Shabbat Shalom!
Not only is today Shabbat (and I am so glad!), but it is also day 25 of the count of the Omer.
We are halfway between Pesach and the Day of First Fruits (when the counting begins) and Shavuot, also known as the Feast of Weeks and Pentecost (when the counting ends).
What exactly is an "omer", and why do we count it?
An omer is a unit of measurement. It is basically a sheaf of grain. The omer, in this particular commandment, was the very first fruit of the earliest harvest (barley) that was brought to the priest and waved as an offering before YHVH. This is what YHVH commanded at the time of Pesach and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
Directly after commanding the waving of the sheaf of first fruits, YHVH commanded that we count 7 weeks plus one day (50 days) and then have another feast celebration of harvest.
So we aren't really counting the omer (or the sheaf of grain). We are actually counting the DAYS between the first waving of the earliest first fruits (at Pesach) to the next commanded offering of the first fruits of all the crops (at Shavuot).
Let's look at it as commanded in YHVH's Word:
Leviticus 23:9-22
(We will start with what YHVH said about the day of First Fruits and go from there...)
YHVH said to Moses, "Tell the people of Isra'el, 'After you enter the land I am giving you and harvest its ripe crops, you are to bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the cohen [priest]. He is to wave the sheaf before YHVH, so that you will be accepted; the cohen is to wave it on the day after the Shabbat....
From the day after the day of rest -that is, from the day you bring the sheaf for waving -you are to count seven full weeks, until the day after the seventh week; you are to count fifty days; and then you are to present a new grain offering to YHVH....
The cohen will wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before YHVH, with the two lambs; these will be holy for YHVH for the cohen. On the same day, you are to call a holy convocation; do not do any kind of ordinary work; this is a permanent regulation through all your generations, no matter where you live.
When you harvest the ripe crops produced in your land, don't harvest all the way to the corners of your field, and don't gather the ears of grain left by the harvesters; leave them for the poor and the foreigner; I am YHVH your God.'"
Deuternomy 16:6-11
(We will start with what YHVH commands regarding Pesach and go from there:)
...at the place where YHVH your God will choose to have his name live - there is where you are to sacrifice the Pesach offering, in the evening, when the sun sets, at the time of year that you came out of Egypt. You are to roast it and eat it in the place YHVH your God will choose; in the morning you will return and go to your tents. For six days you are to eat matzah; on the seventh day there is to be a festive assembly for YHVH your God; do not do any kind of work. You are to count seven weeks; you are to begin counting seven weeks from the time you first put your sickle to the standing grain. You are to observe the festival of Shavu'ot [weeks] for YHVH your God with a voluntary offering, which you are to give in accordance with the degree to which YHVH your God has prospered you. You are to rejoice in the presence of YHVH your God.
It would appear that there is really nothing else to say about what YHVH has commanded. He told us to count the days (7 weeks plus the next day, which equals 50 days) until the harvest and then to have an appointed celebration, the Festival of Weeks or Pentecost (which means "50", as in "50 days").
So we count!
On a side note (but not really), as I was reading these verses and also reading the Torah portion for this week, I noticed something...
Did you notice verse 22 in Leviticus 23?
The verse about leaving part of your grain unharvested for the poor and the foreigner?
Well, interestingly enough, in this week's Torah portion (which is Leviticus 16:1-20:27), there is another reference to this command.
Leviticus 19:9-10 says "When you harvest the ripe crops produced in your land, don't harvest all the way to the corners of your field, and don't gather the ears of grain left by the harvesters. Likewise, don't gather the grapes left on the vine or fallen on the ground after harvest; leave them for the poor and the foreigner; I am YHVH your God."
Just as YHVH meets our every need and provides for us, we must also do for others. This thought is echoed by Yeshua in other places in the B'rit Hadashah (New Testament) reading for this week.
Also in this week's Torah portion, in Amos 9:7-15, YHVH uses the language of harvest, crop, and land to describe His future promises to His people Israel:
He promised that He would give the order and shake Israel among the Gentiles as one shakes a sieve, letting no grain fall to the ground.
Then He says "'When that day comes, I will raise up the fallen tent of David...sweet wine will drip from the mountains...I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel...they will plant vineyards and drink their wine, cultivate gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant them on their own soil, no more to be uprooted from their land, which I gave them,' says YHVH your God."
This is happening now and will continue to unfold into the future!!
You know, I think we miss so much when we become distant from the land, from the day-to-day seasonal growing and harvesting, sowing and reaping. We miss so much when we don't work the land and see and live this important life-giving relational truth in a practical day-to-day way!
So, today as I celebrate my weekly rest of Shabbat, and as I continue to count the seven weeks until Shavuot, I also celebrate YHVH's work of growth and harvest in His people!
I celebrate His planting of His people Israel eternally in their dwelling place with Him!
I celebrate that YHVH is the giver of manna, daily bread!
I celebrate His grafting of me into His olive tree, His people, His kingdom!
I celebrate my Redeemer Yeshua, the Bread of Life, the First Fruits from the dead!
I celebrate that I am a branch connected to the Vine of Yeshua!
I celebrate that my YHVH is a God of the land, the harvest, the fruit. I am so glad that He does not just use symbolic language but instead uses LIFE, the life He has given us, as a way to know Him and live with Him. So as I count every day and live every day, I want to know His Word, His ways, His Truth, His purposes.
In Yeshua, our Bread of Life,
Gina
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