Worthy Brief - 4/20/2022
Friend, counting the omer and your blessings!
Leviticus 23:15-17 “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. You shall bring from your dwelling places two loaves of bread to be waved, made of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour, and they shall be baked with leaven, as firstfruits to the LORD.
In the Tenach (Old Testament), the Lord commanded Israel to count the Omer (the Barley Harvest) beginning the day after the sabbath during Passover, 50 days to the Biblical Festival of Shavuot (Pentecost). Today is the 4th day of the Omer and Shavuot is just a few weeks away...
A remarkable fact is that for nearly 2000 years the Jewish people had no homeland, and no harvest to count – yet they continued to count the Omer, counting a harvest that did not exist. Then, about 130 years ago a historical miracle began as the Lord drew the Jewish people back to their ancient homeland, the land of Israel. The land was revived from being a dusty desert, and the barley harvest was restored, (as well a multitude of other crops), so that now, the Omer is counted as it was in ancient times, with an actual harvest!
Now, if the Jews in diaspora (dispersion) could count the days of a non-existent harvest, in expectation of a divine blessing which they earnestly hoped for, then they set an excellent example for us who trust in the Messiah they gave to the world. Since faith is the conviction of things NOT seen, we, also, can begin to give thanks for blessings we're praying for but have yet to receive. Our unsaved loved-one, chronic illness, broken relationship, financial disaster, loss of vision.....all these are trials which are testing and maturing our faith.
We can rejoice in them, even as we give thanks in the expectation of victory, restoration, and a harvest of righteousness which is on the way. And may these come to many of us by Shavuot, this year (June 4th).
Friend, thank the Lord for the blessings you're about to receive -- they're on the way!
Your family in the Lord with much agape love,
George, Baht Rivka, Elianna & Obadiah
Bradenton, Florida
Editor's Note: We just released our Worthy Ministries Android App. It is available at the Google Play Store. We anticipate the Worthy Ministries Apple App to be approved this week!
ISIS urges supporters to attack the West amid Ukraine crisis
The Islamic State is encouraging supporters to take advantage of the war in Ukraine to launch a new "global offensive" against the West in revenge for the death of ISIS's leader earlier this year.
Former Archbishop of Canterbury pushes for conversion therapy ban, says being transgender is “sacred journey”
The former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Rowan Williams has signed a letter asking the UK government to include trans people in a ban on conversion therapy, attesting that being transgender is a “sacred journey of becoming whole,” CBN reports. The ban that is currently set to become UK law covers only people with same-sex attraction, not transgender persons.
Canadian think tank: law must change after houses of worship treated ‘unequally’ during pandemic
A Canadian think tank has published a policy brief calling for a change in Ontario law, after concluding that houses of worship in the province were unequally and arbitrarily subjected to greater restrictions than retail businesses were during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Philippines Struggles After Deadly Storm
The Philippines experienced an Easter overshadowed by the aftermath of tropical storm Megi, which authorities said killed at least 167 people and left 110 missing.
Israel-Palestinian Conflict
Hezbollah leader seeks $9 billion to destroy Israel
The head of Lebanon’s Shiite Islamist political party Hezbollah is declaring that it would take $9 billion to wipe the state of Israel from the face of the map.
PA’s Abbas ‘outraged’ as Hamas takes center stage in mediation efforts
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is enraged because Egypt, Qatar and other parties chose to hold direct contacts on ways of preventing further escalation with Israel in the aftermath of the recent tensions in Jerusalem and the West Bank, a senior official with the ruling Fatah faction said.
Israel: Scientists are planting date trees from 2,000-year old seed
Israeli scientists are growing fruit-bearing date trees using 2000-year-old ancient seeds from the Judean Desert and from Masada, Christian Headlines (CH) reports. Growing the trees and their fruit is part of a scientific experiment to determine how medicinal Israreli flora is, and to revive species that were available in Biblical times.
Inside the United States
ICE to release 600,000 illegal immigrants by September
ICE is getting ready to release as many as 600,000 illegal immigrants into communities before the end of September, the agency told a federal judge, giving an early estimate of the chaos the administration is predicting after it ends the Title 42 pandemic border shutdown.
Attorneys general coalition suing Biden administration over end of Title 42 grows to 21 states
Ten days after three attorneys general sued the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention over its plan to terminate the immigration-related public health authority known as Title 42, their lawsuit now includes 21 states as plaintiffs.
16 AGs urge Biden to reinstate Keystone XL pipeline
Sixteen Republican attorneys general, led by Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, have called on President Joe Biden to reinstate the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline after learning that his administration wants to increase oil imports from Canada.
Republican governors form 26-state border task force amid worsening crisis
More than half of U.S. governors have banded together in an effort to respond to rising illegal migration at the southern border absent meaningful help from the Biden administration.
Christian News
Nigeria: Radicalized Fulani murder 80 Christians; government does nothing about “slow extermination” of Christians
Fulani terrorists murdered at least 80 people in raids on predominantly Christian villages in Nigeria’s Plateau state on April 10, the Barnabas Fund reports. The attacks are a continuation of a 20-year-long campaign of slaughter against Nigerian Christians by Islamic terrorists, especially radicalized Fulani militants.
Iran Christian Convert Starts Prison Term
Iranian Christian convert Fariba Dalir has begun serving a two-year prison sentence for “acting against national security by establishing and leading an Evangelical Christian church,” an advocacy group confirmed.