Jonathan Bernis and Ezra Benjamin | Shavuot – God’s Love and Provision
Summary
Discover the spiritual significance of Shavuot along with its rich historical context and customs.
Image
URL
For the past nine weeks, as the coronavirus upended the world with fear, stay-at-home mandates, financial loss and isolation, we’ve turned to Scripture for the hope we each need to endure rough times. The world is opening back up at last after the global pandemic. People are emerging to resume life, perhaps somewhat timidly, and wondering how we will fare as things work their way back to “normal” – whatever that will look like now. We still need God’s hope – every day.
Some common themes ran through these nine weekly devotional series, all written by different Jewish Voice staff members. Through these varied voices, God encouraged us to find hope amid trials by:
All of these bring hope and joy into our experience. They lift our spirits and refocus our hearts on the good that is all around us, even in the midst of suffering, hardship or tedious waiting.
We learned a lot over the last nine weeks as each author presented devotions from different books of the Bible. Here’s a brief review of some of the strength-giving, hope-inducing truths brought to light.
Hope from the book of Jeremiah
From Jeremiah, we saw that even when everything seems dark, asleep or dead, God is attentive and ready to accomplish His promises. We learned that we can cling to God’s unchanging character even amid drastically changed circumstances. We found hope in the reassurance that God can and will visit us in our personal “prisons,” be they our homes, anxieties, loss or our awareness that we’ve been living far from Him.
Hope from the book of Exodus
Through Exodus, we learned that we can rest in the fact that even when we feel lost, God knows the way, and He offers guidance through difficult times. We take hope that, though we are susceptible to placing our hope in false things, God is faithful and continues to reveal Himself as worthy of our trust and hope. We saw that living with an intentional awareness of His presence brings us joy, hope and peace.
Hope from the book of Revelation
We found Revelation filled with hope for both our heavenly future and today. We saw that we need not fear because Jesus is our hope and encouragement, and He has already overcome. We overcome by His finished work on our behalf and proclaiming what He’s done in our lives. We experience victory and lifted spirits when we worship God and hope when we fix our eyes on the fullness of Heaven awaiting us.
Hope frOm the book of James
James invited us to see trials and hardships as opportunities to grow closer to God. We were reminded that wisdom is ours for the asking and that patiently enduring trials produces blessing. We saw how a time like this can show us what is essential and to let those things push aside the non-essentials of life. We were encouraged to look for joy.
Hope from the book of Philippians
From Philippians, we learned that abiding in Messiah empowers us to experience the life-giving fruits of His Spirit in all situations. We saw that no circumstance can remove us from God's love and, in clinging to it, it is powerful enough to sustain us amid suffering. We find peace and joy in casting our concerns on God and dwelling on His good gifts, and we can rejoice that God uses even the most difficult times to advance His Good News.
Hope from the book of Isaiah
Looking at the book of Isaiah, we see that though God’s timetable for resolving our trials may be different than ours, He is trustworthy. God promises to provide for us, guide and strengthen us. He uses the fires of purification to remove worthless things from our lives to make room for the good He wants to bring. God invites us to rest in Him, recognizing that our deepest needs can only be satisfied in Him.
Hope from the book of Romans
Romans teaches us that God is a God of hope, able to fill us with all joy and peace as we believe and trust Him. Through Romans, we saw that God’s hope sustains our faith by grace and despite our circumstances. We discovered that we can choose hope over despair because we serve a promise-keeping God. We learned that hope is even stronger when it is braided together with joy, patience and prayer.
Hope from the book of Ephesians
Ephesians reveals that God’s deep love for us is the same amid difficulty as it is during ease. We see that His will is for us to rejoice, pray and give thanks. We were encouraged to clothe ourselves now with the Word and His spiritual armor in preparation for when unsuspected battles for our peace or focus come. We see that our worth is grounded in Jesus, who is the awesome, powerful ruler of all things.
Hope from the books of Ezra and Nehemiah
These books show that God has hope for us today, the near future and eternity. The strength of our hope rests in God’s faithfulness, and even in seasons of waiting, we can live with expectant hope for the good future He is even now working to produce. We were reminded that opposition will come, but as we build our lives on God, seek His Word and use the tools He’s given us, we rest on an unshakeable Rock.
Taking hope with us every day
These truths are not just for times of world crisis. They will help us get through personal crises, both major and minor. The hope we discovered over these past weeks is hope that we can – and need to – carry with us into each day. The Scripture is full of God’s hope, joy and peace. Stay in it. Go to it often, searching for Him and His goodness. As you do, you will discover deeper layers of His trustworthiness, His love and His power to see you through all things with joy. May you carry His unshakeable hope with you each and every day.
Shavuot celebrates the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. It was fifty days after God had delivered the Israelites from slavery to Egypt, calling them out to be a nation of His own. When He gave them His Law, He drew them deeper still into relationship with Him. The people of Israel received His Word and committed to following Him. As we receive God’s Word, we receive Him.
Scripture tells us that the Word of God is alive and active (Hebrews 4:12) and is infused with His Spirit (2 Timothy 3:16a). Through it, we get to know our God. His Word sees into our souls, delivering hope, redemption and spiritual food to sustain and mature us. It teaches us how to walk in the newness of life He has given.
God’s Word:
For Believers, Shavuot is also a celebration of God’s gift of the Holy Spirit, poured out on early Believers on the Shavuot after Yeshua’s death and resurrection (Acts 2). Since that day, God gives His Holy Spirit to dwell within each person who accepts Jesus as the promised Messiah, placing their faith in His sacrificial death for our sins and His resurrection from the dead (Romans 10:9).
The Hebrew for the Holy Spirit is Ruach HaKodesh. The New Covenant uses the Greek word paraclete, which means “called to one’s side.” It indicates that the Holy Spirit is our helper and comforter, our advocate and intercessor.
The Holy Spirit comes alongside us and is active in our lives, working in a variety of ways.
The Holy Spirit:
Through God’s Word and His Spirit, we have unending access to His presence, wisdom, and transforming power. Shavuot, for Believers, celebrates each of these magnificent gifts.
This Shavuot, set aside some time to reflect on and thank God for the priceless gifts He has given to you through the Scriptures and His Spirit dwelling inside you.
Shavuot marks the end of a season of anticipation. It is a harvest festival and one of three pilgrimage feasts of the Jewish year. For such holidays, each physically able, adult Jewish male was to travel to Jerusalem to present his offering. In the case of Shavuot, he offered the first of his barley harvest.
Jewish tradition teaches that God gave the Torah (the Law) to His people at Mount Sinai on the date of Shavuot. The Israelites had been freed from 400 years of slavery as a people. They traveled through the Middle Eastern desert on their way to a Land they’d never seen with a God they were getting to know in a whole new way. Their time in the wilderness must have been filled with anticipation. What would the coming days bring?
Then, God called them to gather at the base of Mount Sinai, and He showed Himself in thunder, lightning and smoke. When Moses came down from meeting with Him, he brought God’s Torah, or instruction. Through it, God revealed Himself to the Israelites and set them apart as His own people. It was a day that changed their relationship with Him.
The Hebrew word “Shavuot” means “weeks,” and so, the holiday is also called The Feast of Weeks. In Leviticus 23, God told the Israelites that when they settled into the Promised Land and had produced crops, they were to begin observing the Feast of Shavuot. Its date was figured by counting seven Sabbaths plus one day – or 50 days – from the day after the Shabbat that follows Passover (Leviticus 23:15–16). Once observance began in Israel’s history, each year, as the counted days passed, God’s people anticipated both the new harvest and their journey to the holy city to present their offerings.
Today, Shavuot is a time of celebrating the gift of the Torah. Many Jewish people stay up all night reading it with family and friends. When Shavuot morning dawns, they pray together and read the Ten Commandments.
In the biblical Feasts, God placed pictures of future events related to His plan to redeem the world. After His resurrection and before His ascension to Heaven, Jesus told His disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the empowering that would come to them when God gave the Helper Jesus had mentioned. Day by day, they counted and waited, not knowing exactly what was next. Then, God imparted the Holy Spirit to them. On that miraculous day, they spoke in languages they didn’t know, and 3,000 people were saved.
What the Christian church knows as Pentecost (“pente” meaning 50), happened on Shavuot – 50 days after Jesus was raised from the dead. It was the fulfillment of God’s promise through the prophet Jeremiah to write His Law on our hearts (Jeremiah 31:32) and, through Ezekiel, to put His Spirit within us (Ezekiel 36:27).
When God first gave His Torah, He wrote it on tablets of stone. On Shavuot in the first century, He wrote it on our hearts by giving His Spirit to live inside those who believe in Jesus. And it changed our relationship with Him. He no longer resides in pillars of fire and cloud or dwells in a physical Temple. He has made His home in our hearts – He is always with us, never to leave us.
As Believers, Shavuot offers us the opportunity to celebrate both God’s Word and His Spirit. Through both gifts, we can know our God. His Word reveals who He is, and His Spirit guides us into all truth (Hebrews 1:1–2, John 16:13). And there remains much to anticipate in our daily relationship with God as we engage with Him through these two tremendous gifts.
This year, we experienced a Passover like never before. The whole world was behind closed doors, praying for protection from a “plague.” As a result, Believers have been connecting globally through technology to worship, pray, seek the Lord and declare the Lord’s blessing over their cities and nations.
But what’s next? The Lord spoke to Rabbi Jonathan Bernis regarding Shavuot and Pentecost’s significance, which are next on God’s timetable for this year. He laid an idea on Rabbi Jonathan’s heart for an extraordinary television and streaming event – one that could draw Believers together, turn attention to the Lord in seeking Him for unity and revival, and stir the Church toward God’s heart for Israel.
As Rabbi Jonathan contacted friends to see if they were interested in participating, he was overwhelmed by their enthusiastic responses and the sense that this is from the Lord. This special event, A NIGHT OF PROMISE, will air Friday and Saturday evenings, May 29 and 30, on networks and stations across the US and beyond — and will be streaming on Facebook and other platforms.
We feel the weight of this potent opportunity, and we are filled with expectant anticipation for how the Lord will use it at this appointed time.
Will you join us in interceding? Please pray before the event; pray when you tune in, and pray “rear-guard prayers” afterward. This is an enormous opportunity!
There is a unique worldwide call from the Lord in this season, coinciding with the convergence of Shavuot and Pentecost
God is calling the Body to unity and revival
He desires to impart greater understanding and opportunity across the global Body of Believers regarding standing with Israel
We pray:
LORD, the world is full of division and fear, but Your righteous plans and beautiful promises remain the same. Would You continue calling the Body to attention through this season and this event, to look to You for an outpouring of Your Spirit? May we trust in You, love one another, and partner with You in Your love for the Jewish people and their neighbors in Israel. In Jesus’ name, AMEN.
Jonathan Bernis and Jewish Voice Ministries International are so grateful for all our Christian brothers and sisters who have supported our mission and stood by Israel throughout the years. In keeping with our vision, we ask that you join us in prayer for our friends at GOD TV and Shelanu TV during this season. Ward Simpson, CEO of GOD TV, is a dear friend to our ministry and a man after God’s heart in all he does.
As GOD TV launched, Shelanu TV, the first Hebrew speaking network in Israel to proclaim the Gospel, they experienced intense persecution. They were completely forthright and followed the required steps to obtain a contract to launch Shelanu TV in Israel. Since their launch, they have experienced tremendous opposition, and now every major news outlet in Israel, as well as, some other countries have picked up the story. Will you join us in prayer during this critical time, for GOD TV, Ward Simpson, and Shelanu TV as the authorities in Israel decide the outcome of whether this network can continue? Let’s pray together for God’s blessing on this ministry and for His will to be done!
Who remains among you who saw this House in its former glory? So how do you see it now? Does it not seem as nothing in comparison in your eyes? …The treasures of all the nations will come, and I will fill this House with glory, says Adonai-Tzva'ot…The glory of this latter House will be greater than the former," says Adonai-Tzva'ot."
—Haggai 2:3, 7,9
Life in Jerusalem was being rebuilt after disaster. Expectations were high. In short order, the altar was built and sacrifices began. It was a time of rejoicing as Sukkot was celebrated! Surely, the Jewish hope had not been cut off! Then, after a time, the Foundation of the Temple was laid. The time for fulfillment of God's promises to Israel had finally come!
But then something strange happened. "But many…who had seen the former House, wept loudly at the sight of the foundation of this House…" (Ezra 3: 12). The Lord knew their disappointment and spoke through Haggai, "Who remains among you who saw this House in its former glory? So how do you see it now? Does it not seem as nothing in comparison in your eyes?" (Haggai 2:3). Yet the Lord assured them, "…I will fill this House with my glory…says Adonai-Tzva'ot…The glory of this latter House will be greater than the former," says Adonai-Tzva'ot" (Haggai 2:7, 9).
How could this be? This temple did not at all reflect the beauty and glory of the first Temple of Solomon. But listen for the harmony line of the prophet Haggai in this part of the story. What the people could not see then was the fullness of this promise. Ezra-Nehemiah was not the end of the prophetic story for the Jewish people, but it was one step closer. For one day in the future, wouldn't One walk through the Temple courts who is the glory of His people Israel (see Luke 2:32)?
And yet of a time in the future when…"I saw no temple in her, for its Temple is Adonai Elohei-Tzva’ot and the Lamb. And the city has no need for the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God lights it up, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations shall walk by its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory into it. Its gates shall never be shut by day, for there shall be no night there! And they shall bring into it the glory and honor of the nations" (Revelation 21:22-26).
Zechariah told the people in Ezra-Nehemiah's day too: “Thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot, ‘In those days it will come to pass that ten men from every language of the nations will grasp the corner of the garment of a Jew saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you”’” (Zechariah 8:23). And again, in Zechariah 14:16: “Then all the survivors from all the nations that attacked Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, Adonai-Tzva’ot, and to celebrate Sukkot.”
Did this happen during Ezra and Nehemiah's lifetime? Not quite. No one but the exiles at that time had access to the Temple or to God's presence. Who celebrated Sukkot during the time of Ezra-Nehemiah? Only the returnees, the Jewish people (Ezra 3:1-4; Nehemiah 6:72b-8:18).
But is that the fulness of what God promised through His prophets or is there another line in the song that makes up the whole? Yeshua, taking from Isaiah's prophecy (Isaiah 56:6–8 – read this one!), says in Mark 11:17, "Is it not written, 'My house shall be a house of prayer for all the nations'?" Even then, was this expectation met while Yeshua walked the earth? No, but will He bring His words to pass? You better believe it. It will happen when we all join in the song of Moses and of the Lamb:
Great and wonderful are Your deeds,
Adonai Elohei-Tzva’ot!
Just and true are Your ways,
O King of the nations!
Who shall not fear and glorify Your name, O Lord?
For You alone are Holy.
All the nations shall come and worship before You,
for Your righteous acts have been revealed!
—Revelation 15:3-4
One day, the song God has been composing through the ages will be sung. All the nations will join with the Jewish people to worship the only Most Holy, for His righteous ways will finally be revealed, known and understood. Hallelujah!!!
Could it be this year? Our hope must be set on the One who made the promises. Though we may not see their fulfillment today, we have hope that the One who promised is faithful and He will bring His Word to pass. May we wait with expectant hearts for the promise of our Father.
Oh Lord haste the day when the faith shall be sight
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll
The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend
Even so it is well with my soul!
Reflection:
"For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Torah of Adonai (the Law of the Lord) and to do it, and to teach its statutes and ordinances in Israel" (Ezra 7:10).
Ezra prepared His heart to seek God's Word, to do it and to teach it. Notice what this Scripture doesn't say. It doesn't say: "Ezra prepared his heart to be the leader of a great revival." Or, "Ezra prepared his heart to be well-known and respected enough for kings and people in places of authority to know and call on him for great and noble tasks."
Nope. Only, "Ezra prepared his heart to seek God's Word, to do it and to teach it."
Observe what else it doesn't say:
Nope. Again, "Ezra prepared his heart to seek God's Word, to do it and to teach it."
The amazing thing about it is that Ezra did in fact lead a great revival (see Nehemiah 8-10) and he was called on by a king to take up a great and noble task (Ezra 7:11-28). He was also entrusted with the treasures of God's Temple and received favor and blessing (Ezra 7), but it wasn't because he was seeking any of these things.
As I read this Scripture, I am reminded of Yeshua's words "…seek His kingdom, and these things shall be added to you" (Luke 12:31).
Ezra, as a member of the kohanim (priests) was not even seeking to be established as a priest in Israel. Remember, at this time there was no Temple. He didn't set his heart on the future of what he could become, he simply did in the present what he knew to do. He sought first God's kingdom and all these things were added to him.
Why is it important for us to seek to learn God's Word and to do and teach it? It's important because:
Once we learn His Word, He'll empower us to do His Word. Once we do His Word, we'll be able to teach it, and by the very act of teaching His Word we'll learn more about His Word and how to do it. This is a cycle worth repeating!
I must ask myself then, what things am I seeking? Am I seeking to be known or approved by others? Am I seeking to do something great for God or to have an abundance of gifts, blessing and favor? Am I seeking earthly treasures instead of heavenly ones? If I answer honestly, the answer is often yes. But it doesn't have to be. In this season more than ever, in order to have a sure hope, we must seek His Word. In it is life and all that we need.
Lord, I want to prepare my heart to seek your Word. You said, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" (Luke 12:34). Please help me, by Your Spirit, to clear out of the way anything that is taking first place in my life and heart above Your Word. Make learning and doing your Word my highest goal so that I may be truly blessed and be able to teach others about You.
Reflection:
Take inventory of your heart today and ask God for a heart to seek Him and His Word, to do it and to teach it. You will be blessed and be a blessing.
