Acts 1:12-14, 2:1-4 – Firstfruits
Today we are continuing to look at the festival of Pentecost, from the eyes of a 1st-century Jewish Christian. The Acts 2 Pentecost changed the world, but since all the early converts were Jewish, what did the holiday mean to them?
We looked at the idea that it was a pilgrim festival – that is, all Jewish men were required to go to worship God. But the good news about the Acts 2 Pentecost is that God has come to meet us and find us. Then we looked at the fact that Pentecost was a memorial of God giving the Law to Moses on Mt.Sinai. But the good news of the Acts 2 Pentecost is that God writes the Law on our hearts, and changes us from the inside out. Last week we compared Pentecost to Babel in Genesis 11. At Babel God confused people, but at Pentecost he helped them understand each other. Babel was a curse, and Pentecost reversed it. Pentecost was a time of showing mercy.
This week I want to look at the agricultural significance of Pentecost. After all, it was originally called the Feast of Harvest in Exodus 23. Let me read to you v14-17 from that chapter: “Three times a year you are to celebrate a festival to me. Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread; for seven days eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you. Do this at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in that month you came out of Egypt. No one is to appear before me empty-handed. Celebrate the Feast of Harvest with the firstfruits of the crops you sow in your field. Celebrate the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in your crops from the field. Three times a year all the men are to appear before the Sovereign LORD.”
The 1st of the 3 times was Passover, or the Feast of Unleavened Bread, held in the spring. The 3rd was Succot, or the Feast of Tabernacles, or the Feast of Ingathering, held in the fall. The 2nd, Pentecost, was held 50 days after Passover, in mid-to-late spring. Pentecost was held at the end of the barley harvest, and at the very beginning of the wheat harvest. The very 1st crops of wheat were just coming in, and the aim of Pentecost was to bring these crops to God as an offering and sacrifice.
What they would do was make 2 loaves of the very best wheat to bring to the Temple. They would gather in large towns in each district, and would set out together on foot in a joyful procession to the Temple, and would be welcomed by the Levites, a group of priests. At the Temple, the 2 loaves, as well as animal sacrifices, were given to the Lord. The animals were burned, the bread was given to the priests. This was the annual festival of Pentecost.
Now, what makes this festival significant is what they offered to the Lord. It wasn’t just that it was wheat. It’s that it was the first of the crops. The word the Bible uses is “firstfruits”. This wheat was the firstfruits of the season. In fact, Numbers 28:26 actually calls it the Day of the Firstfruits. It was a celebration of God’s faithfulness for giving a new season of crops, and the first of those crops were given back to Him.
The term “firstfruits” itself means more than either “first” or “fruits”. As for fruits, it can mean crops or livestock. And as for first, it doesn’t necessarily mean earliest. Although “earliest” is the common understanding, the deeper meaning of firstfruits is that it is the best, the finest, the purest, the most important. Exodus 34:26 gives us the idea: “Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God.”
Jeremiah 2:3 says that Israel was the firstfruits of the Lord’s harvest. They weren’t the first in schedule, but they were the first in importance. Though the Israelites were not always the best example or the most stable, they still got the best God had to offer. The Jews were the method that God would use to bless the world. They were His firstfruits.
The word “firstfruits” takes on a new meaning in the New Testament. It comes to be more symbolic, figurative, expressing a slightly different idea. The NT uses the word a number of times, and only once in connection with the harvest, in Romans 11:16. And even then, it was a comparison, not a literal meaning. Paul compared the early Jewish patriarchs and forefathers to good yeast, which makes the whole bread good. But all the other references point to something else.
Let me explain. 1 Corinthians 15 says twice that Christ is the firstfruits. In v20, Christ is the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep, or died. Well, obviously, Jesus wasn’t the first person to die. Let’s read that whole passage, though, starting in 1 Cor.15:20: “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.”
The word “firstfruits” here means pattern or example. Christ was raised from the dead. What made His death different was not that He died; it’s that He didn’t stay dead. He rose from the grave. And He set the pattern for us. Those who trust in Him will beat death too. In the same way that the firstfruits of a harvest indicate that there is more coming, so too with Christ. He was raised, and so will we.
A similar point is found in Romans 8:23-24: “We ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved.” The firstfruits of the Spirit. That means that we have great things now, but there’s more coming. It means that life is tolerable here now because we have the Spirit. How much better will eternity be when life’s pain is over, and we still have the Spirit? The Spirit makes life bearable now, and we ain’t seen nothing yet.
Now, let’s go back to Pentecost, the Day of Firstfruits, the day when faithful pilgrims joyfully brought their offerings to God. If firstfruits were, as other Scripture passages have shown, a pattern or an example or the sign that something better was coming, what does the Acts 2 Pentecost mean then? It means that the offerings improved. Read Acts 1:12-14, 2:1-4.
You see? For the first disciples, the sacrifices offered at the Acts 2 Pentecost were not bread and animals. They offered themselves. They became the offering to God. James 1:18 says that God “chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.” The firstfruits that James meant here were believers consecrated to God from among the rest of mankind.
Like when Jeremiah called the nation of Israel God’s firstfruits. Though the Israelites were not always the best example or the most stable, they still got the best God had to offer. So too for us. Being a Christian is not about being the best, but it is about getting the best God has to offer. Joy, hope, peace, forgiveness, patience, self-control, victory, satisfaction, purpose, passion, love, a clean conscience, well-being, a sound mind… all these God offers to Christians. As His firstfruits, we get the best God has to offer.
But it also means that we give God the best we have. As NT Christians, we don’t just bring offerings – we are the offerings. Everything we have is His. Not the leftovers – “if I have time, I’ll pray” or “if I’m not doing something else more important, I’ll get to church”. No, God’s plan for you is that you live your whole life consecrated, devoted to Him.
I read a story involving the Butterball Turkey company, which set up a hotline to answer consumers’ questions about preparing holiday turkeys. One woman called to ask about cooking a turkey that had been in her freezer for 23 years.
The operator told her it might be safe if the freezer had been kept below 0o the entire time. But the operator warned the woman that, even if it were safe, the flavor had probably deteriorated, and she wouldn’t recommend eating it. The caller replied, “That’s what we thought. We’ll just give it to the church.”
How typical is that? If firstfruits mean dedicated to God and giving your best to God, how is your offering? I don’t mean money, although it does include that. I agree with Robert Harris who said, “If one first gives himself to the Lord, all other giving is easy.”
No, the giving of ourselves means that we live to please Him, instead of ourselves. It does not mean that we take no pleasure in anything anymore, as has been preached over the years. It means that if we first give Him our hearts, everything within us, and we make it our desire to please Him in all we do, the side effect of that is that we will find joy and pleasure in most things. From the enjoyment of nature to time with our families to work around the yard – when it becomes His, we enjoy it more. For the person who wants to please God in everything in their lives – from time, their money, their possessions, their schedules, their vacations, their jobs, their school – for that person secular and sacred all combine to become one big opportunity to live for Him.
Frederick Buechner said, “The world says, The more you take, the more you have. Christ says, The more you give, the more you are.” And what Christ wants to do is make you into something amazing and wonderful. A new creation, a brand new person, a child of the King, a reflection of His own image, a conqueror and an overcomer, healing salt and illuminating light, a mighty warrior and a great hero. Frankly, God doesn’t care about your money if He doesn’t have you. He’ll use it. But it’s only secondary to the most valuable thing in the world, your heart. Proverbs 4:23 says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.”
Your heart is what matters most in life, so that’s what Satan wants to steal the most. If he can mislead your heart or divide your heart or dull your heart or divert your heart or break your heart, to the point that it doesn’t belong only to God’s purposes, then he has stolen the most valuable thing you have. Guard your heart. Protect it. Watch over it.
Don’t let anything less than God have it. Give God your dreams, your passions, your imagination, your emotions, your love. Give Him everything that’s inside you. That’s your firstfruits. That’s the best you have. That’s not your leftovers or second place or runner-up. No, what God wants and deserves is your very best walk, your very best talk, your very best plans. That’s dedication and devotion. That’s an offering worthy of the lord f the harvest, the Lord of your life.
