Counting the omer – Part 1 – from Bondage to Revelation and beyond

The history of the Exodus is prophetic and contains many pointers to the later and ultimate Redemption. The events following the first Passover in Egypt were thus ‘codified’ in the Jewish festive calendar, serving as an annual reminder of this important history and establishing the ongoing significance of these events for future generations. At the same time, Israel’s failure to possess the Land in the generation that the Law was given suggests that something more than the Law was required in order for Israel to secure the promises of God. This article discovers some of the important lessons contained in the Exodus history. It also provides a ‘frame of reference’ by which to understand Israel’s later exodus – from Babylonian captivity – which is the topic of a subsequent article: The second Omer – from Exile to Messiah.

A. THE FESTIVE CALENDAR AS IT RELATES TO THE HISTORY OF THE EXODUS

(a) Israel’s history begins with its redemption

The correct, biblical starting point to the Jewish festive calendar is not Rosh Hashana, but the Passover.

“These are the feasts of the LORD, holy convocations, which you must proclaim in their seasons. In the fourteenth day of the first month at evening is the LORD’s Passover” (Leviticus 23:4-5).

The paschal lamb was not a quaint but dispensable detail of Israel’s deliverance, but the purchase price given by God for this people1 – that they might become His special possession (סגלּה), a nation uniquely owned by God, for His particular purposes.2 Thus Moses asked: “Is He not your Father who bought you?” (Deuteronomy 32:6).

“Thus says the LORD that created you, O Jacob, and He that formed you, O Israel … I have redeemed you, I have called you by name; you are Mine” (Isaiah 43:1).

Contrary to the views of modern Judaism, God’s intention in the redemption of Israel was not for its “social, political, economic and religious freedom.” 3  Israel was called to serve the living God, just as it  had formerly served Egyptian vanity. God instructed Moses: “Go to Pharaoh, and say to him: Thus says the LORD, Let my people go so that they may serve Me [שׁלח את-עמי ויעבדני]” (Exodus 8:1).4  According to the Mekhilta, “God said: ‘In the past you were slaves unto Pharaoh. Now you are slaves unto God’.” 5

It was not for self-determination that Israel was liberated, but in order to realise God’s promise to Abraham, that he would be a great nation, and to fulfil Abraham’s calling: in you will all the nations of the earth be blessed (Genesis 12:3).

The Passover leads straight into by the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the presentation of first-fruits.6

The process of consecration (the purifying and preparation of Israel for God’s purposes) started immediately after the redemption, being typified in the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The presentation of first-fruits – also at this time – typifies the dedication of the newly redeemed Israel unto God.

(b) Israel is a first-fruits unto the Lord

“When you shall have come into the land which I give to you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then you shall bring a sheaf of the first-fruits of your harvest to the priest: And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it” (Leviticus 23:10-11).

The children of Israel are the first of a lost and helpless humanity to be brought to life by the voice of divine calling. This people is raised up in the month of Aviv (meaning springtime)7 – after the winter of its enslavement in Egypt  – as the omer of first-fruits (עמר ראשׁית קציר) which is presented as a wave offering before the Lord.

“Thus says the LORD; I remember you, the kindness of your youth, the love of your espousals, when you went after Me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown. Israel was holiness to the LORD, and the first-fruits of His increase (ראשׁית תבואתה) (Jeremiah 2:1-3).8

As it is common in agriculture to plant the first of the harvest for a greater increase at the end of the season, so the children of Israel (represented in the sheaf of early grain), was destined to be a holy seed in God’s plan for the redemption of all humanity, to be sown by God to bring forth the greater increase from among the Gentiles in the later harvest.

“And I will sow her to me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them who were not my people, You are my people; and they shall say, You are my God” (Hosea 2:23).9

The end-of-season harvest is celebrated at Succoth (the Feast of Tabernacles) at the very end of the festive cycle. Succoth typifies the full increase – brought about when men and women “from every nation, tribe and tongue” are gathered in to complete God’s redemptive work. At the appointed time, the descendants of Abraham would become for God “a light to the Gentiles, that you may be My salvation to the ends of the earth” (Isaiah 49:6). Zechariah anticipated this when he prophesied:

“Many nations shall be joined to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people” (Zechariah 2:11).

“And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles” (Zechariah 14:16).

(c) The countdown from first-fruits to Shavuot

The presentation of the omer initiates a countdown of seven weeks, culminating inShavuot (the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost) immediately after the 49th day.

“And you shall count to you from the morning after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave-offering; seven weeks shall be complete: Even to the morrow after the seventh week shall you number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meal-offering to the LORD. You shall bring out of your habitations two wave-loaves of two tenth-parts: they shall be of fine flour, they shall be baked with leaven, they are the first-fruits to the LORD” (Leviticus 23:15-17).

At this second offering of first-fruits, the grain is not presented in its natural state, but has been thrashed and winnowed, so that only the useful portion is retained. The “fine flower” produced in this way is infused with a new yeast – not the yeast of Egypt which was left behind, but by the life-giving yeast of God’s holy Law. This new batch of dough is then put to the fire to produce two loaves for a new wave-offering before God.

In the history of the first Exodus, the “thrashing and winnowing” began immediately – even on the shores of the Red Sea. It continued at the waters of Marah, “… for there He tested them” (Exodus 15:25), in the Desert of Sin, “I will test them and see whether they obey my instructions” (Exodus 16:4), and eventually at Sinai, in the very afterglow of Divine Revelation, in the censure over the Golden Calf.

During this time, the children of Israel were not “elevated into a position of readiness to receive the Law” – as claimed by the rabbis – but was rather weighed and found wanting, shown to be an unfaithful, disobedient, and obstinate people.9a  If not for the faithful intercession of Moses, God would have destroyed the entire nation within days of entering into the Sinai Covenant.10  But God’s purposes cannot fail, and the nation would fulfil its prophetic destiny, even if reduced to a remnant of one (see Exodus 32:10).

Shavuot (the 50th day) coincides according to tradition with the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. Chapter nineteen of Exodus simply records that the hosts of Israel reached Sinai in the third month, which begins on the 45th day of the omer (five days before Pentecost).

According to the Soncino Commentary, “the Israelites arrived at Sinai on the New Moon [first day of the third month]. On the second of the month, Moses ascended the mountain; on the third, he received the people’s reply; on the fourth, he made the second ascent and was commanded to institute three days of preparation, at the conclusion of which the Revelation took place. Hence its [i.e. the giving of the Torah’s] association with the Feast of Weeks, which became the Festival of Revelation.” 11

Maimonides explains the significance of the seven week countdown to Shavuot (also known as the sephirah): “The Feast of Weeks is the anniversary of the revelation on Mount Sinai. In order to raise the importance of this day, we count the days that pass since the preceding festival, just as one who expects his most intimate friend on a certain day counts the days and even the hours. This is the reason why we count the days…” 12

Whereas the Red Sea represented the deliverance from pagan rule, the Law of Sinai represented the more important deliverance from pagan lore and custom. If Israel conformed to the Law it would display God’s wisdom and holiness, and rouse the nations to jealously:

“Behold, I have taught you statutes, and judgments, even as the LORD my God commanded me, that you should do so in the land where you are going to possess it. Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, that will hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. For what nation is there so great, that has God so near to them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for? And what nation is there so great, that has statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?”   (Deuteronomy 4:5-8).

Shavuot concludes the first half of the festive calendar.

B. ISRAEL’S FAILURE TO ENTER THE LAND

It seemed from the events following Sinai, that Israel would not succeed under the Law to secure its own inheritance, let alone to become a light to the other nations.

From the foot of the Mount, the children of Israel travelled three days to Taverah (the place of burning) – where they complained before God and were consumed in His anger. From there they moved on to Kivroth Hattaavah (the graves of craving) – where they yearned for exotic foods, and died in the plague. After Miriam and Aaron’s rebellion, the survivors arrived at Kadesh13 on the brink of their promised inheritance – the Land of Canaan. Here Israel was condemned to forty years of aimless wandering and the entire generation that received the Law at Sinai would die in the wilderness. In the second year of the Torah, “God declared on oath in [His] anger, that ‘They shall never enter my rest.’” 14

The events of Kadesh are important for our understanding of Israel’s predicament and the outcome of its later history. At the opportunity to enter the Land, Israel refused to trust the God who had proven Himself at every crisis in the preceding months, and would not depend on Him for victory. Lack of faith caused the Sinai generation to forfeit the Land. The biblical account of these events is found in Numbers chapters thirteen and fourteen:

“And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, Send men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give to the children of Israel … So they went up, and searched the land … And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, to the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word to them, and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. And they told him, and said, We came to the land to which you sent us, and surely it flows with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it. Nevertheless, the people are strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great … And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. But the men that went up with him said, We are not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. And they brought an evil report of the land which they had searched to the children of Israel … And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said to them, O that we had died in the land of Egypt! or O that we had died in this wilderness! And why has the LORD brought us to this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return to Egypt? And they said one to another, Let us appoint a captain, and let us return to Egypt” (Numbers 13:1-14:4).

The Law did not compel the scouts to give a positive report, to remain fearless in the sight of giants, and to accept as an inheritance a fully occupied land. It was not for any specific transgression of the Law that God’s indignation was aroused. After two years of His provision and His protection, after He had proved His faithfulness time after time  – in opening the Sea, destroying the Egyptian army, raining bread from heaven and tapping water from a rock – after the victory over the Amalekites, the revelation at Sinai, and His numerous acts of mercy in the face of continual provocation, after all of this – yet would they not believe His promises or trust in Him to perform them!

“And the LORD said to Moses, How long will this people despise me? and how long will it be before they believe me, for all the miraculous signs that I have shown among them?… as surely as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD. Because all those men who have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not listened to my voice; Surely they shall not see the land which I swore to their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it … your carcasses, they shall fall in this wilderness. And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your lewd deeds, until your carcasses shall be wasted in the wilderness” (Numbers 14:11-12).

They failed to enter their inheritance for lack of faith!

But this was not the end of their follies: After not trusting the Word by which God had promised the Land, they now also despised the Word that brought the verdict of punishment, and – eager to compensate for their recent failing – rushed unaided into enemy hands, hoping to gain the Land by their own belated courage.

It would be forty years later – according to God’s word – that the next generation of Israelites would receive a new circumcision and gain possession of the Land. All but two of the six hundred thousand adult men who left Egypt died in the wilderness. The Law of Moses could not prevent the tragedy of Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. Neither did the Law prevent Israel from becoming a divided nation, or its kings from becoming idolators. Despite the divine revelation on Mount Sinai, God’s presence would eventually be removed from Israel, the people would lose their Land and Temple and return once more to a servile status in a foreign land.

Israel’s inheritance under the Law was conditional on complete obedience.15  Whereas the Torah would engender aspirations of righteousness it would not provide the means by which to attain it. It is this factor – namely, that 3 500 years under the Torah has not cured the human deficiency that obviates its blessings – that presents Judaism with its greatest quandary. This fact, like the powdery remains of the Golden Calf, is something the rabbis stubbornly refuse to swallow.

What was lacking? What was yet required for this people to obtain its evasive inheritance?

It was during the Babylonian exile that the prophet Daniel cried out for mercy and implored the God of his fathers to restore his people. In response to this humble intercession, YHVH revealed the course of the second exodus, and commenced a new prophetic countdown of seventy weeks to its realisation. At the conclusion of this countdown, there would be a new and greater Revelation, and all that was necessary for Israel to secure its eternal inheritance would have been achieved.

Read The second Omer – the prophet Daniel’s countdown from exile to Messiah.

 


Footnotes:

1. Both the English “redemption” and the Hebrew word from the root “גּאל“ mean “buying back”, i.e. to re-acquire something that was lost. The concept is illustrated in the story of Hosea and Gomer – the prophet’s wife turns to adultery and prostitution and is later bought back by her husband (Hosea 1-3). The term is used in the New Testament to describe that which is paid by God to reacquire that which was lost to him through sin and unfaithfulness.
2. See Exodus 19:5; Deuteronomy 14:2, 26:18; Psalm 135:4.
3. For an example of humanistic re-interpretation of the Passover motive, see Harris L. Selig, Links to Eternity, Bloch Publishing Company, New York, 1957, pp. 305-334: “’Exile,’ said Rabbi Yitzhak Yaakov Reines … ‘is a great negative force which prevents the stranger from striking roots where he is’ … All their strivings and achievements will be credited to the lands in which they dwell. Only setbacks and failures will be entered on their side of the ledger. Sadder still, the pressures of exile give the stranger an inferiority complex which keeps him from full self-realisation.” Ibid. pp. 324 et seq.
4. The same Hebrew word [from עבד] is used to describe both relationships (see Gen. 15:13-14 and Ex. 1:13-14).
5. Quoted in Seasons of the Soul, Artscroll Judaiscope Series, Nisson Wolpin, ed. Mesorah Publications, Limited. New York, 1981, p.217.
6. Also known as the First Day of the Omer.
7. The month of Aviv corresponds with the Babylonian “Nisan” – which became its more common designation after the exile.
8. A further parallel is found in the “בכורי מעשׂיך”of Exodus 23:16, and God’s description of Israel as his firstborn (בכרי) in Exodus 4.22.
9.Compare with the words of Jesus: “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the gound and dies, it remains only a singly seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” (John 12:24)

9a. Exodus 14:11-12, 33.3; Deuteronomy 9.6. See also Numbers 14:27.
10. Exodus 32:9-14, Deuteronomy 9:13-14. See also Exodus Rabba 43.9 and 46.1.
11. The Soncino Edition of the Pentateuch and Haftorahs, Dr. JH Hertz, ed. Soncino Press, London, 1956.

12. Commentary on Leviticus 23:15-21.
13. Moses Maimonides, Guide for the Perplexed, 3.43.
14. Also known as En Mishpat – the source of Judgement.
15. Psalm 95:11.

16. See Leviticus 26 & Deuteronomy 28, among others.