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From: Eddie Chumney
To:      heb_roots_chr@hebroots.org
Subject: 7 Festivals Book: Feast of First Fruits


                            From the Book
                The Seven Festivals of the Messiah

                               CHAPTER 5

                    The Festival of First Fruits
                              (Bikkurim)

                                   by

                       Eddie Chumney

 
        http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/2175/chap5.html


      The fifteenth of Nisan begins Hag HaMatzah (the Feast of
Unleavened Bread), which is a high sabbath, a shabbaton. It is a seven
day feast to the L-rd. The day following the sabbath during Passover
is called the Feast of First Fruits (Leviticus [Vayikra] 23:10-11).

      The Feast of First Fruits can be found in Leviticus (Vayikra)
 23:9-14, as it is written:

      Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the sons of
Israel and say to them, 'When you enter the land which I am going to
give to you and reap its harvest, then you shall bring in the sheaf of
the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest. And he shall wave the
sheaf before the Lord for you to be accepted; on the day after the
sabbath the priest shall wave it. Now on the day when you wave the
sheaf you shall offer a male lamb one year old without defect for a
burnt offering to the Lord. Its grain offering shall then be two
tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil an offering by fire to
the Lord for a soothing aroma, with its libation, a fourth of a hin of
wine. 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. It is to be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in
all your dwelling places' " (Leviticus [Vayikra] 23:9-14 NAS).


                   Understanding the Festival Ceremony

      The observance was carried out in this manner, when the standing
ripe harvest of barley and wheat was ready to be reaped. The celebrant
would take one sheaf from the standing harvest and bring it to the
priest. The lone sheaf was called "the sheaf of the first fruits." The
priest was then to take this one sheaf and wave it before the L-rd in
His house. This was to be done "the day after the sabbath." Prescribed
offerings were also to be presented along with the sheaf.


                    The Sheaf of First Fruits in the Bible

      G-d commanded the people to bring a sheaf of the harvest
(Leviticus [Vayikra] 23:10). 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 (Shemot) 16:36. An ephah contains 10 omers of
grain. Remember, three times a year G-d commanded the people to come
to Jerusalem (Yerushalayim) to celebrate the festivals of Passover
(Pesach), Pentecost (Shavuot), and Tabernacles (Sukkot). All three of
these festivals are agricultural harvest festivals. Passover (Pesach)
is the barley harvest. Pentecost (Shavuot) is the wheat harvest. Both
of these festivals are first fruits harvests before the final harvest
that was to come at the end of the year during the festival of
Tabernacles (Sukkot), which is the fruit harvest.

      The harvest represents all who would put their faith, trust, and
confidence (emunah) in the Messiah Yeshua (Matthew [Mattityahu] 13:39;
Mark 4:26-29; Luke 10:1-12; Revelation 14:14-16). So, the sheaf is the
first of the first fruits. Since a sheaf in the Bible is used to
typify a person or persons (Genesis [Bereishit] 37:5-11), a sheaf
spiritually represents people who accept the Messiah into their
hearts.

      The nation of Israel was familiar with the concept of first
fruits or the firstborn. The first fruits were always the choicest,
the foremost, the first, the best, the preeminent of all that was to
follow. They were holy to the L-rd. The concept of first fruits or
firstborn is a major theme in the Bible. This can be seen by the
following Scriptures: Exodus (Shemot) 23:16,19: 34:26; Leviticus
(Vayikra) 2:12,14; 23:20; Numbers (Bamidbar) 18:12-15,26; Deuteronomy
(Devarim) 18:1-5; 26:2-4,10; 2 Chronicles 31:5; Nehemiah 10:35-39;
Proverbs (Mishlai) 3:9; Jeremiah (Yermiyahu) 2:3; Ezekiel (Yechezekel)
44:30; 48:14; Malachi 3:8-14; Hebrews 6:20; 7:1-8.

      Everything on the earth, both man and beast, was to be presented
before the L-rd as first fruits to Him.

   1.The firstborn of both man and beast were sanctified (made holy)
      and presented to the L-rd (Exodus [Shemot] 13:2; 22:29).

   2.The first fruits of all the earth were presented to the L-rd at
       His altar in praise and  thanksgiving (Deuteronomy [Devarim]
       26:1-11).


          The Seventeenth of Nisan -- Resurrection and Salvation

      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.

   1.Noah's (Noach) ark rests on Mount Ararat (Genesis 8:4).

   2.Israel crosses the Red Sea (Exodus [Shemot] 3:18; 5:3; 14).

   3.Israel eats the first fruits of the Promised Land (Joshua
      5:10-12). The manna that G-d gave from Heaven during the days in
      the wilderness ceased the sixteenth day of Nisan after the
      people ate of the old 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.

   4.Haman is defeated (Esther 3:1-6). In the Book of Esther, Haman
      plotted to kill all the Jews in Persia and Media. Haman had ten
      sons (Esther 9:12). By this, we can see that Haman is a type of
      the false Messiah
     (antichrist). A decree was sent out on the thirteenth of Nisan
      that all the Jews would be killed (Esther 3:12). Upon hearing
      this news, Esther 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. The king asked
      her, in effect, "Tell me, what do you want?" Esther said, "If it
      please the king, may the king and Haman come this day to the
      banquet that I have prepared for him" (Esther 5:4 NAS). This was
      the sixteenth day of Nisan. At the banquet, the king again asked
      Esther what she wanted, and she asked the king to come to
      another banquet to be held the next day, the seventeenth of
      Nisan. On this day, Haman (a type of the false Messiah or
      antichrist, as well as of satan [Ha satan]) is hanged.

   5.The resurrection of Yeshua, the Messiah (John 12:24; 1
      Corinthians 15:16-20).  Yeshua celebrated the festival of First
      Fruits by offering Himself as the first fruits to all future
      generations (Matthew [Mattityahu] 27:52-53).


              Yeshua Is the First Fruits of the Barley Harvest


   1.Yeshua is the firstborn of Miryam (Mary) (Matthew 1:23-25).

   2.Yeshua is the first-begotten of G-d the Father (Hebrews 1:6).

   3.Yeshua is the firstborn of every creature (Colossians 1:15).

   4.Yeshua is the first-begotten from the dead (Revelation 1:5).

   5.Yeshua is the firstborn of many brethren (Romans 8:29).

   6.Yeshua is the first fruits of the resurrected ones (1 Corinthians
   15:20,23).

   7.Yeshua is the beginning of the creation of G-d (Revelation 3:14).

   8.Yeshua is the preeminent One (Colossians 1:18).


      Yeshua is indeed the Most Holy One of G-d and is sanctified by
the Father. Yeshua is the first, the choicest, the preeminent One. He
is both the firstborn of G-d and the first fruits unto G-d. Yeshua is
the sheaf of the first fruits.


                          First Fruits Is Prophetic
                 of the Resurrection of the Messiah

      The festival of the sheaf of the first fruits is prophetic of
the resurrection of Yeshua. Yeshua prophesied that He would rise three
days and nights after He was slain on the tree (Matthew [Mattityahu
12:38-40; 16:21; Luke 24:44-46). This was foreshadowed to happen in
the Tanach (Old Testament) by type and shadow (Genesis [Bereishit]
22:1-6; Exodus [Shemot] 3:18; 5:3; 8:27; Esther 4:15-17; Jonah 1:7;
2:1-2).

       Since Yeshua was slain on the tree on the day of Passover
(Pesach), the fourteenth of Nisan,
and He arose from the grave three days and nights after He was slain,
Yeshua arose from the grave on the seventeenth of Nisan, the day of
the festival of First Fruits. This day would be the day after the
weekly sabbath during the week of Passover (Mark 16:1-6). In fact,
Yeshua is called the first fruits of those who rise from the dead.

      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 NAS).

      It was prophesied that Yeshua, the Messiah, would be buried in
 the tomb of the rich (Isaiah
[Yeshayahu] 53:9; Matthew [Mattityahu] 27:57; Luke 23:51). Why was
Yeshua placed in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea? Arimathea was
another name for Ramah, where Samuel dwelt. It is five miles north of
Jerusalem (Yerushalayim). In fact, this place is still called Ramah
today. In ancient times, it was customary for Jews to be buried in
Jerusalem (Yerushalayim). In fact, this practice is still done today
because it is a traditional belief in Judaism that the resurrection of
the dead will take place in Jerusalem (Yerushalayim) first.

      In the Book of Genesis (Bereishit), Joseph (Yosef) the son of
Jacob (Ya'akov), made the children of Israel take a vow that when they
went to the Promised Land, they would carry his bones with them
(Genesis [Bereishit] 50:24-26). Ramah was a term that represented
idolatry. Two countries were called the seat of idolatry in the
ancient world: Babylon and Egypt. Joseph (Yosef), the son of Jacob
(Ya'akov), was also known as Joseph of Ramah. Moses (Moshe) took the
bones of Joseph (Yosef) with him when he and the children of Israel
journeyed to Succoth (Exodus [Shemot] 13:19-20). Therefore, Joseph's
(Yosef) tomb in Egypt was empty. The empty tomb of Joseph (Yosef) of
Arimathea (Ramah), which stood for wickedness, was a fulfillment of
Isaiah (Yeshayahu) 53:9.

      Joseph (Yosef) was a type of the role of Yeshua during His first
coming when He came to fulfill the role of the suffering Messiah known
as Messiah ben Joseph. The bones of Joseph (Yosef) were carried to
Succoth. Succoth is a type of the Messianic age also known as the
Millennium. This is also a picture of Yeshua being both Messiah ben
Joseph and Messiah ben David -- as Yeshua who suffered during His
first coming to earth will be King during His second coming to earth.


                The Spiritual Understanding of First Fruits

      Spiritual Application (Halacha). A sheaf in the Bible is used to
typify a person or persons (Genesis [Bereishit] 37:5-11). Yeshua will
return to earth (Zechariah 14:4) during His second coming as King over
all the earth. He also will bring the sheaves (the believers in Yeshua
as the Messiah) with Him (Psalm (Tehillim) 126; Jeremiah (Yermiyahu)
31:9-14; Joel 3:11-13; Zechariah 14:3-5; Matthew [Mattityahu]
13:37-39; Mark 4:26-29; Hebrews 12:1; Jude 14; Revelation 1:7).

      The 144,000 witnesses who witness of Yeshua during the
Chevlai shel Mashiach, the birthpangs of the Messiah (also known as
the tribulation) are first fruits to G-d during the tribulation
(Revelation 14:1-4).

      Let's look at some Scriptures in the Bible concerning first
      fruits.

   1.The natural is before the spiritual (1 Corinthians 15:46).

   2.Israel was G-d's firstborn (Exodus [Shemot] 4:22). But, the first
     will be last and the last
     will be first (Mark 10:31). Therefore, the Gentiles (the goyim)
     became the first to receive the Messiah (as a corporate people;
     there are many non-Jews who do not) (Isaiah [Yeshayahu] 60:1-3;
     62:1-3; Acts 15:14-16). At the end of this present age, the Jews
     as a corporate people will accept Yeshua as Messiah as well.

   3.The gospel (basar) was preached to the Jew first and then to the
       non-Jews (Romans
       1:16; 2:9-10; Matthew [Mattityahu] 10:5-6; 15:21-28; Acts 1:8).

   4.We are called to seek first the Kingdom of G-d (Matthew
       [Mattityahu] 6:33).

   5.Yeshua was alive the first day of the week (Mark 16:1-6).

   6.Yeshua was the first to rise from the dead (Acts 26:23).

   7.The early believers were a kind of first fruits (James [Ya'akov]
   1:17-18).

   8. Those who arose from the dead with Yeshua during His resurrection
   became the  first fruits of all those who would rise from the dead
   (Matthew [Mattityahu] 27:52-53; Ephesians 4:8; 1 Thessalonians
    4:13-18).

   9. Yeshua first loved us, and He is to be our first love (1 John
      [Yochanan] 4:9;  Revelation 2:4).

  10.Yeshua is the first (Aleph) and the last (Tav) (Revelation
        1:8,11,17; 22:13; Isaiah [Yeshayahu] 41:4; 44:6; 48:12).

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