Blessing
Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments, and commanded us concerning the counting of the Omer.
Barukh atah, A-donai E-loheinu, Melekh Ha-ʿolam, asher qid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu ʿal S’firat Ha-ʿomer.
Count
Today is seventeen days, which is two weeks and three days of the Omer.
Meditation
Exodus 3:7-10
7 The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”
Devotional
Like Moses God has seen the plight of his people. God is concerned about their suffering and has come to rescue them. Their salvation is not simply deliverance from their oppression but also includes a new homeland that will supply their needs and self-determination. Their cry has reached his ears. God saw who had been oppressing them. Moses will be God’s hands and feet to deliver His people. In Moses God has found his partner and agent to fulfill His promises made to their ancestors (Genesis 15:12-14, 12:1-7). Today, we see the oppression of peoples across the world. God sees how we treat each other individually and collectively. Oppression of others is why both the Canaanites and Israel go into exile. Our collective oppression of others has disastrous consequences. Do we see our victims? Has God called you to help the oppressed? How can you impact their lives?