The Feast of First Fruits begins in the first month; soon after the seven days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread/Passover. Numbers 28:16 “And in the fourteenth day of the first month is the passover of the LORD.” Verse 26: “Also in the day of the firstfruits, when ye bring a new meat offering unto the LORD, after your weeks be out, ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work:”
In this feast we presented before the Lord the blessings he gave us from the land. Leviticus 23:10 “Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest:” Verse 11: “And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.” After the feast of unleavened bread ended; the people prepare themselves to honor the most High with their crops on the morrow of the weekly Sabbath. Proverbs 3:9 “Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:” Verse 10: “So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.”
The first fruits were the best of all that the Heavenly Father blessed the children of Israel with. Numbers 18:12 “All the best of the oil, and all the best of the wine, and of the wheat, the firstfruits of them which they shall offer unto the LORD, them have I given thee.” Verse 13: “And whatsoever is first ripe in the land, which they shall bring unto the LORD, shall be thine; every one that is clean in thine house shall eat of it.” The children of Israel presented these gifts of the Lord unto the priest.
Leviticus 23:12 “And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the LORD.” On the day the bundle of wheat was brought to wave before the most High, the Levitical priest sacrificed on the altar “an he lamb without blemish”. This offering was symbolic of Christ the lamb of God. John 1:29 “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”
Considering how this feast was symbolic of Christ and those who he called into the truth, we must still honor this day in the faith of Christ. 1st Corinthians 15:22 “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” Verse 23: “But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.” The Apostle Paul is teaching us that Christ is the first fruits of all men because he resurrected, for he was the best at righteousness. Throughout the writings of the prophets the most High considered the children of Israel as his field. The same was written by the Apostle Paul when he said, 1st Corinthians 3:9 “For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry (farming), ye are God's building.” Today the most High is planting his seed in Israel. Luke 8:11 “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.”
If the seed flourish in us, by repenting and becoming ripe in righteousness, then we will become like his Son Jesus Christ (please read, Romans 8:28-30). James 1:18 “Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.” Remember the first fruits were the best of all our crops. Therefore those that believe and keep the teachings of the Bible, are born again by his mercy to become first fruits. An example of men becoming the first fruits in the gospel could be read in 1st Corinthians 16:15 “I beseech you, brethren, (ye know the house of Stephanas, that it is the firstfruits of Achaia, and that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints,)” The house of Stephanas were the first to repent in the city of Achaia and became ripe in truth enough to be addicted to the work of the Lord.
The feast of First fruits is known by many names, one of them is Pentecost. Many do not realize that the Apostles kept this feast faithfully. Please read, Acts 2:1-5, Acts 20:16, and 1st Corinthians 16:8. The word Pentecost means fiftieth day, but why? Another name is the Feast of Weeks and Feast of Harvest. Remember we read above in Numbers chapter 28 where it said “after your weeks be out”, indicating to us where the name of Feast of Weeks comes from. Exodus 34:22 “And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest,…”
Leviticus 23:15 “And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete:” Verse 16: “Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD.” The “morrow after the sabbath” that the scripture is speaking of is the first day of the week (so called Sunday).
Leviticus 23:11 “And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.” The Sabbath spoken of in this verse (11) is often confused with one of the Passover sabbaths. However, Leviticus 23:15-16 explained to us clearly that it is the regular weekly Sabbath by stating “seven sabbaths shall be complete” and “the seventh sabbath”. Hence why it is called the feast of weeks, this means that those seven sabbaths are consecutive and add up to 49 days complete. This is not possible with the Passover sabbath since it is not kept weekly. After the seventh Sabbath a day is added to make it 50 days; this is when the feast is held.
The 50th day must be observed as a holy convocation/Sabbath. Leviticus 23:21 “And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be an holy convocation unto you: ye shall do no servile work therein: it shall be a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.” To commemorate this day we refrain from any work, chores, or business. Buying and selling is forbidden, therefore we have to make sure to prepare well since it would be two consecutive sabbath days. See, Nehemiah 10:31. Although we are in captivity we celebrate this day with a great dinner with fellow believing Israelites. Tobit 2:1 “Now when I was come home again, and my wife Anna was restored unto me, with my son Tobias, in the feast of Pentecost, which is the holy feast of the seven weeks, there was a good dinner prepared me, in the which I sat down to eat.” Verse 2: “And when I saw abundance of meat, I said to my son, Go and bring what poor man soever thou shalt find out of our brethren, who is mindful of the Lord; and, lo, I tarry for thee.” The feast was called Pentecost because this Greek word explained the counting of weeks led to the amount of fifty days. We pray and hope that this edifies you in keeping the day holy as we are commanded by the most High. Shalam (Peace)!