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 nineteen days, which is two weeks and five days of the Omer.
Meditation
Exodus 3:13-15
13 Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”15 God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ “This is my name forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation.
Devotional
Moses is in God’s presence and is concerned about his credentials when in the presence of the Israelites. They will want to know that he knows their God. And in one of the most important moments in Biblical history, Moses asks God for His “name.” To know the name of God means one knows God and can call upon God. Without a word, a thing does not exist. Until this moment, God’s name had not been revealed. As Moses was drawn from the water, Moses draws out God’s name. But Moses’ name provided hints that he would one day learn God’s name. For Moses’ name in Hebrew when spelled in reverse means “The Name” (HaShem), which is said rather than the secret name he received. The Name given was YHWH called the Tetragrammaton, the four letters. “LORD” is the common English translation but is not the meaning of the name. YHWH is rooted in the Hebrew verb “to be,” and is best translated as “I AM.” God is the self existent one in whom we live, move and have our being. God is no dependent on anything or anyone else. But our existence is made possible by God and depends upon God. Moses finds his purpose for being and his source of being in God. YHWH has availed Himself to Moses who can wholly depend upon His being. Whatever we need, God will be to us and for us.