Shavuot and the Returning of Mashiach Yehoshua!

Shavuot and the Returning of Mashiach Yehoshua!

Daniel ben Ya'acov Ysrael

First of all let us look at Shavuot in its first intended context in the “p’shat” level (literal):

This paper is called to be updated from time to time, as my understanding grows.

Sh’mot/Ex/23: 16 And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, [which is] in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.

Lev 23:10  “Speak to the children of Yisra’ĕl, and you shall say to them, ‘When you come into the land which I give you, and shall reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the first-fruits of your harvest to the priest.

Lev 23:11  ‘And he shall wave the sheaf before יהוה, for your acceptance. On the morrow after the Sabbath the priest waves it.

Lev 23:12  ‘And on that day when you wave the sheaf, you shall prepare a male lamb a year old, a perfect one, as a burnt offering to יהוה,

Lev 23:13  and its grain offering: two-tenths of an ĕphah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to יהוה, a sweet fragrance, and its drink offering: one-fourth of a hin of wine.

Lev 23:14  ‘And you do not eat bread or roasted grain or fresh grain until the same day that you have brought an offering to your Elohim – a law forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

Lev 23:15  ‘And from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, you shall count for yourselves: seven completed Sabbaths.

Lev 23:16  ‘Until the morrow after the seventh Sabbath you count fifty days, then you shall bring a new grain offering to יהוה.

Lev 23:17  ‘Bring from your dwellings for a wave offering two loaves of bread, of two-tenths of an ĕphah of fine flour they are, baked with leaven, first-fruits to יהוה.

Lev 23:18  ‘And besides the bread, you shall bring seven lambs a year old, perfect ones, and one young bull and two rams. They are a burnt offering to יהוה, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering made by fire for a sweet fragrance to יהוה.

Lev 23:19  ‘And you shall offer one male goat as a sin offering, and two male lambs a year old, as a peace offering.

Lev 23:20  ‘And the priest shall wave them, besides the bread of the first-fruits, as a wave offering before יהוה, besides the two lambs. They are set-apart to יהוה for the priest.

Lev 23:21  ‘And on this same day you shall proclaim a set-apart gathering for yourselves, you do no servile work on it – a law forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.

Lev 23:22  ‘And when you reap the harvest of your land do not completely reap the corners of your field when you reap, and do not gather any gleaning from your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the stranger. I am יהוה your Elohim.’ ”

D’varim/Deut.19:9 Seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee: begin to number the seven weeks from [such time as] thou beginnest [to put] the sickle to the corn.

Bamidbar/Number :28 : 26 Also in the day of the firstfruits, when ye bring a new meat offering unto YHWH, after your weeks be out, ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work:

The practical approach is found in the book of Ruth :

Rth 2:1  And Naʽomi had a relative on her husband’s side, a man of great wealth, of the clan of Elimeleḵ, and his name was Boʽaz.

Rth 2:2  And Ruth, the Mo’aḇitess, said to Naʽomi, “Please let me go to the field, and glean heads of grain after him in whose eyes I find favour.” So she said to her, “Go, my daughter.”

Rth 2:3  And she left, and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers. As it turned out, she came to the part of the field belonging to Boʽaz, the near relative of Elimeleḵ.

Rth 2:4  And see, Boʽaz had come from Bĕyth Leḥem, and said to the reapers, “יהוה be with you!” And they answered him, “יהוה bless you!”¹ Footnote: They had no problem calling יהוה by His Name!

Rth 2:5  And Boʽaz said to his servant who was appointed over the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?”

Rth 2:6  So the servant who was appointed over the reapers answered and said, “It is the young Mo’aḇite woman who came back with Naʽomi from the fields of Mo’aḇ,

Rth 2:7  and she said, ‘Please let me glean, and gather among the sheaves behind the reapers.’ And she came and has remained from morning until now – she sat a little in the house.”

Rth 2:8  And Boʽaz said to Ruth, “You have heard, have you not, my daughter? Do not go to glean in another field, nor go from here, but stay close to my young women.

Rth 2:9  “Let your eyes be on the field which they reap, and you shall go after them. Have I not commanded the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink from what the young men have drawn.”

Rth 2:10  And she fell on her face, bowed down to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favour in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, seeing I am a foreigner?”

Rth 2:11  And Boʽaz answered and said to her, “I have been told all that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you have left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and have come to a people whom you did not know before.

Rth 2:12  “יהוה repay your work, and your reward is complete from יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, under whose wings you have come to seek refuge.”

Rth 2:13  And she said, “Let me find favour in your eyes, my master, because you have comforted me, and have spoken to the heart of your female servant, though I am not like one of your female servants.”

Rth 2:14  And Boʽaz said to her, “Come here at mealtime. Then you shall eat of the bread and dip your piece of bread in the vinegar.” And she sat beside the reapers, and he passed roasted grain to her. And she ate and was satisfied, and had left over.

Rth 2:15  And she rose up to glean, and Boʽaz commanded his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not embarrass her.

Rth 2:16  “Rather, draw out from the bundles for her, and leave it for her to glean, and do not restrain her.”

Rth 2:17  And she gleaned in the field until evening, and beat out that which she had gleaned, and it was about an ĕphah of barley.

Rth 2:18  And she took it up and went into the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. And she brought out and gave to her what she had left over after she was satisfied.

Rth 2:19  Then her mother-in-law asked her, “Where have you gleaned today? And where did you work? Blessed be the one who took notice of you.” And she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, and said, “The name of the man I worked today with is Boʽaz.”

Rth 2:20  And Naʽomi said to her daughter-in-law, “Blessed be he of יהוה, who has not forsaken His kindness to the living and the dead!” And Naʽomi said to her, “The man is a relative of ours, one of our redeemers.”

Rth 2:21  And Ruth the Mo’aḇitess said, “He also said to me, ‘Stay close to my young people until they have completed all my harvest.’ ”

Rth 2:22  And Naʽomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, and that they do not meet you in any other field.”

Rth 2:23  And she stayed close by the young women of Boʽaz to glean, till the completion of barley harvest and wheat harvest, but she dwelt with her mother-in-law.

This text from the book of Ruth can be better understand in the context of the Torah:

Lev 23:22  ‘And when you reap the harvest of your land do not completely reap the corners of your field when you reap, and do not gather any gleaning from your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the stranger. I am יהוה your Elohim.’ ”

D’varim/Deut. 24: 19 When thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow: that YHWH thy Elohim may bless thee in all the work of thine hands.
Ruth 2 : 2 And Rut the Moabitess said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find favour. And she said unto her, Go, my daughter.

The context in the light of the Brit Chadasha:

I know many will say: How can you say that Yehoshua will come back at Shavuot when everybody believe that he will come back on the seventh month the day that no man knows!

-        First of all I don't know who is everybody,

-        Secondly I don't walk after the majority

-        Third only scriptures count

Let us look at some and may be gain a conclusion:                                                 

THE CONTEXT:

Yochanan the Immerser says:
Mat 3:11  “I indeed immerse you in water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to bear. He shall immerse you in the Set-apart Spirit and fire.

Mat 3:12  “His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He shall thoroughly cleanse His threshing-floor, and gather His wheat into the storehouse, but the chaff He shall burn with unquenchable fire.” 

Mat 24:3  And as He (Yehoshua) sat on the Mount of Olives, the taught ones came to Him separately, saying, “Say to us, when shall this be, and what is the SIGN OF YOUR COMING, AND THE END OF THE AGE?”

Mat 24:4  And יהושע answering, said to them, “Take heed that no one leads you astray.

Yehoshua tells his disciples all what shall come before his coming:

Mat 24:30  “And then the sign of the Son of Aḏam shall appear in the heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth shall mourn, and they shall see the Son of Aḏam coming on the clouds of the heaven with power and much esteem.

Mat 24:31  “And He shall send His messengers with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His chosen ones from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

Mat 24:32  “And learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that the summer is near.

Mat 24:33  “So you also, when you see all these, know that He is near, at the doors.

Mat 24:34  “Truly, I say to you, this generation shall by no means pass away until all this takes place.

Mat 24:35  “The heaven and the earth shall pass away, but My words shall by no means pass away.

Mat 24:36  “But concerning THAT DAY and HOUR NO ONE KNOWS, not even the messengers of the heavens, but My Father only.

Yehoshua warned many times to watch and pray:

Mat 24:42  “Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Master is coming.

Yehoshua keep going in the chapter to tell another parable directly connected to his return:

Mat 24:43  “And know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.

Mat 24:44  “Because of this, be ready too, for the Son of Aḏam is coming at an hour when you do not expect Him.

Mat 24:45  “Who then is a trustworthy and wise servant, whom his master set over his household, to give them food in season?

Mat 24:46  “Blessed is that servant whom his master, having come, shall find so doing.

Mat 24:47  “Truly, I say to you that he shall set him over all his possessions.

Mat 24:48  “But if that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’

Mat 24:49  and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards,

Mat 24:50  the master of that servant shall come on a day when he does not expect it, and at an hour he does not know,

Mat 24:51  and shall cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites – there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

UNFORTUNATELY, many think that because the chapter is closed that it is the end and that another "topic" comes. Yehoshua didn't had any chapter in his speech, He was to explain something in the chapter 25 directly connected to chapter 24 as we are going to read:

Mat 25:1  “Then the reign of the heavens shall be compared to ten maidens who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.

Mat 25:2  “And five of them were wise, and five foolish.

Mat 25:3  “Those who were foolish, having taken their lamps, took no oil with them,

Mat 25:4  but the wise took oil in their containers with their lamps.

Mat 25:5  “Now while the bridegroom took time, they all slumbered and slept.

Mat 25:6  “And at midnight a cry was heard, ‘See, the bridegroom is coming, go out to meet him!’

Mat 25:7  “Then all those maidens rose up and trimmed their lamps.

Mat 25:8  “And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us of your oil, because our lamps are going out.’

Mat 25:9  “But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, indeed, there would not be enough for us and you. Instead, go to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’

Mat 25:10  “And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast, and the door was shut.

Mat 25:11  “And later the other maidens also came, saying, ‘Master, Master, open up for us!’

Mat 25:12  “But he answering, said, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’

Mat 25:13  “WATCH THEREFORE, BECAUSE YOU DO NOT KNOW THE DAY NOT THE HOUR IN WHICH THE SON OF ADAM IS COMING,

25:13 connect DIRECTLY to chapter 24:36,42,44.

In Judaism it is tradition the night of SHAVUOT to spend the all night reading the Torah (book of Ruth) and others scriptures, WAITING FOR THE RETURN of MASCHIACH.

THE BOOK OF RUTH IS ABOUT:

- Yehudah and Ephraim (Naomi and Ruth)

- Redemption according to the law of the Kinsman redeemer

- The Timing is SHAVUOT the End of the Wheat Harvest.

In this Book we glean knowledge about Barley and Wheat also.

Have you spend the night watching? (Myself I felt asleep around 3.30 am) :), the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak. Hope to do better next year.

Now let us go further.

Exo 19:9  And יהוה said to Mosheh, “See, I am coming to you in the thick cloud, so that the people hear when I speak with you, and believe you forever.” And Mosheh reported the words of the people to יהוה.

Exo 19:10  And יהוה said to Mosheh, “Go to the people and set them apart today and tomorrow. And they shall wash their garments,

Exo 19:11  and shall be prepared by the third day. For on the third day יהוה shall come down upon Mount Sinai before the eyes of all the people.

YHWH told Moshe to tell the people to prepare themselves for He will come down to the Mount on the third day, this was 50 DAYS after leaving Mitzrayim:

Exo 19:1  In the third month after the children of Yisra’ĕl had come out of the land of Mitsrayim, on this day they came to the Wilderness of Sinai.

The Children of Ysrael left Mitzaryim on the 15 of the first month, so we can conclude that the came at Mount Sinai on the THIRD Month (19:1) after at least 46 days (you can count), the month been already started, we put 3 days as YHWH commanded we come to 49, and on the 50th YHWH will come down.

Now let us compare with Shavuot after the departure of Yehoshua:

Act 1:12  Then they went back to Yerushalayim from the Mount of Olives, which is near Yerushalayim, a Sabbath day’s journey.

Act 1:13  And when they came in, they went up into the upper room where they were staying: both Kĕpha and Yaʽaqoḇ and Yoḥanan and Andri, Philip and T’oma, Bartholomi and Mattithyahu, Yaʽaqoḇ the son of Alphai and Shimʽon the Zealot, and Yehuḏah the son of Yaʽaqoḇ.

Act 1:14  All these were continuing with one mind in prayer and supplication, with the women and Miryam the mother of יהושע, and with His brothers.

Why were the disciples together? May be like the Five wise virgins of the parable waiting ALL NIGHT the day of Shavuot??? This question is valid as they had already asked to Yehoshua when the Kingdom will be restored.

Act 2:1  And when the Day of the Festival of Weeks had come, they were all with one mind in one place.

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

Act 2:3  And there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and settled on each one of them.

Act 2:4  And they were all filled with the Set-apart Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them to speak.

The sound and noise is a reminder of the days at Mount Sinai:

Exo 20:18  And all the people saw the thunders, the lightning flashes, the sound of the ram’s horn, and the mountain smoking. And the people saw it, and they trembled and stood at a distance,

Exo 20:19  and said to Mosheh, “You speak with us and we hear, but let not Elohim speak with us, lest we die.”

SHAVUOT the day of the FIRST FRUITS, the Feast of the WHEAT HARVEST:

Lev 23:16  ‘Until the morrow after the seventh Sabbath you count fifty days, then you shall bring a new grain offering to יהוה.

Lev 23:17  ‘Bring from your dwellings for a wave offering two loaves of bread, of two-tenths of an ĕphah of fine flour they are, baked with leaven, first-fruits to יהוה.

Yehoshua makes references to the WHEAT:

Mat 13:24  Another parable He put before them, saying, “The reign of the heavens has become like a man who sowed good seed in his field,..................................Mat 13:29  “But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the darnel you also uproot the wheat with them.

Mat 13:30  ‘Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I shall say to the reapers, “First gather the darnel and bind them in bundles to burn them, but GATHER THE WHEAT INTO MY GRANARY.” ’ ”

A bit later Yehoshua explain the parable:

Mat 13:36  Then, having sent the crowds away, יהושע went into the house. And His taught ones came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the darnel of the field.”

Mat 13:37  And He answering, said to them, “He who is sowing the GOOD SEED is the Son of Aḏam,

Mat 13:38  and the field is the world. And the good seed, THESE ARE THE SONS OF THE REIGN, but the darnel are the sons of the wicked one,

YOCHANAN the IMMERSER spoke concerning the work of Yehoshua:

Mat 3:11  “I indeed immerse you in water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to bear. He shall immerse you in the Set-apart Spirit and fire.

Mat 3:12  “His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He shall thoroughly cleanse His threshing-floor, and  GATHER HIS WHEAT INTO THE STOREHOUSE, but the chaff He shall burn with unquenchable fire.”

I think we can conclude that:

A) Yehoshua coming was to gather the WHEAT, the sons of the Kingdom

B) That ALL happen during the time of WHEAT HARVEST ending at SHAVUOT

C) The day that no man knows because in Ysrael the WHEAT HARVEST go on for almost 50 days, the climate been different in many region, the wheat do not ripen at the same time, so NO MAN KNOWS WHEN THE SON OF MAN will come.

By the way, I have explain in another midrash, why IT IS IMPOSSIBLE that the MINCHA (Grain offering) given by the Priest was made of BARLEY, but rather of WHEAT, thus giving another perspective to Yehoshua actions.

The sons of the Kingdom will be caught up at SHAVUOT to go the diner of the marriage of the Lamb, and will come back with him on the Seventh month at YOM KIPPUR to judge the nations.

Yom Teruah is a day of ALARM to herald the soon coming of the KING.

To make things more clearly, we need to consider this points:

Joh 1:14  And the WORD BECAME FLESH and pitched His tent1 among us, and we saw His esteem, esteem as of an only brought-forth of a father, complete in favor and truth;

IT IS ABOUT THE WORD:

Isa 55:10  “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from the heavens, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, and give seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

Isa 55:11  so is My Word that goes forth from My mouth – it does not return to Me empty, but shall do what I please, and shall certainly accomplish what I sent it for.

Yeshayahu doesn't make a mistake he speaks about THE WORD:

Rev 19:10  And I fell at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “See, do not do it! I am your fellow servant, and of your brothers who possess the witness of יהושע. Worship Elohim! For the witness of יהושע is the spirit of prophecy.”

Rev 19:11  And I saw the heaven opened, and there was a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Trustworthy and True, and in righteousness He judges and fights.

Rev 19:12  And His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns, having a Name that had been written, which no one had perceived except Himself.

Rev 19:13  and having been dressed in a robe dipped in blood – and HIS NAME IS CALLED: The WORD of יהוה.

CONCLUSION:

A) The TORAH (The very Word of YHWH) was given at SHAVUOT at Mount Sinai

B) The RUACH HAQODESH (the Mother of the Word) was pourred out on SHAVUOT on the followers of YEHOSHUA

C) YEHOSHUA WHO IS, THE WORD MADE FLESH, will come back at SHAVUOT TO TAKE THE BELIEVERS:

2Th 2:1  As to the coming of our Master יהושע Messiah and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, brothers,

2Th 2:2  not to become easily unsettled in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as if the day of יהוה has come.

Shaul gives more details:

1Th 5:1  Now, brothers, as to THE TIMES and the SEASONS, YOU DO NOT NEED TO BE WRITTEN to.

1Th 5:2  For you YOURSELVES KNWO VERY WELL that the day of יהוה comes as a thief in the night (Read Matt 24)..

1Th 5:3  For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then suddenly destruction comes upon them, as labour pains upon a pregnant woman, and they shall not escape.

1Th 5:4  But you, brothers, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief.

1Th 5:5  For you are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.

1Th 5:6  So, then, we SHOULD NOT SLEEP, AS OTHERS DO, BUT WE SHOULD WATCH AND SOBER 5sound like the Five wise Virgins).

1Th 5:7  For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night.

1Th 5:8  But we who are of the day should be sober, putting on the breastplate of belief and love, and as a helmet the expectation of deliverance.

1Th 5:9  Because Elohim did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain deliverance through our Master יהושע Messiah,

Mat 24:42  “WATCH therefore, for YOU DO NOT KNWO WHAT HOUR YOUR MASTER IS COMING.

Mat 24:43  “And know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.

Mat 24:44  “Because of this, be ready too, for the Son of Aḏam is coming at an hour when you do not expect Him.

All those who have dedicated themselves to follow Yehoshua HaMshiach, are the good seed represented as wheat, and only wheat, which harvest is celebrated at Shavuot (Pentecôst). Think about that and judge for yourselves if you will look at Yom Teruah or prepare yourselves to be ready for Shavuot.

The FALL FEAST are about the CORONATION of the KING and the GATHERING OF THE ELECT IN THEIR LAND. We will look at it in its season.

 Shalom Chaverim