THE OMER: From Passover to Shavuot

Wayy/Lev. 23: 15-16- "And from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf offering, you shall count for yourselves seven completed Sabbaths. Until the morrow after the seventh Sabbath you count fifty days, then you shall bring a new grain offering to YAHUAH. "

Deb/Deut. 16:9- "Count seven weeks for yourself. Begin to count seven weeks from the time you put the sickle to the grain. "

The next major appointed time of YAHUAH is Shavuot (Festival of Weeks).  The Torah commands that we count the 7 weeks leading up to this Set-Apart day. Shavuot is the time YAHUAH gave His Torah on Mt. Sinai and also the time the Set-Apart Spirit came upon the taught-ones of YAHUSHUAH in Acts 2.

This 'in-between' time from Passover to Shavuot, when we count 50 days, is called the Counting of the Omer. In ancient Yisrael, the first crop to ripen was barley. An omer (half-gallon) of barley was brought as the offering of first fruits after Passover, and the priest waved it before YAHUAH. The first fruit of the wheat harvest (the last crop to ripen) was brought at Shavuot. Though we may not bring an offering of the crops, we are still commanded to count these seven weeks from Passover to Shavuot.

 The Marriage

YAHUAH chose Abraham and his descendents to be His special people, His chosen nation, to worship Him. In His covenant with Abraham, YAHUAH promised that Abraham's descendents would go into slavery for 400 years, and then He would bring them out with great possessions. The Hebrews indeed went into slavery in Mitsrayim (Egypt) for 400 years. At the end of that time, as YAHUAH promised, He delivered His people from bondage at Passover to be His Own special treasure and a model nation to the world (a light to the gentiles). At Mt. Sinai, YAHUAH gave His people Yisrael the Torah, the laws that would make them this model nation.

This history is like a marriage. With Abraham, YAHUAH chose a bride, a nation to be His Own. At Passover, He redeemed (bought back) His chosen one. At Shavuot, YAHUAH gave His bride the Marriage Contract, His set of laws. [Later, at Sukkot, the marriage is complete and YAHUAH dwells with His bride.] The time between the redemption at Passover and the engagement at Shavuot is the time of counting the Orner. During this time, Yisrael traveled from Mitsrayim, crossed the Red Sea, endured trials, and came to Mt. Sinai where they received the laws (Shem. 13-17). This time between Mitsrayim and Mt. Sinai was a time of testing and training for Yisrael. YAHUAH was preparing His nation to receive His laws—His marriage contract. He was bringing them to the spiritual level where they needed to be to accept His laws.

 Transformation Required

Why did Yisrael need to go through this time of testing and training? Yisrael needed a spiritual transformation. They needed to break their 'slave mentality.' They had been slaves for generations upon generations, depending on their Mitsrite (Egyptian) masters for their very existence. They needed to change from a physical dependence on Mitsrayim to a spiritual and physical dependence on YAHUAH. They needed to change from being slaves to Pharaoh to being servants of YAHUAH Elohim.

Some of the Hebrews had begun to worship the idols of Mitsrayim, and they had to repent before the Passover (Ezek. 20:6-10). YAHUAH had to test them and train them in the desert before giving them His laws. They needed to rebuild their spiritual character. That is what the time of the Omer is about­—Testing and Training—to break our slave mentality, our way of thinking and our dependencies, and to rebuild our spiritual character to His standards. Yisrael had to be prepared to receive the Laws of YAHUAH—prepared to be the bride of YAHUAH—prepared to fulfill their purpose of being the model nation of YAHUAH, a light to the gentiles, proclaiming His Name throughout all the earth.

 Testing

YAHUAH tested Yisrael at the Red Sea and with the bitter water at Marah (Shem. 14; 15:22-27). At the Red Sea, the people complained that they should've stayed in Mitsrayim serving the Mitsrites rather than die in the wilderness. At Marah, they again grumbled because the only water they found was bitter and undrinkable. These were tests to make Yisrael change their dependency from Mitsrayim to YAHUAH. At the Red Sea, they saw YAHUAH as their Deliverer, and they were cut off from the Mitsrites. Moshe said to them, "the Mitsrites whom you see today, you are never, never to see again" (Shem. 14:12,13). They would never again look to Mitsrayim as their provider. At Marah, Yisrael grumbled, but YAHUAH provided to show them that He was their Provider. Their existence depended on YAHUAH, not Mitsrayim.

 Training

In the Wilderness of Sin, Yisrael ran out of food. This was another test to make them depend on YAHUAH for their existence. This was also an opportunity for training. YAHUAH provided for them and sent them manna from heaven (Shem. 16). Every day, Yisrael had to look to 'heaven' for their provisions.

Deb. 8:3, "And He humbled you, and let you suffer hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, to make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but by every Word that comes from the mouth of YAHUAH."  The daily routine of looking to YAHUAH would train them to depend only on YAHUAH---changing their mentality. Also, daily looking to YAHUAH would raise their spiritual level, rebuilding their spiritual character, to prepare them to receive the laws. The manna was not only a test to see if they would obey YAHUAH, but also a training to teach them how to obey YAHUAH.

 Yisrael again came to a place without water (Shem. 17). They grumbled and complained, again longing for Mitsrayim. YAHUAH commanded Moshe to travel to Horeb, strike the rock there, and then water poured out. Horeb, the mountain of Elohim, is in the Wilderness of Sinai and appears to be the mountain referred to as 'Mt.Sinai' where the laws were given (compare Shm. 3:2; 19:1,2; and Deb. 5:2). After YAHUAH provided water there, Yisrael would eagerly travel to this mountain and receive the Laws of YAHUAH. Yisrael was being trained to depend on YAHUAH Elohim not only for their physical existence (water) but their spiritual existence as well (the laws).

When Amalek came to fight against Yisrael, Moshe was instructed to stand on the hill (which is also believed to be Horeb/Sinai) and raise the rod of Elohim during the battle (Shem. 17:8-16). At the Red Sea, YAHUAH fought the battle, but here the Yisraelites themselves fought. Moshe raised his arms to train Yisrael to look to YAHUAH for their deliverance even though they were doing the physical fighting.

 Training for Yahudim

After the resurrection, YAHUSHUAH visited His taught-ones and gave them instructions to go into all the world teaching, immersing, and healing. But they had to wait in Yerushalayim to receive power from on high, the Set-Apart Spirit, which came on Shavuot (Luke 24:49). For forty days after His resurrection, from Passover to Shavuot during the Omer, YAHUSHUAH visited His taught ones speaking about the Reign of Elohim (Acts 1:3). He was teaching them in preparation to fulfill their purpose of making taught-ones of all nations. Just as the Torah was given to make Yisrael a light to the gentiles, so the Set-Apart Spirit came to enable followers of YAHUSHUAH to be a light to the world. The time before both was a time of training to prepare the people to fulfill their purpose.

Summary

This period of the Omer, between Passover and Shavuot, is a time of testingand training. We must strive to change our mentality, our way of thinking and doing things. We must change from depending on man and the world--ourselves, our family, our jobs, our money, etc—and become dependent on YAHUAH alone. We must change from being slaves to sin and lawlessness, and become servants of YAHUAH Elohim in righteousness. We must train ourselves to look to Him daily—seeking Him, reading and obeying His Word, obeying the living Word YAHUSHUAH, praying to Him, and praising Him. We have to work to break our 'slave mentalitv' to sin and lawlessness, and rebuild our spiritual character in the ways of YAHUSHUAH.