Every year at a set time, Jews celebrate Shavuot, the “Feast of Weeks”. It is one of the great pilgrimage festivals of the Bible, but Shavuot is more than a harvest celebration. In Jewish tradition, it became the season of revelation, it is the moment when Israel stood at Mount Sinai and received the Torah.

We call it the Pentateuch, the first five books of both bibles, the Jewish Scriptures and the Christian bible. They say the same things.

The contents are just as relevant today as they were then.

The Hebrew name Shavuot comes from the word shavua, that means “week.”

The festival arrives after seven full weeks of counting from Passover and is known as the Counting of the Omer. Day by day, step by step, Israel moved from liberation toward covenant.

Freedom from Egypt was never meant to end at the sea. It was meant to lead to the mountain and from there to the Promised Land.

Our life as followers of Jesus is much like that. We escaped the bondage of Egypt, crossed over the sea and began a journey that will eventually lead us into our Promised Land.

What happened to them is recorded in scripture for our examples.

For further information on that, read Romans 4:23-24, 15:4-6 and 1 Corinthians 10:6-11.

Although we live in “New Testament” days, all of the Old Testament still applies to us today.

God’s word, in its original language and not necessarily in modern English translations, never changes. Jesus said that His Word abides forever. Therefore, as all scripture is Divinely inspired as we see in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, the Torah is still valid today. It is much more than a set of “laws” and “regulations” but a complete handbook for everyday living. It gives practical advice on how to live at work, in the office, at home, when conducting business, marriage and the family and sex, how to raise children, food preparation and consumption and of course, matters of worship and spirituality.

God wanted His people to be prepared for His visitation and still wants us to be prepared for a visitation. He wanted to dwell with His people and during their journey to the Promised Land commanded Moses to build the Tabernacle. It is the most profound revelation of His plan of salvation for mankind and everything about it speaks in some way of Jesus and Calvary. But it was temporary; a type or shadow of what was to come.

To be able to reveal Himself and start speaking, God commanded the people through Moses to prepare themselves for that great event.

They were not ready. Are we ready?

He is still doing that today. His desire to dwell with His people and His requirements remain the same and it is my conviction that He is visiting us again, not in the “revival” many of us say we want but in a manifestation of His glory that for most of us is unprecedented.

Moses was called up to the mountain. God initiated this, not man. Moses went up, but God did not speak to him for forty days.
There is a lesson we must learn about this. “Delay” as we think is not a delay but a season to realign ourselves to Him and His purpose.

God wants us to be prepared to handle what He wishes to give us. If we are not prepared it cannot come. If it did, it could destroy us.

God does not follow our calendar, but His season! Don’t ask for revival if you do not want His visitation and such a visitation is already happening in some places in the world—but not in churches. It’s happening in the most unlikely of places, in hardened places, amongst the dregs of society, out on the streets, in parks, in supermarkets, where hungry people are crying out to God for reality—and God is visiting them. I can provide names and places where this is happening right now. I want to be a part of it and am preparing myself for it, because it is coming.

Shavuot is one such season. Exodus 19:18 says:

Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the LORD had descended on it in fire.

Sinai was trembling with thunder, smoke, fire and the sound of the shofar whilst the people stood at the foot of the mountain as God descended in flame. It was an awesome experience. Most of the people could not handle it. In fact they told Moses, “Please don’t let God talk directly to us. You talk with Him and tell us what He said.” That is not what God wants. He wants to have direct and personal communication with each of us as individuals—directly and not through some other man. Each of us today is the Temple of the Holy Spirit; His dwelling place and the relationship is supposed to be one-on-one, not through a priest or a pastor or anyone else.

We can later fellowship with each other and, provided His communication is not “personal and private”, we can share corporately.

Paul spoke of this in first Corinthians chapters twelve to fourteen.

We must return to those days and allow the Holy Spirit to do what He wishes in the appropriate manner, but more of that elsewhere.

God wants us all to have a divine encounter. I will say that again. God wants us all to have a divine encounter. According to the Jewish perspective, this moment at Sinai is not merely the giving of commandments, but the giving of divine presence.

The Torah was not handed down as abstract philosophy or some kind of theological discourse—it came through encounter.Think of that for a moment.

The Hebrew word Torah does not simply mean “law.” Its root, yarah, carries the sense of instruction, guidance, or direction, like an arrow pointed toward its target. At Sinai, God was not merely establishing rules. He was showing His people how to walk with Him an dhow to live.

We still need that today.

The Greek-speaking world later translated Torah as νόμος (nomos), meaning “law”, legalistic, cold and impersonal law. But something of the warmth and relational depth of Torah seemed to disappear in translation.

Sinai was not only legislation—it was first and foremost, covenant.

God wants to enter into covenant with us. There are certain privileges and blessings associated with covenant, but there are also problems associated with covenant breaking. The blessings and cursings of this are listed in Deuteronomy 28.

Shavuot was also the Feast of Firstfruits, when the first harvest was brought before God with gratitude and joy. Israel was invited to recognize that the land, the grain, the rain and life itself were gifts sustained by Divine faithfulness. This agricultural imagery becomes deeply significant in the New Testament. In the book of Acts, during Shavuot, the disciples gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate that way when suddenly a sound like a mighty rushing wind filled the house and tongues as of fire appeared above them. See Acts 2:2–3.

Pentecost is associated with Shavuot.

The parallels to Sinai are impossible to ignore—fire, divine voice, gathered people, covenant language and transformation.

They are still valid today, if, for  no other reason than the simple fact that God has not changed.

The Greek word used for Spirit is πνεῦμα (pneuma), meaning “breath,” “wind,” or “spirit.” The same idea exists in Hebrew with ruach.
In both biblical languages, the Spirit of God is not distant abstraction, but living breath, movement and Divine presence entering human lives.

At Sinai, the voice of God divided into many tongues so that all Israel could hear. In Acts, people from many nations suddenly heard the message in their own languages. Again, I state that God has not changed and if that is so, then should we not have similar experiences?

I say, “Yes”. That experience was so all Israel could hear. That experience is supposed to be for all the church to hear.

Shavuot reminds us that revelation often comes after a journey through wilderness. Israel did not arrive at Sinai immediately after leaving Egypt. There were days of hunger, uncertainty, fear and waiting. The counting itself mattered. Transformation rarely happens instantly.

God prepares hearts before He speaks from the mountain.

In many ways, Shavuot asks a deeply personal question: What do we do with freedom once we receive it?

Liberation without direction becomes emptiness, but freedom joined to Divine wisdom becomes covenant life.

If we are in a “wilderness” experience, is that a season in your life to prepare yourself to hear God more clearly? Yes.

We may experience freedom, but also need direction.
Are we willing to stand on the mountain and wait and then are we willing to really listen?

What firstfruits can we offer back to God with gratitude in our hearts?

Chag Sameach

Robert

For more information, visit the page Torah.

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