Shavuot (Pentecost) 2011

Shavuot is June 7, 2011.  “Shavuot” is taken from Hebrew meaning “seven sevens” and reflects the counting of seven weeks, or forty-nine days after Passover.
The Feast of Shavuot is celebrated the next day, the fiftieth day, by staying up all night reading various passages from the Bible because this is the traditional date of God giving Moses the Torah.  It was also celebrated with waving two loaves of leavened wheat bread before the Lord in the Temple. 

            When Holy Spirit was poured out on the first disciples on Pentecost (fifty) He was fulfilling the Feast of Shavuot. The two loaves are a picture of Holy Spirit dwelling in man.  Jesus commanded the disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they were given the baptism of the Holy Spirit which the Father had promised.  This baptism was for the purpose of giving them power to be witnesses about Jesus.  When Holy Spirit came upon them, it was a literal fulfillment of Jesus’ promise that the Spirit would be with them and would dwell inside them.  John 14:16-17.

            How marvelous this gift of Holy Spirit is!  The first disciples were saddened that Jesus was leaving them, but Jesus said it was to their advantage that He leave because He would send His Holy Spirit to live inside them.  Stop and meditate on the magnitude of that miracle.  The Third Person of the Trinity actually comes and fills you with His presence.  The result is an intimacy with the Father that you never knew before.  The Spirit can pray through you and intercede for a lost world.  You are given power to be a witness for Jesus.

            Let’s celebrate Pentecost (Shavuot) by pressing into the Father and praying the prayer Jesus taught:  “Father, Your will be done—on earth as in heaven!”  Baptize us with a fresh outpouring of Your Spirit that we may be effective witnesses for Jesus.