50 Days

From Angela Gulartie 4/11/07
Shining Light Ministries

"From Passover To Pentecost"

Grace and peace to you this day!

My friend Carolyn asked me a question about this time period from Passover to Pentecost and so, you can thank her for the coming forth of this message!

Passover, or Pesach, as the festival is called in Hebrew, commemorates the deliverance of the Israelites from more than two hundred years of slavery in Egypt, and their mass exodus as set forth in Exodus Ch. 1-15.

This event marked the birth of the Jews as a free people and so for us, symbolizes a deliverance from various bondages. Its dominant theme is freedom from slavery.

The name Hag ha-Pesach, meaning the "Festival of Passover", is one of the commonly-used names for this festival. "Pesach" is a reference to the Paschal offering brought on the eve of the festival, and commemorates God's promise in Exodus 12:13 "to pass over you, and there shall be no plague upon you to destroy you".

The Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost as we refer to it, also known as Shauvot, is the Biblical harvest festival celebrated 50 days after the Sunday which falls out during Passover. These fifty days are called,
The Counting of the Omer.

Shauvot is the second of three annual pilgrimage festivals in the Hebrew calendar. Many post-biblical people believe it to be the anniversary of the Revelation at Sinai, but there is no reference to this in the Old Testament. (Note the parallel between the Old and New Testaments, in the former, the Ten Commandments were given; in the latter, the gift from God was the descent of Holy Spirit).

Shauvot is the only holiday in the Old Testament (called, the Tanach), not given a fixed calendar date. The people are commanded to celebrate it at the end of a 50-day period know as "The Counting of the Omer", Shauvot being the 50th day.

The commencement of this 50 day period is marked by the bringing of the Omer offering in the Temple:

"And you shall count from the morrow after the Sabbath from the day you bring the Omer (sheaf) of Waving; seven complete Sabbaths shall you count....until the morrow of the seventh Sabbath you will count 50 days....and you shall proclaim on this very day, it shall be a holy convocation for you." (Lev. 23:5-16, 21)

Joshua 5:11 tells us that after the Israelites entered into Canaan, "And they ate of the produce of the land in the morrow after the Pesach (sacrifice), Matzot and parched (barley) on this very day. And the manna ceased on the morrow when they ate of the produce of the land..."

The Israelites were also forbidden of the new crops until the day of the Omer offering, as set forth in Leviticus 23:14: "And bread and parched (barley) and Carmel you will not eat until the very day until you bring the sacrifice of your God; it shall be an eternal statute for your generations in all your habitations."

Joshua 5:11 is repeating that the first Omer offering in Israel was brought on the morrow after the Pesach, after which the Israelites were permitted to eat the produce of the land.

The purpose of the counting is to connect the festival of Pesach with the festival of Shauvot, to remind us that the release from physical bondage and the political freedom represented by Pesach is not complete freedom, unless it culminates in the spiritual lifestyle, disciplines, and observances represented by Shauvot, which celebrates God's revelation to Israel of the Ten Commandments.

In this connection we must look at Deuteronomy 29:13-14: "Neither with you only [do I make this Covenant] but with him that standeth here with us, and also with him that is not here with us this day."

So we learn that during this period, we are to be perservering in the strengthening of our spiritual disciplines. What began as God's mighty liberation out of bondage on Passover, must be followed through by 50 days of attentiveness to His Presence. Remember, in Exodus, the people had to keep their eyes on the pillar of fire and the cloud, and when the cloud moved, so did the people move.

Thus, this 50 day period is a time for great movement in our lives; as we follow God, He will be faithful to lead us to the land of milk and honey.

Remember as well, that 50 is a number of great spiritual significance.

The freedom that begins with Passover does not end there; it must find final fulfillment in the presence of Holy Spirit entering our lives in a new and profound way.

Blessings to you thisday,
Angela G.