Our chapter discusses the holy days that are to be observed by Israel. Yesterday we talked about the Sabbath and the day of Passover and the seven days in which they were to celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread. Today we look at the Festival of Firstfruits and the Festival of Weeks.
"The Lord said to Moses, '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 23:9-10) This is the Festival of Firstfruits. After the person has brought to the priest the first sheaf of grain he harvests each year, the priest waves the sheaf before the Lord. "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. On the day you wave the sheaf, you must sacrifice as a burnt offering to the Lord a lamb a year old without defect, 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. You must not eat any bread, or roasted or new grain, until the very day you bring this offering to your God. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live." (Leviticus 23:11-14)
The people had to offer the first sheaf to the Lord before eating any of the harvest themselves. This honored the Lord who blessed them with the harvest. This acknowledged that there would be no harvest at all unless the Lord had provided it. He's only asking for the firstfruits, a small portion. The people retain the rest. We can apply this passage to our own lives by remembering we'd have no blessings if not for the Lord. It's such a small thing He asks of us: to be thankful, to acknowledge His provision and our dependence on Him, and to give a portion of our blessings back to Him.
Now we move on to what is called the Festival of Weeks, otherwise known as Pentecost. "From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, count off seven full weeks. Count off fifty days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath, and then present an offering of new grain to the Lord. From wherever you live, bring two loaves made of two-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour, baked with yeast, as a wave offering of firstfruits to the Lord." (Leviticus 23:15-17)
Other offerings besides bread are to be brought. "Present with this bread seven male lambs, each a year old and without defect, one young bull and two rams. They will be a burnt offering to the Lord, together with their grain offerings and drink offerings---a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord. Then sacrifice one male goat for a sin offering and two lambs, each a year old, for a fellowship offering. The priest is to wave the two lambs before the Lord as a wave offering, together with the bread of the firstfruits. They are a sacred offering to the Lord for the priest. On that same day you are to proclaim a sacred assembly and do no regular work. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live." (Leviticus 23:18-21)
As well as being a harvest feast, Pentecost commemorates the giving of the law at Mount Sinai, for this took place fifty days after the first Sabbath after the first Passover. It's important for us to note that it was on Pentecost, fifty days after Jesus arose from the dead, that the Holy Spirit began performing His ministry in a new and better way. Until Christ died and rose from the dead, the Holy Spirit spoke to and influenced people's minds and hearts but He did not literally indwell believers. A new and better law was given on the Pentecost that followed the resurrection (the law of grace) and the Holy Spirit now indwells believers every second of every day to enable them to follow the Lord's law---to follow it not just by the letter in a legalistic sense but to follow it by heart, for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that began to take place on the Pentecost following the resurrection is the fulfillment of this prophecy: "I will put My laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds." (Jeremiah 31:33, Hebrews 10:16)
Jesus rose from the dead and reaped a harvest of firstfruits. Many believed on Him at that time, right after the resurrection. But an even greater harvest began to be reaped on Pentecost, fifty days afterwards, when the Holy Spirit came into the world in a new and better way. The Holy Spirit began to indwell believers in Christ, and on that first Pentecost after the resurrection we find three thousand people being saved in Acts 2. The harvest that began on that day continues to be gathered in. Every soul that has been saved since then is a part of this harvest. You are a part of it. I am a part of it. Every soul that will be saved from now will be a part of it. We owe the Lord Jesus Christ all our thanks and all our praise. We did nothing to save our souls----we couldn't to anything to save ourselves. Christ did it all on our behalf and the very least we can do is give back to Him a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving.
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