There’s No North American Shavuot (Feast of Weeks)
Finish this thought: Sukkot (the Feast of Tabernacles) is to Thanksgiving what Shavuot (the Feast of Weeks) is to _______________. What American or Canadian[1] civil holiday would you insert in the blank?
There is no secular corollary to Shavuot. Why? I would like to suggest it is because God is not required for celebration in one but is for the other.
North American Thanksgivings celebrate that which is. There is no unknown future, no fear of unmet need or expectation. The crops are in; our larder full. So, despite its uncontested religious roots,[2] North Americans of all religious and non-religious philosophical stripes embrace Thanksgiving. One does not need a deity to be thankful for that which is.
By contrast, Shavuot celebrates that which is not yet. The celebration falls 50 days after the start of Pesach (Passover). The earliest harvest has begun, but the months ahead are weighed down with uncertainty – drought, flood, pestilence, hail, fire, and invading armies – all unknowns beyond our control that threaten our supply. In the face of these uncertainties Shavuot calls us to rejoice and celebrate by bringing the very first of the new, but still unknown harvest ahead. At Shavuot we are not celebrating what already is; by faith we celebrate the God who alone rules the yet to come.
We have no civic equivalent to Shavuot because it requires God. Without God a Shavuot-like celebration makes no sense. At best, its secular equivalent would be an exercise in wishful thinking or whistling in the dark. How excited would you be to celebrate “National Whistle in the Dark Day” every spring? It would soon be known as “National Angst-Giving Day”!
Shavuot reminds us that we are not whistling in the dark. As the early summer harvest begins, before we know “what is,” Shavuot puts life’s unknown threats before us into perspective. By faith we rejoice before our loving Father, the One for whom there is no unknown, the One whose sovereignty and power control that which is yet to come. We celebrate not that which we already have, but the One from whom it all comes.
In light of COVID’s ongoing impact on our lives and the angst it feeds, we need a Shavuot celebration more than ever. Shavuot begins at sundown Sunday May 16. It is a perfect time to remember that our peace and joy do not flow from knowing the future, but from following the One who controls it! We may not have the first fruits of the field to bring as Israel was commanded. But... when we bring a “thank offering” to the Lord in praise of who He is and the hope we have in Him, He is glorified and we are blessed.
Then you shall celebrate the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot) 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; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your son and your daughter and your male and female servants and the Levite who is in your town, and the stranger and the orphan and the widow who are in your midst, in the place where the LORD your God chooses to establish His name (Deuteronomy 16:10–11).
Written by Dan Strull, LIFE Board Chair
Having a national holiday on the calendar is always nice! But as believers we can celebrate the spirit of Shavuot by:
Acknowledging God as the giver of all good gifts we freely enjoy (James 1:17; 1 Timothy 6:17).
Being generous in giving to the Lord even as He as blessed us (Acts 11:29; 2 Corinthians 9:7)
Rejoicing with others (and don’t overlook those who may otherwise be excluded, as our Deuteronomy 16:11 text reminds us)
Endnotes:
[1] The US and Canada are the only countries which celebrate a Thanksgiving Day by that name. At least five other countries have a “harvest festival” but North American Thanksgivings were specifically begun to thank God for His blessings. See https://www.reference.com/world-view/countries-celebrate-thanksgiving-dcf7d04f7f44653b.
[2] As students of the Old and New Covenant Scriptures, it is likely the Pilgrims found their inspiration for Thanksgiving in the feast of Sukkot. You can read about this idea at: https://www.ucg.org/the-good-news/is-thanksgiving-rooted-in-a-biblical-festival.