"The Feast of First Fruits"

Let's begin by looking at the Feast of First Fruits in it's original setting. Leviticus 23:9-12, "The Lord said to Moses, Speak to the Israelites 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(omer) 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." In Israel the first grain to ripen would be barley. At the time of planting, the Jewish people would mark off certain barley in the field. Later when the harvest season arrived, they would carry a sickle and a basket and reap this specially designated grain. They would then go to the Tabernacle bringing a sheaf of the "First Fruits" of the harvest to the priest. The Priest would then wave the sheaf before the Lord accompanied by burnt offerings and meal offerings. The First Fruit's offering was a way of giving thanks to God for the rest of the harvest that lay in the field. And so, you have the Old Testament foundation for the celebration of the Feast of First Fruits.

Let's begin to see how Yeshua/Jesus the Messiah fulfilled this feast. Take notice of two things here: First, a male lamb was to be offered to the Lord along with unleavened bread mixed with oil and wine. Remembering that Yeshua was the Passover Lamb and the Unleavened Bread that came down from Heaven, it is telling that the BREAD and WINE in this ceremony were the very symbols that Yeshua used to recall and remember His sacrifice at the Last Supper(the bread symbolizes His broken body and the wine His shed blood). Secondly, Leviticus 23:14 says, "You may not eat any bread or roasted or new grain UNTIL the very day that you bring THIS OFFERING to your God. This tells us that Yeshua/Jesus must be the First Fruits who had to come first before the rest of the harvest would be accepted.

We will now look a little more closely at how Yeshua/Jesus is the fulfillment of this Old Testament feast. Yeshua was crucified and buried on Nisan 14, a Thursday afternoon (1/2 day); He was in the tomb on Nisan 15 from sundown to sundown (1 day); He was also in the tomb on Nisan 16 (1 day); Again on Nisan 17 after sundown(our Saturday night, the Jewish Sunday, 1/2 day); But He arose from the dead later that day on Nisan 17 before sunrise on Sunday morning. If you add these days up, you will get 1/2+1+1+1/2= 3 days and nights thus fulfilling what Yeshua said in Matthew 12:40 "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the huge fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." Said another way, Yeshua/Jesus was crucified on Thursday Nisan 14 before sundown and was resurrected on Sunday Nisan 17 before sunrise. He was raised on the very day of the Feast of First Fruits, the first day after the sabbath! The disciples then encoutered the Risen Lord on Nisan 17, on that Sunday morning (Matthew 28:1-10).

I will conclude my thoughts by explaining what this means to you and I! The Wave Offering of First Fruits and the Resurrection of Yeshua are linked together by the very Jewish Apostle Paul in I Corinthians 15:20-23 "But in fact Christ(Yeshua/Jesus/Messiah) has been raised from the dead, the FIRST FRUITS of those who have fallen asleep(died in the Lord). For as by man came death, by man also has come 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." Yeshua's resurrection was like a "wave offering" presented before the Father as the first fruits of the harvest to come! Actually, Yeshua is also revealed in the Word of God as "the first begotten of the Father" (Hebrews 1:6); the first born of creation (Colossians 1:15-16); the first begotten of the dead (Revelation 1:5); and as the first fruits of those who have been resurrected (ICorinthians 15:20-23). And as the fist fruits of those who are resurrected, having been accepted by the Father, He is our guarantee that we too will be accepted by the Father! Our confidence of being resurrected from the dead and living forever with God in an exalted state of existence is not based on who we are or on what we can or cannot do. Rather, it is based on who Yeshua is and what He has done for us, AND IN OUR FAITH IN HIM ALONE! For when the Father raised Yeshua from the dead, He was declaring His acceptance of Yeshua as the First Fruits of the rest of the harvest(all those who put their complete confidence in Yeshua) that will also one day be raised from the dead!

Dear friend, can you see it? When Yeshua fulfilled the Feast of First Fruits by being raised from the dead, He answered forever the deepest longing and most searching question of our heart: What happens when I die? For those who are trusting not in a religion nor in their own good works, but are trusting completely and entirely in the person of Yeshua, they can have confidence that just as sure as Yeshua was raised from the dead as the frist fruits, they too will be raised from the dead as part of the harvest of the New Creation of God! (See ICorinthians 5:17)

The old song simply but powerfully says, "Because He lives I can face tomorrow, because He lives all fear is gone, because I know He holds my future, life is worth the living just because He lives!" Hallelujah!!!

I am a voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.

Shalom