(Leviticus 23:15-16) ‘You shall also count for yourselves from the day after the sabbath, from the day when you brought in the sheaf of the wave offering; there shall be seven complete sabbaths. {16} ‘You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh sabbath; then you shall present a new grain offering to the LORD.
Shavout is the Hebrew word for “weeks.” This Holy Day is named Shavuot from (Deuteronomy 16:9-10) “You shall count seven weeks for yourself; you shall begin to count seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain. {10} “Then you shall celebrate the Feast of Weeks to the LORD your God with a tribute of a freewill offering of your hand, which you shall give just as the LORD your God blesses you;
There are many truths interwoven between the time when we began counting off the 50 days from the barley harvest, until the day we offer the first fruits of the wheat harvest which is Shavout.
One significant truth is the transformation of a people who at Passover became physically free from slavery in Egypt and then after receiving the covenant on Shavuot/Pentecost at Mt. Sinai begin the journey to the Promised land.
From physical freedom in bondage to spiritual freedom as well. The day we left Egypt we were delivered from slavery. We were set free to be who we were called to be. But we didn’t know the way to the Land God was leading us to.
God gave His Word and then led us by His Spirit to lead us through the wilderness. All that began at Mt. Sinai. It was only after we received the Torah on Mt. Sinai that we would learn how to walk with God that would set us spiritually free as well.
So, Shavuot is the anniversary of God’s giving the Torah on Mt. Sinai. It was the day that God confirmed the covenant made to Abraham 400 years earlier. In Genesis 15 God said to him:
God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years. But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with many possessions … On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land, From the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates:
It was at Sinai that God confirmed His covenant and gave Abraham’s children instructions in how to walk with God in a way that leads to His blessings and protection for life and rest.
In Jewish tradition the focus of Shavuot commemorates the events on Mt. Sinai when God gave the covenant and Torah to Israel. It celebrates how Israel moved from freedom (Passover) to covenantal responsibility at Sinai.
Day 50 represents not just deliverance but a time of, new birth, and empowerment.
The move from 49 days/ 7 weeks (Shavuot) to day 50 (Pentecost). is rich with spiritual, historical, and theological significance.
The number 50 marks a culmination, a jubilee. Lev. 25 is the provision God made for a family who lost their land because of debt would be restored to their family legacy.
So 50 points to a point new beginning. Under God’s Law the 50th year was a Jubilee in which all family and tribal land that was lost because of debt was restored.
The 50th day, after Passover symbolizes a Spiritual completion and preparation. The number 7 in Scripture speaks of completion as well as in the Sabbath. Seven squared or 7×7 = 49 represents in Jewish tradition of the full cycle of spiritual preparation.
The details given for Shavuot in Lev. 23 define this time of year and reflect this change. The First fruits offerings during Passover consisted of barley which was known as the poor man’s grain.
The sacrifices offered 50 days later on Shavuot included wheat.
In rabbinic literature (Talmud Sotah 14a and elsewhere), barley is associated with
Animal fodder. It is a coarse, less refined grain. Barley represents; instinct, physical existence, and man’s unrefined nature.
While wheat in Rabbinical teaching is seen as the primary food of human beings, refined, processed, representing intellect moral responsibility and spiritual development.
So, the Rabbis see the Jewish people transformed from seeking freedom to seeking life as found in obedience to God’s commands and covenant given at Sinai. That’s why it is a tradition among religious Jewish people to stay awake all night studying Torah.
This practice reflects the belief that Israel was spiritually unprepared when God appeared at Sinai, and later generations symbolically prepare themselves for serving the Lord through devotion and study.
This hunger for God’s word is a good thing. Yet it also exposes a tension. Torah is holy, righteous and good but it is weak. It reveals sin and our inability in our own strength to keep it’s commands.
The question at Sinai that still lingers today is how can a holy God dwell among a sinful people? The Torah points to Messiah. The Rabbi’s teach that all the Law and the prophets was for nothing but Messiah.
The main Book read on Shavuot is the book of Ruth. It is studied because Ruth the Moabite clings to Naomi and embraces the God of Israel. Ruth begins in the Barley harvest and ends at the time of the Wheat Harvest. So let’s consider Ruth along with the Jewish people as we learn the significance of this Book on Shavuot.
Ruth is a picture of God’s grace and provision, pointing to the hope and guidance that the Torah, brings. What we find in Ruth is that God uses our failures to lead us to Him.
Most crises in life are the result of bad decisions or irresponsible behavior we make. In Some cases, they may be the fallout from parents or other people in our lives while we reap the consequences of their behavior.
But what we do going forward can either bring us life, peace, and blessings or continue the cycle of bad choices and their consequences.
In Ruth we see the journey from darkness and bondage to Light and Life.
I. The Darkness (Ruth 1:1–5)
In v 1 we see that the events unfold “In the days when the judges governed…” That phrase tells us that it was a time of spiritual chaos. A time when everyone did what was right in their own eyes.
There was no visible king. God was their king, but they were not really looking to Him. There was no direction or submission to God’s Word.
And into that darkness comes a famine. Elimelech and Naomi leave Bethlehem. Now remember what Bethlehem means – “house of bread.” Yet there is no bread in the house of bread. So, they leave.
Instead of turning to God, they turn away from the land of promise and go to Moab. Moab, throughout Scripture, represents compromise and distance from God.
And what begins as a practical decision becomes a tragic one.
Elimelech dies. Their two sons marry Moabite women. Then both sons die.
Naomi is left with nothing. Suddenly there are three widows. No provider. No future. No hope. And Naomi would say later when she returns to Israel, “I went out full, but the Lord has brought me back empty.”
The book of Ruth begins. In emptiness. Generations earlier Israel was in Egypt, enslaved and hopeless. This is an ongoing pattern in Scripture. Before fullness comes emptiness. Sometimes God allows emptiness so that we will recognize our need for Him.
II. The Turning Point (Ruth 1:6–18)
Naomi hears that the Lord has visited His people and provided abundant harvests for them. God has not forgotten His people. So, she decides to return. She tells her daughters in law to go back to their people. Orpah does. But Ruth clings to Naomi.
She says one of the most powerful covenant confessions in all of Scripture in 1:16-17: “Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried.
Like Abraham Ruth leaves her family, her homeland and the gods of Moab, and clings to Naomi and the God of Israel. Generations earlier Israel at Sinai, Israel said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.”
Ruth is doing the same thing. She is entering covenant. She draws near because of her faith in the God of Israel. Life from the dead begins with surrender. Not knowledge alone. Not tradition alone. But a heart that says, “God, I am Yours.” Lead me, teach me”
III. God’s Grace in the Barley Fields (Ruth 2)
Ruth and Naomi arrive in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.
This is the beginning of one “coincidence” after another. Ruth and Naomi arrive in Bethlehem at the time of Passover, unleavened bread, and First Fruits.
Ruth goes out to glean. Gleaning was a provision in Torah from God’s Law for the poor. You could follow behind the harvesters and pick up what they left behind.
Ruth is dependent. She has no rights. No status. She is an outsider.
And then she “happens” to come to the field of Boaz. This is the providential hand of God. Boaz notices her. He protects her. And He provides for her.
He tells his workers not to touch her. He invites her to eat. He even instructs them to leave extra behind for her. This is God’s grace through the remnant of His people. Ruth did not earn this. She did not deserve this. She simply received it.
Barley as we have said was associated with the poor. It reminds us that we begin in need. Before Israel came to Mt. Sinai, God provided manna (Heb. For what is it?). In much the same way before we understand, God is already working on our behalf. God meets us in our need.
IV. The Need for a Redeemer (Ruth 3)
In chapter 3 we move to the threshing floor. This is where the grain is separated and prepared. Naomi instructs Ruth to go to Boaz. Ruth approaches him and says,
“Spread your garment over your maidservant, for you are a redeemer.”
This is a request for redemption. Boaz is a kinsman redeemer. It is one of the richest covenant concepts in Scripture, tying together family loyalty, redemption, justice, and restoration. A type of Jubilee for restoration of what was lost.
The role of the kinsman redeemer is established in several key passages: Leviticus 25:25 when an Israelite became poor and had to sell their land, the nearest relative could redeem it so the inheritance stayed within the family. The Redeemer restores what was lost.
Redemption from Slavery Leviticus 25:47–49 If a man sells himself into servitude, a close relative could buy him back. His Freedom requires a price from the redeemer.
Levirate Marriage (Name Preservation) Deuteronomy 25:5–10 If a man died without a son, a brother or near relative could marry the widow to raise up offspring in the deceased’s name. The Redeemer included preserving a name, a future, and a legacy of what was lost through death.
The Avenger of Blood (Justice) Numbers 35:19 The goel could act as an avenger to uphold justice for a slain relative. Redemption is not only mercy—it also includes justice.
The Qualifications of a Kinsman Redeemer are laid out in God’s Law. He must be a close relative, be willing to redeem, must have the ability to pay the price, and must act publicly and legally.
Naomi lost her husband and sons. Ruth is a Moabite widow with no inheritance, and the family line is about to disappear. But Boaz is willing to redeem but there is; a closer redeemer. When approached he declines because it would cost him too much.
This moment reflects the question raised at Sinai. The Torah reveals the need. It defines righteousness. But it cannot, by itself, produce redemption and transformation in our hearts. There must be a kinsman redeemer.
But as we learn in Ruth 3, Redemption may be available, but not everyone is willing, qualified, and able to pay the price.
- Redemption Accomplished (Ruth 4)
Boaz goes to the gate of the city. He speaks with the closer redeemer. At first, the man is willing. But when he realizes the cost, he refuses. Then Boaz steps forward and he redeems Ruth.
He takes her as his wife. Naomi, who said she was empty, is now full.
A child is born. Obed. And then the story moves to Obed’s genealogy. Obed becomes the grandfather of King David.
And through that line comes Jesus the Messiah. What began in darkness and famine ends in fullness and blessing. From the humility of the barley harvest to the beginning of the major harvest with wheat, that begins on Shavuot.
From survival to abundance. From being apart from God’s blessings to God’s covenant and His people. From emptiness to fullness.
VI. The Greater Fulfillment
The role of the goel ultimately points beyond Boaz. Throughout the Tanakh, God calls Himself Israel’s Redeemer -Isaiah 43:1: I am the LORD your Redeemer”
The New Covenant reveals that Jesus is the ultimate Kinsman Redeemer. He fulfills every qualification: He is a near relative. He took on flesh (John 1:14) to the Jew first and also to the Gentile, He Became one of us.
He was willing John 10:18: “No one takes My life… I lay it down,” He is able to Pay, with his sinless life. He is the “Righteous Servant of Isaiah 53”
Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed…. As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities.
Like Boaz Yeshua Paid the Price Publicly. The cross was not hidden. It was a legal, visible act to Israel and the nations represented by Rome.
Shavuot links directly to this theme: At Sinai: God “redeems” Israel from Egypt and enters covenant In Ruth: Boaz redeems Ruth and restores a family line
In Acts 2: On Shavuot, The Spirit writes the law on hearts, internalizing redemption. It is the same God who redeems: From slavery (Egypt), From loss (Ruth) From sin (Messiah).
To underline this great redemption God gave a further sign. When the Torah was given on Mt. Sinai Moses came down from the Mountain and discovered Israel worshipping a golden calf. This led to God’s judgment when 3,000 Israelites were put to death.
But when the Spirit of God came on Shavuot 1500 years later, Peter stood up and shared the Good News that God sent a Kinsmen Redeemer to His people. On that same day in response to the message 3,000 came to everlasting life.
Ruth is not just a story about a woman. It is a picture of God’s redemptive plan.
It reflects Israel’s journey. It mirrors our journey. From emptiness to fullness.
From barley to wheat. From need to redemption.
The question is this: Will we remain in the barley fields, just surviving? Or will we move into the fullness God has provided? Will we rely on our own strength to keep the covenant at Sinai? Or will we trust the Redeemer who brought the New Covenant and poured out His Spirit to fulfill His Promise to all who receive it?
Like Ruth, we need to cling to the God of Israel. Like Naomi, we need to return even if we feel empty. Like Ruth, we need to trust that God will provide a Redeemer.
Because the God who began our redemption at Passover is the God who brings it to completion on Shavuot. And He is still calling people from emptiness to fullness
today.
The journey begins with Passover when Jesus died and continues with the New Covenant Spirit of God poured out on Shavuot/Pentecost.
