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 thirty seven days, which is five weeks and two days of the Omer.
Meditation
Exodus 19:16-20
16 On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled. 17 Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. 18 Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. 19 And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder. 20 The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.
Devotional
On the third day is an important number and unit in scripture. This third day at Mt Sinai full of frightening thunder, lightning and darkness becomes the motif and imagery of the resurrection of Jesus on the third day following his crucifixion. God is coming and Moses brings the people out of the camp to meet God at the foot of the mountain. Mt Sinai was wrapped in smoke. Solomon said, “The Lord has said that he would dwell in thick darkness. (1 Kings 8:12). Psalm 18:11 says, “He wrapped himself in darkness that covered him like a tent. He was hidden by dark clouds heavy with water.” That darkness is mystery and the unknown. But God comes to reveal Himself to those He chooses and to those who approach. The apostle Paul writes in Acts 17:26-27, “And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us.” There is a loud trumpet sound as God comes. This is the motif behind the sound of the trumpet at the coming of Christ in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. The sounding of the trumpet prepares the people for the divine voice and message. Both God and Moses speak. This imagery of clouds, smoke, thunder, lightning, darkness and trumpet sounds are the language of theophany and will accompany visions and encounters of God and Christ in scripture. What the people of Israel experienced at Mt Sinai was to test them to see if they would obey God’s voice. But under the new covenant of Jeremiah made possible by Jesus, we are invited to come confidently without fear to the God of grace and mercy to find help in the time of need (Hebrews 4:14-16; 12:18-24).