Shabbat Chol HaMo’ed Pesach
The season of Passover and the counting of the Omer reveals that God’s redemption extends far beyond a single moment of deliverance into an ongoing journey of spiritual transformation. At the heart of this journey lies God’s abundant mercy, demonstrated when He proclaimed His name to Moses after Israel’s sin with the golden calf. The sages teach that God’s name was spoken twice to represent His mercy shown both before we sin and after we repent, revealing that His compassion flows from His character rather than our merit.
Spiritual rebirth, as Yeshua explained to Nicodemus, involves being born from above, of water and the Spirit. The context of this rebirth is Ezekiel’s prophecy of God sprinkling clean water to cleanse from defilement and giving new hearts with new spirits within. Just as the red heifer’s ashes cleansed from contamination due to death, God cleanses us from death through Yeshua, enabling us to receive new life and enter His presence.
The counting of the Omer from Passover to Shavuot represents our spiritual growth after redemption. Like the Israelites who needed wilderness time to shed their Egyptian mindset before receiving Torah at Sinai, we are called higher, to an ongoing transformation. This period calls for daily examination of ourselves against God’s character attributes including loving kindness, justice, compassion, endurance, humility, bonding, and sovereignty. This transformation occurs through surrender to God’s Spirit working within us, enabling us to walk in holiness and reject the lie that we cannot change.