$\"\"$ (Leviticus 23:9-14)<\/div>\n

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History:<\/strong><\/div>\n
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This Festival was instituted after the Israelites were established in Canaan and were about to begin their harvest. On the sixteenth day of the first month (the second day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread) they were to bring a sample of their crop, a handful of barley stalks, for the priest to wave before the Lord. They were not supposed to actually begin their harvest until this had been done.<\/div>\n
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Significance to the Jews:<\/strong><\/div>\n
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At this season of the year, the grain harvest was about to begin with barley typically being the earliest crop. This ritual was to remind the people that it was the great Creator God who blessed them with a harvest, and they were to acknowledge this before they started, bringing Him the firstfruits of their harvest. The wave sheaf invoked a blessing on the entire harvest.<\/div>\n
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Significance to us:<\/strong><\/div>\n
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The Festival of Firstfruits is a symbol of our acknowledgment of dependence and thankfulness for God’s blessing. We should honor Him with our first and best, and acknowledge His gracious provision.<\/div>\n
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But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he swore unto thy fathers, as it is this day.<\/em>\u00a0 Deuteronomy 8:18<\/div>\n
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Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labor; this is the gift of God.<\/em>\u00a0 Ecclesiastes 5:19<\/div>\n
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I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.<\/em> \u00a0John 15:5<\/div>\n
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Many in this modern society are not very closely associated with grain harvesting, so that experience is somewhat removed from their thinking; but it is good to acknowledge that everything we have and are is a gift from God.<\/div>\n
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The Festival of Firstfruits \/ Wave Sheaf is also a symbol of God’s harvest of the earth: \u00a0Jesus rose from the grave on the day the Wave Sheaf was to be presented in the temple. He is the Firstfruits–<\/div>\n
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But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. . . . Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.<\/em>\u00a0 1 Corinthians 15:20, 23<\/div>\n
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Some were resurrected and went with Him to heaven as Firstfruits.–<\/div>\n
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And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.<\/em>\u00a0 Matthew 27:52, 53<\/div>\n
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Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. \u00a0<\/em>Ephesians 4:8<\/div>\n
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The 144,000 are considered Firstfruits–<\/div>\n
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These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.<\/em> Revelation 14:4<\/div>\n
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There is a greater, more abundant, final harvest of God’s people coming–<\/div>\n
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After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;<\/em> Revelation 7:9<\/div>\n
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And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.<\/em>\u00a0 Revelation 14:15, 16<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
(Leviticus 23:9-14) History: This Festival was instituted after the Israelites were established in Canaan and were about to begin their harvest. On the sixteenth day of the first month (the second day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread) they were to bring a sample of their crop, a handful of barley stalks, for the priest … <\/p>\n
Continue reading “Firstfruits \/ Wave Sheaf”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biblical-festivals"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8gHhX-P","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.godsfoodforlife.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.godsfoodforlife.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.godsfoodforlife.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.godsfoodforlife.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.godsfoodforlife.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=51"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.godsfoodforlife.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":240,"href":"https:\/\/www.godsfoodforlife.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51\/revisions\/240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.godsfoodforlife.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=51"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.godsfoodforlife.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=51"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.godsfoodforlife.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=51"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}