God's Appointed Times - First Fruits And Festival Of Weeks

The third and fourth annual events on God's calendar.

Leviticus 23:9-10 Then the LORD said to Moses, 10 "Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. When you enter the land I am giving you and you harvest its first crops, bring the priest a bundle of grain from the first cutting of your grain harvest.

Leviticus 23:15-16 "From the day after the Sabbath-the day you bring the bundle of grain to be lifted up as a special offering-count off seven full weeks. 16 Keep counting until the day after the seventh Sabbath, fifty days later. Then present an offering of new grain to the LORD.

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In the previous post, we discussed how God has a calendar, and by examining the events on it, we can learn a lot about Him. God wanted His people to use His calendar to know Him, remember Him, and reflect on all He has done for His chosen people.

We started with the weekly event God gave us, the Sabbath day, the day God stopped creating. Then, we looked at the first two annual events on God's calendar: Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. 

All of these events should have helped God's people stay focused on Him, but the Old Testament believers, much like us, quickly lost their focus and did not remember His goodness to them. (Judges 2:10, 8:34, Nehemiah 9:17)

God's Spring Calendar Continues With:

First Fruits - Reishit

(Exodus 23:19)

Deuteronomy 26:8-10 So the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand and powerful arm, with overwhelming terror, and with miraculous signs and wonders. 9 He brought us to this place and gave us this land flowing with milk and honey! 10 And now, O LORD, I have brought you the first portion of the harvest you have given me from the ground.' Then place the produce before the LORD your God, and bow to the ground in worship before him.

Preparations for the First Fruit celebration began on Passover day. The first barley harvest was carefully selected, bundled, and left in the field overnight. The priest meticulously chose the best barley, just as he did with the Passover lamb. 

These barley sheaves would be prepared for the priest to present as the first of the spring harvest. This offering would be waved before God, acknowledging that the land's abundance was a gracious blessing from Him.

Festival of Weeks  – Shavuot

(Exodus 34:22; Numbers 28:26)

Leviticus 23:15-17 "From the day after the Sabbath-the day you bring the bundle of grain to be lifted up as a special offering-count off seven full weeks. 16 Keep counting until the day after the seventh Sabbath, fifty days later. Then present an offering of new grain to the LORD. 17 From wherever you live, bring two loaves of bread to be lifted up before the LORD as a special offering. Make these loaves from four quarts of choice flour, and bake them with yeast. They will be an offering to the LORD from the first of your crops.

Pentecost, also known as the Feast of Weeks, is the next significant harvest celebration that occurs at the end of the fall harvest season. The word "Pentecost" is derived from the Greek word for "fifty," as it is celebrated 50 days after the observance of Passover. 

This festival is marked by the offering of the first fruits of the wheat harvest, which are prepared into two loaves of bread and waved before God. Interestingly, the rules for this bread is different than the bread of Passover, they were commanded to use yeast for this bread. Yeast representing sin in a believers life wasn't a concept until Paul wrote about it in his letter to the church at Corinth.

Pentecost was not only an agricultural celebration but also a time to remember the giving of the law and the commitment of God's people to live by His rules. It's important to note that the laws of God were originally intended to be celebrated, before religious leaders started adding more and more man made rules. (Psalm 19:7-14, Philippians 3:8)

The Ultimate First Fruit

1 Corinthians 15:20,23 But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died. 23 But there is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised as the first of the harvest; then all who belong to Christ will be raised when he comes back.

Revelation 1:5 He is the faithful witness to these things, the first to rise from the dead, and the ruler of all the kings of the world. All glory to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by shedding his blood for us.

Since we don't grow our own food, these holidays don't mean much to us, we don't think much about the blessing of having extra food. But as always there is more to this holiday than just food.

Just as Jesus fulfilled Passover and Unleavened Bread, he also fulfills the First Fruit and Pentecost festivals we celebrate. The first fruit was planted in the ground to be raised up on Easter Sunday.

Jesus rose from the grave and stayed remained on the earth for 40 days to give his people plenty of proof that he is the first fruit and to give his people instructions about their next steps.

Pentecost is the birthday of the church

Acts 2:1-4 On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place. 2 Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. 3 Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. 4 And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.

God changed the significance of Pentecost dramatically. The festival would no longer be seen as an agricultural holiday, and the word "Pentecost" would take on a new meaning. Most importantly, God's relationship with his people would never be the same.

The Old Testament prophets had foretold that God would have a new place to live, no longer in physical places and things, but in his people. When the Holy Spirit filled the lives of believers, it was a spectacular event, just as when God had appeared in the burning bush, on Mount Sinai, or in the Tabernacle and Temple.

It's no surprise that people came running to see what was happening as this drama was confusing to most of the people that were there. A week after giving his disciples the task of being the church, Jesus gave them the power they needed to accomplish it by entering his new dwelling places on earth.

This was the promise of the new covenant, where God could now live with his people in a way even better than in the Garden of Eden. (Genesis 3:8-10, Jeremiah 31:31-33, Ephesians 1:13)

God's plan to save us from ourselves is revealed by the events on his calendar:

• Have your sins been forgiven by the ultimate Passover lamb that willingly became the sacrifice for your rebellion?
• Have you begun to walk in obedience to his teaching to begin the process of getting rid of sin in your life as you follow the true bread of life?
• Have you experienced Emmanuel, God with us, personally in your life as you walk with him through his power that dwells within you?

If you can answer yes to these questions then you are ready for the next event on God's calendar. God told us all of this so that his chosen ones would be prepared for the Feast of Trumpets! (Matthew 24:31, Revelation 8:1-11:19)

RELATED ARTICLES

The Spring Feasts & Why They Point to What’s Ahead (icejusa.org)

What Is Pentecost? (bibleproject.com)

God's Covenant Through Moses (desiringgod.org)

God's Appointed Times - Passover And Unleavened Bread

The first and second annual events on God's calendar.

Leviticus 23:1-4 The LORD said to Moses, 2 "Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. These are the LORD's appointed festivals, which you are to proclaim as official days for holy assembly.

3 "You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of complete rest, an official day for holy assembly. It is the LORD's Sabbath day, and it must be observed wherever you live.

4 "In addition to the Sabbath, these are the LORD's appointed festivals, the official days for holy assembly that are to be celebrated at their proper times each year.

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One of the best ways to know what is important to someone is to check out his calendar. In the previous post we saw the first of God's appointed times, the weekly Sabbath day, the only one of God's appointed times that the Bible tells us that he actually did. 

Today we will start the annual events that God has appointed for his people to observe. Some of these are related to past events that need to be remembered but there are also future events that we need to be prepared for. When we look at God's calendar we can learn from what he has done in the past and what his plans are for the future. 

God wants us to learn from our experiences so that we will be sure of who he is and how much he cares for us. Observing these annual events was also a great tool to help them pass down their knowledge of God to the next generation.

For one week each spring the Feast of Unleavened Bread was celebrated beginning on the Sabbath with the Passover meal on the first day and the Feast of First Fruits on the third day of this important week.

God's Spring Calendar Begins With:

Passover – Redeemed From Egypt

Leviticus 23:4-5, Exodus 12:1-4

Exodus 12:13  But the blood on your doorposts will serve as a sign, marking the houses where you are staying. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. This plague of death will not touch you when I strike the land of Egypt.

Passover shows us the first thing we all need to know about God is that we need a Savior to forgive us and save us from our bondage to sin. This was the final plague in Egypt and it was the only one that required God's people to do something, a perfect lamb had to be sacrificed and his blood applied to the doorpost of their homes so that the death angel would pass over.

This annual observance helped God's people remember that their sons were saved by the blood of the lamb while the sons of Egypt died. It is ironic that the first Passover happened in Egypt where Pharaoh thought that he was in control when he killed the sons of Israel but years later God made it clear that he is in charge when he turned things around and took the first born sons of Egypt.

After the Passover lamb was sacrificed and the blood applied to the doorpost the lamb was prepared for the people to eat, it would be the last hearty meal that they would have for a very long time. They would eat this meal fully dressed and ready to go first thing in the morning as soon as the Egyptians found their dead sons.

John 1:29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

The annual Passover sacrifices for sin reminded God's people of their need for the true Passover lamb so imagine their thoughts and their reaction when somebody suddenly announces that the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world is here. They turn around and look and it isn't a lamb.

At this point in history God's people had been abused and oppressed, by their government and the governments of the nations that had invaded them, even their religious leaders were abusing them, so much so that they lost their focus on their greatest need. They were still doing Passover every year but Satan was using their physical needs to distract them from their spiritual need.

Feast of Unleavened Bread – Food For The Journey

Leviticus 23:6-8, Exodus 12:15-20

Exodus 12:18  The bread you eat must be made without yeast from the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month until the evening of the twenty-first day of that month.

Passover day was just the beginning of a weeklong ceremony, the rest of that week would commemorate their hasty exit from Egypt and the food that God told them to take with them. When they exited Egypt they ate unleavened bread for a month until their supply of dough ran out. (Exodus 16:1-2)

The annual ceremony would help the people remember that God provided for their physical needs when he took them out of Egypt. God knew his people would forget the miraculous signs that his people experienced, they would have to be reminded of God's love and protection for them. (Exodus 16:1-15, Deuteronomy 8:14-17)

I have to wonder why God wanted them to leave Egypt in a hurry and why he waited to tell them so they couldn't be better prepared to leave? Why were they not allowed to prepare their dough ahead of time? 

Maybe God didn't want them to stock up on supplies and take credit for sustaining themselves? Or maybe he wanted them to take unleavened dough because it wouldn't spoil so soon?

Today we think of the symbolism of unleavened bread from a New Testament perspective but to the people that were leaving Egypt, they didn't have this point of view. It was probably a practical matter for them, dough without yeast would stay fresh longer. 

From our perspective it is a wonderful illustration but The Old Testament doesn't make the connection between the effects of leaven in dough and associate it with the effect of sin in our life. Also, there are times in the Old Testament when yeast is supposed to be in their bread recipe. (Yeast is allowed in Leviticus 23:17, leaven represents the effects of sin in our life: 1 Corinthians 5:6-8, Matthew 16:5-12, Mark 8:15, Galatians 5:9)

John 6:26 Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs." 27 But don't be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you. For God the Father has given me the seal of his approval."

When the true Bread of Life came to be God with us, the miraculous signs were still being ignored or misunderstood by the hungry crowds. Jesus allowed an impossible situation to occur so that the people would learn about him but the people that Jesus fed from a young boys lunch didn't figure it out. 

The customary blessing over the bread in the Passover meal was “Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.” The Bread of Life probably said this same blessing in the upper room at the Last Supper. (Matthew 26:26)

The physically hungry people that followed Jesus around in the remote areas of Galilee were very much like the physically hungry crowd that left Egypt. We all have a tendency to want a Jesus that makes our life easier and meets our physical needs but Jesus wanted to change their perspective.

John 6:32-33 Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, Moses didn't give you bread from heaven. My Father did. And now he offers you the true bread from heaven. 33 The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."

John 6:47-50 "I tell you the truth, anyone who believes has eternal life. 48 Yes, I am the bread of life! 49 Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, but they all died. 50 Anyone who eats the bread from heaven, however, will never die.

When Jesus arrives in Jerusalem for the event that we call the triumphant entry, it is three days before Passover, the lambs that will be slaughtered are being set aside and inspected. For the next three days the Lamb of God will be tested and found to be lacking by the religious leaders.

Do you know the true bread that came down from Heaven? The only source of everlasting life? Jesus is the only one that could be a substitute for the punishment that each of us deserve. 

Jesus became the pierced and stripped matzah for us. Jesus took the abuse and the death penalty that was intended for me, despised, rejected, crushed and whipped. Jesus sinless obedience made him the only Passover lamb that could intercede for us rebels so that we can have eternal life in Heaven. (Isaiah 53:1-12)

The symbolism of God's calendar should be a clear revelation or a reminder of what God has done to provide for us. The first two festivals show us that we need a Passover lamb to redeem us from our sins and we need the sinless true bread from Heaven to sanctify us as our knowledge of him and our application of his word in our lives helps us grow in godliness.

RELATED ARTICLES

What are the Lord’s appointed times? (gotquestions.org)

Koshering Your Kitchen (chabad.org)

What Jesus Meant When He Said, “You Must Eat My Flesh” (desiringgod.org)

Feasts of the Lord (firmisrael.org)