The Feast Of First Fruits
Notes
Transcript
Easter
Easter
Up until the time of Constantine the Church celebrated the Feast of first Fruits
but he was all about combining the population and making a one religion
combining the pagans and the Christians he made a new holiday for every one
Easter is all about fertility godess aestarte/ Diana of the Ephesians
Easter eggs fertility, bunny fertility
today the Easter holiday is becoming more and more pagan
God’s Timetable (Calendar)
God’s Timetable (Calendar)
And God said, “Let there be lights in the vaulted dome of heaven to separate day from night, and let them be as signs and for appointed times, and for days and years,
Appointed times, God has a calendar of set times when something will take place
nothing is random, nothing is late or early
The Jewish calendar always starts on a new moon
“ ‘These are Yahweh’s appointed times, holy assemblies, which you shall proclaim at their appointed time. In the first month, on the fourteenth of the month at the evening is Yahweh’s Passover.
Passover is the day Jesus died on the cross
we are going to look at the feast of first fruits, next
Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the Israelites, and say to them, ‘When you come to the land that I am about to give to you and you reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruit of your harvest to the priest.
the day of first fruits is not a set day on the calendar
And he shall wave the sheaf before Yahweh for your acceptance; the priest shall wave it on the day after the Sabbath.
the day after the Sabbath, which is our Sunday (the third day)
on other years the passover might be on Tues, or Wed
making the feast of first fruits on the 5th or 6th day etc.
so the crucifixion had to be on that year / day
But when the fullness of time came, God sent out his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
God used the prophets to tell of the birth and death of Jesus
He used Mary and Joseph to raise the child Jesus
He used the leaders of Jerusalem to condemn Jesus to death
He used Judas to betray Jesus at just the right time, Passover
He used Pilate to crucify Jesus and the people of Jerusalem
“Israelite men, listen to these words! Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with deeds of power and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, just as you yourselves know—this man, delivered up by the determined plan and foreknowledge of God, you executed by nailing to a cross through the hand of lawless men. God raised him up, having brought to an end the pains of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.
Therefore let all the house of Israel know beyond a doubt, that God has made him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified!”
at just the perfect time. God through time using 1000s of different people to accomplish this crucifixion of Jesus for the punishment for our sins
First Fruits The Instructions
First Fruits The Instructions
Lets look at this feast
in Numbers 28 26-31 is the instructions for the feast
Duty of the priest is to wave sheaves of grain before the Lord
these are the new winter barley harvest
up until this point people could only eat the grain from last year
people were prohibited to eat that day until this happened
there are 3 offerings given to God on this day
Burnt, a meal, and a drink offering
this Feast was not to start until they were in the promised land
up until this point God provided manna for them to eat
“Speak to the Israelites, and say to them, ‘When you come to the land that I am about to give to you and you reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruit of your harvest to the priest. And he shall wave the sheaf before Yahweh for your acceptance; the priest shall wave it on the day after the Sabbath.
Before the battle of Jericho
And it happened, when all the nation had finished circumcising, they remained where they were in the camp until they recovered. And Yahweh said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the disgrace of Egypt from you.” Therefore, the name of that place is called Gilgal to this day. And the Israelites camped at Gilgal, and they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month, in the evening, on the plains of Jericho. On the next day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate from the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and roasted corn. And the manna ceased the day after, when they started eating the produce of the land, and there was no longer manna for the Israelites. They ate from the crop of the land of Canaan in that year.
First Fruits The Meaning
First Fruits The Meaning
The meaning of First Fruits is there is more to come
The priest was thanking God for the abundant harvest to come
this is the very first of what is to come
Truly, truly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit.
a seed dies and new life comes from the 1 seed
They are celebrating the resurrection of the seed
they are celebrating the upcoming harvest that has been given to them by God
they are celebrating the coming into the promised land flowing with milk and honey
First Fruits
The Fulfillment
First Fruits
The Fulfillment
First thing Sunday morning the priest is waving the sheaf in celebration of the resurrection
at the same time
Now on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw the stone had been taken away from the tomb.
Jesus was gone, raised from the Dead
Then the disciples went away again to their own homes. But Mary stood outside at the tomb, weeping. Then, while she was weeping, she bent over to look into the tomb, and she saw two angels in white, seated one at the head and one at the feet where the body of Jesus had been lying. And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have put him!” When she had said these things, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and she did not know that it was Jesus.
Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?” She thought that it was the gardener, and said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will take him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned around and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni” (which means “Teacher”).
Jesus says to Mary something peculiar
Jesus said to her, “Do not touch me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, and my God and your God.’ ”
the new grain cant be touched until it has been presented to the Father
At the temple the priest is representing the shadow of the promised resurrection
Jesus at that same time is fulfilling the promise
but what is Jesus the first fruit of?
But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
our promised resurrection
lets back up a little
For if the dead are not raised, Christ has not been raised either. But if Christ has not been raised, your faith is empty; you are still in your sins. And as a further result, those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have put our hope in Christ in this life only, we are of all people most pitiable.
But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since through a man came death, also through a man came the resurrection of the dead. For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own group: Christ the first fruits, then those who are Christ’s at his coming,
Jesus is our Resurrected first fruits
He has gone to the Father to present Himself as the Lamb who took away the sin of the world
Jesus as our First Fruit is the promise of our resurrection when He returns for us
But I say this, brothers, that flesh and blood is not able to inherit the kingdom of God, nor can corruption inherit incorruptibility. Behold, I tell you a mystery: we will not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For it is necessary for this perishable body to put on incorruptibility, and this mortal body to put on immortality. But whenever this perishable body puts on incorruptibility and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will take place: “Death is swallowed up in victory.