Feast of Firstfruits
Leviticus 23
March 13, 2022
If you could go back in time and remember some of your firsts, or if you’re anticipating some firsts . . . what might they be?
Your first job - your first pay check.
Your first car - - your first home.
Your first kiss, or first kiss with your spouse.
Your first win in something.
Your first sleepover.
Your first time you were told I love you.
Your first driving alone experience
Your first time home alone.
We could go on and list a lot of firsts. Firsts, assuming they’re wanted, are great, fun, exciting and memorable. We may even sit back and smile at some of those great moments in our lives.
Today, we’re talking about the 3rd of the 7 feasts of Israel. We’ve looked at Passover and the Feast of unleavened bread. Today, we’re looking at the feast of Firstfruits. These first 3 feasts all occur at about the same time. So, let’s look at the feast of firstfruits?
We’ll look at a passage from the book of Leviticus 23 - - -
9 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest, 11 and he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, so that you may be accepted. On the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. 12 And on the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb a year old without blemish as a burnt offering to the Lord. 13 And the grain offering with it shall be four quarts of fine flour mixed with oil, a food offering to the Lord with a pleasing aroma, and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, one quart of wine. 14 And you shall eat neither bread nor grain parched or fresh until this same day, until you have brought the offering of your God: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
So, that’s the background to the Feast of firstfruits. As we’ve been doing, I’ll talk about what the feast day was about, it’s significance to the Jewish people and what it means for us today as it relates to Jesus.
This festival is not found in Exodus, where the first two feasts were first commanded by God. For the Jewish people as they were traveling in the dessert, looking to enter the promised land of Israel is when God ordained this feast.
That’s an important distinction because there was a sense that this was a future oriented holiday. It’s like telling kids, we’re going to have a new school holiday and it’s going to be a celebration, but we’re not going to start for another 5 years.
The command was given to them while they were in the wilderness, and could not be celebrated until they entered the land. They were told about it, understood how to celebrate it, but it wasn’t going to happen yet. Maybe there was a mix of hope and frustration.
They knew what was coming, but they had not obtained it yet. They knew their present situation, but were promised a world with more which was still to come. This Feast was a promise from God that He will bring them to where He wants them to be.
To celebrate this Feast, they were to give a sheaf of the firstfruits to the priest. In other words they got a bundle of the harvest and brought it to the priest.
In Israel, grains were planted in the fall. They germinated in the ground through the winter, shot up as soon as the weather got warm, and ripened in the spring, barley first and then wheat. The stalks were cut and stacked in sheaves for the harvesters to collect for thrashing. But harvesting or eating any of the grain was not permitted until a single sheaf was brought to the priests at sunrise on the first day of the Feast of Firstfruits.
The priest would then wave these sheafs before the Lord. This wave offering was prescribed by God as a symbol that God would ensure that the remainder of the harvest would be realized in the days that followed.
The first fruits were always the choicest, the first, the best, the preeminent of all that was to follow. They were holy to the Lord and so they were to be set aside and presented as the firstfruits to Him.
The farmer would stop after this first part of the harvest and dedicate it to the Lord. The Lord always received the first, because it was a gift from God.
Some of the main principles which we see in the feast are - -
The whole concept of the firstfruits is that it is not only the first, but it is the very best. When the farmer went out to cut the single sheaf that was to be presented before the Lord, he took great care to make sure that it was the very best from among his crops. The farmer would not take the scrawniest part, but the best part.
When the offering of the firstfruits was made to God, it represented a prayer to Him to watch over the future harvest that had just begun. One of the main aspects of the Feast of Firstfruits is that it anticipated the future harvest that was represented by the single sheaf that was brought before the Lord as an offering.
The sheaf that was brought as an offering to the Lord represented the entire crop. By offering that portion to the Lord, it set aside the entire harvest as being consecrated to the Lord and because of this, it was made holy.
The people of God were to know that they owe their best to God. It was a recognition that everything they had came from God. It was risky to offer the first of their harvest to God. Who knew if there would be more harvest? But in doing so, they were to learn faith and trust in the God who proved His faithfulness over and over again.
For us too, this reminds us that we don't just give our leftovers, but we are to give God the first and the best.
We also learn that at some point in Israel's history, God's people had lapsed and in 2 Chronicles 31:4-6, we read of King Hezekiah organizing the people to obey this command again. They were out of fellowship with God when they did not celebrate the feast. Why is this important?
In Proverbs 3:9-10, we read - - -
9 Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; 10 then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine. - Proverbs 3:9-10
So, we see how life works best when we bring the firstfruits to God and honor Him. This was the bigger principle behind this offering.
Now, we can see where Jesus comes in and fulfills this feast. Jesus fulfilled the Feast of Firstfruits through His resurrection. The apostle Paul very clearly links the resurrection of Jesus to the Feast of Firstfruits. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul wrote
20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. - 1 Corinthians 15:20-23
In order to see how Jesus fulfilled the Feast of Firstfruits through His resurrection, we can look at His death and resurrection.
The gospels record that Christ died a day before the Sabbath (Mark 15:42). He died during Passover week, during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This means the resurrection of Christ occurred on the day after the Sabbath, on the day of the offering of the “firstfruits” of the Passover harvest. Jesus is the firstfruits of resurrection life, which is what Paul is telling us in this passage.
Through the work of the Holy Spirit, the church is united to Christ, Paul tells us in Romans 8 - -
23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the FIRSTFRUITS of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. - Romans 8:23
Then in James 1:18, he wrote - - -
18 Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of FIRSTFRUITS of His creatures. - James 1:18
So, as believers in Christ we are the firstfruits as well. We are God’s new creatures, because we’ve embraced Jesus as Lord and Savior, so now we’re adopted into the family of God. Called His children, holy and dearly loved. We gain a full inheritance, one that will never perish, never spoil and never fade. That’s God’s promise to us.
As our firstfruits, Jesus was offering Himself up as the very best possible offering. Unlike the blood of animals or the waving of a grain offering, His sacrifice paid the penalty of our sin permanently.
The fact that Jesus arose from the grave is our guarantee that one day all who have placed their faith and trust in Him will also experience resurrection. Jesus is the firstfruits that provides a promise of a future harvest of those believers.
As our firstfruits, Jesus is our substitute before God and has made us holy before God. It’s a passage we looked at last week as well.
21 God made Him (Jesus) who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. - 2 Corinthians 5:21
Because of our faith in Jesus, we are considered holy before God, not because of what we did, but because of what Jesus did for us. God now counts us as righteous.
It’s similar to what the priest did when he waved that first sheaf of barley, as the entire harvest was made holy through that waving of the single sheaf. Jesus is represented in that single sheaf.
So, in the end, what does all this mean?
Let me first speak to those of you who have never committed your life to Jesus Christ. For the past 2 weeks we’ve linked two feasts to Jesus’ death and now we see His resurrection in this feast.
When you say yes to Jesus, you are saying He is the firstfruits. He is the very best that God had to offer because He offered Himself. Jesus is the guarantee of a future resurrection. And He is the one who has the ability to make you holy before God.
So, whatever you’ve done that’s not so good, He offers Himself as that sign to say you are forgiven. In fact, you’re more than forgiven, you are released from punishment, your sins are released by God and He now calls you His child. You receive what you didn’t deserve, that’s His grace at work.
If you’ve never done that, I wold invite you to make that decision to accept Jesus today. If you don’t want to come forward, or obviously if you’re watching online, you can send me a note or talk to me after the worship. Take one of those blue cards out and write your name on it and put it in the offering boxes in the hallway.
If you’ve already said yes to Jesus, remember how the Israelites were to be separate from others because of their relationship with God. We too must realize that we are a new creation and are to put off the old and put on the new.
In a sense that’s what the feast of Firstfruits should signify in our lives. In the same way that Israel set aside their harvest and consecrated it to God, we need to do the same. In Ephesians 4, Paul wrote - - -
21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. - Ephesians 4:21-24
Our faith in Jesus and the hope we have in His resurrection should compel us to continue to drive us to put on our new self in Christ. We don’t do it alone, we can only do this through the grace and power of Christ.
As we come to a close, some final thoughts - -
The first represents the most valued, like that first tomato you will pick in your garden this summer. Most of us can’t wait to eat it, but imagine, that instead of eating it yourself, you give it to God as an offering . . . knowing that this takes trust and belief that He will bless the rest of your tomato harvest.
When we really honor and revere God, it’s not a burden to give Him our best, the first of our fruits. It becomes a joy and something we look forward to doing. If not, we end up giving God our leftovers.
It’s the same way with our finances, with our offerings. We should have a desire to give back to God because He has so richly blessed us.
Ultimately, we should continue to draw closer to God in all we do. Our firstfruits in everything should be directed to God. It’s for you and I to consider how can we honor and glorify God in our lives as He has already given us the Firstfruits of creation in Jesus, as our redeemer and Messiah.
The people of God were to know that they owe their best to God. Nothing they have did not come from Him. It was definitely risky for them to offer the first of their harvest to God. Who knew if there would be more harvest? But in doing so, they were to learn faith and trust in the God who has proven His faithfulness over and over again.
For us too, this reminds us that we don't just give God the best, we are also to give God first.
