And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the day of rest, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the waving; seven weeks shall there be complete;
Leviticus 23:15
We just finished the Parsha Emor (note of posting delay!: I wrote this draft some days ago, now as I am posting it already we are finishing the book of Leviticus!!) in which the "moadim", or set appointed times of the LORD are outlined. I love this parsha. I should make a t-shirt, that says , "I love the Moadim!!!" or "Lev 23!" (for Leviticus 23, the chapter they are outlined!!) .
God's appointed times--Moadim, starting with Shabbat--- give so much meaning to our lives and to the whole cycle of connecting us back and forward until we are just moving in His eternal cycle!! I find the Moadim are like "cogs" on a wheel that click into place for it to move, and it is as though we "click" into place into His eternal time more and more as we connect with each of the modadim!! As we are counting up from Passover to Shavuot, each day of counting of the Omer is a way of bringing more of the divine into "temporal" time! Or another way, we spiral up a little each day on the rungs of "temporal" time into His heavenly purposes for us.
I was reading in one of my recent favorite "go-to" Parsha devotionals called "Parsha in Pink", a weekly devotional for women about the weekly Torah readings, and in her discussion of this week's parsha Emor, the author writes about counting the omer . She writes that the Hebrew word for "you shall count" comes from the root of the Hebrew word "sapphire", and that in Jewish teachings it is taught that the tablets of the 10 Commandments were written on stones not of drab grey as I once imagined but on tablets made of Sapphire!!! (note in this passage "luchos" means "tablets")
The word "u'sfartem---and you shall count" (Vayikra 23:15) comes from the root word sapir--sapphire, the material that the second set of Luchos were made of. Our souls are compared to sapphire, which loses its luster when it becomes dirty. As a result of our sins, our souls also lose some of their light, their gleam. The message of the word "u'sfartem" is that by counting we must "polish" our souls so that we can be untarnished in time to experience the revelation of Matan Torah (Noam Elimelech, Mareh Yechezkel). from Parsha in Pink, p.144
Reading this about the tablets being made of Sapphire really sparkled my spirit to a glistening excitement!!! Below is a scripture with "sapphire" that has always intrigued me and I even found I highlighted in my first Bible!! It is about sapphire under God's feet!! Which comes write before a scripture about the giving of the tablets. When reading about the possibility that the tablets are made of sapphire, suddenly this scripture came even more alive!!! Could it be that He made the tablets from the sapphire of the throne room?? To me it makes all the sense in the Heavens!! We may not know until we get there, but I find this so intriguing. Here is the verse that I highlighted years ago (around 6 to be exact!) in my first Faithgirls bible. I will just point out again the letters for "sapphire" in blue!
י וַיִּרְאוּ, אֵת אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל; וְתַחַת רַגְלָיו, כְּמַעֲשֵׂה לִבְנַת הַסַּפִּיר, וּכְעֶצֶם הַשָּׁמַיִם, לָטֹהַר
| Exodus 24:10 and they saw the God of Israel; and there was under His feet the like of a paved work of sapphire stone, and the like of the very heaven for clearness. |
As we count may we ask the Holy Spirit to look for those areas in ourselves that we need to "polish" as we prepare to meet with and experience the revelation at Shavuot that we are coming up to in only a few remaining weeks. In this chapter in the devotional she also speaks of the preparation in coming up to meeting our beloved as we "detox and beautify our spirit and soul so we can stand under the chuppah* with splendor and grace."(Parsha in Pink, p. 144 ) (*chuppah referes to the bridal canopy at a Jewish wedding)
As we have been talking about this preparation for the wedding with the Beloved (see posts and Challah-cast below!), may we sparkle and shine more and more like the sapphire as we count up to that day!!! I hope this season of Shavuot will be a time when the Bride of Yeshua can truly come together as one in Him. This devotional book was written by a Jewish author, and her words about preparing as the bride are exactly what I encounter from the believers of Jesus in the church. The beautiful thing is that we are all His bride. I pray that separation will break down this year as He reveals Himself to us in these days-- when remember, He was revealing Himself to His disciples in this period between Passover and Shavout. I find it poignant and beautiful, as someone who is both Jewish and a believer in Yeshua, to see how all together we are His bride!
So there shall be one flock, one Shepherd. John 10:16b
Love and Blessings and Happy Counting!
Today we are entering in day 31 (ooh, see how many days ago I wrote this draft! Today we are actually at day 38!!) , of the counting of the Omer.
So teach us to number our days,
so that we may get a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90:12
Love,
♡
Shayndel
hebrew word review notes:
Luchos means "tablets"
chuppah refers to the wedding canopy that the bride and groom get married beneath in a Jewish wedding.
