A Point of View

By L. Grant Luton

You shall count seven full weeks from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering.

Leviticus 23:15

This passage has been the source of sharp contention among many Messianic believers concerned about when to begin counting the omer during the days leading up to Shavuot. Some read “the Sabbath” in this passage as referring to the weekly Sabbath following Passover. Others read it as referring to Passover itself (which is also a sabbath). Hence, two conflicting methods for counting. Two different times for observing Shavuot. Division among the body of Messiah.

It is important for us to begin with an accurate definition of שבת (shabbat). Shabbat does not mean “rest”, as most people believe. Rather, it means “cease”. Nothing more. Nothing less. In fact, it is used not only in ceasing from work, but from a host of things. Following are a few examples [Forms of the word שבת (shabbat) – “sabbath” – appear in bold.]

• “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.” (Gen. 8:22)
• And Pharaoh said, “Behold, the people of the land are now many, and you make them ceasefrom their burdens!” (Ex. 5:5)
• Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven out of your houses … (Ex. 12:15)
• Then if the man rises again and walks outdoors with his staff, he who struck him shall be clear; only he shall pay for his loss of time and shall have him thoroughly healed. (Ex. 21:19)
• You shall season all your grain offerings with salt. You shall not let the salt of the covenant with your God cease from your grain offering … (Lev. 2:13)
• And the manna ceased the day after they ate of the produce of the land… (Josh. 5:12)
• “For Adonai has made the Jordan a border between us and you, you sons of Reuben and sons of Gad. You have no portion in Adonai. So your sons might make our sons ceasefearing Adonai.” (Josh. 22:25)
• And he abolished the priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to make offerings in the high places … (2Kings 23:5)
• And our enemies said, “They will not know or see till we come among them and kill them and stop the work.” (Neh. 4:11)
• So these three men ceased to answer Job … (Job 32:1)
• From the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have established strength, because of Your adversaries, to make the enemy and the revengeful cease. (Ps. 8:2 )
• He makes wars cease to the end of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear … (Ps. 46:9)
• You have made his splendor to cease and cast his throne to the ground. (Ps. 89:44)
• All the wicked of the earth You discard like dross … (Ps. 119:119)
• The lot puts an end to quarrels and decides between powerful contenders. (Prov. 18:18)
• I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity. I will put an end to the pomp of the arrogant … (Is. 13:11)
• The joy of our hearts has ceased; our dancing has been turned to mourning. (Lam. 5:15)

There are many more examples of how the Hebrew word shabbat (שבת) is used in the Tanach, but these will suffice to demonstrate that this word has a wide array of applications beyond a day of rest. So let us summarize what is demonstrated by these examples:

sabbath (שבת) = ceasing

ceasing = sabbath (שבת)

Now consider the following verses which do not use the word ‘sabbath’ (שבת), yet are all considered sabbaths in the Torah:

• Num. 28:18 – On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work… [Passover]
• Num. 28:25 – And on the seventh day you shall have a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work. [7^th day of Passover Week]
• Num. 28:26 – On the day of the first fruits, when you offer a grain offering of new grain to Adonai at your Feast of Weeks, you shall have a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work … [Shavuot]
• Num. 29:1 – On the first day of the seventh month you shall have a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work. It is a day for you to blow the trumpets. [Yom Teruah / Rosh Hashanah]
• Num. 29:7 – On the tenth day of this seventh month you shall have a holy convocation and afflict yourselves. You shall do no work … [Yom Kippur]
• Num. 29:12 – On the fifteenth day of the seventh month you shall have a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work, and you shall keep a feast to Adonai seven days. [Sukkot]

These verses are from Numbers 28-29, which lists the additional sabbath days found on the biblical calendar. My point here is that all these days are ‘sabbaths’ though the word itself is not used. But it doesn’t need to be used because these are days upon which work is not to be done. Since they are days of ‘ceasing’ from work, they are by definition sabbaths. So, according to Numbers 28:18 the first day of Passover is a sabbath since no laborious work is to be done.

This brings us to the ancient contention described at the beginning of this paper – a contention that was originally created by the Sadducees concerning Leviticus 23:15. They contended that the omer count begins on the first day after the weekly Sabbath instead of after the first day of Passover, which, as we have established, is also a sabbath.

We can summarize the two positions thus:

• Sadducees: The omer count begins after the first weekly Sabbath following Passover.
• Traditional: The omer count begins after the day of Passover, which is a sabbath.

So how do we resolve this contention? Does the Torah provide any clarification as to which ‘sabbath’ is in view? The answer is yes. Let’s look at Deuteronomy 16:9:

“You shall count seven weeks. Begin to count the seven weeks from the time the sickle is first put to the standing grain.”

Note that it does not say ‘count from the weekly Sabbath after Passover’, but from ‘the time the sickle is first put to the standing grain’. This always took place the day after Passover – the day of First Fruits – whichever day of the week that might be.

We find additional information in Joshua 5:10-11:

“While the people of Israel were encamped at Gilgal, they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening on the plains of Jericho. And the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain.”

Even here, we see the manna ceasing and the Israelites eating the grain from the fields. This has traditionally been considered the first “first fruits” observance after the exodus from Egypt.

Additionally, if God wanted us to begin the omer count on the day after the weekly Sabbath, He would simply have instructed us to begin counting on the first day of the week. Problem solved! After all, this is the method the Torah uses to designate all of the other holy days in Leviticus 23. (See verses 3,5,6,24,27,34,39) Why would God be so cryptic concerning the counting of the omer? Well, as it turns out, He wasn’t. He clearly describes Passover as a day of rest (which, by definition, makes it a ‘ceasing’ – שבת– day), and then says that after the “ceasing day” to bring the omer.

One last thing that I must mention – and maybe the most important thing – is that one of the primary purposes for God’s holy days is to bring His people together in unity. It is heartbreaking to see people divide from one another over something that is. Intended for unity! But which is worse, starting the omer count on the wrong day, or sowing discord among brothers? This is an apt example of straining out a gnat then swallowing a camel. And what a poor testimony this is to greater Israel! Shouldn’t we be modeling unity both among ourselves and with the Jewish people? But instead, we argue among ourselves while at the same time proclaiming to God’s ancient people, “We know better than you.”

I have an idea! Why not model humility? Especially in our handling of these ancient oracles that God entrusted to the Jews and not to us Gentiles. We are best at being light simply by being light, not by telling others that they are in the dark.

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What do Bethlehem, the birth of David, and the birth of the Son of David have to do with Shavuot? What do they have to do with the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai? And what do they have to do with what would later happen on Pentecost in Acts chapter two when God empowered His people with His spirit?

Let me tell you something that is unique about Shavuot. Of the seven moedim described in the Torah, Shavuot is the only one that doesn’t have a specific date. Each of the other moedim has a month and a day when it occurs, but not Shavuot.

Shavuot is tethered to Passover. Passover takes place each year on the 14^th of Nissan, then the next day we begin counting – day one, day two, day three – for a full seven weeks – 49 days. Then the next day (whatever date that may be) is Shavuot. Passover and Shavuot are a package, and what happens between Passover and Shavuot is a journey. So we count each day as we draw closer to the goal and move further from where we started.

We know that the Israelites left Egypt on Passover, and each day’s travel brought them closer to the goal until finally they arrived at Mount Sinai. Likewise, each day after Yeshua is born in our hearts, after we embrace what He did on the cross and make that part of who we are, we too begin a journey. We must remember something: God didn’t just save us from something; He saved us for something. And so the 49 days between Passover and Shavuot are a journey, and this journey begins for us at the cross.

The events recorded in the book of Ruth take place during these 49 days, and she, too, took a journey, but her journey was the opposite of the journey taken by the Israelites. I want you to think about this for a moment.

According to Jewish tradition, Ruth was born into a very wealthy family in Moab. She had plenty of money. She was born into a family where there was leisure, there was ease. But when she decided to take the journey with Naomi, she left all of that behind. She left wealth to go into poverty. (The people who gleaned the fields behind the reapers are the people who have nothing.) She also left a life of ease to enter a life of hard labor.

But the Israelites left a life of crushing, difficult labor to enter a life of ease. They didn’t have to work anymore – every morning there was heavenly bread right there on the ground. Their clothing and shoes didn’t wear out. Water came from the rock. They had shade by day and fire at night. Though they were poor during their years in Egypt, they left wealthy.

Ruth’s journey was a journey that took place during the same season of the year – between Passover and Shavuot. But it was a journey in the opposite direction. The Israelites were going into the wilderness. Ruth was leaving from the wilderness (Moab) to come to Israel – to Bethlehem.

Another difference is the Israelites went out as a massive group of many thousands, but Ruth made her journey alone. True, she was with Naomi, but Naomi was going home, back to the familiar. Ruth, however, was journeying into the unknown.

What is God trying to teach us by these two journeys? I think it is this: the Israelites left Egypt not because they loved God. They left because they hated Egypt. They hated slavery. They hated the tyranny. They hated the persecution. But they hadn’t learned to love God or to trust Him yet. And when He brought them to Sinai (and the commentators all agree on this; and Jeremiah confirms it) it was a wedding where God was taking His people Israel as a bride, as a wife to Himself.[1] But as we know, it was a loveless marriage. God loved them, and everything that occurred to them was due to His love. But they did not love Him back. And, I dare say, sitting in the seats here today there are probably some of you who have a relationship with God, but it is a loveless one. You are grateful that God saved you, and that He has redeemed you, but you really don’t love Him. Loveless marriages are a dime a dozen, and loveless believers are too. But everything Ruth did—her individual journey from the wilderness to Israel, was based on one thing and one thing alone: love.

She loved Naomi. But why? What was it about Naomi? Even in her bitterness and her loss and her belief that God had abandoned her, there was something about Naomi, even in her grief, that Ruth thought, ‘I want to be a woman like that.’

I can tell you what she saw.

She saw God in her.

Whether Naomi could see it in herself or not, Ruth saw it. Whereas Ruth’s sister-in-law kissed Naomi and returned home, Ruth clung to her. She said, “I am not letting you go. I’m going with you, and you can’t stop me. And your people are going to be my people. I am leaving my people behind. I’m leaving the familiar behind. I’m leaving my gods behind. Your God will be my God. I’m leaving my home behind because I am going to live with you.” (This is probably the only case where someone wanted to live with their mother-in-law!) “I’m going to live with you, and nothing is going to separate me from you except death. And where you are buried, that’s where I’m going to be buried when I die.”

Israel’s journey from Egypt to Sinai is also our story. It’s a story of what God has done for all of us. He loved the world so much that He gave His son. There on Passover He brought redemption to the world. But Ruth’s journey is a journey that God invites each of us to take, spiritually, with Him. But you take it by yourself, and if it is not based on love, you (like Ruth’s sister-in-law) may merely kiss the Lord, turn your back on Him, and go home.

When you love someone, you give them gifts, and throughout history, when a woman married, she brought a dowry to her bridegroom – she brought her wealth as a gift for husband.

But what do we have that we can give to God? Two things. These are the only two things we truly have. They are the same two things that God gave Israel at Passover, and the same two things that Yeshua provided us through His crucifixion. Through the blood and body of the lamb, God passed the Israelites from death to life, and from slavery to freedom. When Yeshua “the Lamb of God” was crucified, He, too, passed us from death to life and from slavery to freedom.

Life.

Freedom.

These are the only two things we have to give.

In Exodus 21, God begins to give his commandments and reveal His mishpatim – his rules for living with one another, and the first of these rules is: “If a man owns a slave, the slave will work for him for six years, and then at the end of the six years the slave is to go free.” Simple enough, but then it goes on. It explains that if the slave says clearly to his master, ‘I love my master. I will not go free,’ then he becomes his master’s slave for life.

Now think about what is happening here. The slave has been set free. He now is in possession of his life and his freedom. But the next thing he does as a free moral agent is to give them both away. And who does he give them to? He gives them back to the one who had just gifted them to him. Then, the Torah tells us, his master would take him to the doorpost – the mezuzah – and pierce his ear with an awl. From then on there would be a blood stain on the doorpost and a hole in the servant’s ear.

This man who was once a slave, is now a slave again. Not because he had to be, but because he chose to be. Through Yeshua, God has given us both life and freedom, and we can hold on to our life, if we wish, but if we do, He says we will lose it. But if we let go of our life for His sake, we will find it. Only by returning it to God, can we truly safeguard it forever.

God has given us freedom. But ask yourself, what am I using my freedom for? To do things my way? Or to do things His way? The only things we can offer to God are the things He gave to us – these two precious gifts – our life and our freedom.

If you call yourself a believer yet have not formally given your life and your freedom back to the One who gave them to you, then you are a miserable person. You are an unfulfilled, unhappy, frustrated believer. I know what that is like and I never want to go back there. So I urge you on this Shavuot to take the personal journey that Ruth took – a journey that is not based on “this is what I have to do” or on trying to escape something, but on choosing to love God freely.

I invite you to say with intensity, “I love the One who gave Himself for me so that I might have life and freedom. And now that these two precious gifts are mine to give, I freely give them to God from a heart that overflows with love.”

I promise. You will never regret it!

In Acts chapter 2, after God empowered His people with His spirit, what did they do? They went out and changed the world. They decided to give their lives completely to God. Many of them died as martyrs. They decided not to use their freedom for what they wanted but for what He wanted, and they died as truly free men. And now we laud them, and we read about them, and we want to emulate them even today.

If you want your life to count, then choose to love the One who chose you and gave you everything – life and freedom – because that is all you have to give back. But you must be a Ruth to do that. Ruth is the only woman in the Bible called an Eishet Chayil – a woman of valor – the only one.[2] Think about that. She is the kind of soul that Yeshua wants for a bride. She was filled with love, with courage, and with fearlessness to move into the unknown because there was something that she couldn’t put her finger on inside of her Jewish mother-in-law.

What Ruth did was utterly illogical. It was foolishness by man’s measure. But we read about Ruth every year at Shavuot, and her story ends with her becoming the great grandmother of King David. This gentile woman from Moab became one of the ancestors of Messiah Himself.

Don’t play games anymore. If your relationship with God has been a loveless one, it is in your power to change that.

Do it today, on this Shavuot.

[1] Jeremiah 31:31-32

[2] Ruth 3:11. (Read Proverbs 31:10-31 for a description of a woman of valor.)

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