Chapter 4

Firstfruits

בִּכּוּרִים

Bikkurim · bee-koo-REEM

Key 4: Death Is Not the End

At a Glance

Meaning: Firstfruits; the first and best of the harvest
When: Jewish reckoning: 16 Nisan. Sunday reckoning: the Sunday during the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23:11).
Duration: One day
Key Scriptures: Leviticus 23:9-14; 1 Corinthians 15:20-23

Preparing live dates...

Dates follow Israel observance, with times at Jerusalem astronomical sunset.

What Scripture Says

Leviticus 23:10 (NKJV)

"you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest."

When Israel entered the land and reaped its first harvest, the very first sheaf of barley was brought to the priest before anything else was gathered for use.

Leviticus 23:11 (NKJV)

"He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it."

The sheaf was lifted before the LORD as a representative of the whole harvest. Its acceptance meant the rest of the harvest was accepted too. Jewish and Christian readers have long differed over which Sabbath "the day after the Sabbath" refers to.

Leviticus 23:12-13 (NKJV)

"a male lamb of its first year, without blemish, as a burnt offering to the LORD."

The sheaf was accompanied by a perfect lamb as a burnt offering, with a grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil and a drink offering of wine.

Leviticus 23:14 (NKJV)

"You shall eat neither bread nor parched grain nor fresh grain until the same day that you have brought an offering to your God"

No one could eat from the new harvest until God had received the first of it. The first portion was His, and it came first.

Exodus 23:19 (NKJV)

"The first of the firstfruits of your land you shall bring into the house of the LORD your God."

The principle of firstfruits runs through all of Israel's law: the first and best belong to God.

Proverbs 3:9-10 (NKJV)

"Honor the LORD with your possessions, And with the firstfruits of all your increase"

Firstfruits became a principle for all of life. God is honored by receiving the first, not the leftovers.

In the Tabernacle and Temple

The Mishnah, the earliest written collection of rabbinic law, describes how the sheaf, called the omer, was reaped in the Second Temple period. As the first day of Unleavened Bread ended at nightfall, crowds gathered at a barley field near Jerusalem. The barley was cut, brought to the Temple, threshed, roasted, and ground into flour. A portion, mixed with oil and frankincense, was waved before the LORD and offered on the altar.

The timing of the sheaf divided the Jewish world of that era. The Pharisees, whose view became rabbinic Judaism, read "the Sabbath" in Leviticus 23:11 as the first day of Unleavened Bread, a holy day of rest, so the sheaf was always waved on 16 Nisan. The Sadducees and others read it as the weekly Sabbath, so the sheaf was always waved on a Sunday. The rabbinic sources describe the reaping being done publicly in part to answer that dispute.

In the Days of Jesus of Nazareth

Jesus was crucified at Passover and buried before the Sabbath. Early on the first day of the week, the women found the tomb empty (Luke 24:1-6). The resurrection took place during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, in the very days when the first sheaf of the barley harvest was offered.

Matthew records that at Jesus' death the earth quaked and tombs were opened, and that "many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many" (Matthew 27:52-53).

Jewish Observance Today

Since the Temple was destroyed in AD 70, the omer can no longer be offered. What remains is the counting. Beginning on the second night of Passover, Jews count each of the forty-nine days to Shavuot, a practice called the Counting of the Omer.

Counting the Omer
Each evening a blessing is said and the day is counted aloud, from the first day through the forty-ninth.
A season of reflection
Many use the seven weeks for self-examination, linking the journey from Egypt to Sinai with growth in character.
Mourning customs
Many communities refrain from weddings and haircuts during part of the count, in memory of a plague among the students of Rabbi Akiva recorded in the Talmud.
Lag BaOmer
The thirty-third day of the count is a day of celebration, with bonfires and outings, especially in Israel.
Karaite practice
Karaite Jews, who follow the written text without rabbinic tradition, still begin the count on the Sunday after the weekly Sabbath during Unleavened Bread.

Fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth

Each connection is labeled: what the New Testament states directly, and what Christians interpret from the patterns of Scripture.

The Firstfruits of Those Who Have Fallen Asleep

Stated in the New Testament

"But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep" (1 Corinthians 15:20).

Each in His Own Order

Stated in the New Testament

Paul describes the resurrection as a harvest gathered in sequence: "But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's at His coming" (1 Corinthians 15:23).

The Firstborn from the Dead

Stated in the New Testament

Colossians calls Jesus "the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence" (Colossians 1:18).

Believers as Firstfruits

Stated in the New Testament

James says God brought us forth by the word of truth, "that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures" (James 1:18).

Raised on the Day of the Sheaf

Theological interpretation

Under the Sunday reckoning, the first sheaf was waved on the very day Jesus rose. Under the Jewish reckoning, it was waved on 16 Nisan. Christians who see the resurrection fulfilling the wave sheaf usually follow the Sunday reckoning. The date match is an interpretation; Paul's use of the word firstfruits is not.

The Sheaf Accepted on Our Behalf

Theological interpretation

The sheaf was waved "to be accepted on your behalf" (Leviticus 23:11). Many see the risen Christ presented to the Father as the guarantee that those who belong to Him are accepted too. Some connect this with Jesus' words to Mary on resurrection morning: "Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father" (John 20:17).

The Key to Humanity

Death Is Not the End

The first sheaf was not the whole harvest. It was the promise of the harvest. Once God accepted the first, the rest was sure to follow. Paul applies that picture to every human being: "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive" (1 Corinthians 15:22). Death entered the human story through one man; resurrection entered it through another. Firstfruits is the key that tells humanity the grave does not have the last word. The resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth is the first sheaf of a harvest that is still coming in.

Seventh-day Adventist View

Seventh-day Adventists see the wave sheaf as a ceremonial type fulfilled in the resurrection of Christ, the firstfruits of those who sleep. They teach that the annual feasts are not binding on Christians today, while affirming the resurrection as the foundation of Christian hope. Adventists believe the dead rest in an unconscious sleep until the resurrection at Christ's second coming, when "the dead in Christ will rise first" (1 Thessalonians 4:16).

Hebrew Words to Know

בִּכּוּרִים

Bikkurim

Firstfruits; the first ripe produce.

עֹמֶר

Omer

A sheaf; also a measure of grain.

רֵאשִׁית

Reshit

The first or the beginning; used in "the firstfruits of your harvest" (Leviticus 23:10).

תְּנוּפָה

Tenufah

A wave offering, lifted and moved before the LORD.

סְפִירַת הָעֹמֶר

Sefirat HaOmer

The Counting of the Omer.

Questions for Reflection

1.
Israel gave God the first sheaf before eating any of the harvest. What would it look like to give God the first of your time, money, or attention?
2.
The first sheaf guaranteed the harvest. How does the resurrection of Jesus change the way you think about death?
3.
James calls believers "a kind of firstfruits." What does it mean that your life can be a preview of what God will do for all creation?

See Jesus in all the feasts