How we celebrate the Feast of Firstfruits and start counting the Omer

He is risen! HalleluYah! I am so thankful for our messiah to be out firstfruits offering and set apart for us. The Feast of Firsfruits is extra special because not only is it the resurrection of our savior but it also starts the countdown to Shavuot or Pentecost.

Traditionally and Biblically, a wave offering of barley would have been presented before the Lord on the Feast of Firstfruits. Then you count 50 days and you will be at Shavuot where the wave offering was now barley bread. So Messiah is our Firstfruits and then Shavuot is the in dwelling on the Holy Spirit!

For more details about both of these feasts, here is a decent article on them but I highly encourage you to dig through scriptures; what a beautiful picture of the gospel they both are!

Because it is sandwiched inside of the Feast I of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Firstfruits, while massively important, doesn’t get a lot of special attention with pomp and festivities.

Start the day with scripture

This should always be our guiding light. So we turned to Matthew and read the account of Jesus/Yeshua rising again. We were able to discuss the details of how and why He rose.

Sing hymns

Eat fish and Honey

At lunch we read from Luke 24 and discussed the to be alive means we must eat and He indeed was alive! The disciples gave him broiled fish and honeycomb. We prepared a meal of broiled fish, honey, and fruit.

Discuss being fishers of men with a sweet message of the gospel

While eating our lunch, we talked about how because He was risen and alive we are called to be fishers of men and share the sweet message of him being our reconciliation to God. This again reiterates what Luke 24 records our Messiah saying — we are to preach His name to all nations!

Eat lots of fruit and discuss what our fruits look like

All day we have had various fruits on the table to eat and enjoy. In talking about them, unlike vegetables, fruit takes a long time to grow and establish as a plant. It is important to point out that the fruits of the spirit (Galatians 5) take time to develop and come from abiding in the Word of Truth. But also there are other fruits like the fruit of salvation.

Evaluate what are OUR Firstfruits and how will we use them to glorify the Most High?

we have a farm or homestead so between animals and growing a huge garden, it’s easy to see that we will have true blessings of abundance in this area. So discussing how we can use our first born males to benefit the Kingdom or just talking about the abundance of blessings we have been giving and how we can share them helps us to refocus just getting things done to see the overflow of blessing and how it connects us with others.

End the day with counting the Omer

Counting the Omer is a time of spiritual refinement. Can you imagine counting it after the resurrection leading up to Pentecost and the Spirit being poured out?! It’s not just about marking each day but also making each day meaningfully count.

Leviticus 23 “¹⁵You shall also count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day when you brought in the sheaf of the wave offering; there shall be seven complete Sabbaths. ¹⁶ You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall present a new grain offering to the Lord. ¹⁷ You shall bring in from your dwelling places two loaves of bread as a wave offering, made of  two-tenths of an ephah; they shall be of a fine flour, baked with leaven as first fruits to the Lord. 

In homeschooling, we are doing continent studies which is the original launch point for coming up with the idea to Count the Omer.

We will be focusing on one African country every day between Firstfruits and Shavuot.

We will:

• pray for each country
• pray for those spreading the gospel there
• pray for their country’s leadership
• pray for unbelievers in the country
• pray for the widows, orphans, and suffering in the country
• watch a movie, documentary, or video to learn more about the country as a whole

In addition to this and reinforcing that we are a worldwide body of believers that all come together to form the church, we will explore the food, culture, and people of each country. This means as a family we will get to enjoy seeing the diversity of all believers.

if you or someone you know lives in Africa, we are also looking to connect with others to as we study each. We will identify a few key facts:

• What percent of the country professes to know our Messiah?
• What does a typical congregation or gathering of believers look like?
• How is the gospel been received their in the past? With hostility or graciousness?Is there anyone we can find to try to help or pray for in a meaningful way from that country?
• The political boundaries of the country.
• The look and design of their flag.
• What is a traditional food?
• what are common bugs and animals in the area and general geography?

I have a wonderful friend who is doing a similar counting the Omer activity this year and they are focusing on all 50 States. I can see where in future years we can do other countries or states, or even all the cities in our state. There are so many applications for the same idea.

I did grab a few supplies that I will add an affiliate link to (we earn commissions from qualifying purchases) in case they help families like yours!

• Laminated Maps
• Worldwide country stickers (5 sets of each )
• Seven Continents record/workbook
• Bugs book (separated by continent)

Her are our countries for you to follow along. We will add them daily:

• Eritrea

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