Death Never Lasts: The Feast of First Fruits
The Feast of First Fruits is a biblical feast that echoes the promise of resurrection. It celebrates God's abundant goodness to His people in giving them hope for new life through Jesus the Messiah. Since Moses’s time, the faithful had celebrated this feast when he instructed them how to offer first fruits from their harvest as an act of thanksgiving (Numbers 18:9-22).
The Feast of First Fruits is a celebration of the first harvest in Israel.
You can imagine the life of the Israelites coming out of slavery in Egypt. Slavery was a 24/7/365 kind of lifestyle. They are moving from making bricks to becoming farmers. What would this new life of freedom look like? God will be providing all they need for the next 40 years in the wilderness, but they will eventually need to learn the land and trust the harvest to come. Would God provide growth for their crops as the very sustenance of the livelihood? When those first buds open up and see new life, there is a reassurance they will have all they need.
The Feast of First Fruits is a celebration of the first fruits that were harvested in ancient times. On this day, people would bring an offering to God and thank Him for the harvest. It was a way of giving thanks for the crop’s first fruits since the Israelites' lives revolved around the agricultural cycle.
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you enter the land which I am going to give to you, and you gather its harvest, then you shall bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. He shall wave the sheaf before the Lord for you to be accepted; on the day after the Sabbath, the priest shall wave it. (Leviticus 23:9-11)
For you to recognize the full glory of this feast and celebrate its promise of a future fulfilled, it must be recognized as God’s instruction from the original form. First Fruits reminded Israelites about their dependence upon Him so they would not become prideful or self-sufficient during harvest time when all seemed bountiful. Still, it could quickly be taken away by drought if He withdrew his blessing.
How did we get here from there?
Over the years, the Jewish calendar has become mired in confusion, and these Biblical feasts don't translate well in our current Gregorian calendar rhythm. The First Fruits of the harvest provided a prophetic promise for the whole human race. Many Christians are unaware of its theological truth even as they rise early with others to celebrate Easter (Resurrection Sunday) and realize its first act from the Old Testament. To have a rootedness in this ancient feast is to bring about the whole story and genuinely celebrate with a deeper meaning.
There are some years where Passover and Easter are not even close to each other on the calendar. This makes it difficult to celebrate the two feasts together. The Feast of First Fruits was always celebrated after Passover, and it is a celebration that we should not forget about in our modern-day celebrations!
It seems as though we have confused the ancient pagan fertility rite with what was initially intended to be a holy convocation. Today, we are left not only confused but knowing that this is a hybrid of the Babylonian festival and Biblical law.
The Feast of First Fruits was a ritual reserved to honor the first plant that has shot up on its own (with God's help, of course) after lying dormant through winter. The Babylonian people used it as an excuse each spring to ask their goddess, Ishtar (Easter), for new babies. The Babylonian rite of celebrating fertility with bunnies and eggs continues to be celebrated today by painting Easter bunnies and giving painted or dyed eggs. The Easter egg hunt, of course, represents the attempt to conceive a baby.
It seems we have lost our way.
How does an ancient feast connect to our lives today?
According to the Biblical calendar, Passover lambs were sacrificed on the 14th day of Nisan. Just as the Israelites fled bondage and slavery, they passed through the Sea of Reeds into new life. As the Passover Lamb, Jesus was offered a memorial on the third day after his crucifixion after taking on our sins. He rose from death into new life. He was the FIRST fruits, but we are the second, third, fourth, and so on. The legacy of new life has been made alive for the past two millennia in this age. In Him, we have resurrection and new life.
"For as in Adam all die, so also in Messiah all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Messiah the first fruits, after that those who are Messiah’s at His coming..." (1 Corinthians 15:22-23)
Jesus celebrated First Fruits by rising from the dead on that day. He also gave his Father a proper offering of first fruits in return for their food, and graves were opened to release people who had been long-dead into Jerusalem with Him (Matthew 27:53). Our Lord is like every farmer, gathering only a few early crops before returning later with bountiful harvests.
Jesus wasn't the only person who rose from death on that miraculous day of First Fruits. The Bible tells us that many saints who had died were raised and appeared to people in Jerusalem. The Feast of First Fruits is a celebration, not only for the first fruits from God’s harvest but also because it was on this day when Jesus rose victorious over death!
Fulfillment of past feasts guarantees the fulfillment of future feasts.
The Passion Week of the Lord fulfilled three feasts in a way that reflects His blessings.
He was crucified on Passover, answering as the blood of Lamb, which freed Israel from slavery.
He was buried during Unleavened Bread (‘This bread is my body) – this being one example where death coincides with life and what has been given back cannot be taken away again.
Finally, Jesus rose on First Fruits as an encouragement towards our resurrection at Judgment Day.
For followers of Yeshua, Jesus, First Fruits is a time to reflect on the hope of eternal life. Other religions have their leaders, but they cannot promise they will return for their followers when their journey comes to an end. But Jesus has promised He would come again!
This celebration reminds us that human life is a gift from God: no matter how dead we are right now, we shall rise one day as well with new spiritual fruits bearing down upon us from above like the winter branches that bear fruit every spring because death never lasts.
