Deep Meaning of Fifty and Shavuot.
by rivka | Jun 10, 2016 | Shavuot , Fifty, Torah
Fifty חמישים can be found 154 times in the Tanach/Bible. Its meaning is directly related to the coming of God’s Holy Spirit of understanding with the Torah. Shavuot occurred on the day G-d told the Israelites they were to wave a sheaf composed of the first cuttings of their harvest (Leviticus 23:9 – 11). It is on this day that the count of 50 days to the Feast of Pentecost begins. Pentecost comes from the Greek word for fiftieth. In Hebrew chamishshiym, the root word is Chumash the same word for bread which also means five that alludes to the five books of Torah.
Also known as the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot) or the seasons’ Firstfruits, it was on this special Holy Day that G-d first poured his Ruach (Holy Spirit) upon 120 million Jewish people (Am Yisroel) who had gathered to keep the day at the foot of the mountain called Har Sinai.
The number 120 can symbolize a divinely appointed time of waiting. After G-d saw how sinful and dedicated to evil man had become after the garden of Eden, he determined a one hundred and twenty year period would be given for repentance and then the flood waters would come (Genesis 6:1 – 3).
The meaning of the number 120 is seen as “Freedom” in its Exodus role when Israel Nation left Egyptian bondage. Scripture states that the Israelites who left Egypt had 600,000 men (Exodus 12:37) when you count the women and children it is said that the total left Egypt was 120 million people.
