The Feast of Weeks - Pentecost - Firstfruits
Sha Vu Ot is the fourth feast. This second pilgrimage festival is known as "the festival of revelation". it falls on the 6th of Sivan ( May - June )
See Lev 23 v 15-21 - From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, count off seven full weeks. Count off fifty days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath, and then present an offering of new grain to the LORD. From wherever you live, bring two loaves made of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour, baked with yeast, as a wave offering of firstfruits to the LORD. Present with this bread seven male lambs, each a year old and without defect, one young bull and two rams. They will be a burnt offering to the LORD, together with their grain offerings and drink offerings--an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the LORD. Then sacrifice one male goat for a sin offering and two lambs, each a year old, for a fellowship offering. The priest is to wave the two lambs before the LORD as a wave offering, together with the bread of the firstfruits. They are a sacred offering to the LORD for the priest. On that same day you are to proclaim a sacred assembly and do no regular work. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live.
It starts after seven weeks from
Passover. (7
weeks is 49 days so the day after is the fiftieth - Pentecost is Greek for fifty
days)
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The giving of the Law (Mantan Torah
) (Not to be confused with Simchat Torah , (rejoicing in the Law) which is celebrated at Sukkot ) It is calculated that GOD gave the
torah to his people at Mount Sinai,
fifty days after they left Egypt.
It is significant that the gift of the Holy Spirit, which enables us to please GOD was
given on the day of |
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(The Story of
Ruth is read because of its harvest setting and her wisdom
and humility.
Firstfruits
This was celebrated with a wave offering of the first of the harvested
produce, bread made from fine flour from the wheat.
This was waved before GOD.
It
expressed their dependence on GOD for bread.
Firstfruits
symbolized the consecration
of the
whole harvest
to GOD
Perhaps Firstfruits helps explain Paul's exhortation to "offer your bodies as living sacrifices...." (Romans 12 v1) We are not talking burnt offering sacrifices but sacrifices waved before God for his pleasure, out of gratitude. See also Romans 8 v23, ." Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies".
Interestingly,
the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the disciples of Yeshua happened while the Priests were waving the
two
loaves
Why two loaves ? See below for fulfilment.
Jesus as fulfillment
Jesus was exalted
at Sha vu ot / Pentecost ( 10days after his ascension )
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Some translations start, "When the day of Pentecost had fully come.....", reminding us that the the disciples had been up all night reading and rejoicing in the Torah and praying. (see above)
And those two loaves? One was for the Jews and one for the Gentiles.
In Ephesians chapter 1, Paul (Sha'ul) refers to "we were given an inheritance . . . "(verse11) and then "you who heard . . . were sealed by him . . " (verse 13) The body of the Messiah consists of Jewish believers and Gentile believers.
The
Jews would
And also
Zechariah 12 v10 and 13 v1. "And I will pour out
on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and
supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will
mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as
one grieves for a firstborn son. . . .
. . . . . .On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity"
Then ".... all Israel will be saved" (Romans 11 v26).
The other
loaf was for the gentiles. As we read in Acts 2, the outpouring
(Revelation) came upon the disciples and then many more Jewish believers in Yeshua.
But then this this same
Spirit was given to Gentile believers, to the surprise of Peter and
the other Jewish believers in Jerusalem.
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Jesus
/ Yeshua and
firstfruits Mark 11 v12-14 and 20 tells of Jesus going into Jerusalem from Bethphage
(the name means House of Figs). He went to a fig tree looking for some
figs, although it was not the season for figs. The fig trees in that area are strange in that they produce a small crop
around Pessach like a promise The tree Jesus cursed
had not produced its "firstfruits" and was obviously diseased and was
never going to
produce any fruit. Jesus merely |
See Song of Songs 2 v13 and Micah 7 v1 for references to early figs. |
Jesus should be able to see the firstfruits of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5 v22) in our lives and be able to look forward to the full harvest to come. We are not yet perfect!
The fourth step
- Power to the believer
- The gift of the Holy
Spirit.
The disciples received the Holy Spirit for salvation at Passover - Firstfruits, when Jesus rose, but they received Holy Spirit power to witness to Jesus at Sha vu Ot - another firstfruits feast.