This is a continuation of the seven feasts of the Jewish faith. Click the links below to read any you missed.
Description: The Feast of the First Fruits is exactly what you would think by the title. It is an agricultural offering. It is the first portion of the harvest that is given as an offering to God.
We read the description in Leviticus 23:9-14, says, “And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest, and he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, so that you may be accepted. On the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. And on the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb a year old without blemish as a burnt offering to the LORD. And the grain offering with it shall be two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, a food offering to the LORD with a pleasing aroma, and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, a fourth of a hin. And you shall eat neither bread nor grain parched or fresh until this same day, until you have brought the offering of your God: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.”
In In her book, A Prophetic Calendar: The Feasts of Israel, Jill Shannon writes, “First Fruits occurs on the third day after Passover and is an offering of the first barley that comes up in the early spring. It is like a Thanksgiving before the main crop has come in. By offering the Lord the first part of our crops, we are showing Him that we trust Him for a greater harvest in the weeks to come.” P. 38
“There are two possible interpretations of the timing of First Fruits, because the Scripture uses the words, “the day after the Sabbath,” which can mean 1) the seventh day, but it can also mean 2) the special “Sabbath” that is Passover itself, on which we also do no regular work. If we used the second interpretation, then First Fruits would always come the day after Passover. If we used the first interpretation, that is Passover itself, on which we also do no regular work. If we used the second interpretation, then First Fruits would always come the day after Passover. If we used the first interpretation, it would always fall on a Sunday, the day after the Sabbath that comes after Passover. I believe the first interpretation, which defines “Sabbath” as the seventh day of the week, following Passover. Therefore, First Fruits would always fall on the first day of the week (“Sunday”) following Passover. P. 103
Www.gotquestions.org tells us, “Just as the first portion of the harvest in the Old Testament anticipated the full harvest still to come, Jesus’ resurrection anticipated the full resurrection to come for all those who are in Christ. His resurrection signals the very beginning of a brand-new creation promised in the Old Testament (Isaiah 43:18–19; 65:17). Similarly, in Romans 8:23, Paul says that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is the “firstfruits” of the redemption God will bring to His creation.”
“For the ancient Israelites, the Feast of Firstfruits during Passover was an opportunity to show thanksgiving to God for all the ways He provided for them. For believers today, it is a foreshadowing and reminder of what Christ has done in redeeming creation and what He will finally do when He returns.”
Christ’s fulfillment: Jesus’ resurrection is the fulfillment of this Jewish feast. Colossians 1:18 states, “And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.”
We also read in Revelation 1:5, “and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood—“
Romans 8:29 also tells us, “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren.”
Jesus will complete His redemptive work when He returns again.
Next time we will look at the fourth feast.
Let me know what you think.