The Wave Sheaf Offering.
“Why is the wave sheaf offering still important for a Christian?”
Transcript:
“What is the wave sheaf offering? Why is it important during Days of Unleavened Bread?” Today we’re going to answer that question, we’re going to review the wave sheaf and its connection to the Days of Unleavened Bread and even moving forward and its importance to remembering the connection to all God’s Holy Days. So let me back up and ask the question again, “What is the wave sheaf offering?”
In simple terms the wave sheaf offering was a grain offering harvested during the first days of Unleavened Bread. Depending on when the Sabbath falls in this week it was to be harvested on the Sunday following the weekly Sabbath. In the instruction God gave ancient Israel, the priest was to take a sheaf of the early barley harvest, it was to be cut, it was to be beat out and made into fine flour, put in a bowl, a certain measure, and it was to be waved before God in acceptance before the congregation. Let’s read of that in Leviticus chapter 23. Seems like an odd thing to go through but it is deep with meaning. I’m hoping to show you some of that today.
Leviticus 23 and in verse 9, let’s pick up the thought here. Leviticus 23:9 – And the Eternal spoke to Moses, saying, Verse 10 – “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them:`When you come into the land which I will give you, and reap of its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest. Verse 11 – `He shall wave the sheaf before the Eternal, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. Verse 12 – `And you shall offer on that day, when you wave the sheaf, a male lamb of the first year, without blemish, as a burnt offering to the Eternal. Verse 13 – `It’s a grain offering shall be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to the Eternal, for a sweet aroma; and its drink offering shall be of wine, one-fourth of a hin. Verse 14 – `You shall eat neither bread nor parched grain nor fresh grain until the same day that you have brought the offering to your God; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. And as we just read, “the morrow after the Sabbath” – so this would be a Sunday and this year that’s tomorrow. This was to be done before that spring harvest was to begin in earnest.
Now, God instructed Israel to begin the spring harvest season by waving this ephah of barley. That’s a measure of about two quarts in our modern measurement system. This grain was not on the stalk, the wave was to be cut, as we’ll read here in a moment, it was to be beaten out fine. Let’s just do that, in verse 13. Verse 13 – grain offering two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour… That’s beaten down, like we would use to bake. It’s not the rough, on the stalk barley. This is interesting, the significance of this.
Now barley was the spring harvest grain, it wasn’t the primary grain, but it was an easy one to sow because it could be placed in the ground in the fall before everything went dormant. Then in the spring as the ground began to warm up this barley would start to grow. The Israelites, as we read, were not to eat of any other harvest of the early crop until this wave sheaf took place. Now in our modern society I would speculate that very few of us actually had a connection to farming in terms of our living and we may not understand how that works. But if you’re driving around you notice that a lot of the fields that are green.”
Continued at: https://www.ucg.org/sermons/the-wave-sheaf
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The Wave Offering is the last day of the Feast of The Unleavened Bread, which we, in our church, just celebrated.
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Do you lie to your kids?
“Are White Lies a Necessary Part of Parenting?
by Brianna Wine
Society winks at and even encourages parents to tell their children white lies. But are little lies really harmless to our children?
“Come on, please get out of the pool. It’s time to go!”
The frustrated mother looks over at me, pleading for help. I sympathize with her, but look away to continue monitoring the pool. As a lifeguard, it’s my job to ensure everyone’s safety, but often I am required to do a little babysitting as well.
A little later, I hear her yell, “Okay, you have five more minutes and then you have to get out or else!” The child keeps swimming. Oh no, I think, as I see the parent start to walk over to me. The mom winks and says behind her hand in a whisper, “Hey, can you blow your whistle and say the pool is closed? When we leave, everyone can get back in. That is the only way Maddie will leave the pool. She just won’t listen to me.
As she said it, she looked at me for approval of her idea—but it was something I could not give. Instead of lying about the pool closing, I firmly instructed her child to leave the pool. As I became a nanny and then a teacher, I regularly witnessed these types of interactions between caregivers and children.
Survey says
In 2013 a parenting survey collected data from around the United States on a variety of topics related to parenting techniques and the parents themselves. The survey was titled, “Spanking? Lying? Confessions of American Moms.” The parents surveyed were 99.1 percent women, 81.7 percent of them were married, and 49.4 percent had a bachelor’s degree or higher.
A few of the questions focused on parents deceiving their children, such as: “Have you ever lied to your child to get out of something you couldn’t deal with (for example, saying you couldn’t go to the toy store because it was closed)?” The survey reported that 48.4 percent of the parents said yes and 25.8 percent said sometimes.
Although the numbers who lie to their kids seem shocking at first, think about how many times you have heard empty threats like, “If you do not come now, I am going to leave you at the store and never come back”? or heard parents tell their children, “You better not do that, Santa is watching.”
Are all lies harmful?
Sure, we all know the Bible says it’s wrong to lie, but telling your child Santa exists or that fairies are real is just a fun form of pretending, right? Sometimes it’s just easier to not tell the truth. Are white lies really that harmful?” Continue reading at: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/life/blog/are-white-lies-a-necessary-part-of-parenting/
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Update.
Sunday evening, as I said last week, we celebrated the ‘Foot-washing’, and the ‘Bread and Wine..’ “Do it in remembrance of me.”
Monday, 30th. April, the Passover started at dusk, so we had another evening gathering in the dining hall of the church. We had the readings, the seder plate with the symbols, and the four little glasses of wine. The supper was lamb, as it should be, with several veggies and unleavened bread made by different people in the congregation. I made some too, and even though it was my first attempt everyone loved it and it was all devoured in a hurry. Mine had been made with some almond flour, maybe that’s why it tasted different. I don’t drive in the dark, so my German neighbor Hans took me to both the evening meetings. He likes to go to these Biblical Holy Feasts, as his church doesn’t celebrate them.
It has been a busy “Feast of Unleavened Bread” week. Waiting for contractors to look at the plumbing in the Mini-house took up several mornings. The main drain was cut to add the kitchen sink drain, and that is as far as it got, so we couldn’t use any water over there. Why do people not show up when they have made an appointment? More time was spent with a trip to the Social Security Office, and a shopping spree at Lowes and Krogers ! Twice, I rescued a stranded neighbor when their car broke down.
All leavening was out of my house and the church kitchen and stored in my vacant mini-house. We had a great daytime service for the beginning of the Feast on Tuesday, the 1st. May. I made a Gelfite Fish loaf for the Holy Day potluck, and opened a couple of cans of Matzos Balls in Chicken Broth and added a bag of frozen mixed vegetables. I also made a strawberry jel-like dessert with non-pork gelation with cut up fresh pears and plums in it. That disappeared quickly, too.
The special Bible readings that day were Lev.22:23-44 about the Holy Day, Num. 28:16-25, 2 King 23:1-9,21-25, and 1 Pet.2:1-10, and the Teaching was about The Blood of Christ.
During the week we all ate unleavened bread, which I didn’t miss, as I liked what the pastor’s wife and I had made, anyway, I don’t eat a lot of bread. I had some whole wheat Matzos, too. Plaster it with almond butter and jelly, and you have a good snack. We had our usual Sabbath service on Saturday. I took a crockpot of Bison and cabbage, and another crockpot full of freshly cooked veggies. We would still be eating unleavened bread until the last day of The Feast of Unleavened Bread which would be over in the evening Monday, the 7th. May.
The Bible readings were continued where we had left off reading the Bible on the regular Sabbaths at Lev. 16:1-18:30, Ezek 22:1-22:19, and Heb 9:11-28. We also read Psalms 1, 19 and 15. The teaching was about God’s Plan of Redemption, and how Jesus is the beginning and the end.
This is supposed to be posted on Sunday, but this time it is really late. It’s going to be time to write the next one in a couple of days.
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