124_The Feast of Firstfruits

Lev 23:9-14 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest, 11 and he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, so that you may be accepted. On the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. 12 And on the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb a year old without blemish as a burnt offering to the Lord. 13 And the grain offering with it shall be two tenths of an ephah[b] of fine flour mixed with oil, a food offering to the Lord with a pleasing aroma, and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, a fourth of a hin.[c] 14 And you shall eat neither bread nor grain parched or fresh until this same day, until you have brought the offering of your God: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

Some years ago a friend of mine began a small vegetable garden. It was his dream to work with his hands and grow something from the earth. The first year was hard. He struggled with the soil, the weather, and his inexperience. But he persevered. The next year, things improved. And finally, during the third year, his crops flourished. I still remember the joy in his eyes when he brought me a basket of his very first harvest—bright red tomatoes, fresh cucumbers, and golden ears of corn. “These are my first fruits,” he said proudly. “They’re not just vegetables. They’re proof that all the work wasn’t in vain… that more is coming.”

The Feast of Firstfruits is rich with meaning, as the Israelites brought their firstfruits as offerings to the Lord, they declared that it was his land that he had graciously allowed them to live in as their own home. They declared that their hard work had come to fruition only through his sustaining and lifegiving power. And they declared themselves to be his servants.

It is in Leviticus 23:9–14 that God instructs the Israelites to celebrate the feast of firstfruits. It was to be observed once they entered the land. God said, “When you come into the land that I give you and reap its harvest…” Not if, but when. This underlines God’s unchangeable promise which made their arrival in Canaan a certainty.

The Feast of the Firstfruits could not be celebrated in the wilderness where they never stayed anywhere long enough to sow and reap. But even then, God was patiently leading them to the land He had promised—a land described as their place of rest, their inheritance, their destiny. And this feast was to be a declaration: that they had arrived… and that there was more to come.

The ceremony was simple. The Israelites were to bring a sheaf of the first part of their barley harvest and present it to the priest, who would wave it before the Lord, presenting and dedicating it to him. Thus they acknowledged the Lord of the harvest and of every blessing of grain and oil and wine. Only after this first sheaf was presented to God did they eat of their own grain.

Now, as meaningful as this feast was for Israel, it pointed to a far greater fulfillment in the person of Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul connects the dots in 1 Corinthians 15:20:
“But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”

In other words, Christ’s resurrection is not a one-time marvel. It is the beginning of a much greater harvest—the guarantee that all who belong to Him will one day rise just as He did. Others in the Bible were raised from the dead—Lazarus, Jairus’ daughter, the widow’s son. But they all died again. But Christ declares, “I am the living One; I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore.” He told Martha, “ “I am the resurrection and the life; the one who believes in Me will live, even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.” He’s not just the first; He’s the prototype and the promise of resurrection.

“For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead… For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.” (1 Cor 15:21–23)

The offering of the firstfruits was also to be accompanied by a burnt offering, a grain offering (or meal offering), and a drink offering. The burnt offering spoke of thanksgiving and total consecration, the grain offering of Christ our bread of life, and the drink offering of Christ our joy. Together, they show us Christ, whose life was wholly offered back to God.

So this Old Testament feast foreshadowed the greatest hope of the believer, the hope of resurrection.

The three spring feasts together provide a fitting picture of our redemption and destiny. The Feast of the Passover shows us Christ, our Passover Lamb, slain for our sins. The Feast of Unleavened Bread underlines our call to put away sin and walk in newness of life. And the Feast of the Firstfruits foreshadows our resurrection to eternal life.

As Christ-followers, let us also offer ourselves fully to God in love. Romans 6:5–11 declares that if we have been united with Christ in His death, we will also be united with Him in His resurrection. It begins with dying—dying to self, to sin, to our old ways of living. “We know that our old self was crucified with him… so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin… So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

This is where resurrection life begins, not after our physical death, but in Christ. In him, God fills us with His Spirit, the “firstfruits” of our inheritance, as Paul says in Romans 8:23. We groan inwardly, yes, because we still live in a broken world. But we also wait eagerly for the redemption of our bodies, the full harvest that is to come.

Israel’s future redemption is also tied to this principle of firstfruits. In Romans 11, Paul speaks of the patriarchs—the early Jewish believers—as the “firstfruits.” Since the firstfruits are holy, then the whole lump is holy too. The standing of the patriarchs and prophets in God through faith is a guarantee that the whole nation of Israel will be fulfil their calling as God’s holy people through faith in him and the Messiah that he sent. God’s plans are not random. They are rooted in covenant, sealed with firstfruits, and fulfilled in His perfect time.

For us today, resurrection is not just a doctrine—it’s a lifestyle. We are not just waiting for heaven. We have passed from death to life, as people of the resurrection. Our lives in Christ are a wave offering like the sheaf of barley—dedicated, consecrated, surrendered. The life of Christ pulses through us. His Spirit is a guarantee that our future is secure, and that death—whether physical or spiritual—no longer has the final say.

Let us offer ourselves daily, moment by moment, to God, as the firstfruits of his sacrificial love. Let us offer our time, our talents, our possessions, our hopes and dreams, before the Lord, declared to be holy, declared to be His.

Let us also live in trust, as the feast calls us to. What we offer to God is not lost. What we sow, we shall reap in a harvest far greater than we can see. Let us live with open hands, open hearts, and open lives—because He is faithful. He who began a good work in us will bring it to completion.

As one old preacher once said, “The resurrection is not just something that happened to Jesus—it’s something that is happening in us.” Today, let us declare the power of resurrection. Let us live as part of the harvest yet to come. And let us be strong in faith as part of the firstfruits—Christ risen, and we with Him. God bless.