The Festival of the Sheaf of the First Fruits
The Final part of the Feast of Passover is spoken of as the Feast Day of the Sheaf of the First fruits. The only specific scripture which deals with this feast is found in Lev 23:9-14. The New Testament clearly interprets this simple yet wonderful Feast Day in 1Cor 15:20-23, while the gospels show the fulfillment of the same in the resurrection of Christ. Again Paul in a summary statement in Corinthians interprets this ordinance by referring to “Christ the First Fruits” which is the resurrection of Christ. The day of the Sheaf of the First Fruits is a remarkable prophetic type of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, his ascension to heaven to the Father and also symbolic of the coming resurrection of all saints of all ages.
I. THE STORY IN BRIEF:
When Israel eventually entered into the Promised Land, they were commanded to keep the Feast day then. It involved the harvest period under Passover and Pentecost. It could not be observed in the wilderness as that was the place of wandering, feeding on the manna from heaven. It was not a place of harvest or feeding on the fruit of the land (Jos 5:10-12). The custom was carried out in this manner. The standing ripe harvest, barley and wheat, would soon be reaped. A person would go out into the standing harvest and look for the first mature barley; he would then with the elders of Israel place a scarlet cord around the first mature grain before it was cut down. Then the high priest with the elders would come and look at the first ripe grain he would cut it down with a sickle then it was brought to the temple the next day and would be presented to the High Priest. It was marked with a scarlet cord, cut down or harvested by the High Priest, then presented to the High Priest in the temple. The lone sheaf was called “the sheaf of the first fruits.” The priest was then to take this sheaf and wave it before the Lord of the house or temple. This was done on the “morrow of the Sabbath.” This festival always occurred on Sunday of the Passover week, Passover varied when it would occur because of the lunar calendar, but the custom was that on the Morrow after the Sabbath not of the beginning of the feast which was an extra Sabbath (Feast Day) but of the weekly Sabbath, they were to offer the Sheaf. Certain prescribed offerings were also to be presented along with this sheaf. None could eat of the bread or roasted grain of the corn harvest until that sheaf had been presented to the Lord and accepted for Israel.
It may be asked “how many Jews really understood this symbolic truth and significance of this simple but wonderful ceremony? The New Testament historically fulfills and interprets this ceremony for us and helps the Christian to understand and appreciate this Feast day.
A. Bring a Sheaf of the Harvest- Lev 23:10
A sheaf in the scripture is generally used to represent a person or people.
1. Joseph dreamed a dream in which he saw eleven sheaves bow down to his sheaf. The interpretation was clear. It was a prophetic dream which showed that his eleven brothers would bow down to him in an appointed time (Gen. 37:5-11). This show that a sheaf was symbolic of a person.
2. Psa. 126 is a prophetic psalm. It speaks of a sower going forth to sow in tears. Then he comes back later in the harvest time bringing his sheaves with him. This speaks of the Lord Jesus; he is the Lord of the harvest. In his first coming he went forth weeping bearing precious seed. In his second coming he will return with rejoicing in the harvest time, bringing his sheaves with him. The sheaves with him are the souls of the redeemed which come to fruition through the gospel.
3. The single sheaf, presented to the Lord here on the Feast day speaks of the person of Jesus Christ. He is the sheaf of the first fruits (1 Cor. 15:20-23).
This one sheaf was distinctly called “the sheaf of the first fruits.” The nation of Israel was familiar with the concept of the first fruits, or the first born. Both taught the same truth. The first fruits were always the choicest, the foremost, the first, and the best of all that was to follow. The first fruits were holy to the Lord. The same truths were also applicable to the first born of man and beast.
1. The first born of both man and beast were sanctified and presented to the Lord. They were distinctly and uniquely his (Ex 13:2, 11-13; 22:29).
2. The first fruits of all the earth were presented to the Lord, at his altar in praise and thanksgiving. Sometimes they were presented to the priests and the Levities (Duet 26:1-11; 18:3-5; Lev 19:23-25. Read also Neh 10:34-39.
3. The first fruits belonged exclusively to Jehovah. They were holy, sanctified and presented to him. The New Testament shows how the Lord Jesus is the fulfillment of all that truth symbolized in the first fruits and especially here as the Sheaf of the first fruits.
a. He is the first born of Mary (Matt 1:23-25).
b. He is the first begotten of the Father (Heb 1:6).
c. He is the first born from the dead (Col 1:18).
d. He is the first-begotten of the dead (Rev 1:5)
e. He is the Beginning of the creation of God (Rev 3:14)
Christ Jesus is the sheaf of the First Fruits.
C. The First of the First Fruit – Ex 23:19; 34:26
The sheaf of the first fruits needs to be distinguished from the harvest of the first fruits (Ex 23:16; Ex 34:22), or with that which took place under the Pentecost harvest. This sheaf was a forerunner sheaf, a sample of the coming harvest. The harvests of Passover (barely), and Pentecost (wheat) were a kind of first fruits harvest because of the final harvest was to come in the end of the year under Tabernacles (fruit), thus this sheaf was but the first of the first fruits, and the harvest to follow.
It is the Father’s will that his Son be first and have the pre-eminence in all things in the church (Col 1:18). The believer is to seek first the kingdom of God as personified in Christ the King (Matt 6:33). The believer is to maintain first love, first works and first faith in Christ also (Rev 2:4-5; 1 Tim 5:12).
D. Representative Sheaf of the Harvest- Lev 23:10
This was a representative of the coming harvest. It was not the whole harvest but a part of the whole, yet the whole was represented in that one sheaf. So Jesus in his resurrection represented the great harvest of the church and the saints yet to come.
It is note worthy to look at the Matthew 27:52-53 “And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, [53] And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.” Thus we see first here the resurrection of the Lord and also those who were privileged to be in raised with him in the resurrection. Being a part of that first fruits Jesus is the first of the first fruits and the saints raised at his resurrection were part of the fruits.
It is possible that the sheaf of the First Fruits could be viewed in a double sense.
1. Christ the sheaf of the first fruit in his own personal resurrection.
2. The company of saints raised bodily with him at his resurrection could together be looked at as being “the sheaf.”
Whichever way it is viewed, Jesus is indeed the representative sheaf, the earnest, the first fruits, the promise, and the forerunner of the great harvest of resurrected ones in the coming rapture (1 Cor.15:20-23; 51-57; 1Thess. 4:13-18; Rom 8:29). First Fruit implies there is more to come…
1. James describes the early church as “a kind of first fruits” Jam 1:18).
2. Paul said to the converts in Achaia as “the firstfruits” (1 Cor. 16:15).
3. Paul said the believers had the “first fruits of the Spirit” (Rom 8:23).
4. John the Apostle spoke of the 144,000 redeemed Jews as being “the firstfruits unto God and the Lamb” (Rev 14:4).
Jesus Christ therefore is the representative and the saints down through the ages will be the harvest at the end of the world, gathered first into the church and then up into heaven (Matt 13:36-43).
E. Wave the Sheaf before Jehovah- Lev 23:11; Ex 23:19
This one sheaf was to be taken to the temple and waved in presentation before Jehovah. It speaks of Christ ascension to the temple of Heaven, the true Tabernacle and temple. When about to ascend after his resurrection, he told Mary not to touch him for he had not ascended yet to his Father (Jn 20:17).
While the Jews kept the letter of the law concerning the Feast day, and that before a rent veil, Christ fulfilled the reality and spirit of it as he ascended to the Father’s house and presented himself as the sheaf of the first fruits in his resurrection and glorified body. The empty tomb testified to the fact that the sheaf of the first fruits had been reaped and waved before the Lord in his heavenly sanctuary.
F. To be Accepted for You- Lev 23:11
The sheaf waved before Jehovah was accepted for Israel. Paul told the church that they were “accepted in the Beloved” (Eph 1:6). So we may say that as the sheaf was accepted before Jehovah which sanctified the rest of the harvest, it was this sheaf that sanctified the rest of the harvest by it being offered for Israel and Israel was accepted in Jehovah in that sheaf, so Christ is accepted before God for us and we are accepted of God in Christ.
It was sin that made man unacceptable to God. The only way man can find acceptance of God is through Jesus Christ the resurrected one, the sheaf of the first fruits. The church, which is his body, is accepted because of what Christ did on Calvary.
G. The Morrow after the Sabbath- Lev 23:11; Num 28:26.
This one sheaf was to be waved in the house of the Lord “on the morrow after the weekly Sabbath (Saturday). It is most remarkable that Jesus rose at the beginning of a new week. No set date is mentioned in Leviticus for the waving of the sheaf of the first fruits because Passover varied from year to year because of the lunar calendar.
Jesus remarkably fulfills all prophecy that he would be dead for three days and three nights and be raised thereafter. In other words he had to come and die on the week of Passover in which there would be three days between the Passover sacrifice and the offering of the sheaf of the first fruit which occurred on Sunday. (Matt 12:38-40; 16:21; Luke 24:7, 46; Matt 27:63; Mk 8:31; 16:9 ;Matt 28:1).
Other shadows of three days and three nights are found through out the Bible such as: (Gen 22:1-6; Heb 11:17-19; Ex 3:18; 5:3; 8:27; 15:22-27; ECT 4:17; Jonah 1:17).
Note: Failure to recognize there were two Sabbaths in Passover week has brought much confusion and misunderstanding as to the day of Jesus’ crucifixion, as well as to the day of his resurrection. It has distorted the truth concerning Christ’s statement concerning being in the heart of the earth for three entire days.
The beginning of the Feast of Unleavened bread was a High Day or an extra Sabbath, and there was also a weekly Sabbath, thus making two Sabbaths in the week of his crucifixion (Jn 19:30-31; Luke 23:50-56).
Each gospel confirms the fact that the resurrection took place at the close of the weekly Sabbath and early the first day of the new week. This is to say that the resurrection took place on the “morrow after the Sabbath.”
Thus one of the foundation stones of the Christian faith was laid that being --the resurrection of Christ which was established on the “first” day of the week, and not on the Sabbath. We are to rejoice in the new day, the first day of the week, the resurrection day. It is for this reason that the Early Church worshipped on Sunday and not on the Sabbath day (Jn 20:1; 1 Cor 16:2, Rev 1:10).
H. Offerings Presented with the Sheaf – Lev 23:12-13
Besides the daily morning and evening offerings there were specified sacrifices to be offered with this sheaf. These offerings are as follows:
- A lamb without blemish of the first year to be offered as a Burnt Offering, Thus the sacrificial body and blood were involved.
- The Meat Offering (Meal) and the accompanying Drink offering also was offered as a sweet savor to the Lord. Here we see the bread and the wine involved.
- The Sheaf of the first fruits was offered.
The truth here speaks of Christ’s death (burnt offering), his resurrection (the sheaf), and the communion results from both (meat offering in the bread and the wine Matt 26:26-28). It is significant that there was no sin offering presented with the sheaf. All of this speaks of Christ himself in his sinlessness and his resurrection. On this basis death had no power to hold him (Acts 2:24). The death and resurrection of Christ are brought together for each are inseparable from one another. The Lamb sets forth the death; the sheaf sets forth the resurrection. The bread and wine sets forth the communion, the Lord’s Table in which we have fellowship first with God and with one another as we remember Christ’s death and resurrection.
I. Harvest time- Lev 23:10; Matt 13:39; Rev 14:12-14
Jesus is the representative sheaf of the great harvest of sheaves yet to be gathered in. Jesus said the harvest would happen at the end of the world. In Corinthians Paul spoke of the coming resurrection of the saints at the second advent of Christ. He declares there will be an order of resurrection. First Christ the first fruits from the dead the one sheaf and then those that are Christ’s at his coming- the Harvest of Sheaves.
Christ died and has risen again. The saints who have died over the centuries and are still dying today will come to the time when all the dead in Christ shall rise again. The resurrection of the saints is spoken of as the “first” resurrection (Rev 20:1-6). This takes place at the Rapture of the Church when she is perfected by the preaching of the word of God. Those who died who were not apart of the church will constitute the guests at the wedding. There are three parts to the law of harvest.
1. The First Fruit
2. The General Harvest
3. The Gleaning of the corners of the field.
The first fruit is Christ, the General Harvest is the church with the guests at the Rapture, and the Gleanings of the field are the remnant of Jews who will be saved at the end of the Tribulation when Jesus returns with the Church. We generally refer to this as part 1 of the resurrection and Part 2 being when the Jewish remnant also accepts their Messiah at the end and are gathered from the four corners of the earth, the gleanings. This will take place at the second advent of Christ. All the saints will stand in their “Lot” in the end of days (Daniel 12:13).
Thus in the Feast of Passover, which speaks wholly of Christ, we see the foundations of our Christian faith. We see his death, burial, resurrection, and ascension to the Father. It is the First Feast, the foundational feast, upon which all the other feasts rest. Every person who comes to God through Christ must partake of this Feast, and personally experience the truths found therein.
II. Handfuls of Purpose:
There are a few events we can look at that occur throughout the Bible that will enhance our understanding in the Celebration of the Sheaf of the First Fruit:
1. Noah’s Ark rested upon the Mount of Ararat after the flood representing a new beginning for those who had been redeemed. The Ark rested on the exact day Jesus was resurrected (Gen 8:4). We must remember that according to the Jews, creation began in Tishri which was late September early October. This is how they date their civil calendar or from the creation of man. When God redeemed Israel from Egypt he told them that Nisan or Abib would be the beginning of months which was up to that time the seventh month. A New Calendar was begun which the Jews call their sacred Calendar. Every event in the Bible after the Exodus from Egypt was then dated from the sacred (religious) calendar not from the former civil. Thus they landed on the mountains of Ararat on the very day that the sheaf of the First Fruits was offered in the temple (Ex 13:1-2).
2. Israel crossed the Red Sea on dry ground three days after they left Egypt. God’s breath moved upon the waters and they were driven back even as God’s Spirit rose up Jesus from the grave and the Waters of Death, thus destroying all of Satan’s forces with his resurrection, and we can see the picture God destroyed all of Pharaoh armies separating Israel from Egypt forever by the Water of Sanctification.
3. Joshua and the children of Israel ate of the old corn of the land after the observed the Passover after the wilderness experience for 40 years. The Old Testament is full of Meat (meal), but we can not experience it until our hearts are turned to Christ and he takes away the veil upon our hearts (2 Cor 3:12-18). Has Your Heart Been Circumcised by His WORD (sharp knife).
4. Esther and Haman. Esther afflicted her soul with fasting for three days and three nights on the 14th Day of Nisan (Abib) until the 16th day. Then she went before the King and on the 17th day of Nisan she brought her request before the King of the wicked plans of Haman and he was hung on the gallows he had made from Mordecai. This occurred during the Passover Feast in Persia, and God’s deliverance came upon the same day that the sheaf of the first fruits was offered, moreover when Christ rose again the very thing Satan had devised to destroy Jesus with the cross, became the very thing Satan was destroyed by (Ester 3:7-15). Read chapter four and chapter five, Praise God his ways are past finding out.
5. If you are not Jewish, you probably view history in a timeline like the Greeks taught, but Jewish scholars recognize that God works in cycles, history repeating itself or rhyming like a poem Consider Eccl. 1:4-11. Sun and moon and planets in circuits, wind cycle, cycle of earth-seasons, tides, water currents, water cycle-rain, Mankind- circle of life, DNA helix, the flow of electricity, History is 'His-Story.' Ezekiel said a wheel in a wheel, He has his way in a storm and a whirlwind! Ah dear reader life in more than a series of events that comes and goes, there is pattern and purpose for the anointed eye!
5. If you are not Jewish, you probably view history in a timeline like the Greeks taught, but Jewish scholars recognize that God works in cycles, history repeating itself or rhyming like a poem Consider Eccl. 1:4-11. Sun and moon and planets in circuits, wind cycle, cycle of earth-seasons, tides, water currents, water cycle-rain, Mankind- circle of life, DNA helix, the flow of electricity, History is 'His-Story.' Ezekiel said a wheel in a wheel, He has his way in a storm and a whirlwind! Ah dear reader life in more than a series of events that comes and goes, there is pattern and purpose for the anointed eye!
sand swirling
If you have never accepted or if you have fallen away from Jesus Christ here are three steps you need to take to be saved:
You must admit you are a sinner, confess your sin to Jesus, repent (turn from all you know is wrong), ask Jesus to come in your heart, and begin to follow Jesus by reading and obeying his word and go to a bible believing church that teaches his word. And tell someone what Christ Jesus Has Done For You (Rev 12:10)
May God through Christ bless you!
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