There is a long standing Jewish tradition of eating dairy products during Shavuot. The reason for this is not clear at all. Some say it is because the time of the year when Shavuot is celebrated, coincides with the time of the year when the Torah was given, and that the Torah included the kosher laws which, according to Jewish understanding, disallow the mixing or combining of dairy products with meat products. Others say the reason for eating dairy products during Shavuot is because the numerical value of the Hebrew word for milk (“chalav”) is 40 and this is a reminder of the 40 days that Mosheh spent on Mount Sinai when he received the Torah. Both of these, and other reasons, are met with scepticism, even among the Jews themselves.
One female Jewish rabbi wrote on her blog that there was no particular reason for the tradition of enjoying dairy products during Shavuot. The only reason she could think of, was that all the other kinds of foods were already “taken” by the other Jewish feasts, and dairy was all that was left for Shavuot! There is matzah on Pesach (to symbolize unleavened bread), challah (kitke) on Shabbat (to symbolize that Israel is interwoven with its Creator), Triangular shaped foods on Purim (to symbolize Haman’s ears) and foods fried in oil on Hannukah (to symbolize the miracle of the oil lasting 8 days in the temple). So they almost had no other choice: they had to pick dairy for Shavuot!
Traditions may be interesting, and even helpful, but they are not always firmly based in Scriptures. If I have to take one word, connected to Shavuot, that is definitely based in Scriptures, I would not hesitate to take the word “davar” which literally means “word”. At the foot of Mount Sinai, and around the time of Shavuot, the people of Israel received, not only the “Ten Words” of Yahweh, but all the words that they needed to build their lives upon, also called “the words of the covenant”. The 5th book of the Torah, basically a summary of these words of the covenant, is literally called Devarim (“Words”), the plural form of “davar”.
And in Acts 2, on that well known day of Shavuot, Kepha (Peter) started off his message by saying, “Listen to these words …” And then he proceeded by quoting the words of many passages from the Scriptures that were known in those days, and he applied them to Y’shua of Nazareth. And towards the end of his Shavuot message, in Acts 2:40, it is written: “With many other words he earnestly witnessed and urged them, saying, “Be saved from this crooked generation.” With traditions one can go a long way, without being saved. It is only by the words coming from the mouth of Yahweh that one can be saved from this crooked generation.
When thinking about Shavuot and the word (or the words) of Yahweh, and about the fact that one of the verses that Kepha quoted, was “Everyone who calls on the Name of Yahweh will be saved, I couldn’t help but thinking about something that has gradually hampered the very word of Yahweh, over the past 2500 years. I am saying 2500 years, because that is how far back we need to go to get to the end of the Babylonian Exile and roughly the beginning of the false idea that the Name of Yahweh is too “holy” to be spoken out aloud. Is it not true that the tradition of NOT pronouncing the Name above all names, became a real stumbling block in the process of hearing the very word of Yahweh – especially when the contents of the Torah, and the details of the covenant, and the introduction of a feast like Shavuot, started off with these words: “I am Yahweh your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Mitsrayim, out of the house of slavery” (Exodus 20:2)? Not calling Yahweh by Name, or choosing a substitute like “Lord” and “Adonai” and “Hashem” and even “Yod-Hey-Vav-Hey”, is already putting the hearer in troubled waters. Who is the One speaking these words? Why are we not hearing his Name, when his Name was clearly written down and spoken out by the early writers of Scriptures? Why are his words not called “The Words of Yahweh” any longer, when they were simply called that way, more than 300 times in Scriptures? Why are the leaders of assemblies not using the words “Thus said Yahweh” any longer, when these exact words were used almost 300 times in Scriptures? It was the very words of Yahweh that touched the hearts of the people during the Shavuot meeting of Acts 2. I believe that the very words of Yahweh can have that same effect, today. Let us allow Yahweh to speak to us today, by simply looking at a handful of “Thus said Yahweh” verses from Scriptures.
ONE
2 Kings 20:5 Thus said Yahweh (to Chizqiyahu): I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears. See, I am going to heal you. (The 50th time that “Thus said Yahweh” is used in Scriptures!)
SHAVUOT AS A REMINDER THAT YAHWEH HAS INDEED HEARD US AND SEEN US
TWO
2 Chronicles 20:15 Thus said Yahweh to you (Yehoshaphat and all of Yehudah): Do not fear, nor be afraid of the face of this great army, for the battle is not yours, but Elohim’s.
SHAVUOT AS A REMINDER THAT YAHWEH IS TAKING OUR BATTLES FOR HIMSELF
THREE
Isaiah 43:16-19 Thus said Yahweh, who makes a way in the sea, I am doing what is new, let it now spring forth … I am even making a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
SHAVUOT AS A REMINDER THAT YAHWEH CAN TURN OUR WILDERNESS INTO A HIGHLIGHT
FOUR
Isaiah 44:2 Thus said Yahweh who made you and formed you from the womb, who helps you, do not fear, O Yaakov, My servant, and Yeshurun (from “yashar” = “straight, upright, righteous”), whom I have chosen.
SHAVUOT AS A REMINDER THAT YAHWEH HAS CHOSEN US, CREATED US AND CLOTHED US WITH RIGHTEOUSNESS
FIVE
Isaiah 45:11 Thus said Yahweh, the Set-apart One of Yisrael, and his Maker, (I would rather have you) asking Me about My sons that is to come and about the work of My hands.
SHAVUOT AS A REMINDER THAT YAHWEH IS MORE THAN JUST FIXER OF MY PROBLEMS
SIX
Isaiah 48:17 Thus said Yahweh, your Redeemer, the Set-apart One of Yisrael, I am Yahweh your Elohim, teaching you what is best, leading you by the way you should go.
SHAVUOT AS A REMINDER THAT YAHWEH CAN RENEW OUR MINDS AND REROUTE OUR WAYS
SEVEN
Isaiah 49:8 Thus said Yahweh, I shall guard You and give You for a covenant of the people, to restore the earth, to cause them to inherit the ruined inheritances.
SHAVUOT AS A REMINDER THAT YAHWEH HAD PROMISED THAT HE WOULD SEND SOMEONE TO COME AND RESTORE THE EARTH
We have already seen that on Shavuot, Kepha focused on the words of Yahweh and applied the prophesies to Y’shua of Nazareth. Let us do the same – focusing on the words of Yahweh and taking seriously the prophesies about Y’shua. Why did Yahweh deem it necessary to send his Son, Y’shua of Nazareth to the people of Israel and to use the first Shavuot after his Son’s departure as a launching pad to send the message about Y’shua into the rest of the world?
My answer would be: To make it possible for people like us to become part of Yahweh’s family, through the death and resurrection of Y’shua, who now became both our elder brother and our Master. He is our role model and inspiration, and by fixing our eyes upon Him, we can now handle all kinds of difficulties and disappointments, physical set-backs, relational issues, emotional problems, resentment of people and attacks of the enemy. Y’shua brought us a fresh and deep appreciation of the words of Yahweh. And with this new understanding, we can state boldly, together with the apostle: Neither death nor life, nor principalities, nor powers, nor present, nor future, nor height, nor depth, nor any creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of Elohim which is in Messiah Y’shua, our Master.
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