BARLEY HARVEST-----FIRST FRUITS
Why did God the Father choose a grain like barley to represent His Son? To answer a question like this we need to look at God's word, knowing parables and stories are there for our learning. We are taught to glean the spiritual from the physical meaning - comparing one with the other. God created and choose barley to represent His Son for the first fruit wave sheaf offering. Why? For the answer, we will do a study of barley.
The first thing we need to know is that barley is the first grain crop to ripen every year. It begins as a seed then grows to be like grass then the grass-turns to mature leaves and then fruits of barley grain develop at its head. It fits right in with God's health plan, just like it fits in with representing Christ.
Being the creator, God knew what many seem to have forgotten or ignored: He designed all creatures with a self-renewing systems that works perfectly when supplied with nutrition according to His plan.
His plan was for us to eat a varied selection of grains, nuts, seeds, fruits and vegetables. Within each of these categories, God has purposefully provided a wide variety of nutrients. In vegetables for example, the part we eat may be the leaf, stem, flower, fruit, seed, tuber, bulb, even the root.
God's clean supply of food is amazingly and wonderfully made! Just as we have been made for whom the food was created! We tend to think of food as primarily fuel, like gasoline is to a car. But a closer look reveals, God designed food for three purposes, besides supplying energy for action. Food becomes part of our bodies and it is used to build tissue; It is also intended to maintain the human body by regulating a myriad of processes in the cells, -- tissues, and organs throughout our life.
Thus, our cells are actually built up or torn down by the food we eat, digest, and assimilate. In fact, the very processes of life are regulated by the organic chemicals found in food. Fresh food and pure water are, of course, the best sources of barley harvest people. When God created us from the dust of the earth, He provided for that renewal process by giving us food from the earth that contained all the nutrients needed for renewal. Being a perfect God, He designed barley perfectly to accomplish these purposes. He knew that our bodies would maintain it self in an ongoing state of health, if we obeyed His instructions about what to put and what not to put into them. We will see that His instructions include a strong emphasis on barley as part of His health plan.
Modern food-marketing has resulted in our eating less and less of healthy foods from the earth which is required for the God-given process of growth, maintenance and renewal. Too often we ignore the foods we're instructed to feed on. God's user's manual tells us what is clean food and what is unclean foods.
In Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14: there it lays out for us what is safe to eat and what is not safe to eat. If we insist on loading our systems with substances they were never designed to handle -- be it food or sin, the Bible shows us by not following God's plan there will always be a price to pay. "For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord: They would have none of My counsel: they despised all My reproof. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices" (Proverbs 1:29- 31),
How then shall we recover from the nutritional crisis we have brought about by neglecting God's advice on what to eat? For sound nutritional counsel and Godly wisdom, let's turn to the Lord who made heaven and earth. The one who designed our bodies and understands our metabolisms!
Lets now glean some practical truths about barley from an article written by Dr R. Swope. After reading his article on barley, it proved, God's providence is clearly seen in the facts. These facts on barley - we will now share from his article. "Barley seed is sown in November and normally harvested in March or April, depending on the elevation and fertilizers the farmer used. It is the first grain to ripen in the spring; wheat is next which takes 4 - 6 weeks longer to mature.
Studies have found barley ripens without the aid of all the 'latter rains.'
With barley having vibrant growth it offered the ancient people, a new sign - of new life in the spring. For them it was a sign of hope. And a revelation of God's faithfulness; His immutable ways were displayed in each year's new harvests.
History tells us barley grew wild for hundreds of years and has always been very plentiful; and it remained a plentiful harvest after it became a cultivated crop. It was cheap to buy; so everyone could afford it. It was found to be a hardy grain; It could thrives in high altitudes as-well as in colder Northern climatic conditions. It is a healthy grain and resists disease. It is not attacked by bugs, molds, fungi, or worms, which all abound later in warmer wheat like climates. It is thought to be the first cereal cultivated by man. These barley corn grains found in Egypt have been tagged as about 5,000 years old.
Barley regrettably, in America is 65 percent used in animal feed, with another large proportion going into brewing beer and ale. Barley grows very well in alkaline soil, so it comes as no surprise that the green leaves of barley tested, in the laboratory, are one of the most alkaline of all natural foods. Spinach is its next rival in alkalinity but it is only about 40 percent. The alkaline in the barley green, is well known in medical circles, there is only a few diseases can survive the high alkaline ph. Recently a laboratory made the statement that the ph of the average American is 5.4 instead of the ideal 7.35--7.45. Why was that? They said our systemic acid condition may be attributed to our high intake of meat (beef, veal, chicken, turkey, etc.), along with high sugar and soft-drink consumption.
They also said ---excessive consumption of preserved foods puts us outside of God's design for our bodies optimal functioning. Its no secret many Americans are plagued, with unhealthy bodies!"
When reading this report it said barley has a great and wonderful perfection of health benefits such as enzymes, protein, vitamins and minerals. Barley having this perfection: makes barley a perfect sacrifice! A perfect wave sheaf offering! And a perfect representation for Christ's bride to be!
We should begin to see the spiritual side of barley even though barley functions as food yet within the context of God's overall design, from the beginning of Israel's history as a nation and right down to the present.
Barley is the sheaf used as the offering of the first-fruits during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The basic requirements of an offering is that it's to be 'perfect, without spot or stain. Barley, due to its early development, is almost completely free of the pest's and infestations that other crops are plagued with. Thus, making it naturally perfect!
1 Cor.15: and verse 20, links barley the first-fruits, with our Saviour, Jesus the Christ. "But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-Fruits of them that slept." James 1: verse 18, address this by saying, "Of His own will begat He us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first-fruits of His creatures."
As first fruits, we should understand "there are three major harvested offering feasts of the Lord. There are some general facts about all three of these feasts: one- they are God's idea - not man's; and God expects obedience from every participant, to accomplish His purpose in their lives. The times and seasons for these feasts are very specific and unvarying, as are the directions for the specific celebrations and sacrifices in each feast.
We know them as God's annual Holy Days, and a time to remember our renewed commitment to remove sin from our life, renouncing sin, idolatry, and immorality.
A free will offering is also a part of these three feast of first fruits. Its during the Days of Unleavened Bread that first-fruits of the early barley harvest were offered. At Pentecost: the first-fruits of wheat were offered in the late spring- 50 days later than wave sheaf offering during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. These first two spring first fruits feast are followed in the fall by the Feast of Tabernacles: this fall offering of first-fruits were of the orchards and vineyard.
What the Lord is looking for in all these three feasts and offerings was a people that would acknowledge that He was their Lord and their God, and that they were willing to obey Him, even to the smallest detail. He still desires that in us today!
The link between the physical and spiritual was a primary focus of each feast. When we walk in obedience to God's design for our sustenance and restoration, He perfects us as we obey Him.
Now that we have had an overview of God's annual harvested Feasts of Israel, lets notice another point for reflective consideration: knowing we are God's first-fruits people. We are told -both by Paul and James, "we will reap what we sow."
Notice first what Paul warns us of in Galatians 6:7,8, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap. For he that sows to his flesh [sows to sin] shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that sows to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting." Now link Paul's writings to James 1:14-18, "But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, brings forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Of His own will begat He us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first-fruits of His creatures."
If we sow seeds of disobedience to God's law in the realm of nutrition and health, we're not likely to make a very perfect or lively sacrifice. We won't even be in fighting condition when the enemy tries to steal our crown. The lusts of the body will cause us to reap a harvest of destruction, as scripture warns us.
If, on the other hand, we are willing to sow good seed to our bodies, and mind, taking in what is not only physically but spiritually good for us, we will reap a double blessing. Our bodies will be perfected as a suitable temple for our living God, and we will be in excellent condition should attack come from our enemies. And like barley, we will be available and nourishing to those around us. Remember, we are destine to be God's special 'barley bride!' We have now been shown perfection is designed into the structure of barley. We have learned that God's way of protecting us is to perfect us.
Scientists today consider barley to be the perfect balance for human nutrition. Because of its early development and hardiness, barley when growing requires no artificial fertilizers, herbicides, or pesticides. Barley grows in alkaline soil, so the concentrate of its leaves tests out as one of the most alkaline of foods. It is found when looking into these aspects of perfection built into barley God's nature is written, not just into His word, but into His very creation.
Now let's look at what the Bible has to tell us about the offering of first-fruits, since we are to be a first-fruits bride of Christ. The giving of the first-fruits is in obedience to a direct command from God: "The first of the first-fruits of your land you shalt bring Into the house of the Lord your God" (Exodus 23:19). Exo 22: 29, tells us there is an urgency to bringing our first-fruits to God. "You shalt not delay to offer the first of your ripe fruits, and of your overflow." God expects the offering to be the best you have to give:
For our final course, let us pursue the link between the natural and spiritual. The fulfilment of Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread is in Jesus Christ, - the Passover lamb, who brings heaven and earth together. It is Jesus who, through His sacrificial death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven, completed the cycle of atonement. And it is that atoning work that enables God's called to come to His set apart feast, bringing ourselves as an offering of the harvested barley.
Christ was the first fruit sheaf taken from the first fruit barley harvested. This is ultimately the only kind of offering God the Father was interested in at the time. The significance of the wave sheaf offering of barley first-fruits was that as the sheaf, Christ was accepted before God for Israel--The true believers of all ages, and Israel -The true church of God, was accepted of God in that sheaf, so Christ was accepted before God and we are accepted of God in Christ.'
Paul wrote to the Corinthians: "But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-Fruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the first-fruits; afterward they that are Christ's at His coming. Then cometh the end, when He shall have delivered up the Kingdom to God, even the Father; when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power" (1 Cor 15:20-24).
Again and again in the New Testament we see how the Lord Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of all the truth symbolized in the barley first-fruits, and more specifically as the sheaf that was offered on behalf of all.
What have we learned today? We learned God designed barley perfectly to accomplish His purposes. Jesus Christ is the 'first-begotten' of the Father' (Hebrews 1:6). He is the 'first-begotten of the dead (Revelation 1:5; Colossians 1:15,18). He is the 'firstborn among many brethren' (Romans 8:29). He was the first of the first-fruits' to be resurrected (1 Corinthians 15:23).
We have learned that God's way of protecting us is to perfect us. We learned - Jesus Christ was the perfect wave sheaf sacrifice. He is indeed the first, the choicest, and the leading most Holy One, sanctified by the Father. He is the sheaf of the first-fruits, which the first fruit barley harvest represented in the festival of unleavened bread.
James Russell
Rosemary is Good for Your Brain
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The herb rosemary contains an ingredient that fights off damage to the brain. The active ingredient in rosemary can protect the brain from stroke and neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's, and also from normal aging, a collaborative group of researchers at Burnham Institute of Medical Research say. The ingredient carnosic acid, protects the brain cells from free radicals. The finding were originally reported in the Journal of Neurochemistry and Nature Reviews Reuroscience.
Rosemary comes from a shrubby evergreen bush with needlelike leaves. It has trusses of flowers that can be white, pink, purple or blue.
Rosemary derives its name from the Latin rosemarinus, which translates as "dew of the sea."
Rosemary has a long history as a memory aid. It was also used in the past at weddings to symbolize love and loyalty.
By "News from Your Pension Trustee"
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