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MESSAGE MENU #2
- OVERLOOKING THE SOURCE OF OUR STRENGTH AND SALVATION
- FALSE PROPHETS OR SERVANTS OF YAHWEH?
- BOOK OF MATTHEW WRITTEN IN HEBREW OR IN GREEK?
- CONCERNING BABYLON AND CURRENT EVENTS
- THE FIRSTFRUITS OF YAHWEH/YAHWSHUA
- WHAT DID YAHWSHUA MEAN WHEN HE SAID "TOUCH ME NOT"?
- WHERE WAS YAHWEH'S SHEKINAH GLORY AT THE TIME OF YAWHSHUA?
- THE WAVE-SHEAF CEREMONY
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MESSAGE MENU #3
- THE FIRST VISIBLE LUNAR CRESCENT
- TITHING CHART BASED ON WEEKLY INCOME
- HOW TO TITHE BASED ON YOUR ANNUAL SALARY
- MAP OF ANCIENT KHAZARIA
- MAP OF EPHRAYIM AND MANNASAH, ACCORDING TO THE ANGLO-SAXONS
- THE NEW COVENANT IS CONDITIONAL
- BARACK OBAMA: A PROPHET OF ISLAM
- TIMELINE CHART OF YAHSHUA'S DEATH AND RESURRECTION
- THE SACRED NAMES IN ANCIENT PALEO-HEBREW
- ZECHARYAH 12:9
- THE 24 ELDERS ARE ALREADY IN THRONES IN HEAVEN
- THE INFAMOUS "AN EYE FOR AN EYE" LAW: ABOLISHED OR IN EFFECT?
- RE LOST TEN TRIBES
From the Series
"Understanding the Wave-Sheaf and the Omer Count til Shavuot"
Message #4
"Understanding the Wave-Sheaf and the Omer Count til Shavuot"
Message #4
THE WAVE-SHEAF (OMER) CEREMONY
Shalom dearly beloved sheep "called-out" of Yahwshua, and greetings in His powerful name to grant salvation!
My brethren, all during the times of the Tabernacle and Temples, YAHWEH's Shekinah Glory filled the Holy of Holies. And during these times the Wave Sheaf ceremony took place on Abib/Nisan 16 at the Jerusalem Temple -- in obedience to Leviticus 23:9-11:
"And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'When you come into the land which I give you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the first-fruits of your harvest to the Priest. He shall WAVE THE SHEAF BEFORE YAHWEH, to be accepted on your behalf; on the morrow after the Sabbath the Priest shall wave it" (NKJV).
According to modern jewish historian Alfred Edersheim, whom we have quoted in previous messages of this series:
"Already, on the 14th of Nisan, the spot whence the first sheaf was to be reaped had been marked out by delegates from the Sanhedrin, by tying together in bundles, while still standing, the barley that was to be cut down....When the time for cutting the sheaf had arrived, that is, on the evening of the 15th of Nisan (even though it were a Sabbath), just as the sun went down, three men, each with a sickle and basket, formally set to work....Though one ephah or ten omers, of barley was cut down, only one omer of flour, or about 5.1 pints of our measure, was offered in the Temple on the second Paschal, or 16th day of Nisan....The omer of flour was mixed with a 'log' or very nearly three-fourths of a pint of oil, and a handful of frankincense put upon it, THEN WAVED BEFORE THE LORD..." (The Temple: Its Ministry and Services As They Were in the Time of Christ, Wm. B. Eerdman's Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, MI, 1987, pp. 257-259).
So every year, on the morrow after the anual shabbat of Unleavened Bread, while the Temple stood and YAHWEH's Shekinah Glory filled the Holy of Holies, the High Priest waved the omer of flour obtained from the sheaf of barley BEFORE YAHWEH's SHEKINAH GLORY IN THE JERUSALEM TEMPLE!
So WHY, my dear brethren; I ask again, would people have Yahwshua Our Messiah traveling all the way to Heaven and back down to earth, in order to "wave the sheaf" when all he had to do after his resurrection was to appear before YAHWEH's Shekinah Glory in the Jerusalem Temple and "wave the sheaf" on our behalf?
At exactly 9:00 a.m. that morning -- the very time of the Morning Sacrifice in the Holy Temple -- the Messiah appeared before YAHWEH in the Jerusalem Temple to "wave" the sheaf or omer (representing the first-century Ekklesia and all those to follow) before his Father.
Forty days later, He ascended to Heaven in the presence of His disciples, and was exalted to the right hand of YAHWEH ELOHIM and to prepare dwellings for His NEW spiritual body (THE BELIEVERS).
The Messiah's exaltation and glorification was prophesied centuries before by the prophet Daniel, who wrote:
"I saw in the night visions and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man and he came to the Ancient of Days [Yahweh Elohim] and was presented before him. And to Him was given dominion and glory and kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him; His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom one that shall not be destroyed" (Daniel 7:13-14).
Because Yahwshua's Ha Mashiach's authority was now absolute and worldwide following his resurrection, and the certainty of his ascension to heaven forty days later now also totally assured, He could say to His disciples in Matthew 28:18: "ALL authority in HEAVEN and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations..."
Similarly, the first-century Ecclesia could NOT have carried out this directive before they were "waved" before Yahweh Elohim's Shekinah Glory in the Jerusalem Temple as an early spiritual fulfillment of the Wave Sheaf Offering. Remember, my beloved brethren, that on that very same day and year that Yahwshua resurrected and "waved the omer sheaf" (which was done at the time of the morning sacrifice in the Temple at 9am), Yahweh's Ruach Ha Kodesh (Holy Spirit) descended over those who had assembled in Jerusalem at that very same hour!
The wave sheaf -- representing the New Covenant Ekklesia -- was accepted by the Father through our High Priest and Elder Brother! Then, myt brethren, forty days after His resurrection, Yahwshua the Mashiach was exalted to Yahweh's right hand.
To recount the events of the day, Yahwshua was:
1. resurrected from the dead "early on the first day of the week" (Mark 16:9) and "toward the DAWN of the first day of the week" (Matthew 28:1).
2. He appeared to Mary Magdalene, in his resurrected human form, shortly after His resurrection and shortly after the two Marys entered the sepulcher (John 20:14-17).
3. At 9:00 am -- the exact time of the Morning Sacrifice in the Temple -- the Messiah "High Priest" "waved" the omer before his Father in the Jerusalem Temple for the acceptance of the FIRST-FRUITS.
4. Later that day (still the First Day of the Week) he appeared to the eleven disciples while they were gathered together and "breathed on them, and said to them, 'Receive the holy spirit'" (John 20:19, 22). He also told them to "go into ALL the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation" (Mark 16:15).
Clearly, at His resurrection, and following His appearance before Yahweh Elohim in the Jerusalem Temple, the Messiah was given all power and authority from his Heavenly Father.
The Messiah had originally been sent only to the "lost sheep of the House of Israel" (Matthew 15:24), among whom, for the most part, He exercised his authority (John 5:27). Following his resurrection, however, the Messiah was now fully invested with the authority he had been promised and which he had often spoken about as receiving. So, after his resurrection, he could say -- "ALL authority in HEAVEN and on earth has been GIVEN to me" (Matthew 28:18). Because the Messiah's authority was now absolute and worldwide, the door of salvation was now too, open and worldwide:
"Go therefore and make disciples of ALL nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age" (Matthew 28:19-20).
The idea that Yahwshua the Messiah rose up to Heaven on the morning of the First Day of the Week -- thus fulfilling the Wave Sheaf Offering himself -- is TOTALLY FALSE. Sounds beautiful and true, but Scripture does not necessarily support it...
Also FALSE is the notion that the Messiah rose up to Heaven on the same morning to be exalted to the right hand of YAHWEH ELOHIM and to "wave" the omer, or wave sheaf, before Yahweh Elohim for our acceptance -- them zoom back to earth to appear before his disciples! My beloved, all that Yahwshua our Mashiach had to do was cross over from the Mount of Olives to the Temple precincts and appear before His Father!
Whether some people accept or not, the true fulfillment of the wave sheaf or "omer" is the 144,000, which are the FIRST-FRUITS of the harvest; then ALL of those called by Yahweh down through the centuries to the present time. My beloved, we, today, are the FIRST-FRUITS of spiritual Israel -- the Ekklesia/Assembly/Kehilah of Yahweh Elohim!
In Yahwhua's love and shalom,
Rafael
To read the previous message of this series, titled: "What Did Yahwshua Mean When He Said "Touch Me Not"?, go to: http://yahshua-ha-mashiach.weebly.com/what-did-yahwshua-mean-when-he-said-touch-me-not.htm
and: "WHERE WAS YAHWEH'S SHEKINAH GLORY AT THE TIME OF YAWHSHUA?" available at: http://yahshua-ha-mashiach.weebly.com/where-was-yahwehs-shekinah-glory-at-the-time-of-yawhshua.html