Tag Archives: Pentecost

When do we start the count of the omer?

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I got this question emailed to me this morning:

My name is Lisa B— and I have a question for you as I have been “kerfuddled” if you will by the omer count this year. I understand from your website that you’re sighted moon? I really, really thought we would NOT start the Omer count for a week, due to ULB beginning Saturday eve to Sunday eve, but both you, and the Karaites (the other sighted group I know of) started ON ULB. Please, how is that possible? Can you explain?

Here is my answer:
omer_count
From Lev 23:9–15, we learn that we’re to begin the count of the omer toward Shavuot (Pentecost) from the morrow/day after the Sabbath when the barley first fruits were presented to YHVH as a wave offering (called wave sheaf day). The question is whether we start the omer count from the Sabbath, or from the day after the Sabbath? Does the Sabbath or the day after the Sabbath (Sunday) have to fall within the week of the Feast of Unleavened Bread? Normally, this isn’t an issue since both the Sabbath and the first day of the week fall within the week of Unleavened Bread. However, this year (2015), this is the case. If you choose to count from Sunday, then the Saturday, April 4 falls outside of Unleavened Bread, but Sunday, April 5 falls within the Feast of Unleavened Bread, since this is the first day of the feast. If you choose to count from the Sabbath that falls within the Feast of Unleavened Bread (i.e., April 11), then this places wave sheaf day outside of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Those who begin the omer count toward Shavuot from April 5 will be celebrating Shavuot on Sunday, May 24, while those who begin the count from April 12 will be celebrating Shavuot on Sunday, May 31.
So this brings us back to our basic question of when to start the omer count. Does the Sabbath or the day after the Sabbath (Sunday or wave sheaf day) have to be within the week of the Feast of Unleavened Bread? Some people will say say the Sabbath has to be, and some will say the day after the Sabbath has to be. When reading Lev 23:9–15, you really can’t tell which it is. It seems like it could go either way. It’s a tie.
Enter Josh 5:10–11, which is the tie breaker. Those who believe that you start the omer count from the day after the weekly Sabbath use this passage as their proof. Here is my commentary on  this passage:

Joshua 5:11, And they ate. As the manna ceased, the Israelites ate the fresh barley grain that had already been growing in the land. In Leviticus 23:14, the Israelites were forbidden to eat of the new barley crop of the land of Israel until the day of the omer offering (or wave sheaf day). This year, the omer offering occurred on the next day after the Passover (Nisan/Abib 14), which was Nisan/Abib 15, or the first day of the Feast of Unleavnened Bread. Because the omer offering was to be brought on the morrow or day after the (weekly, see notes at Lev 23:16) Sabbath (Lev 23:11), this means that the Israelite’s first Passover in the land of Israel occurred on a weekly Sabbath, and wave sheaf day occurred on Sunday. This verse also shows us that the morrow after the Sabbath (i.e., wave sheaf day) occurred during the Feast of Unleavened Bread ­— not before or after it. This should be taken into consideration when determining which weekly Sabbath at the time of Feast of Unleavened Bread should be used to determine wave sheaf day and, hence, the beginning the omer count. This passage indicates the wave sheaf day, not the weekly Sabbath, has to fall within the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

This passage is circumstantial evidence that the ancient Israelites calculated the omer count based on wave sheaf day, not the weekly Sabbath, having to fall within the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This is why our ministry begins the count of the omer toward Shavuot  from the day after the weekly Sabbath, and not the Sabbath itself, that falls within the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
As a footnote, by calculating the omer in this manner, this keeps wave sheaf day (the day Yeshua ascended to heaven and was accepted by the Father) within the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which fulfills biblical types and shadows more accurately than if wave sheaf day fell outside of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For more info on this, please read my detailed article on the subject at http://www.hoshanarabbah.org/pdfs/firstfruits.pdf.
I hope this answers your question.
 

Getting in Tune With the Heavenly Philharmonic

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This is a story — not just any story, but our story — yours and mine. It’s the story of our lives, the  story of our people. It’s an old story, yet a new story. Only the faces and places have changed. The plot remains eternally the same. It’s the story of the Creator reaching out to humans, who struggle to accept his love, yet who end up largely refusing it. It’s a never-ending cycle going from one generation to the next.

Symphony 637257

This story started a long time ago. When in Egypt, the children of Israel were in tune spiritually to the rhythms and beat of Egypt (a biblical metaphor for this world).

YHVH led the Israelites out of Egypt into the quietude of the wilderness. The Hebrew word for wilderness is midbar and is from dabar meaning “to speak, declare, converse” and is related the word d’bar meaning “to hear.” Thus, one could say that YHVH led the Israelites into the wilderness to hear him speak his word,  and to enter into conversation with him — an impossibility in the noise and confusion of the environment of Egypt where man is at the center of everything and a lot is going on. The wilderness was a sterile and neutral environment devoid of the noise and confusion of man-made stuff.

The first place YHVH brought the Israelites to was the foot of Mount Sinai so he could speak to them face to face.

Before they could hear him, they had to prepare themselves. They had to make themselves clean and set apart from the physical and carnal impurities and distractions of the world and the flesh, which impede one’s ability to hear YHVH -— to connect with their Creator (Exod 19).

YHVH spoke to them, but it was too much for them to hear. It frightened them because Continue reading →

 

New Video: Getting in Tune with the Heavenly Philharmonic

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This video discusses the deeper implications of the biblical Feast of Weeks (Shavuot or Pentecost) and how through YHVH’s Torah and his Holy Spirit humans are able to get in sync spiritually with the heart and will of the Creator. When heaven and earth meet, spiritual harmony occurs and life and blessings flow.

 

Shavuot: Past, Present and Future

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Tomorrow is Shavuot! Are you ready to imbibe of the Holy Spirit?

Want to learn about what the significant relevance is of Shavuot/the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost? Then I invite you to read my teaching article on the subject at http://hoshanarabbah.org/pdfs/shavuot.pdf.

Shavuot, Joyous

 

 

Preparing for Shavuot (Pentecost)

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The Feast of Weeks (Heb. Shavuot) or Pentecost will be occurring in about a week on Sunday, June 8, 2014. Pentecost is one of the seven biblical holy day Sabbaths that YHVH commands his people to celebrate. Below is a short piece to help you to prepare yourselves spiritually for this set-apart time when YHVH meets with is people in a special way.

A (Re)New(ed) Covenant Involving YHVH Writing Torah on Our Hearts

Jeremiah 31:27–36 prophesies about YHVH making new (or renewed) covenant being with his people Israel, which involves both houses of Israel (the Jews and the Christians) and his writing his Torah on their hearts.

Shavuot, Joyous

 Behold, the days come, saith YHVH, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith YHVH: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith YHVH, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their Elohim, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know YHVH: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith YHVH: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. (Jer 31:31–34)

Contextually, in the verses surrounding this prophecy we discover some other important details.

  • Verse 27, The houses of Judah and Israel were to be mingled throughout the beast nations of the world as punishment for breaking their covenant with YHVH that they made with him on Shavuot (the Feast of Pentecost) at Mount Sinai (Exod 19–20, 24).
  • Verse 28, At some point in the future, YHVH’s punishment of Israel for breaking their covenant and their resulting exile among the gentile nations will come to the end. He will rebuild and restore the nation of Israel.
  • Verses 29–30, Whereas in times past, Israel was punished as a collective nation for their sins when they disobeyed YHVH and were similarly blessed when they obeyed him, now each person will be cursed or blessed for his own sins. Salvation is more of an individual matter now.
  • Verses 31–33,  YHVH promises to make a renewed covenant with the two houses of Israel at some time in the future (from Jeremiah’s perspective). It will be different from the covenant he made with Israel at Sinai in two major ways:
  • Though it will be a covenant with Israel collectively (both houses), it also will be made with individuals.
  • He will deal with the heart of each individual Israelite when he writes his Torah on their hearts.
  • Verse 34, This renewed covenant will involve mercy and forgiveness (grace). It will involve a personal relationship between each person and YHVH (“they shall all know me…”).
  • Verses 35 and 37, As the sun, moon, stars, the sea, and expanse of the heavens and the earth exist, so YHVH will renew his Torah covenant with Israel. The words of Yeshua in Matthew 5:18 are reminiscent of the this prophecy. Not one yud or tag of YHVH’s Torah will pass as long heaven and earth still exist.
  • Verse 36, The very survival of the nation and people of Israel (and hence the fulfillment of the covenants YHVH made with Abraham), is dependent on YHVH regathering and restoring Israel. If YHVH doesn’t bring this to pass, then YHVH is a liar and his Word is a lie and there is no hope for the world! This cannot be!

This was fulfilled during the time of the writing of the Testimony of Yeshua (New Testament). The author of Hebrews talks about this in Hebrews 8. Continue reading →