Shavuot - Pentecost - Rapture? Part II

Counting The Omer

In Matthew 13:39, Jesus said, “The harvest is the end of the world.” By this, He meant that the events of the end times would culminate in a great harvest of souls.

In keeping with the harvest theme, the Jews honor Pentecost as the day reserved in heaven for the judgment of the fruit of trees. We are reminded of Christ’s own words: Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them” (Matt. 7:20).

On Pentecost, He sent His Holy Spirit, creating the body of Christ – the church – as we know it today. Since that time, its goal has been to witness for Him, “to the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Christ likened evangelism to the planting of seed, which matures until the time of the harvest. His return for His people would be the next event in the Christian prophetic calendar. Significantly, after Firstfruits, the next important date on the festival calendar is Pentecost.

In the era of the Temple, Jews dramatically celebrated the feast of Firstfruits (Hebrew: Omer). On the Sunday following Passover, the high priest stood to offer the Omer, or first gathering of the grain harvest. In Leviticus 23:11, it is called, “the sheaf.” This offering was counted as day one. “Counting the Omer” then continued for fifty days, until Pentecost: 

“15 And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: 16 Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD. 17 Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD” (Lev. 23:15-17).

The above-mentioned “fifty days” typify redemption. For Jewish scholars, this period represents the maturing of the relationship between God and Israel. For Christians, it adds the feature of the coming of the Holy Spirit. Christ rose from the dead on Firstfruits (the Omer), and angels promised His return “in like manner.”

As Paul later put it, describing resurrection, “But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming” (1Cor. 15:23).

But there are hazards in farming to produce a harvest. Jesus often spoke of this fact:

“37 He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; 38 The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; 39 The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. 40 As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. 41 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; 42 And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. (Matt. 13:37-43).

Counting each day from the public exhibit of the Omer is the equivalent of watching crops grow. Anyone who has observed farmers in action knows that their routine is fraught with unpredictability that involves much anxious watching. In addition to tares and weeds there are pests, drought, disease and bad weather, all of which will threaten the final outcome of his crop.

The harvest will be accompanied by the equivalent of threshing. The good grain must ultimately be winnowed and finally ground into fine flour, worthy of baking.

The Wicked World

As given above in Leviticus, the fifty-day count begins with the first sheaf and ends with two loaves, each baked with leavening.

At Pentecost, the harvest of souls in the church age is complete. The two baked loaves held aloft by the priest are bodies representing the redeemed. They are lifted above the earth, suggesting an ascent to heaven. And they are baked with leavening.

But why would they be leavened loaves? We know that throughout Scripture, leavening is a type of evil, wickedness and depravity. At Passover, only unleavened bread was eaten. Jesus also warned his followers: “6 Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees” (Matt. 16:6).

Furthermore, He once told His disciples: “33 Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened” (Matt. 13:33).

Many have commented on His statement, saying that the three measures of meal represent the three groups of people spoken of in Scripture: Jews, Gentiles and the church. All have been tainted by the evil that requires redemption. The woman? She is none other than the figure of Mystery Babylon.

The above is an excerpt from an article by Gary Stearman in the May 2013 Prophecy in the News magazine.

It's extremely interesting to note the importance of Pentecost in the change of dispensations. Beginning with the Flood (and the Noahic Covenant) this date has marked the change of each dispensation: the change from Conscience to Human Government; the initiation of the Law; the change from Law to Grace. For this reason scholars should pay particular attention; there is certainly some significance in this, making it a higher likelihood that the Age of Grace might be marked by Pentecost in its transition to the end of the church age and the beginning of the time of Jacob's trouble. 

The Trumpets

My next blog will be about the Rapture significance of the Ruth/Boaz story. To this day Jews stay up all night studying the scripture in the hope of receiving a special blessing from God. They believe that the heavens will briefly open up and that the Holy Spirit will burst through to earth for a moment to bless in some special way those who are diligent.

 “51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (1 Cor. 15:51,52).

The above passage refers to that brief moment the Jews await on Pentecost. The first Trumpet of the Lord (His voice) sounded at Mt. Sinai at the giving of the Law. The last Trumpet (also the sound of the Lord's voice) will again sound:

“16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1 Th. 4;16,17). 

These two trumpets of the Lord - the First Trumpet and the Last Trumpet - are not ram's horns, and they are not metal instruments. They are the voice of the Lord.