The day following the sabbath during Passover is called the Feast of First Fruits
(Lev. 23:9-14).

 The observance was carried out in this manner, when the standing ripe harvest of
barley and wheat was ready to be reaped, the celebrant would take one sheaf from the
standing harvest and bring it to the priest.  The lone sheaf was called “the sheaf of the first
fruits.”  The priest was then to take this one sheaf and wave it before the Lord in His
house.  This was to be done “the day after the sabbath.”  Prescribed offerings were also to
be presented along with the sheaf.

 God commanded the people to bring a sheaf of the harvest (Lev. 23:10).  The
Hebrew word for “sheaf” is omer.  An omer is defined as “a measure of dry things,
containing a tenth part of an ephah.”  The definition of an omer being a tenth part of an
ephah is found in Ex. 16:36.  An ephah contains 10 omers of grain.  remember, three times
a year God commanded the people to come to Jerusalem to celebrate the festivals of
Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles.  All three of these festivals are agricultural harvest
festivals.  Passover is the barley harvest.  Pentecost is the wheat harvest.  Both of these
festivals are first fruits harvests before the final harvest that was to come at the end of the
year during the festival of Tabernacles. which is the fruit harvest.

 The harvest represents all who would put their faith, trust, and confidence in the
Messiah Jesus (Matt. 13:39; Mark 4:26-29; Luke 10:1-12; Rev. 14:14-16).  So, the sheaf
is the first of the first fruits.  Since a sheaf in the Bible is used to typify a person or persons
(Gen. 37:5-11), a sheaf spiritually represents people who accept the Messiah into their
hearts.

 The nation of Israel was familiar with the concept of first fruits or the firstborn.
The first fruits were always the choicest, the foremost, the first, the best, the preeminent of
all that was to follow.  They were holy to the Lord.  The concept of first fruits or firstborn
is a major theme in the Bible (Ex. 23:16,19; 34:26; Love. 2:12,14; 23:20; Num.
18:12-15,26; Deut. 18:1-5; 26:2-4,10; 2 Chron. 31:5; Neh. 10:35-39; Prov. 3:9; Jer. 2:3;
Eze. 44:30; 48:14; Mal. 3:8-14; Heb. 6:20; 7:1-8).

 Everything on the earth, both man and beast, was to be presented before the Lord
as first fruits to Him.

 1.  The first born of both man and beast were sanctified  (made holy) and presented
to the Lord (Ex. 13:2; 22:29).

 2.  The first fruits of all the earth were presented to the Lord at His altar in praise
and thanksgiving (Deut. 26:1-11).

FIRST FRUITS IS PROPHETIC OF THE RESURRECTON OF THE MESSIAH

 The festival of the sheaf of the first fruits is prophetic of the resurrection of Jesus.
Jesus prophesied that He would rise three days and nights after He was slain on the tree
(Matt. 12:38-40; 16:21; Luke 24:44-46).  This was foreshadowed to happen in the Tanach
(Old Testament) by type and shadow (Gen. 22:1-6; Exodus 3:18; 5:3; 8:27; Esther
4:15-17; Jonah 1:7; 2:1-2).

 Since Jesus was slain on the tree on the day of Passover, the fourteenth of Nisan,
He arose from the grave three days and nights after He was slain, Jesus arose from the
grave on the seventeenth of Nisan, the day of the festival of First Fruits.  This day would
be the day after the weekly sabbath during the week of Passover (Mark 16:1-6).  In fact,
Jesus is called the first fruits of those who rise from the dead (1 Cor. 15:20-23).

 It was prophesied that Jesus, the Messiah, would be buried in the tomb of the rich
(Isa. 53:9; Matt. 27:57; Luke 23:51).  Why was Jesus placed in the tomb of Joseph of
Armathaea?  Arimathaea was another name for Ramah, where Samuel dwelt.  It is five
miles north of Jerusalem.  In fact, this place is still called Ramah today.  In ancient times, it
was customary for Jews to be buried in Jerusalem.  In fact, this practice is still done today
because it is a traditional belief in Judaism that the resurrection of the dead will take place
in Jerusalem first.

 In the Book of Genesis, Joseph the son of Jacob, made the children of Israel take a
vow that when they went to the Promised Land, they would carry his bones with them
(Gen. 50:24-26).  Ramah was a term that represented idolatry.  Two countries were called
the seat of idolatry in the ancient world:  Babylon and Egypt.  Joseph, the son of Jacob,
was also known as Joseph of Ramah.  Moses took the bones of Joseph with him when he
and children of Israel journeyed to Succoth (Ex. 13:19-20).  Therefore, Joseph’s tomb in
Egypt was empty.  The empty tomb of Joseph of Arimathaea (Ramah), which stood for
wickedness, was a fulfillment of Isa. 53:9.

 Joseph was a type of the role of Jesus during His first coming when He came to
fulfill the role of the suffering Messiah known as Messiah ben Joseph.  The bones of
Joseph were carried to Succoth.  Succoth is a type of the Messianic age also know as the
Millennium.  This is also a picture of Jesus being both Messiah ben Joseph and Messiah
ben David  -  as Jesus who suffered during His first coming to earth will be King during
His second coming to earth.

THE SPIRITUAL UNDERSTANDING OF FIRST FRUITS

 Spiritual Application.  A sheaf in the Bible is used to typify a person or persons
(Gen. 37:5-11).  Jesus will return to earth (Zech. 14:4) during His second coming as King
over al the earth.  He also will bring the sheaves (the believers in Jesus as the Messiah)
with Him (Psa. 126; Jer. 31:9-14; Joel 3:11-13; Zech. 14:3-5; Matt. 13:37-39; Mark
4:26-29; Heb. 12:1; Jude 14; Rev. 1:7).

 The 144,000 Jewish witnesses who witness of Jesus during the Chevlai shel
Mashiach, the birthpangs of the Messiah (also known as the tribulation) are first fruits to
God of those who will receive the Messiah during the tribulation (Rev. 14:1-4).

 1.  The natural is before the spiritual (1 Cor. 15:46).

 2.  Israel was God’s firstborn (Ex. 4:22).  But, the first will be last and the last will
be first (Mark 10:31).  Therefore, the Gentiles became the first to receive the Messiah (as
a corporate people; there are many non-Jews who do not) (Isa. 60:1-3; 62:1-3; Acts
15:14-16).  At the end of this present age, the Jews as a corporate people will accept Jesus
as Messiah as well.

 3.  The gospel was preached to the Jew first and then to the non-Jews (Rom. 1:16;
2:9-10; Matt. 10:5-6; 15:21-28; Acts 1:8).

 4.  We are called to seek first the Kingdom of God (Matt. 6:33).

 5.  Jesus rose the first day of the week (Mark 16:1-6).

 6.  Jesus was the first to rise from the dead (Acts 26:23).

 7.  The early believers were a kind of first fruits (James 1:17-18)

 8.  Those who arose from the dead with Jesus during His resurrection became the
first fruits of all those who would rise from the dead (Matt. 27:52-53; Eph. 4:8; 1 Thess.
4:13-18).

 9.  Jesus first loved us, and He is to be our first love (1 John 4:9; Rev. 2:4).

 10.  Jesus is the First and the Last (Rev. 1:8,11,17; 22:13; Isa. 41:4; 44:6; 48:12).