Each year, according to the Hebrew calendar, we count a set of days after the Passover to the Feast of Weeks, or Shavuot. Not only is there mystery in this fifty-day count, but there is also controversy as to how it should be counted. What exactly is the purpose in this activity? And, what is the dispute concerning its counting?

Each year, according to the Hebrew calendar, we count a set of days after the Passover to the Feast of Weeks, or Shavuot. Not only is there mystery in this fifty-day count, but there is also controversy as to how it should be counted. What exactly is the purpose in this activity? And, what is the dispute concerning its counting?

Before we attempt to answer those questions, maybe we should define what an omer is. Obviously, an omer is one of the Biblical weights and measures. An omer is a measure of grain. Specifically, an omer is one-tenth of an ephah. It is how an omer was used that will reveal its meaning to us, and on this account, it is the measure used for the gathering of manna. Manna, as you know, was the bread from heaven gathered in the wilderness by the children of Israel.

This is what the Lord has commanded, “Gather of it every man as much as he should eat; you shall take an omer apiece according to the number of persons each of you has in his tent.” The sons of Israel did so, and some gathered much and some little. When they measured it with an omer, he who had gathered much had no excess, and he who had gathered little had no lack; every man gathered as much as he should eat. Exodus 16:16-18

An omer was the amount of flour to make daily bread. The children of Israel were commanded to gather an omer of manna for each person. Part of the miracle of that bread was that it was exactly the portions what they needed. There was no excess nor lack.

The counting of the omer is to teach us and illustrate the great work of the bread from heaven. Yeshua is the bread from heaven and He is to be our daily bread (read portion). During the celebration of Passover, Yeshua shows us that He is the Afikomen (the bread broken for us), the best part of the Passover. He also taught that He was the true bread from heaven.

The omer, the measure of daily bread, is the teaching from Passover to the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot). Shavuot is not the same date each year on the calendar. It is because there is a unique way of counting the omer. Shavuot is the 50th day after the counting of seven weeks.

What exactly is an omer? An ephah was the measure of a person, that is, a person could fit into a vessel called an ephah. Since the omer was one tenth of an ephah, it was understood that an omer was a tithe of the ephah. A tithe is a spiritual measure; an omer is the physical measure. This information begins to shed some light on why God calls us to measure these particular days, but let us try to explain the counting method first.

The ancient Sadducees and Pharisees were not always in agreement with the instruction of Moses. The counting of the omer is one of the classic areas of their disagreement. Simply put, the Pharisees treated Passover as a Sabbath and counted directly 50 days after the Passover. To them, 50 days after the Passover was Shavuot. Consider the instruction of Moses on this point.

Speak to the sons of Israel, and say to them, “When you enter the land which I am going to give to you and reap its harvest, then you shall bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. He shall wave the sheaf before the Lord for you to be accepted; on the day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. Now on the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb one year old without defect for a burnt offering to the Lord. Its grain offering shall then be two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering by fire to the Lord for a soothing aroma, with its drink offering, a fourth of a hin of wine. Until this same day, until you have brought in the offering of your God, you shall eat neither bread nor roasted grain nor new growth. It is to be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places. You shall also count for yourselves from the day after the sabbath, from the day when you brought in the sheaf of the wave offering; there shall be seven complete sabbaths. You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh sabbath; then you shall present a new grain offering to the Lord.” Leviticus 23:10-16

The dispute between the Sadducees and Pharisees was concerning which sabbath the barley is waved after. Was it the day after Passover (is Passover a sabbath)? Or was it the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which is a High Sabbath? Or, was Moses referring to the day after the weekly sabbath? The Pharisees argued that it was Passover, and counted the Feast of Weeks as fifty days later. This is the present method of counting in Rabbinical Judaism today. The Sadducees argued that the sabbath in question was the weekly sabbath that fell somewhere in the Feast of Unleavened and that the day following was the first day of the counting. They argued that the counting of weeks was seven complete sabbatical weeks resulting in Shavuot. This always caused the first day after the seventh Sabbath to be a Sunday as Shavuot.

Are you confused yet? Don't be concerned. Israel has been confused about this whole matter for millennia. I believe the Sadducees, who weren't correct about many things, were in fact correct in counting the omer. So, how does that counting method affect us in our counting of the omer this year? Let's review the Mosaic instruction and then do the count.

Passover was on the 14th of Nisan. The Feast of Unleavened bread began on the 15th of Nisan and extended for seven days. On the first day after the first weekly sabbath after Passover is the Feast of First Fruits. The priest waves the barley sheaves on this day. This is the first day of the counting of the omer. You then count seven sabbaths (seven complete weeks) from that point. On the day after the seventh sabbath, it is Shavuot (the Feast of Weeks).

This year, April 7th at the evening was the start of the eve of the 14th of Nisan. Passover began; Passover day is April 8th. On Wednesday evening, April 8th, the Feast of Unleavened Bread begins and extends for seven days to April 15th in the evening. The days of Unleavened Bread were April 9th to April 15th. The weekly sabbath of that week was April 11th. Therefore, the first day of the omer count was April 12th—Sunday, the day after the weekly sabbath. Counting seven full sabbaths and fifty days brings us to Sunday, May 31st. This is Shavuot according the instruction of Moses. If you check a traditional Hebrew calendar, it will show that Saturday, May 30th is Shavuot. This is the difference between Moses and the Pharisaic (present Rabbinical) tradition.

The New Testament account of these holidays and the counting lines up only with the Mosaic instruction. Why? Because, the Sadducees had the upper hand on this issue during the New Testament period. The day of Pentecost was on a first day after a weekly sabbath. It was on the day of Pentecost that the disciples came out proclaiming Yeshua as Messiah. Look at the instruction of Moses for the Feast of Weeks and the call for proclamation.

On this same day you shall make a proclamation as well; you are to have a holy convocation. You shall do no laborious work. It is to be a perpetual statute in all your dwelling places throughout your generations. Leviticus 23:21

I trust that having enjoyed the Unleavened Bread of the Messiah at the Passover, that you are now enjoying the daily bread from heaven and preparing to join with all Israel in proclaiming that the Lord—the Lord our God—the Lord is One. And, there is no one like the Lord! Amen.