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YHVH
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 YHVH, to be
accepted on your behalf; on the day
after the Sabbath the priest shall
wave it" Leviticus 23:9-11.
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This
regulation for the first fruits are common
for all types of harvest. However the First
Day (Sunday) following the Pesach was a
special day when the first fruits of Barley
was presented in the temple. When the barley
is ready to be reaped which fell during this
period, one sheaf from the standing harvest
is cut with a sickle and is brought to the
priest. The priest was then to take this
sheaf and wave it before the Lord in the
Temple. This was to be done "the day after
the sabbath." i.e on the Sunday following
the Passover. Among the Malankara Syrian
Christians, the sheaf is tied in a bundle
and is hung in front of the granary.
Prescribed offerings and sacrifices were
also to be presented along with the sheaf.
The Hebrew word for "sheaf" is omer.
An omer is defined as "a measure of dry
things, containing a tenth part of an ephah."
The definition of an omer being a tenth part
of an ephah is found in Exodus 16:36. An
ephah contains 10 omers of grain. Thus along
with the sheaf one omer full of the grain
was also presented at the temple.
All
first Fruits are Holy
The
Children of Israel clearly understood the
meaning of this feast and that which were
the firstfruits of their labour. It spoke of
the firstfruits of the harvest and of the
firstborn of both man and beast. The
firstfruits were considered the choicest.
The firstfruits were holy unto the Lord. The
firstborn of both man and beast were
sanctified and presented to the Lord (Exodus
13:2 ;11-13, 22:29). Thus all the firstborn
were to be dedicated to the Lord. They were
to be the Priests. (These were redeemed by
delegating the priesthood to Levites) . Even
today in every Christian family, the eldest
son was to beome an evangelist. The
firstfruits of the earth were to be
presented to the Lord in praise and
thanksgiving. At times they were also
presented to the priests and the Levites
(Lev. 19:23-25. Neh 10:34-39). All the
firstfruits belonged to God for they were
holy.
This feast
always occurred on the 1st day of
the week i.e . on Sunday. The feast
portrays evidently the resurrection of
Jesus. Firstfruits prophetically speaks of
the resurrection of the Jesus from the dead.
He rose again defeating death on the first
day of the week. That "one sheaf"
represented the whole harvest. It was the
prelude and the guarantee of a plentiful
harvest to follow.
The Seventeenth of Nisan
The theme of the
festival of First Fruits is
resurrection and salvation.
There are several important
events that happened on this day
in the Bible.
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On this day Noah's
ark rests on Mount Ararat
(Gen. 8:4). It was the
beginning of the new man
giving man another chance
with a clean slate.
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Joseph in a dream saw eleven
sheaves bow down before his
sheaf. The interpretation is
clear, as it showed that his
eleven brothers would bow
down before him (Genesis
37:5-11). Joseph is a type
of sufferring servant, the
Mesiah. Like Joseph, Jesus
was rejected by his brothers
and was later brought to
glory because he maintained
a righteous life. The Jews
were indeed expecting a
mesiah Mesia-Ben-Yusuf (son
of Joseph) Just as the sheaf
of Joseph stood up and all
the eleven bowed down before
it, the first fruit Jesus is
glorified
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Israel crosses the
Red Sea (Ex. 3:18; 5:3; 14).
This day Israel received a
new chance to live a free
life.
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Israel eats the
first fruits of the Promised
Land (Joshua 5:10-12). The
manna that God gave from
Heaven during the days in
the wilderness ceased on the
sixteenth day of Nisan after
the people ate of the corn
of the land. The day
following was the
seventeenth of Nisan, the
day when the children of
Israel ate the first fruits
of the Promised Land. Manna
was the food for the
journey, but on entering the
Promised Land the temperary
food stopped and the
permanent residence and
provisions take effect for
all believers. Again this
was a new start in a new
land with all the privileges
thereof.
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In Psalm 126, which is a
Song of the degrees we see
the significance more
clearly. Song of degrees are
songs sung as the first
fruits were carried to the
temple - as the believers
went up the steps of the
temple one by one carrying
the first fruits. This is a
prophetic Psalm. " A song of
ascents. When the LORD
brought back the captives to
Zion, we were like men who
dreamed. Our mouths were
filled with laughter, our
tongues with songs of joy.
Then it was said among the
nations, "The LORD has done
great things for them." The
LORD has done great things
for us, and we are filled
with joy. Restore our
fortunes, O LORD, like
streams in the Negev. Those
who sow in tears will reap
with songs of joy. He who
goes out weeping, carrying
seed to sow, will return
with songs of joy, carrying
sheaves with him"
In His first advent, Jesus
went forth weeping bearing
precious seed on the streets
of Jerusalem. At the Second
Coming, He will come with
rejoicing at the time of the
great harvest, bringing His
sheaves with Him. He will
then take up his seat on the
throne of Israel.
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It also speaks of the final
harvest when the elect will
be taken to his presence
Mathew 13 :37-43 describes
it: "The one who sowed the
good seed is the Son of Man.
The field is the world, and
the good seed stands for the
sons of the kingdom. ….. The
Son of Man will send out his
angels, and they will weed
out of his kingdom
everything that causes sin
and all who do evil. .. Then
the righteous will shine
like the sun in the kingdom
of their Father.
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Haman was defeated
on this day(Esther 3:1-6). A
decree was sent out on the
thirteenth of (On the day
when the Passover lamb was
to be killed) that all the
Jews would be killed (Es,
3:12). Upon hearing this
news, Esther ( who is a type
of Jesus) proclaims a
three-day fast, which would
be Nisan 14-16 (Esther
4:16). On the sixteenth of
Nisan, Esther risked her
life when she came to King
Ahasuerus thereby saved the
elect. This was on the
sixteenth day of Nisan. On
the seventeenth of Nisan
Haman was hanged.
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But now Christ has been
raised from the dead, the
first fruits of those who
are asleep.
For since by a man came
death, by a man also came
the resurrection of the
dead. For as in Adam all
die, so also in Christ all
shall be made alive.
But each in his own order:
Christ the firstfruits,
after that those who are
Christs' at His coming
(1 Corinthians 15:20-23).
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