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 eighteen days, which is two weeks and four days of the Omer.
Meditation
Exodus 3:11-13
11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” 12 And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”
Devotional
Self-doubt is what we do. We forget past experiences that prepared us. Moses was raised in the House of Pharaoh and should remember where he came from and how God will use his past. Moses is reassured that God is with him. God was sending Moses back to the “scene of the crime” to do what he tried to do when he delivered the Hebrew from the Egyptian slave master. As Moses left Egypt and came to God at Mt Horeb, so Moses will do so for the people. God uses the twists and turns in our lives so we can comfort and lead others who find themselves on similar paths. We must remember where we’ve come from and how God brought us through. The Exodus is foundational and defining to the identity of Israel. God promises an exodus for all nations (Isaiah 2:15, Amos 9:7; Revelation 22:1-5). Where is the exodus story in your life and that of your people? Is it sacred? Do you remember? How does it inform your identity and life?