The Light of Torah Messianic Congregation
Shavuot, a Festival of YaHaVah
May 21, 2023
Prepared by P. R. Reid, a servant of Yeshua HaMashiach
Shavuot
Let’s begin with the “Omer’ count:
ברוך אתה יהוה אלהינו מלך העולם אשר קדשנו
במצותיו וצונו על ספירת העומר
Baruch ata YaHaVah Elohenu melech haolam, Asher
Kidshanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu al sefirat ha Omer.
Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments, and commanded us concerning the counting of the Omer.
Today is the 50th day of the counting of the Omer.
If it’s the 50th day of the “Omer” count, we have reached Yahs’ fourth festival, Shavuot. The counting of the “Omer” is what links the first four of Yahs’ festivals together. From Pesach, which is the covenant festival to Shavuot, which was when the Ten Words were given.
It should be no coincidence that the number fifty is used in connection with the concept of liberty. This concept begins with the Jubilee/Yovel.
Lev. 25:8 – 10: “And you shall count seven Sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years; and the time of the seven Sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine years.
Then you shall cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement you shall make the trumpet to sound throughout all your land. And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you; and each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you shall return to his family.”
Ez. 46:16 – 18: “Thus saith the Lord GOD; If the prince (Yeshua) give a gift unto any of his sons (covenant believers), the inheritance (salvation) thereof shall be his sons’; it shall be their possession by inheritance. But if he give a gift of his inheritance to one of his servants, then it shall be his to the year of liberty (the first advent of Messiah Yeshua); after it shall return to the prince: but his inheritance shall be his sons’ for them. Moreover the prince shall not take of the people’s inheritance by oppression, to thrust them out of their possession; but he shall give his sons inheritance out of his own possession: that my people be not scattered every man from his possession.”
The connection between number fifty and the word liberty became a reality in the Brit Chadasha. It was after the resurrection of Yeshua the Messiah, that He walked the earth for forty days, then ascended to The Father, then giving instructions to His talmadim (disciples) to wait for an additional ten days, a total of fifty days, for the gift of promise.
Acts 1:1 – 4: “The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Yeshua began both to do and teach, until the day in which he was taken up, after that He, through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen. To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, you have heard of me.” (KJV)
Acts 2:1- records the events of ten days later (40 + 10 – 50): “When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” **It is the work of the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth and righteousness. The word Pentecost means fifty.
The giving of the Torah, the Matan Torah, specifically the Ten Words, on Mt. Sinai, occurred on the festival of Shavuot. This event occurred fifty days after the “mixed multitude” were liberated from Egyptian bondage.
How then, does the fourth festival of Shavuot, Pentecost and the word liberty connect?
The Hebrew word for “liberty,” is “daror” (דְּרוֹר). In its ancient form “daror” would read: “The will of Yah is for us to enter into a covenant relationship with Him. It was thus from the beginning. We are supposed to secure ourselves to Yeshua, the head of the body, who is the instrument of our salvation.”
The numerical value of “daror” is 410; 4 +1 = 5. The number five speaks to the fifth letter of the Aleph Bet. This is the letter Hey which means to behold or reveal. This letter, too, speaks to Yeshua. At His first and even the second advent, we will behold Him who is to be revealed.
Liberty, “daror,” is defined as freedom; hence, spontaneity of outflow, and so clear:—liberty, pure.
The word “liberty” relates to the physical and the spiritual man. Certainly Israel was set free or delivered from Egyptian bondage in the physical sense.
The giving of the Torah on Mt. Sinai gave Israel, even the “mixed multitude,” the way of spiritual liberty. Recall Israel agreed to enter into covenant with The Father and obey His kingdom principles, namely the Ten Words.
Ex. 24:6 – 8 records Israels agreement to YaHaVahs proposal: And Moses took half the blood and put it in basins, and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar. Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the LORD has said we will do, and be obedient.” And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, ‘This is the blood ( אֶת־הַדָּם ) of the covenant which the LORD has made with you according to all these words.’”
I especially love it when we are shown that this blood belongs to Yeshua, the Aleph Tav. It is His blood that ratifies the Book of the Covenant.
Their obedience to the Ten Words would truly set them apart from the surrounding people groups.
They would worship one God only, namely YaHaVah. This alone would set them apart from the pantheon of gods worshipped by surrounding tribal factions.
They recognized that YaHaVah was Spirit and could not be represented by any carved images. He is majestic in His being and unmistakable in character.
They would not bring His name to naught. Rather, by walking in obedience to His nature, they would constantly be bringing glory to His name.
Finally, Israel would meet with Him on His Sabbath day. A day He said would be a sign between Him and them.
Ex. 31:16 – 18: “Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed. And when He had made an end of speaking with him on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.”
Shavuot
The Hebrew spelling of Shavuot is שָׁבֻעֹת. Shavuot, the feminine plural of a word meaning “week” or “seven”, alludes to the fact that this festival happens exactly seven weeks (i.e. “a week of weeks”) after Passover.
From an early period, Shavuot was regarded as an appropriate time to make covenants between God and humanity. Asa chose to make his covenant (2 Chronicles 15:8–15) on or about Shavuot. Similarly, according to Book of Jubilees, Noah made his covenant with God on Shavuot. The association between Shavuot and covenants suggests a connection to the giving of the Torah, which itself was a covenant between God and Israel. In addition, the description of Asa’s covenant repeatedly alludes both to the giving of the Torah and to the Shavuot holiday, suggesting a link between the two. (Wikipedia)
2 Chronicles 15:8–12: “And when Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and removed the abominable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities which he had taken in the mountains of Ephraim; and he restored the altar of the LORD that was before the vestibule of the LORD. Then he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and those who dwelt with them from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon, for they came over to him in great numbers from Israel when they saw that the LORD his God was with him. So they gathered together at Jerusalem in the third month (the season of Shavuot), in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa.
And they offered to the LORD at that time seven hundred bulls and seven thousand sheep from the spoil they had brought. Then they entered into a covenant to seek the LORD God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul.”
There is more to the story of the repentance of King Asa which is well worth the time spent reading the rest of chapter 15.
In its ancient form, the word Shavuot would read: “The all consuming desire to build a family will be seen in those who have been sealed.” The numerical value of Shavuot is 772; 7 + 7 + 2 = 16. Reducing to a single digit; 1 + 6 = 7. Shavuot is equal to seven weeks.
We know that the Ten Words were meant to liberate the “mixed multitude.” Certainly, the foreigners and strangers dwelling with Israel were always invited to join in a covenant relationship with The Father. In the words of Messiah Yeshua as recorded in Mt. 11:28-30: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (NIV)
Yeshua being the Living Word, the Ten Words, is making a profound statement. Lets contrast Israels’ term of Egyptian bondage with the words of Yeshua.
Bondage vs Liberty
Darkness
Physical or Spiritual
Darkness creates an atmosphere of oppression.
Oppression feels heavy.
Oppression creates feelings of fear.
Light
Physical or Spiritual
Liberty creates an atmosphere of peace.
Peace feels safe. Recall Stephens’ experience prior to his death. He was facing a horrible death but he was not fearful, rather he glorified YaHaVah.
A collaboration of Terry, Scott and myself we ask you to consider the following.
Jn. 5:1 – 12: “After this (Yeshuas’ encounter with the Samaritan woman) there was a feast of the Jews, and Yeshua went up to Jerusalem (a pilgrimage festival, Shavuot). Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five ( the five books of Torah) porches. In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water (the blind, lame and paralyzed are those that are in physical bondage). For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.
Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years (3 + 8 = 11, the number of Y’sha, the root word for Yeshua). When Yeshua saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, ‘do you want to be made well ( to be made well is to be liberated from physical or spiritual bondage)?’ The sick man answered Him, ‘sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.’ Yeshua said to him, ‘rise, take up your bed and walk’ ( Yeshua, the Living Word, liberated the infirmed man). And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. And that day was the Sabbath.”
The question is this “certain time” a High Shabbat or the weekly Shabbat? We believe this is this “certain time” is the High Shabbat of Shavuot.
The giving of the Ten Words were given to the “mixed multitude” on the fourth festival, Shavuot. They are the capstone of the Book of the Covenant. They were given to a people that had been in physical bondage for the purpose of liberation. The Ten Words then, are a prophetic picture of Mt. 11:28-30.
It is not burdensome to worship YaHaVah, it’s easy, it’s a choice. It is also a choice to not carve idols or take in vain His name. It is also not burdensome to worship on the seventh day.
I believe the first advent of Yeshua occurred on the 80th jubilee. Eighty x’s 50, a jubilee cycle = 4,000 years. This will match the pattern of four.
The fourth word of the first line of Scripture is the Aleph Tav.
The luminaries were created on the fourth day. They were created for the appointed times, the moedim. The appointed times are all seven of Yahs festivals.
The fourth branch of the Menorah is the servant branch. This is certainly a description of the completed work of Yeshua HaMashiach.
The fourth commandment is the worship on the Sabbath day.
The first advent of Yeshua was at the 4000 year mark.
The fourth man in the furnace was Yeshua.
The fourth letter of the Aleph Bet is the Dalet which means to enter or pathway. This is a match to Yeshuas’ statement when He said “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No man comes to The Father but by me.”
Judah is the fourth son of Jacob. The tribe of Judah is the tribe Yeshua will descend from.
There are probably many more connections to be made relating to the number four. Those previously mentioned are just a few.
In conclusion, Shavuot presents us with a chiastic structure of which Shavuot is the apex or the point of the structure.
Pesach
Unleavened Bread
First Fruit
Shavuot, the giving of the Torah
Feast of Trumpets
Day of Atonement
Sukkot
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Since Scripture tells us that Shavuot is the apex of all seven festivals, then it must have a really unique purpose. That purpose was the delivery of the spoken word of YaHaVah. His word, His Ten Words, are the “Ketubah” of the Book of the Covenant, the conclusion. Obedience to His Ten Words provides liberty and healing to His bride.
I opened this teaching with the counting of the Omer. Have you ever wondered why we have been instructed to count the Omer? The reason is simple. The counting of the Omer tells us when Shavuot will occur as the date of this festival changes every year beginning with the sighting of the first new moon of the year. Shavuot is the apex of the chiastic structure because it is in all likelihood the date of the ingathering of the bride. Please take the time to watch Torah Family, “The Coming First Fruit Resurrection, 2nd Edition.”
The question is, would we truly be free, liberated from sin and bondage without the Ten Words, the Ten Words that were given on Shavuot?