The Feast of Firstfruits
Today we are discussing the third feast, the Feast of Firstfruits. This feast takes place after the Feast of Unleavened Bread and is designed to remind the Israelites that God rescued them from Egypt and gave them a place to live and grow crops, the Promised Land.
“When you have entered the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance and have taken possession of it and settled in it,2 take some of the firstfruits of all that you produce from the soil of the land the Lord your God is giving you and put them in a basket. Then go to the place the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his Name 3 and say to the priest in office at the time, “I declare today to the Lord your God that I have come to the land the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us.” 4 The priest shall take the basket from your hands and set it down in front of the altar of the Lord your God.5 Then you shall declare before the Lord your God: “My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous.6 But the Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer, subjecting us to harsh labor. 7 Then we cried out to the Lord, the God of our ancestors, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression.8 So the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with signs and wonders. 9 He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey; 10 and now I bring the firstfruits of the soil that you, Lord, have given me.” Place the basket before the Lord your God and bow down before him. 11 Then you and the Levites and the foreigners residing among you shall rejoice in all the good things the Lord your God has given to you and your household.”
Deuteronomy 26:1-11
As we can deduce from the name, the Feast of Firstfruits requires the Israelites to bring the first of the harvest each year to the priest, “10 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest.” Leviticus 23:10. The Israelites were also required to sacrifice a year-old lamb without defect as a burnt offering and give a food offering of grain, oil, and wine “11 He is to wave the sheaf before the Lord so it will be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath. 12 On the day you wave the sheaf, you must sacrifice as a burnt offering to the Lord a lamb a year old without defect, 13 together with its grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with olive oil—a food offering presented to the Lord, a pleasing aroma—and its drink offering of a quarter of a hin of wine.” Leviticus 23:11-13. This was to remind the Israelites that God was the source of their crops and their provision overall.
So how did Jesus complete this feast? It is through His resurrection. As the first portion of a harvest indicates a full harvest to come, Jesus’ resurrection indicates a full resurrection to come for all those who have placed their faith and acknowledged Him as Lord and Savior.
Seek the truth and encourage one another,
Alex