It’s time to start counting towards Shavuot/Pentecost!
“You shall count seven full weeks from the day after the (high) Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf (omer) of the wave offering. ( see Joshua 5) You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath. Then you shall present a grain offering of new grain to the LORD”
Lev. 23:15-16
Each year I try to make counting to Shavuot (Pentecost) fun for our family. We rotate the days between our seven children and scriptures that they read each morning. The main thing is that we’re counting towards this appointed time with anticipation!
Because of the resurrection and the connection to Shavuot (Pentecost), the counting of the Omer is highly symbolic for believers. All of Yeshua’s post-resurrection appearances occurred within the days of the Omer count.
The period between Passover and Shavuot is called the “Counting of the Omer” (Sefirat Ha’omer). Omer means “barley sheaf” and refers to the offering brought to the Temple on the second day of Passover. Starting from that day, the Torah also instructs that “you shall count off seven weeks. They must be complete: you must count until the day after the seventh week — 50 days” (Leviticus 23:15-16). An omer is a unit of measurement and is about three and a half litres, or just over fifteen cups of dry commodities. In this case, barley. Sometimes an omer is translated as sheaf, since it is about the amount of barley or grains that you would need to bundle into a sheaf. So the instruction is to wave an omer, or a sheaf of barley before the Lord, and then count seven weeks until the wheat harvest has ripened, and the feast of Weeks arrives.
We can see in the Bible that every time barley is mentioned, it is in the context of victory and/or provision which is exactly what Yeshua did when he died and rose.
As we count we realize this is the length of time between the resurrection and the day that God poured out his Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the Feast of Weeks, and it was also the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai.
We count in anticipation and excitement!
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