Natal Day Ruminations

Image by Heidelbergerin from Pixabay

Waking early, the biblical concept of firstfruits was on my mind.  So, I did a word search on the term in my online bible program, to see what popped up.  Probably, the main reason behind this was today is my natal day, and I had been thinking about giving the Lord the "firstfruits" of it, after I rose from the bed and sat down with a cup of coffee.

Have you ever made pancakes?  You make the batter, heat the griddle and then, after pouring out the first one make decisions about the thickness of the batter, perhaps adjusting the heat on the griddle...I had a friend, the baby in his family, who used to say, "The oldest child is like the first pancake, usually a flop, and you just throw it out!"  I always thought that was funny, as I am "the first pancake" in my birth family's line-up.

However, the Bible gives special emphasis to "firstfruits".  The concept is tied in closely with the first born, as the firstborn child is, in God's perfect design for families, the firstfruits of the mother's body.

We have this blueberry bush that yields early in the season, apparently, as I was getting berries off it in mid-June.  However, after I picked the first two cups of berries, it seemed to stop bearing, for the most part.  Not sure what happened there, but I looked in the days following and there was little there to harvest.  Maybe the birds beat me to it....
Farmers will tell you that the first crops from the field are the ones they save for seeds for the following year, because the first ones contain the most potent seeds.  They are, supposedly, the best of the best, of that crop yield.

In keeping with that line of thought, it makes sense that God would require His chosen people, the Hebrews, to bring to him a grain offering of the first crops of the season each spring.

14“Three times in the year you shall keep a feast to me. 15You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. As I commanded you, you shall eat unleavened bread for seven days at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. None shall appear before me empty-handed. 16You shall keep the Feast of Harvest, of the firstfruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field. You shall keep the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in from the field the fruit of your labor. 17Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord GOD.

Exodus 23:14-17 (ESV)

So, you see from this command of God that His people were to offer to Him on the altar the firstfruits of the harvest as well as some of the produce from the end of the harvest season, in the fall.  This was done, in part to teach the people thankfulness, as it is God who provides, who is Jehovah-Jireh.  This scripture passage above is the first time the term "firstfruits" is mentioned in the Bible.  Note that God felt these times of harvest offering were so important, the offering had to be brought to either the Tent of Meeting (Temple predecessor) or, after it was built, the Temple in Jerusalem by each male head of household.  Wow, pretty important, wouldn't you say?

Later, in Psalms 78:51 and 105:36, we see the psalmist referring to the firstborn children of the Egyptians, the descendants of Ham (Noah's son) as "firstfruits".  The psalmist was hearkening back to when, at Passover that year, the angel of the Lord took the firstborn child of every household that was not "under the blood".  Not time or space to fully explore that here, but many of you are familiar with that story.

In the New Testament, the apostles Paul (Romans 8:23, 1 Corinthians 15:20, 23), James (James 1:18) and John (Revelation 14:4) refer to firstfruits.  Except for John's, the other references refer to Jesus being a type of firstfruits, as God raised Him from the dead on the first day of the Feast of First Fruits that year.1  And, Paul and James likened the early church members to being the firstfruits of the new Church, following right after Jesus Christ, who gave spiritual birth to His followers, through His message of truth, of salvation.

It has been the practice of Christians to gather in their churches on the first day of the week, giving the Savior the "firstfruits" of each week, and to commune with their Lord over the Word in the morning, giving Him the "firstfruits" of each day, the latter being an ongoing challenge for me.2

So, as I reflect back on these many years this morning (let's not say how many, please and thank you!), I am so grateful to be part of His "firstfruits of the Spirit" (Romans 8:23).  Unlike that weird blueberry bush in our front yard, I pray to never "stop bearing."

I hope all of you have a blessed day.  I may just go make some pancakes.....

Sources:
 
1     https://resplendentdaughter.blogspot.com/2018/03/first-fruits.html

2     https://resplendentdaughter.blogspot.com/2017/11/making-jesus-beggar.html

First Fruits

At Lazarus' Tomb, Bethany, Israel

The picture above was made while visiting the tomb of Lazarus, earlier this year.  What an awe-inspiring feeling to stand in the place where tradition holds that Jesus called Lazarus forth from the dead!  Just a few short months later, He spent His last days before His own death, burial and resurrection with the living Lazarus (and his sisters), fully recovered after having been dead for 4 days.

Easter is my favorite Christian "high day".  Why?  Because if Jesus Christ had not risen from the dead, our entire faith would be groundless and worthless. It would be "in vain", as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:17.  The figureheads of all other world "religions" either lie dead in the grave to this day or they will be there eventually.  But, Jesus Christ was raised from the dead by the power of God the Father (Ephesians 1:20), and it is because of this that we mortals who trust in His finished work have the assurance of eternal life if we trust in Him (1 Cor. 6:14).  Hallelujah!

On this beautiful Resurrection Morning though, I invite you to examine briefly with me (as most of us have a very busy Easter) the parallels between the Resurrection and the Jewish Feast of First Fruits.   To review:

It is recorded in Leviticus 23 that God the Father gave Moses the information about the 7 Holy Feasts. Here are the Spring Feasts, in chronological order:1

Passover (Pesach)   Nisan 14-15
Unleavened Bread (Hag haMatzah)   Nisan 15-22
First Fruits of the Barley Harvest (Yom Habikkurim), the first Sunday after the Hag haMatzah Sabbath Saturday.  The year Jesus was crucified, this was Nisan 17.
Pentecost (Shavuot)  The year Jesus was crucified, this was Sivan 6.

And here are the first three, added to our old friend, the handy-dandy Passion Week chart!

Thursday sundown to Friday sundown	Nisan  8	Jesus arrives at M,M&L's house in Bethany earlier in the day. "Mary" (most likely Mary of Bethany) anoints Jesus' feet with costly ointment.
Friday sundown to Saturday sundown	Nisan  9	Weekly Sabbath; no work or travel.
Saturday sundown to Sunday sundown	Nisan  10	Palm Sunday; Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem Jesus presents Himself at Temple; Passover Lambs are Selected (Lamb Selection Day)
Sunday sundown to Monday sundown	Nisan  11	Day 2 of lamb with family Jesus curses the fig tree Jesus cleanses the Temple Jesus heals and teaches in the Temple Jesus and the 12 return to Bethany.
Monday sundown to Tuesday sundown	Nisan  12	Day 3 of lamb with family Jesus teaches extensively in the Temple Olivet Discourse (Mount of Olives) to disciples Judas makes contact with Temple priests
Tuesday sundown to Wednesday sundown	Nisan  13	Day 4 of lamb with family  As the day begins after sundown, Jesus and the Twelve dine with Simon the Leper.  An anonymous woman anoints His head with costly oil.  During the daylight hours of Wednesday, the disciples locate a place for the upcoming feast days and make it ready by cleansing it from leaven.   Judas leaves to sell Jesus out for 30 pieces of silver.
Wednesday sundown to Thursday sundown	Nisan  14 The Lord's Seder	"Preparation Day" After sunset, to begin the day, Jesus eats The Last Supper (Jesus' early Passover seder) with the disciples. Garden of Gethsemane in the early hours; Jesus' high priestly prayer (John 17); Jesus's mock trial; sentencing Thursday morning. Day 5 of lamb with family; sacrificed in mid-afternoon.  Lamb's blood applied to doorposts . God's Lamb's blood covers all our sins.  Day of Jesus' crucifixion (begins mid- morning) and death (mid-late afternoon) Earthquake at His death; Temple veil rent in two. Jesus is hastily buried in Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb before sundown.
Thursday sundown to Friday sundown	Nisan  15 Passover Feast of  Unleavened Bread begins	High Feast of Passover at Thurs. sundown, when Passover meal is eaten;  First day of Feast of Unleavened Bread; Jesus' body is dead in the tomb; Disciples are scattered and terrified.
Friday sundown to Saturday sundown	Nisan  16 The Weekly Sabbath of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Hag haMatzah)	Jesus' body remains dead in the tomb.
Saturday sundown to Sunday sundown	Nisan  17 Feast of First Fruits: The Morrow after the Hag haMatzah Weekly Sabbath	In the wee hours  of Sunday morning Jesus is resurrected, as our First Fruits.  Other dead in the area come out of their tombs.  After dawn, the women and later the disciples witness the empty tomb.  He is risen!  He is risen indeed! During the day, the Wave Offering is made (waving of the omer - - sheaf of barley).

Interestingly, though not coincidentally, Jesus referred to the Feast of First Fruits Himself, in John 12.

23Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

27“Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. 28Father, glorify your name!”

Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” 29The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.

The Feast of First Fruits commemorates (Leviticus 23:9-12) the beginning of the barley harvest, and signals the start of 49 days until the harvest festival of Shavuot (Pentecost) comes.  (Counting of the Omer).  It is always celebrated on the first Sunday after the Sabbath Saturday that falls within the week of Unleavened Bread, the first Sunday after the 15th of Nisan (Aviv).  See Leviticus 23:15-16.

In brief, because most of you will find your eyes crossing over this next part, there was great controversy in Jesus' day as to when First Fruits should begin.  The Pharisees thought it should always be celebrated on Nisan/Aviv 16, and the Sadducees believed it should be calculated as I have stated above, the first Sunday after the 15th of Nisan (Aviv).  {For a detailed explanation of why the Sadducees were right, see source #3, in the Sources section.}

Therefore, both First Fruits (and Pentecost) always fall on a Sunday.  As Zola Levitt so beautifully put it:4
"Thus it happens, so early in the Bible {Leviticus}, that God honors Resurrection Sunday, the Sunday after Passover, as representing particularly the things that come up out of the ground spontaneously and miraculously after the long, dead winter."
Jesus' resurrection miracle brought life to mankind, who had been enslaved to sin for 4000 years.

The ceremonies surrounding First Fruits are:

• the waving of a sheaf of barley (wave offering)  see Joshua 5:11
• a defect-free male lamb was offered, along with bread and wine, See Leviticus 23:13.
• the very symbols Jesus used to ask us to remember Him ("Last Supper" aka Jesus' Early Seder)  

20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.

1 Cor. 15:20-23 (KJV)

Now, I want to quote very liberally from my source below: {emphasis mine, for clarity/translation}

"Yeshua {Jesus} is the first-begotten of the Father (Heb. 1:6); the firstborn of all creation (Col. 1:15-16); the first-begotten of the dead (Rev. 1:5); and is the First Fruits of those who are to be resurrected (1 Cor. 15:20-23).  Baruch HaShem! {Blessed be G-d!}  And just as He is our Firstfruits, so 'He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of all He created' (James 1:18)."

How amazing that immediately after Jesus' resurrection, we find recorded only in Matthew's gospel that, in the aftermath of the crucifixion earthquake and Easter morning earthquake the graves were opened and that some of the dead were likewise resurrected, as the incredible resurrection power of God spilled over that area!  (Matt. 27:52-53)

In closing, 1 Peter 1:3-5 (NET) - -

{This from the man who had not only denied His Lord 3 times, but who had 3 days later held the empty grave clothes in his hands...}

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he gave us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 that is, into an inheritance imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. It is reserved in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are protected through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Alleluia!

https://youtu.be/eeZVLgbKTxo

Sources:

1  http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Holidays/Introduction/introduction.html

2   Good, J. (1998). Rosh HaShanah and the Messianic Kingdom to come: an interpretation of the Feast of Trumpets based upon ancient sources. Nederland, TX: Hatikva 

3   http://nailedtocross.com/index.php/articles/calendar-studies/5-firstfruits-16th-day-or-first-day-of-the-week

4   https://www.levitt.com/essays/first-fruits

Called Into the Unknown

So now they journey together, the rugged 50 or so miles from Moab to Bethlehem.  We don't know what they talked about, but surely Ruth had some trepidations about leaving everything she had ever known to move to a land she had only heard about from her now-dead husband and his family.  She would be a stranger, in a strange land, making a new beginning.

What if God called you into another country, a foreign culture, where you knew neither the language, nor the customs, nor much of the religion, nor the laws.... As a woman it would be particularly intimidating.  You females out there know what I mean.  Our tribe can be particularly condescending, cruel and unaccepting of "outsiders".  It would be a fearsome calling, would it not?  Some of you, like Helen, Judy, and others of my friends have experienced this.  Others have are experiencing it on other planes, like my friend whose husband recently abandoned her, leaving her to raise her children essentially on her own, or the friend whose spouse died suddenly with no warning....new land, new laws.

I have never had the physical experience of being asked to go live in a foreign land.  Given my personality, I would tend to look at it as an adventure.  But, not everyone is built that way.  At least Ruth had a woman of some standing and reputation with her.   We see this by the fact that Naomi was recognized when the pair arrived back in Bethlehem.  And the fact that she had brought home a Moabite daughter-in-law, a widow?  Well, that stirred up the whole town...

19So the two women went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them, and the women exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?”

20“Don’t call me Naomi,^b ” she told them. “Call me Mara,^c because the Almighty^d has made my life very bitter. 21I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The Lordhas afflicted^e me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.”

22So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning.

Ruth 1:19-22 (NIV)

The women's question was not one of ignorance, but of incredulity!  They certainly knew this was Naomi, but they were "extremely surprised to near disbelief" (incredulous) the Lord had brought her back home.

To properly understand the deep symbolism of this story, it is important to learn about the barley harvest referenced in verse 22.  This harvest was a time when the town gave praise and honor to God because of His goodness.  This goodness was manifested in the abundant crop which He gave each year.

The timing of Ruth's story was important because of the role these women played in the foreshadowing of Jesus Mashiach (Messiah) and His redemptive first work during His last few weeks on Earth. 
Ruth and Naomi arrived in the spring, most likely in or near the first month of the Jewish year.  The barley ripened in March-April.  This usually occurred at the same time as Pesach (Passover). 

Some of you will wonder that I referred to Nisan as the first month of the Jewish calendar.  The ancient Jewish biblical calendar began with Nisan 1, the month of redemption (Chodesh HaGeulah).  The civil Jewish calendar celebrates the new year in the fall, on Rosh Hashanah.  This year, 5778 on the Jewish calendar, Nisan 1 falls on March 17th.  For more info about the Jewish calendar, you can click this link: 
http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Holidays/Spring_Holidays/Rosh_Chodashim/rosh_chodashim.html

So, back to the barley harvest.  In Judaism and Messianic Judaism there are three "harvest feasts".  The first occurs with Passover (Pesach), the second is Pentecost (Shavuot) and the third is Tabernacles (Sukkot).  Coincidentally(?), at each of these three times of year Jewish males were required to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to keep the feasts there, if at all possible.  Bringing in the harvest, you see...

9The Lord said to Moses, 10“Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest.11He is to wave the sheaf before the Lord so it will be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath.

Leviticus 23:9-11 (NIV)

The barley harvest is the first grain of Israel to ripen.  It begins in southern Israel in conjunction with Pesach and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  (Passover is at the beginning of that Feast, basically "kicking it off".)

"As the firstfruit crop of the Harvest, Barley speaks loudly throughout Scripture as prophetic of not only Yahushua, but of the Bride {of Christ - - i.e. The Church}. In many of the prophetic pictures of the Bride, Barley is either present or is associated in some way. Many of the Bride examples, as well as Bride characteristics, include mention of the word Barley in some way."1

The first sheaves of barley harvested were offered as a "wave offering" to God.  Basically, in the religious ceremony the priest would literally wave the sheaves through the air in worship.  These sheaves of barley were the first-fruits of the first harvest.  They were offered on the Sunday following the Sabbath that began the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  Now, watch this:

20But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.21For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.

1 Corinthians 15:20-23 (NIV)

Yes, Jesus Christ was raised from the dead the Sunday after Passover.  This is why Paul referred to Him as "the firstfruits of them that slept".   But, I am getting very far afield here.  I need to get back to Ruth.

Re-read Lev. 23:9-11.  Like the Israelites many generations before her, Ruth entered into the Promised Land at the barley harvest.  She entered a stranger to that land, but she became accepted because of her devotion to the one, true God and to her mother-in-law, Naomi.  Ruth, who becomes the bride of Boaz, her kinsman-redeemer (more on that later), represents and pre-figures the Bride of Jesus Christ, that is, the Church, that universal group of believers who trust Him as Lord and Savior. 

Jesus calls us, His Bride, out from a land of sin, from our own Moab, if you will, into a land of promise.  It is an unfamiliar land. 

Have you recently been called by Him into The Unknown?  Even if you have worshipped and followed Him for years, He will at times take you to unfamiliar places - - places that seem intimidating or ... even horrifying to contemplate.  Please remember during those times that He is your Bridegroom.  He will never leave you, nor forsake you (Deuteronomy 31:6).  He did not abandon Ruth.  He won't abandon you either.  He is in the business of "making paths straight".

I just love these verses, Proverbs 3:5-6 (NET).  Let's close this post with these:

5Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

and do not rely on your own understanding.

6Acknowledge him in all your ways,

and he will make your paths straight.

Source:

1      http://www.thewayprepared.com/studies/3-foldharvest.html