VITAL INFORMATION CONCERNING THE COUNT TO PENTECOST!

"And you shall COUNT for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath . . . there shall be 

seven complete [perfect] Sabbaths, to the day after the seventh Sabbath shall you COUNT 

FIFTY DAYS" (Lev.23:15-16).

Sefirat Ha Omer -- The Key To Being an OVERCOMER!

Why does YEHOVAH God command His people to "count the Omer" each day from Passover until 

the Feast of Weeks—or Pentecost? What is pictured by this "Omer countdown"? Here is a 

vital truth about SIN AND OVERCOMING which the end-time churches have completely missed--

the VITAL KEY to becoming a spiritual OVERCOMER!

In the book of Leviticus YHWH commands His people: "And ye shall count unto you from the 

morrow after the Sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf [Hebrew, omer, 

consisting of 5.1 pints of barley grain] of the wave offering; seven Sabbaths shall be

complete" (Lev.23:15, KJV). 

Lev 23:16 ‘Until the morrow after the seventh Sabbath you count fifty days, then you shall bring a new 

grain offering to יהוה.

What is this mysterious command all about? Is this something which applies to true 

believers in the Messiah today? Or is this just something that concerned ancient Israel?  

Was it just something the priests should do?  Has it ever been explained?

What does this mean? Many people neglect this command of YHWH. They may not be aware of it. 

Or they may consider it one of the "least commandments"(Matt.5:19). But YHWH commands His 

people to COUNT THE OMER during the fifty days, from the first day of the week during 

Passover until the Feast of Weeks -- numbering off the days consecutively, as they arrive-- 

until the Feast of Shavuot, or Pentecost, arrives! He commands us to DO IT -- for a great 

and overriding purpose!

Why? What does the "Omer" represent? And why are we commanded to "count" it off for seven 

times seven or forty nine days, till Pentecost arrives, on the fiftieth day?

Hidden in the mystery behind the Omer count, is a vital KEY to spiritual OVERCOMING.

We will find that this count is A HIDDEN KEY OF POWER to enable us to achieve and enter 

into the Kingdom of YHWH!

The Meaning of the Omer Itself

In Leviticus 23 we read, Lev 23:10 “Speak to the children of Yisra’ĕl, and you shall say to them, ‘When 

you come into the land which I give you, and shall reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the first-

fruits of your harvest to the priest.   ‘And he shall wave the sheaf before יהוה, 
for your acceptance. On the

morrow after the Sabbath the priest waves it.   ‘And on that day when you wave the sheaf, you shall

prepare a male lamb a year 
old, a perfect one, as a burnt offering to יהוה, "

What is this "wave sheaf" offering? What does it symbolize and represent? Notice that it 

is a sheaf of the "first fruits," and it is offered to YHWH before the Israelites can 

harvest the spring harvest.

YHWH commands, "And you do not eat bread or roasted grain or fresh grain until the same day

that you have brought an offering to your Elohim – a law forever throughout your generations in all your

dwellings." (Lev.23:l4).

In the book of Romans, Paul writes to true disciples and believers, saying, " And not only 

so, but even we ourselves who have the first-fruits of the Spirit,  we ourselves also groan within ourselves, 

eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. " (Rom.8:23).

Yahudi, true disciples, those called of YHWH during this lifetime to serve and obey 

Him, out of every nation, are likened to "first-fruits" of YHWH. We have the "first-

fruits of the Spirit" of YHWH as a down payment, or earnest (Eph.l:4-l4) of our

inheritance, as we are the ones who "should be to the praise of his glory, who FIRST 

trusted in Messiah"(v.12). In writing of believers in the region of Achaia, Paul says 

of them, "... and the assembly that is in their house. Greet my beloved Epainetos, who is the first-fruits 

of Achaia to Messiah." (Rom.16:5).

In the book of Romans, Paul addresses our calling --which is special, and unique, in the 

sight of YHWH. Of all people on earth, we are the few who have been given the spirit of 

YHWH as a begettal, indwelling within us -- a priceless heritage and gift!  Therefore 

" … expectation does not disappoint, because the love of Elohim has been poured out in our hearts by the 

Set-apart Spirit which was given to us. "(Rom.5:5). Paul goes on, "There is therefore now no

condemnation to them which are in Messiah Yahshua, who walk not after the flesh, but after

the Spirit. . .But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of

Elohim DWELL in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Messiah, he is none of his"

(Rom.8:1-9).

How, then, does this relate to the "wave sheaf" offering which was performed the day after

the Sabbath of Passover week in the spring? Let's understand!

Though there may be room for discussion as to the Sabbath being referred to, in the book 

The Temple: Its Ministry and Services, by Alfred Edersheim, we read of the reaping of the 

wave sheaf, and its presentation. At the end of the 15th of Nisan, says Edersheim, just as

it was growing dark,"a noisy throng followed delegates of the Sanhedrin outside the city 

and across the brook Kidron. . . .[They] emerged amidst loud demonstrations, in a field

across Kidron, which had been marked out for the purpose. They were to be engaged in a 

service most important to them. . . . The law had it, 'Ye shall bring a SHEAF [literally 

the omer] of the FIRSTFRUITS of your HARVEST unto the priest [who typified, or 

represented THE MESSIAH]; and he shall wave the omer before Jehovah [the Father], to be 

accepted for you: on the morrow after the Sabbath shall ye wave it.' This Passover-sheaf, 

or rather omer, was to be accompanied by a burnt-offering, of a 'he lamb, without blemish,

of the first year,' with its appropriate meat- and drink-offering, and after it had been 

brought, butnot till then, fresh barley might be used and sold in the land. Now, this 

Passover sheaf was reaped in public the evening before it was offered, and it was to 

witness this ceremony that the crowd gathered around 'the elders,' who took care that all 

was done according to traditionary ordinance" (p.256-57)

In the past, many have ASSUMED -- and many STILL assume -- that the "wave sheaf" offering 

referred only to Yahshua the Messiah, who was the offering for our sins

upon the tree (II Cor.5:20). It was accompanied by the offering of a male lamb without 

blemish -- which itself typified the Messiah! It was waved by the high priest before YHWH,

to be accepted of the Father -- and the high priest typified

Yahshua, our "high priest" in heaven (Heb.7:24-28;

9:24; 10:10). Notice that this "wave sheaf" was

offered AFTER the sacrifice of the Messiah our

Passover Lamb (I Cor.5:7-8). The Passover lambs were

slain in the afternoon of Nisan 14 -- the precise time

when Yahshua the Messiah was slain for us!

Clearly, then, the wave sheaf does NOT refer to the

Messiah only -- but rather is made possible BY the

Sacrifice of the Messiah, which precedes it in time

sequence! We have the following sequence of events: 1)

the sacrifice of the Messiah on Nisan 14, late

afternoon; 2) the high day of Passover and the weekly

Sabbath; 3) the evening after the Sabbath, a sheaf (bundle) of grain is selected from the 

field across the Kidron Valley, east of Jerusalem, and cut and bundled; 4) the next 

morning, it is prepared and waved before YHWH and accepted of Him as "THE FIRST-FRUITS" of

the harvest.

The wave sheaf offering is an offering which is a BUNDLE OF SEPARATE

BARLEY GRAINS, FROM A NUMBER OF PLANTS, AMOUNTING TO AN "OMER" -- about five pints, or two

and one half quarts. This offering followed the offering of the Messiah, as our Passover 

lamb, who paid for our sins. It was accompanied by the burnt offering of a lamb --

the Messiah -- without blemish (Lev.23:12). 

The Wave Sheaf Offering, composed of MANY individual

grains, offered together, made possible by the

sacrifice of the Messiah, represents the 144,000 --

TRUE Believers -- those called of YHWH as His "FIRSTFRUITS"!

It was offered to the Father AFTER the sacrifice of

the Messiah, because there is NO WAY the Father could

accept them BEFORE their sins were pardoned, and

atoned for—and until the sacrifice of Our Savior was accepted, and our sins were wiped 

away and washed away by the

blood of the Messiah! But since the Messiah became

our Savior, and qualified by living a perfect life,

and DIED for us on the tree, this made possible OUR

acceptance before the throne of YHWH in

Heaven! 

But why, then, are we commanded to "COUNT THE OMER" or

the wave sheaf for seven times seven days, from

Passover until Feast of Weeks? Herein lies a fascinating truth. 

A Lesson from Judaism

A key to understanding this puzzle is provided in the

book The Jewish Way: Living the Holidays. Rabbi

Greenburg writes:

"The holiday of Shavuot [Pentecost] . . . celebrates

and renews the covenant of the Jewish people. In

accordance with the classical rabbinical method,

Shavuot is the time when Jews recreate the Revelation

at Sinai and then reaccept the book of the covenant.

"The reenactment of Sinai starts forty-nine days

before the event. . . [T]he countdown begins on the

first night after the Exodus. The Omer is counted

every night from one to forty-nine, by days and by

weeks. According to Maimonides' interpretation, as

soon as the Israelites were out of Egypt, they looked

forward to receiving the Torah. Maimonides views

Sefirat Ha'Omer (Counting of the Omer) as the outcome

of the extraordinary anticipation that the Jews felt

for the moment of Revelation. The Israelites COUNTED

EVERY NIGHT much like a child who counts the days

until his or her day.

"Earlier rabbinic midrash [teaching] interprets the

weeks between Passover and Shavuot AS A PASSAGE PERIOD

FROM SLAVERY TO FREEDOM. The Israelites came out of

Egypt saturated with Egyptian values; the forty-nine

days enabled them to 'REMOVE' THE IMPURITIES OF EGYPT

. . .

"The Omer count goes on for seven times seven days.

Seven is the number/symbol of PERFECTION in scriptural

language, as evidenced in such facts as the Sabbath is

the seventh day, the slave goes free in the seventh

year. The number forty-nine communicates

arrival at the pinnacle of PERFECTION. DAY BY DAY the

individual WORKS ON THE INNER SELF, STRIVING TO ATTAIN

THE LEVEL OF PERFECTION WORTHY OF RECEIVING THE TORAH"

(The Jewish Way, p.80-81).

Let’s consider: From Passover to Feast of Weeks pictures the

believer’s life. It is to be a lifetime spent in

overcoming. Each and every day is vital, and

important. Each day brings us nearer to the coming of

the Messiah, and the "wedding Feast" of the Lamb,

which Feast of Weeks itself pictures, and also brings us

closer to the return of Our Messiah Himself on the

Feast of Trumpets! YHWH delivered "Israel" out of

Egypt at Passover. He brought them through the Red

Sea, and through the wilderness to the foot of Mount

Sinai. And then YHWH "married" Israel on Feast of Weeks,

at Mount Sinai, when He gave them His covenant and

they accepted it (Exodus 24:1-11; Jer.3:14).

What does this picture? Passover pictures our

repentance and acceptance of Yahshua as our Messiah and

Savior. Going through the Red Sea pictures our

These things that happened to Israel were examples for us! "For 

whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning,

that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures

might have hope" (Rom.15:4). "Now these things were

OUR EXAMPLES, to the intent we should not lust after

evil things, as they also lusted. Neither be ye

idolaters, as were some of them . . . Neither let us

commit fornication [sexual immorality], as some of

them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty

thousand. Neither let us tempt Messiah, as some of them

also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. Neither

murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were

destroyed of the destroyer. Now all of these things

happened unto them for ENSAMPLES: and they are written

for OUR admonition, upon whom the ends of the world

[age] are come" (I Cor.10:6-11).

The Lesson of Remembering to Count Daily the Omer

Roughly Fifty days after Passover, and the death of the

Egyptians' firstborn, Israel met YHWWH at Mount

Sinai. These fifty days are a spiritual TYPE! They

typify the believer’s escape from the kingdom of Satan

and the power of SIN [Egypt], and picture our

departing from "sin," and captivity to "sin," and

being baptized, and journeying out of sin, and

following YHWH's truth, and His commandments, and a

life of overcoming, and enduring to the end, till the

great "Wedding Day" when the Messiah comes for his

The lesson of counting the "Omer" every day, for seven

times seven weeks, or 49 days, till Feast of Weeks, or

Shavuot, "the Feast of Weeks," pictures our daily

fight to overcome -- our overcoming and keeping sin

out of our lives, till the very end! As Paul says, we

Eph 5:16 redeeming the time, because the days are wicked. "

In essence, the 50 days between Passover and Feast of Weeks

are a microcosmic "Jubilee" period, with Pentecost or Feast of Weeks 

being the "50th day" ("Pentecost" means "Fiftieth

Day"), or the anti-type of the "Jubilee Year" which is

the 50th year after seven times seven weeks of years

(Leviticus 25). Thus this 50-day period from morrow after the Sabbath at

Passover is-- a type of our day of "conversion" -- to Pentecost-- 

picturing the great Wedding Day at the coming of the Messiah -- pictures

the believer’s life during which we must prepare, qualify, overcome sin,

and root out every vestige of "spiritual Egypt" out of our

character and lives!

During these fifty days, we ought to "count the Omer"

-- each day -- and think about and meditate on

OVERCOMING and preparing to meet the Messiah and

YHWH the Father, and get ourselves READY, SPIRITUALLY, working on 

ourselves, striving for PERFECTION, so that we "may be accounted WORTHY . . .

to stand before the Son of Adam" (Luke 21:36).  Luk 21:36 “Watch then at all times, and

pray that you be counted worthy to escape all this about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Aḏam.” 

During this time period, we should be focusing our

attention on overcoming, and growing in grace and

knowledge -- praying and studying YHWH's Word, as

never before, intently, with concentrated effort and

zealous endeavor. It is and ought to be a focused,

concentrated time of overcoming!  As such, occurring at the beginning 

of YHWH's sacred year, it is and ought to be the pattern or template of 

our overcoming sin and evil throughout all remainder of the year. It is 

a "nucleus of overcoming." It sets the pattern for the entire year!

If we then fulfill the command of YHWH to "count the Omer" daily, to 

Pentecost, this helps us keep in our mind our primary duty and the 

primary meaning of these "Days of Overcoming"! And it helps us to be in 

a right frame of mind of overcoming, throughout the remainder of the 

year!

Unfortunately, end-time churches of YEHOVAH or assemblies of YHWH have 

been totally neglecting this command to count the Omer daily. They 

simply have not been aware of it—or the leaders have ignored it, and 

have not been doing it. No wonder, then, they have had such a miserable 

and terrible time when it comes to overcoming and putting

sin out of their lives!

Many have thought that the "Days of Unleavened Bread"

pictured putting sin out of our lives. However, this is

not precisely the case. The Days of Unleavened Bread

picture coming out of Egypt -- or sin. That is, they

begin with Passover and finish with final high day of Unleavened Bread. 

The passing through the Red Sea pictures Baptism Rom 6:1  What, then, shall we say? 

Shall we continue in sin, to let favour increase? 

 . 

But Baptism is merely the beginning point of the true disciple’s life! 

It isn't all finished at Baptism -- it has merely begun!

From that point forward, as the Israelites journeyed

through the DESERT, and suffered many trials and

afflictions, their journey through the WILDERNESS

pictures the believer’s life of overcoming, and

enduring, and preparing to meet YHWH at Mount

Zion! The occasion of ancient Israel meeting YHWH at Sinai, where the 

"Covenant" -- a marriage covenant -- was enacted, was an amazing type of

our soon-coming marriage to THE MESSIAH, when the RENEWED COVENANT 

MARRIAGE with him will be completed, and the Assembly (church) will 

become his spiritual BRIDE for eternity!

Again, unfortunately, the truth about the "counting of the Omer," has 

been a sorely NEGLECTED, and ignored. This truth provides a KEY--A 

SECRET TO OVERCOMING! Learning to "count the Omer" from Passover to 

Feast of Weeks teaches us and instills in us the habit of obedience; 

it inculcates in us the self-discipline to REMEMBER to "count" every day

and to keep IN MIND where we are going; it instills in us and helps to 

set within our minds and hearts our TRUE GOAL IN LIFE -- the Kingdom of 

YHWH!

Many, by not realizing this truth, and by neglecting

to count the Omer faithfully, have tended to "let

down" in their own personal "overcoming," and have

also lost sight of the vision—the quest for the Kingdom.

They have lost spiritual FOCUS. They have become entangled with the 

things of this life.  As a result discouragement, despair, and seeing 

the overwhelming trials of the "wilderness" around them, have taken 

their eyes OFF the true "end of the journey" – the KINGDOM OF YHWH!

The "counting of the Omer," the countdown to the

Kingdom, which it pictures, reminds us that there is

EFFORT required for salvation. We cannot just "coast"

into YHWH's Kingdom! We must DO OUR PART! As Yahshua

the Messiah himself declared: "Become ye therefore

PERFECT [totally mature, spiritually], even as your

Father in heaven is perfect" (Matt.5:48). As He

also stated: " Mat 6:33 “But seek first the reign of Elohim, and His righteousness, and all these 

matters shall be added to you. " (Matt.6:33).

During this time of the "Omer countdown," each year,

we must set ourselves daily to "count the Omer." It

becomes an exciting task and makes us look forward

with sheer delight and joyful anticipation to

Feast of Weeks -- a type of the coming of the Messiah and