A Holiday for Jews and Non-Jews
Introduction
Shavuot is the holiday of the proselytes and god-fearers. Although the apostle Paul was very much against Judaizing the Gentiles and forcing them to circumcise and convert to Judaism. He was also very much for the Gentiles to accept and receive the God of Israel as their God, and to abandon their idols and the demons that they worshipped.
The Gospel of Paul
In other words, Paul did not preach a “Lawless Gospel”, and he did not allow the Gentiles to continue in their ways and worship their old gods that were idols. But he wanted them to leave the idols behind and to turn to the God of Israel.
Essentially what Paul wanted is for the Gentiles to be converted from idolatry to the faith in One God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and His Son Yeshua the King of the Jews. The idea is that we are together but different, the Jew remains a Jew and the Gentile does not convert to Judaism, but he does abandon the idols and turns to the God of Abraham, the God of Israel. This is really what it means to be grafted into the natural olive tree (Romans 11).
So, in a way, every non-Jew who gave his life to God and to Yeshua the Messiah is a semi-proselyte. He left the idols of his fathers and turned to the God of Abraham, he left the many gods of Greece and Rome and associated with the God of Jerusalem and the Land of Israel.
A Holiday for Jews and Non-Jews
I realize that I am putting things in a different light than many of my readers are used to, but if you think about it in biblical terms, you will see that this is really what Paul was preaching. This is why Paul came back to Jerusalem with the seven non-Jewish young men and with the contribution that the churches in Asia Minor and Greece gave for the Saints in Jerusalem.
Truly what Paul was doing was fulfilling the promises that God gave to Israel in the prophets, that non-Jews will come and join Israel in the worship of God:
“And many peoples will come and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, To the house of the God of Jacob; That He may teach us concerning His ways and that we may walk in His paths.’ For the law will go forth from Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” – Isaiah 2:3
Shavuot is, I believe, the holiday of both Jews and non-Jews who are disciples of Yeshua, and that is why it is on this very day that the Holy Spirit filled the apostles of Yeshua who were gathered on Mt. Zion in an upper room.
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Joseph Shulam
Founder
Joseph is the pioneering founder of Netivyah, one of Israel’s first official Messianic non-profits. Dedicated to restoring the Jewish roots of the faith, he has authored numerous books and lectured globally for over 50 years.
Glossary
Shavuot (שָׁבוּעוֹת) means “weeks” and often refers to the biblical Feast of Weeks, celebrated fifty days after Passover, when Israel brought firstfruits to God and, in the Brit Chadasha, the Holy Spirit was poured out.
Yeshua (יֵשׁוּעַ) is the Hebrew name of Jesus, meaning "salvation"
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