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You shall count fifty days until the day after the seventh Sabbath, and then present an offering of new grain to the LORD.
~ Leviticus 23:16 (Berean Study Bible)
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Dear Christian Warriors:
We hope you will enjoy our latest series of Devotionals for the next 50 days. God-willing, this will be our next published Devotional Book as we continue to train in the ways of the Lord. We hope you are blessed by it as we offer this resource for the next 50 days FREE to all who wish to participate.
Opening Post
If Passover is all about deliverance, counting the Omer is the beginning of the pathway back to lawful living. It is symbolized by the time period when the Jews made their grand Exodus from Egypt to the point at which Moses received God's Law, the Torah on Mount Sinai.
Now we know from our Bible, that was not the end of the story. The giving of the Law was, indeed, momentous. This day is commemorated by the Hebrew festival of "Shavuot" and better known to the modern Christian world as "Pentecost." Pentecost is a pouring out of God's Holy Spirit. The end of the story is this:
In the last days, God says, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.
~ Acts 2:17 (Berean Study Bible)
Think of it like this: Jesus died for us (the Passover Lamb), and we were redeemed from the slavery of sin. Now, it is time to EXIT FROM EGYPT (the world's systems, the world's religions). It is a long and difficult walk with many trials, tribulations and persecutions. Many obstacles will be in your path...some natural, some self-created, some from enemy attacks, but through it all GOD IS FAITHFUL. However, Jesus asks us this question in Luke 18:8:
Will we be faithful?
Apparently, the answer to that question (from reading the Exodus story to the end), is that very few people will have the faith necessary to enter the Land of Canaan. Only Joshua (Yeshua) and His loyal companion (Caleb means "dog"), made it into the Promised Land of that generation. Everyone else, over the age of 20 years old, died without entering the Promised Land. Joshua and Caleb represent Christ, His faithful Church and His children.
From history, we can see that Pentecost was not the end of the journey for the First Century Church. After receiving this power from on High (DUNAMIS: from which we get the word "dynamite") the devil raged and attacked them, causing the beginning of another diaspora which ultimately spread the gospel worldwide.
And this gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in all the world as a testimony to ALL NATIONS, and then the end will come.
~ Matthew 24:14 (Berean Study Bible, emphasis added).
Recently, in November of 2018, a missionary named John Allen Chau was killed while trying to approach North Sentinel Island. This news seems extremely prophetic, as these islanders are known as "the last uncontacted people on planet Earth" and the name of Chau's missionary group was "All Nations." Note this news article title written before missionary Chau was killed:
North Sentinel Island Is Home to the Last Uncontacted People on Earth
"North Sentinel" (another prophetic name) may just possibly have been the final outpost prophesied of in Matthew 24:14. In another news article, this is further confirmed:
MIssionary Declares Jesus to Remote Tribe
In the first giving of the Law, Moses' descent from Mount Sinai was met with the Israelite rebellion of The Golden Calf. Apparently, it took a "second coming" of Moses, also known as the Deliverer, to get lawful living through their thick skulls. Lest you look at the Jews with some sort of misplaced arrogance, that thick skull belongs to you and me.
As we eagerly await our blessed hope, the return of Jesus Christ THE Deliverer, let Him find us faithful. May He find us serving Him, not worshiping a Golden Calf. Our individual calf may be symbolized by many things, but it all comes down to idolatry. Anything that replaces the One True God of Heaven in our hearts needs to get burned up in the heat of our passion for Christ.
Let the Countdown begin...
Repentance Prayer
Heavenly Father:
During the Passover season, may we be willing to move onward by counting your many blessings day by day. May this "counting of the Omer" culminate in a life of lawful living out of an abundance of love for You. You promised to write Your Law on our hearts as You guide us through this desert wilderness. We REPENT and turn away from worshiping false idols as we eagerly await Your return fully awake and prepared for Your Coming as our Bridegroom. We pray this petition in the precious Name of Yeshua, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the Name above all names under which every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord.
~ Amen.
