By God’s grace, we have been studying on the feasts of the Lord. This is the second bible study outline in the study. We understood that the feasts that the Lord instructed the people of Israel to keep represent key milestones that we (His people in the New Testament) should celebrate by experience. We saw that as outlined in Leviticus 23, there are seven feasts: the Passover, the feast of unleavened bread, the feast of firstfruits, the Pentecost, the feast of trumpets, the day of atonement, and the feast of Tabernacles. And as outlined in Exodus 23, we saw that these seven feasts are summarized into three major feasts which are: the Passover, the Pentecost (also called the feast of harvest of firstfruits), and the Tabernacles (also called the ingathering or the full harvest). We began in the last bible study with the Passover (the first major feast), and studied it in relation to the feast of unleavened bread (the second of the seven feasts). And now, by God’s grace, we would study on the Pentecost (the second major feast), and study it in relation to the feast of firstfruits (the third of the seven feasts).
To begin, let us read Exodus 23:14-17, Exodus 34:22-26, Leviticus 23:1-22 and Acts 2.
We would notice that the word “Pentecost” does not show up in the Old Testament passages of Exodus and Leviticus. It only shows up in Acts and other New Testament passages. In Exodus 23:14-17, the second major feast (which is the Pentecost) is called the feast of harvest of firstfruits and in Exodus 34:22- 26 it is called the feast of weeks. Calling this second feast the feast of harvest of firstfruits and calling the third major feast the feast of ingathering (of the full harvest) gives us a clue on how understand the Pentecost. As mentioned in the beginning of our previous bible study, the ingathering (or the full harvest) speaks of when the people of God have yielded to God the full standard of conformity to the image of our Lord Jesus Christ in Divine Character and Divine Power (Glory). If this is the full harvest we are to yield to God (in response to His work in our lives), then we have a clue that the firstfruits of this speaks of beginning to manifest the supernatural (in character and power), though not in the full divine measure. Having this in mind would help us to put into good context the different details we would come across in this study.
We can now by God’s grace go through the following questions:
What is Pentecost?
“Pentecost” is a Greek word which means “fiftieth”. That is, the day of Pentecost is the fiftieth day. Fiftieth day from what? Read Leviticus 23:10- 21. It is the fiftieth day from the day when the sheaf of the firstfruits is waved before the Lord by the priest. When is the sheaf of firstfruits waved before the Lord? On the morrow after the sabbath. Which sabbath? The sabbath that is the first day of the feast of unleavened bread. Then after seven sabbaths (or after seven weeks), which is after forty-nine days, is the Pentecost (the fiftieth day). Selah!
On this fiftieth day (the Pentecost) another firstfruits offering is waved before the Lord. On the morrow after the sabbath that begins the feast of unleavened bread the sheaf of firstfruits is waved before the Lord along with a meal offering of two tenth deals of fine flour. But on the day of Pentecost (which is the morrow after the seventh sabbath) a new meal offering is to be offered. It is a meal offering of same quantity (two-tenths deal) of flour as the first meal offering, but this time, it is not offered as just flour, but as two baked loaves of bread. These two loaves of bread are waved on the day of Pentecost as firstfruits unto the Lord (Leviticus 23:15-17). As such, the meal offering of the firstfruits is first
offered to the Lord as flour on the morrow after the sabbath that starts the feast of unleavened bread, and then seven weeks after (on the morrow after the seventh sabbath) it is offered again on the Pentecost as two baked loaves of bread. Because of this connection between the firstfruits and the Pentecost, and the fact that what occurs at the Pentecost begins seven weeks earlier from the waving of the sheaf of firstfruits, the Pentecost is also called the feast of weeks (or the feast of seven weeks). See Exodus 34:18-23 (emphasis on vs 22). Selah!
Having all these in mind, we can see, in summary, that the feast of Pentecost is the “day” (the season or the estate of life) that the people of God arrive at after they have experienced seven sabbaths (after they have allowed the sabbath have its perfect work in their lives), beginning from the sabbath in the feast of unleavened bread. The progression from a firstfruits meal offering of flour on the morrow after the sabbath (in the feast of unleavened bread) to a firstfruits meal offering of two baked loaves of bread (that are edible) on the Pentecost indicates that the Pentecost is a “day” (a milestone level) of expressing mature firstfruits that are edible to the brethren (as bread of life in ministry)—firstfruits that have their beginnings in the dealings of the feast of unleavened bread. Selah!
These lead us to other questions:
What is the sheaf of firstfruits? What is the flour? And what is the bread?
A sheaf is a bundle. Sheaf of firstfruits is a bundle of grain stalks (stems). Read Leviticus 23:9-11. God told them that they should wave the sheaf of firstfruits to Him when they enter into the land that He will give them (the promised land) and reap its harvest. To know what sheaf we (as New Testament believers) are to wave to the Lord, we need to ask: what is the promised land that God has brought us into? The promised land is the promise that God has given us to possess. There are different passages we could use to describe the promise God has given us, but it is all summed up in Christ. Read 2 Peter 1:4, Hebrews 2:6- 18, Romans 8:28-31, Colossians 3:8-10, Ephesians 4:20-24. Becoming like Jesus Christ as divine sons of God is the summary of the promise God has given us. As the people of Israel entered into the promised land, likewise we (in the New Testament) enter into Christ when we become born-again. See Galatians 3:27, Romans 13:14, Ephesians 4:24, 2 Corinthians 5:17. We become a new creature. This new creature is created after the pattern of God in Christ Jesus in righteousness and true holiness (Ephesians 4:24). It is our promised land. And just as the people of Israel did not immediately see all the different harvests of the year in the month that they entered into the promised land, so also we did not immediately see all the virtues of the new creation man (Christ) fully expressed in us the moment we became born-again. But as we diligently remain consecrated in our course of our symbolic “year” we would be reaping the harvests of the different virtues in Christ. That is, we would begin to find in ourselves the virtues of Christ. And as we find these virtues, we are to wave them before the Lord. Meaning, we are to faithfully express them (be it character or ministerial grace). This is what God is saying to us in Leviticus 23:10. The sheaf of firstfruits for us represents the harvest of the virtues of Christ (the harvest of our promised land—the new creation man of Christ).
How does the sheaf of firstfruits relate to the Pentecost? Read Leviticus 23:10- 13, 15-17. The sheaf of firstfruits is to be offered on the morrow after the sabbath that begins the seven-day feast of unleavened bread. The feast of unleavened bread begins with a sabbath (on the fifteenth day of the first month, Leviticus 23:6) The next day after this sabbath (that is, during the feast of unleavened bread) is when the sheaf of firstfruits is to be waved to God (Leviticus 23:10-11), along with a meal (or grain) offering of two-tenths deals offine flour mingled with oil. From this day, God asked them to count seven sabbaths (which is forty-nine days), and on the morrow after the seventh sabbath (which is the fiftieth day: the Pentecost), God asked them to offer a new meat offering of the same quantity of flour (two-tenths deals) but this time baked into two loaves of bread. God said that the meat offering of these two loaves of bread are firstfruits unto Him. So, the sheaves of firstfruits that began as fine flour on the morrow after the sabbath in the feast of unleavened bread become two firstfruit loaves of baked bread after seven sabbaths, on the day of Pentecost. What does this mean?
We have understood that the sheafs of the promised land are the virtues of the new creation man (Christ) that we observe springing up in us. We have also understood that waving the sheaves to God represents boldly expressing these virtues of Christ. Jesus said: “Let your light so shine …” (Matthew 5:16). And now we have seen that there are two levels of firstfruit offerings to be waved to God: the fine flour mingled with oil and the two loaves of bread (baked from the same measure of fine flour as the first level of firstfruits offering). These two levels of firstfruits offerings (harvested from the promised land) indicate two levels of firstfruits virtue (of the new creation man) that we are to observe springing up (germinating) in us and we are to express (wave) in the sight of God. The fine flour speaks of Christ-like character that has no unpleasant side (no lumps) but is perfectly beaten to be smooth and fine by the dealings of the Lord in our lives. The fine flour mingled with oil is to indicate that such Christ- like character (as can be seen in Christ Jesus) is made possible through the empowering of the Holy Spirit. He is the anointing (the oil) that we have been anointed with (1 John 2:27). In summary, the fine flour mingled with oil speaks of the character fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). On the other hand, the baked bread speaks of ministry as a bread of life, like our Lord Jesus Christ (John 6:33-35, 1 Corinthians 10:17): having the words and expressions of theLord Jesus to impart life on others. In summary, the baked bread speaks of the ministry gifts (graces) of the Holy Spirit (Romans 12:1-8, 1 Corinthians 12:1- 31).
Therefore, since the day of Pentecost is when the new meat offering of the loaves of bread is waved before the Lord as firstfruits of the harvest unto the Lord, then we can understand that a believer arrives at the day of Pentecost (in his personal Christian “year”) when he begins to wave the firstfruits of ministerial graces (gifts of the Spirit) unto the Lord. These ministerial graces (gifts of the Holy Spirit) are still firstfruits (no matter how great they may seem) because they are not up to the level of the full harvest (when the Lord fully establishes us as spiritual divine beings in immortality and light after the pattern of our Lord’s glory).
When do we yield these firstfruits that are to be offered to God (as flour and as bread)?
Read Leviticus 23:11, 15-17. For the first level of firstfruit offering, the answer is: on the tomorrow after the sabbath (vs 11). And for the second level of firstfruit offering, the answer is: on the tomorrow after the seventh sabbath (vs 15-17). Meaning, we need to keep the sabbath in order to yield the sheaves of the firstfruits in its two levels. The first “morrow after the sabbath” occurs during the feast of unleavened bread. Thus, giving us a clue that to wave (to express) the first level of firstfruits offering (of Christ-like character) we need to keep the sabbath with the goal of removing leaven from our lives (1 Corinthians 5:6-8). And after seven sabbaths (that is, after allowing the sabbath to have its perfect work in our lives), we would grow to begin to express the second level of firstfruits offering (of ministerial graces).