When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. Ten days later, after they “were continually devoting themselves to prayer” (Acts 1:14), the promised power of the Ruach HaKodesh came. Remember this as you reach the 40th day of your count. Then, as he was departing, the Father also gave them another promise – Yeshua would return. He promised them they would receive supernatural power from the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) to be his witnesses. On that fortieth day, Yeshua brought them all together and gave them a promise. So as you count, look for God to prepare you for what is ahead. A 40-day period of preparation is a pattern in Scripture. Yeshua had different plans, and took this 40-day period to prepare his disciples for their mission. But apparently after his crucifixion, the disciples intended to just go back to doing what they were doing before, as if it was the end of everything they had anticipated (John 21:1-4). His ascension took place 40 days later (Acts 1:3), and during this time he appeared to more than 500 people, including his disciples (1 Corinthians 15:8). Yeshua’s resurrection was on the day of the waving of the omer, the wave sheaf. For the Messianic believer, let me suggest a much better interim date in the count. It is said to commemorate the end of a plague during the time of Rabbi Akiva in the second century, and it has a lot of Kabbalistic undertones. Traditional Judaism observes a “minor holiday” on the 33rd day of the count, lag b’omer. Shavuot, or Pentecost, recorded in the second chapter of Acts is generally thought to have been fifty days after Yeshua’s resurrection. We also know that on the day after the Sabbath following the Passover, Yeshua was raised from the dead as the first fruits of the resurrection (Matthew 28:1-8, 1 Corinthians 15:20). Historically, we know that the Children of Israel entered the Promised Land on the tenth day of the first month, then they ate the Passover on the fourteenth day, and “the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain” (Joshua 5:11). Traditionally, “the day after the Sabbath” has been understood to mean the Sabbath after the Passover. Though no specific date is mentioned, the command to wave the sheaf of the first fruits immediately follows the instructions for Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23). When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place (Acts 2:1). Then you shall celebrate the Feast of Weeks to the LORD your God …” (Deuteronomy 16:9-10). You shall count seven weeks for yourself you shall begin to count seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain. Thayer identifies this as meaning “the fiftieth day.” However, in other passages Shavuot – the Feast of Weeks at the end of this count – is also called Pentecost, πεντηκοστή pentekoste, in Greek (2 Maccabees 12:32, Tobit 2:1, Acts 2:1, Acts 20:16, 1 Corinthians 16:8). The only other place this 50-day count from the wave sheaf is mentioned in Scripture is in Deuteronomy 16. He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD for you to be accepted on the day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it” (Leviticus 23:10-11). Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, “When you enter the land which I am going to give to you and reap its harvest, then you shall bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. עמר omer (Strong’s Hebrew word H6016) is the Hebrew word for “sheaf” in the above passage. You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath then you shall present a new grain offering to the LORD (Leviticus 23:15-16). You shall also count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day when you brought in the sheaf of the wave offering there shall be seven complete Sabbaths. Are you ready to begin counting the Omer?Īs we approach Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, some of the things we do are traditions.
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