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Written by Billye Brim

When I think of God and moeds I think of those that are past; but I particularly think about those that lie ahead, unfulfilled.

In God's calendar, the Day of Pentecost moed (appointed time) first marked the receiving of the Word of God in written form.

Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled....Then the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.
(Ex. 19:16,20)

Think of it: 3,325 years ago on Shavuot, Moses and Israel received God's Word written for the first time. That changed everything!
 
Shavuot is the second great moed on God's calendar for which the Jews were instructed to gather in Jerusalem. The first was Pesach (Passover).
 
Pesach (Passover) and Shavuot (Pentecost) are linked together. So much so that Israel was instructed to count the days between them.

The LORD instructed Israel to count seven Sabbaths (49 days) and on the 50th day would be Shavuot. These are the days of the omer counting. Beginning on the second night of Passover, Jews count these days aloud.

And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. 16 Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the Lord.
(Lev. 23:15, 16)

I like to think of what was happening in the Upper Room about 1980 years ago. The Risen Lord, walked with them 40 days after Passover. At His Ascension, He told them to stay in Jerusalem and to wait for "The Promise of the Father." And, that they would "receive power after the Holy Spirit would come upon them." So, 120 returned to the Upper Room where the Lord had celebrated Passover with the Twelve. I can imagine them counting each day of the approximately last 10 days of the omer counting. And then, almost 2000 years ago at 9 o'clock tomorrow morning in Jerusalem the 50th day Shavuot (Pentecost) fully came....

And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it [He] sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
(Acts 2:1-4)

The Word and the Spirit were given on the same day! God does things on moeds!
 
An End of Days Shavuot
In 1967, six days before Shavuot, the Jews liberated Jerusalem and the Old City in the Six Day War. But to make sure there were no land mines or snipers, the people were not allowed into the holy places until Shavuot. (That year Shavuot was on June 15, 1967.)
 
Forty-six years ago, the Old City of Jerusalem was officially opened on Shavuot. For the first time in almost 2000 years, masses of Jews could fulfill the command and gather before the Lord at the Western Wall of the Temple. From the late hours of Shavuot Eve, thousands of Jews gathered to enter. At 4 a.m. they began to stream into the Old City. The Jerusalem Post recorded one eye-witness account.

I've never known so electric an atmosphere before or since. Wherever we stopped, we began to dance. Holding aloft Torah scrolls we swayed and danced and sang at the tops of our voices. So many of the Psalms and songs are about Jerusalem and Zion, and the words reached into us a new life. As the sky lightened, we reached the Zion gate. Still singing and dancing, we poured into the narrow alleyways beyond.

When I think of God and moeds I think of those that are past, and even fulfilled, but I particularly think about those that lie ahead, unfulfilled. Oh! What rejoicing there will be.