it is written 158 times in the New Testament/Brit Chadashah.
נאמנות
Today is the Hebrew/Jewish holiday of
Purim
פורים
Lots
it lasts 2 days,
starting at sunset last night.
Also called
mikra’ei kodesh
מִקְרָאֵי קדֶשׁ,
‘times in which holiness is proclaimed’.
Lev. 23:2;
the Spring season of
Appointed Times of the Lord/Moedim
are initiated this week with Purim.
Recorded in the Book of Esther is
the victory over Haman’s evil plot
in which he tried to destroy the Jews.
This plan was thwarted by Queen Esther
and continues to be celebrated even today.
26 So they called these days Purim, after the name [a]Pur.
Therefore, because of all the words of this letter, what they had seen concerning this matter, and what had happened to them, 27 the Jews established and imposed it upon themselves and their descendants and all who would join them, that without fail they should celebrate these two days every year, according to the written instructions and according to the prescribed time, 28 that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city, that these days of Purim should not fail to be observed among the Jews, and that the memory of them should not perish among their descendants.
Esther 29:26-28
The remembrance of Purim is a precursor to the 7 that follow on the Hebrew Calendar.
Purim commemorates the selfless action of woman chosen for a specific time and purpose.
Purim is always 30 days before Passover/Pesach.
Giving those that follow this calendar
a heads-up,
a marker,
for those with eyes to see
and ears to hear,
of what is about to begin!
Esther was required to spend 12 months
in careful detailed preparation for one purpose…
and that was to be found
acceptable in the Kings sight.
All this?
Just to be found appealing to the King?
That required great humility and obedience,
a commitment
to a long and intense
process of purification –
in the same
way we are to make ourselves ready for
our King.
Mashiach Yeshua/Jesus.
There is work He does in us
and work we do ourselves.
He is coming for an ecclesia
without spot or wrinkle
that He will present to Himself!
in order to present the
church/ecclesia/called apart ones,
to himself in all its beauty–
pure and faultless,
without spot or wrinkle
or any other imperfection.
Ephesians 5:27
He that findeth his life shall lose it:
and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.
You are loved and appreciated and prayed for daily.
Fear not,
simply rest in Him
and be comforted,
God is WORKING!
All things are in His hands and
nothing happens that He has not allowed
in His plans and purposes;
both those that did commendable things
like Mordecai and Esther
and those that did evil as did Haman and his family.
Stay alert, prepared and be ready!
Thank you so much for taking the time to read the posts and for all your kind and encouraging comments.
The connection to FB is not working at this time, hopefully it will be restored soon.
Please continue to share with others, like and subscribe for notifications of new postings. It all helps to freely spread the Gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth and reaches others with the blessing of His Truths that always point us to Our Heavenly Father, Through Jesus/Yeshua by the power of His Holy Spirit/Ruach HaKodesh.
Share His comfort
to those going through times
of testing and trouble…
be an encourager of hearts
and tell them
GOD IS WORKING
behind the scenes!
As always, a very warm welcome to each and every subscriber/follower/visitor, both old and new; and remember that the post is best viewed on the Homepage site in full color!
Please don’t leave this page
without the knowing in your heart
you are totally His.
You are greatly loved
and
precious in His sight.
Its all about Life and Relationship, not Religion.
NOT SURE? YOU CAN BE..
SAY THE FOLLOWING FROM YOUR HEART RIGHT NOW…
Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus/Yeshua asking for forgiveness of my sins for which I am truly sorry. I repent of them all and turn away from my past.
I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus/Yeshua is your Son and that He died on the cross at calvary to pay the price for my sin, so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven. Father I believe that Jesus/Yeshua rose from the dead and I ask you to come into my life right now and be my personal Savior and Lord and I will worship you all the days of my life. Because your word is truth I say that I am now forgiven and born again and by faith I am washed clean with the blood of Jesus/Yeshua. Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’/Yeshua’s name. Amen.
Here are some extremely interesting aspects of a well known incident in John 2:6.
Some we may not have fully understood or appreciated.It is without doubt a fact that God’s ways are not our ways, or His thoughts ours. So it would follow that His actions may also hold mysteries that we do not see clearly at first glance.
For a description of the levels of revealing in His Word click link
What was Jesus really trying to show us and tell us at the wedding at Cana? Cana today.Surely it was not the freedom to drink alcohol to a point of intoxication and giving His consent and agreement for drunken behavior.
Those who live in the modern western world do not catch the full significance of Jesus’ promise. This is due to the fact that in His promise Jesus was drawing an analogy from Jewish marriage customs in biblical times and those marriage customs help us to grasp the full significance of the promise.
Payment of the purchase price. –
Set apart (sanctified)
Bridegroom departs to Father’s House. –
Prepares room addition. –
Bride prepares for imminent return.
They were companions of the bridegroom, who went with him to bring the bride from her home to his home.
Marriage feasts lasted 7 days, but the woman was considered a bride for 30 days.
Unlike Western weddings, which are paid for by the bride’s family, in Eastern weddings, the groom was responsible for the expenses of the celebration.
In western weddings, the bridegroom comes in first, then the bride, the prominent one, enters. However in Eastern weddings it is the bridegroom who is the prominent one. We see no mention of the bride in John’s account of the wedding at Cana because the body of believers,the Ekklesia, the called out ones, also called the bride of Messiah, was not yet in the picture. In Jewish life, the wedding marked the culmination of the betrothal period. During that period, which often lasted for several months, up to one year. Again the western tradition of a 1- year engagement.
The bride never knew when the groom would come because after the marriage covenant had been established, called the ketubah (becoming betrothed, the equivalent of western engagement).
The groom would leave the home of the bride and return to his father’s house.
There he would remain separate for the whole year.
The young man goes to prepare a chador (chamber) in his father’s house, sometimes called a “chuppah” (place for the honeymoon).
Just as Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us in His Fathers House and then He will come and take His bride to Himself. (Eph. 5:22-23).
Some translations have talked about the many mansions in God’s house and our western culture has us all pictured on our own grassy hill in a Mansion. That would have been foreign to that society. The word actually just refers to a dwelling. Based on culture, if Jesus is giving us a literal picture of what eternity is like then we’re all living together in one attached house. It’s a picture of being brought into the family.
The couple was considered legally man and wife and only a divorce could terminate the betrothal. (This may shed some light on Mary and Josephs situation). They did not, however, live together or consummate the marriage during that period.
The father of the groom had to approve the prepared room and when he was satisfied then he would tell his son to go and get his bride. She had to be ready for he could come anytime even in the middle of the night and take her away to her new home. 1Thess.5:2Just as we are always to be ready for Jesus to come for us. Matthew 24:36 and only the Father knows that time.
As a result the groom’s arrival would be preceded by a shout. In the same way that the Jewish groom’s arrival was preceded by a shout and the blowing of a shofar, so Christ’s arrival to take the Church will be preceded by a shout (1 Thess. 4:16).
This shout and shofar sounding would forewarn the bride to be prepared for the coming of the groom. After the groom received his bride together with her female attendants, (parable of the 10 virgins).
The enlarged wedding party would return from the bride’s home to the groom’s father’s house. Which is the grooms hometown, (heaven).
Just as the taking of the Jewish bride was accomplished by a procession of the groom and male escorts from the groom’s father’s house to the home of the bride, so the taking of the Church will be accomplished by a procession of Christ and an angelic escort from Messiah’s Father’s house in heaven to the home of the Church (1 Thess. 4:16).
Upon arrival there the wedding party would find that the wedding guests had assembled already. In the same manner as the Jewish wedding party found wedding guests assembled in the groom’s father’s house when they arrived, so Christ and the Church will find the souls of Old Testament saints assembled in heaven when they arrive. These souls will serve as the wedding guests.On the night of the ceremony, (usually the 4th day, Yom R’vi’i, a Wednesday);
the groom and his friends would go to the bride’s house. They would then escort the bride and her attendants to the groom’s house, where the ceremony and banquet would be held.The whole celebration, which could last up to a week followed the short marriage ceremony, and then the Bride and Groom retired to the place he had prepared (Huppa/Wedding Chamber), and the friend of the groom, the best man, stood by the door. Prior to entering the chamber the bride remained veiled so that no one could see her face. Reading the Ketuba.
When the marriage had been consummated, the Groom would shout in his joy and the friend of the groom would relay the good news to the guests.This was the beginning of a week-long celebration and the first week of the couple being alone together in the bridal chamber. This is where we get the western week long honeymoon. This also sheds light on another reference in John 3:29-30.“The one who has the bride is the bridegroom: and the friend of the bridegroom is the one who stands by, then when he hears his joy he rejoices because of the voice of the bridegroom. Therefore this joy has been fulfilled in me. It is necessary for that One to increase, and for me to decrease.”The wedding ceremony takes place under the chuppah (canopy), a symbol of the home that the new couple will build together. It is open on all sides, just as Abraham and Sarah had their tent open all sides to welcome people in unconditional hospitality.
The bride traditionally gifts the groom a new prayer shawl (tallit). In some communities he wears it under the chuppah, and sometimes it is draped over both him and the bride.
Western weddings exchange vows and the couple sign the registry.
It is easy to see where many of our western traditions have their origins!
And how everything is connected.
So Yeshua and the Church will experience spiritual union after their arrival at His Father’s house in heaven, thereby consummating their relationship that had been covenanted earlier.During the seven days of the wedding festivities, which were sometimes called “the seven days of the chuppah,” the bride remained hidden in the bridal chamber. Many scholars believe that this period of seven days corresponds to the Church remaining hidden for a period of seven years after arrival at the Father’s house in heaven. While the seven year Tribulation Period is taking place on the earth, the Church will be in heaven totally hidden from the sight of those living on the earth. At the conclusion of these seven days the groom would bring his bride out of the bridal chamber, now with her veil removed, so that all could see who his bride was. So Christ will bring His ‘church’, the ecclesia, the congregation of called out ones, out of heaven in His Second Coming at the conclusion of the seven year Tribulation Period in full view of all who are alive, so that all can see who the true church is (Col. 3:4). John 2:2-3 And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. 3 And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.The mother of Jesus was at this particular wedding. That both she and Jesus attended suggests the wedding involved relatives or friends of the family (Jesus’ brother?). That would explain why Mary seems to have been more than just a guest, but apparently had some responsibility for helping with the celebration. For example, she was aware of the situation regarding the lack of wine, and took the initiative to solve the serious problem.
A major crisis loomed at the wedding celebration when the wine ran out because the supply was insufficient for whatever reason. Such an embarrassing faux pas could have stigmatized the couple and their families for the rest of their lives for failing to meet their responsibilities. Thus Jesus’ turning the water into wine was not just a sensational miracle.All of His miracles met specific needs, such as opening blind eyes or deaf ears, delivering those oppressed by demons, feeding hungry people, or calming a storm. This miracle also met the genuine need of the family and their guests, who otherwise faced a social catastrophe.This first miracle Jehovah-Jireh – the LORD will provide. The LORD sees what we need ahead of time and has the provision ready.
Mary informed Jesus of the situation and had high expectations for Him to help. Maybe she was remembering what Gabriel had told her before she conceived.
Jesus’ reply, ‘what have I to do with thee?’ (lit., What to Me and to you?) is an idiomatic expression which asks rhetorically what the two parties in question have in common, and has the effect of distancing them. It was the Hebrew way of saying, ‘You don’t understand’.The statement, coupled with Jesus’ addressing Mary as ‘Woman’ instead of ‘Mother,’ politely but firmly informed her that what they had in common in their relationship was no longer to be what it had been while He was growing up in Nazareth. His public ministry had begun, and earthly relationships would not determine His actions.
Mary was to relate to Him no longer as her son, but as her Messiah, the Son of God, and her Savior (Matt 12:47-50; Mark 3:31- 35; Luke 11:27-28).Jesus did not say,‘No’ to her. He was telling her that what she was asking would not accomplish what she was hoping for.
Mary was asking for literal wine for the people of the marriage supper, but Jesus was talking about the wine, which was His shed blood, for the marriage of the Lamb.Jesus made it clear that He would act according to God’s timetable, decreed before the foundation of the world, not hers or any mans. (John 7:2-8). It was not the appointed time for Jesus’ full messianic glory to be revealed; yet the miracle He would perform would make His divine power unmistakable, and preview His glory to come.
The dark hour of the cross would precede the full revelation in His glorious messianic kingdom where wine, emblematic of joy and gladness, will never run out. Undeterred by the mild rebuke (Matt 15:22-28), and aware that He was not saying no to the request, Mary said to the servants, ‘Whatever He says to you, do it.’The most significant point of this miracle is TIME and any vineyard owner will tell you that for grapes to be made into wine is a process that often takes years to produce a great vintage.
There are specific stages from planting the seed to bottling.The list sounds familiar to the scriptural descriptions of disciples and the kingdom of Heaven.
Wine cannot age without TIME.
So for the wine Jesus produced at Cana to be the best that was served, how could it age in an instant?TIME maybe an important point He was trying to make, as a precursor to what He was here to accomplish; what His life was meant to show; and what He was about to do in revealing who He really was.
Wine is only wine if it’s aged, but this wine had no time in which to age. It did not have any time in which to complete the long process.
THIS WINE HAD NO PAST
it only had a future.
So in this sense it had to be given a new past. Can this be possible?
For us on earth, time moves forward, not backwards and neither does it stand still. However the Lord who created the heavens and the earth brought time into existence for the purpose of our earthly experience. And probably also as a means to keep constraints around the devil and a boundary for his cohorts; as they are now contained within Earth time and subject to its limitations.
Rev.12:12 the devil knows he has but a little time. How so, if he is an eternal spirit?
God is Spirit and exists outside of our dimensions and is not bound by the time He created. He is the same yesterday today and forever. So for Him to change a past, or remove it and replace it, is indeed possible.Every miracle of Jesus is a short circuit of a natural process. When God’s power enters the picture, it is not just simply any king; it’s the Creator of the Universe entering, the King of nature and all its processes.
Jesus transformed a non- living, inorganic compound (water) into a living, organic compound (wine) and it is a picture of His resurrection and of ours to come.
This first miracle teaches us that salvation is through the Word of God.
It is the key to understanding all miracles. Matter is pliable and subject to change within His presence. For the power of His glory has the ability to alter change and transform matter at the molecular level, of which everything is constructed. If we could really grasp this reality, seeing people get healed would be more commonplace.
He is the Lord of creation, the king of the universe and the author of Time. He is the Alef and Tav; the Alpha and Omega; the Beginning and End; the Start and the Finish.
He is YHVH, God, Adonai of TIME.We cannot change the past nor give something a past that does not have one… but He can and the water to wine was a demonstration of such a plan.
He gave the wine a past, where there was no past.
This is the promise of a future for all mankind, for the one who can give a past where there was none, can also remove a past that is no longer wanted or relevant. This is His salvation. It is not simply that everything is the same and we’re forgiven in spite of our sin but it’s as if we never sinned in the first place.The scripture promises that one day God will wipe away sin and wash away guilt.
This cannot be achieved without changing the past and without undoing what was done. However it is not simply justified, (just as if we never sinned) because in His redemptive sacrificial death the impossible becomes the possible; and the reality is the guilty become innocent.
The rejected become accepted and the scarlet sin becomes white as snow. A person’s wedding day is comparable to his or her personal Yom Kippur, on which all sins are forgiven. For the chatan, (Hebrew for groom), and kallah, (bride), on this day all their past mistakes are forgiven, as their lives merge together, becoming one….under His wings.We cannot make scarlet sins turn white. Sin is already committed and they are part of the past and the past is gone. The only way to change that sin would be to change the past in which it occurred.
This is the true miracle of salvation, He has removed all past as far as the east is from the west. If God can give a past where there was no past, if He can do that for wine in Cana, then He can certainly remove a past where there was one.
Isaiah 1:18; Luke 7:37, 47; 2 Cor. 5:21; 1 John 1:8–9.
He has taken the scarlet cord of your life’s sinful past and has made it white.Your life is like the stone jar of water, now changed, transformed. We are the new wine within and cannot be contained in the old wine skins of our past lives. We need to be changed from glory to glory to become a stable container (so we don’t burst or explode). Then out of us, His power can flow forth.The old is gone, the new is come. We are new creations, the old has passed away and we are to walk in newness of life.
The Cana miracle of transformation was a most prophetic picture, indicative of what was to come for those who would believe; both in this life and in the ultimate future of eternity in His presence.
With a new incorruptible body.
This is the first miracle that Jesus performed. Moses’ first miracle was turning water into blood. Moses was a type and shadow of Yeshua. Delivering Israel out of bondage.Compared with the ministry of Moses who turned water into blood as a sign of God’s judgment (Ex.7:14–24), Jesus is a bringer of joy and celebration by the Spirit because He delivers us from the moment.
He is the God of time by turning water into wine immediately, bypassing agricultural and fermentation processes.
Moreover, this was no ordinary wine, for as the host remarked, “You have saved the best till now” (v 10).But neither was it ordinary water.
Since its purpose was “for ceremonial washing” (v 6), the miraculous transmutation suggests the old order passing away, law metamorphosing to gospel. He is the new wine of the kingdom.The jars were for purification and He turned all 6 of them red like the blood that would purify all believers removing all our sins and sorrows foreverThe ceremony was held in a synagogue and they were there for a week.In Israel, the streets are stone,
the walls are stone, the houses are stone,In the first century even the furniture, the baths,and many cooking pots, jugs, bowls, and disheswere all made of stone. (obviously the modern drill image is for reference) Stoneware cores, cup bored plugs showing iron spinning hole saw rings lines drilled raw and unfinished. Ritual Purity First Century.
Equivalent of a large metal plastic or wooden barrels today compared to Stoneware Vessels used for Ritual-Purity in 1st-Century.This was no small container they would each hold twenty to thirty gallons,such jars would need to be about three feet tall and be cut from a single block of stone weighing at least half a ton. Quite aside from the miracle itself, the sheer quantity of new wine created is astounding—equivalent to about a 1,000 bottles!We know this because so many ancient stone vessels have been found in Israel, many of them roughly fashioned, but the best ones turned on a lathe and smoothed, polished, and decorated.
The practical reason for all this stoneware stems from the Jewish laws of ritual purity. Stone vessels could easily be cleaned with water, whereas if an earthenware pot became ritually unclean it had to be broken. Hence the high incidence of stone vessels is peculiar to ancient Israelite culture, as non-Jews normally didn’t bother with this costly and cumbersome material when ceramics were much more convenient.The Jews used stone waterpots to hold the water used for ritual purification because they believed that, unlike earthenware pots (Lev 11:33), they did not become unclean.This seemingly insignificant detail, that the water was up to the very top, shows that nothing was added to the water, and that what followed was indeed a transformation miracle.
By ordering the jars to be completely filled before He transformed the water in them into wine, Jesus also displayed His generous grace.Six signifies work and wine signifies blood. The stone waterpots represent Christ’ body. Without the shedding of blood, there is no cleansing (purifying).Exodus 17:6 “Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the Rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the Rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink…”
In The Old Testament was is Concealed, is Revealed in the New Testament !
Proverbs 25:2 “It is the Glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of Kings is to search out a matter.” He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
1st Corinthians 10:4 “And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.”Jesus the Messiah is the true Rock that the water of salvation comes from, and the Rock in Horeb merely was a shadow, casting a spiritual picture of it.
And that is why these waterpots in John chapter 2 from where wine would come, are purposely pointed out as being of stone.True purification is from Jesus/Yeshua the Messiah. Six Stone water pots signifying that it is by the work of Christ’s blood that the people will have this purification. The blood is the true wine of which Christ spoke, which was not yet ready for the Woman (the Church). It was not yet Christ’s hour to go to the cross.If the number six represents the days of creation, then Jesus’ miracle constituted a wonderful blessing of fertility on this marriage— not only on the couple but on their family for generations to come, a tribe of perhaps hundreds, thousands, even millions of people. More than a show of power, this was a blessing conferred upon a relationship—indeed upon the central relationship of all, the one that best represents the covenant between the Lord and His people. Following the ceremonial proceedings of the Huppa, is the marriage banquet, also sometimes called the wedding feast or marriage festival.This was the joyful celebration of the union of the couple with all their family and friends. For us as believers, after the Catching away,the blessed hope,
we have one very important banquet to look forward to with our Lord and King. All the called out ones, the bride of Messiah, will join the Lord at the Wedding Supper of the Lamb.The Lord will take the long awaited cup of wine and we will all share it together with Him and enjoy the heavenly festivities He has planned. Rev. 19:7-9
The mundane and the ordinary can become infused by the power and the glory of God –
if we are prepared to respond in faith to the same challenge of Mary to the servants and to
“DO WHATEVER HE TELLS YOU”.
Messiah Yeshua began His ministry on this earth at a wedding.
The wedding was the first act and as He came to marry the believers to Himself in a covenant by His own body to fulfill the marriage covenant that was first entered into by Moses and Israel at Sinai. He ratified this renewed covenant in His own blood.
He will conclude it, as far as the body of believers are concerned, with a wedding also the consummation of a covenant between the Lamb and His bride, the elkklesia.
The last chapters of John convey some of the final words of Jesus to His disciples. He is leaving them, but only for a season. He is reassuring them of His return – as a groom eagerly returns for his bride.
This first miracle was so prophetic and was indeed right on and in TIME.
We have that same reassurance. In giving a reNEWed covenant, Jesus used the most intimate language available. God loves us and is creating a place in the family for us to live forever.
Shalom!
Please don’t leave this site without knowing you are saved and assured that you belong to Him; with a deep conviction that you know where you will go, when your body can no longer sustain you in this realm.
Make certain Jesus is your Redeemer, Savior, Lord and soon returning King and that you have a personal relationship with Him.
You are greatly loved and precious in His sight.
Its all about Life and Relationship not Religion.
NOT SURE?
SAY THE FOLLOWING FROM YOUR HEART RIGHT NOW…
Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus asking for forgiveness of my sins for which I am truly sorry. I repent of them and turn away from my past.
I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus is your Son and that He died on the cross at calvary to pay the price for my sin, so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven. Father I believe that Jesus rose from the dead and I ask you to come into my life right now and be my personal Savior and Lord and I will worship you all the days of my life. Because your word is truth I say that I am now forgiven and born again and by faith I am washed clean with the blood of Jesus. Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’ name. Amen. You are now assured of heaven..rejoice and give Him glory for this is THE most important miracle.
God commanded the people to bring a sheaf of the harvest (Leviticus [Vayikra] 23:10).
The Hebrew word for ‘sheaf’ is omer. An omer is defined as ‘a measure of dry things, containing a tenth part of an ephah.’
The definition of an omer being a tenth part of an ephah is found in Exodus (Shemot) 16:36. An ephah contains 10 omers of grain.
It is usually translated as ‘sheaf’, a bundle of stalks of grain.
An omer is a dry measure of ancient Israel, one tenth of an ephah.
The value of an Omer.
An Ephah is an ancient Hebrew unit of dry volume measure, equal to a bath or to one-tenth of a homer. It is approximately equal to 22 litres, supposed to be equal to two pecks and five quarts. (Ten ephahs make one homer.)
Strongs #6016 AHLB#2554 (g) 1358 (a) Nm
Here is a picture of an ephah container
Three times a year God commanded the people to come to Jerusalem (Yerushalayim) to celebrate the festivals of Passover (Pesach), Pentecost (Shavuot), and Tabernacles (Sukkot).
All three of these festivals are agricultural harvest festivals. Passover (Pesach) is the barley harvest. Pentecost (Shavuot) is the wheat harvest. Both of these festivals are first fruits harvests before the final harvest that was to come at the end of the year during the festival of Tabernacles (Sukkot), which is the fruit harvest.
The OMER LINKS PASSOVER TO SHAVUOT
Leviticus/Vayikra 23:15 And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the Shabbat, from the day that ye brought the omer of the wave offering; seven Shabbatot shall be complete:
Counting The Omer refers to the forty-nine day period between the second night of Passover, (Pesach) and the holiday of Pentecost, (Shavuot). This period marks the beginning of the barley harvest when, in ancient times, the Israelites would bring the first sheaves to the Temple as a means of thanking God for the harvest. The word, ‘omer’, literally means ‘sheaf’ and refers to these early offerings.
While Passover/Pesach celebrates the initial liberation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, Pentecost/Shavuot marks the culmination of the process of liberation, when the Israelites became an autonomous community with their own laws and standards.
Counting up to Shavuot/ Pentecost, which is also the date of receiving of the 10 commandments at Sinai and the infilling of the Holy Spirit, reminds us of this process of moving from a slave mentality to a more liberated one.
Make each day count..
Teach us to number our days that we might gain a heart of wisdom.
Every day counts, if we count every day! The seven weeks between Passover and Shavuot provide for us an ideal time for introspection and spiritual progress. An opportunity to reflect upon our own souls and burnish our divine image, a time of inner transformation.
The great illumination of ‘instant’ freedom that was experienced on the Passover/Seder night so often seems to pass us by. Slaves yesterday, free men today, we simply haven’t the vessels to be able to absorb the great chesed – loving kindness – and enlightenment that God had blessed us with. For this we have Sefirat HaOmer – the counting of the days of the Omer, that prepares us gradually for the great re-illumination of God’s light – receiving Torah on Mount Sinai.
Forty-nine days that can change your world: The forty-nine days between Passover and Shavuot, (between leaving Egypt and receiving Torah at Sinai), are days laden with challenging spiritual potential. The opportunity for growth and transformation is ours for the taking. We must count our days and make our days count!
The Waving of the Omer
Likewise, the Scriptures also reveal that the offering of the Firstfruits: ‘the Waving of the Omer’ is a picture of the resurrection of the Messiah, as well as our own future resurrection. (1Cor 15:20-23; Rom 8:23; James1:18).
During the feast of unleavened bread, barley was the crop that was being harvested, so that is what would have been brought. What was significant was that this was the very first of the crop and expresses commitment to God and thanksgiving to Him for His provision.
As they waved the omer before the Lord and began counting the days between this firstfruit offering and the next firstfruit of the 2nd harvest at Pentecost/Shavuot It became known as counting the omer.
The One Redeemed by the Passover Lamb is maturing and counting the days until her betrothal to Messiah.
A OMER IS A TENTH OF AN EPHAH Exodus 16:36 Now an omer is the tenth part of an ephah.
A SHEAF REPRESENTS a person or a group of people – Genesis 37:5; Genesis 37:7
The journey from leaving Egypt (a type of the world) consists of a time of preparation to meet with the Elohim of Israel at Mount Sinai.
COUNTING THE OMER REPRESENTS GROWING IN SPIRITUAL MATURITY – to as believers Ephesians 4:14; Ephesians 4:15
The spiritual journey consists of:
THE OMER WAS THRESHED (BEATEN) REPRESENTS HUMILITY Isaiah 41:14; Isaiah 41:15
MOUNT SINAI REPRESENTS HUMILITY
THE HUMBLE WILL BE EXALTED
Isaiah 57:15; Matthew 18:4, Matthew 23:12; Philippians 2:8; James 4:10; 1 Peter 5:6
Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of Elohim, that he may exalt you in due time:
FIRE REPRESENTS REFINEMENT AND PURIFICATION Psalm 12:6; Zechariah 13:9, Malachi 3:3
FIRE REPRESENTS THE TRIALS OF OUR FAITH – 1 Peter 1:7, James 1:2 James 1:3, James 1:12
THE OMER WAS TOSSED IN THE WIND – OMER TOSSED TO THE WIND REPRESENTS EVERY KIND OF DOCTRINE – Ephesians 4:8; Ephesians 4:11; Ephesians 4:13; Ephesians 4:14
THE OMER WAS GROUND INTO FINE FLOUR: REPRESENTS REFINEMENT, PURIFICATION AND BEING MADE WHITE (RIGHTEOUS)- Isaiah 48:10; Daniel 12:10; Revelation 3:5
John 13:16-17 ‘And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, and Standby), that He may remain with you forever. The Spirit of Truth, Whom the world cannot receive (welcome, take to its heart), because it does not see Him or know and recognize Him. But you know and recognize Him, for He lives with you [constantly] and will be in you.’
After the Children of Israel left Egypt, 49 days passed before they received the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai. Tradition teaches that each of these days was necessary for the Children of Israel to refine themselves and be worthy of this gift. On each day they examined and corrected another of their inner traits and qualities. There were 49 in all.
These forty nine traits were comprised of seven basic attributes. Each of the seven contained all of the other seven, thus comprising forty nine.
Hebraic sources tell us that the soul of man includes these seven Basic Attributes: * Love/Kindness (Chessed) * Vigor/Discipline (Gevurah) * Beauty/Harmony/Compassion (Tiferet)* Victory/Endurance/Determination (Netzach) * Humility/Devotion (Hod) * Foundation/Bonding/Connection (Yesod) * Majesty/Dignity (Malchut)
The above are also found in the New Testament/Brit HaDasha, these same virtues were spoken about in 1 Peter and Galatians and 1 Corinthians 13, Galatians 5:22-26 22
The Ruach HaKodesh/The Holy Spirit will only reside in clean holy vessels. This is the time where we need to examine ourselves and prepare ourselves to be filled or refilled by the Ruach HaKodesh. A time to reflect on our relationship with Him and prepare our hearts for The Feast Of Pentecost/Shavuot.
When Yeshua told the disciples/talmidim to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit/Ruach HaKodesh. The disciples/talmidim, were waiting for the promise of the Father and preparing themselves to receive the Holy Spirit/Ruach HaKodesh, they were also preparing themselves to receive the Torah in their hearts, just as the children of Israel received the Torah at Mt. Sinai. They were preparing to become vessels for the Holy Spirit/Ruach HaKodesh and to receive the power of Messiah in their lives for the purpose of being witnesses of Messiahs love to the World .
While they were waiting the disciples were not just sitting around doing nothing, they were counting the Omer, as they had done every year, examining their lives in preparation to receiving the gift of the Ruach Ha Kodesh on Shavuot that Yeshua promised them would come. This year would be the literal fulfillment of the Feast.
All of Jesus’s/Yeshua’s post resurrection appearances occurred within the days of the Omer count.
God is looking for FRUIT to abound in our lives. Galatians 5:22.
Our place, like Mary, is to be sitting At The Feet Of Our Master Jesus/Yeshua receiving His teaching.
These 7 virtues are a perfect picture of Jesus/Yeshua our Messiah and it is His desire that we be conformed to His image by the power of Holy Spirit/Ruach HaKodesh. A blessed time for us to grow more spiritual fruit in our lives and die more and more to the works of the flesh so that He will be glorified in the Life He Has given us.
Developing some of the attributes of God in our lives, e.g. Loving kindness, Justice, Beauty and Harmony. Constancy, Splendor, Sovereignty, Foundation and Connection.
We are to count 50 days, including the Day of Firstfruits, to the day after the 7th weekly Sabbath, which is Shavuot (Pentecost) (Leviticus 23:15-16).
Notice the scriptures deal mostly with the Holy days of Yom Habikkurim, the ‘counting of the omer,’ and Shavuot.
The counting of the omer can only be understood in the context of the Biblical calendar that is lunar based.
We are given more detail as the scriptures say “begin to count the seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the grain,” (Deuteronomy 16:9). This further illustrates the theme of the Day of Firstfruits being the day when the firstfruits of barley is reaped from the field using a sickle.
Pentecost is the Greek word for 50. In Hebrew it is Shavuot pronounced Sha-voo-ote. In (Luke 6:2 and John 5:1) it is also called the feast of weeks because of the counting.
Counting the days between them ties the two first fruits harvests together, just as Jesus ties His resurrection, as sentient and the giving of the immersion of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost/ Shavuot /the feast of weeks.
In one respect, the 50th is the uncountable number. The Omer period lasts for 50 days – yet only 49 are to be counted. The counting of 49 automatically leads to the arrival of the 50th. This elevated state was reached at Sinai. It truly surpassed everything that came before it. It was on the 50th day, Shavuot, that the union between Israel and God, like a marriage, (a covenant), was solemnized.
With this act the Israelite nation supernaturally transcended worldly existence to become one with God. Israel achieved this unity when they arrived at Sinai to encamp in a unified state: like a single person with a single heart. The names of the 12 Tribes of Israel, which were engraved upon the Stones worn by the High Priest/Kohen Gadol, have a total of 50 letters, merged as one entity with their Creator. Such amazing grace!
2 other alternative ways to count the Omer are: every day read one of the 49 parables in the gospels: see
or simply count each day and remember to count our blessings and name them one by one.
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God has done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.
(Full text of song at bottom of page.)
Yet how often do we really do that?
In today society counting blessings is often more related to the things we own, worldly possessions etc., however, Jesus tells us in Luke 12:15 that a man’s success is not measured by such. Our sophisticated society and culture has altered our thinking and reasonings and in doing so has dulled our sensitivity to how to keep a childlike quality in our relationship with our Heavenly Father. Remaining simple in a childlike faith and humble in attitude is a key to total trust in Him and His ability to provide for us, instead of our puffed up declarations of, I did it my way in my own strength.
The devastating weather this spring has brought sadness, loss and suffering to many around the world, while praying for those affected by the storms, it’s comforting to remember that whatever happens, we are in His hands and that our souls/spirits ultimately belong to Him; Ecc 12:7; and that we should not neglect to: Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits:
Psalms 103:2 – and to give thanks unto the LORD; for [He is] good: because His mercy [endureth] for ever. Psalms 118:1-18 for when we go through hardships; Is 43:2 confirms He is with us. As we trust in the Lord with all our heart and lean not to our own natural understanding. Prov 3:5 He will never leave us nor forsake us and He will restore those whose trust is in Him.
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This post is part of the 4 Spring Festivals of Gods Appointed Seasons and should be read in conjunction with the previous posts all available at https://www.minimannamoments.com/ More Post links at the bottom of page.
When upon life’s billows you are tempest-tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.
Refrain: Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God has done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
*Count your many blessings, see what God has done.
[*And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.]
Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly,
And you will keep singing as the days go by.
When you look at others with their lands and gold,
Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold;
Count your many blessings—*money cannot buy [*wealth can never buy]
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