Passover to Pentecost: A Sojourn from First-Fruits (Pt. 1)

To be read from the eve of Shavu’ot 2021 (Sivan 5, 5781 / May 16, 2021): https://anchor.fm/sy-adamah

Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu, Melekh ha’olam, asher kideshanu beh-mitzvohtav, veh-tzivanu al-sefirah ha’omer.

Blessed are you LORD, our God, King of the world (universe), who has sanctified us with His commandments, and commanded us on the counting of the Omer.

According to Rabbinic Judaism, today is the 49th day, that is, the 7th exact week of Counting the Omer (Sefirat Ha’Omer). As such, today is the brink and brim of the Omer count, that is, the penultimate to Pentecost (Hebrew: Shavu’ot).

And as today sinks into tomorrow, this day will become the 50th day, that is, 7 full (complete) weeks of Counting the Omer. And as such, tomorrow will be one step above the product of 7 days x 7 weeks of counting; this day will become the fiftieth from First-Fruits (Bikkurim), that is, the day of Pentecost (Fifty) itself.

These are the seven days and seven weeks of Counting the Omer (Sefirat Ha’Omer).

To begin the process of counting these seven days and seven weeks is the Day of First-Fruits (Yom HaBikkurim), otherwise known as the Feast of the First-Fruits (Chag HaBikkurim). On this day in biblical history, the children of Israel were instructed to bring a sheaf of their first-fruits – a bundle of barley – after they arrived and settled in the land God had previously promised and later led them to after the Exodus from Egypt. This offering to God used the first-fruits of the Promised Land to initiate the process of counting up to the 50th day, known as either the day of Shavu’ot (Weeks) in Hebrew or the day of Pentēkostḗ (Fiftieth) in Greek.

“And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I give to you, and you reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest.

He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.’ “

Leviticus 23: 9-11 (NKJV)

Depending on one’s biblical tradition (e.g. Judaism or Christianity) as well as one’s own approach to biblical interpretation (viz. Rabbinic or Karaite Judaism), the day of First-Fruits varies and could either always fall on the second day of Passover & Unleavened Bread (Nissan 16), as it does in Rabbinic Judaism, or First-Fruits could always move to fall on the day after the Sabbath of Passover Week (Shabbat Pesach), as it does in Karaite Judaism. Alternatively, First-fruits could even fall on every Resurrection Sunday, as it does in Christianity.

If we adopt an angle of interpretation to the biblical text where we interpret what is written as “the Sabbath” to be the first day of the annual Passover & Feast of Unleavened Bread (Nissan 14-15), we find ourselves more inclined to the Rabbinic view. However, if we are to adopt a more plain and straight-forward interpretation to the biblical text above we find ourselves more inclined to the view of Karaite Judaism, where we identify what is written as “the Sabbath” to be the Seventh-Day Sabbath – the weekly day of rest – taking place after Passover. With the latter interpretation, the day of First-fruits took place 7 days after Passover this year (Nissan 22, 5781 / 4th April 2021).

In either case, the crescendo of these 7 days and 7 weeks of counting up to 50 is always the the Feast of Weeks (Shavu’ot) or the day of Pentecost (Pentēkostḗ). On this day in biblical history, as an alternative to the bundle of barley, the children of Israel were instructed to bring leavened bread baked with wheat-grain as a new first-fruit offering. This new first-fruit offering to God worked as an alternate, up-graded and up-dated version of the original offering of barley to complete the upward count of 7 days and 7 weeks with fruit of the fiftieth.

” ‘And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed.

‘Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the LORD.

‘You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are the firstfruits to the LORD.

Leviticus 23:15-21 (NKJV)

As a bridge between these two days – the first (Bikkurim) and the fiftieth (Shavu’ot / Pentecost) – are the days of the Omer, otherwise known as Counting the Omer (Sefirat Ha’Omer). These days are a sum of 49 individual days of counting from First-Fruits (Bikurrim) to Fifty (Pentēkostḗ); these days are a product of seven full weeks (7×7), a series of seven complete Sabbaths (seven sevens), connecting the first and the fiftieth day.

Despite these days of counting having their origin in the Torah (Law of Moses), they are not only rooted in instructive Levitical laws but find their Halakhic narrative root in the story of the Israelite Exodus. The theme of first-fruits which stems from this original narrative, from this origin story, extends throughout biblical history to finally manifest as the alternate, up-graded and up-dated first-fruits witnessed in and through the Apostolic Acts of Luke’s Gospel (see Luke 24 & Acts 1-2).

However, if we first-focus on the narrative roots of these days we come to days which occur as an entr’acte for the Exodus from Egypt and the Wilderness of Sinai; days which play out as an interlude in-between the very first Passover and the Ten Commandments; days which work as a bridge connecting the Red-Sea crossing and the Revelation at Mt. Sinai. An interlude playing in the midst of Israel’s redemption song with the message that God’s promise of redemption does not come without cost, strife or struggle (Meriva):

“So Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea; then they went out into the Wilderness of Shur. And they went three days into the wilderness and found no water.

Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter.

[…]

And the people complained against Moses, saying, ‘What shall we drink?‘ ”

Exodus 15: 22-24 (NKJV)

A redemption song with the resounding message that God’s promise will not come without a time of testing, trials or a temptation to despair:

“And they journeyed from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they departed from the land of Egypt.

Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.

And the children of Israel said to them, ‘Oh, that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

Exodus 16: 1-2 (NKJV)

A redemption song that cannot be completed without questions which come across as cries, complaints and contentions with God and His messengers:

“Then all the congregation of the children of Israel set out on their journey from the Wilderness of Sin, according to the commandment of the LORD and camped in Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to drink.

Therefore the people contended with Moses, and said, ‘Give us water, that we may drink.’ So Moses said to them, ‘Why do you contend with me? Why do you tempt the LORD?’

And the people thirsted there for water, and the people complained against Moses, and said, ‘Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?’ ”

Exodus 17: 1-3 (NKJV)

Despite the setbacks of this redemption song, this interlude works to immerse Israel into God’s restorative rhythm: a rhythm where God restores Israel from both the misery and memory of Egyptian slavery.

“Then the king of Egypt said to them, ‘Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people from their work? Get back to your labor.

And Pharaoh said, ‘Look, the people of the land are many now, and you make them rest from their labor!’

So the same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their officers, saying, ‘You shall no longer give the people straw to make brick as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves. And you shall lay on them the quota of bricks which they made before. You shall not reduce it.’

[…]

And the taskmasters forced them to hurry, saying, ‘Fulfill your work, your daily quota, as when there was straw.’

[…]

But [Pharoah] said, ‘You are idle! Idle! Therefore you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the LORD.’ Therefore go now and work; for no straw shall be given you yet you shall deliver the quota of bricks.’ “

Exodus 5: 4-19 (NKJV)

A rhythm where God begins to restore by reversing the bitter curse of oppressive labour. Where what was once a curse to count and keep the quota for an oppressive king – the Pharaoh of Egypt – is now reversed to become a command to count the Omer and keep the Sabbath for a beneficent One – the Redeemer of Israel: YHWH.

“And God spoke all these words, saying:

‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

You shall have no other gods before Me.’ “

Exodus 20: 1-3 (NKJV)

A beneficent King who commands the people to go out and gather, to go out, collect and count a measurement of meal – an Omer of Manna – for themselves; a Redeemer who commands the people to rest from their labour and to keep the Sabbath as a soothing salve for their spirits each and every seventh day.

“Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they walk in My law or not.

And it shall be on the sixth day that they shall prepare what they bring in, and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.

[…]

And Moses said to them, ‘This is the bread which the LORD has given you to eat.

This is the thing which the LORD has commanded: ‘Let every man gather it according to each one’s need, one omer for each person …’

[…]

So when they measured it by omers, he who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack. Every man had gathered according to each one’s need.”

Exodus 16: 4-18 (NKJV)

A rhythm where God restores by reversing the taste of bitter waters in the wilderness. Where what was once sour to taste and hard to endure becomes sweet to the palate and a pleasure to experience; what was once the iron-fist of Egyptian slavery with a bitter aftertaste becomes the healing hand of God’s redemption and the foretaste – the sweet sample – of His salvation.

“And the people complained against Moses, saying, ‘What shall we drink?‘

So [Moses] cried out to the LORD and the LORD showed him a tree. When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There He made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there He tested them,

and said, ‘If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandment and keep all His statutes. I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians.

For I am the LORD who heals you.’

Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees; so they camped there by the waters.”

Exodus 15: 22-27 (NKJV)

A restorative rhythm where the children are led by God to an oasis of pure water for each tribe of Israel and a palm tree for each pilgrim with Jacob (see Genesis 46: 26-27);

An oasis which echoes the hydration (the waters) and the vegetation (the fruits) of Eden (see Genesis 2:8-10);

An oasis which works as a prototype of the Promised Land and the first-fruits of God’s redemptive promise to Abraham (see Deuteronomy 8: 1-9 & Genesis 15: 12-16).

In essence, the days of Counting the Omer (Sefirat Ha’Omer) are not simply days of counting from Passover to Pentecost (Pesach to Shavu’ot) but stem from stories rooted in the Torah. These stories play out as an entr’acte, a redemptive interlude, a bridge connecting the Israelite Exodus from Egypt and the Revelation of God at Sinai. An interlude that is not simply counting up from First-fruits to Fifty (Bikkurim to Pentecost) but an interlude with a restorative rhythm reaching its crescendo with the voice of the Most-High. A bridge which plays out as an upward journey of the people as they return to the Redeemer.

(TBC)

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