“Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When you have come into the land which I give to you, and shall reap its harvest, then you shall bring the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest.
Parallel Translations
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“Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When you have come into the land which I give to you, and shall reap its harvest, then you shall bring the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest.
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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:
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Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them: When ye are come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring the sheaf of the first-fruits of your harvest unto the priest.
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Commandments (1)
The laws of the Torah, each cited and shown as a primary source.
Cross-references (19)
Passages linked to Leviticus 23:10 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Exodus 34:26 “You shall bring the first of the first fruits of your ground to the house of Yahweh your God. “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.”
- Exodus 23:19 You shall bring the first of the first fruits of your ground into the house of Yahweh your God. “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.
- Numbers 15:18-21 “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When you come into the land where I bring you, then it shall be that when you eat of the bread of the land, you shall offer up a wave offering to Yahweh. Of the first of your dough you shall offer up a cake for a wave offering. As the wave offering of the threshing floor, so you shall heave it. Of the first of your dough, you shall give to Yahweh a wave offering throughout your generations.
- Numbers 28:26 “ ‘Also in the day of the first fruits, when you offer a new meal offering to Yahweh in your feast of weeks, you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work;
- Deuteronomy 16:9 You shall count for yourselves seven weeks. From the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain you shall begin to count seven weeks.
- 1 Corinthians 15:20-23 But now Christ has been raised from the dead. He became the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since death came by man, the resurrection of the dead also came by man. 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, then those who are Christ’s, at his coming.
- James 1:18 Of his own will he gave birth to us by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.
- Revelation 14:4 These are those who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are those who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These were redeemed by Jesus from among men, the first fruits to God and to the Lamb.
- Exodus 22:29 “You shall not delay to offer from your harvest and from the outflow of your presses. “You shall give the firstborn of your sons to me.
- Exodus 23:16 And the feast of harvest, the first fruits of your labors, which you sow in the field; and the feast of ingathering, at the end of the year, when you gather in your labors out of the field.
- Exodus 34:22 “You shall observe the feast of weeks with the first fruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of harvest at the year’s end.
- Leviticus 2:12-16 As an offering of first fruits you shall offer them to Yahweh, but they shall not rise up as a pleasant aroma on the altar. Every offering of your meal offering you shall season with salt. You shall not allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking from your meal offering. With all your offerings you shall offer salt. “ ‘If you offer a meal offering of first fruits to Yahweh, you shall offer for the meal offering of your first fruits fresh heads of grain parched with fire and crushed. You shall put oil on it and lay frankincense on it. It is a meal offering. The priest shall burn as its memorial part of its crushed grain and part of its oil, along with all its frankincense. It is an offering made by fire to Yahweh.
- Leviticus 23:17 You shall bring out of your habitations two loaves of bread for a wave offering made of two tenths of an ephah of fine flour. They shall be baked with yeast, for first fruits to Yahweh.
- Numbers 15:2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When you have come into the land of your habitations, which I give to you,
- Proverbs 3:9-10 Honor Yahweh with your substance, with the first fruits of all your increase: so your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine.
- Ezekiel 44:30 The first of all the first fruits of every thing, and every offering of everything, of all your offerings, shall be for the priest. You shall also give to the priests the first of your dough, to cause a blessing to rest on your house.
- Leviticus 14:34 “When you have come into the land of Canaan, which I give to you for a possession, and I put a spreading mildew in a house in the land of your possession,
- Joshua 3:15 and when those who bore the ark had come to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark had dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks all the time of harvest),
- Romans 11:16 If the first fruit is holy, so is the lump. If the root is holy, so are the branches.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Or, an Omer, read Deut. 24:19; Ruth 2:15; Ps.…
Or, an Omer, read Deut. 24:19; Ruth 2:15; Ps. 129:7.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Lev 23:10 Speak unto the children of Israel, and…
Lev 23:10 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:
Ver. 10. And shall reap the harvest.] Barley harvest; for that was first.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain When ye be come into the land; therefore this…
When ye be come into the land; therefore this obliged them not in the desert, where they reaped no harvest, &c.
Shall reap, i.e. begin to reap, as it is expounded Deu 16:9. So, he begat, i.e. began to beget, Gen 5:32; 11:26; and, he built, 1Ki 6:1, i.e. he began to build, as it is explained 2Ch 3:2. The harvest thereof, to wit, barley harvest, which was before wheat harvest. See Exo 9:31,32; 34:22; Rth 2:23.
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A sheaf Heb. an omer, which is the tenth part of an ephah. It seems here to note the measure of corn which was to be offered. For it is to be considered that they did not offer this corn in the ear, or by a sheaf or handful, but as Josephus, iii. 10, affirms, and may be gathered from Lev 2:14-16, purged from the chaff, and dried, and beaten out, and, some add, ground into meal, and sifted into fine flour; though this may be doubted of, because the meat-offering attending upon this was of fine flour, Lev 23:13, and because this offering is said to be of green ears of corn dried, &c., Lev 2:14.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto…
Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them,.... What is next observed, it being incumbent on them to do what is enjoined:
when ye be come into the land which I give unto you: the land of Canaan, which God had given by promise to their fathers and to them, and which they were now going to inherit: as yet they were in a wilderness, where there were no sowing nor reaping, nor any harvest; so that the following law, though now given, could not take place till they came into the land of Canaan:
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and shall reap the harvest thereof; the barley harvest, which was about this time, the month Nisan, and which had the name Abib, from the barley being then in the ear, see Exo 9:31; for the wheat harvest was not till seven weeks after:
then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest; to with it as after directed: this is called an omer in the text, which was the tenth part of an ephah, Exo 16:36; and so Jarchi interprets it here; according to the Jewish writers, when the sheaf was reaped, the corn was beat out and winnowed, and dried by the fire, and then ground in a mill, and an omer, or a tenth part of an ephah of the flour of it was taken, and oil and frankincense put upon it, an handful of which being put upon the altar, the rest was the priest's; and with this pretty much agrees the account Josephus gives, who says, on the second day of unleavened bread, which is the sixteenth (day of Nisan), of the fruits they have reaped they take a part; for they do not touch them before, accounting it just to honour God first, from whom they receive the plenty of these things; and bring the firstfruits of the barley after this manner, having dried the handful of ears, and bruised them, and cleansed them from the bran, they bring to the altar a tenth part to God, and casting one handful of it on the altar, they leave the rest for the use of the priests; and from thence forward it is lawful to reap publicly and privately (k): this has been in some part imitated by the Heathens: the Egyptians, who ascribe the invention of the fruits of the earth, particularly wheat and barley, to Isis and Osiris, in memory of it, and as a testimony of their gratitude for it, at the time of harvest, bring an handful of the first ears of corn, and beating themselves near them, call upon Isis; and in some cities, at the feast of Isis, vessels of wheat and barley were carried about in great pomp, as Diodorus Siculus (l) relates.
(k) Antiqu. l. 3. c. 10. sect. 5. (l) Bibliothec. l. 1. p. 13.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain An omer - They did not offer this corn…
An omer - They did not offer this corn in the ear, or by a sheaf or handful, but, as Josephus, 3. 10 affirms, and may be gathered from chap. ii, 14, 15, 16, purged from the chaff, and dryed, and beaten out.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Lev 23:10. When ye come into the land, &c.…
Lev 23:10. When ye come into the land, &c. — In the wilderness they sowed no corn, and therefore could not be obliged by this precept till they came into Canaan. And shall reap the harvest — Begin to reap, as the sense shows, and is explained Deu 16:9. Then ye shall bring a sheaf — Or handful, as the margin has it; but in the Hebrew it is omer.
And they did not offer this corn in the ear, or by a sheaf, or handful, but, as Josephus affirms, and may be gathered from Lev 2:14-16, purged from the chaff, dried, and beaten out.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Land of Chanaan, at which time these feasts began…
Land of Chanaan, at which time these feasts began to be observed. (Menochius) See Leviticus ii. 14. --- Before the harvest commenced, first-fruits were offered to the Lord. A gomer containing about three pints of barley was given to the priests, by the nation at large, as each individual was not bound to make a particular solemn offering. The judges deputed three men to gather this barley on the evening of the 15th Nisan, where the neighbourhood assembled near Jerusalem. It was gathered by them in three different fields, after having been thrice assured that the sun was set, and that they had leave to reap, in answer to their triple demands on each head. Then they placed the ears in three boxes, which they brought to the court of the sanctuary, and having ground the barley, and poured a log of oil and an handful of incense upon it, presented it to the priest, who heaving it in the form of a cross, threw as much as he could hold in his hand upon the altar, and kept the rest for himself. (Josephus, [Antiquities?] iii. 10; &c. Private people offered also in kind or in money their first-fruits, or between the 40th and the 60th part of what their land produced. This custom is almost as ancient as the world, (Genesis iv. 3,) and we may say that it forms a part of natural religion, which all nations have observed. Porphyrius esteems it an impiety to neglect it. He says that the Thoes, living on the borders of Thrace, were in a moment destroyed, because they offered neither sacrifices nor first-fruits. (De Abstin. ii. 7.) The ancient Romans and Greeks were very punctual in this respect. (Pliny, xviii. 20.) Those officers who collected this first-fruits among the latter were styled Parasites. Many of the festivals among the heathens, occurred at the end of harvest. (Aristotle, ad Nicom. viii.) The Jews might reap their wheat, but they could not taste it, before they had offered the first-fruits, at Pentecost. (Chap. xxiii. 17; Exodus xxiii. 16.) --- Of ears. Hebrew homor, or gomer, "a sheaf," denotes also a measure, which was called an assaron, containing almost three pints.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain THE SHEAF OF FIRST FRUITS. (Lev 23:9-14)
THE SHEAF OF FIRST FRUITS. (Lev 23:9-14)
ye shall bring a sheaf of the first-fruits of your harvest unto the priest--A sheaf, literally, an omer, of the first-fruits of the barley harvest. The barley being sooner ripe than the other grains, the reaping of it formed the commencement of the general harvest season. The offering described in this passage was made on the sixteenth of the first month, the day following the first Passover Sabbath, which was on the fifteenth (corresponding to the beginning of our April); but it was reaped after sunset on the previous evening by persons deputed to go with sickles and obtain samples from different fields. These, being laid together in a sheaf or loose bundle, were brought to the court of the temple, where the grain was winnowed, parched, and bruised in a mortar. Then, after some incense had been sprinkled on it, the priest waved the sheaf aloft before the Lord towards the four different points of the compass, took a part of it and threw it into the fire of the altar--all the rest being reserved to himself. It was a proper and beautiful act, expressive of dependence on the God of nature and providence--common among all people, but more especially becoming the Israelites, who owed their land itself as well as all it produced to the divine bounty. The offering of the wave-sheaf sanctified the whole harvest (Rom 11:16). At the same time, this feast had a typical character, and pre-intimated the resurrection of Christ (Co1 15:20), who rose from the dead on the very day the first-fruits were offered.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain SHEAF OF FIRSTFRUITS, Lev_23:9-14.
SHEAF OF FIRSTFRUITS, Lev_23:9-14.
10. When ye… come into the land — This verse plainly indicates a state of expectancy suited to a sojourning people looking forward to a permanent home. It shows that the Levitical code was given in the wilderness, and was not a fabrication of a later period.
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Ye shall bring a sheaf — This command is not addressed to each tiller of the soil, but to the whole nation. It was the custom for a deputation of the Sanhedrim to go forth into some field near Jerusalem on the eve of the festival and tie the standing stalks of grain in bunches, and then cut enough for a sheaf with great formality, and, in the most public manner, carry it to the temple, and give it to the priest to be waved before the Lord. It was threshed, winnowed, bruised, roasted, mixed with oil, sprinkled with frankincense, waved by the priest in all directions, and eaten by ceremonially pure priests, after a handful had been thrown on the altar-fire. Then the harvesting might lawfully be done. Josephus tells us that the sheaf was barley. Barley ripens about the middle of April; wheat ripens in Palestine two or three weeks later. (Robinson’s Palestine, 2:263, 278.)
Firstfruits… unto the priest — The revenue from this source was nearly two per cent. of the entire produce of the field. See note on Lev_2:14. The sheaf was only a representative of the forthcoming abundance of firstfruits of all kinds. The pious Hebrew could not relish any thing which he did not share with Jehovah. He was thought of first. His portion was offered first. How this rebukes the hurried Bible-reading, the hasty prayers, the doled-out ministerial support, and the reluctant and niggardly beneficence of many professed Christians with whom self is first and Christ is last!
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (10) When ye be come into the land.—This is…
(10) When ye be come into the land.—This is the third of the four instances in Leviticus where a law is given prospectively, having no immediate bearing on the condition of the people of Israel. (See Lev_19:23.)
Then ye shall bring a sheaf of the first-fruits of your harvest.—Better, ye shall bring the first-fruit omer of your harvest. The omer had to be from the best and ripest standing corn of a field near Jerusalem. The measure of an omer was of the meal obtained from the barley offering. Hence three seahs = one ephah, or ten omers, were at first gathered in the following manner :—“Delegates from the Sanhedrim went into the field nearest to Jerusalem a day before the festival, and tied together the ears in bundles whilst still fastened to the ground.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Vers. 10, 11. The beginning of harvest.
Vers. 10, 11. The beginning of harvest.
Advantage was taken of the long sojourn in the wilderness to promulgate and instruct the people in the Law, that they might be ready to execute its commandments as soon as full opportunity was afforded by a residence in a settled country. To dwell upon such future observances could not but strengthen the faith of the people in God"s intention to bring them eventually into the promised land. Of all the anticipations connected with that land, the most pleasing was the prospect of seeing the golden grain standing in the fields inviting the reaper"s sickle.
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I THE RECOGNITION OF GOD AS THE GIVER OF ALL GOOD GIFTS.
1. Here he is recognized as the God of providence, whose kind hand enriches man with the fruits of earth, causing the seed to germinate, and perfecting and ripening it with sun, air, and rain. Israel thus rebuked the folly of surrounding nations, who deified the earth as a personal goddess; and. the conceptions of the modern materialist who refuses to see in nature any trace of an overruling Deity, and of the pantheist who identifies God with his works, may be similarly reproved. And if the blessings received from Providence are to be acknowledged, surely the same argument wilt apply to all the many favours, temporal and spiritual, that stream upon us as the children of God. In fact, what have we of intellectual, physical, or propertied endowment that did not proceed from him?
2. Recognized by the congregation as a whole. Family, corporate, national religion is distinct in a sense from individual worship, and God may honour the one as such apart from the particular merits of the other. The entire body ought, however, to resemble the component units; otherwise there is felt to be an incongruity that mocks the Being whom we intend to magnify. The Americans have shown that, apart from what is called State religion, there may be hearty national recognition of God.
3. The general does not exclude the personal acknowledgment of God"s goodness. In Lev_2:14 are found regulations respecting the presentation of free-will individual firstfruit offerings. The service of the sanctuary should stimulate and not serve as a substitute for private prayer and praise. Let the congregational dedication be seconded by a personal self-surrender to the glory of God.
II THE METHOD OF ACKNOWLEDGMENT.
1. An offering brought to the Lord, viz. a sheaf of barley, which is "waved" by the priest, the symbolical act indicative of surrender of property to God. By returning a portion of what was originally bestowed, God"s proprietorship and man"s stewardship are signified in fitting manner. Each Church and family should pay its tithe to the Lord, separating some of its members to religious work.
2. Such an offering may provide for the support of God"s appointed servants. This sheaf was not consumed upon the altar, but was for the benefit of the priests. Those who by reason of exclusive devotion to the altar cannot find leisure to sow and reap, must be remembered by the people in whose behalf they labour. To assist the servants of Christ is to render help to the Master himself. Let the wealthy in the receipt of their dividends think upon the men who are their representatives in Christian effort. The division of labour must not allow one field of industry to be entirely isolated from the rest.
3. Other offerings naturally accompany the particular presentation. The one food reminds of other blessings, and so, besides the firstfruit sheaf, there are brought a burnt offering, a meat offering, and a drink offering, constituting a festal sacrifice. One gift prepares the way for another, opens the door so that a presentation of a different kind may follow. He who sets apart a portion of time for God is not likely to stop there, but will contribute money and influence likewise.
III THE PRIORITY OF GOD"S CLAIM TO HONOUR.
1. It precedes our own enjoyment. No bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears must be tasted till Jehovah has been duly acknowledged as the bountiful Giver. The rent must be paid ere we can settle down to comfortable possession of the house. Men think they can without impropriety reverse this order, attending first to their own needs and pleasures, and then to God"s requirements. In two ways they err they dishonour their Maker, and they fail to hallow the enjoyment of their daily food and privileges by the happy consciousness that a portion has been previously dedicated to God. To acknowledge our indebtedness is to send us back rejoicing to our dwellings.
2. It is not right to wait until the whole amount of blessing has been reaped. At the very beginning of harvest this ceremony occurs, consecrating the harvest toil, ensuring the favour of God upon the remainder. Men who delay an offering until they know the exact amount of their savings, are likely to find the total less than they hoped. It is well to give in faith, seeing quite sufficient reason already to evoke a testimony of gratitude. "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." For the first convert in a place that seems teeming with promise of fruitfulness, we would at once give thanks. Ere the multitudes of happy dead can be raised and gathered into the heavenly garner, Jesus Christ is risen and become the Firstfruits of them that deep. His appearance before God as the Perfect Offering guarantees an ample blessed harvest. S.R.A.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Wave the sheaf.
Lev_23:10-11
Wave the sheaf.
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The first-fruits
The design of these festivals was two-fold: they were eucharistic or commemorative, and they were also typical or prophetic. This ordinance is not a distinct festival, but a ceremony observed during the feast of unleavened bread, as the Paschal Feast is sometimes called, from the fact that during the seven days through which it lasted the children of Israel were commanded to put away leaven out of their houses. It was observed annually with great solemnity. Certain persons were deputed by the Sanhedrin to go out into the fields and procure a sheaf of the newly-ripened corn, which was then carried into the temple preceded by oxen crowned with garlands, and other tokens of national rejoicing. There can be no doubt that this observance had a moral bearing on the people of the time. It was a solemn recognition, on the part of the whole nation, of Him who was the Lord of the harvest, and an appropriate ascription of praise to Him for His goodness in giving the fruits of the earth in their due season. But we are now to inquire into its typical or Christian import; and--
I. Here we have at once a clue in the day on which this ceremony was observed. It was to be waved on the morrow after the Sabbath, that is, of course, the Jewish Sabbath; or, in other words, it was to be presented on the first day of the week, the Lords day--the day on which Jesus rose from the dead, and became, as St. Paul says, in evident allusion to the ordinance, the first-fruits of them that slept (1Co_15:20). To this fundamental event, then, the offering of the wave-sheaf refers; it is a type of the resurrection of the Saviour. But there is a farther and more intimate agreement of the day. It was not only the first day of the week, but it was the first day of the same week of the Jewish ecclesiastical year as that on which the Saviour rose. When we refer to the fifteenth and sixteenth verses of this chapter we read an account of the pentecostal feast, and we find that the period of fifty days, from which it derives its name, is reckoned from this very day.
II. Let us, then, proceed to examine the suitability of this type and its application to this important subject; and--
1. The first-fruits hallowed the harvest from whence it was taken. It removed the impediment which stood opposed to its being gathered; the ceremonial impurity, if I may so say, which was attached to it previous to the waving of the sheaf before the Lord, until which time it was unlawful to make use of it. The prohibition on this head was express (Lev_23:14). There was, then, you perceive, an imputed uncleanness attached to the harvest before the offering of the first-fruits, but which, when the sheaf was presented, was done away; and thus it is written, he (the priest) shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted for you (Lev_23:11). Now this significantly exhibits the bearing of the Saviours resurrection upon the justification of His people. The relation that the first-fruits sustained to the harvest the same does Jesus sustain to those that believe in Him--they are the harvest in respect to Him. His resurrection was necessary in order to our justification before God. It is on this the argument of the fifteenth chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians depends. And thus also he writes in another place, He was delivered for our offences, and raised again for our justification (Rom_4:25). Our justification depends on the resurrection of Jesus. You will easily understand this when you call to mind the character in which He died. He was crucified as a sinner, under the imputation of His peoples sins; God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, He laid on Him the iniquity of us all. It were utterly impossible that He should be set free while any portion of the debt He undertook to pay remained undischarged. We know the issue of the trial; His work was amply sufficient to discharge the debt He had taken on Him. In the power of His own essential righteousness He burst asunder the bands of death. The law had no further claim to urge or penalty to exact; and therefore the Saviour had power and right to take His life again. And rising in the character of the accepted offering He became the Author of eternal salvation to all them that obey Him. He is waved before the Lord to be accepted for us.
2. The first-fruits was the earnest of the coming harvest. It was a pledge that the harvest would be gathered; that it had escaped all the vicissitudes of the climate and was now ripe for the sickle. And such was the resurrection of the Saviour to His people. He is the first-fruits of them that slept. The fact that He has risen from the dead secures to us the hope that He shall rise. The resurrection of the Saviour is the guarantee which God has given us of the resurrection of his people. Does any one feel a doubt upon this subject? Does it seem a thing impossible that God should raise the dead? We appeal to the fact--the historical fact, established upon evidence which no other fact can boast of, that Jesus is raised from the dead. The faith which realises this fact gives to the soul the blessed persuasion that He who has raised up the Lord Jesus shall also raise us up by Jesus. Jesus stands to us in the relation of our covenant Head. As by virtue of our connection with the first Adam we are subject to death, so by virtue of our connection with the second Adam we are made partakers of His life and immortality which we derive from Him.
III. The sheaf of first-fruits was a sample of the harvest. When the children of Israel looked upon it they beheld a specimen of the crop from whence it was taken and of which it was itself a part. And this reminds us of another light in which we may contemplate the resurrection of our Redeemer, as affording us a sample or specimen of our own. What was resurrection unto Jesus? It was the resuscitation of His (lead body, the same body which was laid in the grave. But in what power did He rise? Was it in the power of animal life, such as that with which our mortal bodies are animated--the life of nature--of the flesh? Oh, no, the body of Jesus when it left the grave left it not, as did that of Lazarus, still the subject of weakness and mortality. It arose in the power of immortality, in the energy of the very life of God. It arose the same, and yet another; another, because animated with another life--His own eternal, incorruptible, spiritual life. He was put to death in the flesh and quickened by the Spirit. Such was the resurrection unto Jesus, and such shall it be also to His people--For we know that when He shall appear we shall be like Him. It had been but a pitiful prospect, that of resurrection, were it merely restoration to such bodies as those which we have now. But, blessed be God, such is not the hope He has set before us--it is one which is full, not of mortality, but of immortality (2Co_5:2). If humanity, in the person of the Saviour, is quickened with the life of God, it is in order that the same life may be imparted to His people. It is even now imparted to the soul. Whenever a sinner believes in Jesus, and by faith is converted to God, there is a resurrection. This faith is the result of the operation of the Spirit of the living God, working in the same manner as when, by His mighty energy, He raised the lifeless body of the Saviour from the dead (Eph_2:18-22). And this life shall be hereafter imparted to the body. The same Spirit which has operated on the believers soul and raised him from the death of sin unto the life of righteousness shalt, in the resurrection morning, descend upon the cold remains of his lifeless corpse, and shall animate it with new, with spiritual, everlasting life (Rom_8:9-11). Such, then, will be the resurrection of the dead--such is the blessed prospect which is set before the Church of Christ. That which is sown in corruption, in dishonour, in weakness, shall be raised in incorruption, in glory, in power--no longer an impediment to the soul, but the vehicle through which its immortal energies shall be consecrated to the praise and service of the Lord.
IV. When the first-fruits were offered the harvest was at hand; and not only at hand, but also expected and wished for; all thoughts in Israel were now directed to it; the wave-sheaf was the certain indication of its approach. And this reminds us of the position which we should take in regard ¢o the coming of the Lord and the resurrection morning: we should be in the attitude of expectation, of joyous expectation, of that day. There is something erroneous and unscriptural in our habit of thought upon this subject. We are accustomed to admit the truth of the resurrection, but we do not realise its practical importance, we do not embrace it as a motive for action; it does not exercise a practical and habitual influence upon us. And why? Because we put it at a distance from us; when we think of the subject at all we regard it as something that is to take place at some very remote period of time, before which all that is important to our eternal condition will be necessarily fixed for ever. Hence the little influence which this blessed prospect exercises on our lives. How different the manner in which it is spoken of in the Scriptures! The effect of apostolic preaching was to lead men to look for and hasten unto the coming of the day of God (2Pe_3:12). In fact, an important feature of Christian character, as described in the New Testament, is the expectation of the coming of the Lord to reap the harvest of the world. (J. B. Lowe, B. A.)
The wave-sheaf typical of Christ
I. WE shall endeavour to show that this sheaf of the first-fruits was a type of christ, as to the matter of it, both in respect to quality and quantity. With respect to quality it was a sheaf of barley, as to its quantity it was a single sheaf, or, however, such a quantity as only one omer of barley was taken from it and waved before the Lord by the priest. Now this being of barley, which is a mean sort of grain, may denote the mean estate of our Lord Jesus Christ in His humiliation. But this sort of grain, though mean, was used for food; so Christ, in His mean estate of humiliation, is suitable food for faith. He is held forth in the everlasting gospel as food for the faith of His people under the character of Christ crucified. So much for the quality of this sheaf of the firstfruits: it was of barley. Next, its quantity. It was but one--one sheaf that was waved--one omer, which was the tenth part of an ephah. It was as much as a man could eat in one day. Christ in many respects is but one. One with His Divine Father in nature and essence. Christ is one in His person, though He has two natures--human and Divine. This is the great mystery of godliness, God manifest in the flesh. The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. Christ is but one in His office as Mediator, the one Mediator between God and man, the Man Christ Jesus, who has interposed between God and man, and made up the breach between them, who is our Peace, and by whom the way is opened for us to God. He is the one Lord, as the apostle says, One Lord, one faith, one baptism. He is the only Head of the Church whom the Father has given to be head over all things unto it--a Head of eminence to rule over and guide and protect it. A Head of influence, as the natural head is to the body from which it receives its nourishment and increases. And He is the only Husband of the Church--Thy Maker is thine Husband, the Lord of Hosts is His name. Thus in many respects Christ is but one, as this sheaf was. Bat then, though this sheaf was but one, it had many stalks, many ears of corn, and many grains in it. And so Christ, though He is but one in various respects, as we have seen, yet in Him there is a complication of blessings of grace. Jehovah has presented Him from all eternity in the council and covenant of grace and peace with all the blessings of grace and goodness for His people; He has put them all into His hands, and blessed them with all spiritual blessings in Him. Moreover, He has not only a complication of all blessings in Him; but as this sheaf of the firstfruits represented the whole harvest, and was a pledge and earnest of it, so Christ the Sheaf of the firstfruits represents all His people. They are all gathered together under one head in Him, and when He was crucified they were with Him; when He was buried they were with Him; when He rose again from the dead they rose again with Him; and are now sat down in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. And besides, as the sheaf of the firstfruits had a connection with all the rest, so He with all the people of God. It was for their sakes He suffered, died, and rose from the dead.
II. It was so with respect to what was done unto it and done with it. First it was reaped. And this was done in a very solemn and pompous manner according to the account the Jews give of it, which is this: The messengers of the Sanhedrin went out (from Jerusalem over the brook Kidron to the fields near it) on the evening of the feast, and bound the standing corn in bundles that so it might be more easily reaped, and the inhabitants of all the neighbouring villages gathered together there that it might be reaped in great pomp, and when it was dark, one said to them, Is it sunset? They said, Yes. With this sickle shall I reap it? They said, Yes. In this basket shall I put it? They said, Yes. If on a Sabbath-day he said to them, On this Sabbath-day shall I do it? They said, Yes. These questions were put and answered three times; then they reaped it, and put it into the basket, and brought it to the court. Now this reaping of the sheaf of first-fruits was an emblem of the apprehending of our Lord Jesus Christ by the Jews, or by officers which they sent to take Him. They attempted it once and again before they accomplished it. We are told in the seventh chapter of John that, at the Feast of Tabernacles they sought to lay hold of Him; but His time was not yet come. The very officers were dispirited, and when they were called to an account by the chief priests and Pharisees for not bringing Him they said, Never man spake like this Man. They could not take Him. But when the set time was come He was easily apprehended by them. And as we are told they bound the ears of corn, that they might be the more easily reaped, so they bound Christ, and brought Him to the high priest. This was done at night when it was dark. And as the sheaf was reaped by a deputation of men sent by the grand Sanhedrin at Jerusalem, so our Lord was apprehended by officers sent by chief priests and Pharisees, who were assembled together in council as the great Sanhedrin of the nation. Likewise the circumstance of the sheaf of firstfruits being reaped near the brook Kidron exactly agrees with the apprehending of Christ near that brook. When this sheaf was reaped, then it was brought to the court; so Christ, when He was first apprehended, was brought to Annas, then to Caiaphas, then to the court, where, after His arraignment and trial, He was condemned to death. This sheaf being brought to court was threshed, winnowed, dried, and parched by the fire, and ground in a mill, all which set forth in a lively manner the dolorous sufferings of our Lord. The sheaf being threshed was expressive of His being smitten by men, of His being buffeted and scourged by the order of the Roman governor by the soldiers, all in perfect agreement with the prophecy that they should smite the Judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek; that He should give His back to the smiters, and His cheeks to them which plucked off the hair. This sheaf of the firstfruits as it was beaten out so it was dried and parched by the fire, which may be considered as expressive of the wrath of God which Christ endured, which is compared to fire, and by which (as it is expressed in the Psalms concerning Him) His strength was dried up like a potsherd. It was ground also in a mill (as was the manna, another type of Christ), which was another circumstance that pointed out the sufferings of the Redeemer, who was wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities. Upon the omer of flour that was taken oil and frankincense were poured, which may denote the acceptableness of Christ in His sufferings, death, and sacrifice to His Divine Father. He gave Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice unto God for a sweet-smelling savour. And then the waving of this by the priest before the Lord seems to denote His resurrection from the dead. It is also expressive of His connection with His people whom He represented, and whose resurrection is the pledge, earnest, and security of theirs. For as the firstfruits sanctified the rest of their harvest, represented the whole, gave a right to the ingathering of it, and insured it, so our Lords resurrection from the dead sanctified and secured the resurrection of His people. Because He lives they shall live also, or as sure as His dead body arouse, so sure shall theirs rise also.
III. What were the concomitants of it? What accompanied the waving the firstfruits were a burnt-offering and a meat-offering. The first of these was an eminent type of Christ, as all the burnt-offerings were. It was a lamb--a figure of Christ the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. A lamb without blemish--a type of the immaculate Lamb of God. This was a burnt-offering, so a fit emblem of the dolorous sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ. Then there was a meat-offering which always went along with this, which was also typical of Christ. From hence we see the great advantages we receive from Christ. He is the firstfruits, and all our fruit is from Him. And therefore many are the obligations we lay under to give thanks unto His name and not forget His benefits. We ought, through the constraints of His love, to live to Him who died for us. (John Gill, D. D.)
Lessons of the harvest
It is easy to see the significance of this rite to the Israelites. God was to be associated with everything. No phase of duty or of enjoyment; no enterprise--social, commercial, or aggressive; no festivities to celebrate triumphs over enemies, to mark national progress or prestige, or to rejoice over the reward of industry, but God was to be acknowledged, honoured, and worshipped, His blessing sought, His goodness remembered, His theocratic rule over them extolled. We have had to unlearn much that the Jew taught his posterity, and the world through them; we have outgrown much that was as sacred to the Israelitish nation as the presence of God Himself; the world has had to recast and remould its creeds of the relation of the Divine Father to His human children; but we have not outgrown either the propriety or the necessity of associating God with the government of the world and with the supply of humanitys needs.
I. The bountiful kindness of god in supplying the wants of his creatures, Smatterings of science have a tendency to divorce God from the providential supply of the worlds wants. We too commonly think of our daily supplies as the results of physical laws. We say the earth yieldeth her increase; Nature supplieth those things that are necessary for mans sustenance; light and heat, warmth and moisture are the great factors in the worlds bounty. Let us grant all that, but who is behind it? To me the supply of the worlds daily bread is a standing proof--not only of a self-existent and ever active Deity, but of a Divine Fatherhood--ever thinking, ever acting, ever providing for the wants of all His children.
II. The necessary connection between the divine benevolence and human effort. Whatever the Divine rule, whatever the Divine love that broods over this poor earth, making it to yield its fruits in abundance, the world without man would be a vast howling wilderness. It is God plus man that enriches the earth and makes it to bring forth abundantly. And thus it is that toil becomes dignified, that the sweat of labour is Gods crown of approval upon the human brow. Every man who is putting Gods gifts into such conditions that they become greater gifts; every man who is preparing the soil for the seed and the seed for the soil; every man who by any kind of industry is helping God to fulfil His purposes in making the earth provide for the wants of man, is a servant of God, however low and however humble the man may be. To be idle is to be outside the purpose and economy of God; to be lazy is to be out of harmony with the laws of the universe
III. The inevitable relation between the seed-time and the harvest. The man who wanted a harvest of wheat knew that to effect such a result he must sow wheat. It is Gods law that it should be so. Every harvest is the evolution of some past seed time. Human life and human destiny are evolved, not by chance, not by miracle, not by the Divine caprice, but by the law of cause and effect, of precedent and consequent. Your present is the outcome of some past; all the good that you enjoy is the harvest of your own or others sowing; your future will be the consequent of this present. Human conduct is the factor of human destiny; the sowing of time determines the harvest of eternity. (W. J. Hocking.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain first fruits
first fruits
The feast of Firstfruits, Lev 23:10-14. This feast is typical of resurrection--first of Christ, then of "them that are Christ’s at His coming"; 1Co 15:23; 1Th 4:13-18.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 23:10-14 Just as the burned portion of each sacrifice…
23:10-14 Just as the burned portion of each sacrifice represented the whole offering and the tithe symbolized that all of a person’s money belonged to God, so also the first portions of each harvest, or first crops, symbolized the entire harvest, and even the land itself (25:23), as belonging to the Lord. In the barley harvest, the first portions were offered as part of the Festival of Unleavened Bread (23:6, 10-12). The first portions of the wheat harvest were offered during the Festival of Harvest (23:15-21; Exod 34:22). These gifts to God recognized God’s prior gifts to Israel (see Lev 2:1). The entire offering of first crops became the property and food of God’s representatives, the priests (see 2:14-16).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.