I've been pondering a whole range of related scriptures lately, and I've been kind of focusing on the upcoming Feast of Shavuot (Weeks, Pentecost). I started by reviewing the "counting of the omer", which people count the days to fifty, and recalling scripture tells us to count sabbaths (not days) ...

Lev 23:16 Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD.

Lev 23:17 Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; [they are] the firstfruits unto the LORD.

It amazes me, to this day, when people follow traditions because ... well everyone else does it that way. We do certain things not because they are prescribed, but because "that's the way we've always done them"

Deu 16:10 And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto the LORD thy God with a tribute of a freewill offering of thine hand, which thou shalt give [unto the LORD thy God], according as the LORD thy God hath blessed thee:

Exd 34:22 And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year's end.

The feast is called "Feast of Weeks", in Hebrew it is Shavuot (weeks, sevens) Counting the Omer is one of those "traditions" that mystifies me. Scripture clearly says  to count seven sabbaths, calls it Shavuot, Yet we are taught to count fifty days. WHY?

Shavuot is the traditional day of the giving of the Law upon the mount (Ten Commandments), and I believe this is accurate for a couple of reasons.

Exd 19:1In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they [into] the wilderness of Sinai.

Exd 19:11And be ready against the third day: for the third day the LORD will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai.

It is assuming that it is the THIRD DAY of the THIRD MONTH. The timing (third month) is close enough to make an educated guess that it fits within the time table of YHWH's feast.

We have no declararation in scripture that it was Shavuot, but we have plenty of clues. The second clue given is in Lev 23:17 "two loaves" are to be a wave offering. Moses brought down "two tablets of stone", written with the finger of YHVH.

Exd 31:18 And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of Elohim.

This corresponds to what Yeshua was tempted with in the wilderness ...

Mat 4:3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

Mat 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

Deu 8:1 All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers.

Deu 8:2 And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, [and] to prove thee, to know what [was] in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.

Deu 8:3 And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every [word] that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.

Why is any of this important?

It is important to understand that YHVH gives us PATTERNS so that we might KNOW how to walk in each season. These patterns are shown over and over again but we fail to realize what they mean.

In Acts 2 , we see the men of Jerusalem gathering according to the commandment in Lev 23 , and we see something else is given ...

Act 2:1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

Act 2:2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.

Act 2:3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.

Act 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Act 2:5 And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.

The pattern though is not finished here. It is finished much later in the chapter when we see the redemption of three thousand ...

Act 2:41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added [unto them] about three thousand souls.

This is a parallel of what happened in Exd 32. This is the chapter with the Golden Cald

Exd 32:28 And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.

ALL of these things are tied together, to paint a picture of the plan and pattern that YHVH gives us. As we prepare ourselves for this feast, this day, let us remember that the LAW doesn't save us, it is YHVH who saves us

Exd 20:2 I [am] the YHVH thy Elohim, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

Shavuot is a time to remember the covenants give to our fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Shavuot is a time to remember that while we have escaped Egypt, it wasn't by our own hand. And being out of Egypt, doesn't mean we're in the Promise Land. Shavuot is a time to realize that the Ruach is writing upon our heart the Torah of our Elohim.

Eze 11:19 And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:

Eze 11:20 That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

Jer 31:33 But this [shall be] the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Chag Semeach Shavuot!