If you are following Our Heavenly Father's calendar, then you are well into the season known as The Counting of the Omer.
Leviticus 23:15 ISR98 "‘And from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, you shall count for yourselves: seven completed Sabbaths. ‘Until the morrow after the seventh Sabbath you count fifty days, then you shall bring a new grain offering to יהוה."
We know that this was the season that Yeshua's disciples were in following His resurrection of which He spoke in Acts 1:8 “But you shall receive power when the Set-apart Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses in Yerushalayim, and in all Yehuḏah and Shomeron, and to the end of the earth.”
As we count the Omer toward Shavuot/Pentecost, I want to meditate on the gifts of the Spirit found in I Corinthians 12, the first one being the gift of the word of wisdom.
4 Now there are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit gives them. 5 Also there are different ways of serving, but it is the same Lord being served. 6 And there are different modes of working, but it is the same God working them all in everyone. 7 Moreover, to each person is given the particular manifestation of the Spirit that will be for the common good. 8 To one, through the Spirit, is given a word of wisdom; to another, a word of knowledge, in accordance with the same Spirit; 9 to another, faith, by the same Spirit; and to another, gifts of healing, by the one Spirit; 10 to another, the working of miracles; to another, prophecy; to another, the ability to judge between spirits; to another, the ability to speak in different kinds of tongues; and to yet another, the ability to interpret tongues. 11 One and the same Spirit is at work in all these things, distributing to each person as he chooses. 12 For just as the body is one but has many parts; and all the parts of the body, though many, constitute one body; so it is with the Messiah. 13 For it was by one Spirit that we were all immersed into one body, whether Jews or Gentiles, slaves or free; and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
14 For indeed the body is not one part but many. (CJB)The Hebrew word for wisdom is "chokmah" The first time it is mentioned in Scripture is in Exodus 28:3 ISR98 in reference to Aaron, the High Priest, "And you, speak to all the wise of heart, whom I have filled with a spirit of wisdom, and they shall make the garments of Aharon, to set him apart, for him to serve as priest to Me."
The Mechanical Translation of the Torah: Lexicon of Hebrew Roots and Words, edited by Jeff A. Benner, defines this word as "The ability to decide or discern between good and bad, right and wrong." Can you see how worldliness wars against this spiritual gift?
Isaiah 5:20 ISR98 says, "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" How do we stir up this gift within us?
Romans 12:2 ISR98, "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you prove what is that good and well-pleasing and perfect desire of Elohim."
The second of these gifts is the word of knowledge. The Hebrew word for knowledge is "da`ath." A synonym for this word is discernment.
The first time it is mentioned in Scripture is in Genesis 2:9 at creation, "And out of the ground יהוה Elohim made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, with the tree of life in the midst of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil."
The above mentioned lexicon defines this word as "The quality of being able to grasp and comprehend what is obscure. It is also used to describe an intimacy with a person, idea, or concept."
We are told in Romans 1:21 "because, although they knew Elohim, they did not esteem Him as Elohim, nor gave thanks, but became vain in their reasonings, and their undiscerning heart was darkened." Proverbs 9:10 ISR98, "The fear of יהוה is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Set-apart One is understanding."
Of the prophet Daniel it was said, "because an excellent spirit, knowledge and understanding, interpreting dreams, and explaining riddles, and solving difficult problems were found in this Dani’ĕl, whom the sovereign named Bĕlteshatstsar. Now let Dani’ĕl be called, and let him show the interpretation.” Daniel 5:12 ISR98
In this season of the Counting of the Omer, let us all earnestly pray for a fresh outpouring of the gifts of the Spirit upon our nation, and ask Our Father to stir up these gifts within us as well!
2 Timothy 1:6 ISR98 "For this reason I remind you to stir up the gift of Elohim which is in you through the laying on of my hands."
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