March 31, 2020, is the date of Shavuot, the Biblical Festival of Weeks (also known as Pentecost). It’s a time to reap the harvest sown at the time of Passover. Most Biblical Feasts, Festivals, and lessons revolved around agricultural terminology because that is what the people of that time were used to. Agriculture was a large part of society and these times of the year were easy to note because the fields around you were ripe. The most important part of this Biblical Feast, was to reap the harvest sown 50 days prior. Remember, if there was no harvest there was no food. So praising the Lord and thanking Him for your harvest made sense when the food you grew was essential to your very livelihood. Now we can go to the store 365 and get whatever we want (except for the reality check we just had with Coronavirus…) so we’re often not as thankful or reflective about harvests. But we should be.
The entire premise of Shavuot is that whatever you sowed in Passover, you will reap a harvest. Your grains would start off as green blades and grow to large golden wheat. Farmers in Biblical times were diligent about watching their fields and expecting their harvest. But in modern times we are still sowing and reaping but not paying the same attention. For example, if I sow/deposit $10.00 into a savings account I can reap/withdraw the principal amount + interest. I might not even go back and look into the account until I’m ready. It’s a very passive act. But let me give you another example because we often equate money with our harvest and that is not all that we can sow and reap. If I sow gossip amongst my friend circle I will eventually reap either gossip, discord, anger, hatred, or even worse irreparable damage in my relationships. And again when I reaped it I probably did not remember that I sowed this same problem. The challenge for us in our “modern” society is that we don’t often see the direct correlation between what we sowed and what we are reaping. Unfortunately, there is not an often neat timeline of 50 days to see our harvest. Some harvests take 90 days, 9 months, or 9 years but they will come.
One of the purposes of the Biblical Feasts in Leviticus 23 are to demonstrate Yahweh’s intentionality towards His people. He starts the annual cycle/calendar with a Festival that celebrates the freedom from bondage (Passover) and ends the cycle of Spring Feasts with Shavuot which celebrates the harvest. The Fall Feasts follow the same pattern. You are always being guided to opportunities to worship the creator, conduct introspection on where you are, and celebrate all that He has given. This pattern is an example of things we should be doing on a daily, weekly, monthly basis in our own lives. We should be intentional about the cycles we are in. What are you reaping right now and when was it sown? Were you intentional or not? For example, back to money, if you are reaping a certain economic situation what could you have done differently? Ok, and what can you do now? Can you go back to school? Can you add a certification? Can you change jobs? You have more options for change than you might think. Ok, how about what you are reaping in your relationships? Were you intentional in what you sowed? Did you seek friendships based upon the right values? If not how can you change them? The Biblical cycles require intentionality and patience and our current life’s cycles require the same. Sowing and reaping are real principles and must be acknowledged, understood, and applied. Don’t just let whatever grow in your fields nor in your life!