You shall count for yourselves — from the day after the Shabbat, from the day when you bring the Omer of the waving — seven Shabbats, they shall be complete. Until the day after the seventh sabbath you shall count, fifty days. -Leviticus 23:15-16
You shall count for yourselves seven weeks, from when the sickle is first put to the standing crop shall you begin counting seven weeks. Then you will observe the Festival of Shavu’ot for the LORD, your God -Deuteronomy 16:9-10
Last night, our congregation had our annual community Passover Seder. As always, it was a wonderful time and is still in my heart this morning. Of course, Passover, among other things, starts the beginning of the 50 days of Counting the Omer. Originally, this was the period of time between the Children of Israel leaving slavery in Egypt and the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai 49 days later, by the Almighty Himself. The counting period is considered to have been a time of spiritual cleansing for the Children of Israel in preparation for receiving the Torah of God.
Since that time, the period of Counting the Omer between Passover and Shavuot has a similar function in Judaism. Actually, the preparation for Passover itself is a time to clean out the “hametz”; leaven or sin in our lives, so Jews prepare their souls to break with the sins of the past and dedicate the coming year to drawing closer to God. Passover also “starts the clock” of the seven weeks (also why Shavuot is called “The Festival of Weeks”) of Omer counting and the anticipation of the anniversary of the giving of the Torah.
The meaning of the Torah for observant Jewish people goes well beyond what the Bible typically means to the Evangelical Church (which is not to say that the church doesn’t highly regard the Bible). It’s not just considered the Word of God. Jews consider the Torah as having a spiritual “life” beyond the printed word. In a sense, they believe that the world was created for the sake of Torah and that if the Jews had rejected Torah at Sinai, all of Creation would have been undone. Torah is also considered the means by which God created the Universe and everything in it. Torah is the guide to Holy living, the path to wisdom, and the means to drawing nearer to God. Torah scholars are considered on a higher spiritual level and closer to the Creator because of their study, and Torah study and worship of God are considered equal.
I’m providing this context to communicate the incredible importance the giving of Torah has to the Jewish people. That means the Counting of Omer is a time of tremendous anticipation. It’s like knowing the most important event in your life will happen 50 days from now. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime event that will change you forever. Naturally, during that 50 days, it will be all you can think and talk about, and it stands to reason you’d want to spend those 50 days getting as ready as possible for this exceptionally important moment.
That’s what the Counting of the Omer is. A period of intense preparation for an encounter with God. It’s a countdown to the day when you will receive the most important gift in the world from the Creator of the world. But what does this have to do with Christianity?
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues (languages) as the Spirit enabled them. -Acts 2:1-4 (NIV)
The festival of Shavu’ot arrived, and the believers all gathered together in one place. Suddenly there came a sound from the sky like the roar of a violent wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then they saw what looked like tongues of fire, which separated and came to rest on each one of them. They were all filled with the Ruach HaKodesh and began to talk in different languages, as the Spirit enabled them to speak. -Acts 2:1-4 (CJB)
What the Church calls Pentecost and considers the anniversary of the giving to the Holy Spirit to the Disciples in Jerusalem, Judaism calls Shavuot and considers the anniversary of the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai; but they’re the same day. A too casual reading of Acts 2 might cause us to forget a few things. First of all, the Disciples were all Jewish, so it makes a huge amount of sense that they’d be celebrating the Biblical festivals, including Shavuot. They’d be gathered together in fact because of Shavuot, in remembrance of that day and in obedience to the commandments.
Also in obedience of the commandments, the Disciples would have been Counting the Omer, just as their forefathers had done for thousands of years. The crucifixion of Yeshua (Jesus) on the eve of Passover and his subsequent resurrection and ascension wouldn’t have done anything to change that. Certainly, there’s nothing in the Bible that records Yeshua saying to not count the Omer that year and that “all bets were off”, so to speak.
So here you have a group of Jews, who have come to faith in Yeshua as the risen Messiah. They have gone through 49 days of counting, and are now gathered together for the festival of Shavuot, commemorating the giving of the Torah. The giving of Torah is the most important and binding event in the lives of every Jew in existence, past, present, and future (it was the reason why Acts 2 records that there were Jews in Jerusalem from all over the diaspora, and why they understood the Disciples when they were speaking in different languages; the languages of the nations they lived in). With the stage set, God does something incredible; He gives another gift, this time, the Holy Spirit to dwell within the Disciples and to empower them to begin the mission assigned to them by their Master and Messiah, Yeshua at the end of the book of Matthew.
Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” -Matthew 28:16-20 (NIV)
The events in Matthew 28 and Acts 2 go hand in hand. Matthew 28 defines the assignment and Acts 2 provides the tools to accomplish the assignment. It wasn’t that the Holy Spirit didn’t connect to faithful and righteous people before that time. After all, consider the Prophets and, at the end of Exodus when the Sheinikah; the Glory of God, descends onto and into the Tabernacle in the desert, the Talmud states that at that moment, each Jew was to consider that a small piece of the Sheinikah was dwelling in each of their hearts. I know that Christianity makes a distinction between the Spirit dwelling “on” vs. “in”, but why would God do that? The Spirit is the Spirit. Why would all righteous people be considered “second hand (spiritual) citizens” until the coming of the Messiah (and Acts 2 uses the word “on” first and then “in”)?
The other and primary connection that needs to be understood is the link between Exodus 20 and Acts 2; the giving of Torah and the giving of the Spirit. I don’t believe that, in a created universe, there is such a thing as coincidence; certainly not on the level of Shavuot and Pentecost “just happening” to be on the same day. Therefore, it fulfills the plan of God that these two events be connected. On a larger stage, perhaps the giving of the Spirit enables us to fully implement, not only the Matthew 28 directive, but the Torah as well.
Does that mean, in essence, these two events are the same event? If so, or at least if they are intimately connected, it has incredible implications in the life of every believer in Yeshua (that is, the life of every Christian). What would have been assumed by the Jewish Disciples is considered revolutionary to we 21st Century Gentile believers. 1st Century Jews wouldn’t have batted an eye at the thought of obeying the Torah commands. They were taught this from childhood. If the Spirit enabled them to more completely obey the commands of God and “The Great Commission” as it is called by the Church, then so much the better. But what about us?
If the Spirit enables the modern Church to continue the commandment of Jesus to “go and make disciples of all nations”, that’s completely acceptable and understood (as long as you understand that the terms “convert” and disciple” aren’t synonyms). However, understanding that these two events and concepts are also fused with the giving of Torah at Sinai and the enabling to “keep Torah”, is likely a stunning revelation to a non-Jewish believing audience. The meaning of how the Torah applies to modern non-Jewish believers is a separate article (or book) and I won’t address it in detail here (except to say that I teach an advanced, ongoing class called What are the 613 Commandments? that does go into those details). However, it is important to connect all this to why Counting the Omer is relevant.
Given all of my prior statements about why it is so important for observant Jews, to this day, to count the Omer, and prepare themselves for a “close encounter” with God, if Christians believe that the giving of the Spirit is also a “close encounter”, then why not count the Omer, too? Yes, the vast majority of Evangelical Christians don’t celebrate Passover, but rather Easter Sunday. This year, Passover and Easter occur less than a week apart (because the Biblical festivals are on a lunar calendar, Passover doesn’t occur on the same day in our modern calendars each year…it is interesting to note though, that since Yeshua was executed the afternoon of the 14th of Nissan which is Wednesday this year, three days later is after sundown on the 17th of Nissan, or Saturday night…after the Shabbat).
This leads to the obvious reason why traditional Evangelical Christians don’t count the Omer; they don’t celebrate the starting date. If Christians started on Easter in most years, then they’re starting too late. If they start on Good Friday (which makes slightly more sense if you believe Jesus was crucified on Good Friday), they’re starting too late (unless the 14th of Nissan happens to fall on Good Friday in that year). But the rationale for counting the Omer is valid for the Church if you consider the link between Shavuot and Pentecost. Even if Christianity discounts Shavuot, the gift of the Spirit should have as much meaning for Christians as the gift of Torah means for Jews. Why wouldn’t you want to prepare your heart between Easter and Pentecost to draw closer to God on the anniversary of the giving of the Spirit? Each Christian believes that the Spirit entered them when they accepted Christ as Lord and Savior. If that’s such a terrific event, why not celebrate it?
Calendars aside, it seems like Evangelical Christians are really missing out on something special. I think it’s part of why we Messianics do what we do. The living out of the Biblical festivals has not just ancient, but modern applications as well. Hopefully this modest article as brought a few of those applications out. Pentecost didn’t “replace” Shavuot, nor did the Spirit replace the Torah. The Spirit is God dwelling within us and the Torah is God’s guidebook to Biblical wisdom and righteous living. We are told that the Word (or Torah) is written on our hearts, which makes the Spirit and Torah more closely linked than we could possibly imagine. If the Children of Israel in Exodus already understood that connection, no wonder Jews, even today, are so in awe of the Torah and of God. They count the Omer with a sense of anticipation and wonder at the immense graciousness and kindness of God. Gentile believers need to recapture that sense of awe of God and what He has given us. One way to do that, is to count the Omer and anticipate the encounter. Remember, there’s a final anticipated encounter that is yet to arrive. He’s coming.
The one who is testifying to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon! Amen! Come, Lord Yeshua! May the grace of the Lord Yeshua be with all! -Revelation 22:20-21 (CJB)
#1 by Mockingbird - April 10th, 2009 at 13:05
You write that our Lord was crucified on 14 Nisan. This is the correct reading of the Gospel of John, but the synoptic Gospels put the crucifixion a day later, 15 Nisan (though still on Friday.)
You ask why many of your fellow-Christians don’t count the Omer. But your post indicates that you know perfectly well that we do, at least implicitly, since we observe the festival of Whitsunday, also called Pentecost. This is the 50th day, counting Easter day as the first. Leviticus 23.11 even implies that the count should be begun on a Sunday. The Mishnah records that a sect known as the Boethusians followed a first-day interpretation of Lev 23.11. The Dead Sea sect began the count on the Sunday after the Week of Unleavened Bread. The priesthood, of course, settled on the interpretation that Lev. 23.11 meant the 16th of Nisan, and this is still used by most Jewish folk. The Gospel of John finesses the matter by making 16 Nisan a Sunday. But to say that, because others take a first-day interpretation of the 50-day count, they are starting “too late”, seems unreasonable in light of the freedom permitted us in such matters. If you want to say that we have “replaced” Shavuoth with Whitsun, go ahead, but I find this word to be clumsy. One doesn’t ordinarily say that a fully-baked loaf of bread “replaces” the dough from which it was made!
Happy Easter.
#2 by David Rudel - April 10th, 2009 at 20:53
I would hardly say that our celebration of Easter counts as “counting the Omer.” Counting the Omer is a very literal ritual. Claiming Pentecost counts as doing this implicitly is absurd…both because saying one can implicitly do a somatic ritual is odd and due to the simple fact that most Christians do not celebrate Pentecost in any significant sense.
Claiming Leviticus 23:11 suggests the counting should begin on a Sunday appears to be the product of a misunderstanding. The term “Sabbath,” while generally referring to the seventh day of the week, also refers to a holy day of rest… exactly what 23:8 refers to. If Passover falls on a day other than Saturday, there are two “Sabbaths” that week.
#3 by David Rudel - April 10th, 2009 at 22:24
Actually, Mockingbird, after I posted I realized you probably knew that the passover counted as a Sabbath…and perhaps you were referring to the specifics of the week of Christ’s crucifixion with added assumptions about when passover fell…though I would not have expected the indefinite article “…starts on a Sunday…” in that case.
I should also correct what I said earlier…you probably knew what I meant. The passover itself is not a sabbath, but the first day of unleavened bread is.
Given the codification found in Leviticus and Deut., if God had intended for the Israelites to wait until after the weekly Sabbath following the Passover to bring the offering, it seems that would have been indicated. This is especially true given that we have a proliferance of “Sabbaths” here…we have both the High Sabbath of the feast, we have the “sabbaths” meaning the week the feast lasts, and then we have [perhaps] the weekly Sabbath as well.
To suggest “day after the sabbath” refers to a weekly sabbath (when none are mentioned) right after two other Sabbaths were seems odd to me.
#4 by James - April 12th, 2009 at 12:46
Actually, the crucifixion likely would have occurred on a Wednesday, the 14th of Nissan, the day when the sacrifices of the Passover lambs were made in the Temple in preparation for the Passover meal to be held at sundown. He died about 3 p.m. when the second lamb of the continual burnt offering was placed on the altar and would have been buried right before sundown before the Passover meal.
Mark 15:42-43 states, “Since it was Preparation Day (that is, the day before a Shabbat), as evening approached, Yosef of Ramatayim (Joseph of Aramathea), a prominent member of the Sanhedrin who himself was also looking forward to the Kingdom of God…”
Luke 23:53-56 records, “He (Yosef of Ramatayim) took it (the body of Jesus) down, wrapped it in a linen sheet, and placed it in a tomb cut into the rock, that had never been used. It was Preparation Day, and a Shabbat was about to begin. The women who had come with Jesus from the Galil followed; they saw the tomb and how his body was placed in it. Then they went back home to prepare spices and ointments. On Shabbat, the women rested n obedience of the commandment.”
John 19;40-42 says, “They took Jesus’ body and wrapped it up in linen sheets with the spices, in keeping with the Judean burial practice. In the vicinity of where he had been executed was a garden, and in the garden was a new tomb in which no one had ever been buried. So, because it was Preparation Day for the Judeans, and because the tomb was close by, that is where they buried Jesus.”
All three accounts state that Jesus was buried on Preparation Day, right before a Shabbat, which would have been Passover. Matthew 28:1 says that the body of Jesus was discovered missing from the tomb after Shabbats (most Bibles express this as a singular but it’s plural in the Greek) toward dawn on Sunday (the first day of the week, though the Greek actually says “towards the first of the week” and not “towards dawn”, so it could have been anytime after sundown on Saturday). The discovery of the missing body of Jesus very early on the first day of the week is supported in Mark 16:1-2, Luke 24:1-2, and John 20:1.
Since the first day of the Omer is usually considered on the first full day of the Passover, the phrase “…on the morrow of the rest day the Kohen shall wave it” could easily be considered the day after the Passover sacrifice (on Thursday this year), rather than the first day of the week.
Actually, this Passover was a perfect picture of the Gospel accounts of the crucifixion and resurrection. Imagine Jesus hanging on the cross on Wednesday, from about 9 a.m and dying at about 3 p.m. Sometime before sundown, his body is taken off the execution stake on the day of preparation for the Passover meal. He had to be buried before the actual Passover began at sundown.
Now count ahead three days, the number of days Jesus said he would be buried. We arrive at Saturday at sundown; 72 hours later. Once sundown occurs on Saturday, it’s the first day of the week. While most accounts state that the body of Jesus wasn’t discovered missing until sometime before dawn on Sunday, he could have risen at any point after sundown Saturday; the Third Day.
This makes a lot more sense then believing that Jesus died Friday afternoon and arose Sunday morning before dawn and that somehow, that equals three days. At my congregation at Shabbat services during the teaching yesterday, someone pointed out that celebrating the resurrection on Saturday night would be a lot more Biblicly consistent than waiting on a mountain top and holding a dawn service on Sunday (I live in Southwest Idaho and a number of churches here have that practice).
I’ve been following the activity on twitter today relative to Easter and while I have a different perspective on reading the Bible, what strikes me as most important is the dedication believers have to following Jesus, his teachings, and his life, and it expresses all of God’s promises to those who believe. I don’t write these articles to try and rain on anyone’s parade, so to speak, but to try and communicate the richness that can be found in the Bible if we just read it in the way it was written, trying to see the point of view of the authors rather than looking through the lens of 21st century theologies.
I hope your Easter celebration is joyous and peaceful.
#5 by Erm… - April 24th, 2009 at 03:01
Excellent article. Thank you!
However, Shavout (Sinai – Giving of Torah) & Pentecost (Giving of The Holy Spirit) are the same events per God’s promise to ‘…write His laws (Sinai-Shavout-Letter of Torah) upon His peoples’ hearts (Pentecost-Antioch-Spirit of Torah)’ through faith in Christ Yeshua, ‘The Living Torah.’
‘In the beginning was the Word (Jesus – Torah) and the Word (Jesus – Torah) was with God, and the Word (Jesus – Torah) was God…’ John 1
Blessings! in Yeshua HaMochiach!
#6 by Erm… - April 24th, 2009 at 03:10
Kindly research the origins of ‘Easter’ — it’s the pagan holiday ‘Ishtar – Astarte – Queen of Heaven’ worship.
Jesus and the Apostles would not have celebrated ‘Easter’.
God clearly says what His feasts are in Leviticus 23.
Gentiles can follow what the Bible says, celebrate Passover (A Memorial of Christ) or Gentiles can follow manmade holiday’s (Easter – Ishtar) celebration.
Thus, the Bible clearly admonishes God’s people to know unleaven (Pure: The verbatim Holy Bible) from leaven (impure: manmade doctrines and traditions).
Blessings!
#7 by James - April 24th, 2009 at 08:53
Hi Erm,
Actually, I’m quite aware of the origins of the modern celebration of Easter. Thanks for your comments.