FIRST FRUITS

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WHAT IS IT?

Firstfruits is the third Appointed Time of YHWH. The Hebrew Scriptures refer to this day as Re’sheet Katzir meaning “the first of the harvest” as used in Leviticus 23:10.

Leviticus 23:10–14. Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest, and he shall wave the sheaf before YHWH, so that you may be accepted. On the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it… It is a statue forever throughout your generations.

The context of this passage is that the verses just prior to this are describing Passover and the week of Unleavened Bread. So these verses are the continuation of the description of week of Unleavened Bread. While there is some controversy regarding which particular Sabbath is referred to in this passage, the most straightforward reading of the Scripture, based on the immediate context, would suggest that “the day after the Sabbath” must occur during the week of Unleavened Bread that has been the topic of discussion. It is on that “day after the Sabbath”, that is, the Sunday during the week of Unleavened Bread, that the priest shall wave the offering of firstfruits to YHWH. In other words, it is on the Sunday that occurs between Abib 15 and Abib 21. Since Passover occurs on Abib 14, we can therefore say that Firstfruits occurs on the Sunday immediately following Passover.

This was the beginning the barley harvest, which was the first of all crops to be harvested in the year. So the first sheaf of the first harvested barley crop of the year was to be offered to YHWH on this particular day. This was a day of Thanksgiving offering in advance of the full harvest which was yet to come.

Each of the Appointed Times has a historical significance, a present day (annual) application, and a future fulfillment that is in some way related to YHWH’s plan of salvation for mankind. In the case of Firstfruits, we can see that the future fulfillment of this day came when the Messiah was resurrected.

The Messiah was crucified on Passover (Abib 14), and on the following Sunday (Abib 17), the day of Firstfruits, He was resurrected:

Matthew 28:1–6
Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Yeshua who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.

On the day of Firstfruits, Yeshua became the Firstfruit offering -- the first of those resurrected from the dead. As followers of Messiah, we will eventually join him at his return when the harvest is completed. This is what Paul writes to the Corinthian believers:

1 Corinthians 15:20–23. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.

This day, the day of Firstfruits, is the day that YHWH gave us to celebrate the resurrection of His Son. This is resurrection Sunday!

It is also interesting that the resurrection of the Messiah took place on the first day of the week. The first day of the week is sometimes referred to as the eighth day. Just as the number seven often symbolizes completeness, the number eighth sometimes symbolizes the beginning of something totally new. Yeshua’s resurrection, on the first day of the week, marked something totally new. It marked the initiation of the New Covenant. The old would now begin to fade as the new begins to be implemented. Although it seems that the completion of this transition will not be until the Messiah returns and establishes his earthly kingdom, the initiation of it began on “the eighth day” – the day of Firstfruits. Resurrection Day.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Is this the same as Easter Sunday?

No. Traditional Christianity has moved toward celebrating “Easter” instead of Passover, Unleavened Bread, and Firstfruits. If you study the history of Easter, you will find that both the name and date, as well as many of the associated traditions, are completely pagan in origin.

The name “Easter” is a derivation coming from Oester or Ostara, names of pagan goddesses having to do with fertility.

Easter, in Old High German Ôstarâ, in Anglo-Saxon Eostre, was the name of the goddess of spring. It is derived from the word Aust, Ost, East, and signified the morning light in the East. The Teutonic Christians immediately transferred the name to the festival of the rising of the Sun of righteousness. (Pullan, L. 1904. The Christian Tradition.)

Actually, the name Easter is connected not just to Eostre and Ostara, but also more ancient pagan goddesses including Ishtar, Astarte, Ashara, Ashtaroth, Venus, Aphrodite, and Semiramis. Each of these was viewed as a “mother goddess” offering fertility to her followers.

Over the centuries, the Easter holiday has merged the events of Passover, Unleavened Bread, and Firstfruits with the various springtime fertility rituals associated with these pagan gods. Springtime brings rain and new life, as well as days with more sunlight hours. The spring equinox typically marks the beginning of this time, beginning a period in which many cultures would celebrate new life and seek blessings from their goddesses of fertility. The hare was specifically associated with the goddess the Ostara, but rabbits in general were widely viewed as symbols of fertility since they were noted for their prolific reproduction. Similarly, eggs have commonly been associated with fertility, and have often played a part in pagan fertility rituals. These elements of pagan worship have become integrated in a holiday that many Christians regard as Biblical.

Regarding the date, Scripture designates the first new moon of springtime (apparently the first new moon after the spring equinox) as the beginning of the first month of the year. Firstfruits is the first Sunday that occurs after the 14thday of that first month (in other words, the first Sunday after Passover). After much argument, the church in 325 AD declared that they would celebrate “Easter” on a different day – on the first Sunday after the first full moon that occurred after the spring equinox. While the days are sometimes close, they are not the same. The church adopted a new method of calculation that was entirely different from the instructions given in Scripture.

The date was changed from that in Scripture in an attempt by Christians to separate themselves from what they called “the detestable company of the Jews.” In other words, since Jewish people were keeping Passover, Unleavened Bread, and Firstfruits, the Christians wanted to choose something different just to be increase their separation, regardless of what Scripture said. Actually some of the eastern Christians at the time were celebrating the resurrection in accord with Scripture, but the western Roman church was not. The church council at Nicea in 325 AD addressed this issue and voted that both east and west must keep same day – not the day according to Scripture, but rather a day that they would set to be purposely different in order to separate themselves from what Jewish people were doing. The historian Eusebius records these events from the church council and quotes a letter from the Roman Emperor Constantine:

And first of all, it appeared an unworthy thing that in the celebration of this most holy feast we should follow the practice of the Jews, who have impiously defiled their hands with enormous sin, and are, therefore, deservedly afflicted with blindness of soul… Let us then have nothing in common with the detestable Jewish crowd; for we have received from our Saviour a different way… Since, therefore, it was needful that this matter should be rectified, so that we might have nothing in common with that nation of parricides who slew their Lord… it has been determined by the common judgment of all, that the most holy feast of Easter should be kept on one and the same day.” (Eusebius of Caesaria. 1890. The Life of the Blessed Emperor Constantine. In P. Schaff & H. Wace. Eusebius: Church History, Life of Constantine the Great, and Oration in Praise of Constantine. Vol. 1, p. 525)

There is a reason the Father said when you go into the promised land you are to keep His Appointed Times, and not mix with the pagan culture. He commanded that not even the names of their gods should be spoken:

Exodus 23:13. Pay attention to all that I have said to you, and make no mention of the names of other gods, nor let it be heard on your lips.

Joshua 23:6–7
Therefore, be very strong to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, turning aside from it neither to the right hand nor to the left, that you may not mix with these nations remaining among you or make mention of the names of their gods or swear by them or serve them or bow down to them,

Why did the Father instruct us in this way? He knew that our natural tendency would be to incorporate the pagan practices around us into our worship of Him. Sadly we have done that just that.

The Day After Which Sabbath?

Scripture says that the sheaf of firstfruits was to be offered “on the day after the Sabbath", but it’s not entirely clear which Sabbath this instruction refers to:

Leviticus 23:10–11. Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest, and he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, so that you may be accepted. On the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.

Much controversy exists over which Sabbath is being referring to. We know that even in the days of Yeshua there was disagreement over this. Given that this passage immediately follows the instructions for the week of Unleavened Bread, there are really only three possibilities for which Sabbath this could be:

1. The regular weekly Sabbath that occurs during the week of Unleavened Bread.

2. The “special Sabbath” that occurs on the first day of Unleavened Bread.

3. The “special Sabbath” that occurs on the last day of Unleavened Bread.

The first and last days of Unleavened Bread are sometimes called “special Sabbaths” or “high Sabbaths” because the instructions for these special days sound a lot like the instructions for keeping the regular weekly Sabbaths. Compare these instructions:

Leviticus 23:3 Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work. It is a Sabbath to the Lord in all your dwelling places.

Leviticus 23:6–8. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work. But you shall present a food offering to the Lord for seven days. On the seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work.”

Since on the first and last days of Unleavened Bread, we are commanded to have a “holy gathering” and not do any ordinary work, these days have sometimes been considered to be “like a Sabbath”. In fact, by the time of Yeshua, it is evident that Jewish people did in fact refer to these days as “special Sabbaths” or “high Sabbaths.” We even have evidence of this in the Apostolic Scriptures (New Testament), where John writes that Yeshua was crucified on preparation day before the Sabbath that was “a high day”:

John 19:31. Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away.

There is historical evidence that by the 1stCentury there were sects within Judaism that were proponents of each of the three options for interpreting “on the day after the Sabbath”. It seems that the Qumran sect favored interpreting the Sabbath as the last day of Unleavened Bread. Thus for them, Firstfruits would always fall on Abib 22. The Pharisees (and modern Judaism) take the view that the Sabbath is the first day of Unleavened Bread. So for them, Firstfruits would always fall on Abib 16.

One big problem with either of these interpretations is that although these special days were referred to as Sabbaths by Jewish people during the 1st Century, nowhere do the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) ever refer to these special days as a Sabbath. In the Hebrew Scriptures, the Sabbath day is always the seventh day of week. This is without exception. The Hebrew Scriptures never refer to a day other than the seventh day of the week as the Sabbath. There is one Appointed Time, the day of Atonement, which Scripture says is “like a Sabbath”, but note that Scripture does not say this day “is a Sabbath”. Therefore, if we are to understand the instructions for the Appointed Times in the terms defined by the Hebrew Scriptures (rather than later the traditions of man), then the Sabbath referred to in this passage can only refer to the regular weekly Sabbath.

Another argument in favor of understanding the Sabbath to be the regular weekly Sabbath is that Scripture does not give a specific date for Firstfruits (or for Shavuot which follows 49 days later). For all the other Appointed Times, specific dates are given: Abib 15 (Passover), Abib 15 (first day of Unleavened Bread), Tishri 1 (Trumpets), Tishri 10 (Atonement), and Tishri 15 (Sukkot). If Firstfruits always occurred the day after the first or last day of Unleavened Bread, then it would always occur on Abib 16 or Abib 22, respectively. If that were the case it would have been much more straightforward for Scriptures to simply instruct people celebrate on that particular date. Since Scriptures does not do it this way, one must assume there is a reason for it. The logical conclusion is that Firstfruits does not occur on a set date each year, but rather occurs the day after the regular weekly Sabbath.

Just to complicate things a bit more, what would happen if Passover falls on a regular weekly Sabbath? In that case the last day of Unleavened Bread also falls on a regular weekly Sabbath. So which Sabbath would Firstfruits follow? Again, Scripture is not clear on this, but it would seem that the Firstfruits offerings are to be made within the context of the celebration of Unleavened Bread. Therefore the most natural assumption is that the day of Firstfruits must fall within the week of Unleavened Bread. So when Passover falls on a Sabbath, we celebrate Firstfruits on the following day, which is the very same day as the first day of Unleavened Bread.

We can summarize all the above by saying that the most natural reading of the Text would indicate that Firstfruits falls on the first Sunday following Passover. Do we know for sure? No. Is it worth arguing over? No.