Bikurim

[Guest shiloh357]

Leviticus 23:9-11

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, [10] "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. [11] 'And he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord for you to be accepted; on the day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.

The third Festival falls during the week of Hag HaMatzah on the day after the seekly Sabbath or the first Sunday after the fifteenth of Aviv.

During the Second Temple period the date of the First Fruits of the Barley Harvest was contested issue among the P'rushim (Pharisees) and the Tzadukim (Sadducees). The Pharisees argued that the proper date should be the 16th of Aviv, while the Sadducess argued that it should be the Sunday following the weekly Sabbath during Hag HaMatzah. The debate was centered around the wording of Lev. 23:9-11 (see above).

On the surface it would seem that the Saducees were right because everyone knows that the day following the Sabbath is Sunday.

However, the issue was complicated by the fact that during the week of Hag HaMatzah, there are two Sabbaths. You have the 15th of Aviv, and you have the weekly Sabbath. The debate centered upon whether the Sabbath mentioned in Lev. 23:9-11 is the regular weekly Sabbath or the 15th of Aviv which is a "High Sabbath."

Well, the fact that Messiah was ressurected on a Sunday, and He is called the "First Fruits of the Ressurrection from the dead (1 Cor. 15 20-23) indicates that the Saducees were right. It can also be determined from Lev. 23: 15-16 that the Saducees were correct in their reckoning of the calendar.

Leviticus 23:15-16

'You shall also count for yourselves from the day after the sabbath, from the day when you brought in the sheaf of the wave offering; there shall be seven complete sabbaths. [16] 'You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh sabbath; then you shall present a new grain offering to the Lord.

The only way to guarantee that there would be both 7 full Sabbaths and 50 days, was to use the Saducees' reckoning of the calendar.

Historically, this is the day that the children of Israel went down into the Red Sea and emerged alive on the other side. The Egyptians attempted to follow Israel into the sea but were destroyed by God. The death of Pharoah and his army ended his rights of ownership over the chidren of Egypt.

According to Gen. 47:13-26, Pharaoh owned all of the land and the people of Egypt except for the the Egyptian priests. This would have included the slaves as well.

For the Children of Israel to go to the Promised Land, they would have had to be free from Pharoah's ownership. You will recall that Moses only requested that the children of Israel be allowed to go three days into the wilderness to worship God.

Pharoah went back on his word by telling the children of Israel to go by pursuing them. Had he waited the three days, Moses and the children of Israel would have come back, because God cannot lie. By chasing after them, he was repsonsible for his death and the death of his armies.

In Lev23:15 this day is called B'Yom Haneefchem Et HaOmer, "The Day You Bring The Sheaf of The Wave Offering."

How was the Festival Carried Out?

God commanded the people to bring a sheaf of the barley harvest. What is a sheaf? The word for sheaf in Hebrew is "Omer." An omer is a dry measure and constitutes 1/10th of an Ephah. So, an Ephah was 10 omers.

It is important to remember that God instructed the Children of Israel to present themselves before the Lord 3 times a year. Pesach (Passover), Shavuot (Pentecost), and Sukkot (Tabernacles). Passover is the barley harvest, Pentecost is the wheat harvest. Both of these were Fisrt Fruits harvests before the final harvest that would come at the end of the year during the Festival of Tabernacles, which is a fruit harvest.

More tomorrow...

[Guest shiloh357]

What does the harvest represent here? It represents you and me if we have made Yeshua our savior!!

The sheaf is the first of the first fruits.

The term first fruits or first born is all throughout the Bible. Everything was to be presented as first fruits to God. This was true whether you are talking about something grown from the earth or livestock.

This can be seen in Exouds 13:2;22:29 and Deut. 26:1-11.

The theme of the Festival is Resurrecton. Yeshua's resurrection occurred on Aviv 17th.

As I said over in the calendar thread, there are some interesting things that happened on that day. Noah's Ark rested on Mt Ararat, and Israel crosses the Red Sea on that day.

In Joshua 5:10-12, we see that the manna stopped falling on the 16th of Aviv after they had eaten the old corn of the land. The day after on the 17th was the day they ate the first fruits of the land of Israel.

Joshua 5:10-12

While the sons of Israel camped at Gilgal, they observed the Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month on the desert plains of Jericho. [11] And on the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. [12] And the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten some of the produce of the land, so that the sons of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate some of the yield of the land of Canaan during that year.

Haman was defeated on Aviv 17th, and of course Yeshua's resurrection occurred on this day as well.

Yeshua is clearly the First Fruits of the Barley Harvest.

He was the First Born of Miryam (Mary). (Matt. 1:23-25)

He was the First begotten of the Father. (Hebrews 1:6

He was the Firstborn of every creature. (Col. 1:15

He was the Firstborn of many brothers (Rom. 29)

He was the First Begotten from the dead.(Rev. 1:5)

More in a little while...

[Guest shiloh357]

The Festival of First Fruits is prophetic of Messiah Yeshua's resurrection.

Yeshua was in the grave for three days and three nights.

Matthew 12:39-40

But He answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign shall be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; [40] for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

The only sign he gave to religious leaders of his Messiahship was the sign of Jonah (see above).

Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights.

Jonah 1:17

And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the

stomach of the fish three days and three nights.

Sundown on the 16th of Aviv began the Festival of First Fruits and Messiah was resurrected at the Beginning of First Fruits, or "early the first day of the week." On Gregorian calendar, it would appear that Yeshua was resurrected on what we would call Saturday Evening. On lunar calendar, Saturday Evening is really the First day of the week.

Why was Yeshua buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea? The name Arimathea is the Israelite city known as Ramah. It is just five miles of North of Jersualem, and is the city where Samuel dwelt. Ar-Rama-thea is still called Ramah today and is presently located in what is now incorrectly referred to as the West Bank but rather is a city in biblical Judea and Samaria.

Ramah was a term that came to represent idolatry. There were two nations in Biblical times that were considered the seats of idolatry, namely Egypt and Babylon.

The biblical hero Joseph who was sold into slavery by his brothers became known as Joseph of Ramah in Rabbinical literature, because he dwelt in idolatrous Egypt. Now, Joseph made the children of Israel take a vow that they would take his bones to the promised land when they left Egypt (Gen 50:24-26). They did this as recorded in Exodus 13:19-20.

So Joseph of Ramah's tomb in Egypt is empty, and in the NT, another "Joseph of Ramah" tomb is empty as well according to prophecy of Isaiah 53:9

His grave was assigned with wicked men,

Yet He was with a rich man in His death,

Because He had done no violence,

Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.

Another point worth mentioning is that Joseph was a type of the suffering Messiah of Isaiah 53 known as "Messiah ben Joseph." Joseph's bones were buried in Succoth when he died. Succoth or Sukkot as it is spelled today is a name associated with the Millenial reign of Messiah ben David (the conquering, warrior-king Messiah), so this is a picture of Yeshua being both the suffering Messiah ben Joseph and the victorious Messiah ben David.

On To The Spiritual Application of Bikurim

Israel was God's firstborn

Exodus 4:22

"Then you shall say to Pharaoh, 'Thus says the Lord, "Israel is My son, My first-born.

Now it says in the Scriptures that the first shall be last and the last shall be first. My people, the Jewish people, have rejected the Messiah and the gospel came to the Goyim (Gentiles). Now the Gentiles are to provoke the Jewish people to jealousy so that they will come into the Kingdom of God through Yeshua our Messiah.

Yeshua is the first to be resurrected from the dead.

Acts 26:23

that the Christ was to suffer, and that by reason of His resurrection from the dead He should be the first to proclaim light both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles."

Messah is called the First Fruits of the Resurrection

1 Cor. 15:20-23

[nebula]

So, does that mean it ought to be "Good Thursday" instead of "Good Friday" - so to speak?

[Guest shiloh357]

So, does that mean it ought to be "Good Thursday" instead of "Good Friday" - so to speak?

Basically you could say that.

What else happened on First Fruits? Yeshua went to heaven and presented Himself to the Lord as the First Fruits wave offering. That is what really makes Him the First Fruits of the Resurrection.

John 20:15-17

Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?" Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, "Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away." [16] Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, "Rabboni!" (which means, Teacher). [17] Jesus said to her, "Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren, and say to them, 'I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.' "

We know that he allowed Thomas to touch him a week later, so at some point on the Festival of First Fruits Yeshua ascended to Heaven and presented His body to the Father as the wave offering.

[wordsower]

We know that he allowed Thomas to touch him a week later, so at some point on the Festival of First Fruits Yeshua ascended to Heaven and presented His body to the Father as the wave offering.

Wow! I never saw that. So, why did He come back? This brings a lot of questions to mind. If you have any insight as to why no one recognized Him, I've been pondering that for a while too.

[Guest shiloh357]

Why did he come back? My own observation was that he still had more to say to the disciples. Most of his post resurrection appearances were on the first day of the week. The day after each weekly Sabbath during Sefira HaOmer. He showed Himself alive to at least 500 people during that time period. Oh, how I would have loved to hear all that he shared with them. He probably illuminated the Scriptures concerning Himself.

[wordsower]

kinda makes the second coming the third, hu? What do you think about no one recognizing Him? (BTW--Did you check out the Ps. verses in the calendar thread?)

[JesusisGod2]

Wow! That is some really edifying stuff here Shilo.

I was clinging to every word, God is amazing. This is the very reason why we need more Jews in the church and why we should be reaching out to them and to introduce them again to theirs and our Messiah. they (as yourself has) could add so much in our understanding the scriptures.

God has blessed the Jews with insight into His word that church could certainly use a huge dose of.

God bless you brother, and thanks so much for taking the time to share that with us. I am going to print these topics out and share them with others with your permission.

I am definately going to take a look at the other topics, and man would these make awesome bible studies.

In Jesus

Kevin