Omer Reisheet (First sheaf)
Basically it is the first
sheaf of the first fruits of the Barley harvest. The first sheaf of the first
fruits of the barley harvest had to be brought to the priests who had to wave
it before YHVH for the people’s acceptance (Vay/Lev 23:10-11).
It is also the start of the
counting of the seven weeks (known as counting of the OMER - This is not a moed
as such but a Mitzvah (a law forever). No feast Shabbat day is ascribed to this
day so it is not a Chag (a feast day) but the mitvah of starting the counting of
49 day up to the next chag (Feast) or Moed (Appointment) which is the Feast of
Shavuot that falls on the 50th day. When the Temple was still
standing the priests first had to wave the new sheaf (first -Reisheet) of the
first-fruits of the barley harvest as an offering before YHVH before the people
could eat of the grain (bread, fresh or roasted) on this day called the Omer
Reisheet. This mitzvah of taking the first sheaf of the first-fruits of the
barley harvest to the priest to be waved before YHVH and the other accompanying
offerings (verse 12 and 13 - a law forever) cannot be obeyed while the Temple
is not standing but the mitzvah of counting of the 50 days can and must be
obeyed.
The Omer Reisheet has a very
important and significant symbolic meaning for us as believers in Yahshua to
remember on this day as this speaks of the fact that Yahshua was risen on the
third day since his death, being the “first-fruits of the resurrection”. (I Cor
15)
Emphasis added:
Vayikra/Lev 23:10 “Speak to the children of Yisra’ĕl, and you
shall say to them, ‘When you come into the land which I give you, and shall
reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf (from Strongs H6014;
properly a heap, that is, a sheaf; also an omer, as a dry measure*: - omer,
sheaf) of the first-fruits of your harvest to the priest.
Lev 23:11 ‘And he shall wave the sheaf before יהוה, for your acceptance. On
the morrow after the Sabbath the priest waves it.
Lev 23:12 ‘And on
that day when you wave the sheaf, you shall prepare a male lamb a year old, a
perfect one, as a burnt offering to יהוה,
Lev 23:13 and its
grain offering: two-tenths of an ĕphah of fine flour mixed with oil, an
offering made by fire to יהוה, a sweet fragrance, and its drink offering: one-fourth of a hin
of wine.
Lev 23:14 ‘And you do
not eat bread or roasted grain or fresh grain until the same day that you have
brought an offering to your Elohim – a law forever throughout your generations
in all your dwellings.
Lev 23:15 ‘And from
the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf
of the wave offering, you shall count for yourselves: seven completed
Sabbaths.
Lev 23:16
‘Until the morrow after the seventh Sabbath you count fifty days,
then you shall bring a new grain offering to יהוה. (The new grain offering on the FIFTIETH day is
the first fruit offering of Shavuot which will then be the
next Feast or Appointed Time after the “Pesach week”.)
We read in Deu
16:9 “Count seven weeks for yourself. Begin to
count seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to
the grain.
*Says Tim Hegg: “In Lev 23:19, the Hebrew word omer is translated
as sheaf which is its primary meaning but the Torah also identifies the omer as
a dry measure equal to one tenth of an epha (Shemot/Ex 16:36 “And an omer is
one-tenth of an ĕphah”) and thus the amount of grain necessary for the
fulfilment of this mitzvah was determent to one tenth of an epha”.
We see that this day of the waving of
the Omer is mentioned as a day which has no set apart meeting or
Shabbat assigned to it – therefore it is not a Feast Shabbat day or a
Moed (Appointment) like the other Appointments. It is a Mitzvah. It is a day
that starts after the “morrow of the Shabbat” and it is called the day of the
Omer Reisheet (First sheaf)– that means it is the day on which the omer
reisheet/first sheaf of the first-fruits of the barley had to be brought to the
priests and they had to wave it before YHVH as a first fruit before they could
eat of the new grain (bread, or roasted or fresh grain -Vay/Lev 23:14) . It is
also on this day (the day that the priests waved the first fruit, the first
sheaf of the Barley) according to Lev 23:15 that the ‘count of the
seven weeks (known as ‘the counting of the omer’) must start – a count
of 49 days (seven weeks) and on the Fiftieth day is Shavuot. The Feast of
Unleavened Bread (Chag haMatzot) is connected to the Feast of Shavuot via the
counting of these 49 intervening days.
The Omer Reisheet day is supposed to be after
the “Shabbat” and then we must start counting 49 days. Which “Shabbat”? The Festival Shabbat of the First day of
Unleavened Bread or the weekly Shabbat during Pesach week (and
sometimes it falls outside Pesach week)? There is a big controversy
over this since the early ages already and unfortunately because some follow
the one interpretation and others follow the other interpretation, we do not
end up at the same day for Shavuot.
Here is an excerpt from
Messianic Torah teacher Tim Hegg explaining the three views that there are
prevailing since early ages:
At least three
different sects understood the chronology of the omer counting differently:
a) the majority of the Jewish
community, and perhaps particularly those in Judea, near
Jerusalem, considered the phrase “the
morrow after the Sabbath" to be the day following
the opening sabbath of Chag HaMatzot,
that is, the 16th of Aviv (Nisan);
b) a sub-group of the Sadducees, the
Boethusians, took the Leviticus text to mean “the morrow after
the (weekly) Sabbath," and thus commenced their counting on the day
following the first
weekly Sabbath within the festival
week.
c) the Qumran sect apparently
understood the Sabbath in question to be the final day of Chag HaMatzot, and
thus began their counting on the first day of the week following the completed
festival.
So, which view is correct and how does
it impact us individually, or our group? Depending on which
view you go with, will determine the
date you will get to count Fifty of the Omer which is the day on which the
Festival of Shavuot commence.
Lev 23:14 ‘And you do not eat bread or roasted grain or
fresh grain until the same day that you have brought an offering to your Elohim
– a law forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
How did the ancient Yisraelites
understand the mitzvah to begin counting ‘on the morrow after the
Shabbat.’ Says Messianic Torah teacher Ariel Ben Layman: “Perhaps
the Torah gives us a valuable clue in the book of Joshua. In
an effort to help resolve the matter, I personally prefer to think of the following
example as “authoritative enough for me, adding to this the fact that as Hegg
noted, the majority opinion (Pharisees) also must have been heavily influenced
by the Y’hoshua passage. It reads: Jos 5:10 And the
children of Yisra’ĕl camped in Gilgal, and performed the Passover on the
fourteenth day of the month at evening on the desert plains of Yeriḥo. Jos
5:11 And they ate of the stored grain of the land on the morrow after the
Passover, unleavened bread and roasted grain on this same day.
Notice carefully that verse 11 states
that they ate the otherwise “forbidden” product on the day after Pesach
(forbidden until waived [by the priests] before YHVH of course), and that in
verse 12—the following day—that the heavenly food (manna) ended. The word Pesach
in the above verse must include the Day of Unleavened Bread (HaMatzah), a
Shabbat, for the verse to make sense. Fascinating, huh? It appears to be that
the ancient Yisraelites understood ‘the morrow after the Shabbat’ to mean the
day immediately following the feast of HaMatzah (Unleavened Bread’s First day
which is a Feast Shabbat). What is more, it even appears to indicate that YHVH“approved
of their interpretation” by ceasing to provide manna in favor of what the Land
would produce from then on out! With such a strong example provided for us by
the events in Y’hoshua, is it no wonder that the Pharisees went with what I
like to call a ‘conjunction-like’’ interpretation of the Passover week:
Pesach—Unleavened Bread—Firstfruits!. End quote.
We and many Messianic believers are
going according to this view too. Just like these two Messianic Torah teachers
that were quoted, also first followed the other view at first (starting the
count of the Omer on the day after the Weekly Shabbat) and then after more research
changed to the first view that the “Shabbat” that YHVH is spoken about is the
feast Shabbat of the first day of Unleavened bread, so it was the case with us
too. We know of more known Messianic Torah teachers who too were coming to the
same conclusion, but everyone or group will have to go with that which rings
true for them if all is taken into account. Many Messianic believers like us
follow this interpretation and many follow the other interpretation. They might
say, but what do you do then with the fact that it says in Vayikra/Lev 23: 15
that you shall count seven completed Sabbaths? Let’s read : Lev 23:15 ‘And from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the
day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, you shall count
for yourselves: seven completed Sabbaths.
Lev 23:16
‘Until the morrow after the seventh Sabbath you count fifty days,
then you shall bring a new grain offering to יהוה.
It is
interesting that we read in Deu 16:9 “Count seven weeks for
yourself. Begin to count seven weeks from the time you begin
to put the sickle to the grain.” Here where the command is repeated by Mosheh
he spoke of “seven weeks” and not “seven Sabbaths”.
Following is an
excerpt from the document on the subject of the counting of the Omer by Tim
Hegg which gives more light to the “seven completed Sabbaths”:
We must
just add that we do not think that we ARE the only people who are right for
sure and that no other view is correct with the interpretations on this Omer
Reisheet scenario (day when counting of the Omer starts and which day was 14th
of Aviv on the year that Yahshua was impaled and died) and that all the other
interpretations are wrong. There are many controversies around all of this and
we will just have to bear with each other - the time will come when we will
know for sure. We do not have a problem with our brothers and sisters who go
according to the other interpretation. For them the Feast of Shavuot (Feast of
Weeks) will always fall on a Yom Rishon (S-nday). For us, Shavuot will always
(when counted from after the “Shabbat” of First day of Unleavened Bread) fall
on either the 5th 6th or 7th day of the Third
month (called Sivan since Babylonian captivity) depending on the sighting of
the new moon. For the Rabbinical Jews and Messianic believers who also start
the first count of the omer after the First day of Unleavened bread Shabbat but
following the fixed Hillel II calendar, Shavuot for them will always fall on
the 6th of Sivan (the Third Month) because their calendar is the
fixed calendar that is going according to the calculated dates that Hillel II
brought in since the Diaspora. (They know that that fixed calendar is now out
of sync with the sighting of the new moon every month and that a new Sanhedrin
will have to give the go ahead as to when they are going to return to the
ancient way of sighting the new moon every month from Yisrael. The
non-Rabbinical Jews called the Karaite Jews have returned to the ancient way of
sighting the new moon in Yisrael instead of following the fixed calendar, for
years now.) In Ancient times before the Diaspora, Shavuot could also have
fallen on the 5th, 6th or 7th of the Third
Month (Sivan) because every month was established by the sighting of the sliver
of the new moon by credible witnesses from Yerushalayim.
Let
us now look at the Spiritual and prophetic implication of the OMER Reisheet.
Omer
Reisheet- Prophetic
of the Resurrection of the Messiah
of the Resurrection of the Messiah
The Omer Reisheet (sheaf of the first fruits of the
Barley) was prophetically speaking of the resurrection of Yahshua to be
the first “sheaf” to be waved before YHVH; the first fruit to be risen from the
dead - to receive his immortal body. Yahshua prophesied that He would
die and then rise on the third day again: Mat 16:21 From that
time יהושע began to show
to His taught ones that it was necessary for Him to go to Yerushalayim, and to
suffer much from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and
to be raised again the third day.
Mat 12:38-40
Then some of the scribes and
Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from You.” But He
answering, said to them, “A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a
sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet
Yonah.“For as Yonah was three days and three nights in the stomach of
the great fish, so shall the Son of Aḏam be three days and three nights
in the heart of the earth.
Luke 24:45-46. Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,
and said to them, “Thus it has been written, and so it was necessary for the
Messiah to suffer and to rise again from the dead the third day, and
that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His Name to all
nations, beginning at Yerushalayim. This was
foreshadowed to happen in the Tanach (Old Testament) by type and shadow
( Bereishit/Gen 22:1-6; Shemot/Exodus 3:18; 5:3; 8:27; Esther
4:15-17; Jonah 1:7; 2:1-2).
Yahshua was
slain on the tree “between the evenings” on the 14th of Aviv
(Nisan), the day that the Passover lamb (Pesach) had to be slaughtered
and He arose from the grave on the third day. There is much controversy about
the chronological order of the death and day of resurrection of Yahshua too and
we are not going to go too much into it in this document. We have done research
and realized now even more than before how and why there are about three
different views on this issue (some say 3 days and 3 nights have the meaning of
three literal days and three literal nights and that it HAS to be 72 hours (but
that will mean then that Yahshua was raised on the 4th day). Some
say two of the days must be 24 hour period but a third one (either the begging
or the last part can be less than 24 hour period. Some say (and this was the
Hebraic way of speaking of any period of 3 days and 3 nights, or 8 days and 8
nights or 40 days and 40 nights etc, that the middle day or days always
consisted of a 24 hour period but the beginning day and the last day can be any
period of hours of a day or night time of a day. Quote: Rabbinical
Literature: Explicit examples for inclusive
day reckoning are also found in Rabbinic literature. Rabbi Eleazar ben Azariah,
who lived about A.D. 100, stated: "A day and a night are an Onah [‘a
portion of time’] and the portion of an Onah is as the whole of it." There
are other instances in Rabbinic literature where the "three days and three
nights" of Jonah 1:17 are combined with Old Testament passages which
mention events that took place "on the third day." "It is in
this light," writes Gerhard Dilling in the Theological Dictionary of the
New Testament, "that we are to understand Matthew 12:40." Jewish Practice: The practice of
inclusive day reckoning, according to The Jewish Encyclopedia, a standard
Jewish reference work, is still in vogue among the Jews today. "In Jewish
communal life part of a day is at times reckoned as one day; e.g., the day of
the funeral, even when the latter takes place late in the afternoon, is counted
as the first of the seven days of mourning; a short time in the morning of the
seventh day is counted as the seventh day; circumcision takes place on the
eighth day, even though on the first day only a few minutes remained after the
birth of the child, these being counted as one day." The examples cited
above clearly indicate that in Biblical times the expression "a day and a
night" simply meant a day, whether complete or incomplete. Thus, in the
light of the prevailing usage, the expression "three days and three
nights" of Matthew 12:40 does not require that Yahshua be entombed for 72
hours, but for a full day and two partial days.”
Depending on
your view of the “three days and nights”, Yahshua must have been risen either
on the 16th 17th or 18th of Aviv. We believe
that the omer was to be waved on the 16th of Aviv (which is the
beginning of the “day after the Shabbat” of the 15th of Aviv (the
First day of Unleavened bread’s Shabbat), by the Priest before the Father and
that it speaks of the resurrection of Yahshua being the “First Fruit of the
resurrection”. In fact, Yahshua is called the first fruit of those having fallen
asleep; the First fruits of being resurrected and receiving an immortal body,
then those who are of Messiah at His coming.
See the whole of I Cor 15.
Emphasis
added: 1Co 15:17 And if Messiah has not been
raised, your belief is to no purpose, you are still in your sins! 1Co
15:18 Then also those who have fallen
asleep in Messiah have perished. 1Co 15:19
If in this life only we have expectation in Messiah, we are of all men the
most wretched. 1Co 15:20 But now Messiah
has been raised from the dead, and has become the first-fruit of
those having fallen asleep. 1Co 15:21
For since death is through a man, resurrection of the dead is also
through a Man.1Co 15:22 For as all die
in Aḏam, so also all shall be made alive in Messiah . 1Co 15:23 And each in his own order: Messiah the
first-fruits, then those who are of Messiah at His coming, 1Co 15:24
then the end, when He delivers up the reign to Elohim the Father, when
He has brought to naught all rule and all authority and power.
We believe that Scripture teaches that those who have
fallen asleep in Yahshua, who will be ready for the coming of Yahshua, will be
resurrected to eternal life and receive their immortal bodies with the first
resurrection. Those who are still alive will be changed in a moment into their
immortal bodies at Yahshua’s second coming. All this will happen at the sound
of the last trumpet. Yahshua is the First fruits of the RESURRECTION of which
Omer Reisheet is a shadow. 1Co 15:52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at
the last trumpet. For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised
incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 1Co 15:53 For this corruptible has to put on
incorruption, and this mortal to put on immortality.
Quote from a
Torah teacher: It was prophesied that Yahshua, the Messiah, would be
buried in the tomb of the rich Yeshayahu/Is 53:9; Mattityahu/Matthew
27:57; Luke 23:51. Why was Yahshua placed in the tomb of Yoseph of
Arimathea? Arimathea was another name for Ramah, where Shamuel/Samuel dwelt. It
is five miles north of Yerushalayim/Jerusalem. In fact, this place is
still called Ramah today. In ancient times, it was customary for Jews to be
buried in Yerushalayim. In fact, this practice is still done today
because it is a traditional belief in Judaism that the resurrection of the dead
will take place in Yerushalayim.
In the Book of Beresheet/ Genesis, Yosef/Joseph
the son of Ya'akov/Jacob, made the children of Yisrael take a vow that
when they went to the Promised Land, they would carry his bones with them (Bereishit/Gen
50:24-26). Ramah was a term that represented idolatry. Two countries were
called the seat of idolatry in the ancient world: Babylon and Mitsrayim/Egypt.
Yosef, the son of Ya'akov, was also known as Yosef of Ramah. Mosheh/Moses
took the bones of Yosef with him when he and the children of Yisrael
journeyed to Succoth (Shemot/Ex 13:19-20). Therefore, Yosef's tomb in Mitsrayim/Egypt
was empty. The empty tomb of Yosef of Arimathea (Ramah), which stood for
wickedness, was a fulfillment of Yeshayahu /Isaiah 53:9.
Yosef/Joseph was a type of the role of Yahshua
during His first coming when He came to fulfill the role of the suffering
Messiah known as Messiah ben Yosef. The bones of Yosef were
carried to Sukkot. Sukkot is a type of the Messianic age also known as the
Millennium. This is also a picture of Yahshua being both Messiah ben
Yosef (Son of Yosef) and Messiah ben David (Son of David) –the first
one speaks of Messiah Yahshua as the suffering servant during His first
coming to earth and during His second coming to earth He will come as the
Sovereign who is coming to rule and reign from Yerushalayim.
Yahshua Is the
First Fruits of the Barley Harvest
- Yahshua is the first-the brought-forth
Son of Elohim the Father (Ivrim/Hebrews 1:6”
And when He again brings the first-born into the world, He says, “Let all
the messengers of Elohim do reverence to Him.”)
- Yahshua is the firstborn of Miryam (Mary) (Matthew 1:23-25).
- Yahshua is the firstborn of all
creation of YHVH (Revelation
3:14, Colossians 1:15). (With the Messiah in the mind of the Father before
the foundation of the earth, everything was created.)
- Yahshua is the first-born from the
dead
(Revelation 1:5a “and from יהושע Messiah,
the trustworthy witness, the first-born from the dead,).
- Yahshua is the first fruits of those
who have fallen asleep (1 Corinthians 15:20,
But now Messiah has been raised from the dead, and has become the
first-fruit of those having fallen asleep. 23
And each in his own order: Messiah the first-fruits, then those who
are of Messiah at His coming,”).
- Yahshua is the firstborn among many
brothers (Romans
8:29 “Because those whom He
knew beforehand, He also ordained beforehand to be conformed to the
likeness of His Son, for Him to be the first-born among many brother”).
7.
Yahshua is the Head
of the body, the assembly.(Col 1:18 “And He
is the Head of the body, the assembly, who is the beginning, the first-born
from the dead, that He might become the One who is first in all.”
Yahshua is
indeed the promised Messiah of the Scriptures; The Son and the Lamb of Elohim.
He is set apart by the Father, the Anointed One. Yahshua is the Representative
of his Father. All Authority has been given unto Him by the Father
(YHVH).Yahshua is the first, the choicest, the preeminent One. He is both the
firstborn of Elohim and the first fruits unto Elohim. Yahshua is the sheaf of
the first fruits. -End quote.
Some more
Spiritual Understanding of First Fruits as seen in the Scriptures
A sheaf in the Scriptures is used to typify a person
or persons (Bereishit/Gen 37:5-11 –the dream about the sheaves -
Mosheh). Here are some other verses about the sheaves (the believers in Yahshua
as the Messiah): (Yermiyahu/Jeremiah 31:9-14; Yoel/Joel 3:11-13; Mattityahu/Matt13:37-39;
Mark 4:26-29; Hebrews 12:1; Jude 14; Revelation 1:6,7). The 144,000 witnesses who have the Father’s and Yahshua’s
name are first fruits to Elohim and to the Lamb during the tribulation.
Rev 14:1 And I looked and saw a Lamb standing on Mount
Tsiyon, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father’s
Name1 written upon their foreheads. Footnote: 1Some texts
read: having His Name and His Father’s Name. Rev 14:2 “ And I
heard a voice out of the heaven, like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of loud thunder, and
I heard the sound of harpists playing their harps. Rev 14:3 And they sang a renewed song before the
throne, and before the four living creatures, and the elders. And no one was
able to learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who were
redeemed from the earth. Rev 14:4 They
are those who were not defiled with women, for they are maidens. They are those
following the Lamb wherever He leads them on. They were redeemed from among
men, being first-fruits to Elohim
and to the Lamb.”
Yahshua will return to earth (Zechariah 14:4 And in that day His feet shall stand upon the Mount of
Olives, which faces Yerushalayim on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be
split in two, from east to west, a very great valley, and half of the mountain
shall move toward the north and half of it toward the south) during His second coming as
Sovereign/King over all the earth. He will rule and reign with the set apart
ones who have part in the First resurrection and were ready to be part of the
Bride, the “priests of Elohim and of Messiah:
Rev 20:4 And I saw
thrones – and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them – and the lives
of those who had been beheaded because of the witness they bore to יהושע and because of the Word of Elohim, and who
did not worship the beast, nor his image, and did not receive his mark upon
their foreheads or upon their hands. And they lived and reigned with Messiah
for a thousand years Rev 20:5 (and
the rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended)
– this is the first resurrection. Rev 20:6
Blessed and set-apart is the one having part in the first resurrection.
The second death possesses no authority over these, but they shall be
priests of Elohim and of Messiah, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.
Some more Scriptures about first
fruits.
- The natural is before the
spiritual (1
Corinthians 15:46 The spiritual, however, was not first, but the
natural, and afterward the spiritual.).
- Yisrael - Elohim’s firstborn (Shemot/Shemot 4:22).
But, the first will be last and the last will be first (Mark 10:31).
Yuhadim (Jews) / Gentiles (the goyim).
- The good news (basar)
was preached to the Jew first and then to the non-Jews (Romans 1:16; 2:9-10; Mattityahu/Matthew
10:5-6; 15:21-28; Acts 1:8).
- We are called to seek first the
Kingdom of Elohim
(Matthew [Mattityahu] 6:33).
- Yahshua was the first to rise from the
dead (Acts
26:23).
- The early believers were a kind
of first fruits (Ya'akov/James
1:17-18 Every good gift and every
perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with
whom there is no change, nor shadow of turning.1 Footnote : 1See Mal.
3:6. Having purposed it, He brought
us forth by the Word of truth, for us to be a kind of first-fruits of His
creatures.)
- Yahshua first loved us, and He is to
be our first love (1
- Yahshua is the first (Aleph)
and the last (Tav) (Revelation 1:8,11,17; 22:13; Yeshayahu/Isaiah
41:4; 44:6; 48:12).
The Blessings
for Counting of the OMER
The
commandment
Vayikra/Lev 23:15-16 ‘And from the morrow after the Sabbath, from
the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, you shall count for
yourselves: seven completed Sabbaths. (See the excerpt on “seven
weeks”earlier in this document)
‘Until the morrow after the seventh Sabbath ( “seventh
week”) you count fifty days, then you shall
bring a new grain offering to יהוה.
In the
Jewish tradition, forty nine days are carefully counted between the second day
of Unleavened Bread and Shavuot (translated into English as Feast of Weeks” or
transliterated into “Pentecost” from the Greek word “Pentecoste” which means
Fifty). This period of time of counting the omer is called Sefirat HaOmer (“counting the sheaves”). Every day during this time
from the beginning of the 16th of Aviv (or from the Sunday after the
First Shabbat during Pesach week if you are following the other interpretation)
a special blessing is recited with naming exactly the count of the day and then
week and day until the 49th day is reached. On the fiftieth count it
will be Shavuot.
No Small
Consequence (FFOZ-excerpt). Some
spiritual insight concerning the 49 days (7 weeks)
The counting of the days of the Omer is a
Scriptural commandment incumbent upon every believer. Traditionally, the period
of the Omer count is to be a time of spiritual introspection as the
counters prepare themselves for Shavuot. Because it begins during
Pesach/Passover and concludes at Shavuot/feast of weeks, the counting of
the Omer remembers the journey from Egypt to Mount Sinai.
The Messianic implications of the Omer and
the subsequent countdown are great. We cannot help but notice that the
appointed day for harvesting the barley omer coincides with the
resurrection of Messiah. In a remarkable display of Elohim's sovereign
planning, the Torah set aside the resurrection as a day of first fruits 1,400
years before its occurrence.
The symbolism is strong. Just as the first omer
of barley was brought as a first fruits of the whole harvest, so too Messiah's
resurrection was a first fruits of the resurrection of the dead to its immortal
esteemed body. This is the imagery Paul invokes with the words, "Messiah
has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep."[2]
Just as the first fruits of the barley made all the rest of the harvest kosher
for harvest, so too the resurrection of Messiah makes the resurrection of the
dead possible. (End quote)
Counting the Days of Messiah
Because of the resurrection and the connection to
Shavuot, the counting of the Omer is an important mitzvah
(command) for believers.
According to Jewish tradition, the counting is done
in the following prescribed manner. After the evening prayers each day, the
counter recites a blessing:
Baruch
at-tah YHVH elo-heinu melech ha’o-lam
Asher
kiddeshanu bemitsvotav ve-tsi-va-nu
‘al se-fi-rat ha-omer
Blessed are you oh YHVH our Elohim, King of the universe
Who set us apart by his commandments and commanded us
about
the counting of the omer
Then declare
the count of the omer in both the day and the week. For example:
On the first day (that will be after the sun
has set on the evening of the 15th of Aviv when the 16th
of Aviv starts, (this year it corresponds with the evening of the 5th
of April 2015 on the Gregorian calendar) we say “Haiyom yom echad ba’omer” (today is one day of the omer),
on the
second day we say “Haiyom yom sheni
ba’omer” (today is two days of the omer) and go on with every next day,
but on the
seventh day we say “Haiyom shivah,
shehem shavuah ecahd ba’omer”
(today is
seven days which are one week of the omer).
On the
eighth day we say
“Haiyom shemonah yahim, shehem
shavuah echad v’yom echad ba’omer”
(today is
eight days, which is one week and one day of the omer.)
This
continue day by day until we reach the 49th day when we say
“Haiyom tishah v’arba’im yom, shehen
shivah shavu’ot ba’omer”
(Today is
forty nine days, which are the seven weeks of omer)
[For you who
are not too familiar with Hebrew, you can omit the Hebrew of course.]
After the
blessing is recited and the count has been declared, it is customary to say
this short prayer:
HaTachman hu Yachazir Lanu
Avodat Beit HaMikdash Li’mekome
Bimhayra be’yameinu.
Amein;
“O
compassionate One! May He return for us”
“the Service
of the temple to its place”
speedily and in our time. Amein;
The person counting follows his formal declaration
of the omer day with a recitation of Tehillim/Psalm 67 and a few short
petitions for spiritual cleansing and renewal.
Tradition prescribes the recitation of Tehillim/
Psalm 67 because it is composed of exactly 49 Hebrew words which correspond to
the 49 days of the omer count. The Psalm is seasonally appropriate
because of its harvest motif. It is spiritually appropriate because it speaks
clearly of Elohim's salvation (Yahshua) being made known over all the
earth.
The Counting of the Omer creates a countdown
to Shavuot, the time of giving of the Torah and the time of the giving
of the Set Apart Spirit, the Ruach haKodesh. As such, it guides us on a
spiritual journey of preparation. It is a journey that is begun with Pesach/Passover,
the symbol of our Salvation in Yahshua, and completed at Shavuot (Pentecost in
Greek), the symbol of our completion through the Spirit. The distance of days
between the two events should be a time of spiritual reflection, growth,
purification and preparation.
The Master's resurrection makes the counting of the
Omer a season of special significance and joy. For His disciples, it is
a time to remember the resurrected Yahshua. All of His post-resurrection
appearances fell within the days of the Omer count.
Here is the scenario as it could have been
described by a taught one (disciple) of Yahshua: During the start of the
countdown of the Omer and further, the next events took place: Yahshua rose, He
appeared to Miriyam and to two of our number while they traveled to Emmaus, and
also to Peter. He appeared in our midst, among the Twelve. He appeared to us
again, and Thomas was with us. During the counting He appeared to 500 of our
number and then to Ya’akov/James. During the counting He appeared to seven of
our number while they fished on the sea. During His post-resurrection
appearances during the count of the Omer, He was still with us for 40 days and
nights, then He led us out to a hill near Bethany, and we saw Him ascend to
heaven. Before He ascended, He commanded us not to leave Yerushalayim, but to
wait there for the Promise of the Father.
We waited and counted the days. Forty-one,
forty-two, forty-three, forty-four, forty-five, forty-six, forty-seven,
forty-eight, forty-nine days of the Omer...and when the day of Shavuot was
fully come we were all together in one place.
Let's work together as we
keep the mitzvah of Counting the Omer -the counting of seven weeks up
to the Feast of Shavuot (49+1 Shavuot falls on the 50th count).
Let's express the
resurrected life within us by being obedient in following our Master in all things.