SHAVUOT/PENTECOST Counting of the Omer
Ps 95: 1 7 Brenton 1(94:1) The praise of a Song by David. Come, let us exult in the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to God our Saviour. 2(94:2) Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise to him with psalms. 3(94:3) For the Lord is a great God, and a great king over all gods: for the Lord will not cast off his people. 4(94:4) For the ends of the earth are in his hands; and the heights of the mountains are his. 5(94:5) For the sea is his, and he made it: and is hands formed the dry land. 6(94:6) Come, let us worship and fall down before him; and weep before the Lord that made us. 7(94:7) For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ccma0jmdxju/maxresdefault.jpg
Introduction Today we observe the fourth biblical feast, seven in total, of the Hebrew year called Shavuot which many of us know as Pentecost. The naming of this feast comes from the counting of the weeks and Pentecost represents the 50 days that is counted. This feast, from the Jewish perspective represents the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai, whereas for Christianity it represents the outpouring of the Holy Spirit: Shavuot Shavuot is the Hebrew word for weeks and refers to the Jewish festival marking the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, which occurs seven weeks after Passover. Shavuot, like many other Jewish holidays, began as an ancient agricultural festival that marked the end of the spring barley harvest and the beginning of the summer wheat harvest. In ancient times, Shavuot was a pilgrimage festival during which Israelites brought crop offerings to the Temple in Jerusalem. Today, it is a celebration of Torah, education, and actively choosing to participate in Jewish life. https://reformjudaism.org/jewish-holidays/shavuot Pentecost For Christians, Pentecost is a holiday on which we commemorate the coming of the Holy Spirit on the early followers of Jesus. Before the events of the first Pentecost, which came a few weeks after Jesus death and resurrection, there were followers of Jesus, but no movement that could be meaningfully called the church. Thus, from an historical point of view, Pentecost is the day on which the church was started. This is also true from a spiritual perspective, since the Spirit brings the church into existence and enlivens it. Thus Pentecost is the church s birthday. Pentecost by Jean Restout II, 1732. Public domain. http://www.patheos.com/blogs/markdroberts/series/what-is-pentecost-why-does-it-matter/
Let us take a look at what to decipher what this observance entails. The start of the Hebrew year typically coincides with spring. Once the barley crop is determined to be Abib/Aviv the New Year is declared and preparations begin to observe the feasts of the first month (Pesach, Unleavened bread and First Fruits): (Deut 16:1 Brenton) 1 Observe the month of new corn, and thou shalt sacrifice the passover to the Lord thy God; because in the month of new corn thou camest out of Egypt by night. The first three feast of the year represent Salvation from bondage and a reminder of YHWH Elohim Mercy and Grace for the children of Israel. The First Fruits has come to represent the resection of the dead as the Anointed One was raised from the dead by Elohim and connects the feast of the first month to. https://buildingjewishbridges.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/shavuot.png
The following passages from the Torah instructs on the observance of : (Exo 34: 22) 22 And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year's end. (Lev 23:15-22 Brenton) 15 And ye shall number to yourselves from the day after the sabbath, from the day on which ye shall offer the sheaf of the heave-offering, seven full weeks: 16 until the morrow after the last week ye shall number fifty days, and shall bring a new meat-offering to the Lord. 17 Ye shall bring from your dwelling loaves, as a heave-offering, two loaves: they shall be of two tenth portions of fine flour, they shall be baked with leaven of the first-fruits to the Lord. 18 And ye shall bring with the loaves seven unblemished lambs of a year old, and one calf of the herd, and two rams without blemish, and they shall be a whole-burnt-offering to the Lord: and their meat-offerings and their drink-offerings shall be a sacrifice, a smell of sweet savour to the Lord. 19 And they shall sacrifice one kid of the goats for a sin-offering, and two lambs of a year old for a peace-offering, with the loaves of the first-fruits. 20 And the priest shall place them with the loaves of the first-fruits an offering before the Lord with the two lambs, they shall be holy to the Lord; they shall belong to the priest that brings them. 21 And ye shall call this day a convocation: it shall be holy to you; ye shall do no servile work on it: it is a perpetual ordinance throughout your generations in all your habitations. 22 And when ye shall reap the harvest of your land, ye shall not fully reap the remainder of the harvest of your field when thou reapest, and thou shalt not gather that which falls from thy reaping; thou shalt leave it for the poor and the stranger: I am the Lord your God.
(Num 28:26-31 Brenton) 26 And on the day of the new corn, when ye shall offer a new sacrifice at the festival of weeks to the Lord, there shall be to you a holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work, 27 and ye shall bring whole-burnt-offerings for a sweetsmelling savour to the Lord, two calves of the herd, one ram, seven lambs without blemish. 28 Their meat-offering shall be fine flour mingled with oil; there shall be three tenth deals for one calf, and two tenth deals for one ram. 29 A tenth for each lamb separately, for the seven lambs; and a kid of the goats, 30 for a sin-offering, to make atonement for you; beside the perpetual whole-burnt-offering: and 31 ye shall offer to me their meat-offering. They shall be to you unblemished, and ye shall offer their drink-offerings. The apostles (Sent Ones) and disciples (Taught Ones) of the Anointed One was instructed to wait in Jerusalem. This was after the feasts of the first month, and his resurrection from the dead. We pick up the account from the retelling of Acts of the Apostles: (Acts 1:1-9 KJV) 1 The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, 2 Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: 3 To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: 4 And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. 5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. 6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? 7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. 8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. 9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
The apostles (Sent Ones) and disciples (Taught Ones) of the Anointed One was instructed to wait in Jerusalem. This was after the feasts of the first month, and his resurrection from the dead. We pick up the account from the retelling of Acts of the Apostles: (Luk 24:44-49 KJV) 44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. 45 Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, 46 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: 47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 And ye are witnesses of these things. 49 And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.
On the day of the apostles and disciples were at the House of Elohim (Beit YHWH, Beit HaElohim ): (Acts 2:1-24 KJV) 1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. 5 And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. 6 Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. 7 And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? 8 And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? 9 Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, 10 Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. 12 And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this? 13 Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine. 14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: 15 For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.
(Acts 2:1-24 KJV) 16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; 17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: 18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: 19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: 21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. 22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: 23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: 24 Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. http://www.holytrinityutrecht.nl/wp-content/uploads/pentecost-by- Hyatt-Moore.jpg
After the resurrection of The Anointed One, cumulate with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in that generation. But the question that should be asked is Was the prophecy of Joel fulfilled in its completeness? The apostle Peter was linking the experience at the Temple with Joel as an example of what was to be expected. This was only a partial fulfilment. As we learned from Dr. Michael S. Heiser, there seem to be a connection with the Tower of Babel and the Table of Nations with the multiple languages heard at the Temple and all the Hebrews gathered from the nations: The Bible Unfiltered: Approaching Scriptures on its own Terms By Dr. Michael S. Heiser Ch 44, p169-173 Also, at the foot of Mt. Sinai, the mixed multitude that left Egypt saw voices as the ten statements was uttered from on high. In some translations this is found in Exodus 20: 15/Exodus 20: 18: (Exo 20: 15 Chabad) 15 And all the people saw the voices and the torches, the sound of the shofar, and the smoking mountain, and the people saw and trembled; so they stood from afar. (Exo 20:18 Brenton) 18 And all the people perceived the thundering, and the flashes, and the voice of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and all the people feared and stood afar off, The events at the Holy Mountain and the Holy House seem to intersect and the experiences are similar in their manifestations.
Counting The Omer is dependent on the first fruits: (Lev 23:15, 16 Brenton) 15 And ye shall number to yourselves from the day after the sabbath, from the day on which ye shall offer the sheaf of the heave-offering, seven full weeks: 16 until the morrow after the last week ye shall number fifty days, and shall bring a new meat-offering to the Lord. Counting of the Omer (Hebrew: ספירת העומר,Sefirat HaOmer, sometimes abbreviated as Sefira or the Omer) is an important verbal counting of each of the forty-nine days between the Jewish holidays (Hebrew/Feast of YHWH) of Passover and Shavuot as stated in the Hebrew Bible: Leviticus 23:15 16. This mitzvah ("commandment") derives from the Torah commandment to count forty-nine days beginning from the day on which the Omer, a sacrifice containing an omer-measure of barley, was offered in the Temple in Jerusalem, up until the day before an offering of wheat was brought to the Temple on Shavuot. Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/counting_of_the_omer) http://www.farmfutures.com/sites/farmfutures.com/files/styl es/article_featured_standard/public/wheatharvestsunset154 0x800.jpg?itok=DkxoWCw1
Counting The Omer We are required to do some counting until is accomplished. This feast seem to be out of place compared to others. Truth be told it is not. typically happens in the third biblical month. This connects with Israel and the mixed multitude arriving at Mt. Sinai in the third month and receiving the instructions and experiencing the awesomeness of YHWH Elohim on the mount: (Exo 19:1-2 Brenton) 1 And in the third month of the departure of the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, on the same day, they came into the wilderness of Sina. 2 And they departed from Raphidin, and came into the wilderness of Sina, and there Israel encamped before the mountain. The numeric pattern of the scriptures is evident with this feast and all others: Feast of the first month Pesach, Unleavened Bread & First fruits Feast of the third month Feast of the seventh month Yom Teruah (Day of Trumpets), Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) & Sukkot
Counting The Omer: The Takeaway for As a group gathered here today, what significance does mean to us? As we reflect on this feast, from past to present, here are a few things to contemplate on: Count the cost of obedience Reach Elohim where he is at. We may not have the Holy Mountain or Temple but we have an advocate, in the Anointed One, acting on our behalf: (Joh 14:15-18 KJV) 15 If ye love me, keep my commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. 18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. Separate the wheat from the chaff in our lives. Ask Elohim to search your heart and reveal secret things to repent about Be diligent like the workers in the harvest field in seeking Elohim and learning from his word and reaping treasures that are yet to be uncovered to share with others.
Is there a future fulfillment of? http://thestoryofliberty.homestead.com/moses_israe l_camp_sinai.jpg