SEASONS - CELEBRATING EARLY FIRST FRUITS AND RESURRECTION DURING PASSOVER WEEK

I wish to spend a little time pondering the Hebraic celebration of Early First Fruits.

Passover begins in 2014 after sunset on April 15.  The 7 days of Unleavened Bread begin with that day and go forward for the next seven days.  In that week of seven days comes the time I have come to call Early First Fruits.  It happens on the third day after Passover.  

The wording of the scriptures say “on the morrow after the Sabbath” and many people debate this date because of that vague wording.  I have come to believe that it means “in the days following Passover.”  Passover is a High Sabbath.  I believe that Early First Fruits occurs three days after Passover.  This is what would also correspond with The Resurrection of Christ.  So, for my house based on what God has shown me from the scriptures and study, Early First Fruits is Resurrection Day!  The ancient observances of Early First Fruits serve as a perfect shadow of this.

In observing the Passover, we will remember the Exodus from Egypt of the Hebrew

People, and we will think about the picture that God was painting of Jesus, Our Messiah.  We ponder many things as we observe the Passover Seder which is very similar to the one Jesus partook of with his disciples before The Crucifixion.  By the time Passover is over we have remembered how Jesus died for us, how He became the Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world.

On the evening of Early First Fruits we gather again for a much more joyful celebration.  Just as the Passover helped us to remember the Crucifixion, the Day of Early First Fruits which occurs on the 3rd day of Unleavened Bread after Passover will help us to celebrate and remember the Resurrection of the Messiah.

As we celebrate the Days of Unleavened Bread after the first Seder of the Passover we are living in a home where we have removed the leaven from our homes. Have you removed the leaven from your house for this season?  More importantly; have you removed the leaven of sin from your life?  By the time for the physical early harvest the leaven should be removed from the homes.  By the time of our spiritual harvest, the sin should all be removed from our souls.  This is done by self-examination and repentance.  We can’t do this by ourselves; we need Jesus to accomplish it for us.  Hopefully everyone here has been addressing their sins and confessing before The Lord all through the days leading up to this Holy Season. 

Years ago at Early First Fruits the people had to bring a sacrifice.  Today, Jesus has become our sacrifice.  He died once for all.  He asked us to remember it and we do this at each appointed time each season. 

This sacrificial offering of First Fruits has been required since the very beginning of the days after Adam and Eve first sinned.  Once they sinned God began to talk to them and instruct them on the appointed times for making sacrifices.  It isn’t exactly spelled out, but as you began to read the Old Testament scriptures you begin to realize that Adam and Eve must have passed down God’ instructions to their children.  This is made clear to us as we read what we read about Cain and Abel.  When it was time for the Early First Fruits offering in those days, Cain and Abel showed up at the appointed place and the appointed time as well as Adam and Eve and all of their other children.  Adam and Eve had been taught by God, and they in turn had instructed their children that God wanted the best and the first fruits of their labor.   They had apparently taught their sons that God looks on the attitude of the giver and if the intent of the heart is right, He accepts the sacrifice.  When God accepted the sacrifice it was consumed by divine fire.   If the intent of the heart was wrong the sacrifice would not be accepted and it would not be consumed but would remain on the altar until someone moved it away.

  

One day the appointed time came and the family of Adam and Eve gathered to offer their First Fruits before the Lord.  Abel brought the first and best of his herd.  They were without spot or blemish, the best.  The Lord was pleased and Abel’s offering was consumed by the divine fire.  Then Cain brought the fruit of his labor, vegetables from where he had tilled the ground.  Only, Cain had eaten the first and best himself.  He brought the Lord the leftovers, the ones that he did not want.  They were withered and blemished.  God saw that Cain was selfish with his offering.  God did not consume the sacrifice.  Cain became angry and he was jealous of his brother who had pleased God.  Afterward Cain’s hatred for his brother Abel became so great that he killed him and hid his body, thinking that no one would ever know what he did.

The appointed time came again.  Cain showed up at the appointed place with his offering of vegetables, but Abel did not show up.  God asked Cain, in front of everyone else where Abel was.  Cain lied and said that he did not know.  But God KNEW the truth and he told Cain this and everyone there heard from God that Cain had killed his brother.  Cain never repented.  Adam and Eve must have been devastated.  God rejected Cain’s offering and cursed him.  Cain was cast out of the land, never to come before God again.  Because of Cain’s selfishness he lost his soul, his family and his home.

  

Cain’s children grew up to be wicked and evil.  The curse of their father followed them.  This was a case where the wrong attitude about First Fruits made a very sad story.  Cain’s family began the curse on the earth of the evil and wicked generations.  Their generations after them caused the world to be so evil that God sent a flood to destroy the earth, and only Noah and his family were saved.

 

What do you think was the first thing that Noah and his family did when the ark landed safely in the appointed place at the appointed time?  They built an altar and made an offering to the Lord.  With the whole world washed away, what do you think were the First Fruits of their labors?  It was the gift of themselves, their lives, the whole family of Noah and the animals with him that would be bringing new life to the world.  It was a gift of life, the best gift of all.  They brought themselves, all that they had to offer to start the world all over again.  It was an acceptable offering and God not only accepted it, but He gave them the promise of the rainbow.  Noah’s children taught their children about early First Fruits until the days of Abram came.

   

Abram went into battle with the King of Sodom and defeated him.  On his way back from battle Abram was met by Melchizedek, the King of Jerusalem and the High Priest of God.  Abram recognized that Melchizedek was the High Priest of God, and he gave Him an offering of the best of all of his possessions, his First Fruits.  Abram could have given him the spoils of the war against Sodom, but Abram sent those spoils back to the King of Sodom.  He did not use them as an offering.  He gave of all of his best possessions.  God was pleased with Abram’s sacrifice.  It was accepted.  Melchizedek blessed Abram and fed him bread and wine.

 

Unlike the sacrifices of Cain, the firstfruits of Noah and Abram were accepted by God.  Abram taught his descendents about the First Fruits sacrifice.  They made the offerings to God at the appointed times and the appointed place.  God blessed them and made a nation from them.  Abram became Abraham and Sarah gave him a son named Isaac.  Isaac married Rebecca and they had twin sons named Jacob and Esau. 

  

So, we could go on and on with the stories of the children of Israel and how they all brought Early First Fruit sacrifices before God in one way or another and they were either accepted or rejected.

   

In the days of Moses, as the people were leaving slavery and God was speaking to them of how to be His nation, God gave them further instructions.  Let’s look at what God asked on this day so long ago when He first met Moses on the mountain to give him the commandments.

The passage is found in Leviticus 23:10-12:

 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 first fruits 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 a he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the LORD.

This was God’s requirement for the early First Fruits offering from when Israel first entered the Promised Land.

 

So we see a picture here of the people from many generations coming every year to their first harvest of the year. It was usually a barley crop.  Barley was hardy and grew almost anywhere.  It survived well, struggling for life and abundance even in hard times and rough weather.  Barley bread was known as “the common people’s bread,” or “the bread of the poor” because it was more affordable and easier to grow and buy than the wheat that was produced later in the year. 

  

There were five loaves of barley bread that was found in the boy’s lunch that was given to Jesus to feed the multitudes.  Jesus took it, blessed it, broke it and multiplied it out until there was plenty for everyone.  How significant can the picture be of man offering up barley, the lesser of the crop, the easier of the crops, the least expensive of the crop, much like the offering of Cain.  Man’s offering could never be good enough.  Only when Jesus came into the picture could this change in the eyes of God.  There were years and years of the barley harvest presented before God.

    

At any rate, the first of every crop (usually barley) was brought to the Temple.   The very first bundle of grain they gathered would be taken to the high priest.  The priest would wave the sheaf before the Lord.  This happened after the Sabbath of the Passover during the 7 day feast of Unleavened Bread.  This was the day of the bringing of the wave sheaf that was to be offered to God before you offered or used anything else that He had blessed you with from the harvest.

We now know, unlike the Israelites who had to be obedient through totally blind faith, that Jesus was the true one that would make this wave sheaf acceptable before God.   The timing of this first fruit ritual offering established by God way before Christ came to earth, was perfectly in line and a shadow of the actions of Christ before, during and after the Resurrection.  He became our acceptable first fruit offering of the harvest of spiritual souls for the Kingdom of God.  He and those who rose with Him at the Resurrection were the Early First Fruits of the harvest of God.

 

It is said that you must give the wave sheaf in order to make the rest of the crop acceptable for use.  When Jesus presented Himself, holy and pure, before God as our offering; God accepted Him and that made us (the rest of the crop) acceptable for use in God’s Kingdom also.       

 So, we are not agricultural anymore, and Christ has come for us now and saved us from our sins.  There is no Temple in Jerusalem anymore.   Does this mean we forget these days?  Not at all, this only means that these days have an even fuller meaning than before.  We have even more to be thankful for and to honor God for on this day.   Now we have the fuller celebration that incorporates the true essence of Resurrection.  A little like the family of Noah after the flood, we have new life! 

So think about the spirit of the people here.  What was the true heart of the ancient people as they brought these offerings?  The giving of the first fruits was a reminder that everything we have is Gods. The giving of first fruits does NOT mean: this is God’s and the rest is mine. The giving of the first fruits means that I give to others to be used for God and the rest that I have is meant for a lifestyle that glorifies Him.

Making God a priority in our life pleases Him.   It fills Him with pleasure.   It is His delight and desire.  It is God’s will that we make Him a priority in our lives, that is what is meant by verses 11-13 of the passage we read in  Leviticus Chapter 23 where it says:“ to be accepted for you.”  God goes to great lengths to describe the offering that is to be given. The purpose for this offering is that it would be acceptable to God on behalf of the nation.

There are two parts to being acceptable before God. The first involves the perfect sacrifice

of Christ.  He was obedient in all things, even to the death of the cross.  Through His death, He made it possible for us to become acceptable to God in that through His death we receive His righteousness when we put our trust in Christ as the only way of salvation.  In that way, we become heirs of righteousness with Christ Jesus.  We become acceptable before God in Him, Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.

The second part of being acceptable before God involves living consistent with the commitment that is made through the sacrifice.  This was true in the Old Testament and it is still true today.  Obedience in this offering and other ritual offerings was demanded and commanded but not just in the ritual of the offering but in all areas of life.  Obedience was demanded.  When it comes down to the facts, there was really only one thing necessary in the Old Testament for an offering to be acceptable to God; obedience.  That is why in Jeremiah 6:20 and Malachi 2:13, God refused the offering of the people because they were disobedient before God.  They apparently thought that somehow by obeying the ritual law, they would be able to get God to look the other way during their everyday lives.

Please let this never be true of us.  Let us come before God as obedient servants bringing Him the first fruits of our labor at the appointed times.  It doesn’t have to be money, or material things.  It can be whatever you have to offer before God of your best, prayer, devotion, study, giving of time, giving of other less tangible resources in some way; but whatever it is, your gift to God should be in keeping with the fact that you are bringing Him your first and your best offering of the days of your life that have now been redeemed by the blood of Christ.  God will look on the intent of your heart.  God will see the blood of Jesus that covers you and you will be acceptable to Him. 

We also find this concept of Early First Fruits in the New Testament. Paul begged the Roman believers on the basis of the mercy of God shown to them through the death of Christ that they would “…present (their) bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which (was their) reasonable service, not to be conformed to this world but to be transformed by the renewing of (their) mind, that (they might) prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

Romans 14:17-19 describes more exactly the type of life that is acceptable to God.  It is not arguing over what we should eat and drink but rather righteousness and peace and joy, specifically, Paul is emphasizing peace between believers in Christ.

Do you need to bring a peace offering of your first and best to God? 

2 Corinthians 5:9-10 teaches that whether our service is acceptable before God is the basis whereby believers will be judged.  We have read that in the end times God may chose to send fire on the earth.  It is good to stop and remember when we hear these words that God always consumed the acceptable sacrifices with divine fire.  One day we will walk through the fire straight into the arms of our Father, we will be able to walk through His divine fire if our bodies have been presented to God as living sacrifices.

The symbol of the sacrifice has often been individualized through the denying of one’s self. The giving of the first fruits served as a reminder against idolatry of the heart.  Many of the things that we do or should do serve as a guard against the ungodliness that is constantly lurking around our hearts.

In verses 9-14, in the Feast of First Fruits, these people have been laboring since the end of October or beginning of November when they first planted their barley.  They have watched it sprout up out of the ground, grow tall, fill out with grain. But they may not eat it until the first fruits are given to God.

The self must be denied until after God has first been honored.  This is the proper order.  Part of giving to God involves the understanding that you must deny yourself.  To deny yourself does not mean to deny your existence. That would be foolishness.  Nor does it mean that you give up some pleasure or sin for the sake of Christ.  It is simply like what is symbolized by not eating leavened bread during Unleavened Bread;  your needs, your wants, your desires take a back seat to what God commands.

The message of observance of first fruits is both to the community and to the individual.  Obedience does not mean giving God something so that you can enjoy the rest without fear of punishment.  Obedience means a denial of your importance in relation to the things of Christ.

Will you deny yourself and follow Christ? Will you make Him the priority, not a priority, but THE priority in your life? 

If you can make this decision, you are bringing to Him the first fruits of your own spiritual harvest.  Yes, it is good to give offerings of money, but the money does not matter if the soul is not right before God. 

 James 1:18 says:  He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of all he created. 

Now we must discuss further the greatest offering of Early First Fruits ever given. I Cor 15:20,23 is the scripture which will guide us on to see how the Festival of First Fruits is fulfilled in Christ.  It tells us that...Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruit of those who have fallen asleep...Christ the first fruits, then at His coming those who belong to Christ’

Early First Fruits is all about Resurrection!  

It is all about the Resurrection of Christ!

Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is the promise that believers, too, will receive bodies in the final harvest that will never again die.  Had Jesus not been raised from the dead, there would be no guarantee for believers to point to and rely upon when they think about the final day that the Scriptures point towards. But, as it is, the first fruit resurrection of Christ guarantees that there will be a final harvest of bodies that will be raised from the dead in similar manner to that of Christ.

Both Rom 8:23 and Eph 1:13-14 speak of this...we...who have the first fruit of the Spirit...[who is] the guarantee of our inheritance...’

The Holy Spirit that believers have received is the assurance that the future inheritance, that final harvest promised to them, will be laid hold of and reaped.  We will speak of this more in the service 50 days from now at Pentecost.  For now we must believe, prepare and wait for those days to pass  That is another thing that we will begin tonight in this celebration of Resurrection, we will begin to count the Omer, the days leading up to Pentecost, the days of The Latter First Fruits. 

Num 15:17-21:  ‘When you enter the land where I bring you, then it shall be that when you eat of the bread of the land, you shall lift up a heave offering to the Lord. Of the first of your dough you shall lift up a cake as a heave offering; as the heave offering of the threshing floor, so you shall lift it up. From the first of your dough you shall give to the Lord a heave offering throughout your generations’

The dough that was ‘lifted up’ to God made holy the entire lump of dough that it was taken from. In the days of the Temple, when the sacrificial system took place, the first fruit offerings were given to the Levites and they became their property (Num 18:12). After its destruction when no sacrificial system existed, the women of the house would throw a handful of the dough into the fire as the first fruit offering to the Lord so that the rest of the dough became holy to Him. In every kitchen, therefore, the hearth became an altar to YHWH.

Commenting on this passage, the apostle Paul writes (Rom 11:16)   ‘If the dough offered as first fruit is holy, so is the whole lump’

Since Jesus gave His Holy life for us, so too are we made holy before God.

And how do we KNOW He was Holy?  The proof is in the Resurrection!  He is Risen! 

So today we mark our calendars as we say the prayer for the Omer.  Concluding, therefore, lifting one’s life to God (that is, giving oneself to God for His use - indicative of the heave offering) causes a follower of Jesus to sanctify (make holy or set apart) each situation that they’re a part of, bringing the Kingdom to bear on every level of our society.

It isn’t just that figurative language is being used to speak of Jesus’ resurrection but that it took place on the exact same day as the festival of first fruits was commanded to be waved before God in the Temple. Just like the seed of barley that fell into the earth and brought forth a sheaf, so the seed of Christ’s body was sown into the earth and brought forth new life as it was raised in power.

May God bless each and every one of you and may He honor and accept the offerings of your lives before him.