The Master Gardener / May 2000

Contents

• The Master Gardener
• Counting the Omer

Gardening is one of my favorite activities to relax and enjoy my home. It is not that I grow incredible plants with numerous fruit, nor is it that I amaze and delight the horticultural world. I don't have a “green thumb.” But I do have a small “victory garden” on the side of my house and a 12×20 ft. greenhouse in the back. This is more than enough area for me to grow some tomatoes. Tomatoes are my thing. Oh sure, I grow some other stuff like peppers and snow peas, but tomatoes are the thing that gets me out there watering and puttering every day. It is probably because of my mother's and a favorite uncle's interest in gardening. I watched them enjoy the activity. Should you make the mistake of visiting my house during the growing season, you will be led on a tour of the garden area. By your participation you will be judged as a gracious guest. The tour ends with a spiritual teaching. “A righteous man is like a well watered garden.”

If you stop and think about the parallels between our faith and gardening, it is really very profound. We have all seen the garden that has been overrun by weeds and lacks water and nutrients. There is almost a sadness for what could have been. Uncultivated ground is the hope of a better future ignored. The joy of a clean, well kept garden is both soothing and satisfying. Weeds are a perfect parallel to distractions in this world, choking out the best plants and their fruit. Insects that spoil the fruit and plant are like the work of our great enemy. Just as each plant requires attention for its basic needs, so a righteous man needs attention daily to his walk.

When I go into my garden early in the morning or evening, I remind myself that my life is like the garden. It has a season of planting, growing, and harvesting. The measure of the garden is its yield of fruit. Just as I go out to inspect and care for the plants, so the Lord looks in on me, but He is even more faithful. The Lord and I have a very pleasant time in my garden reviewing my life and determining my needs for improvement. Gee, that's nice Monte. What's the point? Where is this going?

Did you know that the Lord is into gardening? Did you know that the Lord had the first garden? Did you know that the great spiritual dilemma we are all facing has to do with events and circumstances in that garden? Did you know the greatest work of Yeshua (our redemption) and the answer to our great dilemma was in a garden?

Most of us are familiar with the story of the Garden of Eden. The Scripture says that God planted that garden and placed Adam in the garden. It was God's garden, not Adam's. This is a particular point to take note of, because the owner has the right to put restrictions on what can and can not be done with the garden.

And the Lord God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed.

Genesis 2:8

I always share with people that Adam had the greatest job in the world. He was a gardener. He didn't have to worry about the bottom line and all the expense of garden operations, that was the Lord's problem as the owner. Adam got to see the labor of his hands, the direct result of his efforts each day. He had a great boss to work for, too. But then, you know the rest of story. The enemy came to kill and destroy. By deception, man misappropriated something that was not his, the tree of life. The result was Adam was fired from the best job with the best boss.

Therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken.

Genesis 3:23

Instead of the Garden of Eden, Adam had to garden in the same dirt he was made from in his creation. He had to do all the work, not just the fun part. He had to select the plants, dig the ground, find the water, and hope for the best. Worse yet, he had a new boss B himself. Still further, Adam's garden had other plants that he didn't want. He had weeds! The Lord described Adam's garden this way.

Both thorns and thistles it [Adam's new garden] shall grow for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field; by the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, because from it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.

Genesis 3:18-19

Now if we were to stop at this point, we have a pretty good understanding as to why a lot of things in our life are the way they are. The frustration of weeds in a garden is a whole object lesson by itself as compared to the frustrations of our mortal life. I have never met a gardener who didn't have a few choice comments about weeding B and how it is backbreaking and miserable.

Personally, I hate to weed. No matter how good the hoe is, it still is a waste of perfectly good time as far as I am concerned. When I see other gardeners hoeing the weeds, I am amazed at their steadfastness and faithfulness to the task. It is not that I don't want those attributes in my life, it is more like I want to be smarter than the weeds. This is probably why I enjoy my garden more than ever. I found a solution to the weeds. It is not chemicals. It something much better.

There is a parallel to our spiritual lives in this gardening secret. The solution to garden weeds is also the solution to our great spiritual dilemma. So, what is this great gardening secret? It is called mulching. Mulching is a covering for your garden. Mulching is organic material that prevents weeds from making it to light. It keeps the ground moist and protects the plants you intend to grow. If you mulch your garden with a good covering, you won't have to weed. Gee, that's nice Monte. Is this why you wrote this little article?

No silly, it is not about mulching; it is about the spiritual covering of Yeshua and what He does for us! Don't you get it? Yeshua is our covering for sin. This is the work of Yeshua in the garden of our lives! His is our atonement, our covering! The head covering of an observant Jew is called a kippah. It comes from the word kippur. The day of atonement is “Yom Kippur.” A kippah is a covering of the head. It symbolizes that I am covered (in subjection) to the King of Israel. Who is the King? Yeshua, the Messiah is King! But even more than this, listen to what the Gospel writers tell us about the greatest work of Yeshua, His death, burial, and resurrection. Take note of how this great covering was provided and where these things were done.

When Jesus had spoken these words, He went forth with His disciples over the ravine of the Kidron, where there was a garden, into which He Himself entered, and His disciples.

John 18:1

The words that Yeshua spoke were at the Passover seder. He went to the garden of Gethsemane, which means olive press, just after the Passover meal. The words were about the broken bread used at the Passover seder. This bread was symbolically buried and raised to be the best part of the Passover dinner. Yeshua went to the garden to be pressed into new oil, to be arrested, to become the bread that is broken for us. But why did He go to a garden? Because He was going to correct the problem that happened in the Garden of Eden with God and man. If Yeshua didn't correct the original problem of Adam then He wasn't the real solution.

After Yeshua's trial, He was taken to a place to be crucified. After His death, He was placed in a tomb for burial. But take note of where the place of the crucifixion and burial were according to Scripture.

Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had yet been laid.

John 19:41

Do you think this is a coincidence? I don't think so. I think God is working a great plan and hoping that we will get it. The problem began in a garden called Eden; the solution was provided in another garden by the work of Yeshua, the anointed One. Did you know that orthodox Jews are absolutely convinced that the temple mount, in fact all of Jerusalem, is the original Garden of Eden? I agree with them. Supporting this contention, the book of Revelation says that the “Tree of Life” will be planted in Jerusalem during the millennial kingdom and all the nations will come to eat of it. The “Tree of Life” is only planted in God's garden. Adam was banned from eating of it after the fall. Yeshua has become a new Adam to bring back the Tree of Life for us. Truly, Yeshua was a new Adam for us just as the Apostle Paul teaches.

For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive.

I Corinthians 15:21-22

So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven. As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly. And just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

I Corinthians 15:45-49

God has used the concept of growing and plants to illustrate major spiritual lessons. The Messiah's parables of the sower, of small seeds growing into great plants, and the agricultural season of harvest are but a few of His many illustrations. But maybe the greatest illustration is that of a righteous man being compared to a tree. Psalm 1 gives a very powerful illustration of this man.

How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night and he will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but they are like chaff which the wind drives away.

Psalms 1:1-4

Jeremiah shares a similar passage.

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord And whose trust is the Lord. For he will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes; but its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit.

Jeremiah 17:7-8

The understanding of Psalm 1 and Jeremiah 17 is based upon the prosperity of a healthy tree firmly planted with all the water it needs. Climbing the branches of that tree is the added perspective of life gained by faithfulness in the spiritual walk. As the tree grows, the size and breadth of spiritual understanding increases. Consider with me some of the details of this instruction.

How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! The reverse is also true. How unhappy is the man who walks with the wicked, stands with sinners, and sits with scoffers. Please take note of where the unhappy sit. Most believers will not choose to be with the wicked nor with sinners, but they will sit with scorners, especially if they are scorning other brethren. There is nothing delightful about scorning others. It is a miserable business, sapping unbelievable amounts of life and energy from the participants. It is not the behavior of a righteous man nor woman. A scornful person is like a dead tree with no covering for anyone. Their fruit is dry and rotten. Their branches serve as perches for vultures and other unclean things. They are waiting to be cut down and taken to a fire.

But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night… The delight of a righteous man is Torah (the law of the Lord). He thinks (meditates) on the Torah day and night. For the Torah to be such a delight, he must be getting joy and pleasure from it. He must be a man who understands and senses the very presence and wisdom of God in it. Did you know that the Torah is called the “Tree of Life.” When comparing God, the instruction of Torah, and various ministries of God, I see the three basic parts of a tree: roots, trunk, and branches. God is our root; we are the branches. I compare the Torah to the trunk of a tree specifically. The trunk lifts up and supports the branches with its leaves and fruit. The trunk also serves as the conduit of nourishment to the branches from the root system. Without the trunk, without the Torah, many believers are simply struggling to find roots and God's deep nourishment. It is a spiritual fact. Any ministry or man who tries to bear fruit in God's garden without the truth of Torah will be disappointed with the results. He will seek the deep things of God and find shallowness instead. He will ultimately turn to other men looking for the way of success. In sharp contrast to the scorner who loves the attention of other men, the righteous man chooses the pleasure of God and what God has to say in the Torah. These are not idle words; they are his life. This is the man who is compared to the Psalmist's tree. The other man is described as chaff, which is blown away.

and he will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers. A tree that is firmly planted is one with large roots. Those roots must go down deep so that the wind does not topple the tree. Those roots must be spread out to support the upper growth and spread of many branches. The righteous man has stability and growth that is not seen. His root system must be every bit as impressive as any branches seen. In fact, many trees have a root system that is twice the size of the branches. This root system is described by Paul.

As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.

Colossians 2:6-7

Whenever a new tree breaks forth from the ground, the root system is crucial to its continued success and growth. Leaves and early fruit do not ensure future success and survival, the root system determines the plants future. The root system must find a source of water to continue the growth of the tree. Therefore, when the Scripture speaks first of “firmly planted by streams of water,” it speaks to the essential truth of every tree's success. It also speaks of our spiritual success as righteous men. The olive tree is frequently compared to Israel. The olive tree is known for its root system. Even if you cut off or kill the trunk and branches, the olive tree will bring forth a new shoot and a new tree from the same root. The Messiah is equated with this new shoot.

Most people envision the Psalmist's tree by a river. While that is a common picture of large trees, it is not the one described here in Scripture. The tree described here has the water brought to him. The word for “streams” of water can be translated as “canals.” We are describing a tree that is being irrigated. The righteous man is irrigated by God with the water of His word. Thus, his delight is in the word of God. Now, a different picture is beginning to emerge. It is a picture of cultivation and nurturing, a planned growing area by the Master Gardener. Did not Yeshua tell us that our heavenly Father was a husbandman of trees who breaks off dead branches, grafts in others, and gathers the dead branches for burning? That is the kind of activity associated with an orchard of trees, trees that are irrigated, pruned, and protected from other elements. A tree by a river can be washed out along the bank. Its fate is more happenstance than according to a plan. The tree described by the Psalmist and Jeremiah is according to God's plan and order.

The protection to the tree is described by Jeremiah specifically … and [the tree] will not fear when the heat comes; but its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit. In an orchard, the husbandman provides cover and extra water in the time of burning heat. If there is a severe drought, the canals of water are sure and do not cease, therefore the fruit does not cease. In like manner, a righteous man does not suffer loss through the drought of life. He is sustained by God's word and continues to produce in season. Every spiritual man I know can testify to how God has sustained them in a dry season. He can also tell you that the fruit produced was very good.

The final attribute of this special tree is its leaves and continued growth. …which yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers. Prospering in all seasons and at all times seems like an impossible dream, but it is a natural result of a righteous man who has left the “wants” of the world and been satisfied in his “needs” by God. For him, happiness is achievable; it is called contentment and “Shalom” (peace).

On the other hand, the wicked have no peace and can never be satisfied. They are blown about by every wind. The wicked are not so, but they are like chaff which the wind drives away. Isaiah said it bluntly. “There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”

Isaiah 57:21

Yeshua brought out an even deeper role that He performs for us. Not only is He a covering (an atonement) for us, He is the roots, the nourishment, and the very strength of the plant. He spoke to this central concept in our faith comparing Himself and us to a grape vine.

I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.

John 15:5

Again the truth is simple and clear, yet profound. Abiding in God is where the water, the roots, the strength, and the success is found for the plant. Without the vine and its root system, its nourishment, no fruit will be formed.

These are simple, basic lessons of our faith. This is why I like to garden and why I find myself deep in thought about spiritual things. It is the simple things like the dirt. Adam was made out of dirt. It is about seeds that have died being buried. Yeshua died and was buried. It is about new life coming forth from those seeds in the earth. It is about Yeshua coming forth in the resurrection of new life. It is about weeds and thistles, spiritual distractions and temptations. It is about mulching and Yeshua being a covering to suppress the weeds of life. It is about birds and bugs attacking the fruit. It is about our enemy coming to steal and destroy. Its about harvest and the taste of first fruits. Yeshua was the first fruits of many brethren. It turns out that gardening has a lot to say about our faith; simple as it may be, it is very profound. No wonder that God was a gardener and Yeshua came teaching about gardening.

Many of you know me for my Torah teaching. If you do come by my house, don't be confused by my zeal to show you my garden and greenhouse. I just want to show you what the Lord is trying to teach me in the Torah. I know its simple, but it is also very profound. A righteous man is like a well-watered garden. And, when you inspect my many varieties of tomatoes, you will hear me say, “You can learn a lot from a tomato.”

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Each year, according to the Hebrew calendar, a set of days are counted after the Passover to the Feast of Weeks, Shavuot. Not only is there mystery in this fifty day count, but there is also controversy as to how it is counted. What exactly is the purpose in this activity? And, what is the dispute concerning its counting?

Before we attempt to answer those questions, maybe we should define what an omer is. An omer is a measure of grain. Specifically, an omer is one tenth of an ephah. I'm sure that is very helpful to you. Obviously, an omer is part of the weights and measures of the Bible. It is how an omer was used that will reveal its meaning to us. And on this account, it is the measure used for the gathering of manna. Manna, as you know, was the bread from heaven gathered in the wilderness by the children of Israel.

This is what the Lord has commanded, "Gather of it every man as much as he should eat; you shall take an omer apiece according to the number of persons each of you has in his tent." And the sons of Israel did so, and some gathered much and some little. When they measured it with an omer, he who had gathered much had no excess, and he who had gathered little had no lack; every man gathered as much as he should eat.

Exodus 16:16-18

An omer was the amount of flour to make daily bread. The children of Israel would gather an omer of manna for each person. Part of miracle of that bread was that it was exactly what was needed. There was no excess nor lack.

The counting of the omer is to teach us and illustrate the great work of the bread from heaven. Yeshua is the bread from heaven and He is to be our daily bread. During the celebration of Passover, Yeshua shows us that he is the Afikomen (the bread broken for us), the best part of the Passover. He also taught that He was the true bread from heaven.

The omer, the measure of daily bread, is the teaching from Passover to the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot). Shavuot is not the same date each year on the calendar. It is because there is a unique way of counting the omer. Shavuot is the 50th day after the counting of seven weeks.

What exactly is an omer? An ephah was the measure of a person, that is, a person could fit into a vessel called an ephah. Since the omer was one tenth of an ephah, it is also understood that an omer was a tithe of the ephah. I'm sure that a "tithe" evokes much spiritual instruction from your past. A tithe is spiritual measure; an omer is the same measure. This information begins to shed some light on why God calls us to measure these particular days. but, let us try to explain the counting method first.

The ancient Sadducees and Pharisees were not always in agreement with the instruction of Moses. The counting of the omer is one of the classic areas of their disagreement. Simply put, the Pharisees treated Passover as a Sabbath and counted directly 50 days after the Passover. To them, 50 days after the Passover was Shavuot. Consider the instruction of Moses on this point.

Speak to the sons of Israel, and say to them, "When you enter the land which I am going to give to you and reap its harvest, then you shall bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. And he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord for you to be accepted; on the day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. Now on the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb one year old without defect for a burnt offering to the Lord. Its grain offering shall then be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering by fire to the Lord for a soothing aroma, with its libation, a fourth of a hin of wine. Until this same day, until you have brought in the offering of your God, you shall eat neither bread nor roasted grain nor new growth. It is to be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places. You shall also count for yourselves from the day after the sabbath, from the day when you brought in the sheaf of the wave offering; there shall be seven complete sabbaths. You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh sabbath; then you shall present a new grain offering to the Lord."

Leviticus 23:10-16

The dispute between the Sadducees and Pharisees was concerning the "sabbath" that the barley is waved after. Was it the day after Passover (is Passover a Sabbath)? Or was it the first day of the Feast of Unleaven, which is a High Sabbath? Or, was Moses referring to the day after the weekly sabbath? The Pharisees argued that it was Passover, and counted the Feast of Weeks as fifty days later. This is the present method of counting in Rabbinical Judaism today. The Sadducees argued that the "sabbath" in question was the weekly sabbath that fell somewhere in the Feast of Unleavened and that the day following was the first day of the counting. They argued that the counting of weeks was seven complete sabbatical weeks resulting in Shavuot. This always caused a Sunday, the first day after the seventh sabbath, to be Shavuot.

Are you confused yet? Don't be concerned. Israel has been confused about this whole matter for millennia. I believe the Sadducees who weren't correct about many things were in fact correct in counting the omer. So, how does that counting method affect us in our counting of the omer this year 2,000? Let's review the Mosaic instruction and then do the count.

Passover was on the 14th of Nisan. The Feast of Unleavened bread began on the 15th of Nisan and extends for seven days. On the first day after the first weekly sabbath after Passover is the feast of first fruits. This is the day that the priest waves the barley sheafs. This is the first day of the counting of the omer. You then count seven sabbaths (seven complete weeks) from that point. On the day after the seventh sabbath, it is Shavuot (the Feast of Weeks).

April 18th at the evening was the evening of the 14th of Nisan. Passover began; Passover day was April 19th. On Wednesday evening, April 19, the Feast of Unleavened Bread began and extended for seven days to April 26 in the evening. The days of Unleavened bread were April 20 to April 26. The weekly sabbath of that week was April 22. Therefore the first day of the omer count was April 23, Sunday, the day after the weekly sabbath. Counting seven full sabbaths and fifty days brings to Sunday, June 11. This is Shavuot according the instruction Moses. If you check a traditional Hebrew calendar, it will show that Friday, June 9 is Shavuot. This is the difference between Moses and the Pharisaic (present Rabbinical) tradition.

The New Testament account of these holidays and the counting lines up only with the Mosaic instruction. Why? Because, the Sadducees had the upper hand on this issue during the New Testament period. The day of Pentecost was on a first day after a weekly sabbath. It was on the day of Pentecost that the disciples came out proclaiming Yeshua as Messiah. Look at the instruction of Moses for the Feast of Weeks and the call for proclamation.

On this same day you shall make a proclamation as well; you are to have a holy convocation. You shall do no laborious work. It is to be a perpetual statute in all your dwelling places throughout your generations.

Leviticus 23:21

I trust that having enjoyed the Unleavened Bread of the Messiah at the Passover, that you are now enjoying the daily bread from heaven and preparing to join with all Israel in proclaiming that the Lord, the Lord our God, the Lord is One. And, there is no one like the Lord! Amen.

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