Counting the Omer and Why We Should Care

In order to fully understand the "Counting of the Omer," we need to first understand there are seven designated (appointed) times that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob commanded His people, members of the Abrahamic Covenant, to proclaim and observe throughout each year. The counting of the omer is explained in Scripture as the days between two of these appointed times: Passover (Pesach) and Pentecost (Shavuot). God uses these special days to meet with His people, mark them, and set them apart from the rest of the nations. We read in Exodus 13:6-10:

• “Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the Lord. Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days. And no leavened bread shall be seen among you, nor shall leaven be seen among you in all your quarters. And you shall tell your son in that day, saying, 'This is done because of what the Lord did for me when I came up from Egypt.' It shall be as a sign to you on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the Lord's Law may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand the Lord has brought you out of Egypt. You shall therefore keep this ordinance in its season from year to year.

Many have taught these feasts are only for the Jewish people. God tells us they are His and He wants ALL of His people to share in these blessings. Neither He, nor Yeshua (Jesus), ever rescinded or replaced these commandments He gave in Leviticus 23:1-4:

• “And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'The feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts. 'Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings. 'These are the feasts of the Lord, holy convocations, which you shall proclaim at their appointed times.”

Messiah Yeshua’s life revolved around these appointed times as well as the lives of His taught ones. Paul tells us of their importance when he emphasizes their observance to both Jewish Believers and God-Fearers in Colossians 2:16-17:

• “So, let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Messiah.”

Paul’s context here is about the Colosse congregation not judging each other on HOW they are observing God's appointed times, not, IF they were observing them! Those of us who have observed these days understand the different ways people interpret the “how to” aspect of keeping God’s days. Within our culture today, there is a variety of festival traditions.

If anyone doubts that Paul did not teach God-Fearers from the nations to observe these days, they need to read 1 Cor 5:7-8, where he gave a directive to observe Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread:

• “Therefore, purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Messiah, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore, let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”

WHY OBSERVE THESE APPOINTED TIMES?

These appointed times are multi-dimensional, multi-layered days that are not only a shadow/image of a coming reality; they are memorials of past events that God does not want us to forget. For example, the first time Israel observed Passover was when God delivered them from slavery in Egypt. This day has been observed throughout generations as a memorial and remembrance of that deliverance. Passover is also a foreshadowing of our future deliverance from slavery to sin through Yeshua’s sacrifice.

Additionally, Passover is a picture of things to come when we will be delivered upon Yeshua’s return. When observing Passover with His taught ones, Yeshua told them He would not drink one the cups of wine until His coming kingdom arrived. In Matthew 26:28-29, He states:

• “For this is My blood of the New Covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom.”

The next appointed day on God’s calendar is Pentecost (Greek: pentékosté [fiftieth] / Hebrew: Shavuot [weeks]), which brings us to the main topic of this article. God did not provide us with a particular date on His calendar to identify Pentecost. Instead, He tells us in Leviticus 23:15-16, to count off fifty days:

• “And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the Lord.” (NKJV)

• “From the day after the day of rest - that is, from the day you bring the sheaf for waving -you are to count seven full weeks, until the day after the seventh week; you are to count fifty days; and then you are to present a new grain offering to ADONAI.” (CJB)

We know how important Pentecost is since it commemorates the giving of God’s Torah (Law). Israel left Egypt and 50 days later met with God at the base of Mt. Sinai. There, the people experienced lightning and fire as they “heard His voice from the midst of the fire.” We see in Acts 2, this day being observed at the Temple by the followers of Yeshua, after His resurrection, when they experienced a powerful reenactment on Pentecost. We read in Acts 2:1-5:

• “When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven.”

This outpouring will occur again in the future when ALL of God's people will be filled with His Holy Spirit and His Torah. It will be the same Torah that God gave Moses and, this time, it will be completely written on EVERYONE’S heart. In Jeremiah 31:31-34, God stated:

• “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a New Covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah…But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My Law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

HISTORICAL - COUNTING OF THE OMER (S’FIRAT HA-OMER)

We believe the most important thing to consider, when determining the date to observe Pentecost, is the example God gave us when He brought the children of Israel out of Egypt to Mt. Sinai:

• Israel observed Passover by preparing the Passover meal on the afternoon of the 14th day of the 1st month, which we believe was a Wednesday afternoon between 3:00 pm and 6:00 pm. Remember, God’s 24-hr days begin at sundown and end at sundown. See our article: “Seven Reason Why Yeshua’s (Jesus’) Resurrection Occurred on the 7th Day of the Week.”

• Israel ate the Passover meal after sundown, at the beginning of the 15th (our Wednesday night) and left Egypt early the next morning (our Thursday), which was the 1st day of Unleavened Bread.

• Israel celebrated Pentecost 50 days later at Mt. Sinai.

This is the pattern we must use to determine when to observe Pentecost. Note that Israel did NOT wait until the 1st day of the week (our Sunday) to leave Egypt. Pentecost is a floating day on the calendar and has nothing to do with a fixed day of the week.

Some people have other opinions on how to count off the days to Pentecost and do not recognize this ancient pattern of leaving Egypt. They always begin counting on our Sunday. However, if Passover/Unleavened Bread falls on a Monday/Tuesday, they wait until Sunday to start counting. In our view, this counting does not make sense. It will produce a total of more than 50 days between the festivals. God's spring festivals must be seen as a whole with no break in between.

WHAT IS OMER COUNTING?

An Omer is a unit of dry measure equal to 1/10 ephah, about 3.5 liters or 3.7 quarts. Historically and Biblically, on the day after the 1st day of Unleavened Bread, Abib 16, an Omer of barley was cut down and brought to the Temple for a wave offering. This Omer of barley was called “First Fruits.” The spring barley harvest could not be eaten until this wave offering occurred. In Leviticus 23:10,15-16, God states:

• “…After you enter the land I am giving you and harvest its ripe crops…'From the day after the day of rest -that is, from the day you bring the sheaf for waving - you are to count seven full weeks, until the day after the seventh week; you are to count fifty days; and then you are to present a new grain offering to ADONAI. (CJB)

• “…When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof…And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD. (KJV)

Note that the KJV, NKJV, and NASV are the only major versions of the Bible that leave the translation in Leviticus 23:15 as “seven sabbaths,” and choose to not use “seven weeks.” The “seven sabbaths” translation is from the Masoretic texts of the Torah that were copied, edited, and distributed by a group known as the Masoretes between 7th and 10th centuries CE.

This Masoretic group translated the above phrase in Leviticus as: “From the morrow of the sabbath.” Whereas, the Greek Septuagint (LXX) translates this phrase as: “On the morrow of the first day,” meaning the day after the 1st day of Unleavened Bread, or Abib 16.

This translation issue is important as it has caused many calendar differences today among Torah-keeping groups. Messianic author, John K. McKee, addresses this controversy in his article, "Sadducees, Pharisees, and the Controversy of Counting the Omer":

• “Three centuries before the coming of Yeshua, the Hebrew Tanach was translated into Greek resulting in what we now call the Septuagint. The LXX is the most significant complete textual witness to the Hebrew MT, and was frequently used by the Apostles in their quotations of the Tanach. If we get into the habit of ignoring the Septuagint on minor issues such as the determination of Shavuot, then we may ignore it in more significant issues such as the quotation of various Messianic prophecies used by the Apostles…”

The Septuagint (LXX) was the primary document quoted in the Apostolic Writings (New Covenant). Some estimate ~2/3 of the quotes (~300) from the Hebrew Bible were from the LXX. This fact cannot be ignored since the LXX is foundational to interpreting the New Covenant.

When applying this “counting” commandment, we must also consider the commandment given in BOTH Leviticus 23:10-16 and Deuteronomy 16:9-10, as well as, its initial application in Joshua 5:10-12. In Deuteronomy 16:8-10, it states:

• “For six days you are to eat matzah; on the seventh day there is to be a festive assembly for ADONAI your God; do not do any kind of work. "You are to count seven weeks; you are to begin counting seven weeks from the time you first put your sickle to the standing grain [Abib 16]. You are to observe the festival of Shavu'ot [weeks] for ADONAI your God with a voluntary offering, which you are to give in accordance with the degree to which ADONAI your God has prospered you." (CJB)

• “Six days thou shalt eat unleavened bread: and on the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to the LORD thy God: thou shalt do no work therein. Seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee: begin to number the seven weeks from such time as thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn. And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto the LORD thy God with a tribute of a freewill offering of thine hand, which thou shalt give unto the LORD thy God, according as the LORD thy God hath blessed thee.” (KJV)

The King James Version, in Leviticus 23:15, tells us to count “sabbaths” while in Deuteronomy 6:9 it tells us to count “weeks.” This, along with other reasons, shows us the translation in Leviticus should be “weeks.” If this were to be speaking of the “weekly Sabbath,” in Leviticus 23:15, how are we to understand seven complete Sabbaths?

• We know we can have seven incomplete weeks but we CANNOT have seven incomplete Sabbath days.

This is evidence that God was not referring to the day after the weekly Sabbath to begin counting the Omer, but was referring to the day after the High Holy Day, the 1st day of Unleavened Bread, to begin the counting off seven FULL weeks.

These calendar controversies have been around for centuries. Messianic author Alfred Edersheim, in his book, The Temple - Its Ministry and Services, provides some history:

• “The expression, ‘the morrow after the sabbath’ (Lev 23:11), has sometimes been misunderstood as implying that the presentation of the so-called "first sheaf" was to be always made on the day following the weekly sabbath of the Passover-week. This view, adopted by the "Boethusians" and the Sadducees in the time of the Messiah, and by the Karaite Jews and certain modern interpreters, rests on a misinterpretation of the word "sabbath" (Lev 23:24,32,39). As in analogous allusions to other feasts in the same chapter, it means not the weekly sabbath, but the day of the festival…Already, on the 14th of Nisan, the spot whence the first sheaf was to be reaped had been marked out by delegates from the Sanhedrim, by tying together in bundles, while still standing, the barley that was to be cut down.”

FIRST OBSERVANCE IN THE LAND OF ISRAEL

We have a record of the first physical observance of Pentecost in the Book of Joshua. In Joshua 5:10-12, we read:

• “The people of Isra'el camped at Gilgal, and they observed Pesach on the fourteenth day of the month, there on the plains of Yericho. The day after Pesach they ate what the land produced, matzah and roasted ears of grain that day. The following day, after they had eaten food produced in the land, the manna ended. From then on the people of Isra'el no longer had manna; instead, that year, they ate the produce of the land of Kena'an.” (CJB)

• “And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the Passover on the fourteenth* day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho. And they did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the Passover, unleavened cakes, and parched corn in the selfsame day. And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.” (KJV)

What is "old corn?" Some people believe the phrase “old corn,” as translated by the KJV translators, is a reference to grain Israel brought with them from outside the Land. According to Tim Hegg, President/Director of Torah Resource Institute and Leader of Beit Hallel Congregation, he provides clarification on the Hebrew words used in these verses:

• “The old versions (KJV, Young's) took the word 'avur to be related to the verb 'avar, "to cross over," and thus sometimes used as referring to "the past." So they rendered it "old corn" or "stored grain", reasoning that the word must mean "produce from the year that had now passed“…BUT, in fact, the word 'avur is not from the verb "to cross over," but is from another semitic root meaning "produce." The Akkadian eburu means "produce from the field" and is a general word for grain that is harvested from the standing grain. Additional proof that this is the meaning of the semitic term 'avur is found in the Ugaritic materials… (see the Glossary in Gorgon, Ugaritic Textbook: Glossary [Rome, 1967], p. 453, #1807)….

• …The word 'avur is only found twice in the Hebrew Bible, Tanach, and both times are in Joshua 5:11 and 12. If we look at v. 12, the fact that 'avur means "produce from the harvest" is confirmed. There, we have 'avur in parallel with tevu'ah: “The manna ceased on the day after they had eaten some of the produce ('avur) of the land, so that the sons of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate some of the yield (tevu'ah) of the land of Canaan during that year.” The word tevu'ah clearly means "the harvest" or "the produce the comes from the harvest," and its addition in this verse defines the meaning of 'avur’…

• …The LXX uses the Greek word sitos to translate 'avur, the common Greek word for ‘grain’ or ‘wheat.’”

When Israel entered the Land, they offered the “first fruits” of the produce on Abib 16 and then partook of this first harvest. This eating of the produce of the land would be the initial observance of counting the Omer as God commanded in the Torah.

FINALLY

Today, most of us do not live in the land of Israel and the “first fruits” cannot be brought to the Temple. However, there is still the need for God’s people to mark off (count) the days from Passover to Pentecost. This counting of the Omer connects these two feasts and make them into one complete season, finishing the spring barley and wheat harvest times.

As God-Fearers, we believe by observing these days and counting we are being reminded that Yeshua laid down His life for us at Passover and fulfilled His promise to send us His Helper, the Holy Spirit, poured out at Pentecost in Acts 2. We read in Matthew 3:11, where John (Yochanan) states about our Messiah Yeshua:

• "It's true that I am immersing you in water so that you might turn from sin to God; but the one coming after me is more powerful than I -- I'm not worthy even to carry his sandals -- and He will immerse you in the Ruach HaKodesh [Holy Spirit] and in fire." (CJB)