THE SIGNIFICANCE OF FIRST FRUITS

SIGNIFICANCE OF FIRST FRUITS

The book of Leviticus provides us the knowledge of the ecclesiastical laws God gave to the children of Israel to observe concerning specific feasts in specific seasons, sacrifices and offerings that form a good shadow of the things to come in the New Testament period, when Christ himself would become the Lamb of God to be sacrificed and shed his precious blood for the remission of sins of mankind.  In the book of Leviticus Chapter 23 many such important instructions that God told Moses to tell the children of Israel to observe are found.  The instructions specially relate to the feasts and their observance that denote the things to come in future as a fulfillment in the New Testament period.  The significant ones found in this chapter are Passover, wave-sheaf (Resurrection), first fruits and the Pentecost.

Leviticus 23:4-8 "These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons. In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD'S passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread. In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein". 

Months and Seasons:  In one of the ten plagues (Hail), that came upon Egypt as a consequence of Moses calling upon the wonders in the land of Egypt, in the name of the LORD, who demanded through his servant Moses to let the children of Israel go and worship him in the wilderness far beyond the idols in Egypt, the entire crops were destroyed. However, in the destruction of the crops, the crops in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel lived, all the crops were spared.  The barley crops started growing later when Pharaoh yielded to the demand from the LORD though Moses, that he will let the children of Israel go. The hardening of the heart of Pharaoh resulted in more plagues to be brought upon the land of Egypt, one after another until the LORD himself took upon the task of delivering the children of Israel by going in to the midst of Egyptians and killing all the first born of Egyptians, and the first born of their cattle.  The LORD spared all the first born of the Israel, who had upon their door posts the blood of the lamb posted as a sign of their belonging to the LORD.  The blood of the lamb delivered from the perils of the death that God wrought upon Egyptians.  The ripening of the barley crops in the land of Egypt is called the season of "Abib" and it is also denoted as the month of "Nisan"

Exodus 34:18 "The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, in the time of the month Abib: for in the month Abib thou camest out from Egypt".

The LORD ordered the children of Israel to observe the feast of unleavened bread for seven days from the day after Passover that falls in the month of Abib (Nisan), which is the time when the ripening of the barley takes place in the land of Egypt. This is the month when the children of Israel came out the land of Egypt.  In order that we may be able to count the days in the feasts and the seasons of Abib in the months of Nisan, Sivan, Summer Draught (Apostasy), and Tishri,  it is the first day of the month of Nisan  that is important.  The exact counting of the day is not so easy, and the disputes about the counting of the days are endless; nevertheless, we can count as close as possible and see as to how God revealed seasons and times for us to know and the essence of the seasons is to know the 14th day when the lamb was sacrificed, and the LORD Passed over the homes of Israelites with out harming them, but killing all the first born of Egyptians.  The Biblical way of counting is the day of the first moon after the crops of barley in Israel ripen, which is 'Abib' and it also denotes the beginning of the Jewish calendar starting "Nisan".  The LORD provided feast system symbolically and prophetically to make man understand his plan of salvation for man

[The gist on months is obtained from "American Tract Society Dictionary"]

Observance of feasts:

The first day of the month of "Abib" (Nisan) is the day, which denotes the ripening stage of the barley and thereafter the seasons and Jewish festivals are as follows:

1. Passover:  Leviticus 23:5 In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD'S passover.

2. Iyer:  This is the second month in the Jewish Calendar that has 29 days

3. Sivan  This is the third month that has 30 days

Coming to the point of counting the days of Passover feast, Wave sheaf feast and Pentecost, it is as follows:

14th day  of Nisan is Passover.   This corresponds to Thursday night and Friday Morning  15th day of Nisan is Saturday and 16th day of Nisan is Sunday of present Gregorian calendar.  It is, therefore, right to conclude that on the Passover day i.e. on the 14th day Nisan Jesus was crucified and on the 16th day of Nisan was Resurrection day of Jesus.  Genesis 1 chapter gives us the information that evening and the morning is the day according to Biblical point of view. The children of Israel were asked to eat the unleavened bread for seven days, after the 14th day, which obviously falls from 15th day of Nisan to 21st day of Nisan. The lamb was killed on the 14th day, and the blood of the lamb was applied by Israelites on the door posts. The LORD went in to the midst of Egyptians and killed all the first born of Egyptians and spared the first born of Israelites. The Children of Israel were asked through Moses by the LORD to bring their first fruits of their harvest and the priest should wave the sheaf on behalf of the whole congregation 

Leviticus 23:9-13 "And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest: 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. And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the LORD. And the meat offering thereof shall be two tenth deals 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 an hin".  This signifies the resurrection of Lord Jesus Christ  (1 Corinthians 15:23 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

First Fruits - Resurrection of Jesus:  With regard to calling Jesus as the First Fruits, here is little exposition:

Jesus Christ fulfilled the laws of the Old Testament to become an offering that is acceptable.  Leviticus 23:11 "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"  There were several others who were resurrected when Jesus was resurrected but it is only Christ who became the acceptable offering.  Matthew 27:50-53 "Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many".  There is another reference which shows that Jesus was in the heart of the earth.  Matthew 12:40 "For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth".  Apostle Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 15:20-23 - "But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the first fruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming". Christ suffered, was buried and was raised from the dead, he became the first fruits of them that slept.  Jesus was not the first man to die and resurrect. Jesus himself raised Lazarus and widow's son. Earlier in the Old Testament Elijah did the miracle in 1 Kings 17:23 "And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth.". The difference between the miracles Elijah and Jesus himself did were that Jesus had the power to lay down his own life and take it again.  John 10:18 "No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father".  Moses prophesied about Jesus Christ as early as in Deuteronomy 18:15 "The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken"  Isaiah prophesied about Jesus as early as in Isaiah 9:6-7 "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this". 

There are few significant happenings that took place after the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.  When Mary did not find Jesus in the tomb she was worried, but Jesus appeared to her and Mary turned to him and tried to touch him, but Jesus asked her not to touch her,. John 20:17 "Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God." There were two reasons why Jesus asked her not to touch him. . Firstly, it was because Jesus had not yet ascended to the Father in heaven, and secondly, because Mary had touched the dead body of Jesus when she was embalming his dead body. She was, therefore, unclean for seven days.  On Sunday Evening Jesus appeared to all the disciples except Thomas, who was not present at the place where they gathered.  John 20:19 "Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you". Jesus came back only after eight days to the place where all the disciples were present including Thomas. John 20:26 "And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you"  Jesus also appeared to several people as a proof of his resurrection.  Acts 1:3 To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:  The final words in the book of John were very important inasmuch as Thomas his disciple doubted his resurrection.  John 20:28-31 "And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name".  Hebrews 9th Chapter gives us insight as to how Jesus became the high priest for us and became a perfect tabernacle, not made with hands as in Old Testament, but he by himself entered by his own blood in to the holy place.  Christ performed the office of high priest in not only offering himself as the Lamb of God, but also taking his own blood and sprinkling that blood of atonement in the most holy place, the heaven. This complied with the Jewish priest entering the sanctuary to minister before God. Hebrews 9:11-14 "But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"

Few more references:
Colossians 1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
Acts 26:23 That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles.

Pentecost:

Leviticus 23:15 And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete:

When we count the days from the first day of "Nisan" it is the fourteenth day, which is Passover, sixteenth day is the Resurrection, and it is the fiftieth day from Resurrection is the Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came down and dwelt with us.  Thus the day of Pentecost falls on the fiftieth day, which is fifth day on 'Sivan'. The days after Sabbath and then seven Sabbaths make forty nine days, and the preceding one day before the first Sabbath make fifty days in all, which is fulfilled in the New Testament.

Thus the salvation of man is complete in Lord Jesus Christ.  Now, whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Notwithstanding any thing contained in the above paragraphs under this title, in the current age dispensation for New Testament believer except for the sacrament of Lord's Supper and the baptism, there are no feasts designated nor are any feasts necessary. The feasts and seasons mentioned in the Old Testament are the shadow of things to come in the New Testament period and they are for us to remember how God achieved his purpose in the present dispensation. Jesus is the express image of the Father in heaven, and as proclaimed by Jesus himself, Jesus and the Father in heaven are one. The works done by Jesus were fully acceptable to the Father in heaven and the Father in heaven does not require any additional works to be added as the requirement for obtaining salvation. Jesus is the high priest and the mediator for us. The salvation is achieved purely by exercising faith on the works of Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross of Calvary, by confessing to sins to God and accepting Jesus as the Lord and savior. For the salvation of a man, even these two sacraments, which indeed follow the salvation, (Baptism and Lord's supper) are not mandatory. The Baptism is an external evidence proclaimed to the people, of the faith in Jesus shown inwardly in the heart of the man, who is saved, and the Lord's supper is done to remember the death of Christ upon the cross of Calvary.

 Dear Friend,
Today is the day of salvation. Please confess your sins to Jesus Christ and be blessed. Receive Salvation and eternal life. Jesus is the Way, the truth, and the life. Holy Bible says God created man, in his own image and named him as Adam and God put him in a very comfortable place called 'the garden of Eden' and gave him a wife, whom Adam named as Eve. God gave Adam and Eve all the freedom except for eating the forbidden fruit, which Eve and Adam ate and brought sin into this world. In order to redeem mankind from their sin God sent his one and only son, Jesus Christ, who died for our sake, was buried, rose from the dead and ascended in to heaven. [...Jesus Saves You...]

God bless
Leslie John