SHARING GOD’S WORD!
Leviticus 23: 4 - 6, “These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations,
which ye shall
proclaim in their seasons. In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD's
Passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of Unleavened Bread unto the
LORD: seven days ye must eat Unleavened Bread.
“Three times you shall keep a feast to Me in the year: You shall keep the Feast of
Unleavened Bread
..... and the Feast of Harvest, the first-fruits of your labours which you have sown in the field;
and
the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you have gathered in the fruit of your
labours
from the field” (Exodus 23:14-16).
Three times a year the people of Israel were required by God to come to Jerusalem for a holy
convocation. Feast of Unleavened Bread, Feast of Pentecost and Feast of Tabernacles theses are
the
three great pilgrimage Feasts which the Israelites were instructed to celebrate. All three
biblical
Feasts were celebrations of thanksgiving for the different seasons of “Harvest” in God’s Devine
Calendar. These three Festivals teach us important lessons about God’s Harvests.
The Feast of Unleavened Bread was the first of the three great harvest festivals, and it was also
called the Feast of the first-fruit. “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them:
'When you come
into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the
first-fruits
of your harvest to the Priest. He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted on your
behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the Priest shall wave it” (Leviticus 23:10-1 1). During
the Days
of Unleavened Bread, on the day after the Sabbath, a sheaf of first-fruits was to be waved before
God. The first-fruit represented not only the very first produce of each year, it also represented
the
entire harvest. Paul explains this in Romans 11:16, saying, "For if the first-fruit is holy, the
lump is
also holy....” This means that through the offering and the setting apart of the first-
fruits, the entire
harvest was set apart. Waving the first-fruits before God was a declaration that all the produce
of
the coming year belonged to Him. He owns it all, and His blessing on the seed is crucial as it is
also
He who gives the increase.
The same was true for an cattle and even for each family. God said, “Consecrate to Me all
the
firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, .... it is Mine" (Exodus 13:2).
So
for each first child, there was a symbolic sacrifice brought to the Temple to represent the
firstborn of
the family.
By honoring God with our first-fruits, we declare that our families and all our possessions
belong to
Him. This holds a great potential of blessing for us. If we decide to dedicate our family and our
possessions to God, we submit them to His Kingship and place everything under His hand of
blessing. It means that we give our best to God, just as Abel gave his firstborn best, and it
found
favor and acceptance with God (Genesis 4:4).
God called Israel as a nation His firstborn. “Thus says the LORD: “Israel is My
son, My firstborn”
(Exodus 4:22). This means that Israel has been given by God the rank of the firstborn among the
nations. In saying so, God declared in a beautiful way His intention to bless all the nations of
the
earth. Remember what Paul said: "If the first-fruit is holy then the lump is holy" (Romans
11:16).
In calling and blessing Israel as His firstborn, the Creator was declaring that He was also
going to
call and bless a redeemed people from all the nations. This corresponds to the election God placed
upon Israel from the beginning: “In you all the families of the earth shall be
blessed” (Genesis 12:3).
It was through the one “seed” of Abraham, Jesus the Christ, that this blessing came
to all humanity.
“Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is
written,
Cursed is every one that hangs on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles
through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Brethren, I
speak
after the manner of men; Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man
disannul,
or add thereto. Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as
of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ” (Galatians 3:13-16).
Israel's calling as the firstborn among the nations also gives hope for the restoration of
Israel. Being
the firstborn assured the privilege of a double blessing. The prophet Jeremiah proclaimed:
“Behold,
I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the ends of the earth, .....I will
cause
them to walk by the rivers of waters, in a straight way in which they shall not stumble; For I am
a
Father to Israel, and Ephraim is My firstborn” (Jeremiah 31:8-9).
Other Hebrew prophets foresaw a future restoration of Israel which indeed involves a double
blessing on the nation. “For your shame ye shall have double; and for confusion they shall
rejoice in
their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be
unto them”
(Isa 61:7). And in Zechariah 9:12 it says “Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of
hope: even
to day do I declare that I will render double unto thee.” As the inheritance of a firstborn
is ensured
by God, in the same manner we know that He will fulfil all His promises given to Israel.
During the Passover and Days Of Unleavened Bread week, “on the day after the
Sabbath” — that is,
the first day of the week, the first-fruit offering was waved in the Temple. The Gospels record
that it
was on that very next day when Jesus the Christ rose from the dead. “Now after the Sabbath,
as the
first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the
tomb.....”
(Matthew 28:1). Jesus thus became “the firstborn from the dead.” Notice, Colossians
1:18, “And
He is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in
all
things He might have the preeminence. See also, 1 Corinthians 15:20, “ But now is Christ
risen
from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept.”
Jesus was the first to overcome death, and as such He entered the heavens and presented Himself
to
the Father. But He did so not just for Himself but in Him, as the firstborn, were presented all
the
millions who would "believe in Him and not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).
That is why the Bible calls Him “the firstborn among many brethren” (Romans 8:29).
Jesus is the
“firstborn of all creation” (Colossians 1:15) and thus has the supremacy in all
things (Colossians
1:18). Even though we can call Him our Elder Brother, we honor and worship Him as our King,
Lord and Saviour.
He promises us His blessing. “Honor the LORD with your possessions, and with the first-
fruits of all
your increase; So your barns will be filled with plenty, And your vats will overflow with new
wine”
(Proverbs 3:9-10).
Be encouraged always to give God your very best! ☜