| THE FEAST OF FIRSTFRUITS “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Speak to the children of Israel and say to them: “When you enter the land I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest. He is to wave the sheaf before the Lord so it will be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath. On the day you wave the sheaf, you must sacrifice as a burnt offering to the Lord a lamb a year old without defect, together with its grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil – an offering made to the Lord by fire, a pleasing aroma – and its drink offering of a quarter of a hin of wine. You must not eat any bread or roasted or new grain until the very day you bring this offering to your God. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live.” Leviticus 23:9-14. “The Feast of First-fruits came on the day following the Sabbath, (the weekly or 7th day Sabbath), after Passover. “It was the first day of the week and a workday, a workday to commence the barley harvest. It was a national and congregational celebration by Israel of the First-fruits of the barley harvest, as the first sheaves of barley were brought up from the fields by the reapers that year. So the agricultural significance of First-fruits was this first reaping of the barley harvest in the springtime month of Abib, just as the barley became “Abib”, that is “ripe”. “The month of Abib, an agricultural reckoning of the first month of the religious year, was also named the month of Nisan. Nisan was an astronomical reckoning of the first month of the year. It was the first moon that was going to come to fullness after the spring equinox. This celebration of the first-fruits of the barley harvest had special meaning for the people of Israel as they set the Hebrew calendar for the year and gathered as a people for their special appointed times. But, (as we shall discover), this celebration, this waving of the First-fruits of the barley harvest before Yehoveh-God, was destined, in the fullness of time, to take on a further much deeper meaning. “The barley harvest was the first harvest celebration of the year. Then, counting out fifty days from First-fruits as day #1 and going out seven full weeks or seven full Sabbaths as stipulated in Leviticus 23:15,&16, came day 49 and then on the next day, the fiftieth day, and on the first day of the week came the Feast of Pentecost. This summer feast day celebrated the beginning of the wheat harvest.” http://endtimepilgrim.org/firstfruits.htm JESUS, THE FIRSTFRUITS OF THE RESURRECTION In order to understand the resurrection of Jesus, we must first examine the importance of the terumah or first-fruits offering in Scripture which cannot be underestimated. God requires the first of all increase to be given to Him. The firstborn of the flocks and herds, and the firstborn son in every family belonged to Him. “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Consecrate to me every firstborn male. The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to me, whether man or animal.’” Exodus 13:1, 2. FIRSTBORN OF THE LIVESTOCK AND FIRSTBORN SONS The firstborn of man and animals belonged to God “After the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites and gives it to you as He promised on oath to you and your forefathers, you are to give over the Lord the first offspring of every womb. All the firstborn males of your livestock belong to the Lord. Redeem with a lamb every firstborn donkey, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck. Redeem every firstborn among your sons. Exodus 13:11-13. After it had been offered to God it was given to the high priest and his family to take care of their material needs. “The Lord said to Aaron…Everything in Israel that is devoted to the Lord is yours. The first offspring of every womb, both man and animal that is offered to the Lord is yours. But you must redeem every firstborn son and every firstborn male of unclean animals…’” Numbers 18:14, 15. (Read Numbers 18:16-20) “The Lord also said to Moses, ‘Take the Levites in place of the firstborn of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites. The Levites are to be mine. I am the Lord. To redeem the 273 firstborn Israelites who exceed the number of Levites, collect five shekels for each one, according to the sanctuary shekel which weighs twenty gerahs. Give the money for the redemption of the additional Israelites to Aaron and his sons.’” Numbers 3: 44-48. FIRSTFRUITS OF THE HARVEST The first-fruits of the harvest, generally reckoned between 1/40 and 1/60 of the harvest, was to be offered to the Lord by a wave- or heave-offering (terumah), and given to the high priest – placed in the hands of their spiritual authority – and his family for their support. “The Lord said to Moses, ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest…You may not eat any bread, or roasted or new grain until the very day you bring this offering to your God.” Leviticus 23:9, 14. “Then the Lord said to Aaron…‘I give you all the finest olive oil and all the finest new wine and grain they give the Lord as the first-fruits of their harvest. All the land’s first-fruits that they bring to the Lord will be yours.’” Numbers 18:12, 13a. The Feast of Firstfuits was essentially an expression of thanksgiving to God for the beginning of the barley harvest and an expression of trust in God that will bless the rest of the harvest. THE PRINCIPLES AND BLESSING OF FIRSTFRUITS Commanded and demanded by God. “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Consecrate to me every firstborn male. The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to me, whether man or animal.’” Exodus 13:1, 2. First-fruits must be the first of its kind. “The best of all the first-fruits and of all your special gifts will belong to the priests.” Ezekiel 44:30. First-fruits honours God and guarantees His blessing on the rest of the harvest. “Honour the Lord with your wealth, with the first-fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.” Proverbs 3:9, 10. First-fruits must not be touched or claimed until offered. “Jesus said to her, ‘Do not hold on to me for I have not yet returned to the Father.’” John 20:17. Mary was not to hold onto Jesus because He had not yet presented Himself to the Father. God’s favour rests on the person who brings a first-fruit offering. “Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. But Abel brought fat portions of the some of the firstborn of his flock. The lord looked with favour on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering He did not look with favour.” Genesis 4:2b-5 MESSIAH THE FIRSTFRUIT Jesus was both a sin offering and a terumah. He was the perfect lamb offered as a substitute for the sin of the world, and He was a terumah or first-fruits offering by being “lifted up” – “But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all me unto myself.” John 12:32 – and placed in the hands of His spiritual authority – His Father – “…Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” Luke 23:46b, and He became the First-fruits of the resurrection. Just as the first sheaf of the first-fruits of the harvest was offered to God, which guaranteed God’s blessing on the full harvest, so Jesus became the first-fruits of the resurrection, guaranteeing that those who die in him will be raised to be like Him in an incorruptible body like His body. “And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so we shall bear the likeness of the man from heaven….For the trumpet shall sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’” 1 Corinthians 15:49; 52b-54 NIV. “It was on the first day after the Passover Sabbath that the empty tomb of Y’shua was discovered. As Passover lambs were being slain in the Temple, Y’shua Himself was sacrificed. As the Wave sheaf was being cut outside Jerusalem at the end of the weekly Sabbath, He was resurrected. While Israel’s risen Messiah was presenting Himself before the altar in heaven that day as the First-fruit of the resurrection, Israel’s priests were in the Temple waving the first-fruits of the barley harvest before a torn veil in the temple (Matthew 27:51; 28:9). “A sheaf in the Bible is used to typify a person or persons (Genesis 37: 5-11). The festival of the sheaf of the first fruits was prophetic of the resurrection of Y’shua. He prophesied that He would rise again after being three days and nights in the earth after His crucifixion (Matthew 12:38-40; 16:21; Luke 24:44-46). This was foreshadowed prophetically in type through Jonah (Jonah 2:1-2). “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.” 1 Corinthians 15:20 NIV. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF FIRSTFRUITS “The first-fruit offering speaks of Messiah’s ascension and presentation of Himself in the Father’s House, the true tabernacle in heaven, in His resurrected, glorified body. The sheaf had been reaped from the earth and waved before Yahweh in the heavenly sanctuary when He arose from the grave and ascended to the Father on resurrection morning. He instructed Miriam not to touch Him prior to His presentation before the Father. See John 20:17 “Passover had prophesied Messiah’s death on the stake, while the Sheaf offering prophesied the first-fruits of a coming harvest through Messiah’s resurrection from the dead. He was the representative sheaf of the harvest that was to come, the first of a kind, a second “Adam” (1 Corinthians 15:47). His presentation to the Father of the work of atonement secured the complete redemption and sanctification of the elect, the souls which the Father had given Him. (John 17:12) All He had promised them of being with Him where He was, glorified in the Father, was accomplished when He arose triumphant from the grave. (John 17: 1-10, 24) “After His presentation to the Father, He came and imparted to them the Spirit of truth which He had promised them, to make them one in Him, one body of believers indwelt by the Spirit. (John 20:19-22) “This impartation was the deposit of the Spirit which elevated them spiritually to be where He was positionally, in the likeness of His resurrection (Romans 6: 5). The outpouring of the Spirit upon them came fifty days later at Pentecost which anointed them with power to bring them, as a seed which had been planted, to perfection (Acts 2: 4). The assembly, which is His Body, is accepted in the Head, the Messiah. When He arose, we arose with Him as that first-fruit harvest, presented before the Father. (Colossians 2:12-13; Ephesians 2:7) It typified the spiritual resurrection of the believer, now reconciled to God, to walk in newness of life in Him. “The first-fruits offering in the temple consisted of the male lamb and the barley loaf with a drink offering of wine. “The burnt offering of the unblemished lamb represents the sacrificial offering of Messiah, the barley loaf made of a set measure of specially selected individual grains from the harvested crop, ground into fine flour mixed with oil, represents a corporate body of saints permeated by the oil of the Spirit to become one bread – one body indwelt by the Spirit. The disciples of Y’shua became that Body of believers after His resurrection, a barley loaf united by the Spirit, with the outpouring of the wine of the Spirit upon them. “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies it produces many seeds.” (John 12:24). Y’shua was that corn of wheat which planted His life in the earth to bring forth an abundant harvest. THE ENSUING HARVEST “Messiah was the first, of an anticipated first fruits company. Yahweh God is looking for a First-fruits harvest from the First-fruit, Messiah. “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.” 1 Corinthians 15:20 NIV. For, “He chose to give us birth through the word of truth that we might be a kind of first-fruits of all He created.” (James 1:18). This first-fruits company is to comprise old and new covenant saints. “But each in his own turn: Christ the first fruits, the, when He comes, those who belong to Him.” (1 Corinthians 15:23). “As believers, we have been purchased with the blood of Messiah and sealed with the Spirit for the purpose of leading us on our journey through the wilderness of life to receive our promised inheritance. The promises are to those who overcome the fleshly nature. Just as Yahweh imparted a measure of His Spirit to the children of Israel and took them through the wilderness to purge them of their fleshly nature, so He does with us. The wilderness of this world will test our resolve to deal with our fleshly nature. “Each believer is given the first-fruits of the Spirit, the initial impartation of the Spirit, to purge us from the flesh and bring us to a state of holiness whereby we may receive the promised inheritance. This initial impartation is a “first-fruits”, a deposit or down-payment and acts as a “guarantee” of the full measure of that which is to come. “And you were also included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession to the praise of His glory.” Ephesians 1:13-14. wikibooks.org/wiki/Hebrew_Roots/Holy_Days/Firstfruits CONCLUSION This concludes the study of the Spring Feasts which focus on Messiah as the Suffering Servant. As the Israelites celebrated the feasts of Passover, Unleavened Bread and First Fruits in order, so they were telling the story in prophetic symbols of what their Messiah would do to redeem them, not from slavery from Egypt, but from the bondage of sin which separated them from their God, so that He could bring them into union with Him as their “lover” and bridegroom. Having espoused them to Himself, the betrothal period during which both bridegroom and bride would prepare for the wedding, began. The church is now living in the betrothal period, making herself ready and waiting for the bridegroom’s return and for the wedding to take place. SUMMARY AND PRACTICAL APPLICATION The three spring feasts. Passover, Unleavened Bread and First-fruits celebrate Israel’s deliverance from slavery in Egypt through the sacrificial blood of a lamb, the removal of leaven signifying the removal of sin and First-fruits, a feast of thanksgiving to God for the beginning of the harvest. “Don’t you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast – as you really are. For Christ our Passover lamb has been crucified. Therefore let us keep the festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with the bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.” 1 Corinthians 5:6b-8. Jesus rose from the dead on the Feast of First-fruits – “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.” 1 Corinthians 15:20. These three festivals celebrate the work of Messiah in His priestly role at His first coming. |