THE STORY

The Feast of Firstfruits is the THIRD STEP in our walk with God:

CONSECRATION (the transformation of our characters by the Holy Spirit into the moral image and likeness of Jesus RESULTS in the FRUIT OF GOD’s SPIRIT manifesting in our lives)

Historical background

God first gave instructions on the celebration of the Feast of Firstfruits in Leviticus 23:9-14. It was to be celebrated on the day AFTER the Sabbath. This means that the Feast of Firtsfruits was on the first day of the week, a Sunday. The Hebrews were to bring the first sheaves (that is one bundle called an omer) of the barley harvest and wave them before the Lord. An omer (that is about 2.3 liters) of barley had to be brought to the temple as an offering to the Lord, before any barley produce of the new crop could be eaten, or even touched. The period of time between the Feast of First Fruits and the Feast of Pentecost is a time of “Counting of the Omer”. The counting always started at day one (that is the Sunday following the Sabbath (Saturday) and continued until day fifty.

By its very nature, physical work in the fields can cause us to forget our SPIRITUAL NATURE. Therefore, God gave the farmer these instructions so that he would remain conscious of his true purpose in life, which was to LOVE, SERVE and OBEY God while depending on Him for everything. By offering the firstfruits of his harvest to the Lord, the farmer was acknowledging his TOTAL DEPENDENCE ON GOD.

The barley sheafs were harvested and then taken with great joy in celebration of the goodness of God to the Temple where it was thrashed out with canes or stalks, then parched on a pan perforated with holes so that each grain might be touched by the fire. The omer was mixed with three-fourths of a pint (approximately 350 ml) of olive oil and a handful of frankincense was put on it, then waved before the Lord. Thereafter a handful was taken out and burned on the altar.

The purpose of this special service was to CONSECRATE the harvest to God. The first fruits REPERESENTED the whole harvest. This reminded the Hebrews that God had GIVEN them the land and that ALL of the harvest RIGHTFULLY BELONGED TO HIM. The people were just stewards of the land. Offering the first fruits actually consecrated the ENTIRE harvest to God. IF God accepted the first fruits of the harvest, it meant the ENTIRE harvest would be accepted by God.

Fulfilled by Jesus

Jesus fulfilled the Feast of Firstfruits when He was RESURECTED as the first fruit from the dead. His resurrection marked the beginning of the HARVEST OF SOULS who have been SET APART FOR GOD THROUGH JESUS.

Paul spoke of Jesus as the fulfillment of the feast of FIRSTFRUITS in 1 Corinthians 15:20-23 “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in turn: Christ, the first fruit; then, when He comes, those who belongs to Him.”

Jesus was that HUMAN SHEAF that God set apart for the purpose of conquering death and providing eternal life for all who would acknowledge Him as Messiah, Lord and Savior. As such He was the FIRST to rise from the dead never to die again.

In fulfilling the FEAST OF PASSOVER, Jesus was crucified on Wednesday 14 Nisan. To fulfill the FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD, He was buried at the close of Wednesday and the beginning of Thursday, 15 Nisan on the Hebrew Calendar. And He was resurrected at the beginning of the first day of the week (Sunday), the FEAST OF FIRSTFRUITS on 18 Nisan (that is March/ April on the Western Calendar). See Matt 28:1-6.

We read in John 20:17 “Jesus said: Do not hold on to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father…” Jesus was resurrected at the same time the first fruit offering was cut and waved before God. As the barley sheaf could not be touched until it was offered to God, Jesus, the HUMAN SHEAF, could not be touched until He offered Himself in the heavenly temple as the FIRST FRUIT from the dead. Jesus was going to ascend to the Father for the purpose of presenting Himself as the FIRST FRUIT from the dead. He is our great HIGH PRIEST who offered Himself in fulfilment of the FEAST OF FIRSTFRUITS on the exact day the barley sheaves were being waved before the Lord.

The barley sheaf wave offering consisted of a number of individual barley stalks that had been bundled together. Likewise, when Jesus offered Himself as the FIRST FRUITS from the dead, many individual believers were raised with Him. We read in Matt 27:52-53 “At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.”

When the time came to harvest the crop, the farmer would go into his field and inspect the first fruits of the crop. If he accepted the first fruits, then the rest of the harvest would also be acceptable to him. Since our heavenly Father has accepted Jesus as the first fruits from the dead, believers are also acceptable to God through Jesus. He will also raise us from the dead and give us a new resurrected body fitted for eternity. Paul says in Romans 8:11 “And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of His Spirit who lives in you.”

Jesus, as the FIRST FRUITS, is our representative. By presenting Himself, He consecrated the rest of us to the Father. As Paul says in Ephesians 1:6 “…to the praise of His glorious grace which He has freely given us in the One He loves.” Believers are the human stalks that have been bundled together with Christ (Messiah); therefore, “If the first fruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches.” (Rom 11:16)

Paul further says in 1 Corinthians 15:51-54 “…We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed – in a flash, in a twinkling of the eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead in Christ 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.” (Also see Isaiah 25:8).

Paul also says in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 “Brothers and sisters we don’t want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.”

And in 1 Thessalonians 5:9-11 “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”

When Lazarus died his sister came to Jesus for comfort. John says in John 11:20-26 “When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet Him…and said to Jesus: Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died…Jesus said to her: Your brother will rise again. Martha answered: I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said to her: I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in Me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in Me will never die…” Job also expressed his hope for all believers of all ages when he said: “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand on the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God…” (Job 19:25-26).

May we know the Lord at PASSOVER, the fellowship of His suffering at UNLEAVENED BREAD and the power of His resurrection at FIRSTFRUITS.

Personal significance

The FEASTS of UNLEAVENED BREAD and FIRSTFRUITS represent two important phases of Christian commitment that are necessary to change our spiritual condition. The Feast of Unleavened bread teaches about our BURIAL with Jesus. This indicates we should live a life separated from the attitudes and ways of the world. This involves putting off the old man of sin, characterized by the works of the flesh. The Feast of Firstfruits teaches us about our RESURRECTION with Jesus in our spirit as well as future bodily resurrection. We are saved from our old life to live in the resurrected life of our Messiah Jesus today.

Putting off the old man is not enough. We must also put on the new man. Paul says in Ephesians 4:22-24 “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” This new nature is the very nature of God coming within us through the person of the Holy Spirit. We therefore put on this new man by allowing the Holy Spirit to live the RESURECTED LIFE OF JESUS through us. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone, the new is here!” And in Galatians 2:20 he says: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” In Romans 6:11-14 he further emphasizes it: “In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to Him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.” And in Galatians 5:16 we read: “…walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”

When we walk in the Spirit, the character of our Messiah Jesus will be the dominant force in our lives and Paul refers to this character as the FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT in Galatians 5:22-23 “…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” When we life in the character of our Messiah Jesus we have PEACE WITH GOD and we also enjoy the PEACE OFF GOD (Colossians 3:15). Many believers do not experience this divine blessing because they never separated themselves from the things of the world and consecrated themselves to Jesus as Lord of their lives.

We read in James 1:18 “He choose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all He created.” James here explains that true believers, that are FOLLOWERS OF JESUS CHRIST IN THE HOLY SPIRIT experience new life through the redeeming work of Jesus our Messiah. We therefore present ourselves as a LIVING wave offering to God to show that we BELONG TO HIM.

Prophetic aspect

The spiritual significance of both the Feasts of Unleavened bread and Firstfruits were restored to the church during the 1700s through the ministry of two brothers, John and Charles Wesley. John was a powerful preacher who travelled over 250,000 miles (402,336 km) on horseback preaching the Gospel and Charles penned over 6000 Christian songs and poems. In this way people not only heard the Word of God, but they also learned to memorize and sing it.

Their ministry was however not received by the church and the Wesley’s took their message to the working-class people who were ignored by the Church of England. God used the Wesley brothers to radically change the society and social ills of their day. By emphasizing PERSONAL HOLINESS and a change in one’s condition as well as one’s position, the Wesley’s initiated a lasting SPIRITUAL RENEWAL that restored Christian SALT and LIGHT (see Matthew 5:13-16), to a decaying and darkened world.

Information based on: CELEBRATING JESUS IN THE BIBLICAL FEASTS – Dr. Richard Booker

Animated Story Board: Created by Danelle Harmse for He Brews Coffee Roastery