Archive for First Fruits

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Preview: God’s Spring Appointed Holidays

Posted in Prophecy, Spring Feasts with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 8, 2015 by paulthepoke

There are seven God appointed holidays communicated through the Old Testament Law. The first three spring holidays were fulfilled to the appointed holiday by Jesus Himself. The names of the feasts are: Passover, Unleavened Bread, and First Fruits.

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The first of God’s holidays is Passover or Pesach in the Hebrew. The holiday begins on the 14th day of the Hebrew month Nisan (March or April on a Gregorian calendar). There is a play on words in the original Hebrew. A “pesach” is an unblemished lamb which was required for the sacrifice. After the “pesach” was sacrificed, the blood was to be smeared on the wooden posts of the house. When God saw the blood on the door posts, He passed over or “pasach” and the house was spared judgment.

The original directions for the Passover were given to Moses and Aaron in Egypt. The statute and happenings are noted in Exodus 12. God defines the purpose of the holiday to Israel. Exodus 12:26-27a “And when your children say to you, ‘What does this rite mean to you?’ you shall say, ‘It is a Passover sacrifice to the LORD who passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians, but spared our homes.’”

The second of God’s holidays is Unleavened Bread or Chag haMatazt in the Hebrew. The holiday begins on the 15th of Nisan and runs for seven days.

The directions of Unleavened Bread are noted in Exodus 12:15-20. The focus of the week is to live a life without leaven, the symbol for sin. Leaven is not to be in the house. Leaven products are not to be consumed. Bread without yeast, matzah, is to be eaten.

The third of God’s holidays is First Fruits or Reshit Katzir in the Hebrew. The one day holiday begins on the day after the Sabbath or Sunday on our calendar.

The directions for First Fruits are noted in Leviticus 23:9-14. The priest is to make a barley offering of the first portion of the harvest to the Lord. The priest intervenes of behalf of the people. The reality of the holiday for the people of Israel is this. The people bring their grain sheaf to the priest. They are to sacrifice a lamb without blemish. The offering is also to be presented with bread and wine.

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Trend Update: God’s Fall Appointments, September 2014

Posted in Fall Feasts, Gospel, Prophecy with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 3, 2014 by paulthepoke

There are seven God appointed holidays communicated through the Old Testament Law. The first four were fulfilled to the day by Jesus Himself. If the first four spring holidays were fulfilled on the God appointed holiday, why would the fall holidays be any different?

Jesus is the Passover Lamb. 1 Peter 1:19-21 …but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. Jesus was crucified on the Feast of Passover.

Jesus is the unleavened bread. He is the bread of life. John 6:35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. Leaven is a symbol of sin. 2 Corinthians 5:21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. Jesus was buried on the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Jesus is the first fruits, the resurrection. 1 Corinthians 15:20-22 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. Jesus was resurrected on the Feast of First Fruits.

Jesus promised and delivered the Holy Spirit. John 14:16-17 I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. That promise was kept on the Feast of Pentecost (Acts 2).

The God appointed fall holidays are the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles. Above is a brief 10 minute video found on YouTube that provides a framework of the fall God appointed holidays.

 

 

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Jesus Christ’s Resurrection, First Fruits

Posted in Gospel, Prophecy, Spring Feasts with tags , , , , , , , on May 18, 2014 by paulthepoke

1 Corinthians 15:20-24a But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming…

So people ask, what are the “first fruits”? This is a reference to the Lord’s Festival. It is as known as different titles. It is called the “Feast of First Fruits” in Christianity. In Hebraic Judaism, it is known as “Reshit Katzir”. In a Jewish mindset it means, the beginning of the harvest. The harvest is resurrected bodies. First Fruits is the third of the LORD’s spring holidays. First Fruits has its roots in the Old Testament after the Jews Exodus out of Egypt.

Leviticus 23:9-14 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you enter the land which I am going to give to you and reap its harvest, then you shall bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD for you to be accepted; on the day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. Now on the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb one year old without defect for a burnt offering to the LORD. Its grain offering shall then be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering by fire to the LORD for a soothing aroma, with its drink offering, a fourth of a hin of wine. Until this same day, until you have brought in the offering of your God, you shall eat neither bread nor roasted grain nor new growth. It is to be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places. 

The Jewish people were given this appointment from God after leaving Egypt. There are specific directions as to the administration of this holiday. Traditionally, the first fruit to be harvested is barley. The grain is to be presented before God as a fine flour mixed with oil and baked. Translation, a barley bread was baked without yeast (yeast is symbolically sin). The drink offering is wine. Contained in these instructions is a foreshadowing of the elements of communion, bread and wine. Who proclaimed to be the “bread of life”?

Another condition, a perfect lamb was presented and sacrificed. Jesus is called the Lamb of God at least 27 times in the Book of Revelation alone. We know He was sacrificed on a cross. Christ, the seed of grain, was planted in a tomb and resurrected a glorified, incorruptible body.

This is to take place one day after the Sabbath, the first day of the week, or Sunday. God tells the Jewish people this festival is to be completed continually where ever you live. Give thanks to God before eating.

Jesus is the initial harvest of the resurrection. There was a wave of believers in Jesus who were resurrected in Jerusalem after Christ (Matthew 27:52-53). Christ, as high priest, presented and waived this resurrected harvest before the Father.

These spring holidays tell the story of Jesus at His first coming. He was the Passover Lamb that was sacrificed. He was buried before the Sabbath began. The Feast of Unleavened Bread was celebrated on the Sabbath. And he was resurrected on the first day of the week in accordance with the Feast of First Fruits. The Jewish people participated in this holiday for thousands of years from the time of Moses. These spring feasts were literally fulfilled to the day in the person of Jesus.

So who is next? But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming…

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