I wanted us to experience an example of understanding that the Bible is the unified story that leads to Christ, by having a deeper understanding of the significance of the 7 Feasts, to us, as Christians with this in mind:
Understand the Hebrew calendar date assigned to each
Historical significance
Scripture that guides us through this journey
How each feast leads us to Jesus
What it means to us as Christians
Here are the 7 Feasts as laid out in Leviticus Chapter 23:
Passover
Feast of Unleavened bread
Feast of Firstfruits
Feast of Weeks / Day of Pentecost
Feast of Trumpets
Day of Atonement
Feast of Tabernacles
Prophecy has already been fulfilled in the 1st four Feasts.
Prophecy is yet to be fulfilled with the last three Feasts.
In considering Passover, we re-looked at Jesus as our Passover Lamb. The unblemished sacrifice for us.
He suffered and was crucified for our sin!
When we delved into The Feast of Unleavened Bread, we learned that leavened bread represents sin in our lives, and with the Unleavened bread, sin has been removed.
Passover is observed on the 14th day of Nisan (NY-san) the 1st month of the Jewish calendar.
It is a reminder of the 10th plague on Egypt and how God delivered the Israelites from slavery, out of Egypt, AND, how we as followers of Christ, are delivered from the slavery of sin.
Feast of Unleavened Bread begins on the 15th of Nisan (NY-san) and continues through the 21st day.
Our key passage of the series is:
Colossians 2:16–17 “So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.” (revisit this at closing)
The key verse in Passover message of part one was:
John 1:29 “The next day John (the baptizer) saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
The key passage for Feast of Unleavened Bread was:
1 Corinthians 5:6–8 “Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”
BODY
This brings us the the 3rd Festival, the Feast of First Fruits.
Today’s key verse is 1 Cor 15:20, and we’ll get there eventually.
There is so much to cover here, that I can see a series on First Fruits coming to a Cross Pointe Church near you!
But today, I will focus on three main ideas:
Kinds of First Fruits
What First Fruits mean to God
How Jesus is our First Fruit
Stand with me as we honor God while reading His word:
Leviticus 23:1, 9-14 (read from my bible)
I think it important for us to realize that with the first two feasts, the Israelites are still in Egypt, as God commands them through Moses and Aaron, of the feasts they are to observe.
But now, they are in the wilderness, they have escaped slavery, and are making their way to the promised land.
With that in mind, let me re-read Leviticus 23:9–11 “And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest. He shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.”
and Leviticus 23:12–14 “And you shall offer on that day, when you wave the sheaf, a male lamb of the first year, without blemish, as a burnt offering to the Lord. Its grain offering shall be two-tenths of an ephah (E-fa) of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to the Lord, for a sweet aroma; and its drink offering shall be of wine, one-fourth of a hin. You shall eat neither bread nor parched grain nor fresh grain until the same day that you have brought an offering to your God; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.”
Last week, when we examined a passage in Malachi, we considered that God’s word says “bring me” not give me, and that is because we cannot give what is not ours.
Lev 23:10 says when you come into the land “which I give to you”…you shall “bring”. Think about it, God doesn’t need any part of that harvest, now does He? He is a jealous God and He wants our gratitude!
He wanted the Israelites to show gratitude for bringing them out of slavery.
Don’t you think He wants the same from you and me?
We are to show our gratitude for being brought out of the slavery of sin, through the redemptive blood of Jesus!
Side note: Consider the possible parallels in symbolism of these two verses. One from OT, and the other from NT.
Leviticus 23:11 “He (the priest) shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.”
John 12:13 “took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out: “Hosanna! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ The King of Israel!””
Understand, there is nothing I found that tied these two together as prophecy, I just found it as interesting.
God is instructing Moses and Aaron, in no uncertain terms, what is to go down, when they arrive in the promised land.
Then, when they harvest that first crop, they are to bring the firstfruits to God, before they take a single bite!
Y’all have heard my story about our great tomato harvest in 2014.
I was thinking about this as I begin to dig into this passage.
We gave away boxes of tomatoes, but we kept the first and best for us!
I couldn’t wait to eat that perfectly ripe tomato.
I would pick a tomato, wipe it off a little, and eat it while still standing in the garden!
Can you imagine?
It is the first harvest they will reap in the promised land, and God has the audacity to expect them to give Him the first and the best!
But, don’t you know that they made sure that God got not only the first, but they probably looked long and hard to find the best of the crop? This represented the entire crop!
I also had this picture in my mind:
Parents who have 5 or 6 kids, and they want to “show off” the family by presenting their smartest, best looking child.
You know, the cream of the crop!
I can’t tell you how many times my mom, presented me as the smartest, best looking of her crop! Might not say much for the crop, huh?
OMIT-But then, I contrasted an agricultural crop, a livestock crop with people. (story of David being appointed King)
In this passage in Leviticus, we see that God demanded that they place Him first in their lives, and they be obedient, and in turn, He would bless them!
Jesus tells us this in His sermon on the Mount:
Matthew 6:33 “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”
Let’s look at kinds of “first fruits” for a few minutes.
When digging, I found 32 mentions of first fruits in the bible with the first mention found in Exodus 23:16 “and the Feast of Harvest, the firstfruits of your labors which you have sown in the field; and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you have gathered in the fruit of your labors from the field.”
I’d like to challenge you today, that this week, you find a couple more verses, not mentioned in today’s message, and share those with me.
Let’s look at some kinds of first fruits, together this morning:
The First Harvest:
Giving the first and best to God.
This included:
grain- Exodus 23:16 as we just read
olive oil- Numbers 18:12,
new wine-Numbers 18:12
honey- 2 Chron 31:5,and
sheep’s wool- Deut 18:4 and
fruit- Neh 10:35 also
herds and flocks-Deut 15:19
By doing this, the Israelites acknowledged that everything they had, came from God, and belonged to Him.
2. Israel
Jeremiah called Israel, the first fruits of God’s harvest.
Jer 2:3. Just as the first and choicest crops were devoted to God, Israel was God’s chosen and set apart people.
3. Believers-
The first converts, as followers of Jesus, in a particular area were called “first-fruits”.
Romans 16:5 “Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus (ee-Pee-nee-tuhs), who is the firstfruits of Achaia(uh-KAY-uh) to Christ.”
1 Corinthians 16:15 “I urge you, brethren—you know the household of Stephanas, that it is the firstfruits of Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves to the ministry of the saints—”
4. The Holy Spirit
Romans 8:23 “Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.”
The Holy Spirit is the first installment and God’s pledge of more to come in our resurrected lives!
5. Jesus
1 Corinthians 15:20 “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”
Paul is telling us that Jesus’ resurrection is our assurance that one day, all believers will be raised from the dead and have everlasting life in Him, because He is the first fruits through His resurrection!
The first 3 festivals overlap.
Begins with Passover on 14th day of Nisan.
Feast of Unleavened Bread begins on 15th and continues through the 21st day of Nisan.
Feast of First Fruits is observed on the day after the Sabbath following Passover.
Giving God our first and best, is paramount to being blessed by Him.
It is amazing that Jesus fulfilled the prophecy on the exact dates as described in the OT.
Church, I invested a great deal of time confirming the accuracy of what I am about to share with you.
I don’t have all the answers, but I look to God’s word for them!
We examined these dates during Passion Week, but worth a re-look for sure.
Are you ready?
Scripture tells us that Jesus entered Jerusalem on the 10th of Nisan.
John 12:1–2 “Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead. There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him.”
John 12:12 “The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,”
I encourage you to dig into these dates, it is truly fascinating. I would love to discuss with you further one on one!
Now let’s again look at:
Exodus 12:3 “Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: ‘On the tenth of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household.”
Jesus was the lamb as He entered Jerusalem on the 10th of Nisan.
Exodus 12:6 “Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight.”
Listen, I know I’m going back and forth, and this is why I encourage you to spend time yourselves getting this straight in your head! This is so very important church!
Leviticus 23:11 “He shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.”
Do you see that date there? …on the day after the Sabbath...
Jesus rose on the day after the Sabbath.
Here’s where we tie-in the OT prophecy, with NT fulfillment.
1 Corinthians 15:20–23 “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.”
We see that the first fruits described in the OT, is foretelling the resurrected Christ in the NT.
Christ is OUR first fruits! In His resurrection, we are in return first fruits to God!
Let’s look again at Colossians 2:16-17 NLT:
“So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ Himself is that reality”.
I literally read about 12 translations, and the NLT makes the most sense to me.
You see, Paul is telling the church at Colasae (co-las-SA), that the road to salvation is NOT in all the rules and rituals, but in Jesus!
This is SO profound!
To me, Paul is saying “don’t catch yourself focusing on the wrong things, but the reality of it all, is Christ.
NKJV- Colossians 2:17 “which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.”
These celebrations and festivals are “foretelling” the arrival of Christ!
I have to admit to you church, this study of the Festivals is a “mind blown” experience. If you haven’t already had that experience, I pray you do!
Last week we looked at Malachi 3:8–12 , and we are going to dig into that a bit deeper in the near future, but what is speaking to me through all of this study is “blessings”.
I’d like to look at a perplexing passage, that until a couple of years ago, I didn’t grasp how important giving God our first fruits really is.
Go with me to Genesis 4:3 “And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord.”
Genesis 4:4 “Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering,”
Until Pastor Robert Morris broke this out for me, I missed it.
“in the process of time”- You ever heard the term “when I get around to it”? I read several translations of “in the process of time”, and essentially it means “when Cain got around to it”.
“an offering of the fruit of the ground”- almost like “leftovers”.
“when Cain got around to it, he found some leftovers for God”.
Look at what Abel did:
Genesis 4:4 “Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering,”
Understand firstborn and fruitfruits mean the same thing. One is an agriculture reference, the other is a livestock reference, but they mean exactly the same thing.
God didn’t “respect” Cains offering. Genesis 4:5...
But He gave Cain a second chance...
Genesis 4:7 NLT “you will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be it’s master”.
And shortly thereafter, we see that Cain does not control sin, and he murders his brother.
God wants our first and our best, not our “when we get around to it”, leftovers!
CLOSING
In my 1st closing:
How can we offer ourselves as first fruits to Jesus?
Words or actions.
Pray, ensure He is the start and end of everyday.
Understand and operate under the assumption that in His power we are able to do anything through the blessings He gives us!
In my second closing, a quick summary of the Feasts we’ve looked at thus far:
Jesus is the Passover Lamb-suffering and crucifixion
Jesus is the Unleavened Bread- through His death, our sin removed
Jesus is the Firstfruits- through His resurrection we will live forever with Him!
and now my final closing:
He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created- James 1:18~
