The Countdown is On

“Only 27 days left til …” For Christians, that phrase usually evokes thoughts of Christmas and causes either a sinking feeling (if we still have lots of shopping to do) or excitement (if we are a child looking forward to what gifts we will receive on Christmas morning). I enjoy Christmas and believe the Lord loves that we celebrate His incarnation.

But I wonder how He feels about the fact that a similarly impactful Holy Day - outlined in His word and established thousands of years ago - goes uncelebrated (and perhaps even unrecognized) by many Christians. That day is Shavuot. Shavuot means ‘weeks’ in Hebrew, and God not only set it apart as a special day for worshiping Him, but also directed His followers to count down the days between it and Passover (7 weeks + 1 day). Most likely we know it by its Greek name, Pentecost (“Pente”, meaning 50).

The Scriptures tell us that, on this day, Jesus Himself poured out His Spirit on the apostles and disciples in Jerusalem after His resurrection and ascension. This launched the beginning of a great harvest of souls who were brought out of the kingdom of darkness and into the Kingdom of Light. This day was so important to God that He had the Jews celebrate it each year and mandated that they travel to Jerusalem to give sacrifices and offerings and to worship together. God had planned to give the greatest and most powerful gift of all - the indwelling Holy Spirit - to the Church on that date. Jesus Himself said that it was better that He - God in the flesh - leave the earth, so that the Holy Spirit could come. That’s incredible! Jesus said that He could not complete His work on earth without the full ministry of the Holy Spirit being released to His Church.

That’s why God commanded the counting of the ‘omer’ (the amount of grain used for a temple offering) for 50 days from Passover to Shavuot. It was a time of anticipation and excitement. To the Jews, this was only a ceremonial activity related to harvesting grain, but God had a deeper spiritual meaning.

Praise the Lord that we now know the fullness of the meaning of the feasts of Passover, First Fruits and Pentecost! Praise the Lord that we can experience the baptism and infilling of the Holy Spirit! Without the Holy Spirit we can do nothing. Those are Jesus’ words. How much more should we Christians anticipate and celebrate this special day?

So, join me in counting down the days to Shavuot (June 12 in 2024), when we remember that great work of redemption marked on the day of Shavuot with the outpouring of Jesus’ Spirit. Let’s remember together that, without the Holy Spirit, we can do nothing, and that these are the days of the harvest before His soon return.