THE FEAST OF THE FIRSTFRUITS
This subject will be studied in three main categories.
I. Introduction
A. Names
There are four specific names given to this festival. The first
one is Hag Habikkurim which means "The Feast of Firstfruits." This is
a derived name because this is when the firstfruits were offered.
The second name is Reishit Ketzirchem which means "The Feast of
Your Harvest". This is one of the biblical names found in Leviticus
23:10.
The third name is Yom Habikkurim which means "The Day of the
Firstfruits", also a biblical name found in Numbers 28:26.
The fourth name is Sefirat Haomer which means "The Counting of
the Omer." The omer is the sheaf, and the counting of the omer or the
counting of the sheaf would begin on this day and continue for forty-
nine days until the Feast of Weeks or the Feast of Pentecost.
B. Date
The second thing by way of introduction is to discuss the date of
this feast because that was a major point of conflict between
Sadducees and Pharisees. The key issue was: what is the "sabbath"
mentioned in Leviticus 23:11 in conjunction with the Feast of the
Firstfruits? Leviticus 23:11 one states:
"...on the morrow after the sabbath"
What is meant by "sabbath" here? According to the Sadducees, the
sabbath was Saturday (or the seventh day of the week) and therefore
"the morrow after the sabbath" was a Sunday (or the first day of the
week). The Feast of the Firstfruits would therefore be on the first
Sunday after the Passover. That was the Sadducean view. The
Pharisees interpreted the "sabbath" to be the Passover day itself and
so "the morrow after the sabbath" was the day after Passover
regardless of what day of the week it may fall. Therefore, it was the
same as the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. As a result,
this was one of the major points of debate between Sadducees and
Pharisees. The Sadducees based their view on what the biblical text
actually said while the Pharisees view was based on rabbinic
tradition. In this case, the Sadducees were correct for that would be
the normal meaning of "sabbath". So the "sabbath" of the passage is
Saturday and the morrow after the sabbath is Sunday.
C. Biblical Practice
Concerning the biblical practice, six things should be noted.
First, it was a one day festival; it was to be observed only for
one day.
Second, it was a day of firstfruits. On this occasion, the
firstfruits of the barely and the grain harvest was to be offered and
a sheaf would be offered of the first grain.
Third, it was to be a one sheaf offering. The priest would hold
the sheaf in outstretched arms while moving it from side to side. A
handful of the sheaf was burned on the alter and the rest was eaten by
the priest who could not partake of it until after the ceremony itself
had been performed.
Fourth, it was to be offered on the day after the sabbath. That
would mean that it would be the sixteenth day of Nisan if the sabbath
was Passover, in accordance with the Pharisaic view. But if it
referred to Sunday, in accordance with the Sadducean view, then it
could have been any time within the first seven days after the
Passover. Again, this is the true meaning of the text: that the
firstfruits were always offered on the first Sunday after the Feast of
Passover, the Sunday during the seven days of the Feast of Unleavened
Bread. For that reason, Moses gave no specific day of the month for
this feast to be observed as he did for all the others. Since this
had to be on a Sunday no definite day of the month could be assigned
to it.
Fifth, it was to be observed as an acknowledgment of God's
bounty and that the whole harvest belongs to God and not to man.
Sixth, this feast marked the beginning of the two month spring
harvest.
D. Jewish Practice
The Jewish practice of the Feast of Unleavened Bread will be
discussed in three divisions.
1. During the Second Temple Period
First, concerning the practice during the Second Temple period,
from the year 515 B.C. when the Temple was completed until the year 70
A.D. when the Temple was destroyed. During the Second Temple period,
on the fourteenth day of the first month, which was the day before the
first night of the Passover, the spot where the first sheaf was to be
reaped was marked out by a special delegation from the Sanhedrin.
They tied it into bundles while the sheaf was still standing in the
ground. Then on the evening of the fifteenth day of Nisan, although
it was still Passover day, just as the sun would begin to set, three
men, each with a sickle and a basket set out for the field. The
ceremony would then begin with the three men asking the bystanders
five questions three times over. These five questions were:
Has the sun gone down?
With this sickle?
Into this basket?
On this sabbath?
Shall I reap?
When the answer was "yes" to all five questions asked three times
over, they cut one ephah of the grain from the ground that had already
been marked out the day before. The ears were brought into the Temple
compound and threshed with cane and wood stalks. The grain was then
parched on pans with holes so that each grain could be touched by
fire. It was next exposed to the wind and then ground on the barley
mill. On the sixteenth day of Nisan, one omer, (5.1 pints) was
offered in the Temple. This was the way the feast was observed while
the Temple was standing.
2. After 70 A.D.
However, since that Temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. and during
the dispersion, it was no longer observed that way. In fact, during
the long period of the dispersion, Gentile law forbade Jews to own
land, and so they could no longer be farmers and so this feast was
largely ignored.
3. Modern Israel
That also changed with the re-establishment of the Jewish state
when the Jews once again became farmers. The farming settlements
known as kibbutzim began making some new innovations in the observance
of the Feast of the Firstfruits. Now kibbutzniks, (Jewish farmers
working in the kibbutz) go out to the barley field carrying scythes
and cutting the ears of grain. Then following the men are the women
bind the cut barley into sheaves and then carry it on carts decorated
with fresh flowers. This is followed by dancing in the fields where
the grain was grown. Then at nightfall torches are lit, and following
the lighting of the torches there is a special procession to the
kibbutz dining hall where the sheaves are heaped in stacks in the
center as a symbolic offering. The observance concludes with an
evening of singing as they sing songs which are both old and new.
II. The Feast of the Firstfruits in the Old Testament
In the Old Testament the Feast of the Firstfruits is mentioned in
just two main passages.
A. Leviticus 23:9-14
The first main passage is Leviticus 23:9-14 which deals with the
feast itself. In verse nine the feast is introduced by the Word of
Jehovah and verse 10 gives the timing of it:
"When ye are come into the land which I give unto you"
It is to be observed after they have settled in the land because only
then will they be able to begin growing things for firstfruits. So
when they have settled, reaped the harvest (in this case the spring
harvest) then they have to give the offering:
"...ye shall bring the sheaf of the first-fruits of your harvest
unto the priest"
Verse eleven discusses the duty of the priest on this occasion:
"...he shall wave the sheaf before Jehovah"
The procedure was to wave it from side to side in outstretched arms.
The priest was the mediator and the mediator made it acceptable to
God, to be accepted for you. The verse goes on to state the day of
the week when this was to be offered:
"...on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it"
The Pharisees claimed that this referred to the day after the Passover
meal regardless of what day of the week it might fall on. The
Sadducees taught that the sabbath was always Saturday, and the day
after the sabbath is Sunday. Here the Sadducees were biblically
correct. This was to be offered on the first Sunday after the Feast
of Passover. If the Passover was on a Friday, then two days later
would be the Feast of Firstfruits. But if the Feast of Passover was
on a Monday then almost a full week would go by before the Feast of
the Firstfruits.
Verses 12-13 list the accompanying sacrifices that had to be
offered on this day and there were three different types of offerings.
First (vs. 12) there was the burnt-offering:
"And in the day when ye wave the sheaf, ye shall offer a he-lamb
without blemish a year old for a burnt-offering unto Jehovah."
The second offering (vs. 13a) was a meal-offering and the content of
the meal-offering was:
"...two tenth parts of an ephah of fine flour mingled with oil"
The purpose of the meal-offering was:
"...an offering made by fire unto Jehovah for a sweet savor"
The third offering (vs. 13) was the drink-offering and the content was
wine (not grape juice), the fourth part of a hin.
Verse fourteen spells out a specific law: a prohibition against
eating any grain until this selfsame day, the day of the firstfruits.
They were not permitted to eat bread, parched grain, or fresh ears
until the firstfruits had been offered to the Lord. The prohibition
against eating bread, grain, or fresh ears is removed only when the
oblation had been offered to God. This command was a statute for ever
throughout your generation in all your dwellings.
B. Numbers 28:26-31
The second passage on the Feast of Firstfruits is Numbers 28:26-
31 which emphasizes the special sacrifices on this feast. This
passage speaks of three things.
First, (vs. 26) speaks about the day of the feast:
"Also in the day of the firstfruits, when ye offer a new meal-
offering unto Jehovah in your feast of weeks, ye shall have a holy
convocation; ye shall do no servile work;"
The Feast of Firstfruits was to be like a sabbath, it was to be a day
of rest.
Secondly, (vs. 27-30) there were to be three offerings for this
occasion.
First (vs. 17) was a burnt-offering for a sweet savor unto
Jehovah. The content was two young bullocks, one ram, and seven he-
lambs a year old. The second offering was a meal-offering (vss. 28-
29). The content was fine flour mingled with oil divided as follows:
three tenth parts for each bullock, two tenth parts for the ram, one
tenth part for every lamb of the seven lambs. The third offering (vs.
30) was the sin offering. The content was one he-goat and the purpose
was to make an atonement.
The third part of the passage (vs. 31) spells out that all of
these offerings were not to be in place of the regular daily
offerings, but in addition to them. They were additions, not
replacements.
III. The Messianic Implications
A. The Fulfillment
The fulfillment of the Feast of Firstfruits is spelled out in I
Corinthians 15:20-23. Verse 20 points out that the Feast of
Firstfruits was fulfilled by the resurrection of Christ:
"But now hath Christ been raised from the dead, the firstfruits
of them that are asleep."
The Passover was fulfilled by the death of Christ; the Feast of
Unleavened Bread by the sinlessness of His blood sacrifice; and, the
Feast of Firstfruits was fulfilled by the resurrection of Jesus. The
question this verse raises is since other people were resurrected
before Jesus, both in the Old Testament and the New Testament, how is
Christ the firstfruits? There are two types of resurrections. The
first type of resurrection is merely a restoration back to natural
life, and this means that one would die again later. All these raised
before Jesus died again later. The second type of resurrection is
true resurrection life where mortality puts on immortality and
corruption puts on incorruption and one is no longer subject to death.
While others have undergone the first type of resurrection in which
they were restored back to natural life, the second type of
resurrection only been experienced by Jesus. So He is the firstfruits
of that second type of resurrection.
The term "firstfruits" means the first of more to come. He was
the firstfruits and that means more to come later. The believers,
should they die before the Rapture, will also be resurrected as He was
and they are the more to come later.
In verse 21 Paul presented the logical argument:
"For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection
of the dead."
By man came death means Adam, by man came also the resurrection of the
dead means Jesus. This verse gives one reason for the incarnation: in
order to be able to die and then be resurrected after dying to provide
life for all.
Verse 22 gives a comparison:
"For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made
alive."
This is why He is the firstfruit. All, both believers and
unbelievers, will some day be resurrected, though not for the same
destiny.
In verse 23 he points out order:
"But each in his own order"
The Greek used here is tagma which is the Greek word for a military
procession. In a military procession there is order: the infantry,
the calvary, the battering rams, and each of these things had a
certain place in the procession. Not all believers are resurrected at
the same time, but in stages. The first stage of the resurrection was
Jesus who was the firstfruits of the First Resurrection. But then
comes they who are Christ's at His coming. The church saints will be
resurrected at the Rapture before the Tribulation. The Old Testament
saints and the Tribulation saints will be resurrected after the Second
Coming, after the Tribulation.
So the Feast of Firstfruits was fulfilled by the resurrection of
Jesus.
B. The Date of the Resurrection
Jesus was not resurrected on the proper day in accordance with
the Pharisees because the Pharisees made the first night of Passover
on the fifteenth day of Nisan and they made the first night of
Passover the same as the first day of Unleavened Bread. Had the
Pharisees done what the Sadducees did in making a distinction between
Passover and the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, then
Christ would have been resurrected in accordance with the Pharisees
which in turn would have been in accordance with biblical law.
The fifteenth day of Nisan that year (30 A.D.) was from Thursday
evening until Friday evening which was the first day of His death and
burial. The sixteenth of Nisan was from Friday evening until Saturday
evening, the second day of death and burial. The seventeenth day of
Nisan was from Saturday evening until Sunday evening, the third day of
death and burial, also the day of resurrection. Jesus was resurrected
on the seventeenth day of Nisan, not in accordance with the Pharisaic
system, but in accordance with the Mosaic system. In this case, the
Sadducees agreed with Moses. The first Sunday after Passover in the
year 30 A.D. fell on the seventeenth day of Nisan. Jesus was
resurrected on the first Sunday after Passover in keeping with the
Sadducean interpretation, but more important, in keeping with the
Mosaic command.
So the firstfruits was offered on a Sunday, and it is no accident
that resurrection, which fulfilled the Feast of Firstfruits, also
occurred on a Sunday.
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The preceding is a manuscript of a radio broadcast of Arnold G.
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