Counting the Omer and the Wave Offering
the counting of the Omer, the first cutting and harvest of Shavuot,and Yeshua’s words from Mattityahu 24:36, as they more likely have a connection to the Torah]mandated festival referred to as Shavuot – the Feast of Weeks (Exodus 34:22) and not, as most believe, to the first day of the seventh month – the Feast of Trumpets (Leviticus 23:23-25) or as some say, “Rosh HaShanah.”At least since the days of Jewish historian Flavius Josephus ben Mattityahu (“Josephus”), the counting of the Omer According to the Torah the day of counting the omer is supposed to start when two important conditions are met:
Lev 23:15 ‘And from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, you shall count for yourselves: seven completed Sabbaths.
Lev 23:16 ‘Until the morrow after the seventh Sabbath you count fifty days, then you shall bring a new grain offering to יהוה.
1) From the morrow after the Shabbath
2) From the day you bring the sheaf of the wave offering
Of course today there is no discussion among messianic on "what is the sheaf offering made of" and what does "the day after the Shabbath" means. the sixteenth of Avi (the day after Passover) and the counting of the Omer begins on that same day along with an Omer of barley; what is called in Hebrew Raisheet K’tzir or the “first cutting” or “first harvest” offering
Yeshua’s words in Mattityahu 24:36 that, “No man knows the day or the hour, brings some light on this subject between the start of the counting of the Omer and the end of the harvest at Shavuot. To start, let us look at Deuteronomy 16:9:
Deu 16:9 “Count seven weeks for yourself. Begin to count seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the grain.
How does it makes sense with what Yeshua says in Matt. 24 concerning the "day and hour"? Because it is the authority of our Father in Heaven who controls the Land of Ysrael cooling and heating, former and later rain. In the 49 days and seven shabbot following the "putting the sickle to the grain" farmers all over Ysrael were finished to harvest their grain. Ysrael is a land with different climat zone and grain do not mature at the same time in different place and thus each farmer's cutting cannot be predicted ahead of time, they could only harvest when the grain permitted it.
No farmer could know precisely when to put the sickle to a field of his own standing grain until that moment of certainty came. Then, at the right hour, a farmer could say, “Now, is the time. I will begin my harvest so that I have food to eat in the coming year and I have a part of my cutting to bring to the Temple on Shavuot, since I "am" commanded "to" not" come "emptyhanded!” (Deuteronomy 16:16).
Deu 16:16 “Three times a year all your males appear before יהוה your Elohim in the place which He chooses: at the Festival of Unleavened Bread, and at the Festival of Weeks, and at the Festival of Booths. And none should appear before יהוה empty-handed,
Ancient historian Josephus Falvius write in Antiquities of the Jews, book 3 chapter 10, section 5, following:
" In the month of Xanthicus, which is by us called Nisan, and is the beginning of our year, on the fourteenth day of the lunar month, when the sun is in Aries, (for in this month it was that we were delivered from bondage under the Egyptians,) the law ordained that we should every year slay that sacrifice which I before told you we slew when we came out of Egypt, and which was called the Passover; and so we do celebrate this passover in companies, leaving nothing of what we sacrifice till the day following. The feast of unleavened bread succeeds that of the passover, and falls on the fifteenth day of the month, and continues seven days, wherein they feed on unleavened bread; on every one of which days two bulls are killed, and one ram, and seven lambs. Now these lambs are entirely burnt, besides the kid of the goats which is added to all the rest, for sins; for it is intended as a feast for the priest on every one of those days. But on the second day of unleavened bread, which is the sixteenth day of the month, they first partake of the fruits of the earth, for before that day they do not touch them. And while they suppose it proper to honor God, from whom they obtain this plentiful provision, in the first place, they offer the first-fruits of their barley, and that in the manner following: They take a handful of the ears, and dry them, then beat them small, and purge the barley from the bran; they then bring one tenth deal to the altar, to God; and, casting one handful of it upon the fire, they leave the rest for the use of the priest. And after this it is that they may publicly or privately reap their harvest. They also at this participation of the first-fruits of the earth, sacrifice a lamb, as a burnt-offering to God".
Based on this many today still claim the Barley to be the determining point for the 'time to put the sickle to the grain (d'varim16:15) .
Josephus, a faithful “Orthodox Jew” to the Pharisaic practice of his day, tells us that a wave sheaf (Hebrew: Omer) offering of barley (Hebrew: Se’orah) was offered to YHWH on the sixteenth of the month (of Aviv).
Talmud - Mas. Menachoth 65a
WHAT WAS THE PROCEDURE? THE MESSENGERS OF THE BETH DIN USED TO GO OUT ON THE DAY BEFORE THE FESTIVAL AND TIE THE UNREAPED CORN IN BUNCHES TO MAKE IT THE EASIER TO REAP. ALL THE INHABITANTS OF THE TOWNS NEAR BY ASSEMBLED THERE, SO THAT IT MIGHT BE REAPED WITH MUCH DISPLAY. AS SOON AS IT BECAME DARK HE CALLED OUT, ‘HAS THE SUN SET’? AND THEY ANSWERED. ‘YES.’ HAS THE SUN SET’? AND THEY ANSWERED, ‘YES.’ WITH THIS SICKLE’? AND THEY ANSWERED, ‘YES’. ‘WITH THIS SICKLE’? AND THEY ANSWERED, YES’. ‘INTO THIS BASKET’? AND THEY ANSWERED, ‘YES’. INTO THIS BASKET’? AND THEY ANSWERED. ‘YES’. ON THE SABBATH HE CALLED OUT FURTHER, ON THIS SABBATH’? AND THEY ANSWERED. ‘YES’. ‘ON THIS SABBATH’? AND THEY ANSWERED. ‘YES’. ‘SHALL I REAP’?
AND THEY ANSWERED, REAP’. ‘SHALL I REAP’? AND THEY ANSWERED, ‘REAP’. HE REPEATED EVERY MATTER THREE TIMES, AND THEY ANSWERED, ‘YES.’ ‘YES.’ ‘YES’. AND WHY WAS ALL THIS? BECAUSE OF THE BOETHUSIANS WHO MAINTAINED THAT THE REAPING OF THE ‘OMER WAS NOT TO TAKE PLACE AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE [FIRST DAY OF THE] FESTIVAL.
let us now have a look at Leviticus 23 and step through verses 10-13
Lev 23:9 And יהוה spoke to Mosheh, saying,
Lev 23:10 “Speak to the children of Yisra’ĕl, and you shall say to them, ‘When you come into the land which I give you, and shall reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the first-fruits (Raisheet K’tzirchem) of your harvest to the priest.
Here, we learn from the Torah, in straightforward language, that from the moment Israel enters the Land and begins its harvest of the harvest (Hebrew: K’tzir, when the sickle touches the standing grain – (Deuteronomy 16:9), that the Kohen is to take a certain measurement of that grain (not the stalks, but the grain from the stalks) and offer it collectively on behalf of the nation, to YHWH, for their good; for their acceptance. This national,collective offering is described as the"Omer (the “Sheaf”) ] the Land’s first cutting (Hebrew: Raisheet K’tzir – first harvest; not“bikkurim”. Bikkurim is the term used specifically for Shavuot on the fiftieth days of the Omer.
Lev 23:11 ‘And he shall wave the sheaf before יהוה, for your acceptance. On the morrow after the Sabbath the priest waves it.
Lev 23:12 ‘And on that day when you wave the sheaf, you shall prepare a male lamb a year old, a perfect one, as a burnt offering to יהוה,
Lev 23:13 and its grain offering: two-tenths of an ĕphah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to יהוה, a sweet fragrance, and its drink offering: one-fourth of a hin of wine.
Here, the Torah specifies that when the Kohen waves the Omer of the new growth of the Land, a specific burnt offering should also be added along with a very specific “twoTtenths” of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil.
Lev 23:14 ‘And you do not eat bread or roasted grain or fresh grain until the same day that you have brought an offering to your Elohim – a law forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
Here, the Torah is once again straightforward; we are not allowed to eat of the new growth until we have made this offering – the offering of the Omer ] and this applies to all of us, in our generations, in our dwelling places, in the Land, and not outside Eretz Ysrael.
let us look back to the verse 13:
Lev 23:13 and its grain offering (Hebrew: mincha): two-tenths of an ĕphah of fine flour (solet) mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to יהוה, a sweet fragrance, and its drink offering: one-fourth of a hin of wine.
The Hebrew text specifically tells us that this national offering of Raisheet K’tzir (first harvest), which occurs the day after the Sabbath is supposed to be accompanied with mincha (a grain offering) and this grain offering is specifically declared to be solet, which is translated into English as “fine flour.” This being said about the details of the “first cutting” or “first harvest,” let us once again look at what the Pharisees were doing, according to Flavius Josephus: …they" offer" the bikkurim (Raisheet K’tzir – “first" harvest”) of their barley….
So, the question that really needs to be asked is this: Is solet, barley? The answer is No. Solet is not barley because solet is always finely crushed wheat (I will explain this in a moment) and barley is se’orah, which is solet’s antonym; that is, rough and coarse. Solet is from the Hebrew word Samech"Lamed"Tav, but in Modern Hebrew it is spelled: "Samech", "Vav", "Lamed", "Tav".
Different words to define:
- Barley
- Wheat
2Ki 7:1 And Elisha said, “Hear the word of יהוה. Thus said יהוה, ‘About this time tomorrow a seah of fine flour (solet) for a sheqel, and two seahs of barley (s'orah) for a sheqel, at the gate of Shomeron.’ ”
Fine flour: H5560 סלת sôleth
From an unused root meaning to strip; flour (as chipped off): - (fine) flour, meal.
Barley: H8184 שׂערה śe‛ôrâh
(1,2) seh-o-raw',
(The feminine form meaning the plant and the masculine form meaning the grain (second form)); from H8175 in the sense of roughness; barley (as villose): - barley.
H8175 שׂער śâ‛ar
A rpim root; to storm; by implication to shiver, that is, fear: - be (horribly) afraid, fear, hurl as a storm, be tempestuous, come like (take away as with) a whirlwind.
Fine flour is written in Hebrew: samech (60) lamed(30), tav(400) (490). In English the word is "seminola" or "cream of the wheat", the best part of the wheat.
Barley:
2Sa 17:28 brought beds and basins, and earthen vessels and wheat (chittah), and barley (s'orah) and flour (qamach), and roasted grain and beans, and lentils, and parched vegetables,
Qamach: H7058 קמח qemach, written Qof (100, mem(40), chet (8) (148)
keh'-makh
From an unused root probably meaning to grind; flour: - flour, meal.
The general term for flour is; Qemach
Solet meaning "Fine flour" (from wheat) in: 2nd Kings 7:16, 1st chron. 23:29, Ezek.16:13, 46:14, Exod. 29:2, Lev. 24:5 (lechem Panim/ Bread of the face), Exod.34:22 Firstfruits of "chittah" (wheat)
Exo 34:22 “And perform the Festival of Weeks for yourself, of the first-fruits of wheat (chittah) harvest, and the Festival of Ingathering at the turn of the year.
Babylonian Talmud sotah 14a s'horah (Barley) was considered animal food and food for the poor people.
Rev 6:6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a day’s wage, and three quarts of barley for a day’s wage. And do not harm the oil and the wine.”
Rev 18:13 and cinnamon and incense, and fragrant oil and frankincense, and wine and oil, and fine flour (Gr. Semidalis) and wheat, and cattle and sheep, and horses and carriages, and bodies and lives of men.
The Greek word semidalis correspond to the English word seminola.
Mat 13:33 Another parable He spoke to them, “The reign of the heavens is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until all was leavened.”
Lev 2:1 ‘And when anyone brings a grain offering (minchah) to יהוה, his offering is to be of fine flour (solet). And he shall pour oil on it, and put frankincense on it,
Barley (s'orah) always the first to ripen in Eretz Ysrael, about four weeks later comes the wheat (chittah)
Barley: A picture of manmade laws who appeals to the "animal nature".
Wheat: The wheat requires a very specific P.H of the soil, it is fragile and needs a lot od water, while Barley can withstand a lot of abuse.
Vayiqra/Lev. 2:1, "grain offering" (minchah) from "cream of wheat" (solet). Chittah (wheat) depends on the later rain:
Joe 2:23 And ye sons of Zion, joy and rejoice, In Yehovah your God, For He hath given to you the Teacher for righteousness, And causeth to come down to you a shower, Sprinkling and gathered--in the beginning.
Joe 2:23 And so be glad, children of Zion, and rejoice in Yehovah your God, because he has given you the right amount of early rain, and he will cause the rain to fall for you, both the early rain and the later rain as before.
Joe 2:23 Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in Yehovah your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month.
Talmud Menachot 84a, the rabbis argue wither it is Barley or wheat, because of the expression: "in the ear"
We are commended to bring the best for the minchah of the Firstfruits , not Barley, animal food, but "solet" (cream of the wheat) from "chittah"(wheat).
Gen 4:3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto Yehovah.
His offering was rejected, it was not "the best".
To brinf "solet" (fine flour) from the "chittah" (wheat) in the "aviv" (green ears) stage.
Another witness:
Eze 16:13 “Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your dress was of fine linen, and silk, and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour (solet), and honey, and oil. And you were exceedingly pretty, and became fit for royalty.
Eze 16:19 “And My food which I gave you, fine flour (solet) and oil and honey which I fed you, you set it before them as sweet incense – and so it was,” declares the Master יהוה.
So, what exactly is “solet”? Solet is what we would call today semolina. English translators use the phrase, “fine flour.”
In the Septuagint (LXX), solet is semidalis and in the Latin Vulgate, solet is simila,
both terms referring to finely ground wheat flour, not barley. Solet is essentially what we would call “cream of wheat.” During wheat milling, the bran, germ and endosperm are separated and the endosperm breaks into grains of about 0.25mm ] 0.75mm in diameter. These grains are further processed to produce fine wheat flour, also called “choice flour” in the Bible. Essentially, this is the best of the best when it comes to the processing and breaking apart of the wheat kernel.
From the passagesabove, you can clearly see that solet and se’orah (wheat and barley) are two different varieties of flour. In other words, solet is not se’orah and se’orah is not solet. They are different; and rightly, they should be. Since solet is the fine flour of the processed wheat grain, then what is the general term for “wheat” in Hebrew? The biblical term is Chitah – Chet"Tet"Heh.
Below are some passages that specifically refer to chitah or wheat, in general:
2Sa 17:28 brought beds and basins, and earthen vessels and wheat (chitah), and barley (se'orah) and flour (kamach), and roasted grain and beans, and lentils, and parched vegetables,
Deu 8:8 a land of wheat (chitah) and barley (se'orah), of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey,
Isa 28:24 Does the ploughman keep ploughing all day to sow? Does he keep turning his soil and breaking the clods?
Isa 28:25 When he has levelled its surface, does he not sow the caraway and scatter the cummin, plant the wheat (chitah) in rows, the barley (se'orah) in the appointed place, and the spelt in its place?
Joe 1:11 The farmers are ashamed, the vinedressers wail over the wheat (chitah) and over the barley (se'orah), for the harvest of the field is destroyed.
Solet is choice and creamy; barley is rough and coarse. It is this flour – the solet – that is always offered to or is used in the service and worship of YHWH in the biblical texts (cf. Numbers 6:15, 7:13, 8:8). Let us take a look:
Exo 29:1 “And this is the task you shall do to them to set them apart to serve Me as priests: Take one young bull and two rams, perfect ones,
Exo 29:2 and unleavened bread, and unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil – make these of wheat flour (solet chitim).
Lev 2:1 ‘And when anyone brings a grain offering to יהוה, his offering is to be of fine flour (solet). And he shall pour oil on it, and put frankincense on it,
In the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings, there are many references to the solet (fine flour) of chitah its use and service to YHWH. Now, in Hebrew, there is yet another more general word for flour. This is Kemach – Kuf" Mem" Chet. Kemach can mean any kind of flour – wheat, barley, rye, spelt; whatever you wish. Here are a few biblical references to kemach in Hebrew scripture:
Jdg 6:19 And Giḏʽon went in, and prepared a young goat, and unleavened bread from an ĕphah of flour (kemach). The meat he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot. And he brought them out to Him, under the terebinth tree, and presented it.
Isa 47:2 “Take the millstones and grind flour (kemach). Remove your veil, lift up the skirt, uncover the leg, pass through rivers.
Hos 8:7 “For they sow the wind, and reap the whirlwind. The stalk has no bud, it yields no grain (kemach). If it does yield, strangers swallow it up.
If kemach is attached to the Hebrew word solet, then it specifically refers to
fine wheat flour. If kemach is attached to se’orah then it refers to barley flour, so
forth and so on. Here are a couple of examples from Hebrew scripture:
Num 5:15 then the man shall bring his wife to the priest. And he shall bring the offering for her, one-tenth of an ĕphah of barley flour (kemach se'orah). He is not to pour oil on it or put frankincense on it, because it is a grain offering of jealousy, an offering for remembering, for bringing crookedness to remembrance.
Gen 18:6 So Aḇraham ran into the tent to Sarah and said, “Hurry, make ready three measures of fine flour (kemach solet), knead it and make cakes.”
In Genesis 18:6 and true to the biblical use of solet, Abraham offered the messengers of YHWH bread cakes made from solet (fine flour of wheat) not from the flour of se’orah (barley). Abraham offered the finest of his food – baked cakes from fine wheat flour ] to these messengers of YHWH and rightly so, since they were sent to him in the name of YHWH.
Leviticus 2:1
Lev 2:1 ‘And when anyone brings a grain (mincha) offering to יהוה, his offering is to be of fine flour (solet). And he shall pour oil on it, and put frankincense on it,
Now, according to Leviticus 23:12-13 we have this biblical statement of detail:
Lev 23:12 ‘And on that day when you wave the sheaf (omer), you shall prepare a male lamb a year old, a perfect one, as a burnt offering to יהוה,
Lev 23:13 and its grain (mincha) offering: two-tenths of an ĕphah of fine flour (solet) mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to יהוה, a sweet fragrance, and its drink offering: one-fourth of a hin of wine.
In Leviticus 2:1 the Divine Will is to receive from us solet whenever we
perform mincha or a grain offering to YHWH. Now, look at Leviticus 23:12-13,
and notice that the Raisheet K’tzir (first cutting) of an Omer offering is called
mincha or a grain offering. Thus, putting the two biblical references together and
knowing that YHWH wants fine flour (solet) from us when we offer mincha (a
grain offering), it is suspicious that Pharisaic/Rabbinic Judaism continues on
this path to promote and teach that the Shavuot count of the Omer to YHWH
must come from se’orah or barley and not from solet chitim or fine wheat flour.
Once again, exactly as Flavius Josephus mentions (Antiquities 3.10.5):
…in" the" first" place," they offer the first fruits (Raisheet K’tzir) of their
barley
A long time ago, Pharisaic/Rabbinic Judaism established a precedent that
the fifty]day/seven]week counting of the Omer leading to Shavuot, starts with
barley. Today’s Messianics and Ephraimites follow the same Pharisaic
Even the Talmud raise a doubt concerning the barley:
Talmud - Mas. Menachoth 84a
Rabbah raised the following objection: The verse, And if thou bring a meal-offering of
first-fruits. refers to the meal-offering of the ‘Omer. Of what was it offered? Of barley. You say ‘of barley’; but perhaps it is not so but rather of wheat! Said R. Eliezer, The expression ‘in the ear’is stated in regard to the incidents in Egypt, and the expression ‘in the ear’is also stated as an ordinance for generations: just as ‘in the ear’ stated in regard to the incidents in Egypt referred to the barley, so ‘in the ear’ stated as an ordinance for generations refers to barley only. R. Akiba said, We find that an individual must offer wheat as an obligation and also barley as an obligation; likewise we find that the community must offer wheat as an obligation and also barley as an obligation.
Should you say, then, that the ‘Omer was offered of wheat, we would not find a case when the community must offer barley as an obligation! Another explanation: Should you say that the ‘Omer was offered of wheat, then the Two Loaves would not be first-fruits! Hence the reason for it is that it must be first-fruits. This is indeed a refutation.
the “showbread” for the Temple was supposed to be baked from solet chitim (fine flour) and not se’orah (barley). Again, here is the commandment as specified in Leviticus 24:5-8:
Lev 24:5 “And you shall take fine flour (solet) and bake twelve cakes with it, two-tenths of an ĕphah in each cake.
Lev 24:6 “And you shall set them in two rows, six in a row, on the clean table before יהוה.
Lev 24:7 “And you shall put clear frankincense on each row, and it shall be on the bread as a remembrance portion, an offering made by fire to יהוה.
Lev 24:8 “On every Sabbath he is to arrange it before יהוה continually, from the children of Yisra’ĕl – an everlasting covenant.
The Lechem"haPanim – “showbread” was always supposed to rest in the
Holy Place, in the face of YHWH as a reminder of His love, covenant, and
commitment to the sons of Israel. This baked bread made of solet– fine flour ]
was to symbolically represent the redeemed twelve tribes “Israel of Elohim,”
even as Sha’ul (Paul) understood the idea in Galatians 6:16, saying:
Gal 6:16 And as many as walk according to this rule, peace and compassion be upon them, and upon the Yisra’ĕl of Elohim.
the symbolic solet of the “grain” from the fields that have been harvested as wheat is harvested. This being said let us now have a closer look at se’orah or what barley represents.
Barley– Food for People; Food for Animals
Jdg 7:13 And Giḏʽon came, and see, a man was relating a dream to his companion, and said, “See I had a dream, and see, a loaf of barley bread (lechem se'orah) tumbled into the camp of Miḏyan, and it came to a tent and smote it so that it fell and overturned, and the tent fell down.”
Jdg 7:14 And his companion answered and said, “This is nil else than the sword of Giḏʽon son of Yo’ash, a man of Yisra’ĕl. Elohim has given Miḏyan and all the camp into his hand.”
1Ki 4:27 And these governors, each one in his month, provided food for Sovereign Shelomoh and for all who came to the table of Sovereign Shelomoh. There was no lack in their supply.
1Ki 4:28 They also brought barley (se'orah) and straw to the appointed place, for the horses and steeds, each one according to his right- ruling.
2Ch 2:15 “And now, the wheat (chitim) and the barley (se'orim), the oil and the wine which my master has spoken of, let him send to his servants.
Not only was barley a food of our physical sustenance in ancient Israel but it also served to educate Israel in a spiritual lesson about the flesh or animal nature of man, which is supposed to be held in subjection to the Word of YHWH.
Wheat foreshadows man’s redeemed nature that wants to please his Creator and to do what his regenerated soul would want to do according to the Spirit of YHWH. This is seen in the fact that the wheat kernel contains a thinner layer of tough bran, easily supple.
A gift to YHWH, in the form of a grain offering (Leviticus 2:1) was always presented with solet (crushed wheat); fine flour that symbolizes redemption; a new nature; humility; submitting to YHWH’s Will; characteristics of our new redeemed nature. Conversely,se’orah (barley) signifies actions of the flesh; being crafty and clever; in looking for clever loopholes to get around the instructions of YHWH; explaining away divine directives and making innovations in the Law. This is what Yeshua said about the nature of the P’rushim (Pharisees) of his day in Mark 7:1]13, after quoting a scathing word from Isaiah 29:13; You" nicely" set" aside" the" commandment" of" Elohim in" order" to" keep" your"
tradition. (Mark"7:9)
The parable of Yeshua in Mattityahu 13:1-30 is clearly a lesson that teaches that the seed is the Word and the Word is wheat, and the wheat is the mincha (grain offering) Raisheet K’tzir “first cutting” of Weeks (Shavuot).
This is all according to Numbers 28:26, which commences the count of the Omer according
to Deuteronomy 16:9, ending seven weeks later, on the fiftieth day, on what is called Shavuot. Again (forgive my repetition), chitah and not se’orah is at the core of Yeshua’s parable about the sower and the seed. Further evidence that the Raisheet K’tzir (first harvest) is about wheat and not barley is also understood from Leviticus chapter 2.
Vayikrah (Leviticus) chapter 2 is all about grain" offerings, in Hebrew – mincha, hence the name of the Babylonian tractate Menachot. For the sake of a little repetition, I want you to carefully pay attention to the Hebrew terminology that is being used in Leviticus 2 and further, I do not think that any English text will bring this out to our benefit; in Hebrew, it is much clearer. Here is Leviticus chapter 2:1
Lev 2:1 ‘And when anyone brings a grain (mincha) offering to יהוה, his offering is to be of fine flour (solet). And he shall pour oil on it, and put frankincense on it, Solet does" not" come" from" se’orah" or" barley Solet comes from the crushing process of chitah, which is wheat For all mincha; that is, from all grain offerings to YHWH, solet is given as the flour of choice in the divine commandment. Bu in the context of Leviticus 2, something else emerges and again, I think it may only be understood in Hebrew and not in English. Let us have a look at Leviticus 2:14 in English:
Also" if" you" bring" a" grain" offering" of" early ripened things (aviv) to YHWH," you"
shall" bring" fresh" heads" of "grain" roasted in "the "fire, "grits" of "new" growth, "for"
the "grain" offering" of "your" early ripened things (aviv).
The context of Leviticus 2:1 is about mincha – a grain offering and grain offerings are required from solet, which is made from wheat. Now, let us look at what is written in Exodus 9:31 concerning se’orah:
Exo 9:31 And the flax and the barley were smitten, for the barley was in the head (aviv) and the flax was in bud.
Exo 9:32 But the wheat and the spelt were not smitten, for they were late crops.
What I see by comparing Leviticus 2:1 with 2:14 and then comparing those statements with Exodus 9:31, is that se’orah (barley) and chitah (wheat) can both go through a growth stage of Aviv. I do not see that ONLY BARLEY can be Aviv. Rather, it appears that WHEAT can also be Aviv but it is not spelled out assuch in Exodus 9:31. However, because wheat is at the core of the established grain offerings, the context of Lev. 2 supports this idea that wheat can also be Aviv. Mincha grain offerings do not come from se’orah (barley). According to Exodus 9:31, barley ripens first (which is proven true by the sheer fact that we can physically see it with our eyes every year). Following barley, wheat then ripens to Aviv about four weeks later. Essentially, se’orah and chitah both ripen to Aviv at around the same time in Eretz Israel, generally within a month of each other.
In any case, the first of the months of the year according to Exodus 12:1, 13:4, 23:15, 34:18; Deuteronomy 16:1 appear to all be based on the emergence of Aviv wheat and Aviv barley. When these grasses produce kernels that are in the stage of Aviv, then scripture tells us that we are IN THE CHODESH/RENEWAL (Moon/Month) OF AVIV or “springtime.” This is at the precise time when we came out of Egypt so long ago. Identifying the presence of Aviv barley determines the new month and the New Year for us because barley is the first to ripen in Israel and by the last day of the twelfth month, we simply have to know if the t’kufah – the annual cycle of the previous twelve months needs to be reset to the beginning of the year (month one, day one) OR if we need to go on to add an intercalated additional month (month thirteen, day one).
Again, if the barley is Aviv by the end of the twelfth cycle of the biblical Hebrew calendar, then this will tell us that we are approaching the chodesh of Exodus 12:1. As I see things, this is the only purpose for doing an Aviv barley search, at least as far as I understand things: to determine if we can reset the biblical calendar back to month one, day one OR if we need to add a thirteenth month AND THEN reset back to month one, day one AFTER the thirteenth month concludes.
Once we know where we are in any given calendar year, then why look back to se’orah or barley to determine anything more? It really is not necessary and once we are past the physical identification and observance of Aviv barley in the twelfth month, our next objective should be to move into the realm of looking for Aviv wheat, so that we can know when to put the sickle to the standing grain and start the count of the Omer (Deuteronomy 16:9). Once we can determine that we have Aviv wheat, then we should put the sickle to the standing
grain beginning with the very next “Sunday” on the, “day after the Sabbath” Thisis what scripture tells us in Leviticus 2:15
Lev 2:15 ‘And you shall put oil on it, and lay frankincense on it. It is a grain offering (minchah).
END PART ONE
