In Jewish tradition, Shavuot is characterized by the custom of making a point of eating dairy products, for the duration of the two days set aside for the feast. Neither of these two customs is a commandment of Scriptures – not the custom of turning Shavuot into a TWO DAY feast, nor the custom of eating dairy products for the duration of the feast. But I have to admit that it is quite tempting to adopt the practice of having ice cream, yogurt, cheese cake and hot chocolate for two full days, just before winter arrives – that time of the year when the cold is causing one to keep on looking for a little bit extra, and a little bit sweet and tasty, to satisfy the cravings from within! Even in the Northern hemisphere, where Shavuot is just before summer (not winter), the prospect of having a free ticket to eating lots of ice cream, is certainly something most people would embrace wholeheartedly!
Why do the Jews focus on milk and dairy when they get to the feast of Shavuot? There are several reasons that are given for this custom. I am not sure if the first reason is supposed to be taken seriously and whether it is believed by the Jews themselves, but nevertheless, the rabbis are saying that when the first Shavuot took place in the desert, the people of Israel realized that they were not prepared to separate the meat products from the milk products during their meals (yet another custom that is NOT a commandment of Scriptures!), so they took the easy way out, by eating dairy products only. A second reason is that the numerical value of the Hebrew word for “milk” (“chalav”) is 40 and this is a reminder of the 40 days and 40 nights that Mosheh spent on mount Sinai, just before the giving of the Torah during the time of Shavuot. A third reason is that milk is known to be the food of babies and the custom of eating milk products during Shavuot is seen as a reminder that in the study of Torah, one should always adopt the attitude of a baby – never arrogant, always eager to learn more and to grow towards maturity. Of course, we can only agree with the call to adopt the attitude of babies when we engage with Torah, and with Scriptures as a whole, as it is written in 1 Pet 2:2: “As newborn babes, desire the unadulterated milk of the Word, in order that you may grow by it.” And then the fourth reason given for the custom of eating milk products during the feast of Shavuot is taken from Song of Songs 4:11: “Your lips, O my bride, drip as the honeycomb; honey and milk under your tongue.” Although the phrase “honey and milk under your tongue” is not directly compared to the words of Yahweh in this particular passage, there are, indeed, other verses in Scriptures where the words and the commandments of Yahweh are said to be “sweet” or “like honey” (Ps 19:10; Ps 119:103; Pro 24:13). The mere fact that honey and milk are so often mentioned together in Scriptures and put within the context of the Promised Land (“the land of milk and honey”), has certainly played a role in starting a tradition of focusing upon MILK during the feast of Shavuot. Shavuot is not only a reminder of the giving of the Torah. Being the day at the end of the count-down to fifty – the number of Jubilee – it is also a reminder of the Promised Land that is yet to be realized and fulfilled.
Should we, then, eat dairy products during Shavuot, like the Jews have been doing now for hundreds of years? It is not a commandment or a requirement of Scriptures. There is not a wrong or a right attached to this tradition. As for myself, I wouldn’t mind the cheese and the ice cream! And I wouldn’t mind the reminder that we should never stop craving for the Word of Yahweh like new-born babies. I wouldn’t mind the reminder that the words of Yahweh are like milk and honey under the tongue. And that, together, as the body of Messiah, we are looking forward to the completion of the count-down here on earth and to THAT TIME when we shall enter into the Promised Land, the Kingdom of heaven and our unification with Y’shua, as his bride! In addition, on a feast like Shavuot, it is most appropriate that we remind ourselves that in a world where so many people are living in poverty and fear and desperate need, we are privileged to say with Job that our milk containers are filled with milk (Job 21:24). And we are equally privileged to have heard the invitation from the lips of the Almighty to “buy” from Him, and to approach Him and to receive from Him wine and milk in all kinds of formats – without silver and without price, without having to pay a single cent for this transaction (Isa 55:1)! I would not mind to go into this coming feast, reminding myself that keeping the feast and keeping Torah and obeying Yahweh, is not a payment in order to get hold of something that He can give me. No, it is only a way of expressing my deep, deep gratitude for what He has already given to me, and for what He had promised to give me in the time that lies ahead.
Speaking of the prospect of being united with Y’shua, as his bride. There will indeed be a time of meeting up with Y’shua the Messiah, when He will come again in esteem and luster, one day. Shavuot is traditionally associated with Ruth and the fact that she, as a non-Jew, became the bride of Boaz and, eventually, the great grandmother of David and part of the blood line of Y’shua of Nazareth. Ruth, becoming the bride of Boaz, is important for us, for at least two reasons. Firstly, it reminds us of the fact that just as Ruth was not deserving of becoming the bride of Boaz, Israel was not deserving of becoming the bride of Yahweh. Just as Yahweh chose Israel to become his people, despite them being small and unimportant and unimpressive and rebellious, so Boaz chose Ruth despite her being poor and desperate and coming from a despised nation. This fact is, quite simply, one of the clearest demonstrations that it is in Yahweh’s nature to show favour to people. To let them “buy” from Him without money and payment. Doing good, and giving freely, and providing in abundance, and coming up with the totally unexpected, is what our Elohim, Yahweh, thrives upon! If Yahweh were in the habit of following the “normal” procedure, by giving only when someone was deserving, and withholding only when someone was NOT deserving, He would have been no different from us. People tend to forget this very important aspect of the nature of Yahweh, especially when they get into trouble. In times of trouble and tribulation they tend to say, “What have I done to deserve this?” – forgetting completely that Yahweh is first and foremost an Elohim of favour, not of giving people what they deserve. The unpleasant things happening to us, is not about merit and demerit, it’s about life. And the proper way, as believers, to relate to these unpleasant events is to use them as motivators to dedicate our entire life to Yahweh, not as triggers to question His fairness or to declare our innocence.
The second reason why Ruth becoming the bride of Boaz is important to us, is because it is a foreshadow of what would happen later, on a world-wide scale, after the life, death and resurrection of Y’shua the Messiah. We are, in a sense, in the same boat as Ruth. Like Ruth, we, non-Jews, also came from the outside, and, as complete foreigners, we were adopted into the family of Elohim. Formerly we were without (the promise of) the Messiah, we were excluded from the citizenship of Israel, we were strangers with regards to the covenants and the promises given to Israel and we were living without expectation and without Elohim in the world (Eph 2:12). But all of this changed through what happened to Y’shua, and by what Yahweh had offered us through the death and resurrection of his Son. We have been brought near by the blood of the Messiah (Eph 2:13). The barrier and the partition between Israel and ourselves has been broken down (Eph 2:14). Together with Israel, we have been restored to Elohim in one body (Eph 2:16). Both groups, Jews and non-Jews, now have access to the Father, through one Spirit (Eph 2:18). We are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens of the set-apart ones and members of the household of Elohim (Eph 2:19).
This is exactly what had been foreseen by the prophets, long before the coming of Messiah. Let us once again listen to the words of Isaiah 14:1 where it was prophesied, “Strangers shall join Israel and they shall cling to the house of Yaakov.” We are reminded of Isaiah 56 where the prophet “saw” the day when the sons of the foreigner would join Yahweh, would call upon his Name and keep the Shabbat and hold onto the covenant. We are reminded of the prophet Zechariah who said that many peoples and strong nations would come and seek Yahweh in Yerushalayim and pray before him (Zec 8:22). And of the prophet MichaYah who prophesied that in the latter days the peoples of the nations would FLOW to the house of Yahweh, established on top of the mountains (Mic 4:1). And even the prayer of the Psalmist, saying “Let all nations You have made come and bow themselves before You, O Yahweh, and give esteem to Your Name” (Ps 86:9). We are part of these nations and these prophesies. The fulfilment of the end-time prophesies is already taking shape, an we are a vital part of that! We have a choice. We can become entangled in the nitty-gritty stuff that people continuously argue about these days, especially in Messianic circles. The Jewish traditions, the milk at Shavuot or the unfairness of our suffering. Or we can change our perspective drastically by enjoying the showers and the outpouring of Yahweh’s favour and love, each and every day, and by beginning to look at ourselves in the light of prophesy. What a privilege to be alive at this time and to be on the receiving side of promises and prophesies like these! What an exiting prospect to look forward to the feast of Shavuot, once again, knowing that it is exactly this feast (according to the report in Acts 2) that triggered the process that made it possible for us to become part of a body of believers who eagerly await the coming of their Master, Y’shua – one in spirit and in conviction and in hope!
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