Shalom Partner and Friend of Israel,

“It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out.” - Proverbs 25: 2.

Have you ever counted the days till an event you’re excited about? Time can go so slowly when you’re watching it. They say “a watched pot never boils” meaning that the more we pay attention to the time, the more conscious we are of it going slowly. God, unsurprisingly, is aware of this phenomenon, and has capitalised on it to drive a powerful truth home. We are talking about the Biblical tradition of “Counting the Omer” which began on; Nissan 14 - the 3^rd day of the Feast of Pesach - Passover. Yeshua (Jesus) walked the earth for 40 days appearing to His Disciples after Resurrection before “ascending into Heaven.” During this time, He provided evidence of His “resurrected body,” taught His followers, and prepared them for their future ministry and “birth of the Church.”  Yes - 40 days! Do you know how long that is? The Jewish people would have a good sense of how long that is, because it falls in their time of “Counting the Omer” for the 50 days between Passover and Pentecost.

Why is this an important time? Acts 1:1-3 tells us that from the time Christ rose again from the grave (Resurrection) to the time that He ascended into heaven (Ascension), it was a period of 40 days.  And while we do NOT have a detailed account of everything that Yeshua (Jesus) did with His Disciples over the course of those 40 days …we do know this time was significant!  For one, it would be our Lord’s last moments with His Disciples before ascending into heaven.  It would also be a time of preparation for a great transition that would come through Pentecost …when the Church – the Body of Christ would be “birthed” and the lives of these Disciples would NEVER be the same again.

So, what did Yeshua (Jesus) do in those 40 days with His Disciples that prepared them for the great transition that was to come?  And how does this inform us as His followers today? One of the primary things that Yeshua (Jesus) did with His Disciples in those 40 days of being with them prior to His Ascension was that, “He presented Himself to them” …and showed them convincingly that He was very much alive!  He did this by eating with them, as He did with Cleopas and the unnamed Disciple on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35), …and feeding His Disciples as He did by the Sea of Galilee (John 21:12-13).  He invited His Disciples to touch Him …and see Him up close (Luke 24:39; John 20:27). 

It was NOT just a mirage or a one-off hallucination... At one point over 500 people saw Him at the same time, according to 1 Corinthians 15:6. Thomas poked the wounds gouged by the nails and got a graphic close-up of the gaping hole in our Lord’s side. Yeshua could not only traverse solid walls, but He could also eat a fish dinner. His Disciples didn’t recognise Him immediately …but He quickly proved that it really was Him. Yeshua is not the first to have ever been raised from the dead (there were two boys in the times of Elijah and Elisha, and Yeshua raised a 12-year-old girl, the widow’s son from Nain, and His friend Lazarus from the dead) BUT He was the first to return in His Resurrection body, NEVER to die again.

In the Bible, the number “40” signifies preparation and transition… Moses spent 40 years in the wilderness being prepared to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and through the wilderness.  The end of the 40 years marked a critical transition in Moses life from being “a shepherd leader” overseeing a flock of sheep …to “a shepherding leader” who oversaw the people of God. We also see Elijah being prepared for his transition and new assignment as a Prophet of God, during the 40 days that he made his way to Mount Horeb (1 Kings 19:8).  And even Yeshua (Jesus Christ) Himself, spent 40 days in the wilderness for His preparation and transition into the start of His earthly ministry!

The number 40 often also symbolizes a period of trial, testing, preparation, or a time of transition. It can also represent a period of judgment or spiritual discipline… The rain fell for 40 days and 40 nights in the Flood of Noah symbolizing a time of judgment and purification.  In the Old Testament, when God destroyed the earth with water, He caused it to rain 40 days and 40 nights (Genesis 7:12). After Moses killed the Egyptian, he fled to Midian, where he spent 40 years in the desert tending flocks (Acts 7:30). Moses was on Mount Sinai for 40 days and 40 nights (Exodus 24:18). Moses interceded on Israel’s behalf for 40 days and 40 nights (Deuteronomy 9:18, 25). Moses’ first tablets (10 Commandments) were smashed in anger and then he went back up the mountain a further 40 days. The Law specified a maximum number of lashes a man could receive for a crime, setting the limit at 40 (Deuteronomy 25:3). The Israelite spies took 40 days to spy out Canaan (Numbers 13:25). The Israelites wandered for 40 years (Deuteronomy 8:2-5). Before Samson’s deliverance, Israel served the Philistines for 40 years (Judges 13:1). Goliath taunted Saul’s army for 40 days before David arrived to slay him (1 Samuel 17:16). When Elijah fled from Jezebel, he travelled 40 days and 40 nights to Mt. Horeb (1 Kings 19:8). The number 40 also appears in the Prophecies of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 4:6; 29:11-13) and Jonah (Jonah 3:4). Can you see how important the number 40 is?

Now let’s look again at the 50 days of “Counting the Omer” … First, what is an Omer? An Omer is a unit of measurement (An Omer is one-tenth of an ephah) …and is about 3 and 1/2 litres or just over 15 cups of dry commodities. In this case, barley. Sometimes an Omer is translated as “sheaf,” since it is about the amount of barley or grains that would be needed to bundle into a sheaf. So, the instruction is to wave an Omer, or “a sheaf of barley” before the Lord, and then count 7-Weeks until the “wheat harvest” has ripened, and the Feast of Weeks – Shavuot / Pentecost arrives! We are now in the time-period leading up to Pentecost! The number 50, often represented by the letter "Nun" holds a significant symbolic meaning.  It is associated with the concept of “Jubilee,” a year of “liberation” and “return,” and is also connected to the concept of the "Great 50 Days" between Passover and Shavuot. 

Leviticus 23 is the chapter in which God lays down the LAW on how to celebrate ALL the Feasts of the Lord: “You shall count seven full weeks from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering. You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath. Then you shall present a grain offering of new grain to the Lord.” – Leviticus 23:15-16. Just as any woman who has given birth knows exactly how long 9-months feels, the Jewish people know exactly how long it feels …from Passover until the Feast of Weeks (called the feast of Shavuot in Hebrew, which means weeks, also known as Pentecost because of the 50 days) …because they have to count the days off every year; 50-days. 7-weeks. Every day, the Omer is counted in Israel until Pentecost!

God Almighty has given the Jewish people an “internal clock” and a good sense of this “time frame” …. BUT do we as believers actually realise that this is the length of time between the Resurrection and the day that God poured out His Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the Feast of Weeks and the “birth of the Church?” Does the Church actually celebrate this? It is NOT just a day on the Calendar – it is an important Feast of the Lord! Christ was crucified at Passover and raised on the morning of the 3^rd day which is the very day when the “counting of the Omer begins!” Christ ascended 10 days before the Holy Spirit was poured out at the Feast of Weeks. For 40 of those 50 carefully counted days, Yeshua was walking around, hanging out with friends, eating with them, talking with them, freaking them out from time to time. Especially at the beginning.

Did you know that every time barley is mentioned in the Bible it is in the context of victory and/or provision? This is a very good description of Yeshua’s saving work when He died and rose again during Passover. Also, “the waving of the barley” is required along with other animal, grain and new wine offerings listed in Leviticus 23, called the “First-fruits!”  Paul mentions not once but twice in 1 Corinthians 15:20-23 that this is a foreshadowing of Yeshua’s Resurrection; “But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.” It was exactly at this time of year that Yeshua (Jesus) rose again from the dead, victoriously! It was during the counting of the Omer that He walked the earth in His Resurrection body …and it was just before the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) that He ascended to Heaven again and sent the Holy Spirit as He promised.

Christ our FIRSTFRUIT is another reason why we should give generously to Israel and for the Kingdom of God and especially during the Feasts of Lord!

The last days of “counting the Omer” - specifically the 49th day falls this year on the 1^st June, 2025 (Shabbat HaGadol) …and the 50th day (Shavuot/Pentecost/First-fruit), are significant for several reasons: These days mark the culmination of the 49-day period of preparation for “receiving” the Torah (Old Testament) at Mount Sinai; the “giving” of the Holy Spirit to the early Disciples and birth of the Church …and the completion of the Omer offering, according to Biblical tradition! 

And as we move closer and closer to the Feast of Pentecost 2^nd - 3^rd June, 2025 (Pentecost beginning on the final day counting the Omer which is 50^th day on 2^nd June) our prayer at Pray4Zion for you …is that as the Lord empowered His Disciples with “power from on high,” that He also give you the grace, the empowerment, and His continual leadership to lead you through this current season …and into the next - especially in these Last Days as we all await the return of our Lord – first for His Bride the Church in the Harpazo (Rapture) and then at His Second Coming!

Yeshua (Jesus), when He ascended to Heaven on the 40^th day, broke the pattern of the counting of the Omer.  He, in fact, left 9 days uncounted plus 1 = 50 days? Could it be that he left those days for later for similar conditions on earth? Now let’s look further into this fascinating matter.  In 1 Thessalonians 3:13, the Apostle Paul refers to the Coming of the Lord with all of His saints.  The word “coming” in New Testament Greek is “The Parousia” which literally means “presence, being alongside of.”

If we are at the climax of Church history after 2,000 years surely, we should ask whether the Bible holds any clear information concerning the order of events when the Rapture takes place? First of all, the New Testament speaks of resurrections “each in his order.” Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15: 23; “But there is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised as the first of the harvest; then all who belong to Christ will be raised when he comes back.” Secondly, let’s look at the fact that Paul was given the Word of the Lord concerning the translation of believers in 1 Thessalonians 4: 15-16. Now let’s underscore something that perhaps we have never noticed before! The Apostle Paul expressed an “undefined space of time” between the descent of our Lord and “the catching up” (Rapture/Harpazo). He said, “the Lord comes from heaven with a shout…and then…with the trump of God,” at which moment “the dead in Christ” would “rise first.”

Weymouth’s New Testament is a translation that uses the word “afterwards.” The King James says the dead in Christ will be “raised first,” then we who are alive and remain will be caught up.  Now let’s first compare the Weymouth’s translation, “…the dead in Christ will arise first. Afterwards we who are alive and are still on earth will be caught up in their company amid clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so, we shall be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.”

Here’s a question to examine? How much time can elapse between the dead in Christ shall “arise first” and “afterwards” we who are alive and still on the earth WILL be caught up?  Most Bible scholars and believers have assumed ALL these events will happen “…in the twinkling of an eye” (in a nano second) simultaneously.  But if there is a pause in that verse, we know that some pauses in Bible chronology have been quite lengthy!  So, we have to consider the blessed possibility that for a period of time, however short …is it POSSIBLY, for Yeshua’s uncompleted 9 days of the counting of the Omer before the final 10^th Day …we who are alive and part of the Bride of Messiah may even get to see Resurrected Saints and the Lord in the same manner that He appeared to His Disciples at various times? He walked through walls, appeared and vanished, up to the 40 days of the ‘Counting of the Omer” after His Resurrection. Nobody knows the exact answer! Time will tell!

A totally fascinating passage and one that anyone hardly ever preaches on is Matthew 27: 52-53.  Here we read “many bodies of the Saints which slept - arose and came out of the graves after Yeshua (Jesus) Resurrection and went into the Holy City and appeared unto many.” Just imagine what it was like in Jerusalem at the Resurrection of Christ! There was darkness, the renting of the thick temple veil, an earthquake and Saints rising from their graves as “first-fruits from the dead” and appearing to many, startling them!  Wow, that must have been more than awesome!

From the perspective of counting the Omer, the Coming of the Lord in the Rapture is the 2^nd and still unfulfilled part of the Resurrection of Christ….  The first part of his Resurrection was perfectly fulfilled when He, the head of the Church, was raised up at the beginning of the 7-Weeks to the Feast of Pentecost.  

Upon rising from the dead, one of the first things Yeshua (Jesus) did was “to wrap up the napkin, that was about His head” …and neatly put it aside “in a place by itself.” Yeshua’s action of “folding away the napkin” that had been on His head in death was “a Prophetic act” to signify that He, the Head of the Church, had “finished with death” …and the Church, “which is His body,” was figured in the shroud and would come later! The 7-Weeks to Pentecost were, of course; “the harvest season.”

The Apostle Paul, a Pharisee of Pharisees, participated year-by-year in the Levitical Feasts of the Lord including the Feast of the First-fruits. That’s why, in a very Hebraic way, Paul declared in; 1 Corinthians 15: 20; “Now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept.” Let’s once again examine this great annual type of the Resurrection of Christ as pictured in Leviticus 23… Those who have read these verses with understanding have seen that “the harvest” has special reference to “the Church, which is the Body of Christ” …springing forth from that “one grain of wheat” which fell to the ground and died was Yeshua (Jesus) Himself. The 7-Weeks to Pentecost begins with “a sheaf of the FIRSTFRUIT …and ends with the “bread of the first-fruits” being “waved!” That is the ascending upwards, to the Lord!  The Levitical Feasts of the Lord are NO longer “a mystery” when we know that Jesus/Yeshua has literally fulfilled Passover and First-fruits …and will fulfil the final 3 Feasts of Tabernacles with His Second Coming!

Yeshua (Jesus) indeed, died and fell into the ground as “the grain of wheat” that He Prophesied in; John 12: 24, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”  In resurrection, Jesus the Bread of Life “bore much fruit.”

Now let’s go back once more to the early Resurrection morning of the “first day of the week” …that leads up to Shavuot - Pentecost, to examine the account as reported in John Chapter 20. As soon as Mary Magdalene recognized the Lord and heard Him call her by name, her first instinct was to do what the other women did an hour or so later — they held Him by the feet and worshiped Him. But at this point in time, Yeshua (Jesus) had a reason that He could NOT allow Magdalene to touch Him, and He tells her why it was impossible at that particular moment: “Touch Me not for I am NOT yet ascended to My Father.”

So, we ask the question “why couldn’t Yeshua (Jesus) allow her to touch Him then, when just an hour or so later, He does permit the other women to touch Him?”  The reason is that Christ and those resurrected Saints who were raised up at the time of His Resurrection, were destined to constitute “the sheaf” of the “first-fruit” harvest …which must be presented to God. This is because God is a HARVESTER and His Harvest ultimately is souls. According to Leviticus 23:14 it was forbidden for anyone to touch the new harvest until the first sheaf had been offered to God. Furthermore, this Holy Offering was to be presented in the morning, and without a doubt, Yeshua – Jesus Christ the Bread of Life, ascended to His Father at the hour of the morning sacrifice! This hour was the “third hour of the day” …that is, from 8 to 9 o’clock in the morning.

It was from this hour of the First-fruits presentation to God that the 49 days to Pentecost “Omer” began to be counted… according to the divine instruction in Leviticus 23:  “begin to number the seven weeks from such time as you begin to put the sickle to the corn,” …and we know that it was at this hour (9 o’clock in the morning) that the day of Pentecost in Acts 2 was also marked at its opening by “the descent of the Holy Spirit!” This occurred on the 50^th Day!

Now, going back to Resurrection morning, Yeshua (Jesus) Ascended to His Father, as the “First-fruits” of a mighty harvest throughout history that will soon be completed… Multitudes of souls are being gathered from every Nation on the earth. After being presented to the Father, Jesus returned to the Resurrection Garden, in time to greet the other women who came to visit the now empty tomb.  This time He did NOT forbid the women to touch Him, because “the weeks” of harvest had begun after “the first-fruits” had been presented to the Father! But here’s an infinitely fascinating fact! Let’s remind ourselves that by “Ascending back to Heaven” after 40-days, Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah broke the type of “counting the Omer,” that is, after “40-days” He ascended to Heaven, leaving His Disciples but they were promised that He would Return “in like manner” as they had seen Him depart. The “type” of the full Omer count has been “on hold” while Christ has been absent from the earth.  Here’s a question; “will the remaining 9 days up to the full 50 days be completed soon?

As quoted before; 1 Thessalonians 3: 13 and Paul’s words: “the coming (the Parousia) of our Lord Jesus Christ with ALL His saints.”  This word “Parousia” simply means “being present” or “being alongside.” Is it possible that Yeshua (Jesus) …and all the Saints who have been in their graves for the past nearly 2,000 years WILL soon be alongside us in their “resurrected immortal bodies” …while we who are “still in our mortal bodies,” immediately prior to our translation to His Father’s House? If the “type” (picture) of the harvest is to be fulfilled then 9 more days had to elapse, when the same conditions of the first 40 post-Resurrection days are restored (taken from Frank Paine in his book “The Miracle of Time”).

 We find this to be NOT only fascinating …but plausible because our God is so accurate in His “types and shadows” and “meanings of numbers.” No number is in the Bible by accident! This could possibly mean that the graves of believers who died in Christ would first be emptied and then afterwards …we who are alive and who still remain would be rejoicing over our soon departure home without ever having to die and the living believers on earth, “at the last trump…we shall be changed incorruptible,” in order to journey into the heavens; and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” We know this is much to take in, but it is our ardent and main hope you are continually ready for the Coming of the Lord. Maranatha Lord!

At the time when the Bride of Messiah is removed from the earth by translation and so too the Holy Spirit of God chaos will be as NEVER before…. Redemption chronology on earth will continue centred around the Nation of Israel. God will officially return to revive the Nation of Israel for the very last of the Last Days before the Lord’s Millennial Reign on earth from Jerusalem. Nations that have cursed Israel will be judged for their actions! May we all keep our lamps burning bright as we wait the coming of our Lord for His Church – His Bride! Maranatha Lord!

We most sincerely believe that God WILL bless you for your faithfulness and love for His land and chosen people. God’s Word is true! He IS watching to see how the Nations are treating His people. God will have mercy on Israel through Gentile believers acting as mediators towards them. This is one of the most amazing revelations ever given to the Church – an opportunity to do something that carries the highest priority in the heart of God. Yet, sadly, so few have seen the potential and the rewards of serving God in this manner - as agents of mercy to Israel and the Jewish people! Israel was and still is despised today and a despised Nation continually turning away from God …BUT nothing ever altered the purpose of God for that Nation. The "despised element" is always a noticeable element in the purpose of God. When the Saviour of the world came, He came of that "despised Nation" (and just like Israel) He Himself was "…despised and rejected by men." And there is that despised element; "…things that are despised God has chosen," - 1 Corinthians 1:28.

We hope that you enjoy and become more informed by our work. We serve an awesome God and we are humbled by this opportunity to bring you this information.

With Shalom to you and your family always,

Alf & Julie Saunders

01^st May, 2025

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