There's an old song lyric which expresses
"One is the loneliest number." If we think about the number one (1), it is only divisible by itself. It stands alone from any other number, yet it is a component of all of them. In scripture, it symbolizes the Supremacy and Primacy of God Almighty. This "One" thinking is the foundation of the Shema found in Deuteronomy 6:4
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is One.
~ Deuteronomy 6:4 (Berean Study Bible)
Numbers are extremely significant in scripture. God has created order and His order is apparent in His use of numbering throughout His Holy Word. The very hairs on our head are numbered by God (Luke 12:7) and there is an entire Book in the Bible entitled "Numbers!"
For the next 50 days we will number the days or "Count the Omer." Scripture tells us to do this.
Keep in mind that the devil does not have
one (pun intended!) single new idea. He cannot "create" or be "creative." He can simply COUNTERFEIT. So, the evil practice of numerology is the devil's counterfeit of God's perfect number ordering. Clearly the scripture is written so that we might see patterns of God's handiwork through numbers. When we take these numbers and attempt to utilize them for witchcraft, astrology or predictions, we are "out of order"...out of God's spiritual order and into spiritual chaos and disorder.
Counting the Omer is a reminder to bring in the sheaves of a spiritual people harvest as a wave offering to God. Remember, Satan can only counterfeit. Planned Parenthood's "harvesting" of fetus parts is the Satanic version of God's harvesting. Laborers in God's work harvest The Body of Christ for LIFE not death.
The Counting of the Omer is a verbal counting of each day after Passover through Shavuot (also known as Pentecost). Passover, of course, represents the final release of God's people from slavery through the slain Blood of the Lamb. The path from Passover to Shavuot (written Law) and to Pentecost (Law written on our hearts) represents God getting His people back into "order" after years of having lived in the chaos and disorder of Egyptian bondage. This "megas dunamis" (intense spiritual power to fight the evil kingdom of darkness), comes from the combined power of lawful living made alive through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Temples (bodies) filled with this power make devils cower in fear.
The practice of counting each day, is a spiritual preparation so that we might allow God to prepare our souls for obedience to Christ. The Law is imprinted on our hearts and fulfilled as we recognize it is all for, by and through Jesus Christ our Lord and Messiah.
Counting the Omer is not about redemption from slavery in the strictest of senses. Remember, the Israelites were already redeemed from slavery. It more represents the "trek through the desert" (this life) that all of us must traverse upon as we learn that "lawful living" and obeying God's Word is critical in the process.
And being made perfect, He became the Author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey Him.
~ Hebrews 5:9 (KJV)
THIS is the purpose of "Counting the Omer."
IMPORTANT NOTE:
In these devotionals, it is not our desire to return to any legalistic method of practice. We are not to "mutilate the flesh" in the temporal but instead "die daily" as we grow spiritually as well as less and less enamored of this world. We are to understand the Old Testament teachings as the training wheels on a bicycle or scaffolding on a building. Once the behavior is fully learned, or the building completed, this structured system gives way to the finished result. Old Testament teaching must always point to Yeshua and His Work and we, as His laborers, must always teach "Christ and Christ crucified." (1 Corinthians 2:2)
These are a shadow of the things to come, but the body that casts it belongs to Christ.
~ Colossians 2:17 (Berean Study Bible)
As scaffolding does not need to be reapplied once the "Master Peace" has been accomplished, neither do we need to return to practices in a rote manner. However, any attempt to simply toss out the Old Testament would be tantamount to removing the very necessary instruction of the Holy Word of God (God forbid!) and to disdain His training and reproof. We all need to apply this training reminder until Christ's return.
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness.
~ 2 Timothy 3:16 (Berean Study Bible)
Yet in the shadow of the scaffolding, we can begin to see glimpses of the majesty that is to come. We are being fashioned into the Temple of the Most High God. He is the Master Architect. Jesus is the original model. When He was made flesh He "broke the mold" (1 Corinthians 11:24). There is no one like Him yet, ironically, we are simultaneously called to be like Him! (Romans 8:29). What a mystery! We must first be reduced to the ashes of repentance and then go through His reconstruction process. Only ours is not a temple made with human hands, this can only be a miracle of God.
So, let's being by singing that old gospel Hymn:
Bringing in the sheaves, bringing in the sheaves,
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves,
Bringing in the sheaves, bringing in the sheaves,
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.
It's Harvest Time. On the 50th day, God promises us the liberty of The Jubilee and the joy that comes from repenting and obeying God. We pray that these next 50 days of devotionals prepares your heart to walk in the abundant life that God has prepared for those who love Him and are called according to His purposes.
Prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father, as these times get more dark and treacherous with each passing hour, let us be reminded that you are shaking everything so that what remains cannot be shaken. Let us develop a faith that cannot be shaken by external events. Teach us to number our days aright and remember that this temporal life is but a passing vapor especially in light of your Eternal Kingdom. As we apply the practice of "Counting the Omer" may we be spiritually trained and strengthened by your Holy Word. Let us see the amazing correlations in Your Old Testament training to our Blessed Hope in the open, obvious and promised physical return of the Lord Jesus Christ to the Mount of Olives. Let us put no hope in the power of men, the false power of idols and the systems of this temporal world. Instead, let us fix our sights upwards as our redemption draws nigh. We pray this prayer in the Holy Name of Yeshua, the King of all kings, the Lord of all lords, the Name under which every knee must bow and the ONLY NAME under Heaven and Earth by which men must be saved.
~ Amen.
