Written by Baruch Ben Daniel
P erhaps you've come up against
"the Great Controversy" regarding which Shabbat determines
the Feast of First Fruits; the weekly
Seventh Day Shabbat; or
the annual Shabbat of Chag HaMatzah (Feast of Unleavened Bread)?
Yom Omer is the day that one begins to count the omer that leads up to
Shavuot (Feast of Weeks -Pentecost is from Greek) fifty days later.
Scripture says that we are to begin counting on the "day after
Shabbat" during the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
"And you shall
count unto you from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day that
you brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven Sabbaths shall be
complete: Even unto the morrow after the seventh Sabbath shall you
number fifty days;" ( Leviticus 23:15-16)
Shavuot is a
Shabbat unto YHWH and no work is to be done, therefore it is very
important to know which day we are to begin the count. The Sadducees elected to follow the
weekly Seventh Day Shabbat, but, the Pharisees opted for the first
Shabbat of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the annual High day
Shabbat.
We know that Mashiyach
presented himself to the Father as the wavesheaf offering of
Firstfruits the day after the weekly Shabbat. In fact it was on the
first day of the week (a Sunday) when Y'shua said to Miriam in John
20:17 "do not touch me because I have not ascended to my Father,"
but later that day he had returned and appeared to other disciples.
Y'shua also stated that he would be three
days and three nights in the heart of the earth. He was put in
the grave on the eve of the preparation day, just before the first Shabbat of
the Feast
of Unleavened Bread, not a weekly Shabbat but the Shabbat of the
Feast. Pesach was on a Wednesday and he was put in the tomb
just before sunset on Wednesday afternoon. Three days and
three nights later means that he resurrected before sundown on the
end of the weekly Shabbat. Y'shua said he would be
in the tomb three days and three nights as Jonah was in the belly of
the great fish, he said and meant three literal days and three
literal nights. A Tuesday or Thursday Pesach does not work.
Pesach would have had to fall on a Wednesday if Mashiyach was up out
of the tomb before Firstfruits which was on Sunday, if it
were a day or two after Wednesday we would not have a full three
days and three nights. Neither would Y'shua say "don't
touch me" if he had already presented himself when he was first seen
on Sunday morning. Obviously Y'shua did this for a good
reason, this testimony made it into the written record so we can
understand that he fulfilled the Firstfruits offering on the
appointed day. But the thinking that Firstfruits
has to be on a Sunday because of the resurrection, isn't the only
strong argument that can be made.
It's certainly not a "goyish"
thing either as some posture that Yom HaBikkurim must
fall on the day after the weekly Shabbat. Sadducees, Karaite
and Essenes are as Jewish as the Pharisees and they concluded that
Shavuot always falls on a Sunday. The
Essenes though, waited until the following Shabbat after the Chag,
rather than the first weekly Shabbat during the Chag before they
began counting the omer.
There are some good
arguments on both sides of this issue, but it seems that Yom haBikkurim
or the counting of the omer begins the day after the first weekly Shabbat
after Pesach, not the Shabbat of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
If the Shabbat of Unleavened Bread were intended, it is more likely
that miqra kodesh would have been noted in Torah, rather than
"Shabbat". Read Vayikra/Leviticus 23:3-11 and you will
discover that "Shabbat" is NOT mentioned for either the first
miqra kodesh of Unleavened Bread, nor the last, but in verse 11 the
day after "Shabbat" is the word used for determining Yom
HaBikkurim.
And continue reading to Vayikra/Leviticus 23:15, 16;
And you
shall count unto you from the morrow after the
Shabbat1, from the day that you brought
the sheaf of the wave offering; seven Shabbats2
shall be complete: Even unto the morrow (next day)
after the seventh Shabbat3 shall you
number fifty days; and you shall offer a new meat
offering unto YHWH.
Notice how there are three mentions of Shabbat in these two verses?
It's interesting to note that some Messianic Bible translators
like David Stern and a self proclaimed Netzarim Rosh Beit Din
scholar (James Trimm), retain
the first Shabbat1
but have removed the second and third "Shabbat" and inserted the
word weeks2
and week3, but Torah uses "Shabbat"
throughout. Torah does not say shavuot (weeks) or shavua
(week) but Shabbat in all three occurrences! David
Sterns translation reads, "until the day after the seventh week"
which may be confusing. Which seventh week? Well that means
the seventh week after the beginning week which started the day
after the Shabbat which was not the weekly Shabbat but the first
Shabbat of Chag HaMatzah week? Nope. Let's just stick with
what it says. The day after the Seventh Shabbat. Done!
Everyone knows that you can't eat of the harvest until the offering
is made to YHWH and neither does YHWH say to wait until a
Shabbat after the Chag, so therefore it must be the very first
Shabbat during the Chag... to satiate the appetites of millions of
hungry folks!
Vayikra/Leviticus 25:8;
And you
shall number seven Shabbats4 of years unto
thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the
seven Shabbats5 of years shall be unto thee
forty and nine years.
Oops! Some of the "Messianic" translators, like David Stern,
did NOT translate this as "weeks" but Shabbats4&5, why? Here Torah says seven Shabbats, NOT seven weeks!
Why not make a consistent translation?
The commandment to number "seven weeks" is mentioned in D'varim/Deuteronomy 16:9;
Seven weeks
shall you number unto thee: begin to number the seven weeks
from such time as you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain.
The Hebrew word here is NOT Shabbat, but [wbX (weeks) after
you "...put the sickle to the standing grain." But some Torah
students take [wbX (weeks) from this verse and overlay it
over Shabbat in Vayikra/Leviticus 23:15, 16, why? Tradition.
In reality no one is going to put their sickle to the standing grain
(harvest) on a weekly Shabbat, therefore if a person were to follow the
Shabbat of Unleavened Bread argument then it would be possible that
First Fruits fall on a weekly Shabbat and that doesn't work.
Furthermore, Jeremiah 5:24 reads;
Neither say
they in their heart, Let us now fear YHWH our Elohim, that gives
rain, both the former and the latter, in his season: he reserves
unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest.
Everybody knows that a week begins on
Yom Rishon (the first day) and
ends on the Seventh Day Shabbat. Had the duration of time (i.e.
50 days) been the focus rather than the seven "Shabbats", we would
see the term 50 days being more prominent. Rather what we
see is a mini type of the Yovel (Jubilee) cycle. Both the
feast of Shavuot (Pentecost) and the Yovel have very significant
agricultural directives that are used to prophetically teach us
about the plan of redemption. The Yovel is based on "seven
weeks" of seven year cycles that begin and end on a Shabbat year,
the Shabbat year culminates on a shmittah, where the land is given a
Shabbat rest. There are seven shmittah (land rests) that
culminate in the seventh cycle which is 49 years, then the following
year is a Yovel (Jubilee). As we count the seven weekly
Shabbats and celebrate Shavuot on the day after the weekly Shabbat,
we are following the same pattern, and we are reminded of the Yovel.
The "poof" of Joshua 5:10-12
And the children of
Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept Pesach on the fourteenth day
of the month at even in the plains of Jericho. And they did eat
of the old grain of the land on the morrow after Pesach,
unleavened cakes, and parched [corn] in the selfsame day. And
the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old
corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any
more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.
This Scripture indicates that Pesach was celebrated on the
14th as commanded in Vayikra/Leviticus 23:5 not the 15th of Nissan
as with the Pharisees (Orthodox) tradition. The morrow after Pesach
is the 15th of Nissan which is the first day of Chag HaMatzah (Feast
of Unleavened Bread) a day of rest according to
Vayikra/Leviticus 23:6-8. And they are clearly eating the
old grain on this first annual Shabbat of Chag haMatzah.
Notice that the Scripture clearly says OLD GRAIN which means that
they had not celebrated FirstFruits. OOPS!!! They could
NOT eat the NEW GRAIN until they offered the Wave (lifted up)
Offering to YHWH. So although this verse is used as a
prooftext, the text says OLD GRAIN which really
doesn't give us definitive proof at all. SORRY.
The fact
of the matter is that Joshua 5:10-12 proves nothing (no poof) in regards to
whether Yom HaBikkurim begins on the day after the beginning of
Chag haMatzah or the weekly Shabbat. But it does shed some light on
the fact that
the Pharisees are voluntarily keeping the 15th as their Pesach rather
than the 14th day YHWH commanded in Torah!
In conclusion, there
are a couple factors that lead one to believe that Yom Omer begins on
the morrow after the weekly Shabbat. Putting the sickle to the
harvest would never happen according to this reckoning but also it
would be impossible for Yeshua to fulfill the First Fruits wave
sheaf offering according to most Christian and Messianic reckoning.
When we trust that three days and three nights is a very literal
period of time, that is extracted from Jonah's experience in the
belly of the great fish, then we must be consistent and factor this
span of time into the week of his sufferings. When we do so we
cannot have him being the First Fruits on a weekly Shabbat and he
could not possibly be three days and three nights in the heart of
the earth and still be the First Fruits offering on the third day.
In reality Y'shua would have to be in the tomb for three days and
three nights and then on the 4th day from the time he was put into
the tomb he could present himself to his Father and this is exactly
what he did.
YHWH be with you,
Shalom U'Vrachot,
Baruch Ben Daniel
One
man discriminates between days; and another judges all days alike.
But let every one be sure, in regard to his knowledge. He that
esteems a day, esteems [it] for his Master: and he that esteems not
a day, for his Master, he does not esteem [it.] And he that eats,
eats to his Master, and gives thanks to Elohim: and he that eats
not, to his Master he eats not, and gives thanks to Elohim. For
there is not one of us, who lives for himself: and there is not one,
who dies for himself. Because, if we live, to our Master (Yeshua)
it is we live; or if we die, to our Master it is we die. Whether we
live, therefore, or whether we die, we are our Master’s."
Romans 14:5-8
Note: I observe the Chag
on what I believe to be the correct day, but this does not in any
way prohibit
me from joining with others for according to their timing. Some believers say they
would rather be wrong and celebrate on the wrong day to maintain
unity with their families and congregations rather than cause division, they believe
"majority" sanctifies the day. I personally believe this
is a dangerous position to take because it is
these very issues that test whether the love in our hearts for truth
is greater than our social, political or religious needs.
"...as
it is written: That you might be upright, in your declarations; and
be found pure, when they judge you" (Romans 3:4).
Therefore, if you know to do good and do it not, it becomes sin
unto you. It is foolish to "second guess" or to assume
that we know so much about the Feasts and their importance to make judgments that overrule the Word of YHWH. On the
other hand, if a person is not fully convinced either way then there
is no reason not to fast and pray and seek YHWH for these
things. This issue is not so easy to make a
definitive conclusion on, I've also observed the
Feast according to both reckonings, it is not an easy matter to resolve
with Scripture alone, but at the very least we must be true to how
the Ruach is leading us rather than opting for the most convenience
for a job schedule... or some other matter.