Sermon Tone Analysis

Harvest Celebration

 

Leviticus 23:10-14

 

The Feast of the Firstfruits took place the day after the Sabbath following Passover.

Passover would come on the 14th day of the first month, then the Feast of Unleavened Bread from the 15th day to the 21st day.

The day following the Sabbath Day, after Passover, was the Feast of Firstfruits, described for us in Leviticus 23:10-14.

"Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest: and he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.

And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt-offering unto the Lord.

And the meat-offering thereof shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the Lord for a sweet savour: and the drink-offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of an hin.

And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings."

!! /I.

Give God Your Best/

"/Firstfruits/," of course, applied to harvest time.

During that first month, it would have been the beginning of the barley and the flax harvest.

In the Feast of the Firstfruits God is saying to us, "Bring Me the best.

Bring Me the first of everything.

I must get first place in your life."

Before the people were allowed to eat of the harvest or make any bread, they had to bring the first sheaf to the Lord and wave it before Him in dedication.

The burnt-offering (Lev.

23:12) speaks of dedication, giving our all to God.

In New Testament terms, this is Romans 12:1: "Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God."

The /sheaves/ were brought to the Lord as an acknowledgment of His goodness.

There would not even be a harvest were it not for the goodness of God! Israel would not even be in their land were it not for the faithfulness of the Lord.

The Feast of the Firstfruits was a reminder to them that everything they had came from God.

Surely, all of us ought to be praising the Lord, for were it not for His goodness, we would have nothing.

Some may have more than others, but whatever we have has come from God. "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil.

It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.

Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine" (Prov.

3:5-10).

God gave the promise to His Old Testament people that if they were faithful in their giving, putting God first, He would abundantly bless them.

But let me make it clear that the New Testament Church has not been promised earthly riches.

God has promised to meet our needs (Phil.

4:19), but He has not promised riches in return for obedience.

We are not promised that our barns will be filled to running over.

Some of God's choicest people in this world are poor.

Jesus was poor.

The Apostle Paul wrote: "As poor, yet making many rich" (II Cor.

6:10).

There is no special guarantee that if you give God first place in your life, you will become a million­aire.

But there is a guarantee that He will always take care of you.

"Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matt.

6:33).

Put Him first, and He will care for you.

When you put the Lord Jesus Christ first in your life, then God has to take care of you.

I am not saying that God will make you the wealthiest person in town.

What I am saying is that you will never lack for any good thing.

He will always care for us and give us far more than we deserve.

The Feast of Firstfruits says to us, "Put God first in your life!

Give Him the firstfruits, and give Him the best of the firstfruits."

The sheaf was presented to God along with some other offerings.

The meal-offering of fine flour speaks, of course, of the character of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The burnt-offering in Leviticus 23:12 speaks of the total surrender of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The oil reminds us of the Holy Spirit.

The wine reminds us of joy.

We bring the offering of our firstfruits to God through the Lord Jesus Christ.

We do not bring our firstfruits to the Lord in our name or because of our holiness.

We bring everything through Christ (I Pet.

2:5).

It is because of His sacrifice and His perfection that we have the privi­lege of bringing our best to God.

And we do it joyfully.

In the Old Testament, wine is a picture of joy.

We don't bring our offering to the Lord grudg­ingly because the Lord loves a cheerful giver (see II Cor.

9:7).

Are you giving Him the firstfruits?

Or do you give Him the leftovers?

How many people there are who burn the candle of their lives and then blow the smoke in God's face.

How many there are who use their money, time, energy and resources for their own selfish pleasure, and then if there's something left over, they give it to the Lord.

This is not what Firstfruits is saying to us.

This feast declares, "God gets the first.

He gets the best.

Put Him first, and He will bless you."

!! /II.

The Resurrection of Christ/

The /Feast of Firstfruits/ also speaks to us of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

"But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.

Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father" (I Cor.

15:20-24).

When our Lord Jesus Christ arose from the dead, He became the firstfruits.

He was that grain of wheat that was planted in the ground (John 12:24), and He is the One who is going to bring the harvest.

Please note that the Feast of Firstfruits took place the day after the Sabbath following Passover.

The Sabbath Day is always the seventh day.

This means Firstfruits took place on the first day of the week!

Our Lord Jesus Christ arose from the dead on the first day of the week.

Today we do not worship on the Sabbath Day; rather, we gather to worship on the first day of the week as the New Testament church did (see Acts 20:7; I Cor.

16:1,2).

Our Lord Jesus Christ arose from the dead and became "/the firstfruits/."

But what does this mean?

It means that God has accepted Christ as a guaran­tee of the whole harvest.

All believers will one day be raised from the dead!

How do we know?

Because Jesus is the firstfruits of them that sleep!

When a believer dies, it is only sleep—the body goes to sleep, but the soul goes home to be with the Lord.

One day there shall be a resurrection, a harvest.

In my pastoral ministry, I have gone out to the ceme­tery with grieving people to lay a body to rest.

Sometimes there has been just a little grave into which we placed the body of a baby or a little child.

Sometimes it has been an aged saint who has lived a long and fruitful life.

The cemetery is a field of seeds.

It is "God's acre."

One of these days there will be a resurrection, a harvest.

Those bodies that were planted in the ground like a seed, in weakness, will be raised in power.

Bodies sown in corruption will be raised in incorruption.

Bodies sown in humilia­tion will be raised in glory (see 15:42-44).

The ceme­tery will be a harvest place one of these days because Jesus Christ is the firstfruits.