The Counting of the Omer / Shavout / Pentecost
The Counting of the Omer / Shavout / Pentecost
The weeks between Passover and Shavuot are a time of anticipating the Marriage between God and the Hebrew people that occurred when they received the Law from God while they were in the wilderness. This happened 49 +1 (50) days from the time they crossed the Red Sea, The law was written on tablets of stone, and three thousand were slain. Many years later, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit came 49 +1 (50) days after the Resurrection. The law of God was written on our hearts, and 3,000 received salvation. These weeks should be a time of anticipation and joy.
“Three times a year, you are to observe a festival for me. Keep the festival of matzah: for seven days, as I ordered you, you are to eat matzah at the time determined in the month of Aviv; for it was in that month that you left Egypt. No one is to appear before me empty-handed. Next, the festival of harvest, the firstfruits of your efforts sowing in the field; and last, the festival of ingathering, at the end of the year, when you gather in from the fields the results of your efforts. Three times a year all your men are to appear before the Lord, Adonai." -Exodus 23:14-17
"Adonai said to Moshe, “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. He is to wave the sheaf before Adonai, so that you will be accepted; the cohen is to wave it on the day after the Shabbat. On the day that you wave the sheaf, you are to offer a male lamb without defect, in its first year, as a burnt offering for Adonai. Its grain offering is to be one gallon of fine flour mixed with olive oil, an offering made by fire to Adonai as a fragrant aroma; its drink offering is to be of wine, one quart. You are not to eat bread, dried grain or fresh grain until the day you bring the offering for your God; this is a permanent regulation through all your generations, no matter where you live.
“‘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 Adonai. You must bring bread from your homes for waving — two loaves made with one gallon of fine flour, baked with leaven — as firstfruits for Adonai." - Leviticus 23:9 - 17
From the barley firstfruits (the day of the resurrection) to Shavout (what we know as Pentecost) we have 49 days +1 weeks or 7 weeks + 1 day.
The sample of grain offering is brought before the Lord on the first day after the Sabbath of Passover, and 50 days later another firstfruits offering is brought. This is two loaves of bread that were made from the grain of the first offering.
God has made eternal covenants with man, and the first covenant dates back to Noah. God always has signs for His covenants. In the covenant sign with Noah after the flood, He gave us the Rainbow which has 7 distinct colors.
The sign for us today is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that Jesus taught about. Jeremiah confirmed many years earlier that God was going to write upon our hearts and put His Spirit in us.
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Jeremiah 31:33
This is the fulfillment of Shavout, Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost (50) days. This is the marriage between God, and both the Hebrews and the Nations, to receive Him. God chose to give us the Holy Spirit so we can become a living epistle and letter read by men.
You make it clear that you are a letter from the Messiah placed in our care, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on stone tablets but on human hearts. 2 Corinthians 3:3
The culmination of these times of remembrance gets lost among our traditions of men today. We are desensitized to the vibrant relationship God has with us and how He wants to show that fulfillment.
Many people are trying to understand how to get their footing in a world where Christianity is being delegitimized by popular ideas. More and more are worshipping the God of the culture instead of the God of the Bible.
If the Bible is the ultimate authority on testing items, this Word should help us to realign, become confident in not only Who we believe in, but also the foundation and fulfillment to empower us to Love the world in ways they still have yet to see us love them.
May you become empowered by the Holy Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh) this Shavout. May this time of anticipation and joy bring you dancing into His presence as HIS bride before the wedding celebration.
Remember, the marriage supper of the Lamb is coming. It is time to get ourselves ready before He returns to gather His Bride. Let us be eagerly anticipating and preparing. The best way to find out how to prepare is to read the WORD and celebrate what God celibrates as He recalibrates the nations unto Himself.
Questions for Reflection:
▪ Have I ever heard of Shavout / Pentecost?
▪ Do I understand what I should be anticipating in Joy?
▪ Is the Holy Spirit real in my life?
▪ How do I understand being a living epistle or letter read of all men?
▪ How can I prepare myself during these days of reflection?
▪ Am I thankful for what God did for us by giving us the Holy Spirit?