It isn't possible to observe Shavuot here in the southern hemisphere, after the manner of Moses. It isn't wheat harvest at this time of year here - we're only just sowing our seeds!
It isn't possible in the northern hemisphere either, because there is no altar in Jerusalem to make the required pilgrimage to.
And gifts can't be given to Levites, as required - because there are no priests - and there can't be in future either, because the genealogies required by the Law to authenticate the priests have been lost.
And Moses' Law said nothing about any approved alternations in how Shavuot could be kept due to such circumstances.
The Old Testament did however prophesy that Messiah would come and replace the Law with a New Covenant. Jesus Messiah was the first to rise from the dead - a kind of firstfruits - then afterwards the dead in Christ shall rise, at His coming. We have that living hope inside of us, like a continuous Shavuot!
Having experienced the real, we embrace what the Old Testament foreshadowed and predicted - and therefore we don't need to observe Shavuot, which was only the shadow - even if it was possible to (which as I've explained, it isn't).
But if a brother weaker in faith feels obligated by his conscience to 'observe' it (though he can really only do so in some quasi sort of way, not after the manner of Moses), so long as he's honouring the Lord Jesus Christ in his heart, I guess it's no biggie. Live and let live.
It isn't possible in the northern hemisphere either, because there is no altar in Jerusalem to make the required pilgrimage to.
And gifts can't be given to Levites, as required - because there are no priests - and there can't be in future either, because the genealogies required by the Law to authenticate the priests have been lost.
And Moses' Law said nothing about any approved alternations in how Shavuot could be kept due to such circumstances.
The Old Testament did however prophesy that Messiah would come and replace the Law with a New Covenant. Jesus Messiah was the first to rise from the dead - a kind of firstfruits - then afterwards the dead in Christ shall rise, at His coming. We have that living hope inside of us, like a continuous Shavuot!
Having experienced the real, we embrace what the Old Testament foreshadowed and predicted - and therefore we don't need to observe Shavuot, which was only the shadow - even if it was possible to (which as I've explained, it isn't).
But if a brother weaker in faith feels obligated by his conscience to 'observe' it (though he can really only do so in some quasi sort of way, not after the manner of Moses), so long as he's honouring the Lord Jesus Christ in his heart, I guess it's no biggie. Live and let live.
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