What is the Feast of Weeks?

Response

Described in Leviticus 23, The Feast of Weeks is the second of the three “solemn feasts” that all Jewish males were required to travel to Jerusalem to attend (Exodus 23:14-17; 34:22-23; Deuteronomy 16:16). This significant feast derives its name from the fact that it begins seven full weeks, or precisely 50 days, after the Feast of Firstfruits. As it occurs exactly 50 days after the preceding feast, this celebration is also referred to as “Pentecost” «And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. », (Acts 2:1), which means “fifty.”

Each of the three “solemn feasts”—Passover, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles—required that all able-bodied Jewish males journey to Jerusalem to participate in the feast and offer sacrifices. All three of these celebrations mandated that “firstfruit” offerings be presented at the temple as a gesture of gratitude for God’s provision. The Feast of Firstfruits, observed during the time of Passover, included the initial fruits of the barley harvest. The Feast of Weeks commemorated the first fruits of the wheat harvest, while the Feast of Tabernacles involved offerings of the first fruits of the olive and grape harvests.

As the Feast of Weeks was one of the “harvest feasts,” the Jews were instructed to “present an offering of new grain to the Lord” «even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD. », (Leviticus 23:16). This offering was to consist of “two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah” made “of fine flour . . . baked with leaven.” The offerings were

To be made of the first fruits of that harvest «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. », (Leviticus 23:17). Along with the “wave offerings,” they were also to offer seven first-year lambs that were without blemish along with one young bull and two rams. Additional offerings are also prescribed in Leviticus and the other passages that outline how this feast was to be observed. Another important requirement of this feast is that when the Jews harvested their fields, they were required to leave the corners of the field untouched and not gather “any gleanings” from the harvest as a way of providing for the poor and strangers «And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest: thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I am the LORD your God. », (Leviticus 23:22).

To the Jews, this time of celebration is known as Shavuot, which is the Hebrew word meaning “weeks.” This is one of three separate names used in Scripture to refer to this important Jewish feast. Each name emphasizes an important aspect of the feast as well as its religious and cultural significance to both Jews and Christians. Besides being called the Feast of Weeks in Leviticus 23, this special feast celebration is called the “Day of the Firstfruits” in Numbers 28:26 and the “Feast of Harvest” in Exodus 23:16.

The Feast of Weeks takes place exactly 50 days after the Feast of Firstfruits. It normally occurs in late spring, either the last part of May or the beginning of June. Unlike other feasts that began on a specific day of the Hebrew calendar, this one is calculated.As being “fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath” (Leviticus 23:15-16; Deuteronomy 16:9-10).

Like other Jewish feasts, the Feast of Weeks is significant as it prefigures the coming Messiah and His ministry. Each of the seven Jewish Feasts represents a crucial aspect of God’s plan of redemption through Jesus Christ.

Jesus was crucified as the “Passover Lamb” and resurrected at the Feast of Firstfruits. After His resurrection, Jesus spent the next 40 days teaching His disciples before ascending to heaven (Acts 1). Fifty days after His resurrection and ascension to sit at the right hand of God, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit as promised (John 14:16-17) to dwell in the disciples and empower them for ministry. The Holy Spirit, as promised, arrived on the Day of Pentecost, also known as the Feast of Weeks.

The spiritual implications of the Feast of Weeks are profound. Some interpret the two loaves of leavened bread, which were to be a wave offering, as a foreshadowing of the time when the Messiah would unite both Jew and Gentile in Him (Ephesians 2:14-15). This feast is unique in that it includes leavened bread. Leaven in Scripture is often symbolically associated with sin, and the leavened bread used in the Feast of Weeks is believed to symbolize the presence of sin within the church (the body of Christ) until Christ’s return.

On the Day of Pentecost or the Feast of Weeks, the “firstfruits” of the church were gathered by Christ as around 3,000 people heard Peter preach the gospel after the Holy Spirit had empowered and indwelt the disciples as promised. With the promised indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the first fruits of God’s spiritual harvest under the New Covenant.

Covenant began. Today that harvest continues as people continue to be saved, but there is also another upcoming harvest whereby God will once again turn His attention back to Israel so that “all of Israel will be saved” «And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, And shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: », (Romans 11:26).