
foods such as cheese, cheesecake, and cheese
blintzes
are eaten on Shavuot.
This tradition may be
based on a passage in
“Your
lips, my bride, drip
honey; honey and milk
are under your tongue,
and the fragrance of
your garments is like the
fragrance of Lebanon”
This association
compares the Bible to
the sweetness of milk
and honey. In some
European cities, Jewish children are introduced
to Bible study on Shavuot by eating honey cakes
with passages from the Bible written on them.
The Messianic
Fulfillment of the Festival
Pentecost? It is no coincidence that God selected
this Jewish festival as the day when He would
send His Holy Spirit.
SHAVUOT
The
Messianic
Fulfillment
of the spring
Festivals
FROM THE PRESIDENT
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