I started writing this Essay on Shavuot, one of Judaism’s holiest days, but most Christians have little to no knowledge of it’s significance to Christianity. Most Christians, especially Catholics, “party hardy” on the day of Mardi Gras, French for Fat Tuesday, because on Ash Wednesday we “give up” something we desire for 40 days, some action or a physical thing that’s personal and not at anyone else’s expense. Most people give up alcohol, which is a good thing, confirming physical non-dependence for fermented or distilled liquid that intoxicates us, evoking combinations of joy and pain, sometimes beyond reason. This period of self-sacrifice we call Lent is to be done with a Heart for the bodily death and spiritual Resurrection of Christ Jesus, my Messiah Yeshua.

The Emperor Constantine became a Christian around 325 AD, and sent his mother, also a Christian, to the Holy Land to determine where Jesu Cristo was born, where he walked, where he died and was buried. The Romans had destroyed the Temple in 70 AD, and it would be hundreds of years before a mosque honoring AvRaham’s direct descendant, Muhammad, would be constructed. Constantine ordered that a New Testament be compiled from the books believed written by the disciples and apostles that would be an addendum to the scriptures Christians used until then, what we call the Old Testament. He changed the date of Yeshua’s birth to coincide with a pagan holiday celebrating a Roman Sun goddess, and he changed his death at Passover to correlate with the nearby birthday of a Greek goddess, Easter.

Resurrection Day was on the first day of the week following celebration of Passover, his sacrificial death being likely on the fifth day of the week that year, for the next day would have been Pesakh, a Shabbat (Sabbath), a Holy Day, and the next day, Saturday, a traditional Shabbat, fulfilling his prophesy that he would be gone from Earth for three days and three nights. In the hours before Pesakh he died on the cross, his Soul leaving his physical body, to be placed in a nearby cave belonging to Yusef of Ramataeem. He was wrapped in white linen to await his official burial, and the women quickly prepared the oils and spices they would use to anoint his body, for it was near sunset, the beginning of Pesakh, when no one was allowed to work. There was talk among them that he would rise from the dead on the third day, so officials placed a large stone at the entrance to the cave, and stationed soldiers there to guard the site.

Because of the timing as explained above, I believe that it was Thursday night, not Friday, when Yeshua violated the depths of Hades, by whatever name Mankind calls that Evil domain, and conquered HaSatan, powerfully defying his forces and preaching to the ones behind the barrier described in David’s Psalm 104:6-9. Those prisoners hadn’t been allowed to return to Earth to inhabit the bodies of Homo sapiens, to reincarnate in Human form, their sins being too great to overcome in any lifetime, yet Meshiakh gave them hope for Soul Salvation through him, as explained in 1 Peter 3:19-20; 4:6.

For three nights Yeshua was in different Realms of Life, achieving the physical power to appear and disappear as he chose on the first day of the week, and in his renewed physical yet spiritual form he walked among them and ate with them for forty days. After he ascended into permanent Spiritual Presence, his talmideem returned to Jerusalem, where they gathered in constant prayer, stopping only to eat, sleep and eliminate waste from their bodies. They no doubt also fasted a great deal during those nine days until Shavuot, the day the WORD of G-D gave Torah, the Ten Commandments, to the Isra’elites.

Pesakh honors the Passover of the Spirit of Death, and is celebrated every year on the 14th day of Nissan (Aviv) to mark the liberation of the Jewish people as they left Egypt, and several months later they celebrated at Sukkot, where they built tents as temporary shelters while they danced and sang for their freedom. (Note: October 7, 2023 was the final day of the celebration of Sukkot.) They traveled on toward Mount Sinai, where Moses’ wife and children, along with his in-laws, joined them at the place of his former refuge and solitude, also his Place of Holy Commitment. The anniversary of Pesakh passed, and Moses entered a Time of Anticipation for 49 days, which included betrayal of the people (golden calf), but on the 50th day, Shavuot, the WORD of G-D was finally given in Torah, the Ten Commandments. Christians call this day by the Greek term for 50 days, Pentecost.

Yeshua was the Last Sacrificial Lamb of Pesakh successfully slain to wash away the sins of the people, for from that day the blood on the altar of the Temple no longer ran clear to forgive the sins of the children of Isra’el, but the blood from the wound in his side became Holy Water in its stead. Christians celebrate Lent during the 40 days before Easter, which changed with Julian and Gregorian calendars, as well as the full moon, but Jews and Messianic Jews celebrate the 49 days following Pesakh, counting the Omer, leading up to the Harvest of the First Fruits as well as Shavuot, the giving of the Ten Commandments. During those days of seven weeks (Leviticus 23:9-16) we focus on the Wisdom of Mussar (Learning), using self-discipline to understand language that expresses deep thought, discerning “what is right, just and fair,” as Solomon wrote in Proverbs 1:2-3. In counting the Omer daily, we also count our blessings, and cultivate Yeshua’s qualities of honesty, compassion, kindness, patience, forgiveness and a willingness to serve others as to our Gifts and abilities.

Yeshua ascended into the Spiritual Realm on the 40th day after Pesakh, and for nine days the faithful remained in constant prayer, as previously described. On that 50th day, the Holy Spirit entered the Souls of the faithful, and tongues of fire stood over the heads of the twelve Chosen ones, causing them to speak a Holy language so that everyone who heard them, heard in their native tongue. Those of Syria, Lebanon and surrounding nations who’d come to Jerusalem for Shavuot or for trade heard their own languages coming out of the mouths of Galileans and Jerusalem natives such as Matthew. The Holy Ghost of Messiah Yeshua, Sar Shalom (Prince of Peace), comes to live in us in all H-S Glory (K’vod Adonai), Isaiah’s Light to the world in Ruakh HaKodesh, the Holy Breath.