Jesus and the Firstfruits: Lessons from Feast of Pentecost

Throughout the years of keeping the Feast of Pentecost, we have learned so many things of its deep meaning. So, we know that the Feast of Pentecost marks the beginning of the New Testament Church. It’s also the time when the Holy Spirit has been made available to more people. Finally, it pictures the firstfruits who will be given salvation upon the second coming of our Savior, Yahshua the Messiah.

Thus, this afternoon, I won’t be going through the lessons that we already know or at least, the lessons we commonly understand from the Feast of Pentecost. Rather, I want to share with you little-known lessons from this day we are celebrating. Some of these lessons are known to us but not known to those who are outside the church while some lessons could be something you will hear for the first time. As I was preparing this message, I was really amazed at how I discovered new lessons that I hadn’t thought of before. So, I’m excited to share these lessons with you.

Lesson No. 1: Yahshua is the first of the firstfruits

Now, you might say, “Josh, I thought you’re going to tell us little known lessons. I already know that Yahshua is the first of the firstfruits.” That might be true, but by reviewing this important aspect of Pentecost, I’m going to show you some small details in the Bible that we can easily overlook.

Yesterday, we had a Bible study with young people. Our topic is Pentecost. Before we started, I asked them, “What is your understanding of the Pentecost?” Do you know how many were able to answer? 0, nada, none. I don’t know if they are just shy, but I told them not to be shy and just give me an answer so I can gauge their understanding and know where to start our discussion. However, no one answered and I could see on their faces that they don’t really have a good idea of what this day pictures.

So, what does this tell you? Well, as for me, it tells me that we really have to review the meaning of Pentecost. We can’t assume that everyone already knows. Also, I believe the parents have a huge role in teaching their children as well. As we approach any feast day, we as parents should teach our children what these days mean.

Part of what we commonly understand is that Yahshua is the first of the firstfruits. However, how exactly does that work and how does it fit in the Leviticus 23 narration? That’s what I want to review here and by doing so, I’m going to reveal a simple error in most NKJV bibles that you probably don’t notice even if it is in plain sight.

So, let’s start reading in Leviticus 23:9-11:

⁹ And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁰ “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest. ¹¹ 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.

Notice, when are they going to do this? “When you come into the land which I give to you.” Remember, when Leviticus 23 was enumerated, they were still in the wilderness. This is actually not just an instruction but a statement of assurance. God didn’t say if you come but rather when you come. So, God is telling the Israelites that He is sure that you will come to the promised land. They can’t perform the wave sheaf offering in the wilderness. Do you know why? Because they were not yet in an agricultural setting. What they ate was manna and quail.

The instruction we read in Leviticus 23:9-11 is actually still part of the instruction of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This happens on a Sunday.

Now, I want you to take a look at the NKJV Bible. Can you spot the error here? Take a look at the subheading. There’s the Feast of Firstfruits and then there’s the Feast of Weeks. Because of having a separate subheading, it is suggested that these two feasts are separate. However, we know this is not the case.

We read in Numbers 28:26:

²⁶ ‘Also on the day of the firstfruits, when you bring a new grain offering to the LORD at your Feast of Weeks, you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work.

In the Bible, Pentecost has different names. In the Hebrew writings, Pentecost is referred to as the Feast of Firstfruits, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Harvest (Exodus 23:16). In the Apostolic writings, we see the word Pentecost.

So, looking at the NKJV Bible, actually, it has confused me. So, that’s something we should take note of. That’s why, I want to review this important aspect of Pentecost.

The Bible confirms that Yahshua is the first of the firstfruits. We read in 1 Corinthians 15:20-23:

²⁰ But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. ²¹ For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. ²² For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. ²³ But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.

So, how did Yahshua become the first of the first fruits? Going back to the Days of Unleavened Bread, the day after the Sabbath within that week, there’s an important ceremony that takes place. That is the waving of the sheaf. The wave sheaf offering pictures Yahshua. Do you remember when was Yahshua resurrected? He was resurrected just before the Sabbath ended. The timing couldn’t be more perfect. Just like the Wave sheaf offering ceremony happens on a Sunday, Yahshua fulfilled this on a Sunday when He went up to heaven and presented His resurrected self to the Father.

So, Yahshua has already become the first of the firstfruit during the Days of Unleavened Bread. However, that doesn’t end there. Thus, comes the Feast of Pentecost, which is also called the Feast of the firstfruits.

Just a quick review, the life of the Israelites was deeply wrapped around the agricultural cycle. During a given year, there are two phases of the physical harvest. The first happens during the Days of Unleavened Bread that lasts up until Pentecost. That is when the firstfruits were harvested.

The firstfruits are considered to be the best crops of the year. They are the first who matures and ripens and thus, they are the ones that are ready for the early harvest. So, from DUB to Pentecost, they were harvesting the firstfruits. I was actually curious what is the significance of the gap between DUB and Pentecost. Why does God have to wait for fifty days to celebrate Pentecost. I believe this is the reason because between these two holy days, God is harvesting His firstfruits.

But who are these firstfruits? When we go back to 1 Corinthians 15:20-23, we read:

²³ But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming. 1 Corinthians 15:23

So, the firstfruits are the people who are in Christ, meaning those who are called at this time. We also read James 1:16-18:

¹⁶ Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. ¹⁷ Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. ¹⁸ Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures. 

So, God has given us the truth so that we can become a kind of firstfruits of His creatures. What’s more amazing is what we read in Revelation 14:1-5:

​¹ Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father’s name written on their foreheads. ² And I heard a voice from heaven, like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of loud thunder. And I heard the sound of harpists playing their harps. ³ They sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures, and the elders; and no one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who were redeemed from the earth. ⁴ These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among men, being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb. ⁵ And in their mouth was found no deceit, for they are without fault before the throne of God. 

What an exciting picture of the firstfruits of God. They are the 144,000. 

However, just because they were already firstfruits doesn’t mean that they will no longer be another harvest. That’s why, it is called the firstfruits because there will come another harvest, which I will not discuss further since that would be an inspiring topic for another sermon.

But I just want to show you the what this day pictures, the Feast of Pentecost. It is really so inspiring if we understand its deep meaning.

Lesson no. 2: The Deep Meaning of the Two Loaves

Since we are living in the New Covenant, we don’t perform the sacrificial rituals and ceremonies the ancient Israelites have done. Yahshua has become the ultimate sacrifice for us all. So, it is understandable that we sometimes don’t put a lot of emphasis on the different sacrifices made in the Old Testament. However, I want to highlight a type of offering given on this day of Pentecost and its amazing meaning.

Let’s continue reading Leviticus 23:15-17:

¹⁵ ‘And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. ¹⁶ Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the LORD. ¹⁷ You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are the firstfruits to the LORD.

Now, notice, what is the offering given on the Feast of Pentecost? You shall offer a new grain offering to Yahweh. Now, here’s what’s interesting, when you offer a grain offering to Yahweh, it is not offered as grain, it is transformed into something else.

¹ ‘When anyone offers a grain offering to the LORD, his offering shall be of fine flour. And he shall pour oil on it, and put frankincense on it. ⁴ ‘And if you bring as an offering a grain offering baked in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil. ⁵ But if your offering is a grain offering baked in a pan, it shall be of fine flour, unleavened, mixed with oil. ⁶ You shall break it in pieces and pour oil on it; it is a grain offering. Leviticus 2:1-6

So, we can see here, that it is transformed into fine flour or unleavened cakes. Now, let’s go back to Leviticus 23. We read that the grain offering is transformed into loaves. Do you notice something different with the baked loaves offered in Pentecost? Yes, it is baked with leaven!

What’s going on here? All throughout the Scripture, almost always, leaven is pictured as a type of sin. It is a symbol of corruption. Why would God want the priest to offer leaven bread on the Day of Pentecost? What’s more, the priest will not only offer one but two leavened loaves!

Now, here’s the interesting part of this study. Let’s go back to Leviticus Leviticus 2:11-12:

¹¹ ‘No grain offering which you bring to the LORD shall be made with leaven, for you shall burn no leaven nor any honey in any offering to the LORD made by fire. ¹² As for the offering of the firstfruits, you shall offer them to the LORD, but they shall not be burned on the altar for a sweet aroma. 

So, we see here that the two loaves shall not be placed on the altar. The altar symbolizes the table of God and He will not partake anything that has corruption. So, instead of burning the two loaves on the altar, we can see here that they are waved.

So, let’s backtrack a little. What does the grain offering represent? The grain offering represents our labor to God. We read in Exodus 23:16: and the Feast of Harvest, the firstfruits of your labors which you have sown in the field; and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you have gathered in the fruit of your labors from the field.

It means that we are offering back to God the blessings He has given to us. In a way, the Feast of Pentecost reminds us that everything that we have, everything that we are, and everything that we have accomplished is not because of our own strength, skills, or knowledge. They are all coming from God.

I saw this viral post on Facebook of a graduating student saying that why do we attribute everything to God? Why do we attribute our success in life to God? I’m the one who worked hard for it. I’m the one who sacrificed. It is not God. It is by myself I have achieved all these things. That person forgot the mere fact he is breathing, thinking, and moving, it is by God’s grace. His very life is a gift from God. Thus, it is not our strength that we are using, it is a strength given by God.

That’s why, brethren, it is crucial for us to keep God’s Feasts such as the Feast of Pentecost because it reminds us that our lives are just borrowed. No matter how skillful, intelligent, or strong you are, you will never be able to produce one single grain of wheat out of nothing.

I remember this one cartoon showing a scientist telling God, “Hey God we now have discovered how to create life.” As the scientist is about to demonstrate how to create life, he reached to the ground and compiled a chunk of soil. Then God said to him, “Oops, use your own soil.” Essentially, what this is tell us is that we are completely dependent on God.

Since we are living in the digital age, we can sometimes ignore this very fact. I recently had a deeper appreciation of this when we started farming. We planned to plant squash (kalabasa). It takes a lot of faith to be in farming. You know why? Because you can choose the best seeds, you can add all the fertilizers that you have, you can do all the soil testing and all, but a huge part of the farming process is actually out of your control. You don’t control the sun. You don’t control the rain. You don’t control the wind.

We planted the squash during the dry season. We were praying so hard for rain, but for days, there were no rain. When it rain even just a little bit, it brings joy to our hearts. As you can see, when we give an offering to God, it is an acknowledgement of His blessings. We acknowledge that it is not by our own strength that we have blessings, but it is true God’s divine providence.

Now, going back to the grain offering, it says that it should be fine flour. So, you can see that it takes a lot of effort to give an offering to God. You have to turn it into flour and not just flour, but of fine flour. God is not impressed with the quantity but with the quality of our offering. 

Let’s read Micah 6:6-8:

⁶ With what shall I come before the LORD, And bow myself before the High God? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, With calves a year old? ⁷ Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, Ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? ⁸ He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?

That’s why, Yahshua was pleased with the widow’s offering of two mites because He is not after quantity, but the quality of our offerings and that quality should reflect in our daily lives!

So, we now come to the two wave loaves. Instead of burning the two loaves, it is waved before God as an offering. As much as we want to be dogmatic on the meaning of these two loaves, we can simply make some assumptions in the best we can because the Bible doesn’t directly give us the meaning.

I did a quick research on what might be the meaning of these two loaves. One of the meanings I came across is that it represents the nation of Israel and the Gentile nations. I believe this can be a good. Let’s go to Acts 2:1, 5:

⁵ And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. Acts 2:5

The word devout here came from the Greek word, “eulabēs.” It means reverencing God, pious, and religious. Then jumping to verses 36-39, it shows us that the promise is not just for the Israelites but now, has extended to the rest of the world.

We read in Ephesians 2:11-22

¹¹ Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands— ¹² that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. ¹³ But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

¹⁴ For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, ¹⁵ having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, ¹⁶ and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. ¹⁷ And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. ¹⁸ For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.

¹⁹ Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, ²⁰ having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, ²¹ in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, ²² in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. Ephesians 2:11-22

As you can see here, the Feast of Pentecost unites the House of Israel and the Gentile nations. We also read Galatians 3:26-29:

26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. 

That’s the powerful message of the Feast of Pentecost, brethren. When we are baptized, we are adopted into the Family of God. Can you just imagine, you are an orphan, you are just living on the streets, you are helpless and even hopeless. You only eat from the trash. You have rugged clothes. You can’t even have a decent way of taking a bath or relieving yourself. Yet, God reached out to us. He called us by name. He said, “I want you to be in my family.” I want to take you in. I want to bring your home. I want to be your Father. So, we accept that invitation through baptism and through the laying on of hands, we receive the Holy Spirit and we now have been one and part of the body of believers. What a powerful message of the Feast of Pentecost brethren.

That’s why, on the Feast of Pentecost, there are other sacrifices to be made and not just the grain offering. We read:

¹⁸ And you shall offer with the bread seven lambs of the first year, without blemish, one young bull, and two rams. They shall be as a burnt offering to the LORD, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering made by fire for a sweet aroma to the LORD. ¹⁹ Then you shall sacrifice one kid of the goats as a sin offering, and two male lambs of the first year as a sacrifice of a peace offering. ²⁰ The priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs. Leviticus 23:18-20

From these verses, we read of the four types of offering. The gift offering is the grain offering, which is a way for us to thank God for His blessings and provision. Then we have the burnt offering, which is the costliest offering, meaning the offering should be completely burned. This is done for the atonement of our sins. The third one is the sin offering, which is intended for unintended sins or ritualistic impurities. In essence, the sin offering is for the purification of ourselves from sin. Finally, we have the peace offering, which is an offering that is shared with one another, signifying not just our peace with God but with men.

As you can see brethren, why do the loaves have to be leaven? Why? Because even though we have received the Holy Spirit, we are still in the flesh. We are still subject to corruption both physically and spiritually. We still commit mistakes. We still sin. We still stumble. We are not perfect. We will still sin.

In the midst of all these offerings, who do we see? It is Yahshua. He plays a crucial role during the Feast of Pentecost. During the Passover, we know that He is the Passover Lamb. During the Days of Unleavened Bread, we know how He died for our sins and was resurrected on the third day. However, on the Feast of Pentecost, what is the role of Yahshua? He is actually our High Priest. We read in Hebrews 4:14-16:

¹⁴ Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. ¹⁵ For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. ¹⁶ Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. 

Yahshua, as our High Priest, helps us in our infirmities. He helps us in our struggles. He serves as an advocate to the Throne of God. That’s why, even when we are endowed with the Holy Spirit, we still sin, but because of Christ’s sacrifices pictured by the offerings made on the Day of Pentecost, we can all come boldly before the Throne of God.

Don’t ever think that God’s mercy runs out. Don’t ever think that He will not forgive us anymore. Don’t forget that God is not there waiting for us because He does. We read in Lamentations 3:22-24:

22 Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. 23 They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. 24 “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I hope in Him!” 

God doesn’t run out of mercy and grace. As long as we are truly repentant, we do our best to live the God’s way of life, God is faithful to forgive our sins and I believe that’s one of the most important messages of the Feast of Pentecost for all of us.

Final words

Brethren, actually, I have 5 points for you today. However, while I was preparing this message, I realized that even just one of the points would take a lot of time to expound. So, perhaps, God willing, I’ll be giving the other 3 points next time or next year. For now, I want to leave you with these 2 important lessons from the Feast of Pentecost. There’s no doubt, God’s festivals are filled with deep meaning that you can only find by diligently studying God’s word. We are thankful that every year, God is showing us new valuable lessons that we can use in our Christian walk. With that, brethren, may we all strive to be part of God’s firstfruit, to be part of that 144,000 and to walk close to God knowing that we have Yahshua, our High Priest who will continually support us as endeavor to enter the Kingdom of God.

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