The Feast of Weeks
Leviticus 23:15-22
March 20, 2022
Today we’re looking at the 4th of the 7 Feasts of Israel. There’s really a lot to unpack in this Jewish festival, so we’re going to get right into it. The Feast of Weeks is probably the best known of the Jewish feasts as it corresponds to the Christian life, because Christians call the Feast of Weeks - - - Pentecost. In Hebrew the Feast of Weeks is called Shavuot, which means weeks!
I hope you’ll see why this feast was so important for the Jewish people and how it also ushered in the Spirit of God and the church. It’s really cool to see how God orchestrated these events as they correspond to the life of Jesus as well.
So, let’s look again from Leviticus 23 and see what this feast was about. I’ll unpack the feast, and help us see Jesus in the Feast of Weeks.
15 “You shall count seven full weeks from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering.
16 You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath. Then you shall present a grain offering of new grain to the Lord.
17 You shall bring from your dwelling places two loaves of bread to be waved, made of two tenths of an ephah (4 quarts).
They shall be of fine flour, and they shall be baked with leaven, as firstfruits to the Lord.
18 And you shall present with the bread seven lambs a year old without blemish, and one bull from the herd and two rams.
They shall be a burnt offering to the Lord, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord.
19 And you shall offer one male goat for a sin offering, and two male lambs a year old as a sacrifice of peace offerings.
20 And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before the Lord, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the Lord for the priest.
21 And you shall make a proclamation on the same day. You shall hold a holy convocation.
You shall not do any ordinary work. It is a statute forever in all your dwelling places throughout your generations.
22 “And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, nor shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest.
You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.”
You may not have realized it, but high level math is often needed to calculate the Jewish holidays and feasts. This is no different and God lays it out there very specifically.
So, let’s recap this feast. It was to be 50 days after the Sabbath after the Feast of Firstfruits. It was celebrated in the late spring, usually late May or early June. This year the Feast of Weeks is celebrated beginning June 4. We will celebrate Pentecost on the next day, because it’s a Sunday.
I want to step back for just a moment and recap where we’re at. There are 7 feasts which God gave to His people to observe. The feasts are broken down into three main seasons. The Spring feasts – Passover, Unleavened Bread and Firstfruits --- were fulfilled by Jesus at His first coming.
Passover signified the fact that Christ died for our sins.
Unleavend Bread tells us Jesus is holy and died to make us holy or righteous before God. He was the One and only One who was without sin.
Firstfruits celebrates the fact that Christ was resurrected on the Feast of First Fruits. He is the best and first of the offerings.
If we look at a calendar, we’ll see that Christ died on Passover day, was buried before the first day of Unleavend Bread, and was resurrected on the Feast of FirstFruits.
The Feast of Weeks coincided with the completion of the wheat harvest and, as we’ll see this morning was fulfilled by Jesus by the giving of the Holy Spirit which inaugurated the church age in which we now live.
The final three feasts – the Feast of Trumpets or Rosh Hashonah, the Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur and the Feast of Tabernacles or Sukkot - occur in the Fall, and they will be fulfilled by Jesus at His second coming.
To spell it out about the date of the feast of weeks, it occurred on the 50th day following the regular weekly Sabbath that occurs during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Remember the feast included 2 High Sabbath days. Sometime during that week there would also be a regular weekly Sabbath. The Feast of Firstfruits was held on the day after that weekly Sabbath, 7 and a day later.
During the Feast of Weeks, there would be a wave offering performed by the Priests. They would wave 2 loaves of leavened bread before the Lord. It was a thanksgiving festival in which the people showed their dependence upon God for the harvest.
Unlike other grain offerings where the bread was to be thrown into the fire, the loaves would be eaten by the priests. In addition, there were also animal sacrifices, and no laborious work was to be done.
It was to be a time of celebration!!
As with the Feast of Passover, all Jewish men were to come to Jerusalem to celebrate this feast. Because the Jews had been displaced throughout the region, they would journey back to Jerusalem for these feasts. This is important and we’ll see that in a few minutes.
Even today, this feast is still celebrated by Jewish people. The book of Ruth is read and the story of a Gentile woman, Ruth and her devotion to her Jewish mother-in-law, Naomi is highlighted. The story is also important because it involves a marriage to the “kinsman - redeemer,” Boaz. Again, we’ll see more about that in a bit.
OK, now let’s look and see where Jesus comes into the picture. I think you already know where He fits in, but let’s see what more we can glean.
Christians unknowingly associate the Feast of Weeks with Pentecost. And many Christians might not even realize that it was and is a Jewish holiday first.
We see that Pentecost day from the book of Acts. But we can only understand Pentecost in light of the Feast of Weeks.
After His death and resurrection, Jesus met with the disciples and many others, explaining more about the new age to come, as well as how He fulfilled the OT prophecies. In Acts 1, we learn about His ascension to the Father, as well as the promise of the Holy Spirit.
Ten days after He ascended to heaven, Jesus’ followers were all gathered together. Luke records what occurred that day in Acts 2 - - -
1 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place.
2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.
3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
I think it’s pretty clear what Luke is telling us. Jesus’ followers were all together, talking, worshiping, trying to figure this whole thing out about what Jesus told them. They’ve stayed together because they trust what Jesus told them.
But when would it happen? They had no clue when, just stay patient and together. The Spirit of God came into that room and falls upon each one in the room. It’s the new beginning, the start of the church age. It’s the beginning of what some call the harvest of nations.
Now, what’s really cool about the Passover story and this feast is that on both occasions Jews would have descended upon Jerusalem. The temple in Jerusalem was the main place to go and worship. It’s where you wanted to be if you could on these days.
Many of the same men who would have been in Jerusalem at Passover, unleavened bread and through the Feast of Firstfruits - - - are now back for the Feast of Weeks. Many of these men would have been witnesses or at the minimum, would have heard about Jesus and the crucifixion and rumors of some resurrection. So, the seeds were being planted by God will in advance of this feast day.
They’re back to celebrate the Feast of Weeks. It’s a celebration. They’re there to offer their harvest to God. It’s often called the latter harvest or second harvest from the spring season. Jews from all over the area were back in Jerusalem.
Luke continued the story in Acts 2, telling us - - -
5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven.
6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language.
7 And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?
8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?
9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,
10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome,
11 both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians — we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God. - Acts 2:1-11
As Peter rose to preach a powerful sermon, using the Scriptures to prove that Jesus was indeed the Messiah who had come to save them from their sins, each person heard Peter’s words in his or her own language. These were simple people from Galilee. They were not well educated, they would have had no teaching to know all of these other languages . . . but they did.
Many of them assumed these simple Gallileans were drunk. It was only 9 AM when this was happening . . . and we know they weren’t drunk, but it was the power of God at work, which I think gives us a glimpse of heaven. Because I really believe that is what heaven will be like. All these languages and we’ll understand it all. That will be so cool!!
Ultimately, we see near the end of Acts 2, Luke tells us what happened - - -
41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. - Acts 2:41
As we look at the day, there is symbolism in the two loaves of bread.
In contrast to the Feast of Unleavened Bread, in which no yeast was used. This bread that was waved before the Lord during the Feast of Weeks was to be made with yeast, or leaven. It’s believed that these 2 loaves represented the two very different groups of people who would say YES to Jesus.
And the presence of leaven is a picture of sin that exists among those who are represented by the two loaves. So, it becomes a calling to those who are sinners, which is you and I. And it’s also a call to 2 different peoples, Jews and Gentiles to embrace Jesus.
Paul describes what happened that day in his letter to the church at Ephesus. In Epehsians 2, Paul wrote - - -
13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in His flesh the dividing wall of hostility
15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that He might create in Himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace,
16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. - Ephesians 2:13-16
Through His death and resurrection, Jesus put into action a whole set of events that culminated on the Day of Pentecost when Jews and Gentiles were brought together in this new entity called the church. It was only the giving of the Holy Spirit that would complete the breaking down of the walls that had separated Jews and Gentiles for generations.
The two loaves – representing the sinful Jews and the sinful Gentiles – are now brought together in the church through Jesus, who is our peace and who is the only one capable of paying the penalty for the sin that exists in both groups.
Jesus also completed His role as our kinsman-redeemer who brought us, Jew and Gentile, to Him though His death and resurrection. That’s the same idea that we find in the book of Ruth. The kinsman redeemer, brings the Jew and Gentile together to be One body and worship the Lord.
So all of us who are followers of Jesus now live in this season we call the Church Age, one that will continue until Jesus’ second coming, which we will start to look at more next week.
As we end, know that Jesus came to give us life and hope. He’s the resurrection and life. Whoever dies believing in Jesus, ultimately is given life eternal with Jesus. It’s a gift from God, it’s grace and mercy and love all merged together in His power and strength. And it’s available for all of us. The Feast of Weeks started the church age.
It’s a time when the church was filled with power and passion. Lives were changing on a daily basis. In the end, Jesus spent that time with His disciples teaching them what the church would look like and how to lead it. Jesus’ ascension meant we could now receive the Holy Spirit who is with all believers, dwelling within us to lead us and guide us and teach us and comfort us.
The church isn’t perfect. We’re a bunch of sinners in need of a touch from the Master. Yet, Jesus loves the church and died for the church and we are now called to lead the church into the future.
The Feast of Weeks should be a reminder of just how much Jesus loves the church. We are now called to be a light to the world - - as we proclaim the good news of Jesus to the world.
