Lev 23:9 | KingComments | STEP | Here begins a new feast. The sheaf of the first fruits – literally: the sheaf of the beginning – must be brought “the day after the sabbath”, that is, on the first day of the new week. The Lord Jesus celebrated the Passover on Friday and died on Friday. The next day, the sabbath, is the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread and then He lies in the grave. On the first day of the week He rose from the dead and that is the day the sheaf of the first fruits is brought to the priest. The sheaf of the first fruits speaks of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus from the dead. He is the first fruits of those who are asleep ( ), the beginning of a new harvest for God. From a spiritual point of view, the connection with the previous feast is important. In His resurrection the Lord Jesus, after having perfectly glorified God in the realm of sin through His death, has left behind everything that controls that realm. Death, sin, the power of satan, judgment, have no connection with Him at all anymore. The awareness that I am connected with such a One, Someone Who has risen from the dead, gives me the strength to lead an ‘unleavened life’. In John 19 it says: “For that Sabbath was a high day” ( ). That sabbath is high for three reasons: 1. it has always been the most important day of the week; 2. it is the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the feast that follows directly on the Passover; 3. it is the sabbath that precedes the feast of the sheaf of the first fruits. God has made sure that the Lord Jesus died on the day the Passover is celebrated and that He rose up on the day the sheaf of the first fruits is brought to the priest. Thus, the first three feasts, and also the Feast of Weeks, the Pentecost, that follows fifty days later, are fulfilled exactly in the year that the Lord Jesus dies. The feast of the sheaf of the first fruits can only take place in the land. The sheaf of the first fruits must be brought to the priest. He waves it before the LORD, and that makes him who brings the sheaf acceptable. Through the resurrection of the Lord Jesus we are pleasing to God. As priests, we can tell the Father about the risen Lord. What other impact could that have than to add a burnt offering and a grain offering? The resurrection of the Lord Jesus is inseparable from His perfect life and death in which He glorified God. It is not possible to think of Him without thinking of the cross. The drink offering of wine is not lacking. It represents the joy that this offering gives to God. The prohibition “until this same day, until you have brought in the offering of your God, you shall eat neither bread nor roasted grain nor new growth” ( ) is the prohibition to eat anything from the new harvest before anything has been brought to “your God”. We can learn from this that we must always begin with God, every day, every meal, every intention, every work (cf. ). It is important to honor Him “from the first of all your proceeds” ( ). As for the spiritual consumption of the food of the land, this precept suggests that it can only be consumed if we connect it with the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. This has made it possible for us to enjoy all the blessings that the land, the heavenly places, has for us.

‏ Leviticus 23:9

The Sheaf of the First Fruits

Here begins a new feast. The sheaf of the first fruits – literally: the sheaf of the beginning – must be brought “the day after the sabbath”, that is, on the first day of the new week. The Lord Jesus celebrated the Passover on Friday and died on Friday. The next day, the sabbath, is the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread and then He lies in the grave. On the first day of the week He rose from the dead and that is the day the sheaf of the first fruits is brought to the priest. The sheaf of the first fruits speaks of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus from the dead. He is the first fruits of those who are asleep (1Cor 15:20 ; 23), the beginning of a new harvest for God.

From a spiritual point of view, the connection with the previous feast is important. In His resurrection the Lord Jesus, after having perfectly glorified God in the realm of sin through His death, has left behind everything that controls that realm. Death, sin, the power of satan, judgment, have no connection with Him at all anymore. The awareness that I am connected with such a One, Someone Who has risen from the dead, gives me the strength to lead an ‘unleavened life’.

In John 19 it says: “For that Sabbath was a high day” (Jn 19:31). That sabbath is high for three reasons:

1. it has always been the most important day of the week;

2. it is the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the feast that follows directly on the Passover;

3. it is the sabbath that precedes the feast of the sheaf of the first fruits.

God has made sure that the Lord Jesus died on the day the Passover is celebrated and that He rose up on the day the sheaf of the first fruits is brought to the priest. Thus, the first three feasts, and also the Feast of Weeks, the Pentecost, that follows fifty days later, are fulfilled exactly in the year that the Lord Jesus dies.

The feast of the sheaf of the first fruits can only take place in the land. The sheaf of the first fruits must be brought to the priest. He waves it before the LORD, and that makes him who brings the sheaf acceptable. Through the resurrection of the Lord Jesus we are pleasing to God. As priests, we can tell the Father about the risen Lord.

What other impact could that have than to add a burnt offering and a grain offering? The resurrection of the Lord Jesus is inseparable from His perfect life and death in which He glorified God. It is not possible to think of Him without thinking of the cross. The drink offering of wine is not lacking. It represents the joy that this offering gives to God.

The prohibition “until this same day, until you have brought in the offering of your God, you shall eat neither bread nor roasted grain nor new growth” (Lev 23:14) is the prohibition to eat anything from the new harvest before anything has been brought to “your God”. We can learn from this that we must always begin with God, every day, every meal, every intention, every work (cf. Mt 6:33). It is important to honor Him “from the first of all your proceeds” (Pro 3:9).

As for the spiritual consumption of the food of the land, this precept suggests that it can only be consumed if we connect it with the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. This has made it possible for us to enjoy all the blessings that the land, the heavenly places, has for us.