Automatic Intentionality
I hate alarm clocks.
I mean most people do. Who wants to be shouted at from a little device telling you to move yourself out of the cozy nook of comforters and blankets to meet the day’s responsibilities?
My personal hatred for the little dream-killer is intense. So much so that my body will wake itself up a few minutes before the alarm just so I don’t have to hear it. It’s not something I consciously think about. It just happens automatically.
I guess it is better for me to wake myself than to be jolted awake. I call it automatic intentionality.
The week following Passover, Good Friday, and Resurrection Sunday always feels flat to me.
The crescendo of events remembered. The Passover Lamb sacrificed. The garden tomb found empty. The disciples’ mourning turned into joy. The skeptic able to touch the risen Messiah with his own hands. “Go into all the world….”
Nothing in life can top that moment in history.
But the days following its remembrance are quiet like a breezeless ocean; no waves, just stillness. Yet there are several biblical celebrations to draw our focus during this time: the Feast of Firstfruits, the Counting of the Omer, and Shavuot.
FIRSTFRUITS
From Leviticus 23 we see a mini-festival overlap within the Feast of Unleavened Bread. It is called the Feast of Firstfruits. Scripture tells us it is to occur on the day after the Sabbath during the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Passover).
Picture this with me: the inhabitants of the ancient city of Jerusalem were finishing their Passover celebration. Messiah had been crucified and lay buried in the tomb. The temple priests were busy preparing for the Feast of Firstfruits. The first of the barley harvest was brought in that night to be prepared.
I can almost see the beads of sweat as the priests threshed, roasted, and ground the barley into flour. Then sifting it into fine flour and baking it into loaves of unleavened bread.
As the temple priests removed the last loaf from the ovens, the earth began to shake. The stone was rolled away from the tomb. Messiah was alive!
At the temple, the ceremony would conclude with the unleavened bread offered on the altar along with a burnt sacrifice of a year-old male lamb.
A sweet aroma pleasing to the LORD. (Lev 23:9-13)
[Paul underscored the symbolic significance for us in 1 Cor. 15:20: “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”]
COUNTING OF THE OMER
Biblically there is a quiet activity that is commanded of God’s people during this time after Passover: Counting the Omer.
The Firstfruits ceremony would begin the Counting of the Omer. From the first day the barley was harvested and brought to the temple, 49 days were counted until the next festival: Shavuot (Pentecost) on the 50th day.
[Shavuot, Feast of Weeks, and Pentecost are different names for the same festival described in Leviticus 23:15-22. In the New Testament, it is called Pentecost (Greek for fiftieth), reflecting the counting of 49 days and celebrating on the fiftieth day]
The festival also had an agricultural significance. During the 49 days of the Omer countdown, the wheat crop began to ripen in Israel. So, on the fiftieth day (Shavuot), the first of the wheat harvest was brought into the temple to celebrate God’s provision (Lev. 23:15-17).
What happened during the Counting of the Omer in that first century?
On the first day, Jesus revealed Himself as the risen Messiah to His disciples: Mary, Peter, John, Thomas, the twelve, then later to 500 onlookers. A spiritual harvest ripened.
For 40 days of the Omer (Acts 1:3), Jesus taught them about the Kingdom of God and gave them instruction. It was a time of important preparation. When He ascended, He commanded them to stay in Jerusalem until the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Act 1:1-8).
SHAVUOT
It happened just as He said. On the last day of the Omer (which marked the beginning of Shavuot), the Holy Spirit was poured out on the disciples. Peter preached (Acts 2) and the church was birthed. A great harvest of souls had begun.
WHAT ABOUT TODAY?
Jewish tradition encourages worshipers today to go on a journey of remembrance and preparation during the Counting of the Omer. After the children of Israel had been freed from slavery and delivered through the Red Sea, they were led into the desert and were prepared to receive a gift from the Lord: the Torah on Mount Sinai.
Jewish people today take symbolic steps of intention to remove the impurities of “Egypt” to make room for the receiving of the Torah.
As a believer in Messiah Jesus, studying His Word and the biblical calendar has brought a deep love for the patterns of Jewish life. Seeing how God fulfilled His Word and brought deep significance to the biblical festivals has helped direct my soul in worship.
When my senses feel spring approaching, I automatically begin to prepare for the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Passover). I am awakened to my soul’s deeper spiritual issues. I desire to spiritually clean my house of anything that displeases the Lord (just as physical leaven is cleaned out of Jewish homes).
Then I’m prompted to focus on His victory over sin on the cross and the power of His resurrection, making obedience possible. A journey through the Counting of the Omer circumspectly makes room for God’s instruction and provision.
These rhythms cause an automatic intentionality, like a hand emerging from the covers to stop an alarm clock from sounding. It awakens my soul from deep slumber to be alert to the work that needs my attention.
Written by Kori, LIFE staff
Have you considered what it means for Messiah Jesus to be our “Firstfruits” (1 Cor. 15:20)?
Are there things in your life you wish were done more “automatically intentionally?” What might be a first step?
Now that Passover and Resurrection Sunday are behind us, how might you keep the “passion” alive for Messiah and His Word?