(ט) וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר ה' אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר׃ (י) דַּבֵּ֞ר אֶל־בְּנֵ֤י יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ וְאָמַרְתָּ֣ אֲלֵהֶ֔ם כִּֽי־תָבֹ֣אוּ אֶל־הָאָ֗רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֤ר אֲנִי֙ נֹתֵ֣ן לָכֶ֔ם וּקְצַרְתֶּ֖ם אֶת־קְצִירָ֑הּ וַהֲבֵאתֶ֥ם אֶת־עֹ֛מֶר רֵאשִׁ֥ית קְצִירְכֶ֖ם אֶל־הַכֹּהֵֽן׃ (יא) וְהֵנִ֧יף אֶת־הָעֹ֛מֶר לִפְנֵ֥י ה' לִֽרְצֹנְכֶ֑ם מִֽמָּחֳרַת֙ הַשַּׁבָּ֔ת יְנִיפֶ֖נּוּ הַכֹּהֵֽן׃ (יב) וַעֲשִׂיתֶ֕ם בְּי֥וֹם הֲנִֽיפְכֶ֖ם אֶת־הָעֹ֑מֶר כֶּ֣בֶשׂ תָּמִ֧ים בֶּן־שְׁנָת֛וֹ לְעֹלָ֖ה לַה' (יג) וּמִנְחָתוֹ֩ שְׁנֵ֨י עֶשְׂרֹנִ֜ים סֹ֣לֶת בְּלוּלָ֥ה בַשֶּׁ֛מֶן אִשֶּׁ֥ה לַה' רֵ֣יחַ נִיחֹ֑חַ וְנִסְכֹּ֥ה יַ֖יִן רְבִיעִ֥ת הַהִֽין׃ (יד) וְלֶחֶם֩ וְקָלִ֨י וְכַרְמֶ֜ל לֹ֣א תֹֽאכְל֗וּ עַד־עֶ֙צֶם֙ הַיּ֣וֹם הַזֶּ֔ה עַ֚ד הֲבִ֣יאֲכֶ֔ם אֶת־קָרְבַּ֖ן אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֑ם חֻקַּ֤ת עוֹלָם֙ לְדֹרֹ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם בְּכֹ֖ל מֹשְׁבֹֽתֵיכֶֽם׃ (ס)
(9) And the LORD spoke unto Moses saying: (10) Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them: When ye are come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring the sheaf of the first-fruits of your harvest unto the priest. (11) And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you; on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. (12) And in the day when ye wave the sheaf, ye shall offer a he-lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt-offering unto the LORD. (13) And the meal-offering thereof shall be two tenth parts of an ephah of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the LORD for a sweet savour; and the drink-offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of a hin. (14) And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor fresh ears, until this selfsame day, until ye have brought the offering of your God; it is a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
(טו) וּסְפַרְתֶּ֤ם לָכֶם֙ מִמָּחֳרַ֣ת הַשַּׁבָּ֔ת מִיּוֹם֙ הֲבִ֣יאֲכֶ֔ם אֶת־עֹ֖מֶר הַתְּנוּפָ֑ה שֶׁ֥בַע שַׁבָּת֖וֹת תְּמִימֹ֥ת תִּהְיֶֽינָה׃ (טז) עַ֣ד מִֽמָּחֳרַ֤ת הַשַּׁבָּת֙ הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔ת תִּסְפְּר֖וּ חֲמִשִּׁ֣ים י֑וֹם וְהִקְרַבְתֶּ֛ם מִנְחָ֥ה חֲדָשָׁ֖ה לַה' (יז) מִמּוֹשְׁבֹ֨תֵיכֶ֜ם תָּבִ֣יאּוּ ׀ לֶ֣חֶם תְּנוּפָ֗ה שְׁ֚תַּיִם שְׁנֵ֣י עֶשְׂרֹנִ֔ים סֹ֣לֶת תִּהְיֶ֔ינָה חָמֵ֖ץ תֵּאָפֶ֑ינָה בִּכּוּרִ֖ים לַֽה' (יח) וְהִקְרַבְתֶּ֣ם עַל־הַלֶּ֗חֶם שִׁבְעַ֨ת כְּבָשִׂ֤ים תְּמִימִם֙ בְּנֵ֣י שָׁנָ֔ה וּפַ֧ר בֶּן־בָּקָ֛ר אֶחָ֖ד וְאֵילִ֣ם שְׁנָ֑יִם יִהְי֤וּ עֹלָה֙ לַֽה' וּמִנְחָתָם֙ וְנִסְכֵּיהֶ֔ם אִשֵּׁ֥ה רֵֽיחַ־נִיחֹ֖חַ לַה'
(15) And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the day of rest, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the waving (barley harvest); seven weeks shall there be complete; (16) even unto the morrow after the seventh week shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall present a new meal-offering unto the LORD. (17) Ye shall bring out of your dwellings two wave-loaves of two tenth parts of an ephah; they shall be of fine flour (wheat harvest), they shall be baked with leaven, for first-fruits unto the LORD. (18) And ye shall present with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year, and one young bullock, and two rams; they shall be a burnt-offering unto the LORD, with their meal-offering, and their drink-offerings, even an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD.
(ט) שִׁבְעָ֥ה שָׁבֻעֹ֖ת תִּסְפָּר־לָ֑ךְ מֵהָחֵ֤ל חֶרְמֵשׁ֙ בַּקָּמָ֔ה תָּחֵ֣ל לִסְפֹּ֔ר שִׁבְעָ֖ה שָׁבֻעֽוֹת׃ (י) וְעָשִׂ֜יתָ חַ֤ג שָׁבֻעוֹת֙ לַה' אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ מִסַּ֛ת נִדְבַ֥ת יָדְךָ֖ אֲשֶׁ֣ר תִּתֵּ֑ן כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר יְבָרֶכְךָ֖ ה' אֱלֹהֶֽיךָ׃ (יא) וְשָׂמַחְתָּ֞ לִפְנֵ֣י ׀ ה' אֱלֹהֶ֗יךָ אַתָּ֨ה וּבִנְךָ֣ וּבִתֶּךָ֮ וְעַבְדְּךָ֣ וַאֲמָתֶךָ֒ וְהַלֵּוִי֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר בִּשְׁעָרֶ֔יךָ וְהַגֵּ֛ר וְהַיָּת֥וֹם וְהָאַלְמָנָ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר בְּקִרְבֶּ֑ךָ בַּמָּק֗וֹם אֲשֶׁ֤ר יִבְחַר֙ ה' אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ לְשַׁכֵּ֥ן שְׁמ֖וֹ שָֽׁם׃ (יב) וְזָ֣כַרְתָּ֔ כִּי־עֶ֥בֶד הָיִ֖יתָ בְּמִצְרָ֑יִם וְשָׁמַרְתָּ֣ וְעָשִׂ֔יתָ אֶת־הַֽחֻקִּ֖ים הָאֵֽלֶּה׃ (פ)
(9) Seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee; from the time the sickle is first put to the standing corn shalt thou begin to number seven weeks. (10) And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto the LORD thy God after the measure of the freewill-offering of thy hand, which thou shalt give, according as the LORD thy God blesseth thee. (11) And thou shalt rejoice before the LORD thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy man-servant, and thy maid-servant, and the Levite that is within they gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are in the midst of thee, in the place which the LORD thy God shall choose to cause His name to dwell there. (12) And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt; and thou shalt observe and do these statutes.
"The Agricultural and Historical Significance of Sefirat HaOmer"-
Harav Yaakov Medan
Correspondingly, each holiday has both a historical and an agricultural significance. Pesach commemorates Yetzi'at Mitzrayim (the Exodus) and marks the beginning of the barley harvest. Shavuot commemorates Matan Torah (the Giving of the Torah) and marks the beginning of the wheat harvest. Sukkot commemorates the wanderings of Israel in the wilderness and marks the season when the produce is gathered in from the fields...
For the six months from Sukkot until Pesach, the farmer is a slave to his land. He must clear the fields of stones, plough, sow and water without seeing the fruits of his labor. However, when the middle of Nissan comes, a dramatic change takes place. The farmer is transformed from one who "sows in tears" to one who "reaps in joy." He is now master of his land and earns his daily bread from it. This new-found freedom commences on Pesach when the barley harvest begins, as beforehand one is not permitted to benefit from the current year's grain. Thus, the two freedoms - agricultural and historical - go hand-in-hand. A barley offering (korban omer) is brought in the Temple on the second day of Pesach, expressing our recognition that it is God who causes the rains to fall and the grain to grow, just as it is He who redeemed us from bondage...
Barley is used primarily as animal fodder; it is the superior wheat that will serve as food for him and his family. Furthermore, the barley offering permits the current year's grain to be eaten only outside of the Temple; whereas the wheat offering permits it to be used in the Temple itself as part of the sacrificial service. Just as a bride is not satisfied with her engagement to her groom, but awaits their marriage, so too the farmer awaits the time when his grain will enter the House of God - symbolic of the close relationship between man his Maker. With every day that passes, the farmer gives thanks to Hashem for having sustained and blessed him in the inheritance that was promised to his forefathers.
http://vbm.etzion.org.il/en/agricultural-and-historical-significance-sefirat-haomer
Transcription of Rav Soloveitchik's speech delivered to the Chevrah Shas in Boston on May 20, 1973 from the book Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik on Pesach, Sefirat ha-Omer and Shavu'ot
...In grammar we operate with three tenses: past, present and future. However, experientially the present can never be isolated and perceived as such. The point of time we call "present" lies either in the past or in the future...What is "past?" It's retrospection, recollection. And what is "future?" Future is anticipation, expectation. What we call "present" is nothing but the vantage position for which we look either forward or backward... Judaism requirers of the Jew that he experience time in its two dimensions simultaneously... The halachic approach to time is the experiential memory that reaches out for the future... The Jew not only knows history; he lives history. History to the Jew is not just knowledge of the past; it is reexperiencing, reliving the events that occurred a long time ago... Many mitzvot pursue just one goal; to sustain our awareness of hte past, and to protect our feeling of closeness to events that transpired long ago...
On the one hand, Judaism requires us to re-experience the past. On the other hand, Judaism requires us to pre-experience the future, the as yet non-real that will become real at some point in time...To exist as a Jew means to be at the juncture of past and future, at the non-real any longer and the non-real as yet... Our mission is to engage in retrospection and anticipation, in recollection and expectation.
When one counts, one ushers in a continuum...At any position in which you find yourself counting, you have to be aware of two things: of the preceding position and of the following position. For instance, we counted last night "lamed- gimmel ba'omer, thirty-three days in the omer. However, we could not have arrived at this position from nowhere, ex nihilo. When we say lamed-gimmel, thirty-three, we ipso facto state that this position was preceded by thirty-two previous positions...At the same time, however, we also know that "thrity-three" is not the last station. From here we'll move to addition positions... IN other words, any act of counting embraces retrospection as well as anticipation...And that's why sefirah, counting, is so prominent in the Halacha...