The Feasts of Jehovah (Part II)
By Liaf
Firstfruits
In the first part, we’ve dealt with the Passover and Unleavened Bread feasts and how they relate to communion. The next feast occurred during the week of the Unleavened Bread. I have my reasons for believing this took place on a certain day of the week, namely, Sunday during the seven-day period (at least that was the Lord’s intent). However, Jewish interpreters believe this feast occurs the day after the Unleavened Bread feast day, i.e., Nisan 16. Let us turn to Leviticus 23 and see what that passage says about this feast:
Leviticus 23:9-11: 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.
First of all, this feast was not to be celebrated until they came into the land (more on that soon). They were still in the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land when they escaped their bondage from Egypt. This feast is called Firstfruits and it was to be held on "the morrow after the sabbath". Needless to say, the Unleavened Bread feast was a Sabbath and this statement in and of itself does not necessarily say at this point yet that this is the weekly Sabbath. However, one clue is that unlike the other feasts which have the dates (or days of the month) stated, this one does not as if it is intended to be movable. Although this is circumstantial evidence, this is solidified more when we get to the timing of the next feast. For now, I am saying the wording thus far makes one suspect that "the morrow after the sabbath" may mean Sunday. The Priest was to wave the first sheaf of the future grain harvest to come a few weeks later. Along with that they were to bring various offerings as well. We turn to the New Testament once again to discern the meaning of this feast. As we have already pointed out, these feasts were a shadow of things to come.
1Corinthians 15:20: But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
1 Corinthians 15:23: But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.
The apostle Paul made it very clear that the Firstfruits feast foreshadowed Christ risen from the dead. The whole idea of "firstfruits" is the first, or predecessor of anything. Because the firstfruits of the grain represented a greater harvest to follow, it stands to reason that Christ’s resurrection preceded a future resurrection. Like the grain, we too are from the same "crop" of Christ. He is the first, and we follow. By extension, the firstfruits can be said to a pilot group of people in which a greater group (or harvest) will follow. The 144,000 in our Revelation series is such an example. In addition, the firstfruits (or firstlings) of one’s harvest (or animals) belonged to the Lord. So many people confuse this with the tithe. No. The tithe was the tenth of one’s bounty. The firstfruits were simply the first of anything. There was no quantitative amount or percentage associated with it. For example, if you have an apple tree and you see three apples ripen first, they would be given to the Lord. Afterwards, the many, many more that would come would then be tithed. It could have been one apple, or ten. You see, it was left up to the giver. The idea was before you took a bite of that first apple, you were to give it to the Lord instead and then take a bite from the second.
Thus far, the Passover feast, Unleavened Bread feast, and Firstfruits foreshadowed Christ being crucified, buried (in which the believer comes out of his old life and into the new in the same manner that Israel came out of Egypt), and resurrected. Technically, I believe that "Easter" should really be called "Firstfruits". The name Easter came from the pagan name of Ishtar the goddess of fertility. This festival was held the same general time of the year and thus a connection was made to it. You oftentimes see fertility symbolism such as new chicks or ducklings, and of course the famous "Easter egg". People try to relate these things to a resurrection theme but in actuality these symbols have nothing to do with resurrection, but procreation. Since (I believe) the feast of Firstfruits was on a Sunday (or was intended to be on a Sunday), we can call this the first day full day of new life. This is interesting since the first day is also called the eighth day in some sense. Eight is the number of new beginnings, of anything new. To throw in this painful reminder, a baby boy was supposed to be circumcised on the eighth day of his birth. Biblical theology relates that to putting off the flesh (hence a new life or heart) which has a definite connection to the new life in Christ. Later on, we shall talk about the eighth day of the Tabernacles feast, and that represents something new in the future.
What did it symbolize to the Israelites to wait until they got into the land before keeping the feast? Again, the fruit of land was their destiny, not the wilderness. We come out of the old life just as the Israelites came out of Egypt. However, we look to the land that was symbolic of rest and victory in Christ. Some think the land represents heaven. Perhaps by extension it does. But in the realistic sense there were enemies to conquer first (heaven does not have enemies there). Likewise, in Christ we clean up our lives (lest repetitious problems of sin plague us, as did the enemies of Israel). When Israel did not slay all those in the land, there were problems later. The same goes for us when we have these "enemies" in our lives. The land was meant to have Sabbath rests and freedom from enemies provided they followed God’s Law. In short, our destiny is the new life in Christ. One does not look to the wilderness for their fruit and dwelling place, but the land where there is new life. This brings us to the next feast.
Pentecost (feast of weeks)
How many of you thought that Pentecost was a new, Christian celebration? It is. However, it existed before the start of the Church. Let us turn to Leviticus 23 and read about this feast:
Leviticus 23:15-17: 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: Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering [i.e. grain offering from the harvest the the firstfruits were from earlier] unto the LORD. Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD.
The first issue was the timing of the feast. From the "morrow after the Sabbath" day that the Firstfruits fell on, i.e., the first day, they were to count to the 50th day. The prefix "pente" means 50. Logic tells us that if the first day is a Monday for example, the 50th day would also be a Monday exactly seven weeks later. Indeed, they were to count 7 Sabbaths to the day after the seventh Sabbath. This day, in turn, was also the 50th day. This is the reason I believe that Firstfruits (and later Pentecost) were intended by God to be on a Sunday. If the "morrow" after the Sabbath" for the Firstfruits feast meant the day after the Unleavened Bread feast Sabbath (as opposed to the weekly Sabbath), then the 50th day would fall on the same day of the week seven weeks later. However, this 50th day would not be "on the morrow after the seventh Sabbath". Maybe the first Sabbath could be any day of the week, but not the seventh Sabbath. Once the feasts are done, the seven Sabbaths are weekly Sabbaths. That is simply because there are not seven feast days after the feast of Firstfruits. By logical deduction, these must be weekly Sabbaths. Since the 50th day is the same as the day after the seventh Sabbath (or Sunday), then the first day (which Firstfruits fell on) would also be on a Sunday. Any other day of the week would be a mathematical impossibility. In addition, as I already mentioned, notice that Firstfruits and Pentecost DO NOT have dates associated with them (as if they were intended to be movable). The other feasts fall on specific days of the month. If indeed Firstfruits and Pentecost were to fall on Nisan 16 and Sivan 6 as some believe, God could have stated the dates as clearly as he did for the other feasts.
When we look at the rest of the Scriptural passage, we see that they were to offer two loaves from this harvest made with leaven amongst other offerings with them. As one continues reading these Scriptural passages, we see the number two (as with the two loaves) prevail. As usual, we shall look to the New Testament for the meaning of the feast.
Acts 2:1-4: And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
People may debate a little what the various feasts of Jehovah foreshadow, but this feast of Pentecost is one that people have little doubt what it represents. Pentecost foreshadowed the giving of the Holy Spirit, which was the spiritual life-giving force of the first Church. Many Christians are actually ignorant that this feast existed before the Church age. They believe that this feast was created as a commemoration of the "birthday of the Church". Just as Christ was the Firstfruits, Pentecost represented the harvest of the first believers. If we remember, Pentecost was the harvest from the same crop that the Firstfruits was the forerunner of. What about the loaves? Why were they made with leaven? We already said that leaven represented corruption. When we studied the feast of Unleavened Bread, we saw that there was to be NO LEAVEN since it represented the sinless Christ. Therefore, this crop from the Pentecost feast is made from that which has corruption. This actually makes perfect sense. The Church is comprised of people still in their natural (Adamic) state. They sin. They get sick. They die. But the life giving Spirit within (since they are born of the Spirit) guarantees life eternal in the resurrection since they are from the crop of Christ represented by the Firstfruits. The Bible is full of the idea of the "old man" dying and "new life" in Christ. Several of my messages deal with this dualistic theme. The loaves with leaven are just another one of those dualistic themes.
Lastly, while we are on the subject of dualistic themes, why were there two loaves? Is there not only one Church? Yes---- but the church was not meant for God’s chosen people Israel only, but the Gentiles as well. By extension, I believe this indicates the Judah-Israel distinction as well. The gospel was "to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile" as Paul said in Romans. Keep in mind that the Jew saw the lost house of Israel as "Gentile" nations. So by extension, not only the Jew (the tribal identity of our Lord) received the gospel message first, but as Jesus said, "But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel". These people were the "other sheep" that were not of this fold (of the Jews). Thus, we see even in the people of Israel the same dualistic theme. In other words, all of Israel and likewise both chosen people and people not chosen would be the Church. This is one of those mysteries revealed only to Paul, i.e. that the blessings of Abraham were given to the Gentiles through Christ. It was foreshadowed and hinted at, but not directly revealed until Paul was chosen as the Apostle to the Gentiles. Unlike what Israel once believed, salvation was offered to all people through Christ instead of converting to become an Israelite. The children of God were not limited to Israel only.
This concludes the first four feasts that already were fulfilled. The last three feasts that we will address in the next message are yet to come. By the way, have you noticed that the first four feasts were fulfilled exactly at the time of the feasts? Likewise, the last three feasts foreshadow things to come that will be fulfilled at the times of those feasts.
Back to Holidays and the Tabernacle Index