Shavuot, Sukkot, and the Joyful Widow

 

God set the planets on a perfectly balanced course around the sun, establishing the ecosystems of the earth in balance.   When He wants to tell us the story of our salvation, the story is going to be a masterpiece.   The setting, the background, everything a master story teller could compose will be in order.   God makes that story a work of art    

If God wants to end the hold of sin over man for eternity, would he just do so on a random day?    Or would He select Passover, when the blood of the sacrificed lamb is put on the doorpost of each person's house, causing death to “pass over” us.  That IS the message of Yeshua’s life on this earth, and being the suffering servant of Isaiah 53:  death passing over.   Several other holidays were specifically chosen to set the stage.    

Understanding widows.  

The word is “almanah”  אלמנה.  “Widows” in scripture are women.  In fact half the time “widows” are referred to it is “אישה” - “ishah”, same word for “woman” or “wife”.    The ancient world was not kind to widows and orphans, no social safety net for them, the loss of their husbands truly trapped them in a vulnerable life.    Yet Jewish scripture is filled with protections for widows.   And here is a remarkable thing:   two holidays are specifically commanded to rejoice, for others to make sure they rejoiced.    Yeshua picked these two holidays to tell important messages of fulfillment and joy.    

Holidays used by God

If God said he would make a “new covenant” of Jeremiah 31:31:  

33 “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Jeremiah 31:33

Sukkot סוכות, when Jesus proclaimed “If any man is thirsty, let him come to me and drink!”   John 7:37 (I have a history with that verse).   And Shavuot, (Christians call it Pentecost), 49+1 days after Jesus was crucified, when God poured out the Holy Spirit on the earth, Acts 2:1-4.  I’ve cut and pasted them here.   שבועת “Shavuot” is the plural for “weeks” and in scripture (as in Daniel 9) it means seven sevens, or 49.  It took Israel seven weeks to trek from Egypt on Passover to Sinai to the giving of the law.   It is the “birthday” of the law.   It is also the “birthday” of God pouring out his Holy Spirit for all people to receive.   

Shavuot - שבועות -  Pentecost

9 “You shall count seven weeks for yourself; you shall begin to count seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain. 10 Then you shall celebrate the Feast of Weeks to the LORD your God with a tribute of a freewill offering of your hand, which you shall give just as the LORD your God blesses you; 11 and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your son and your daughter and your male and female servants and the Levite who is in your town, and the stranger and the orphan and the widow who are in your midst, in the place where the LORD your God chooses to establish His name. Deuteronomy 16:9-11   

​1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance. Acts 2:1-4

Succot - סוכות

13 “You shall celebrate the Feast of Booths seven days after you have gathered in from your threshing floor and your wine vat; 14 and you shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter and your male and female servants and the Levite and the stranger and the orphan and the widow who are in your towns. 15 Seven days you shall celebrate a feast to the LORD your God in the place which the LORD chooses, because the LORD your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you will be altogether joyful. Deuteronomy 16:13-15

37 Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “ If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’”9 John 7:37-38

Widowhood is sadness.   Yet here is Yeshua promising to POUR OUT the Spirit of God like a RIVER from within us on a day when set aside for widows to rejoice.     I think not only do they resolve to rejoice, but others come to their aid, to lift them up.   

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Quick not for FB 6-13-24

חג שבועות שמח!  

Happy Shavuot, today, the biblical holiday of “Pentecost”.   Sure, it’s the coming out party of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2.   Time to make a pilgrimage? Got it.  Remember the oppressed and our deliverance from slavery? Check.   But one thing I don’t think I’ve ever seen mentioned in all the lofty commentaries about Shavuot is that it is specifically called out as a holiday for WIDOWS and ORPHANS TO BE HAPPY!   Have you suffered loss?   Stowe it for a day.  Plan for happiness.   All the aggrevations can wait a day.  World, you want to get my goat today?  Talk to the hand.  Kaffiyeh-clad death cultists and their suit and tie-clad moral-trailer-park-trash enablers that have been aggravating my happy dance into a slow trudge towards victory, kiss my grits … for 24 hours.   Your headline-grabbing buffoonery can wait a day.  

Dt 16.11:  “Rejoice, and be happy before Me!” says God:  “You widows, I’m calling you out too”.   Sure thing, Boss, watcha got planned?   Count me in.   So I walked the pup under a crisp blue sky, counted my blessings up to a juicy, fat number, had a second cup of coffee, and am planning a big breakfast later, lox a half-inch think on a perfectly toasted everything-bagel with tomato, vedalia onions, capers, Norwegian lava-sea-salt, freshly ground pepper… oh yeah baby, I know you know what I mean.   Happy, as directed.  

Many blessings fo the day to all!