First Fruits and Counting the Omer

We have had Passover Dinner and the Feast of Unleavened Bread during the Passover week, which is seven days. These seven days are Adonai Commandments for First Fruits and Counting the Omer.

Let's start with the day of the first fruits. Basically, they were to bring the first fruits of the harvest on the day after the Sabbath. Which also begins the Counting of the Omer, leading us to Pentecost (Shavuot). Yeshua was resurrected on the Day of First Fruits. As believers, we should not be surprised that YESHUA was resurrected on the Day of First Fruits.

Corinthians 15:20 (TLV) 20But now Messiah has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

Romans 8:29 (TLV) 29For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.

Through Passover, we learn that a little leaven leavens the whole loaf and so we remove the sin (leaven) from our homes (Temple). We looked at leaven as bad, but leaven can be good if its fruit is Holy and without Sin.

Romans 11:16 (TLV)16If the first fruit is holy, so is the whole batch of dough; and if the root is holy, so are the branches.

Matthew 13:33 (NASB95PARA)33 He spoke another parable to them, “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour until it was all leavened.”

As believers, we need to make sure that we abide in Yeshua. Just as with leaven Holiness will leaven the whole lump. So give your first to Yah daily! No one may see but eventually, you will walk as Yeshua walked.

Leviticus 23:10–11 (TLV)10“Speak to Bnei-Yisrael and tell them: When you have come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you are to bring the omer of the firstfruits of your harvest to the kohen. 11He is to wave the omer before ADONAI, to be accepted for you. On the morrow after the Shabbat, the kohen is to wave it.

Leviticus 23:15–17 (TLV)15“Then you are to count from the morrow after the Shabbat, from the day that you brought the omer of the wave offering, seven complete Shabbatot. 16Until the morrow after the seventh Shabbat you are to count fifty days, and then present a new grain offering to ADONAI. 17You are to bring out of your houses two loaves of bread for a wave offering, made of two tenths of an ephah of fine flour. They are to be baked with hametz as firstfruits to ADONAI.

We start counting the omer on the day of First Fruits. Just like we begin the Feast of Unleavened Bread on the evening of Passover. Counting the Omer helps us determine when Pentecost or Shavuot is. As usual, Yah has multi-purpose for Each one of the feasts. He Commands us, all of Israel to participate. Let us look at one of the reasons Yah commands us to count the Omer.

Why does YAH command us to Count the Omer?

Leviticus 23:15–16 (TLV)15“Then you are to count from the morrow after the Shabbat, from the day that you brought the omer of the wave offering, seven complete Shabbatot. 16 Until the morrow after the seventh Shabbat you are to count fifty days, and then present a new grain offering to ADONAI.

The commandments in Leviticus do not include why we must count the omer. Adonai could have just set the date, but Scripture leads you to believe it’s to determine when you would make the grain offering. Let us look at this command’s time frame to count the omer. We start counting the omer after the Passover, and we are told at Passover to remember how Adonai took us out of Egypt. What happened after Yah led us out of Egypt? We find that in Exodus 16.

Exodus 16:1–3 (TLV)1 They journeyed on from Elim, and the entire community of Bnei-Yisrael came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after leaving the land of Egypt. 2 But the whole congregation of Bnei- Yisrael murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 3 Bnei-Yisrael said to them, “If only we had died by the hand of Adonai in the land of Egypt, when we sat by pots of meat, when we ate bread until we were full. But you have brought us into the wilderness, to kill this entire congregation with hunger.”

When Adonai takes us out of Egypt, our lives do not seem to get easier. Neither did the Israelites. They were delivered from slavery where their slave owners provided for them, then they were in the wilderness and were hungry, so they complained about their deliverance. Have you ever complained about your deliverance from sin? I believe we all have; we think it is much easier to live in sin than to trust Adonai and live a holy and righteous life. What was Adonai’s response to their complaints?

Exodus 16:4–5 (TLV)4Then Adonai said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. The people will go out and gather a day’s portion every day, so that I can test them to find out whether they will walk according to My Torah or not. 5So on the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather day by day”

He wanted to test them to see if they would walk in Yah’s Commandments. Moses’ response was priceless, and we can learn from it when we complain to our leaders that Adonai has placed over us. We are not complaining to them but to Adonai!!

Read all of Exodus 16.

So, how would Adonai test them to see if they would obey? He sent bread from heaven and commanded them only to gather so much manna. How much manna was that? It was an Omer!!!

Exodus 16:16 (TLV)16 This is the word that Adonai has commanded. Every man is to gather according to his needs, an omer per person, according to the number of people per household. Each man is to take it for those who are in his tent.”

Exodus 16:17–18 (TLV)17 Bnei-Yisrael did so, and some gathered more, some less.18 When they measured it with an omer, those who gathered more had nothing left over, and those that gathered less did not lack at all. Every man gathered according to his appetite.

Those who gathered more than the omer commanded had nothing left over, but those who gathered less did not lack. Our fleshly appetites will cause us to lack. When we obey Adonai’s commands, we always have more than enough.

Exodus 16:33 (TLV)33 Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar and put a full omer of manna inside. Store it up before Adonai, to be kept throughout your generations.”

Adonai Commanded Moses to store up an omer of manna to keep throughout their generations. Moses wants us to remember the manna and what Adonai had done. What did Yeshua say about the Manna from Heaven?

John 6:32–33 (TLV) 32 Yeshua answered them, “Amen, amen I tell you, it isn’t Moses who has given you bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the One coming down from heaven and giving life to the world.”

John 6:35 (TLV) 35 Yeshua said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in Me will never be thirsty.

Yeshua is our manna. He is the bread of life. So, when we count the omer, we are reminded that Messiah is the Bread of Heaven that gives everlasting life to the world.

When you count the omer this year, we can remember what Adonai did for our people as we reflect during Passover.

• We see Yah provided manna from heaven, which provided sustenance for His people.

• We Remember Yah taught them to obey His commands.

• We learned that complaining to our Spiritual leaders is complaining to Adonai.

• We are reminded to trust Adonai for all our needs. He is more than enough! • We are reminded that the Messiah is heaven’s manna, giving us eternal life.

• Meditate and pray, asking Adonai what He wants you to Remember or Learn during the counting of the omer.