“ ‘You shall count from the next day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. The next day after the seventh Sabbath you shall count fifty days; and you shall offer a new meal offering to Yahweh.
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Leviticus 23:15-16 sits inside this longer paragraph.
“ ‘You shall count from the next day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. The next day after the seventh Sabbath you shall count fifty days; and you shall offer a new meal offering to Yahweh. 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. You shall present with the bread seven lambs without defect a year old, one young bull, and two rams. They shall be a burnt offering to Yahweh, with their meal offering and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of a sweet aroma to Yahweh. You shall offer one male goat for a sin offering, and two male lambs a year old for a sacrifice of peace offerings. The priest shall wave them with the bread of the first fruits for a wave offering before Yahweh, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to Yahweh for the priest. You shall make proclamation on the same day that there shall be a holy convocation to you. You shall do no regular work. This is a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.
Parallel Translations
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“ ‘You shall count from the next day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed.
The next day after the seventh Sabbath you shall count fifty days; and you shall offer a new meal offering to Yahweh.
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And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete:
Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD.
Show all 3 translations
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And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the day of rest, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the waving; seven weeks shall there be complete;
even unto the morrow after the seventh week shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall present a new meal-offering unto the LORD.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Commandments (1)
The laws of the Torah, each cited and shown as a primary source.
Cross-references (7)
- Leviticus 23:10-11 (v15) “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…
- Exodus 34:22 (v15) “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 25:8 (v15) “ ‘You shall count off seven Sabbaths of years, seven times seven years; and there shall be to you the days of seven Sabbaths of years,…
- Deuteronomy 16:9-10 (v15) 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…
- Acts 2:1 (v16) Now when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all with one accord in one place.
Show all 6 cross-references
- Numbers 28:26 (vv15–16) “ ‘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…
6 distinct cross-references across this passage (7 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v15 That is the seventh day after the first Sabbath…
That is the seventh day after the first Sabbath of the Passover.
Or, weeks.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv15–16 Lev 23:15 And ye shall count unto you from…
Lev 23:15 And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete:
Ver. 15. Seven Sabbaths.] That is, seven weeks. The Sabbath is queen of all the days of the week; and therefore carries the name of the whole week.
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 On vv15–16 From the morrow after the sabbath, i.e. from the…
From the morrow after the sabbath, i.e. from the sixteenth day of the month, and the second day of the feast of unleavened bread inclusively. See on Lev 23:11.
Seven sabbaths, i.e. weeks, which are so called, by a synecdoche, from the chief day of it, both here and Luk 18:12; Act 20:7; 1Co 16:2.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v15 Here is the institution of the feast of pentecost,…
Here is the institution of the feast of pentecost, or weeks, as it is called (Deu 16:9), because it was observed fifty days, or seven weeks, after the passover. It is also called the feast of harvest, Exo 23:16. For as the presenting of the sheaf of first-fruits was an introduction to the harvest, and gave them liberty to put in the sickle, so they solemnized the finishing of their corn-harvest at this feast. 1. Then they offered a handful of ears of barley, now they offered two loaves of wheaten bread, Lev 23:17. This was leavened. At the passover they ate unleavened bread, because it was in remembrance of the bread they ate when they came out of Egypt, which was unleavened; but now at pentecost it was leavened, because it was an acknowledgment of God's goodness to them in their ordinary food, which was leavened. 2. With that sheaf of first-fruits they offered only one lamb for a burnt-offering, but with these loaves of first-fruits they offered seven lambs, two rams, and one bullock, all for a burnt-offering, so giving glory to God, as the Lord of their land and the Lord of their harvest, by whose favour they lived and to whose praise they ought to live. They offered likewise a kid for a sin-offering, so taking shame to themselves as unworthy of the bread they ate, and imploring pardon for their sins, by which they had forfeited their harvest-mercies, and which they had been guilty of in the receiving of them. And lastly, two lambs for a sacrifice of peace-offerings, to beg a blessing upon the corn they had gathered in, which would be neither sure nor sweet to them without that blessing, Hag 1:9. These were the only peace-offerings that were offered on the behalf of the whole congregation, and they were reckoned most holy offerings, whereas other peace-offerings were but holy. All these offerings are here appointed, Lev 23:18-20. 3. That one day was to be kept with a holy convocation, Lev 23:21. It was one of the days on which all Israel was to meet God and one another, at the place which the Lord should choose. Some suggest that whereas seven days were to make up the feast of unleavened bread there was only one day appointed for the feast of pentecost, because this was a busy time of the year with them, and God allowed them speedily to return to their work in the country. This annual feast was instituted in remembrance of the giving of the law upon mount Sinai, the fiftieth day after they came out of Egypt. That was the feast which they were told in Egypt must be observed to God in the wilderness, as a memorial of which ever after they kept this feast. But the period and perfection of this feast was the pouring out of the Spirit upon the apostles on the day of this feast (Act 2:1), in which the law of faith was given, fifty days after Christ our passover was sacrificed for us. And on that day (as bishop Patrick well expresses it) the apostles, having themselves received the first-fruits of the Spirit, begat three thousand souls, through the word of truth, and presented them, as the first-fruits of the Christian church, to God and the Lamb.
To the institution of the feast of pentecost is annexed a repetition of that law which we had before (Lev 19:9), by which they were required to leave the gleanings of their fields, and the corn that grew on the ends of the butts, for the poor, Lev 23:22. Probably it comes in here as a thing which the priests must take occasion to remind the people of, when they brought their first-fruits, intimating to them that to obey even in this small matter was better than sacrifice, and that, unless they were obedient, their offerings should not be accepted. It also taught them that the joy of harvest should express itself in charity to the poor, who must have their due out of what we have, as well as God his. Those that are truly sensible of the mercy they receive from God will without grudging show mercy to the poor.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv15–16 And ye shall count unto you from the morrow…
And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath,.... Not the seventh day sabbath in the passover week, nor the whole feast of unleavened bread, but the first day of it, which was an holy convocation, a sabbath in which no servile work was to be done, Lev 23:7; and it was from the day after this, even the sixteenth of Nisan, that the following count was to be made; so the Targum of Jonathan, after the first feast day of the passover: and Josephus (s) is very clear in it, that Pentecost, or the feast of weeks, was the fiftieth day from the sixteenth of Nisan, when the above offerings were made:
from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; which plainly points out the express day from whence the count was to begin, even on the day when the sheaf of the firstfruits of the barley harvest was offered:
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seven sabbaths shall be complete; or seven weeks, that is, forty nine days; and hence, Jarchi says, we learn that the count began from the evening, or otherwise the weeks would not be complete; and Gersom thinks the day in which the sheaf was offered is included in the days counted; for the count began from the day after the first of the passover, and lo, seven days are seven weeks of days, which make forty nine days.
(s) Antiqu. l. 3. c. 10. sect. 6.
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 On vv15–16 From the morrow - From the sixteenth day of…
From the morrow - From the sixteenth day of the month, and the second day of the feast of unleavened bread inclusively.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On v15 Verse 15. Ye shall count unto you - seven…
Verse 15. Ye shall count unto you - seven Sabbaths] That is, from the sixteenth of the first month to the sixth of the third month. These seven weeks, called here Sabbaths, were to be complete, i. e., the forty-nine days must be finished, and the next day, the fiftieth, is what, from the Septuagint, we call pentecost. See Clarke on Lu 6:1.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v15 Lev 23:15-16. From the morrow — From the sixteenth…
Lev 23:15-16. From the morrow — From the sixteenth day of the month, and the second day of the feast of unleavened bread, inclusively; seven sabbaths shall be complete — Namely, forty-nine days; unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath — Which made just fifty days; whence this feast, from a Greek word, πεντηκοστη, pentecoste, which signifies the fifteenth day, was called pentecost. Ye shall offer a new meat (or flower) offering — Another first-fruit-offering, made of wheat, which was then ripe.
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 On vv15–16 Sabbath. Not the ninth day of the week, but…
Sabbath. Not the ninth day of the week, but the first day of the Passover; from the morrow of which seven weeks or 49 days were reckoned; and the next day was Pentecost. (Menochius) --- They began, therefore, to count on the 16th of Nisan, and end on the 6th of the third month Sivan. All the intermediate days took their denomination from this second day of the Passover; so that the next Saturday was called the first sabbath after the second day; in Greek Deuteroproton, the second-first; (Luke vi. 1,) a term which had puzzled all the interpreters until Jos. Scaliger made this discovery. (Emend. 6.) The Samaritans count from the day after that sabbath which follows the Passover; so that if the festival fall on Monday, they celebrate Pentecost later than the Jews. See their Letter to Huntington. (Calmet)
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 On vv15–16 FEAST OF PENTECOST. (Lev 23:15-22)
FEAST OF PENTECOST. (Lev 23:15-22)
ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath--that is, after the first day of the passover week, which was observed as a Sabbath.
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 On vv15–16 THE FEAST OF PENTECOST, Lev_23:15-21.
THE FEAST OF PENTECOST, Lev_23:15-21.
15. From the morrow after the sabbath — There are two explanations of this sabbath. “The small minority” of writers, among whom Professor Murphy ranks himself, believe that the sabbath of the decalogue is intended, The majority, with whom we concur, understand it to be the day of holy convocation, the fifteenth of Nisan, irrespective of the day of the week on which it fell. Hence the morrow was the sixteenth. For this opinion we have the testimony of Josephus, (Antiquities, Lev_3:10; Lev_3:5,) and the fact that the passover was on a fixed day of the month in which the sabbath of the decalogue is movable. If the morrow after the sabbath was the sixteenth, and the day of holy convocation was on the fifteenth, as we infer from Lev_23:6-7, the identity of these days is inevitable. Professor Murphy assumes without proof that the first day of Lev_23:7 is different from the fifteenth of Lev_23:6. That other days than the seventh are called sabbaths is proved by Lev_23:32, and Lev_16:31, where the day of atonement is so styled. For additional arguments see Concluding Note, (2.) The Seventy, Josephus, Philo, and the Talmud, understand that the first passover day is called a sabbath, and that it is identical with the morrow after the passover in Jos_5:11. See note.
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Seven sabbaths shall be complete — The Syriac version has seven weeks, in which the Seventy, Gesenius, Furst, and Kiel concur. The New Testament continues this translation in the Greek, in Mat_28:1, and Mar_16:2.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On v15 15. the morrow after the sabbath] See on Lev_23:11.
15. the morrow after the sabbath] See on Lev_23:11.
15–22. The Feast of Weeks (mainly H). Cp. Exo_34:22; Deu_16:10.
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The name is taken from the seven weeks, which, as the average duration of harvest time, separated this feast from that of unleavened bread.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv15–16 (15) Ye shall count . . . from the…
(15) Ye shall count . . . from the morrow after the sabbath.—That is, from the day following the first day of holy convocation, which was a rest day. As this was the fifteenth of Nisan, the counting began from the sixteenth (see Lev_23:11), the day on which the omer of the first-fruits was presented to the Lord.
Seven sabbaths shall be complete.—Better, seven weeks shall be complete. That is, seven entire weeks, making forty-nine days. The expression sabbath denotes here a week, hence the parallel passage substitutes the word week, viz., “seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee” (Deu_16:9), The same usage is to be found in the New Testament. Thus the passage rendered in the Authorised version, “the first day of the week,” is “the first day of the sabbath” (Mat_28:1); and “I fast twice in the week” (Luk_18:12), is, “I fast twice in the sabbath.” In accordance with the injunction here given, the Jews to the present day begin to count the forty-nine days at the conclusion of the evening service on the second day of Passover, and pronounce the following blessing every evening of the forty-nine days: “Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who hast sanctified us with thy commandments, and hast enjoined us to count the omer. This is the first day of the omer. May it please thee, O Lord our God, and the God of our fathers, to rebuild the sanctuary speedily in our days, and give us our portion in thy Law.
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 On v15 Vers. 15-21. The Feast of Pentecost lasted but one…
Vers. 15-21. The Feast of Pentecost lasted but one day. From the morrow after the sabbath that is, from the second day of Unleavened Breadthe day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths, i.e., weeks, were to be counted, making forty-nine days, and on the day following the completion of the seventh sabbath (meaning here the seventh week), the festival was to be held, whence its later name of Pentecost, or Fiftieth-day Feast. It would have fallen about the beginning of June a season of the year which would have made the journey to Jerusalem easy. The characteristic offering of the day was that of two wave loaves of two tenth deals... of fine flour... baken with leaven.
These loaves were regarded as the firstfruits unto the Lord of the wheat harvest, although the greater part of the crop had now been reaped and housed. They were to be leavened and brought out of your habitations; that is, they were to consist of such bread as was ordinarily used in daily life. They were made out of ears of wheat selected and cut like the barley in the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and then threshed and ground in the temple court. Each loaf contained an omer of flour, amounting to about five pints, and would therefore have weighed about five pounds. With these were offered two lambs, which were waved before the Lord by being led backwards and forwards before the tabernacle or the temple, and then the loaves were waved also, but they were not placed upon the altar, as they were leavened. The twentieth verse, which is somewhat obscure in the Authorized Version, should be punctuated as follows. And the priest shall wave them (the two lambs) with the bread of the firstfruits (the two loaves) for a wave offering before the Lord; with the two lambs they (the loaves) shall be holy to the Lord for the priest. The other sacrifices to be offered on this day are described in the text as seven lambs,... one young bullock, and two rams... for a burnt offering unto the Lord, with their meat offering, and their drink offerings,... and one kid of the goats for a sin offering. In the Book of Numbers (Num_28:27) they are stated to be "seven lambs," "two young bullocks," "one ram," with meat and drink offerings, and "one kid of the goats." Seeing that in Leviticus one young bullock and two rams are commanded, and in Numbers "two young bullocks and one ram," it is reasonable to suppose that a copyist"s error has found its way into one or the other text. The feast was to be kept as a day of holy convocation, and no servile work was to be done upon it. The number of sacrifices offered by individuals who had come to Jerusalem caused the festivity to be in practice continued for several days subsequent to the festival itself.
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Vers. 15-21The Pentecost.
cf. Ac 2; also Jer_2:3 Rom_11:16; and Jam_1:18. Having found in the firstfruits a typical reference to the resurrection of Christ, we have no difficulty on the same line in finding in the harvest festival seven weeks thereafter typical reference to the harvest of the Church Of God. Primarily it was eucharistic in character, but this does not exhaust its meaning. It was exactly fifty days after the Exodus that the Law was given on Sinai, and so Pentecost was associated from the outset with the "revival of the Church of God." What happened in the Pentecost after our Lord"s last Passover was the baptism of the Holy Ghost and a revived interest in God"s holy Law.
Now, on turning to the directions about Pentecost, we find that "firstfruits "were again to be presented to the Lord, but, unlike the earlier firstfruits during the week of unleavened bread, these were to be prepared with leaven, and they were to be accompanied by a sin offering as well as burnt offerings and peace offerings. It is evident, therefore, that there is an element in the Pentecostal ritual which is not to be found in the previous ritual at all.
If Christ is typified by the first of the firstfruits presented without leaven, his people gathered out of the nations may well be typified by the second firstfruits, the accompanying leaven indicating their sinful character, notwithstanding that they are his, and the sin offering most appropriately accompanying their typical dedication.
I LET US OBSERVE THAT THE IDEA OF THE FIRSTFRUITS IS APPLIED TO THE LORD"S PEOPLE SEVERAL TIMES IN SCRIPTURE. Thus Jeremiah calls Israel "holiness unto the Lord, and the firstfruits of his increase". (Jer_2:3) The same thought reappears in Paul"s Epistle to the Romans, "If the firstfruits be holy, the lump is also holy". (Rom_11:16) James also speaks of the Lord"s children in such terms as these: "Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures". (Jam_1:18) The harvest-field of God is the world, and those who are already gathered are the firstfruits. They are so far the consecrated element in the mighty population, and in spirit are laid upon God"s altar.
II THERE SEEMS A SIGNIFICANCE IN THE TWO LOAVES. "Why," it has been said, "should the lump be divided into two parts, and not be presented whole? In order, I would venture to suggest, to set forth the two component parts of the Christian Church the Jews and Gentiles, both made one in Christ." Out of the harvest-field of the world the Lord requires two loaves to be presented, the Jews and the Gentiles, laid in their unity on his altar. Paul brings out this with great beauty in Eph_2:14-18, where the unity of Jews and Gentiles in Jesus Christ is pointed out.
III AFTER ALL, THE CONSECRATION OF THE LORD"S PEOPLE IS AN IMPERFECT THING. Christ"s consecration was perfect because sinless. Ours is imperfect and "mired with the trails of sin." Well may the firstfruits be baked with leaven; well may a sin offering be presented along with them. Our holiest acts could not stand alone, but need to be repented of. Atonement has to cover the holiest efforts of the Lord"s people.
Thus is all spiritual pride kept under, since at our very best we are "unprofitable servants.
IV THE PENTECOSTAL OUTPOURING AFTER OUR LORD"S ASCENSION PRESENTS THE REALITY OF WHICH THE RITUAL WAS THE TYPE. In this glorious ingathering there was:
1. A penitential spirit. It was for this Peter called. (Act_2:38)
2. A worldwide imitation. (Act_2:39) The promise was to those" that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
3. A separation of many from the world, that they might consecrate themselves to God. (Act_2:41)
4. A great unity of spirit. (Act_2:44-47)
It is this vivifying inspiration we all need; and may God send it soon! R.M.E.
Vers. 15-22. The Feast of Harvest.
This was the second of the three great festivals upon which all the males of Israel were required to assemble at Jerusalem. (see Exo_23:14-17 Deu_16:16) Let us consider
I THE DUTIES THEN ENJOINED UPON THE WORSHIPPERS.
1. They were to meet in holy convocation.
(1) This was intended to keep alive their interest in the service of God. Were sabbaths and public services of religion to cease, men would soon forget God.
(2) All Israel looked each other in the face. Religion is eminently social. And as these convocations were types of heavenly things, this suggested the recognitions and greetings of the future. (see Heb_12:22, Heb_12:23)
(3) On this day servile work was to cease. The teaching here is that when we congregate in heaven we shall be emancipated front the curse of toil. (comp. Gen_3:17 Rev_22:3)
2. They were to present two wave loaves.
(1) These were composed of two tenth-deals of fine flour. They were to sanctify the wheat-harvest as the sheaf of the firstfruits sanctified the barley harvest. Hence these also are called "firstfruits". (verses 17, 20 Exo_34:22)
(2) They were to be baken with leaven. As the unleavened bread of the Passover was a memorial of the haste with which they departed from Egypt, this was to express thankfulness to God for the blessings of ordinary food, together with their rest in Canaan.
(3) One loaf was to be eaten by the worshipper, while the other was God"s. That more completely given to God was divided. One portion was burnt on the altar, while the priests took the remainder. (Num_18:9-11) This explains the injunction that they should be waved along with the peace offerings. We learn here that our ordinary bread should be religiously eaten. (see 1Co_10:31)
(4) These wave loaves constituted one of three meat offerings of the whole congregation. The first was the sheaf, or omer, of the firstfruits of the barley harvest (verses 9-14). This was the second. And the third was the twelve loaves of the shewbread. (Exo_25:30 Lev_24:5-9) Could there be here a prophetic anticipation of the order of the resurrection, viz. "Christ the Firstfruits; afterwards they that are Christ"s at his coming; and, finally, the rest of the dead," destined to live again at the end of the millennial reign, when death shall be abolished? (comp. 1Co_15:23-26 Re 20)
(5) Beside the firstfruits, which were strictly national, each person had to bring his own firstfruits to the temple. (see Deu_26:1-10) God would have us ever to remember that religion is personal as well as public.
3. They were to offer sacrifices.
(1) The burnt offerings appointed were seven lambs of the first year without blemish, one young bullock, and two rams, or, as elsewhere expressed, two young bullocks and one ram. (comp. verse 18; Num_28:27) As burnt offerings were intended to expiate sins against affirmative precepts, the godly worshipper would pray during the burning, as David prayed. (Psa_19:13) The meat and drink offerings proper to burnt offerings accompanied (verse 18). These were distinct from the two tenth-deals waved to sanctify the harvest.
(2) A kid of the goats was appointed for a sin offering (verse 19). As sin offerings were to expiate sins committed in ignorance, the thoughts of the worshipper were carried forward to the Great Sin Sacrifice of Calvary.
(3) Two lambs of the first year were appointed for the peace offering. These were distinguished from those usually offered as "holy to the Lord for the priest." They were to be eaten by him before the Lord. For the meat offering which ordinarily accompanied the peace offerings, in this case the two loaves of the firstfruits were substituted (verses 19, 20).
II THE NOTES OF TIME, WITH THEIR REASONS.
1. They counted from the putting in of the sickle.
a. This, however, was not left to private option. That would have worked endless confusion; for it was a public, national, act. The Lord is a God of order. (1Co_14:40) It would have tended to will-worship. The evils of this are seen in the Romish Church. We cannot too literally abide by the letter of Divine precept.
b. It was limited to the second day of the Passover week (verses 15, 16). From this reckoning the Jews call this Feast of Harvest ( the fiftieth day. For the same reason, it is in the New Testament called the Pentecost . (Act_2:1 Act_20:16 1Co_16:8)
2. They commemorated the giving of the Law.
(1) The observance of the Passover was on the fourteenth of the first month, (Exo_12:18) having seventeen days of that month to run. To these add thirty days of the second month, and we have forty-seven days. But the Law was given on the third day after Moses came into the wilderness of Sinai, which was in the beginning of the third month. (Exo_19:1, Exo_19:10, Exo_19:11) These three days added bring the number up to fifty.
(2) Well might the Israelites have a festival of thanksgiving for the giving of the Law; for thereby they were honoured and blessed as no other nation had ever been. (Deu_4:8)
3. They anticipated the publication of the gospel.
(1) The gospel is the Law of God, published from Zion, in contradistinction to that published from Sinai. (see Isa_2:3) That publication took place "when the day of Pentecost was fully come.
(2) The fifty days were counted from the second day of the Passover week, on which the firstfruits of the barley harvest were presented (verses 15, 16). That "firstfruits" were a type of Christ in his resurrection. After that event he was seen of his disciples during forty days. The Pentecost followed exactly ten days after the Ascension. (see Luk_24:49 Act_2:1)
(3) Note, further, that the Holy Ghost was given on the first day of the week. The Paschal lamb was eaten on Thursday. The Friday on which our Lord was crucified was the first day of the Passover week. On the Saturday the firstfruits were offered up. Consequently, the Pentecost, which was the fiftieth day after, would fall upon the Sunday. Thenceforth this became "the Lord"s day," or the Christian sabbath (see Lightfoot on Ac 2).
Where gratitude is there will be goodness. Hence the injunction to care for the poor and the stranger (verse 22). This spirit of the Law is also the genius of the gospel. J.A.M.
Vers. 15-22. Piety in prosperity.
We often speak of our duty in the day of adversity, of the spirit which true piety will then manifest. It is of equal consequence that we should consider what is its rightful attitude in the hour of prosperity. When the harvest is gathered, the nation is rich; when the fruits of the field are in the garner, the husbandman is safe for another year. The time of harvest may, therefore, stand for the position of prosperity. And these verses may suggest to us that when it is well with us in our outward circumstances there should be
I GRATEFUL ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF THE HAND OF GOD. At the Feast of Pentecost two loaves, leavened, of the finest flour, the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, were waved by the priest "for a wave offering unto the Lord." The successful agriculturist is apt to say to himself, if not to others, "This is the harvest I have grown;" is disposed to congratulate himself on the excellency of his own farming. By this act of waving the presentation loaves, the Hebrew husbandman said, "I have ploughed, and sown, and weeded, and reaped, and ground, and baked, but thou, Lord, hast given the increase; thine was the sun that shone, thine the rains that full, thine the airs that blew, thine tile wondrous power that made the elements of nature work out the germination and growth and ripening of the corn: unto thy Name be the honour and the praise." Whatever may be the sphere of our activity, the character of our success, this is to be "the spirit of our mind;" we are to be ready to make grateful acknowledgment of the hand of God in all satisfying results.
II HUMILITY. "Ye shall sacrifice one kid of the goats for a sin offering" (verse 19). The people of God were, on all occasions, even the most joyful, to own their unworthiness, and to seek the forgiving favour of God. The sin offering must find a place even at the Pentecostal feast. When we are most "glad in the Lord," we do well to make mention of our frailty, our folly, our imperfection, and to ask that, for our Saviour"s sake, it may be forgiven, and we ourselves be accepted of God.
III SACRED JOY. With the burnt offering there was to be the accompanying "meat offering, and their drink offerings" (verse 18). And with the sin offering there were to be offered, "two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offerings" (verse 19). Here was a very distinct note of sacred joy. When there is harmony without, there must be songs in the soul, but these should not be without strains of sacred music which will be acceptable in the ear of God. Let the voice of joy be heard in our halls, but let us be glad "before the Lord," remembering the goodness and realizing the presence of him whose we are and whom we serve.
IV CONSECRATION. "They shall be for a burnt offering unto the Lord" (verse 18). There is no time more appropriate than the hour of increase and prosperity to renew our vows unto our God, and rededicate our whole lives to his service.
V CHARITY. (Verse 22) We must remember "the poor and the stranger." That is an evil and miserable prosperity, unsightly in the esteem of man and hateful in the sight of God, which seeks to wrap itself up in silken folds of selfish enjoyment; that is an honourable and admirable prosperity, blessed of God and man, which has a kindly heart and an open hand for those who are beaten in the battle, for those who are left behind in the race of life. C.
Vers. 15-22. Day of Pentecost (cf. Num_10:10) but the trumpets then blown differed in their use and shape from the cornet. The trumpet was a long-shaped, metal instrument, at first used to give the signal for marching, afterwards to serve as the sign of the arrival of the monthly festival; the cornet was an animal"s horn, or, if not a real horn, an instrument formed in the shape of a horn, and it was used to express joyful emotions, answering somewhat to our modern bell-ringing in the West, or firing unloaded guns in the East. Besides the blowing of trumpets, special sacrifices were appointed for the first of each month, "two young bullocks, and one ram, seven lambs," with their meat and drink offerings, for a burnt offering, and "one kid of the goats" for a sin offering. (Num_28:11-15) On New Year"s Day, which, from its difference from the other new moons, was an annual as well as a monthly feast, the special offerings were "one young bullock, one ram, and seven lambs," with their meat and drink offerings for a burnt offering, and "one kid of the goats" for a sin offering; and these were to be in addition to the offerings made on the first day of each month. (Num_29:2-6) It became a custom for the Levites to chant at the morning sacrifice Psalm 81, and at the evening sacrifice Psalm 29. The great joyfulness of the day is shown by the account given of its observance in the Book of Nehemiah. It was on the first day of the seventh month that Ezra read the Book of the Law publicly to the people, and when "the people wept, when they heard the words of the Law," Nehemiah and Ezra and the Levites said, "This day is holy unto the Lord your God; mourn not, nor weep.... Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength. So the Levites stilled all the people, saying, Hold your peace, for the day is holy; neither be ye grieved. And all the people went their way to eat, and to drink, and to send portions, and to make great mirth, because they had understood the words that were declared unto them". (Neh_8:9-12)
Vers. 23-25The Feast of Trumpets.
Cf. Num_10:1-10 Exo_19:19 Psa_89:15. The first mention of the trumpet is in Exo_19:13, Exo_19:19, in connection with the giving of the Law. "When the trumpet soundeth long, they shall come up to the mount". (Exo_19:13) It was God"s method of summoning the people to covenant privileges. It was further used for the calling of assemblies, for the beginning of journeys, for alarms, and at the new moons and festal seasons, when it was blown over the sacrifices. Those who knew the significance of the sacrifices could rejoice in the trumpet-sound which proclaimed them complete. No wonder it is said, "Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound" (hWrT; literally, "sound of a trumpet"): "they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance". (Psa_89:15)
The analogy of faith, therefore, warrants us in taking the Feast of Trumpets as symbolical of God"s message of mercy to man. The gospel preached is God"s trumpet, summoning men to the privileges and duties of the Christian life. This suggests
I THE GOOD TIDINGS ARE OF A FINISHED SACRIFICE. It is only when the sacrifice of Jesus is the foundation of the appeal that man is arrested, trumpet-like, by the gospel. The Lamb has been slain, the atonement complete, and, consequently, poor sinners are summoned to joy.
It would be no such joyful message if we were summoned to establish our own righteousness instead of submitting, as now, to the righteousness of God. It is a present salvation, on the ground of the finished sacrifice of Jesus, which constitutes the fountain of the purest joy. No such joyful trumpet-tones were ever heard by human ears in other religions as God gives when he says, "I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation". (2Co_6:2)
II THE GOSPEL TRUMPET SUMMONS US TO REST. On the Feast of Trumpets "ye shall do no servile work therein." It was a summons to sabbatic rest. And truly the gospel is a call to put off the servile spirit, the obedience which comes through fear, and to enter into God"s rest. "We who believe do enter into rest." Christian experience is sabbath rest after the worry of worldly experience. We lay down our burden, and pass into Divine peace. The Saturday evening of experience is when, through grace, we put away our worldliness, our feverish anxieties, our low and selfish ideals, and the sabbath morning experience is rest in God"s love and bounty.
III THE GOSPEL TRUMPET SUMMONS US TO PERSONAL SACRIFICE. If the servile work is to be surrendered for sabbath rest, we must go forward to the duty indicated. "But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord." For this is the gospel plan acceptance and rest on the ground of a completed sacrifice, and the personal dedication as a living sacrifice in gratitude for such unmerited favour. From the one Great Sacrifice for us we proceed gratefully to such personal sacrifice as God"s honour and glory require. The love manifested in the sacrifice of Christ "constrains us to live not unto ourselves, but unto him who died for us and rose again". (2Co_5:14, 2Co_5:15) Self-righteousness is not self-sacrifice; rather is it proud bargaining for that which God offers as a gift. But, when the gift is accepted, self is in the acceptance crucified, and a life of devotion becomes self-sacrificing indeed.
IV THE GOSPEL TRUMPET IS TO BE SUCCEEDED BY THE TRUMP OF THE RESURRECTION. All who in their graves of sin hear the voice of the Son of God, and who, through hearing, live, (Joh_5:25) are destined to hear another joyful note from the same trumpet: "For the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life". (Joh_5:28, Joh_5:29) This is "the voice of the archangel and the trump of God" through which the dead in Christ shall rise. (1Th_4:16) "We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: (for the trumpet shall sound,) and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed". (1Co_15:51, 1Co_15:52)
Such are the summonses which God gives to men to privilege, to peace, and at the last to everlasting felicity. The preachers who give no uncertain sound, but proclaim with trumpet-tongue the gospel, are the heralds who are preparing for the day of the Lord, with its everlasting rest and light and love! R.M.E.
Vers. 23-44. The hebdomad.
Seven in Scripture is a very remarkable number. In the text it is repeated in so many forms that it forces itself upon our attention.
I HEBDOMADS ARE CONSPICUOUS IN THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE LAW.
1. They appear in the week of days.
(1) The foundation of this is the Creation week. The patriarchal sabbath became incorporated into the Mosaic Law. There were other weeks of days and sabbaths. In the text there are three of these, with a sabbath on the first and another on the eighth day.
(2) Could there be in these an anticipation of the change of the sabbath from the seventh day to the first or eighth under the Christian dispensation? The sabbaths of the seventh and eighth days may point to the rest of the millennium in the first instance, and to that of the new heavens and earth in the second. In observing the Lord"s day, it would be highly edifying to have these anticipations in mind.
2. They appear again in the week of months.
(1) The entire cycle of the feasts of the Lord was comprised in such a week. It commenced on the 14th day of Abib, with the Passover, instituted in commemoration of the Exodus. Then followed, in their appointed seasons, the Feast of Unleavened Bread; that of the Firstfruits; the Feast of Harvest, which is also called the Feast of Weeks. (Exo_34:22 Deu_16:10, 16 2Ch_8:13) The series ended with the festivals of the seventh month.
(2) During the five months remaining there was no annual feast. The daily sacrifices and those of the sabbaths and moons were of course continued.
(3) The moon was a symbol of the Church, and its changes represented the mutations through which it passes in this world, but when it has fulfilled its great week of changes it wilt be perfected for ever in heaven.
3. They appear again in the week of years.
(1) The Law bad its septenary division of years, with a continually repeated seventh year of rest for the land. (Lev_25:3-7 Lev_26:34, 35 2Ch_36:21)
(2) Founded upon this also was a greater period of a week of weeks of years, with its year of jubilee. (Lev_25:8-17) The lessons of the sabbatic and jubilee years will conic under consideration in their proper places.
II HEBDOMADS ARE CONSPICUOUS IN THE CHRONOLOGY OF PROPHECY.
1. The days of the week are taken as prophetic.
(1) David, and. Peter from him, notes that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years. (Psa_90:4 2Pe_3:8) Paul also mentions the sabbath-keeping of the future "which remaineth to the people of God". (Heb_4:9) And John describes that rest as extending over a thousand years. (Rev_20:4)
(2) To this agrees the tradition in the house of Elias, a teacher who lived about two hundred years before our Lord, and which is thought to have been derived from Elijah the Tishbite. It purports that this world is to endure in its imperfect state six thousand years: two thousand before the Law; two thousand under the Law; two thousand under Messiah; and then a thousand years in a state of renovation (see Mede, 536, 776, 894; also Bishop Newton"s "Disser.," volume 3:335).
(3) The same view is no less definitely put forth by Barnabas. He makes each day of the Creation week represent a thousand years of the subsequent history of the world, and the sabbath he makes to stand for the reign of peace, or millennium of John.
2. Dispensations are measured by weeks of times.
(1) The "times of the Gentiles" are accepted to be the same as the "seven times," during which Israel was destined to be trodden down of them. Upon the year-day principle these are the double of the "time, time, and dividing of a time" of Daniel and John, during which the little horn was to wear out the saints, and represent 2520 years. The larger period commences with the literal Babylon, and the smaller with the mystical.
(2) But how can the Patriarchal, Levitical, and Christian dispensations be limited to six thousand years, if each is to extend over 2520? They do so by overlapping each other. Thus the patriarchal extends "from Adam to Moses", (Rom_5:13, Rom_5:14) which space comprises "seven times." The Jewish then reckons from Shem the patriarch, selected as the depositary of the covenant, to Jesus. The interval from Shem to Jesus measures "seven times." The dispensation of the Gentiles, already described as the "times of the Gentiles," forms the third. It began with the rise of the ancient Babylonish power, and will end with the overthrow of the mystical Babylon.
III HEBDOMADS ARE NOT WITHOUT FOUNDATION IN NATURE.
1. They are not very obviously marked in the heavens.
(1) The day is measured by the revolution of the earth upon its axis. The month is measured by the revolution of the moon in her orbit. The year is determined by the revolution of the earth about the sun.
(2) But where are we to find the measure of the week? The quarters of the moon do not measure it, for the month is more than four times seven days.
2. Yet they have a foundation in nature.
(1) It is now well known that changes in animals are regulated by weeks. Dr. Laycock, summing up what he had advanced on this subject in a series of remarkable papers, says, "The facts I have briefly glanced at are general facts, and cannot happen day after day in so many millions of animals of every kind from larva or ovum of a minute insect up to man at definite periods, from a mere chance or coincidence; and although temperature, food, domestication, and other modifying circumstances may and do interrupt the regularity with which the various processes I have alluded to are conducted, yet upon the whole it is, I think, impossible to come to any less general conclusion than this. That in animals changes occur every three and a half, seven, fourteen, twenty-one, or twenty-eight days, or at some definite number of weeks" (see Lancet, 1842-43).
(2) The words recorded by Moses (Gen_1:14) guide us to the consideration of the revolution of the epacts, or differences in solar and lunar measures of time. And it is most admirable that the epacts of the times of prophetic chronology as measured by true solar and lunar years come out in weeks (see Guinness"s "Approaching End of the Age").
From this interesting subject we learn:
1. That prophecy is from God.
2. That the God of nature is the God of providence.
3. That religion should be interwoven with secular concerns. J.A.M.
Vers. 23, 24. The summons of God.
The trumpet utters a sound that summons attention from every ear. It is distinct from every other note; it is clear, startling, strong. When God bade his prophets declare his mind to the people he desired them to "blow a trumpet in Zion." The feast which was distinguished by the blowing of trumpets may have been intended to remind Israel, or may remind us of
I THEIR RESPONSIBILITIES UNDER THE LAW. When the sacred music was heard at this festival, the Jews could hardly fail to think of that august occasion, when "there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud," etc. (Exo_19:16) They would thus realize that they were children of the Law, that they existed as a nation for the very purpose of receiving, preserving, and revealing the Law of the Lord, that they had entered into sacred covenant with Jehovah, that they had a great mission to fulfill. The trumpet was the voice of the Lord, saying to them, "Realize what you are.
II THE PRIVILEGES WHICH WERE IMMEDIATELY BEFORE THEM. This was "New Year"s Day" to them: the year was before them; it would be a year during which God would be speaking to them and they to him. Daily sacrifices would be laid on his altar. Special rites would demand peculiar devotion; one of these the most sacred of all was close at hand; privilege and opportunity were awaiting them, would meet them with the advancing seasons of the new year on Mileh they had entered; the trumpet of the Lord said, "Listen and obey, for God is with you." The Feast of Trumpets reminds us of
III THE MORE GRACIOUS ERA TO WHICH WE BELONG. There was no such overwhelming scene at the inauguration of the gospel as that at the giving of the Law. No "voice of the trumpet sounding long, and waxing louder and louder," no "thunders and lightnings." The kingdom of God "came not with observation;" "he did not strive nor cry, nor cause his voice to be heard in the streets." Yet he "spake as never man spake" before, and as man will never speak again, and at the beginning of every year we may, without any trumpets sounding, hear a voice from heaven saying to us, "This is my beloved Son; hear ye him." God summons us to learn of him, and know from him
(1) how to be related to himself,
(2) the spirit in which we should act to our fellows, and
(3) the way to rule our own spirit and regulate our own life. We may also be reminded of
IV THE LAST DAY OF THIS DISPENSATION. The day draws on when the "trump of God" shall sound, summoning the dead to life, calling the living and the dead to judgment and award. (see 1Co_15:52 1Th_4:16) At any hour of our life, but especially on any anniversary, when we are reminded of the passage of our probationary life and the oncoming of the day of his appearing, we may well hear the summons of God to prepare for that great day. "Great God, what do I see and hear? The trumpet sounds, the graves restore The dead which they contained before. Prepare, my soul, to meet him. C.
Vers. 23-25. The Feast of Trumpets.
"A sabbath, a memorial, a holy convocation." Probably recalling the giving of the Law from Mount Sinai. Therefore typical of the proclamation of the gospel, which is the new law of love.
I The people of God unite together to spread the sound of the gospel in the world.
II They rejoice in it. It is a festival a work which is sabbatical.
III It is immediately connected with the great Day of Atonement, and the proclamation will be no uncertain sound, but a distinct announcement of the saving truth set forth in the sacrificial death of Christ. R.
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 On v15 And ye shall Count unto you from the morrow…
Lev_23:15-17
And ye shall Count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath.
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The Feast of Pentecost
We are now to consider that which was properly the second annual festival of the Jewish nation--the Feast of Pentecost. The distinctive ceremony observed upon this clay was the presentation of a new meat-offering, in the form of two wave-loaves unto the Lord. These loaves were the first-fruits of wheat harvest, and in allusion to them the feast is sometimes called the Feast of Harvest (Exo_23:16), and also the day of first-fruits (Num_18:26). The moral bearing of this ordinance upon the people was therefore similar to that of the last which we have had presented to our notice; it was a renewed acknowledgment on their part of the mercies of Jehovah, who had brought them into that good land, and given them the kindly fruits of the earth in their season. And accordingly we find a beautiful form of thanksgiving prescribed for this occasion, in which these mercies were briefly but eloquently celebrated (Deu_26:1-11). But we are now to examine this festival with the view of discovering its typical and prophetic import; and this also we must look for in that ordinance which characterised it, and from which, as we have seen, it derived its name, the offering of these two wave-loaves. They were designed to set forth the Church of Christ. Just as the Saviour Himself in resurrection from the dead is typified by the wave-sheaf, the first-fruits of barley harvest (the first of the first-fruits (Exo_34:26), as it is called); so also the Church as partaking of His resurrection life--quickened by the Spirit in which He rose from the dead, is represented by the ordinance of the two wave-loaves. As He is the first-fruits with respect to His people, so they also are by union with Him constituted the first-fruits in reference to that future harvest. Let us, then, enter into detail.
I. There was something significant in the day on which this offering was to be presented. It was on the fiftieth day from that on which the wave-sheaf was offered, or as it is called in the New Testament the day of Pentecost. Now what is the importance of the day of Pentecost to us as Christians? I answer, it was the commencement of the present dispensation. This is the distinguishing characteristic of the Christian Church--of that Church not merely as distinguished from the world, but also from the Church previous to the day of Pentecost--that she is united to, yea identified with Christ in resurrection (Col_3:1-25; Col_1:2). In this new character the Holy Ghost was not given until that Jesus was glorified. As the Spirit of light and life He had been operating on the hearts of all His faithful people from the beginning of the world. But now He operates in increased power, and bestows a higher privilege; He unites the Church unto Him who is waved in the character of the first-fruits, that we in Him may also partake of the same character, and become the first-fruits unto God and to the Lamb (Rev_14:4). And thus it is written, in allusion, I believe, to this very ordinance, Of His own will begat He us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first-fruits of His creatures (Jam_1:23). And this brings me to consider--
II. The analogy between the ordinance before us, and the church of which it is the type. This will appear in several interesting particulars, and--
1. Is there not something significant in the bipartite character of the type? It was to consist of two loaves. And surely it is natural to suppose that it was designed to set forth something. Why should the lump be divided into two parts, and not be presented whole? In order, I would venture to suggest, to set forth the two component parts of the Christian Church--the Jews and Gentiles, both made one in Christ. This is one marked peculiarity of the present dispensation. It was the mystery hidden from ages and generations, but which is now made manifest that the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs and of the same body (Eph_3:6). There is, then, you see, a unity, and yet a diversity in the Christian Church; a unity because it is one Church; a diversity because it consists of two component parts, the Jew and the Gentile (Eph_2:14-18).
2. Another point of analogy, and a farther confirmation of this application of the type, will be suggested if we shall find that the Church of the present dispensation is presented in Scripture to be the first-fruits, or earnest, of future and more enlarged mercies which are yet to come. Whether we consider the converts to the gospel from among the Jews, or those from among the Gentiles, which are made during the present dispensation, we axe taught to regard them each and both together, but as a kind of first-fruits of His creatures (Eph_1:10). And first, with regard to the Jews, I would refer you to the testimony which is borne to this effect in the Epistle to the Romans (Rom_11:1-5). And what is this result? Is it the conversion of the whole nation? No, as a nation, Israel is for the present rejected; but we are to expect that there will be an election from among them, a remnant according to the election of grace; and no more than this. But is Israel as a nation to be for ever cast away? Do Gods purposes of mercy reach no farther than the gathering of this remnant? Far otherwise the view that the apostle gives us in this chapter (Rom_11:12; Rom_11:15). Here we are expressly taught to look for a period when the mercies of God will no longer be confined to a remnant from among them as now, but when they shall all, in their fulness, be received again into the favour of God. So far, then, as regards the Jews; let us now see how far the same holds good as respects the Gentiles. And here I shall again confine myself to one passage. In the fifteenth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, when St. James, who presided at the council, is recorded to have spoken as follows:--Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for His name. Here you see is the idea entertained by the apostles of the purposes of God towards the Gentiles in the present dispensation.
3. The first-fruits were considered to be the property of God--peculiarly His, claimed by Him, and set apart for His own. And is not this also true in regard to His Church? Has He not chosen it to Himself, and made it His own in a peculiar sense above all other things? The universe belongs to Him, the beasts of the forest are His; but the Lords portion are His people, Judah is the lot of His inheritance, a chosen generation, and holy nation, a peculiar people (1Pe_2:9). As far as God has revealed His mind towards His creatures, we know of nothing in the whole universe so precious to Him as His Church. Angels in this respect cannot compare with us. Humanity is in Christ united to the Godhead, and therefore stands of a pinnacle far above all other created things (Eph_5:30). My brethren, it is not a mere salvation which we have in Jesus. Oh! no, it is much more than salvation, than deliverance, than restoration; it is identification with the Son of His love, who has come down to us to take us up to Him, that we may be blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Eph_1:3). But if this speaks to us of privileges it speaks also of duty. My brethren, consider what it is to be the property of God. Just as the first-fruits were by His own command set apart unto Himself, and given into the hands of His appointed priest to be waved before Him, so it is with the Church. We are His by covenant arrangement, we are given by Him unto the great High Priest--Thine they were, and Thou gavest them Me (Joh_17:6). And why are we thus given unto Him? in order that He may save us? deliver us from wrath? Oh! yes, but that we may by Him be consecrated unto the service and glory of our God, that we may be His, in time and in eternity. And this brings me to observe--
4. The peculiar character of this offering. It was a wave-offering. And there is something significant in this, the wave sheaf, you remember, set forth the Saviour Himself in resurrection; and so when the Church is represented in the wave-loaves, there can be no doubt that it is intended to exhibit her in this character, as risen together with Him. As then the characteristic last referred to set forth the dedication of the Church to God, her consecration to His service; so this which I now speak of(is designed to remind us of the power in which we are to be thus consecrated--the power of resurrection-life. The apostle supposes the objection brought against the gospel of the grace of God which so often meet with in the present day, that it tends to antinomianism. What, then, shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? (Rom_6:1), and how does he reply? God forbid; how shall we who are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Here you see the Christian is described as one that is dead to sin; and how is that? Know ye not that as many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death? wherefore we are buried with Him by baptism unto death? that like as Christ is raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Such, then, you perceive, is practical Christianity. If you want a sample of the life in which we ought to walk, you are to contemplate the risen Saviour: this is the standard which the Scriptures put before us.
5. The next particular to which I would refer is the injunction in the sixteenth verse, They shall be baken with leaven. There is a beautiful significance in this; the leaven, we know, is a type of the flesh--of nature--of the old man, and when it is directed that it should be mingled with this offering, it appears, at first sight, extraordinary. Why should that which is thus dedicated to God be thus defiled? There is something significant in this: there was no leaven mingled with the sheaf of corn which was waved on the second day of unleavened bread, because it was a type of Him in whom was no sin; but it is otherwise inregard to that which is designed to represent His people; they would not be perfectly exhibited if there was not this memorial. It is true that they are raised from the death of sin; but it is also true that the old man does still remain in them, and, by the taint and infection of the flesh, pollutes their every service, and brings them in still as miserable sinners before God. Here, then, we have an accurate view of the present character of the Church of Christ; animated, indeed, with new, with spiritual life, yet still encompassed with the infirmity, and impeded by the opposition of the flesh. And, accordingly, it is important to observe there is a sin-offering expressly enjoined to be offered with the two wave loaves (verse 19). This is a remarkable instance of that minuteness with which these types are regulated, and more particularly when it is observed that there was no sin-offering to be made when the sheaf of firstfruits was presented. Oh! beloved, do you feel the virus of the flesh? Are you conscious of its perpetual pressure? Behold, here is the provision He has made to meet your anguish (Heb_10:22).
6. But lastly, let us always bear in mind the view which this ordinance gives us of the Church as the firstfruits of Gods mercies towards the world at large. The infidel taunts us with the little that the gospel has accomplished, and maintains that Christianity has proved a failure; and truly if, as is supposed by some, the Scriptures held out the expectation that the gospel was to go on gradually extending, until the world was evangelised, there were some appearance of reason in the imputation. Let us ever bear in mind we have an earnest of a glorious harvest which is yet to come. As surely as the firstfruits are now waved in His presence, so surely shall the harvest be gathered into His garner. (J. B. Lowe, B. A.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On v15 "And ye shall count unto you from the morrow…
THE FEAST OF PENTECOST
Lev_23:15-21
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"And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall there be complete: even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meal offering unto the Lord. Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth parts of an ephah: they shall be of fine flour, they shall be baken with leaven, for firstfruits unto the Lord. And ye shall present with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year, and one young bullock, and two rams: they shall be a burnt offering unto the Lord, with their meal offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord. And ye shall offer one he-goat for a sin offering, and two he-lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offerings. And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits for a wave offering before the Lord, with the two lambs: they shall be holy to the Lord for the priest. And ye shall make proclamation on the selfsame day; there shall be a holy convocation unto you: ye shall do no servile work: it is a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations."
Next in order came the feast of firstfruits, or the feast of weeks, which, because celebrated on the fiftieth day after the presentation of the wave sheaf in passover week, has come to be known as Pentecost, from the Greek numeral signifying fifty. It was ordered that the fiftieth day after this presentation of the first sheaf of the harvest should be kept as a day of "holy convocation," with abstinence from all "servile work." The former festival had marked the absolute beginning of the harvest with the first sheaf of barley; this marked the completion of the grain harvest with the reaping of the wheat. In the former, the sheaf was presented as it came from the field; in this case, the offering was of the grain as prepared for food. It was ordered (Lev_23:16) that on this day "a new meal offering" should be offered. It should be brought out of their habitations and be baken with leaven. In both particulars, it was unlike the ordinary meal offerings, because the offering was to represent the ordinary food of the people. Accompanied with a sevenfold burnt offering, and a sin offering, and two lambs of peace offerings, these were to be waved before the Lord for their acceptance, after the manner of the wave sheaf (Lev_23:18-20). On the altar they could not come, because they were baken with leaven.
This festival, as one of the sabbatic series, celebrated the rest after the labours of the grain harvest, a symbol of the great sabbatism to follow that harvest which is "the end of the age". {Mat_13:39} As a consecration, it dedicated unto God the daily food of the nation for the coming year. As passover reminded them that God was the Creator of Israel, so herein, receiving their daily bread from Him, they were reminded that He was also the Sustainer of Israel; while the full accompaniment of burnt offerings and peace offerings expressed their full consecration and happy state of friendship with Jehovah, secured through the expiation of the sin offering.
Was this feast also, like passover, prophetic? The New Testament is scarcely less clear than in the former case. For after that Christ, first having been slain as "our Passover," had then risen from the dead as the "Firstfruits," fulfilling the type of the wave sheaf on the morning of the Sabbath, fifty days passed; "and when the day of Pentecost was fully come," came that great outpouring of the Holy Ghost, the conversion of three thousand out of many lands, {Acts 2} and therewith the formation of that Church Of the New Testament whose members the Apostle James declares {Jam_1:18} to be "a kind of firstfruits of Gods creatures." Thus, as the sheaf had typified Christ as "the Firstborn from the dead," the presentation on the day of Pentecost of the two wave loaves, the product of the sheaf of grain, no less evidently typified the presentation unto God of the Church of the firstborn, the firstfruits of Christs death and resurrection, as constituted on that sacred day. This then was the complete fulfilment of the feast of weeks regarded as a redemptive type, showing how, not only rest, but also redemption was comprehended in the significance of the sabbatic idea. And yet, that complete redemption was not therewith attained by that Church of the firstborn on Pentecost was presignified in that the two wave loaves were to be baken with leaven. The feast of unleavened bread had exhibited the ideal of the Christian life; that of firstfruits, the imperfection of the earthly attainment. On earth the leaven of sin still abides.
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v16 fifty days
fifty days
The feast of Pentecost, Lev 23:15-22. The anti-type is the descent of the Holy Spirit to form the church. For this reason leaven is present, because there is evil in the church; Mat 13:33; Act 5:1; Act 5:10; Act 15:1. Observe, it is now loaves; not a sheaf of separate growths loosely bound together, but a real union of particles making one homogenous body. The descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost united the separated disciples into one organism.; 1Co 10:16; 1Co 10:17; 1Co 12:12; 1Co 12:13; 1Co 12:20.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v15 The Feast of Weeks
The Feast of Weeks
v. 15. And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the sixteenth of Nisan, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave-offering; seven Sabbaths, or weeks, shall be complete.
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v. 16. Even unto the morrow after the seventh Sabbath shall ye number fifty days, and ye shall offer anew meat-offering unto the Lord, one prepared from the grain of the new harvest.
v. 17. Ye shall bring out of your habitations, not from the Temple revenues, this being an extra offering, two wave-loaves of two-tenth deals (a little more than five quarts), bread like that used for daily food. They shall be of fine flour, of wheaten flour; they shall be baken with leaven, as the bread was always prepared in the homes; they are the first-fruits unto the Lord.
v. 18. And ye shall offer with the breads even lambs without blemish of the first year and one young bullock and two rams; they shall be for a burnt offering unto the Lord, with their meat-offering and their drink-offerings, even an offering made by fire, of sweet savor unto the Lord.
v. 19. Then ye shall sacrifice one kid of the goats for a sin-offering, and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace-offerings. "The sin-offering was to excite the feeling and consciousness of sin on the part of the congregation of Israel, that, whilst eating their daily leavened bread, they might not serve the leaven of their old nature, but seek and implore from the Lord, their God, the forgiveness and cleansing away of their sin. " (Keil. )
v. 20. And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the first-fruits for a wave-offering before the Lord, the name being derived from the movement of the body and of the arms which accompanied the presentation to the Lord, with the two lambs; they shall be holy to the Lord for the priest. Thus the character of the festival, as one of joyful gratitude for God’s goodness and mercy, was emphasized.
v. 21. And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day that it may be an holy convocation unto you; ye shall do no servile work therein, as on the first and the last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread; it shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.
v. 22. And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, in mowing to the very border of the land, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest, the stalks and ears that dropped out in harvesting; thou shalt leave them unto the poor and to the stranger. I am the Lord, your God. To celebrate a festival of thanksgiving to the Lord for the blessings of His goodness and at the same time to ignore the needs of the poor is a combination which will hardly meet with the approval of the Lord,
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v15 General Information:
General Information:
Yahweh continues telling Moses what the people must do.
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fifty days
"50 days" (See: Numbers)
seventh
This is the ordinal for number seven. See: Ordinal Numbers
translationWords
Sabbath
day
week
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v15 23:15-21 Israel was to start the count of seven…
23:15-21 Israel was to start the count of seven full weeks on the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread. The fiftieth day marked the beginning of the Festival of Harvest (the New Testament name of “Pentecost” is derived from the Greek word for “fifty”). For this festival the people were to offer the first portions of the wheat harvest. Each person was also required to take three quarts of fine flour and bake two loaves of yeast bread. These offerings were then presented to the priest officiating at the sanctuary. See also study note on Exod 23:16.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.