Welcome
Counting the Omer 2022 began the evening of Saturday, 16 April and ends the evening of Saturday, 4 June.
- Blessed are you that your eyes see and your ears hear
- The Manna is prophetically connected to Chag HaMatzot and Yom HaBikkurim
- The day that the symbolic Manna ceased was Nisan 16
- Measuring our lives by the Manna from Heaven
- Forty-nine days of measuring our lives by the Manna of Messiah
- The 49 days of Counting the Omer
Blessed are you that your eyes see and your ears hear:
נגשו התלמידים ושאלו: מדוע אתה מדבר אליהם במשלים? השיב ואמר: מפני שלכם נתן לדעת את סודות מלכות השמים, אך להם לא נתן. כי מי שיש לו נתון ינתן לו ושפע יהיה לו, אך מי שאין לו, גם מה שיש לו ילקח ממנו. לכן במשלים אני מדבר אליהם, כי בראותם אינם רואים ובשמעם אינם שומעים אף אינם מבינים. ומתקימת בהם נבואת ישעיהו לאמר: שמעו שמוע ואל-תבינו וראו ראו ואל-תדעו. השמן לב-העם הזה ואזניו הכבד ועיניו השע, פן-יראה בעיניו ובאזניו ישמע ולבבו יבין, ושב ורפא לו. אשרי עיניכם הרואות ואזניכם השומעות. אמן. אומר אני לכם, נביאים וצדיקים רבים נכספו לראות את אשר אתם רואים ולא ראו, ולשמע את אשר אתם שומעים ולא שמעו.פ
The talmidim came and asked, “Why do you speak to them in meshalim?” He answered and said: “Because to you it is given to know the secrets of the kingdom of Heaven, but to them it is not given. For to one who has, it will surely be given, and he will have abundance; but for one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken from him. That is why I speak to them in meshalim. For in their seeing they will not see, and in their hearing they will not hear, nor do they even understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Yeshayah (Isaiah):
“Listen well, but you will not understand. Look closely, but you will not know. Fatten the heart of this nation (Israel), and make its ears heavy and seal its eyes, so it will not see with its eyes or hear with its ears or understand with its heart or repent and be healed.”
“Blessed (אשרי-ashrei, happy) are you that your eyes see and your ears hear. For I say to you, many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see and did not see, and to hear what you hear and have not heard. “
The Manna is prophetically connected to Chag HaMatzot and Yom HaBikkurim:
“On the day after the Passover (Nisan 15/16), on that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. The manna ceased on the day after (Nisan 16/17) they had eaten some of the produce of the land (Yom HaBikkurim, Day of the Firstfruits), so that the people of Israel no longer had manna.” (Joshua 5:11-12)
Immediately, the day after the unleavened bread was consumed in eretz Israel the symbolic manna ceased. This is a picture of our appetite for the things of HaShem. Once the Bread of Affliction was consumed in the promised land then it was for us as if the Food of our Healing had occurred. Our insides were changed, our cleansed appetites were changed, we became hungry and thirsty for righteousness, and so we were filled (שָׂבַע-satisfied). Thereafter, we did not need the symbolic manna on the day of *Nisan 16/17 because we had already received the real (true) Bread of Heaven instead.
[*Why are two dates (Nisan 16/17) given instead of just one? (Nisan 16). Read about the Mystery of the Hidden Day.]
Let us begin to try to explain this connection in more detail by asking and answering the Pesach question:
What is The Bread of our Affliction and the Bread of our Healing?
In the Torah matzah is sometimes called the “Bread of Affliction” (Deuteronomy 16:3). However, it is not “of affliction” because it is unleavened but it is unleavened because it had been born out of affliction. In other words, since our ancestors (the children of Israel) had no time to prepare their bread on account of their affliction the bread had no time to rise.
The matzah then is not so much the remembrance of bondage as it is the remembrance of deliverance from bondage.
Matzah is called the Bread of Affliction but it is also called the Food of Healing. First comes the Food of Faith (believe). Then comes the Food of (our) Healing (then be healed). What is it that is both a Bread of Affliction and the Food of our Healing? It is only the bread of the affliction (lit. of poverty) of Messiah that is food for our healing.
This means that in our present state of affliction we are powerless to affect the perfect righteousness that Adonai desires to reside in all our hearts, souls, minds and bodies. However, the Bread of Messiah’s Affliction is sufficiently powerful to permanently cleanse us and effect perfect healing for our souls. Therefore, when we eat this bread we profess the power of Messiah’s Bread of Affliction (sacrificial death) that is sufficient to (save) heal our souls, until He comes again to heal our bodies as well.
Messiah is not only the Bread out of Heaven that is associated with the symbol of Manna but he is also the Bread of Affliction that is the Bread of our Healing. According to the prophetic narrative of Joshua 5:11-12, when we receive by emunah (faith) the real Bread of our Healing (on Nisan 14-15) then it is as if we received the real Bread of Heaven as well (on Nisan 16). This means that the Person of the Messiah is the One sent to us from HaShem to be our:
Bread from Heaven (הלחם מן השמים);
Bread of Affliction/Poverty (לחם עוני);
Bread of God (לחם האלוהים);
Bread of Life (לחם החיים).
The day that the symbolic Manna ceased was Nisan 16:
The day that the symbolic manna ceased to be was Nisan 16. This is also the day of HaBikkurim when we begin our Counting of the Omer. In Temple times during the gathering of the firstfruits of the barley harvest a sheaf of barley was waved before HaShem.
The word sheaf in Hebrew is “omer;” this term simply means a dry measure equal to about five pints.
The term firstfruits is derived from the Hebrew word “re’shiyth.” This special word means “the first of its kind.” The omer is a dry measure that is equal to the amount of manna that was allocated as a daily portion of food while the people of Israel journeyed from Egypt to the Promised Land. The word “manna” comes from the interrogative pronoun “mah” that means what, of what kind. Therefore the meaning of the word manna is:
“What is this?”
An Omer contains a portion equal to the manna that was assigned to each individual for his daily allotment of food while Israel was transiting from the wilderness to the Promised Land. The answer to the riddle of “What is this?” is:
“Who is This?”
Messiah is the answer to the mystery. Messiah is the Mystery (Who is This?). All of the mysteries of the kingdom of Adonai are revealed through our exercising true faith in him. Avinu Shebashamayim measures all of our lives by the Measure (Omer) of Messiah.
Messiah is the Omer. He is the “full measure and stature” of perfection that HaShem desires all of us to be like.
The Mashiach is HaAdam HaAcharon (אדם האחרון-the Last Adam). He is the first of his kind. He is the perfect man (Adam). He is the man that Adonai Avinu desires all of us to be like (1, 2). Therefore, it is the will of God our Father that we all together shall grow up to the full measure (אל השיעור המלא) and stature of the Messiah (אל הקומתו המלא של המשיח); whose perfect life is the blessed means by which Abba Avinu shall one day perfect us all!
Measuring our lives by the true Bread out of Heaven:
Question: How do we daily measure our lives by the life of the Messiah?
Answer: We accurately measure the content of our lives by conforming ourselves to the teaching of the Messiah.
What way could we better count the 49-days than to examine ourselves by the 49-meshalim (parables) of Messiah? What better way could we count the seven weeks that prepared our Jewish ancestors for receiving the gift of the Father, His Living Torah (the Indwelling Presence of His Spirit), than to meditate on the teachings of M’shicho (His Messiah). Regarding this matter keep in mind four points:
Point #1. The truth that precedes all other truths, the key (singular) mystery (סוד-sod) of the kingdom of God (מלכות האלהים) that precedes our receiving the keys (plural) that unlock all of the secrets (סודות-sodot) of the kingdom of heaven (מלכות השמים) is that M’shicho (His Messiah) is the true “Manna from Heaven!”
Point #2. The Omer is a derivative measurement of the volume of a one day portion of manna. Therefore, the Omer derives its (spiritual messianic) meaning and purpose from the Torah meaning of the Manna.
Point #3. When using the Omer we are asking, “How does this measure up with that?” We are asking, “How does something measure up to the Manna?”
Point #4. Therefore, from a literal point of view, when we retrace our journey out of Egypt to Mount Sinai (Israel and the Commonwealth of Israel) we are daily measuring the contents of our own inner-life by the “measure of the manna.” Since Messiah is the Manna from Heaven it only makes sense that we would be reading and meditating on His teaching during this very special time of the year.
Forty-nine days of measuring our lives by the Manna of Messiah:
The Jewish calendar year we are in now is 5782.
In chapters twenty to sixty-nine of the “Messiah in Yom HaBikkurim” we will be providing a summary of the forty-nine meshalim (parables, allegories) of Messiah; along with His Seven “I Am” Sayings. This year we began the Counting of the Omer (Nisan 16-Day 1) the evening of Saturday,16 April 2022
*Yom Rishon, the first day of the Jewish week, begins Saturday evening and ends Sunday evening.
We are posting the Firstfruits (Sefirat HaOmer-ספירת העומר) calendar just below in honor of the Messiah. The actual historical day of Messiah Yeshua’s resurrection (Ha-Bikkurim, Techiyat Ha-Mashiach, Year 3790, Nisan 16/17) was on the first day of Firstfruits—-on a Sunday morning. The resurrection of Messiah ben Yosef (the Suffering Messiah) is our spiritual reference point for our observing HaBikkurim this year and all future years until the day he, the Messiah ben David (the Conquering Messiah), triumphantly returns to us (Israel) from heaven.
In the Messiah’s last days here on earth (Jewish Calendar 3790; Secular 30 CE): he resurrected from the dead on the first day of Firstfruits (Nisan 16/17); he observed Pesach Sheni (the Second Passover) thirty days after Pesach (Iyyar 14/15); he appeared to over 500 people over a period of forty days; he ascended into heaven on the fortieth day (Iyyar 25/26); and on the fiftieth day (Sivan *6/7), just as our prophets (of righteous memory) foretold, he sent to a remnant of Israel the gift of our heavenly Father (Avinu Shebashamayim) – the gift of the Indwelling Presence of His Spirit of Holiness.
[*Why are two dates (Nisan 16/17) given for the day of Messiah’s resurrection instead of one? (Nisan 16). Read about the Mystery of the Hidden Day.]
The 49 Days of Counting the Omer:
The meshalim (parables) of Messiah are simple stories and very brief (little, small) wise sayings (proverbs, allegories). Yet, all of the meshalim of the Mashiach possess a sense of unending mystery. Some of the narratives are lengthy. Some of the proverbs are incredibly brief (for instance cf. #48-49: The Seed that multiplies by dying and the Vinedresser, Vine & Branches). All of the meshalim listed above contain a single central message. However, there are innumerable peripheral (supernatural) insights that can be gained from just one mashal.
Counting the Omer 2022 began the evening of Saturday, 16 April and ends the evening of Saturday, 4 June.
A Sefirat HaOmer 2022 calendar is provided at the very bottom of this page (left hand corner – under “Study Tools”). This calendar includes the Jewish Calendar dates Nisan 16, 5782 – Sivan 5, 5782.
The 49 Days of Counting the Omer:
Counting of the Omer (Hebrew: ספירת העומר, Sefirat HaOmer, sometimes abbreviated as Sefira or the Omer) is an important verbal counting of each of the forty-nine days between the Jewish holidays of Pesach (חג הפסח-Passover) and Shavuot (חג השבועות-Feast of Weeks, Pentecost).
Shavuot 2022 begins in the evening of Saturday, June 4 (Sivan 6) and ends in the evening of Monday, June 6 (Sivan 7).
The 49 meshalim (משלים, משלי-parables; מָשָׁל-parable, allegory, proverb) of the Messiah that we will be reflecting upon this year during the 49 days of Counting the Omer are presented in their proper chronological order as we believe they were actually taught by the Messiah.
The meshalim (parables) of Messiah are simple stories and very brief (little, small) wise sayings (proverbs, allegories). Yet, all of the meshalim of the Mashiach possess a sense of unending mystery. Some of the narratives are lengthy. Some of the proverbs are incredibly brief (for instance cf. #48-49: The Seed that multiplies by dying and the Vinedresser, Vine & Branches). All of the meshalim listed above contain a single central message. However, there are innumerable supernatural insights that can also be gained from just one mashal.