Counting the Omer

Today is the Feast of Firstfruits. Messiah was not resurrected when the gentiles of his day were celebrating Easter. The day of his resurrection was when the Jews were celebrating Firstfruits.

Sunday does not replace the seventh day as Sabbath because Jesus was raised on a Sunday. It wasn’t “Sunday” on which he was raised, it was “Firstfruits.” The resurrection may have been Saturday night. The first day of the week is Saturday at sunset until Sunday at sunset (Sunday night services aren’t on the first day of the week). Jesus had already been resurrected while it was still dark (John 20:1).

Pentecost (Hebrew: Shavuot. Feast of Weeks) is 50 days after the Feast of Firstfruits. Pentecost and Shavuot are always on “the day after the Sabbath.” There’s no reason to say that Sunday is special because of the resurrection and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit. Especially since they didn’t technically happen on Sunday (which includes the first and second days of the week), but on the first day of the “Jewish” (biblical) week.

Leviticus 23:15,16 says that you’re supposed to count 50 days, day after sabbath to day after sabbath. To aid in this counting, Jews have developed a tradition called The Counting of the Omer (not Homer).

40 of these 50 counting days, Jesus spent walking the earth after his resurrection explaining from the Law and the Prophets and the Writings everything that was written about him (since he is the Word, that’s a lot of stuff). The next 9 days the disciples spent preparing for Shavuot (which I will write more about later).

I have put in some omer links. Each week explores a certain aspect of our being, such as humility or love, and each day explores a different feature of that aspect. It’s a great read if you’re into psychological philosophical stuff like I am. (Remember, day one is Saturday night to Sunday night, day four is Tuesday night to Wednesday night, and the like).

As with many things, when it comes to the counting of the omer most Jews follow tradition rather than scripture. They put Firstfruits on the day after Passover instead of the day after Sabbath, so the 50th day could be any day of the week and not necessarily the day after the seventh sabbath as scripture says.