125_The feast of weeks
Lev 23:15-22 “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. 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.”
One warm summer morning, a farmer stood at the edge of his wheat field. The golden heads of grain swayed in the breeze, ready for harvest. For weeks, he had toiled diligently. The rain had come at the right time. Now he rejoiced in the fruit of his labor, and evidence of God’s faithfulness. Before he began to reap, however, he walked to the corners of the field and marked them. He remembered his father’s voice, quoting Leviticus: “You shall not reap your field right up to its edge… You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner.”
Shavuot, or the Feast of Weeks, is one of the three great pilgrimage festivals of Israel. In Leviticus 23, it is presented as falling seven full weeks from the Feast of Firstfruits—fifty days in all. Hence, in the Greek-speaking world, the day came to be known as Pentecost, meaning “fiftieth.” This was also called the Feast of Harvest in Exodus 23:16 and the Day of the Firstfruits in Numbers 28:26. This feast was celebrated after the wheat harvest was gathered in, during the third month — the new harvest in contrast to the earlier barley harvest when the Feast of Firstfruits was celebrated. They presented a new grain offering of wheat bread to the Lord.
The Feast of Weeks required all Jewish men to travel to Jerusalem to celebrate before the Lord and bring offerings of gratitude. It was a day marked by rejoicing over God’s provision and communal worship.
The new grain offering of the Feast of Weeks was unique in that it involved the waving of two loaves of ordinary household leavened bread, made from the new wheat for the purposes of the household rather than for sacred use. Thus, the bread was not burned on the altar, for it contained leaven which symbolizes sin. This form represented the bread used by the people for their daily food, and thus best represented the food for which they gave heartfelt thanks to God for his bountiful provision.
These two loaves teach us that Jews and Gentiles were brought to God by the death of Christ. We are the new grain offering offered to God. The family of God is a diverse but unified body. The Church is made up of people from every tribe, tongue, and nation. The fact that the loaves are leavened reminds us that sin and imperfection still exist within the Church on earth. Yet, they are presented to the Lord, accepted not because of their purity, but because of grace. As Ephesians 5 reminds us, “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her… that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle… that she might be holy and without blemish.”
Historically, this feast also coincides with a momentous event: the giving of the Law at Mount Sinai. Exodus 19 tells us that on the third new moon after leaving Egypt, the Israelites arrived at Sinai. There, they received the Ten Commandments—a covenant that defined their relationship with God and with one another. So, Shavuot became a day not only of harvest celebration but also of covenant remembrance.
Centuries later, another epochal event occurred on this very day. After the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus, he remained with his disciples for 40 days and then ascended to his Father. But before his ascension, he instructed them to remain in Jerusalem for the Father’s promise of the Holy Spirit. They prayed and waited ten days. And then came Pentecost.
Acts 2 describes the scene vividly. “When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind… and divided tongues as of fire appeared to them… and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.” The Feast of Weeks was fulfilled. The Israelites had once received the Law at Sinai. But now the Church received the Spirit at Pentecost. God’s covenant was no longer written on stone tablets but on human hearts.
On that day, the first fruits of the Church were gathered. Thousands believed and were baptized.
This feast, both in its Old and New Testament significance, is rich in truths. First, it reminds us that the Christian life is not meant to be lived in isolation. The loaves were waved together. The disciples were to wait together in Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit came when the believers were together in one place. We grow together, each doing what the Lord has entrusted to us and equipped us for. The Church is a body, not a collection of individuals. We are called to live in unity, bearing one another’s burdens, to worship and grow together.
Second, our access to God is through grace and not our holiness. Though we are like leavened bread—imperfect, inconsistent, prone to sin—we are accepted in the Beloved. The offerings of the Feast of Weeks included sin offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings. All these foreshadowed the one perfect offering of Christ, who “entered once for all into the holy places… by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:12).
Third, the feast calls us to deliberately and constantly depend on the Holy Spirit. Wheat cannot grow without rain and sun and God’s provision. Spiritual life is impossible without the Spirit’s power. The Church was born not through human planning, but through divine outpouring.
Fourth, and significantly, the Feast of Weeks includes a call to compassion. The corners of the field and the gleanings of the wheat were to be left for the poor and the foreigner – a beautiful, tangible way of expressing love for one’s neighbor! This was worship, people recognizing that everything comes from God and is meant to bless others.
In Galatians 2, Paul recorded the only request made of him by the Jerusalem elders. After agreeing that he and Barnabas should go to the Gentiles, they added: “Remember the poor.” Paul replied, “The very thing I was eager to do.” The early Church understood that Spirit-filled living must overflow in generous, Spirit-led giving.
The Feast of Weeks challenges us today to live in gratitude. Let us offer ourselves—imperfect though we are—as living sacrifices to God? Let us be led by and on the Holy Spirit daily. Let us remember the poor, the stranger, the ones left out?
Charles Spurgeon once said, “When we recollect that we deserve nothing at his hands, and that the debt of gratitude is all the debt we can pay, we should be cheerful, fervent, and frequent in showing gratitude to the Lord.” Let our gratitude overflow in worship, in building unity and sharing, in love and mercy.
Let us remember that we are the first fruits of a great harvest. As a community of leavened loaves, let us live as accepted and sanctified in Christ, filled with the Spirit.
Let us leave the corners of our lives open—for the poor, the lonely, the hurting. Let us not hoard our blessings but wave them before the Lord in joyful thanks. And let us live in the reality that God has brought us together to do his will and demonstrate his glory to everyone. God bless.