Category: Pentecost/Shavuot

Feast of Weeks — Shavuot in Hebrew for “sevens” and Pentecost in Greek for “50th”

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Apostolic Writings Appointments With God Discussions Pentecost/Shavuot Prophets and Writings Torah

Loyalty over ancestry: What really matters to God (Ruth 1–4; Exodus 20; John 4)

Loyalty versus ancestry: What really matters to God (Ruth 1-4; Exodus 20; John 4). Adobe Firefly AI image of an young ancient Middle East woman walks along a path holding hands with an older woman, walking past cactus and olive trees.

In this study on Shavuot (Pentecost), we see how we’re reminded annually of Heaven’s mission to call all nations and a promise to do that through His Son as King of Kings over Jew and goy (Gentile) alike. The Book of Ruth depicts a woman of Moab embraced by Israel through her faith: “Your people will be my people; your God my God.”

The Holy One’s promise to bless the world through Abraham was a legacy that stretched through Ruth’s lineage to King David to Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus).

Yeshua’s visit to Samaria (John 4) ignored long-held social barriers and showed that the good news of the Kingdom includes Gentiles. The Ten Commandments given at Sinai points all those called people to righteousness, starting with Israel.

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Appointments With God Discussions Pentecost/Shavuot

Pentecost: God’s global invitation to become part of Heaven’s family

Pentecost: God's global invitation to become part of Heaven's family. Six people toast with wine glasses full of different beverages across a table covered with foods.

Shavuot (Pentecost) is an invitation to all mankind to meet and fellowship with God. He sent the same invitation through Moshe (Moses) to the first generation of Israel post-Exodus that God sends through His Messiah, Yeshua (Jesus).

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Discussions Jubilee Pentecost/Shavuot Tabernacles Tithe & Finances Torah

How to be a dependable part of Heaven’s rescue mission to Earth (Leviticus 25)

How to be a dependable part of Heaven's rescue mission to Earth (Leviticus 25). Shown is a mountain climber helping another climber to get to the top.

The Torah reading בְּהַר Behar (“on mount” [Sinai]; Leviticus 25) teaches us how to be a kinsman-redeemer. It’s a beautiful ancient role for a family member with the character to step up and bail out a relative who has fallen on hard times.

The Bible book of Ruth provides an example of such a redeemer in action, and the Messiah is foretold to be the ultimate one for the world.

In the greater family of God on Earth, the lessons of the annual festivals of Shavuot (Pentecost) and Sukkot (Tabernacles) plus the multiyear cycles of Shemitah (sabbatical year) and Yobel (Jubilee) instruct us in how to be of service to the less fortunate within our sphere of influence.

A successful kinsman-redeemer helps others with the blessing of means that God has provided. We are not called to go into debt to help others, we are not compelled by God to drown ourselves to save someone else. 

From these cyclical memorials of God in action past, present and future, we also can learn how God is building up His Kingdom. It starts with the call of individuals then nations into His Kingdom to live as citizens in His presence.

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Discussions Pentecost/Shavuot Torah

The Torah secret to Spirit-led transformation at Pentecost (Leviticus 21–24)

The Torah secret to Spirit-led transformation (Leviticus 21-24). Dove flies amid clouds in a blue sky.

Two of the great characteristics of the Creator is that He is both the Holy One, vastly different from us, and God With Us, wanting to be near us.

The otherness of God is a key theme of the Torah reading אָמַר Emor (“say,” Leviticus 21-24), how God is separate from us, how He called the priesthood to be separate from the rest of Israel in service to Him and how we are to live separate from but near to the rest of the world.

This separation, called “holiness,” is not to be taken as a source of arrogance or pride, but as a lesson to the world that God cares so much about us that He does not want us to live in physical and moral filth and disorder. Rather, Heaven wants us to live in physical and moral cleanliness and order. 

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Apostolic Writings Appointments With God Discussions Passover Pentecost/Shavuot Prophets and Writings Torah

How to increase righteousness on the Earth (Isaiah 11; John 20; Ezekiel 18)

How to increase righteousness on the Earth (Isaiah 11; John 20; Ezekiel 18). A sunset with a rainbow of cloud colors is seen from a beach.

A common caricature of Heaven is that God is obsessed with killing the wicked. Rather, the Bible talks about a better way to both rid the Earth of wickedness and increase the number of righteous. And that’s one of the key lessons of the festivals of Pesach (Passover), Matzot (Unleavened Bread) and Shavuot (Pentecost), lessons brought to their fullness in Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus). Here’s how that works.

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Discussions Jubilee Pentecost/Shavuot Torah

Heaven seeks from us authentic worship and service (Leviticus 21–23)

Heaven seeks from us authentic worship and service (Leviticus 21-23)
Heaven seeks from us authentic worship and service (Torah reading Emor, Leviticus 21-23)

We love great actors when they’re on the screen or stage, but they’re odious when they fill the pews or the pulpits. A key lesson in the Torah reading אָמַר Emor (“say,” Leviticus 21–24) is that those in the service of the Creator of Heaven and Earth (Ex. 19:6; 1Pet. 2:5, 9; Rev. 1:6; 5:10) must deeply respect what they’re bringing closer to the Presence: “good gifts” of the heart cry of humankind. And those who bring those gifts must not pretend they’re transparently offering their best, what Heaven has set aside in them from normal ways of an Earth in need of healing.

Parallel to that lesson in Emor is an overview of the key weekly and annual appointments of Heaven with Earth. Two key dates among them are the weekly Shabbat (Sabbath) and the annual Shavu’ot (Pentecost). Both are tied to the Yobel (Jubilee), an ever-50-years reminder that Heaven has an eternal home for humanity and that the path home requires a declaration of freedom from the past.

From these lessons Heaven has provided in time, we can come to understand how Torah is the “law of liberty” (James 1:25; 2:12) that guides us on how to be free in His Kingdom, brought to reality by Yeshua haMashiach (Jesus the Christ). That’s not only freedom from physical debts but also freedom from spiritual debts that we have piled upon ourselves. Learn more through this Bible study.

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Appointments With God Pentecost/Shavuot

Pentecost: When we’re finally sick of it, Heaven’s Bondage-Breaker leads us home (Exodus 19–20; Acts 1–2)

Shavuot, aka Pentecost, is connected historically and ceremonially to the annual memorials of Pesakh (Passover) and Matzot (Unleavened Bread) by the 50 days in between. 

God’s instructions for Shavuot are connected to a harvest, but we can glean deeper meaning from its thematic linkage to Pesakh, to the giving of the Ten Commandments at Sinai and to the widespread outpouring of the Spirit on the 120 believers of Yeshua haMashiakh (Jesus the Christ):
* Pesakh: Be freed from bondage. (Justification)
* Matzot: Be purged of the mindset from the former life. (Sanctification)
* Shavuot: Learn what it means to be be adopted into the family of the Bondage-Breaker, live it out and offer the invitation to others. (Sanctification)

The message of freedom from the past, contentment in the present and strength for the future is for the whole world — not just Israel.