B.

Scott 4/13/12

Sefirat Haomer
Normally, our custom is to study the weekly parshah, however, because we are still in the midst of celebrating the Spring Feasts (specifically the week of Unleavened Bread), there is not a regular scheduled parshah this week. As Unleavened Bread comes to a close, we find ourselves only at the start of another special command, which we will look into tonight Sefirat Homer, the counting of the omer! In Leviticus 23, we are commanded by Yahweh to count from the time of Yom Habikkurim (Feast of Early First Fruits, happens during the middle of Unleavened Bread) 7 sabbaths until the Feast of Shavuot/Pentecost. Much time and debate has been spent on when to start the counting of the days, but do we really understand the significance relayed to us within this command? Instead of merely stating the date of Shavuot, we are commanded by Yahweh to count the daysplacing the responsibility upon us! Both Yom Habikkurim and Shavout are harvest festivals, one celebrating the barley harvest and the other the wheat harvest. But, there is much more than meets the eye! Leviticus 23:15-16 *Before we begin to break down this verse, lets take a look at the numbers! There are 13 words & 58 letters. 13 = the Bride & 58 = chen grace, also the value of nadad to flee, wander abroad, stray, depart If the Bride who has wandered, strayed and departed will obediently honor this command (to count the omer/days) then she will be shown grace/chen! What is grace from a Hebrew perspective? = represents Chai/life, its composed of the letters Vav ( & )Zayin ( )connected by a bridge at the top, representing the husband & wife/Bridegroom & Bride under the chuppah (Chet is said to be symbolic of the marital dance!), picture of a fence (representing the fenced off place) = Life/Word/Seed, all that pertains to life; Being shown grace then is being given life, the life that is found when returning to the Word of Yahweh as it unites you to the Messiah, your Bridegroom! John 10:10 I am come that they might have life, and that they might have [it] more abundantly. Being one who gains access to the fenced off place. Does the counting of the omer teach us of this marital dance, how to be joined under the chuppah? Lets continue to look! Count: Strongs #5608 caphar to count, recount, relate, declare, rehearse; cognate terms mean to scratch, scrape, polish, especially to inscribe letters on a stone, or to write In other words to count is to relate, declare, 1

and rehearse that which has been written & inscribed! *1st reference Genesis 15:5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell/caphar the stars, if thou be able to number/caphar them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. (It was the redemption plan of YHVH written in the stars, the Torah itself, that Abraham was now being commanded to rehearse and declare causing that redemption message to be acted out in the lives of his descendants/seed). Stars: Strongs #3556 kowkab star; gematria = 48, same as chayil (#2428) strength, might; from #2342 chuwl to twist, whirl, dance, also used to describe the labor pains of giving birth The counting (declaring of that which had been written) teaches us the marital dance (leads you to the chuppah and your Bridegroom), but it also points towards the goal giving birth! Sheaf: Strongs #6016 omer omer, sheaf; from #6014 amar to bind sheaves, to manipulate, treat as a slave, deal tyrannically with; cognate of #562 omer ) & are interchangeable) utterance, speech, word, saying, promise, command; from #559 amar to say, speak, utter *The counting of the omer has something to do with our ability as the Bride to speak/utter/declare the Word that has been written, therefore determining whether we are taken under the chuppah in marriage or remain a slave! Remember, as we count the omer/days there is a transition between the harvests, from barley to wheat! Barley: Strongs #8184 seorah barley; = Sarah & = Womb the womb of Sarah (Sarah is a type/shadow picture of the Bride, her womb was barren, yet if Abraham would obediently caphar/tell the stars, that would change!) Wheat: Strongs #2406 chittah wheat; gematria = 22, same value as the number of letters in the Hebrew Alephbet (that which was written and now spoken) Gematria of barley = 527 22 (value of wheat) = 553, same value as machareshah (#4281) plowshare; from #2790 charash to cut in, plough, engrave, to be silent, dumb, speechless, or deaf Could it be that the counting of the omer is a rehearsal of the barren woman (Sarah) being transformed and prepared to receive the Word/Language (no longer silent, speechless, dumb) but housing the language/seed and this causes her to be freed from her bondage/slavery, the Bride receiving grace/life. This same shadow picture is seen with the nation of Israel as well as they come out of bondage in Egypt, having celebrated the Passover and going upon the Exodus. Israel crosses the Red Sea on Yom Habikkurim (Feast of Early 2

First Fruits), leading into the counting of the omer till they arrive at Sinai on Shavuot to stand under the chuppah. Exodus 13:18 But Yahweh led the people about, [through] the way of the wilderness of the Red sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt. Led: Strongs #5437 cabab to turn, encircle, surround, to change or transform Harnessed: Strongs #2571 chamush in battle array, arrayed for battle by fives, armed *This connects us to the counting Lev. 23:16! Fifty: Strongs #2572 chamishshiym fifty; from #2568 chamesh five (same root letters as the term for harnessed) *They leave Egypt counting the omer, the very method that Yahweh establishes to free His bride from bondage and slavery and bring her unto Himself because it is this time of counting that causes her to be changed and transformed! Sea/yam 50 = ,the days that are counted. Crossing the Red Sea was intricately tied to the significance of counting the omer! Exodus 14:22 tells us they crossed on dry ground, beyabbashah which has a gematria of 319, same as the phrase asiach meaning I will speak or declare in other words restoring her ability! *Connecting us back to Abraham in Gen. 15:5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell/caphar the stars. Forth: #3318 yatsa to exit, go forth, come out; used to describe Israel being brought out of Egypt Look: #5027 nabat to look, regard; same letters form beten (#990) belly or womb, the very thing cursed if the adulterous woman partook of the bitter waters Heaven: #8064 shamayim heaven, sky; contains the root = waters The adulterous woman in slavery in Egypt was commanded to look to the waters, why? Water is symbolic of the Torah, if she would look to the Torah she could be changed/transformed and taught how to receive grace! And here Israel crosses the Red Sea fulfilling that! Directly after crossing the Red Sea on Yom Habikkurim and beginning the counting of the omer were told in Exodus 13:20 And they took their journey from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness. Encamped: Strongs #2583 chanah to decline, encamp, incline, bend down, to lay siege against; spelled the same as Hannah grace, mother of Samuel, she (just like Sarah) was barren! 1 Samuel 1:5 Yahweh had shut up her womb Shut up: Strongs 3

#5462 cagar to shut, close; same term used in Exodus 14:3 For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut/cagar them in. Entangled: #943 buwk to perplex, confused; Gematria (with sofit value) = 508, same value as charash (#2790 )to be silent, dumb, speechless *Being speechless/silent (unable to declare that which has been written/caphar) goes hand in hand with being barren. Notice we are specifically told that Pharaoh would make this statement! Pharaoh: #6547 Paroh Great House; = mouth & = evil ( = Head/YHVH & = Knowledge), the mouth of the great house that speaks evil against the knowledge/Word of YHVH! Say: #559 amar to say, speak, utter; cognate of omer Pharaoh would speak against the counting of the omer, thinking that Israel was a barren woman (Sarah & Hannah) whose womb was shut and that she would remain speechless, dumb, and silent, therefore remaining in bondage and slavery to him. Exodus 14:12 [Is] not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? Alone: #2308 chadal to stop, cease, desist, cease to be, to leave off; same term is seen in Gen. 18:11 and it ceased/chadal to be with Sarah after the manner of women. Referring to her inability to be fruitful and the reason for her barrenness. *Another connection is found to Israel as the adulterous woman as well in the way that they cross the Red Sea. Exodus 15:8 And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as an heap, [and] the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea. Gathered Together: Strongs #6192 aram to heap up, pile up, be heaped up; same letters that spell omer! Its a cognate of #6191 aram to be subtle, shrewd, crafty, to make naked, to uncover 3 letter root of Pharaoh #6544) ) = to let loose or unbind, during the ordeal of the bitter waters, the woman had her hair loosened/unbound (Numbers 5:18 And the priest shall set the woman before Yahweh, and uncover/para the woman's head) Pharaoh understands the state of Israel when they leave an adulterous woman who has been uncovered and made barren. *Remember the counting starts during the barley harvest, barley: seorah letter root 3 (sear #8181) hair, emphasizing that Israels hair is uncovered as the adulterous woman. What Pharaoh failed to understand was the significance of what the counting

of the omer would do & of where Israel was being led! By way of the Red Sea & then to Etham! Etham: Strongs #864 Etham with them: their plowshare; = Messiah/Word & = womb The Word was placed within the womb that had been barren! = I will & = integrity, completeness, perfect, one who lacks nothing; she was brought to the place where Yahweh declared over her I will perfect you, complete you, and cause you to be one who lacks nothing! *The same letters that spell Etham form #8382 taam to be double, be joined, to bear twins; Songs 4:2 whereof every one bear twins (taam), and none is barren among them. The ability of the Bride to speak forth and declare that which has been written (the Torah) is restored as she counts the omer, declaring that which had been written in the heavens as she crosses the waters! It restores the barren adulterous woman. And just to further prove and emphasize these connections with the counting of the omer, Noahs ark also landed on the mountains of Ararat on Yom Habikkurim. Once again a shadow picture of the bitter waters, but a group of individuals crossing through them to become the Bride that is transformed. The dimensions of the ark gives us the final piece of the puzzle: 300 cubits + 50 cubits + 30 cubits = 380, the value of lashon tongue the restoration of the ability to speak enabled them to declare the redemption plan! Isaiah 54:1-5 Travail: Strongs #2342 chuwl to twist, whirl, dance, to be with labor pains *Remember earlier we looked at the term stars/kowkab (tell the stars) and it had the same gematria as this word chuwl! By obediently counting and declaring the barren one is made fruitful! Vs. 3 On the right hand & on the left, same statement made concerning the waters of the Red Sea, connecting all the pieces together. The significance of the counting of the omer is that it teaches the barren woman, the bride in slavery, how to find her way back the chuppah! Its all about the Word/language of Yahweh being placed in her again as she is transformed through the washing of the Water of His Word!