We have already begun the spring moedim (Appointed Times) of our ELOHIM and we just completed celebrating Pesach (Passover) and The Feast of Unleavened Bread. Now this coming Yom Rishone (Sunday), April 16th will be First-Fruits. This day is not a Shabbat, so you do not have to take off from work; however, it’s good to be aware of the importance of it because we are now beginning the 50 day count to Shavuot.
Leviticus 23:9-16 (Aramaic)
“And YAHWEH spoke to Moses, saying, “speak to the children of Yisra’el, and you shall say to them, ‘When you come into the land which I give you, and shall reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the first-fruits of your harvest to the priest; and he shall wave the sheaf before YAHWEH to be accepted for you; on the morrow the priest shall wave it. You shall offer that day when you wave the sheaf of a male lamb of the first year without blemish for a burnt offering to YAHWEH. And its meal offering shall be two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to YAHWEH for a sweet savor; and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, a fourth part of a hin. And you shall eat neither bread nor parched wheat nor green ears until that same day, until the day when you have brought an offering to your ELOHIM; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. And you shall count to you from the morrow, that is, from the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven Shabbats shall be complete; even to the morrow AFTER THE SEVENTH SHABBAT (The weekly 7th Day Shabbat) you shall count fifty days; and you shall offer a meal offering of new wheat to YAHWEH.”
Aviv in Hebrew means the month of green ears of barley when the barley is ripening. The etymology for the word “Aviv” H24 is defined by Brown-Drivers-Briggs as 1) fresh, young barley ears, barley 2, month of ear-forming, of green of crop, of growing green Aviv of exodus and Passover (March or April). Strongs defines it as “From an unused root (meaning to be tender); green, that is a young ear of grain; hence the name of the month Aviv.”
The children of Yisra’el would take the first-fruits of the barley harvest which is the earliest and best of their crops on Shabbat night (start of the first day of the week) and tie them into a bundle and bring it to the high priest. The high priest would then wave the sheaf (omer) before YAHWEH to accept the future crops and then begin the 50 day count to Shavuot. They were not allowed to put the sickle to grain nor eat any of the harvest until after this ceremony was completed. This reminded the children of Yisra’el that ELOHIM gave them this land and all the harvest belongs to Him. As we see barley is the crop that matures faster than the other crops:
Exodus 9:31-32 (Amplified Bible)
“And the flax and the barley were battered and ruined [by the hail], because the barely was in the ear (RIPE, but soft) and the flax was in the bud, but the wheat and spelt (coarse wheat) were not battered and ruined, because they ripen late in the season.”
First-fruits are the best of the first produce of a harvest that has matured and ripened! The barley was ripe yet soft, which shows that it had already matured and the Septuagint agrees by saying it was “advanced” and therefore was easily destroyed by the hail. Whereas the Concordant Version of the Old Testament says about the wheat and spelt “Yet the wheat and the spelt were NOT SMITTEN, FOR THEY WERE IN BLADE.” Which means not ripened, not mature, no grain, because it was still growing.
When do we begin the counting of the omer?
There has been much debate about when we should begin the 50-day count to Shavuot, and the biggest part of the debate is whether we should begin counting after the first day of unleavened bread (a High-Shabbat) or on Sunday after the Shabbat. It’s critical to know that the Appointed Times are separated and do not mix or overlap. Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread are connected, which means that first-fruits should come after the Feast of Unleavened because first fruits in connected with Shavuot. Let’s view some ancient texts to arrive at the answer.
Leviticus 23:16 (Aramaic Peshitta)
“Even to the morrow AFTER THE SEVENTH SHABBAT (The weekly 7th Day Shabbat) you shall count fifty days; and you shall offer a meal offering of a new wheat to YAHWEH.”
Leviticus 23:15 (Samaritan)
“And you shall count for yourselves from the DAY NEXT TO THE SHABBAT (Sunday), from the day when you brought in the sheaf of the wave offering, there shall be seven complete Shabbats.”
Temple Scroll Column 19:11-16
“And you shall count for yourselves from the day you bring in the new meal-offering to YAHWEH, the bread of the first-fruits. SEVEN COMPLETE WEEKS there shall be until the day you bring the sheaf of the elevation-offering, you shall count the morning AFTER THE SEVENTH SHABBAT, YOU SHALL COUNT FIFTY DAYS…”
The Aramaic Peshitta, Samaritan Torah, and Temple Scroll one of the Dead Sea Scrolls) all clarify that first-fruits is AFTER the 7th day Shabbat which is a Sunday and no other day; and this is when we begin the 50-day count, which matches the Book of Jubilees, which will be discussed below.
Benjamin Tsedaka a Samaritan who translated the Samaritan Torah says:
“From the day NEXT TO THE SHABBAT”---There is a fundamental difference between the counting of the sheaf between the Israelite Samaritans and the Israelite Jews. The Israelite Samaritans interpret LITERALLY AND SIMPLY, as it is written “after the Shabbat”---as it is obvious that the terminology “Shabbat” is for the SEVENTH DAY OF THE WEEK. Therefore, the Israelite Samaritans start the counting from the FIRST SUNDAY after the Festival of Passover…”
As I’ll show in this message that according to the Zadok Priestly Calendar we are to begin counting on April 16th the Sunday AFTER The Feast of Unleavened Bread is completed to arrive at the 15th day of the THIRD MONTH which is June 4th on our Gregorian calendars. Keep the 15th day of the 3rd month in mind because the Scriptures below will show that is the day when Shavuot is to be celebrated.
So, Passover is on the 14th day of 1st month (Aviv), feast of unleavened bread is on the 15th-21st of 1st month (Aviv). And First-Fruits is on the 26th day of the 1st month of (Aviv) AFTER the Feast of Unleavened bread is completed; then that morrow after the Shabbat is first-fruits which this year is April 16th. First-Fruits is tied to Shavuot so it cannot overlap with The Feast of Unleavened Bread, because they are separate.
The problem is that many calendars have first fruits falling on any day depending on what day they observed Passover. The days of the Judaism calendar shift to a different day every year, whereas, on the Zadok Priestly Calendar the days are fixed and do not move. For example, since the first day of the Feast of Unleavened bread is a “High Shabbat” Judaism interprets the next day after the first day of unleavened bread to be “Day after the Shabbat” and that is when they begin their count.
So, this year on the Judaism calendar Passover/Feast of Unleavened bread was on Wednesday (April 5th) which means they would begin counting of the omer on Thursday (April 6th) and 50 days later would be May 25th for Shavuot. Being that the days on the Zadok Priestly calendar are fixed and do not move, the counting of the omer always falls on a Sunday after the completion of Unleavened Bread (April 16th) and Shavuot is always celebrated on a Sunday (June 4th). So being that they are starting their count of 50 days DURING the Feast of Unleavened Bread they will be celebrating Shavuot TEN DAYS too soon (May 25th as opposed to June 4th). And there is a warning given to us concerning this matter about the days and years.
Jubilees 6:36
“For there will be those who examine the MOON DILIGENTLY (Lunar calendar) because it will corrupt the appointed times and it will advance from year to year TEN DAYS. Therefore, the years will come to them as they corrupt and make an abominable day the day of witness, and an unclean day a feast day, and they will MIX ALL THE DAYS, the set-apart with the unclean, and the unclean day with the set-apart: for they will GO WRONG as to the months and Shabbats AND FEASTS and Jubilees.”
Scriptural Timeline:
The Israelites left Egypt on 15th day of 1st month (Wednesday) which is the first day of the feast of unleavened bread:
Exodus 12:17
“And you shall guard the Matzah (Feast of Unleavened Bread 15th Day of 1st Month), for on this SAME DAY I brought your divisions out of the land of Egypt. And you shall guard this day throughout your generations, an everlasting Law.”
And then almost exactly TWO MONTHS later on the 12th Day of the 3rd MONTH which was a Thursday the Israelites arrived at the Wilderness of Sinai according the Zadok Priestly calendar.
Exodus 19:1
“In the THIRD MONTH after the children of Yisra’el had come out of the land of Egypt, on this day they came to the Wilderness of Sinai.” For they departed from Rephidim, and had come to the Wilderness of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness. So Yisra’el camped there before the mountain.”
So basically, if we don’t start the count of First Fruits on the 26th day of 1st month to get to the 15th day of the 3rd month, then Shavuot will be celebrated too soon, even before the Israelites entered into the Wilderness of Sinai, which on our Gregorian calendars would be June 1st. As explained earlier, on the Judaism calendar that Shavuot will be celebrated on May 25th, which means they are celebrating Shavuot 7 days before they entered the wilderness of Sinai and 10 days before the actual celebration Shavuot. The Book of Jubilees confirms this:
By the Israelites arriving on the 12th day of the 3rd month would give them time to celebrate Shavuot on the 15th day of the 3rd month, which is always on a Sunday, then YAHWEH spoke to Moses on the next day the 16th, which means that the tablets of stone were given to Moses on a Monday the second day of the week after the Shavuot celebration.
Jubilees 1:1
“And it happened in the first-year of the exodus of the children of Yisra’el out of Egypt, in the third month, on the SIXTEENTH DAY OF THE MONTH, that YAHWEH spoke to Moses, saying, “Come up to Me on the Mount, and I will give you two tablets of stone of the Torah and the command, which I have written, that you may teach them.”
Celebration of Shavuot on the 15th day of 3rd month:
One of the biggest problems that arises is that we have been told that there is no fixed day for Shavuot. The book of Jubilees which is listed with the Torah in the Dead Sea Scrolls Bible and followed by the righteous Zadok priests knew this book was scripture and inspired. Jubilees solves the problem of the Shavuot date.
Jubilees 15:1
“And in the fifth year of the fourth week of this Jubilee, in the THIRD MONTH, IN THE MIDDLE OF THE MONTH (15th Day) Abram celebrated the Festival of the First-Fruits (Shavuot) of the grain harvest.” The Book of Enoch says there are only 30 days in a month; therefore, the middle of the month is the 15th day.
Jubilees 16:13
“And she bore a son in the THIRD MONTH. And in the MIDDLE OF THE MONTH (15th Day) at the time of which YAHWEH had spoken to Abraham, on the Festival of the First-Fruits (Shavuot) of the Harvest, Isaac was born.”
So we see that Abraham celebrated Shavuot also known as First-Fruits in Jubilees because the two are connected by the 50 day counting of the omer.
The messenger/angel goes into great detail about the two-fold meaning of The Festival of Shavuot and First-Fruits together:
Jubilees 6:15-21
“And He gave to Noah and his sons a sign that there should not be a flood on the earth again. He placed a rainbow in the cloud for a sign of the everlasting Covenant that there should not be a flood again on the earth to destroy it all the days of the earth. For this reason it is ordained and written on the tablets of the heavens, that they should celebrate the FESTIVAL OF SHAVUOT IN THIS MONTH ONCE A YEAR to renew the Covenant every year.” Verse 19 “But Abraham observed it, and Isaac, and Jacob, and his children observed it up to your days, and in your days the children of Yisra’el forgot it until you celebrated it anew on this mountain. And you shall command the children of Yisra’el to observe this Festival in all their generations for a Command unto them; one day in the year in this month (3rd MONTH) they shall celebrate the Festival. For it is the Festival of Shavuot AND THE FEAST OF FIRST-FRUITS: This Feast is twofold and double nature: according to what is written and engraved concerning it, celebrate it.”
Again, we know that this Festival/Appointed Time is in the THIRD MONTH because the beginning of Jubilees 6 says:
Jubilees 6:1
“And on the new month of the THIRD MONTH he went out from the ark, and built an altar on the mountain.” And we have seen that Abraham celebrated Shavuot on the 15th day of the THIRD MONTH.
Jubilees 44:1-8
“And Yisra’el took his journey from Haran from his house on the new month of the THIRD MONTH, and he went on the way of Beersheba, and he offered an offering to the ELOHIM of his father Isaac on the seventh of this month. And Jacob remembered the dream that he had seen at Beyth El, and he feared to go down to Egypt. And while he was thinking of sending word to Joseph to come to him, and that he would not go down, he remained there seven days, if it came to be he should see a vision as to whether he should remain or go down. And he celebrated the HARVEST FESTIVAL OF THE FIRST-FRUITS with old grain, for in all the land of Canaan there was not a handful of seed, for scarcity of food was over all the beasts and cattle and birds, and also over man.” And on the sixteenth (16th) YAHWEH appeared to him, and said to him, Jacob, Jacob.” YAHWEH spoke to Jacob on the 16th after he celebrated Shavuot on the 15th day of 3rd month.
So if we count the 50 days starting on April 16th (on our Gregorian calendar) which is the 26th day of the 1st month on YAHWEH’s calendar, then we will arrive in the middle of the 3rd MONTH (15th Day) when Abraham celebrated it, Noah. So, Shavuot will be observed this year on June 4th a NO WORK day.
YESHUA the First Fruits:
What is the first-fruits connection with YESHUA? YESHUA is our first fruits, but I believe that Paul’s words have been misunderstood what he was saying about YESHUA and His connection to the first fruits. YESHUA is the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep in hope of Him as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:20, meaning that the righteous who have died and are awaiting in sheol that lived for YESHUA will be resurrected just as He was.
1 Corinthians 15:20-22
“But now Messiah has been raised from the dead, and has become the FIRST-FRUITS of those HAVING FALLEN ASLEEP. For since death is through a man, resurrection of the dead is also through a Man. For as all die in Adam, so also all shall be made alive in Messiah.”
2 Baruch 30:1-3
“And after these, when the time of the advent (the coming) of the Messiah will be fulfilled and He will return in esteem, then all those who have FALLEN ALSLEEP IN HOPE OF HIM WILL RISE. At that time, those reservoirs will be opened in which the number of the souls of the righteous have been preserved, and they will come out, and the abundance of the souls will appear in one assembly, of one mind. The first will rejoice, and the last will not be saddened, for they know that the time has arrived of which it is said that it is in the consummation of times.”
This is beautiful because Paul is using Old Testament terminology in the Torah as he always does as a Torah observant Jew from the tribe of Benjamin. As mentioned above first-fruits is when the earliest and best of the crops were brought to the priest to be waved and then 50 days later would be the full harvest (Shavuot). Same applies with YESHUA, He is our first-fruits as He is the best offering being the perfect Lamb of YAHWEH who took away the iniquities of the world by becoming flesh, dying for our iniquities, and rose on the third day. In doing so YESHUA made many righteous through His blood and afterwards we became the harvest ready for reaping, now we have to walk in Torah and believe in YESHUA and found to be wheat and not the tares.
Matthew 13:24-30 (Hebrew)
“And there was another parable before them- He said, “The heavenly kingdom is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while the men were sleeping, his enemies came and sowed thistles upon it---among the wheat---and went away. And when the plants grew up and produced fruit—then the thistles WERE SEEN AMONG THE WHEAT. So the servants came and said to the master, ‘Did you yourself now sow good wheat in your field? If so, who sowed thistles upon it? And he said to them, ‘The enemy-man did this thing. So the servants said, ‘Do you want that we should go and gather it?” But he said: ‘No, that you do not root up the wheat with the thistles. Leave everything until the HARVEST. And at the time of THE HARVEST, I will say to the reapers, ‘First gather the thistles, and bind them in burdens and burn them, BUT GATHER THE WHEAT INTO MY GRANARY.”
Isaiah 53:11 (Dead Sea Scrolls)
“Out of the suffering of His soul He will see LIGHT (resurrection) and find satisfaction. And through His knowledge His servant, the righteous one, WILL MAKE MANY RIGHTEOUS, HE WILL BEAR THEIR INIQUITIES.”
Romans 5:18-19 (Complete Jewish Bible)
“In other words, just as it was through one offense that all people came under condemnation, so also it is through one righteous act that all people come to be CONSIDERED RIGHTEOUS. For just as through the disobedience of the one man, many were made transgressors, so also through the obedience of the other man, many will BE MADE RIGHTEOUS.”
Another good example of this:
John 12:23-24 (Hebrew)
“Then YESHUA answered them, “Now the time has come that the Son of Man will be exalted truth I say to you, if a grain of mustard which falls there, does not die, it remains alone, but IF IT DIES IT GIVES MUCH FRUIT.”
1 Corinthians 15:35-36
“But someone will ask, “In what manner are the dead raised? What sort of body do they have? Stupid! When you sow a seed, it doesn’t come alive UNLESS IT FIRST DIES.”
YESHUA died as first-fruits and through His death He brought forth life for us by making many righteous through His blood and we can see that illustration about a seed. The seed dying in the ground is a representation of YESHUA dying, being buried, and then being in the heart of the earth for 3 days and 3 nights. Then the seed comes alive after it died and sprouts up (the resurrection), and produces fruit, which are the righteous ones who belong to Him!
1 Thessalonians 4:16
“Because the Master Himself shall come down from the heavens with a shout, with the voice of a chief messenger/angel, and with the trumpet of ELOHIM, and the dead IN Mashiach shall rise first. Then we, the living who are left over, shall be caught in the clouds to meet the Master in the air…”
What are we to do on First Fruits?
What do we offer?
Leviticus 23:13
“You shall offer that day when you wave the sheaf of a male lamb of the first year without blemish for a burnt offering to YAHWEH. And its meal offering shall be two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to YAHWEH for a sweet savor; and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, a fourth part of a hin.”
As for the offering, YESHUA is the Lamb of YAHWEH who takes away the sins of the world and offered Himself with His blood and not the blood of bulls and goats. It is important to see what YESHUA’s blood did for us being that we do not have to sacrifice animals for atonement today. YESHUA fulfills the animal offerings for us with His blood and is the sweet fragrance that YAHWEH mentions:
Ephesians 5:2
“And walk in love, as Mashiach (Messiah) also has loved us, and gave Himself for us, a gift and an offering to YAHWEH for a SWEET-SMELLING FRAGRANCE.”
As we read in Leviticus 23 that the Israelites were not to eat any grain of the new harvest until they brought their initial crops (first-fruits) and bring the barley sheaf to the priest so he could wave it before YAHWEH to accept the future crops and begin counting down the 50 days to the next Appointed Time which is The Festival of Shavuot aka The Festival of First Fruits aka Pentecost (50 in Greek).
Leviticus 23:14
“And you do not eat bread or roasted grain or fresh grain until the same day that you have brought AN OFFERING to your ELOHIM.”
We know that YESHUA gave Himself up once and for all with His own blood and not the blood of bulls and goats. This is what Paul says about how we can also apply this by living holy lives and being obedient to our ELOHIM!
Romans 12:1
“I call upon you, therefore, brothers, through the compassion of ELOHIM, to present your bodies a LIVING OFFERING-holy, well pleasing to ELOHIM-your reasonable worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you prove what is that good and well-pleasing and perfect desire of ELOHIM.”
1 Peter 2:4-5
“Drawing near to Him, a living Stone-rejected indeed by men, but chosen by YAHWEH and precious-you also, as living stones, are being built up, A SPIRTUAL HOUSE, a holy priesthood, to OFFER UP SPIRITUAL SLAUGHTER OFFERINGS acceptable to YHWH through YESHUA HA’Mashiach.”
Other than that we all we need to do is count down the 50 days to get to Shavuot which is on June 5th this year.
As always may our Father YAHWEH bless you in YESHUA’s Name!