Acts 3:21
Counting the Omer 2021
3/29/21
Day 1 - Firstfruits
Today is Day 1 of Week 1 of the counting of the Omer.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָֽׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו, וְצִוָּֽנוּ עַל סְפִירַת הָעֹֽמֶר
Baruch Atah Adonai Elohenu Melech Ha-Olam, Asher Kid’shanu B’mitzvotav, Vitzivanu Al Sefirat Ha-Omer.
Blessed are You O Lord our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us by his commandments and commanded us about the counting of the Omer.
Today is Firstfruits so let us reflect on the wonderous price that Yeshua paid for our ransom on the cross on that Passover so long ago, His burial in the tomb on Unleavened Bread and His glorious resurrection on Firstfruits. He is Risen, He is Risen Indeed!
In 1 Corinthians 15 we are promised the hope of the resurrection because He was raised from the dead. We still have hope!! Not all has been fulfilled. We still have the hope of living with Him and serving Him for eternity. We still have the hope of a resurrected glorified body like His. We still have the hope of His glorious Kingdom coming down. We still have hope!! Let us live in that hope, the hope of His eternal love!
Let us live by faith and not by sight! Our eyes may tell us all is lost and that the world is dying, but our hope tells us He who rose from the dead is coming again to make all things new. He will restore the kingdom to Israel! We will be that holy nation of priests serving Him and proclaiming His message. What a day that will be and all because of His death, burial and resurrection.
He was slain before the foundation of the world and the plan of God will always prevail. God's plan was to make a way for His creation to spend eternity with Him in His glorious and beautiful garden, His Kingdom, and that has not changed because He cannot change. He who created us and saved us is the One who will bring us into His Kingdom.
May He be eternally praised by all who love Him and call on His Name! May we stand strong in the midst of what our eyes see and cling to the hope that only He can bring! He is the Truth, the Way and the Life! He is our Hope!!!
May 31, 2020
Omer Count 2020 Day 50 - Shavuot & Acts 2
Jewish interpreters connect the giving of the Torah on Mt. Sinai with Shavuot aka Pentecost because that is roughly when the Israelites arrived after their deliverance from Egypt. The Word came on the same day that the Spirit came. This teaching also goes through Peter's sermon in Acts ch. 2 and the other, hidden Pentecost in Acts 21
May 14, 2020
Omer Count 2020 Day 34 - Hebrews 10 - Do Not Neglect the ...
There's a special word in Hebrews 10:25 that speaks to the mystery of God and the coming together of Jew & Gentile especially for those who have been kicked out of the Temple and might be tempted to resent and distance from the Jewish people. Do not neglect the Synagogue
May 11, 2020
Omer Count 2020 Day 31 - Hebrews 6-7+ Yeshua Our High Priest
He serves under the Abrahamic Promise as a High Priest in the order of Melchizedek. So we can draw near to God through Him. It's important to know that all these arguments are not made to try and diminish or tarnish the Levitical priesthood or the Torah in any way--but they serve and operate concurrently. The Aaronic priesthood serves under the auspices and direction of the Melchizedek priesthood--all should be in its proper order.
Thus, a Temple that does not recognize the Messiah, cannot fulfill its true purpose of bringing people near to God. Because Redemption only comes through the promises made in the Abrahamic covenant.
May 09, 2020
Omer Count 2020 Day 29 - Hebrews 1-4
Kicking off the book of Hebrews and getting to the end of Ch. 4.
It's important to put Hebrews in the context of the late 60's AD when the believers in Yeshua were getting kicked out of the Temple and even Jerusalem. The writer encourages his readers to hold firm and not give up on Yeshua just to get back in good standing at the Temple.
January 01, 2020
Omer Count Day 25 - Ephesians 2-3
The Mystery in the book of Ephesians and the Wall of Separation. What are they? Guess what--Paul tells us! He also puts to rest the debate about the inclusion of the Gentiles in ch. 2-3. But he also lays out what we have been made a part of--the Commonwealth of Israel!
May 04, 2020
Omer Count Day 24 - Colossians 2-3
Tonight's Omer count discussion Paul's perspectives in Colossians--mostly ch. 2. Issues address are what is nailed to the cross? Is it the Torah or something else? Also, are Shadows not important therefore something to be dismissed? Also, what kind of lifestyle or culture are Gentiles who believe in Messiah taking on?
May 03, 2020
Omer Count Day 23 - Romans 12 & 14 - Disputable Matters
Romans 12-the end hitting the highlights of his emphasis on fellowship and not allowing things to divide the body, to divide Jew & Gentile.
Especially in Romans 14 when everything has to be understood in terms of v. 1--and what are the disputable matters. Things clearly defined and commanded in the Torah are not disputable matters. The whole chapter must be understood with that as the backdrop. Paul was still a Jewish, Torah observant believer--and some things were not up for debate or discussion. He concludes with hammering home the point that the inclusion of the Gentiles is one of those nondebatable matters.
April 25, 2020
Omer Count 2020 Day 15 - Galatians pt 2
Galatians 3 and the importance of the Abrahamic covenant.
For those who think that Paul is speaking against the Torah in Galatians you need to understand that he is basing his argument on Inclusion of the Gentiles in Salvation on the Torah. You can't throw out the Torah and still believe we are included in Messiah.
April 21, 2020
Omer Count 2020 - Day 11 - The Nature of the Covenants
What's this item aboThe Covenants: Abrahamic, Mosaic, Davidic, New; build upon one another, they do not negate the previous. The Israelites were actually saved and Redeemed under the Abrahamic covenant and then given the Torah--the terms of the Mosaic Covenant. And how does the New fit in with that? See Jeremiah 31ut? What makes it interesting? Write a catchy description to grab your audience's attention...
April 20, 2020
Omer Count 2020 - Day 10 - Deuteronomy 11, 13 & Yeshua
What's this item aboMost with a traditional Christian background don't realize the problem our theology creates when it comes to the relationship between Yeshua & the Torah, especially for the life of the believer. By His own words, Yeshua says, "Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven."--Matthew 5:19a If He gives permission for believers to not live by the Torah of God, then we have made Yeshua the least in the Kingdom as well as a false prophet as established by Deuteronomy 11 & 13. May it never be!ut? What makes it interesting? Write a catchy description to grab your audience's attention...
May 29, 2019
Day 39 of the Omer
Today we are looking at the final Psalm of Ascents, Psalm 134. This is the Psalm that is sung on the final step. The people are now on the Temple Mount and the first word they sing is ‘Behold’. There could not be a more appropriate word to use upon reaching the place where Adonai dwells. ‘Behold’!
May 17, 2019
Day 27 of the Omer
Psalm 125 is the sixth Psalm of the Psalms of Ascents. The people are now on the sixth step going up to Temple. They have been through the mikvah for purification to be able to be in Adonai’s presence and now they are very carefully ascending to come into the presence of their God and King.
May 12, 2018
Day 42 of the Omer
Shabbat Shalom everyone! We are continuing to anticipate Shavuot and to hear from God. As we wait and pray for our hearts to hear and understand what the Spirit is saying to His people I want to continue our discussion from yesterday. We ended it with Yeshua saying, "Blessed is the one who does not fall away because of me."
April 15, 2018
Day 15 of the Omer
What does true revival look like? If revival begins with the people of Elohim and the job of the Holy Spirit is to transform us into the image of the Son (Romans 8:29) as well as to help us obey the commands of God (Ezekiel 36:27) then what kind of life is He leading us, the redeemed, to live?
June 03, 2017
Day 49 of the Omer
We are at our last or seventh Shabbat of the counting of the Omer and that only means one thing, tomorrow is day 50 or Shavuot! Halleluyah!
Let us worship Elohim today in Spirit and Truth as we prepare ourselves for that word of Adonai. We await with anticipation our Elohim. The King wishes to speak. Are we prepared to listen? I pray so! I pray that we have been preparing ourselves to hear from Him, the One who sits upon the throne.
Shabbat is about...
June 02, 2017
Day 48 of the Omer
Psalm 133 starts with "How good and sweet it is when brothers dwell together in unity!"
We have been studying about the importance of unity and here we see that idea written in the Psalms. It is spoken of as something that is good and sweet, something precious. And then it is compared to when the anointing oil was flowing down Aaron's beard. When did that happen?
May 31, 2017
Day 46 of the Omer
The one new man (Jew and Gentile one in Messiah) is a very important goal that we as the people of Elohim need to keep ever before us. Yeshua prayed that His people would be one for a very specific purpose (John 17). So that the world would know and believe that the Father sent His Son and has loved them.
May 28, 2017
Day 43 of the Omer
In Matthew 12:7 Yeshua refers to something that the prophet Hosea wrote in the context of speaking to the Pharisees about who He was. It was, "I desire mercy, not sacrifice." In order to understand this statement and the way Yeshua is using it we must go back to the Hebrew in Hosea 6:6 and also look at the rest of the verse.
May 27, 2017
Day 42 of the Omer
Shabbat Shalom everyone! We are continuing to anticipate Shavuot and to hear from Elohim. As we wait and pray for the our hearts to hear and understand what the Spirit is saying to His people I want to continue our discussion from yesterday. We ended it with Yeshua saying, "Blessed is the one who does not fall away because of me."
May 26, 2017
Day 41 of the Omer
With the coming of the Messiah He was to have a forerunner. In Matthew 11 Yeshua says that the forerunner was John the immerser. Yet John had a question of Yeshua when he was in prison about whether He/Yeshua was the One they were all waiting for.
Yeshua's answer is quite interesting...
May 23, 2017
Day 40 of the Omer
Today is the day of Ascension! Yes, this is the day that Yeshua went up into the clouds to be with His Father. The day that the angels told the disciples that He would return in the same way that He went. Yes, He will return to the Mount of Olives and when He does the Mount will split in two (Zechariah 14).
May 22, 2017
Day 39 of the Omer
Yeshua obeyed and taught the Torah. The sermon on the Mount, the only sermon recorded for us, is His understanding of the Torah. It begins with the Beatitudes that sound like a Psalm.
He then goes on to speak of not abandoning the Torah but practicing it and the importance of teaching it.
May 22, 2017
Day 38 of the Omer
In Matthew 4 we see that Yeshua leaves Nazareth and goes to live in Capernaum. Matthew in verses 14-16 connects this move to the fulfillment of another prophecy by Isaiah in 9:1-2. Matthew records it like this, "The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, along the road by the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles! The people who live in darkness have seen a great light, a light has dawned for those living in the land of the shadow of death."
May 22, 2017
Day 37 of the Omer
In talking to our Jewish friends about Yeshua one of the things that might come up is Matthew 2:23, "Then he went to settle in a town called Nazareth to fulfill what was spoken by the prophets, that He will be called a Nazarene." The reason that it comes up is because they struggle to find the prophecy that it speaks of fulfilling in the prophets.
This is an honest issue, however, it is brought on by our English versions that were, of course, translated from the Greek...
May 21, 2017
Day 36 of the Omer
Our next prophecy in Matthew again comes from chapter 2 where Matthew connects the killing of the babies in Bethlehem by Herod to Jeremiah 31:15. Jeremiah is taking up a lament for the lost children of Rachel. Why Rachel when Bethlehem is the home of David who was a descendant of Leah? It is because Rachel was buried near Bethlehem after she gave birth to Benjamin.
May 20, 2017
Day 35 of the Omer
As we are celebrating the fifth Shabbat in our counting of seven I would like once again to talk about the Shabbat. In Isaiah 56:1-2 says this, "Thus says ADONAI/The LORD: Preserve justice, do righteousness. For My salvation (Yeshua) is about to come, and My righteousness will be revealed. Happy is the man who does this, the son of man who takes hold of it, who keeps from profaning Shabbat, and keeps his hand from doing any evil."
This chapter goes on to discuss the eunuch and the foreigner who join to themselves to the LORD
May 19, 2017
Day 34 of the Omer
Today's prophecy from Matthew is found in chapter 2 verse 15, "Out of Egypt I have called My Son." When referring to this prophecy from Exodus 4:22 and Hosea 11:1 Matthew is connecting what happened to Israel as God's firstborn son to the Messiah.
Again, Matthew is connecting the life of Yeshua to the people of Israel.
May 18, 2017
Day 33 of the Omer
Yes, Yeshua was born in Bethlehem according to Matthew 2:1 & 5-6. However, it in verse 6 that the prophet Micah is quoted. Here is the part that Matthew quotes, it is from Micah 5:2 & 4, "And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the princes of Judah: because out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd My people Israel.”
May 16, 2017
Day 31 of the Omer
In Matthew 1 we see the genealogy of Yeshua on display. In that account it takes Yeshua's genealogy through David and back to Abraham. This is vital when speaking to our Jewish friends who do not know Yeshua as of yet since many of them believe Yeshua was really a Gentile.
May 11, 2017
Day 26 of the Omer
Isaiah 8:13-16 says, "ADONAI/The LORD Shaddai is the only one you are to regard as holy, He alone are you to fear, He alone are you to dread, and He will be a sanctuary; but for both houses of Israel He will be a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall...
May 10, 2017
Day 25 of the Omer
Today we reach the halfway mark of the counting of the Omer and so I want to switch gears a little bit and begin to discuss the importance of why even the Gentile believer is to obey the Law of God/Torah. It is not only our obligation of living in the power of the Spirit (Romans 8), not only how we express our love for our Messiah (John14), but it is also how we make Judah jealous (Romans 11).
May 04, 2017
Day 19 of the Omer
So where do we see the idea of God's people being made one in the prophets? We see it in Ezekiel 37 when Elohim tells the prophet to take two sticks. One is named for the tribe of Joseph or Ephraim and all the tribes associated with him and the other is named for Judah and all the tribes associated with him.
May 03, 2017
Day 18 of the Omer
In John 17 Yeshua prayed that His followers would be one as He and the Father are one. I used to think I knew what that meant, that there would no longer be any denominations among the church. However, God has shown me that His ways are higher than our ways. He has a much bigger plan in mind.
May 02, 2017
Day 17 of the Omer
I have had a certain phrase from Scripture in my mind lately, "make the most of every opportunity". Let's look at that phrase and what surrounds it. It comes from Ephesians 5:16.
The word for 'opportunity' is 'kairos' in the Greek, which is the same word used for 'moed'/feast days in the Septuagint. Let that sink in for a minute. Let's replace 'opportunity' with 'moed'/feast days in the phrase, "making the most of every moed/feast day.
April 30, 2017
Day 15 of the Omer
What does true revival look like? If revival begins with the people of Elohim as we have said and the job of the Holy Spirit is to transform us into the image of the Son (Romans 8:29) as well as to help us obey the commands of God (Ezekiel 36:27) then what kind of life is He leading us, the redeemed, to live?
April 26, 2017
Day 11 of the Omer
I want to cover what the middle words of the Torah/Law are and it was found in this last weeks Torah portion in Leviticus 10:16. It is known as the heart of the Torah. Interestingly enough the words that meet in the middle or heart of the Torah are the same word repeated. It is the same word we looked at a couple of days ago from Micah 6:8 where it talks about what does God/Elohim "require" of us.
April 25, 2017
Day 10 of the Omer
Most of us know Ephesians 2:8-9, "For by grace you have been saved through faith and not of yourselves it is the gift of God/Elohim not of works so that no one can boast." Then immediately following that is verse 10 that states, For we are God's/Elohim's handiwork/masterpiece created in Messiah Yeshua/Christ Jesus to do good works, which God/Elohim has prepared in advance for us to do."
April 23, 2017
Day 8 of the Omer
As we go from Passover to Shavuot/Pentecost we are living out the picture of life between redemption and the receiving of our instructions on how to live a redeemed, set apart life. The children of Israel lived it when they were redeemed from Egypt and were making their way to Mt. Sinai to receive the Torah.
