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.

Fruchtenbaum, director of Ariel Ministries. The text is copyrighted

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