Sivan is the third month of the Hebrew calendar. The name “Sivan” is of Babylonian origin, it is taken to mean “a time of harvest” and it appears only once in the Tanach, in the scroll of Esther 8:9.11:
So the king’s scribes were called at that time, in the third month, which is the month of Sivan, on the twenty-third day; and it was written, according to all that Mordecai commanded, … By these letters the king permitted the Jews who were in every city to gather together and protect their lives.
This was the happy end of the Purim story: Haman’s plan to annihilate the Jews had been overturned and the Jews’ right to defense was recognized.
Agriculturally, Sivan is the month when grain harvest begins in the Land of Israel, starting with barley. With it, the harvesting season starts and, therefore, the season of offering first fruits, which lasts until Sukkot, when all the produce is gathered.
Historically, the Ten Commandments were given to the Israelites in the third month. The story is described in Exodus 19:1-6:
In the third month after the children of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on the same day, they came to the Wilderness of Sinai. For they had departed from Rephidim, had come to the Wilderness of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness. So Israel camped there before the mountain. And Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel: ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”
The Bible does not tell us exactly on which day it happened. We are only told that they came to the mountain on Rosh Chodesh, on the first day of the third month, and spent a few days in preparation. Jewish tradition puts the actual giving of the Torah on the sixth day of the month, which coincides with the Feast of Shavuot, Pentecost, the most important day in the month of Sivan. This gives the Biblical Feast of first grain offering another dimension, it is celebrated as the Festival of the Giving of the Torah. It is customary among Orthodox Jews to study the Torah all night long. Another tradition is the reading of the book of Ruth because the plot takes place at the time of barley harvest.
The book of Ruth is a strong prophetic message describing how one day, the Gentiles will cling to the Jewish people. Ruth was a Gentile, a Moabite woman, who had nothing to do with the Jewish people. When her mother-in-law, Naomi, urged her to go back to her own people and their gods, this is what Ruth said:
“Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.” (Ruth 1:16-17)
This could be called the Manifest of Christian Zionists: Your people will be my people and your God my God. It is no coincidence that Ruth is in this way connected to Shavuot: it was at Pentecost that the foundations for the Gentiles to accept the God of Israel as their God was laid when the Holy Spirit equipped the disciples to go to all the world and share the Gospel.
Shavuot is not celebrated on the full moon like the other main holidays, Pesach and Sukkoth. In other words, we do not rely on the moon as the heavenly sign to tell us when to celebrate, but rather we derive the date from the previous Feast of Passover. Shavuot means “weeks”: it is celebrated seven weeks after Passover. You count seven weeks, which is seven times seven days. To keep count for such a long period, the Jews even developed a tradition called the counting of the omer. The number seven signifies completeness. The counting indicates a process, which leads to completion, fulfilment, ripening, maturity. The process starts at Pesach – the seed is sown. After seven times seven days, the first fruit appears.
Likewise, the Christian Pentecost is also celebrated 50 days after Easter. The same period of waiting and expectation applies. Something which started on Easter, when Jesus rose from the dead as the first fruit, matures, finds its completion, fruition, on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples. The first fruit always guarantees the harvest, and the first fruit of the Gospel occurred then in Jerusalem, foretelling the great harvest from all nations, tribes and languages, which is still being gathered today.
Finally, the Jewish emphasis on the giving of the Word and the Christian emphasis on the giving of the Spirit complement each other: we need both, the Word and the Spirit. The Word without the Spirit becomes a dead letter while the exercise of the gifts of the Spirit without the foundation of the Word can easily lead astray. So, when the Feast of Shavuot will fully come next week, let us celebrate this special moed in the Spirit and Truth of His Word.
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