SHAVUOT - The Feast of Oaths

 

Shavuot – The Feast of Oaths

What does it mean to take an oath?

 Naturalization Oath of Allegiance to the United States of America

"I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God."

What oath do citizens born in the US take?

The Pledge of Allegiance

“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

Does the modern state of Israel have an oath for naturalized citizens or a pledge of allegiance for natural born?

Not really. They have what is called the ‘law of return’ for anyone who can prove Jewish heritage. They must have a grandparent that’s Jewish. Only members of Israeli government and military personnel swear an oath of allegiance. They do not allow “Messianic” Jews to become citizen unless they fall under the law of return. Many consider the Sh’ma the ‘pledge of allegiance’ for the Jewish people. The tenets of the Sh’ma are really for all believers.

Why did I bring up naturalization?
There is one Torah for the native-born and for the stranger who sojourns among you.
Shemoth (Exodus) 12:49

At Shavuot, which happens at the wheat harvest, is when the story of Ruth and Naomi is traditionally read each year by the Jews even though they return during the barley harvest. They returned to Israel so that Naomi could benefit from her late husband’s inheritance.

Maybe they read it at this time because Ruth made an oath:
But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you, or to go back from following after you. For wherever you go, I go; and wherever you stop over, I stop over. Your people are my people, and your Elohim is my Elohim. “Where you die, I die, and there I shall be buried. יהוה do so to me, and more also – for death itself parts you and me.” Ruth 1:16-17

Naomi’s husband had moved them to Moab and it was forbidden to intermarry with Moabites, however, Naomi’s and Elimelek’s two sons married Moabite women, Ruth and Orpah. Elimelek and both sons die. Naomi is distraught and decides to go back to Israel. Orpah returns to her people but Ruth wants to go with Naomi so she swears allegiance to Yehovah and was, at that point, “grafted into Israel.” Her previous marriage and her confession of faith appears to be reason enough for Boaz not to reject her and he becomes her ‘kinsman redeemer.’ Ruth made an oath to Yah and Boaz followed proper steps to claim Ruth. He had to redeem the land to get his bride! Yashua will one day redeem Israel when His bride has made herself ready!

Yehovah is always keeping His oath to redeem the world – the universe.

For Yehovah so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16

The word “world” in that verse is cosmos in Greek and it means ‘universe.’ The Hebrew equivalent is ‘olam’ which can be translated as world, universe, or eternity. That is why I always use the word ‘eternity’ in the Shabbat blessing. The point is that Yashua came to save all creation eternally!

 

How and when did Israel come into covenant with Yehovah?

When Yehovah set apart the seventh day of creation as ‘holy,’ it became the sign of being in covenant with Him.
And Elohim blessed the seventh day and set it apart, because on it He rested from all His work which Elohim in creating had made. Berĕshith (Genesis) 2:3

“And you, speak to the children of Yisra’ĕl, saying, ‘My Sabbaths you are to guard, by all means, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, to know that I, יהוה, am setting you apart.” Shemoth (Exodus) 31:13

They swore an oath at Mt. Sinai, an oath that is like a marriage contract.

And all the people answered together and said, “All that יהוה has spoken we shall do.” So, Mosheh brought back the words of the people to יהוה. Shemoth (Exodus) 19:8

Their agreement to be obedient to Yehovah is like saying, “I do,” at a wedding!

To connect this with the timing of Shavuot is not stated outright, however, the first verse in chapter 19 does tell us that it is the ‘third new moon’ which is the same month as Shavuot.

From Passover, in the first month, to Shavuot in the third month is 7 sabbaths. Seven sabbaths plus 1 day is 50 days. So even though the Scripture doesn’t say that the Torah was given at Shavuot, the timing works out the same.

 

How did Shavuot get to be known as “The Feast of Oaths?”

It is in the Hebrew word for Shavuot. The Hebrew language is based on 3 consonant letters. The base letters for Shavuot, sheen, beit, ayin are in the words seven, week, return or repent, and oath. The letters sheen and beit are in shabbat - sheen, beit, and tav, which in word pictures means to shoove or return to tav covenant. Therefore, shabbat means rest but the word pictures mean to  ‘return to the covenant.’ When you return to covenant, you will have rest. Keep your covenant and you will have rest.

Seven – H7651 – שֶׁבַע – shevah

Week – H7620 – שָׁבוּעַ – shavuah; plural is Shavuot - שָֽׁבֻעוֺת - weeks

Return – H7725 – שׁוּב – shoov – turn, return, repent is to turn back to Yehovah

Oath – H7760 – שָׁבַע – shavah – to swear

To swear is to make an oath and the thing which is sworn is a covenant.

But I thought Yashua said not to swear?

“Again, you heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to יהוה.’ But I say to you, do not swear [vainly*] at all, neither by the heaven, because it is Elohim’s throne; nor by the earth, for it is His footstool nor by Yerushalayim, for it is the city of the great Sovereign; nor swear by your head, because you are not able to make one hair white or black. “But let your word ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ be ‘No.’ And what goes beyond these is from the wicked one.”  
Mattithyahu (Matthew) 5:33-37 ~ Shem Tov’s Hebrew Matthew says not to swear vainly which agrees with the commandment not to take Yehovah’s Name in vain or lightly.

If you notice, Yashua did not contradict the original instructions to swear by Yehovah’s Name.

“Fear יהוה your Elohim and serve Him and swear by His Name.”
Deḇarim (Deuteronomy) 6:13

“Fear יהוה your Elohim. Serve Him, and cling to Him, and swear by His Name.”
Deḇarim (Deuteronomy)10:20

If you are going to make an oath and you have the Name Yehovah on you, you are set-apart by His Name and you MUST keep your oath! Let your yes be yes and your no be no!

This ties together with Yom Kippur in a way. The traditional prayer for repentance is called the ‘Kol Nidre’ meaning ‘all vows.’ [Nidre from H5087 – נָדַר – nadar – vow] This is a prayer to be released from making any vows that they should not have made and to be forgiven for any vows that they may have broken. We have all broken our promises or oaths at one time or another. We have also made promises or vows that we should not have made.

May Yehovah have mercy on us and forgive us for making wrong vows and breaking vows in Yashua’s Name.

I was asked what it meant to be holy, what is condemnation and what is conviction. I’m going to start with the last two – condemnation and conviction.

Condemnation – the root is condemned: to be declared guilty by evidence; condemnation is the state of being condemned or found guilty.
To be righteously condemned for a sinful act is just but to feel guilty or condemned for something you didn’t do or for something you have already repented of is not of Yehovah. 

Conviction – the root is convict: proven guilty; a person serving a sentence; conviction is the process of finding a person guilty.

To FEEL conviction of a sin is a GOOD thing. It leads to repentance. In Christianity, it is used to mean that you are strongly persuaded to do or not do something depending on if it is considered good or evil. Again, you can be righteously convicted or the enemy can falsely make you feel convicted unjustly.

Either of these two descriptions requires that you be honest with yourself and with Yehovah. Thankfully, “If we confess our sins, He is trustworthy and righteous to forgive us the sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Yoḥanan Aleph (1 John) 1:9

 

How do we get from ‘OATH’ to ‘HOLY?’  

Again, I started by looking for the Hebrew definition.

Holy in Hebrew is H6918 – קָדוֹשׁ – qadosh. It means sacred, set apart, or devoted (to Yah). In Hebrew word pictures it means ‘what follows threshing!’ It is when all the chaff is removed. Chaff represents sin because it is the useless part of the wheat.

I said that Shavuot and the question of what holy is would tie together!

The Hebrew word for Sanctuary has holy in it. It is H4720 – מִקְדָּשׁ – miqdash – sacred place, holy place, tabernacle, temple. This also ties back to Shavuot because the miqdash was built on the threshing floor and qadosh means what follows threshing!

And Gaḏ came that day to Dawiḏ and said to him, “Go up, raise a slaughter-place to יהוה on the threshing-floor of Arawnah the Yeḇusite.” And Dawiḏ, according to the word of Gaḏ, went up as יהוה commanded. And Arawnah looked and saw the sovereign and his servants coming toward him. And Arawnah went out and bowed before the sovereign with his face to the ground. And Arawnah said, “Why has my master the sovereign come to his servant?” And Dawiḏ said, “To buy the threshing-floor from you, to build a slaughter-place to יהוה, so that the plague be withdrawn from the people.” And Arawnah said to Dawiḏ, “Let my master the sovereign take and offer that which seems good to him. Here are cattle for ascending offering, and threshing implements and the yokes of the cattle for wood. “All these, O sovereign, Arawnah has given to the sovereign.” And Arawnah said to the sovereign, “יהוה your Elohim accept you!” And the sovereign said to Arawnah, “No, let me buy it from you for a price, for certain. I am not offering ascending offerings to יהוה my Elohim without cost.” So Dawiḏ bought the threshing-floor and the cattle for fifty sheqels of silver. And Dawiḏ built a slaughter-place to יהוה there and offered ascending offerings and peace offerings. And יהוה answered the prayers for the land, and the plague was withdrawn from Yisra’ĕl.
Shemu’ĕl Bĕt (2 Samuel) 24:18-25

Holiness is to be set apart, sacred, threshed and made useful to Yehovah!

In conclusion, is holy the same as righteous?

Righteous – free from the guilt of sin; obedient to divine law.

The goal of the set-apart (holy) person is to live a righteous life. That’s how we stay holy!

There is a blessing that starts with, “Blessed are you Yehovah our Elohim who sanctified us (set us apart) with His commandments…” It really is true. When He gave us the commandments in Exodus 20, anyone who agreed to be obedient to His commands is set apart from all other people. There was a fire on Mt. Sinai when the commandments were first given and when the covenant was renewed at Shavuot after Yashua’s resurrection in Acts 2, there was fire over the heads of those who agreed to be grafted in through Yashua and obedient to Yehovah’s instructions. They were set apart, holy, they made the oath and the Torah was written on their hearts.

“For this is the covenant I shall make with the house of Yisra’ĕl after those days, declares יהוה: I shall put My Torah in their inward parts, and write it on their hearts. And I shall be their Elohim, and they shall be My people.” Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) 31:33

We made an oath when we repented and accepted Yashua and when the Ruach HaKodesh came to live in us, we were sealed into His covenant and His Torah is being written on our hearts. May He find us faithful, obedient servants. Ahmein.

 

By Marie L. Schryver – June 15, 2024
Revised June 5, 2025

Summary:

I wasn't sure that the questions of holiness, condemnation, and conviction would tie into Shavuot but it really did.

Shavuot is also known as the Feast of Oaths. It isn't stated outright that Shavuot is when the Torah was given at Mt. Sinai but the timing lines up when you read the history. Having confirmed that, what happened at Mt. Sinai was that Israel took an oath with Yehovah. He asked if they would obey His instructions and they agreed. Thus, an oath was made. Each year, they renew the oath. Once at Shavuot and again at Yom Kippur.

The first time I heard the prayer that the Jews pray, "Blessed are You, Yehovah Eloheinu, who set us apart with His commandments..." I didn't realize that it meant that He actually did set His covenant people apart with His commandments. How? Because when they agreed, they became a people unlike all the others. So, holy = set apart. Holy isn't some spiritual goal we attain that is manifested with spooky-spiritual auras and actions! Holy means set apart TO YEHOVAH and we are set apart when we agree to obey His Torah! So, it really isn't by our works that we are holy yet our obedient works will be the fruit of that holiness.

The basic definition of conviction is not to have some feelings that we are "led by the spirit" to do or not do something. Conviction is to know in your heart that you are guilty of some sin. There is such a thing as false conviction that comes from the enemy or our flesh. We are not to receive that. But the Word says that 'Godly sorrow leads to repentance.' That is conviction. His showing us where we have sinned is an act of mercy because He is graciously offering us an opportunity to repent!

Condemnation is when we must suffer the consequence for our sin. We have been found guilty, convicted and now suffer the punishment for which we were condemned. Yet He offers us mercy by repentance and to come back into covenant through Yashua. But if we go on sinning, we trample underfoot the blood of the covenant and bring Yashua to shame. The enemy and our flesh also can bring false condemnation. If it is the flesh, it's wrapped up in self-pity and not having a grasp on how great the mercy of our Elohim is. If it is the enemy, it is meant to paralyze us and keep us from fulfilling Yehovah's plan for our lives. The enemy wants us to believe lies - those made up in our own minds or his. He doesn't care. That's why the 'renewing of the mind' by being 'washed with the water of the Word' is so important.

Yehovah, as just and righteous as He is, He is long-suffering and merciful, not wanting ANY to perish but ALL to come to repentance... which brings us right back to obedience to His Torah, the oath that should have always been our 'first love.'

At Shavuot, we remember when Yehovah gave the Torah. At Yom Kippur, we remember the instructions to repent and acknowledge the gravity of our sin with the blood on the altar. The Blood that is better than that of bulls and goats; the Blood of Yashua HaMashiach, that takes away the sin of the world. Interestingly enough, the prayer that the Jews pray at Yom Kippur called the Kol Nidre meaning 'all vows' is a prayer to be forgiven for any vows that were broken and to be released from any vows that they should not have made.

All sin is a broken vow. That's why it says if we are guilty of one, we are guilty of all just like in a contract. If you don't keep one part of the contract, you're "in breach of contract."

Yehovah, thank You for setting us apart (making us holy) with Your Torah and thank you for re-instating us back to Your Torah through Yashua. Help us to LOVE Your Torah, both the written and the Living Torah, Yashua.

Ahmein