What is your favorite holiday or time of year? What do you do to prepare for it? What are some of the ways that you observe it? How do you feel after the holiday has passed?
Through, Moses, God provides more instructions for everyday living through the establishment of feasts, seasons and festivals. There are seven annual "holidays" plus the Sabbath year and Year of Jubilee. God also presents rules for honoring Him in the Tabernacle and for maintaining justice. God says that observing these holidays will make a big difference.
Feasts played a major role in God's plan for Israel (v.23:1 - 44). These feasts were different from those of any other nation because being ordained by God, they were times of celebrating with Him, not times of moral depravity, drunkenness, or indulgence. God wanted to set aside special days for the people to come together for rest and refreshment and to remember with thanksgiving all he had done for them. They celebrated God's goodness.
Much can be learned about people by observing how they celebrate. Consider your holidays and the traditions you observe. What do they about your values? How do you celebrate? When do you take time to rest, refresh yourself, and remember God? Going forward I am going to try and include in my calendar feasts and traditions that celebrate God's goodness, rejoice in my fellowship with other believers and honor the Lord.
The Feast of the First Fruits
God claims the first fruits of everything. He has first claim on our lives.
The feast of the first fruits is closely associated with the Passover and the unleavened bread. They were held consecutively on the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth days of the first month of the Jewish calendar.
Although the Passover was established the night Israel left Egypt, it was not celebrated until forty years later in the Promised Land. The feast of first fruits was not observed until the nation entered the Promised Land. The feast of first fruits was a celebration of God's provision in the Land. For forty years they had eaten manna, the food of the wilderness journey. Now it was time to celebrate the promise of God's abundant harvest in the land of provision.
"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 reap its harvest, then you shall bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest'" (Leviticus 23:9–10). Barley would be the first grain to ripen in Israel. After the barley came the fruit, olives, grapes and finally wheat.
The Jewish people at the time of the sowing of seed would mark off certain barley in the field. When the time the harvest season arrived, men would carry a sickle and basket and on command reap the specially designated grain. The men would march to the Tabernacle bringing a sheaf of the first fruits of the harvest to the priest. The priest would wave the sheaf accompanied by burnt and meal offerings. "He shall wave the sheaf before the Lord for you to be accepted; on the day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. Now on the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb one year old without defect for a burnt offering to the Lord" (vv. 11–12).
This first fruits offering represented the whole harvest yet in the field. Men gave thanks for the harvest while it still stood in the field. God still claims first fruits of everything. It belongs to Him, even before it is harvested.
Jesus Christ is the Passover lamb who shed His blood to redeem us. The apostle Paul saw the resurrection of Christ as the first fruits of a greater resurrection day in 1 Corinthians 15:20–25.
But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming, then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.
Jesus described Himself as the grain of wheat that fell into ground and died, that it might spring to life and bring much fruit. Jesus said to His disciples, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit" (John 12:23–24). The hour of His glorification was His crucifixion and resurrection.
The feast of first fruits was the third day after Passover. Christ rose from the dead as the first fruits of the resurrection on the third day from His death.
Christ is the first representative of the whole resurrection harvest that will take place when He returns. On the day in which He rose from the dead Jesus said to Mary, "Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren, and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’ Mary Magdalene came, announcing to the disciples, 'I have seen the Lord,' and that He had said these things to her" (John 20:17–18). Our Great High Priest was waving the first fruits of the resurrection harvest!
Our Lord Jesus Christ is in the presence of the Father in heaven as the representative of the whole church that is still in the field waiting the harvest. The first fruits is a living testimony to God's sovereignty and says to a watching world, "Because I live, you shall live also."
Parents issue a lot of warnings. To the observers these warnings can seem harsh. Sometimes they seem harsh to the children as well but loving parents issue them anyway. They know that the world's dangers are real. The end of Leviticus completes God's instructions for Israel's everyday living my summarizing the rewards for obedience to God, the consequences of disobedience and by telling how to dedicate something to the Lord. Its a clear statement of why we should obey God. The point: There is only one true and living God, so it doesn't make sense to live for money, possessions or other idols. Not only that, but such living is dangerous.
Some people think that the Old Testament portrays God as harsh, pointing to the passages like Leviticus 26:14-39 as an example. But this passage shows what God really wanted to accomplish with such warnings, and also what God meant when He said that He is show to anger (Exodus 34:6). God warned His people of sin's consequences for the same reason parents warn their children of danger - to protect and provide for them out of love. God wanted His people to prosper through their compliance to His design for life. And he wanted it so much that He promised to reward them if they obeyed (v26:3 - 13). Even if the Israelites chose to disobey God and were scattered among their enemies, God would still give them the opportunity to repent and return to Him (v26:40-13). God did not want to destroy the Israelites; He wanted to help them grow. That is the purpose of His harsh warnings.
Our day-to-day experiences and hardships can sometimes seem overwhelming. God allows these events to happen to help us grow, not to curse us. We need to see that God's purpose is to help us live as he designed and to bring about continual growth in us. Jeremiah 29:11 puts it this way: "For I know the plans I have for you,' says the Lord. 'They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.'" To retain hope while suffering shows that we understand God's merciful ways of relating to His people.
What are you struggling with these days? What stresses and problems are you facing? Endure hardship as God's teaching tool; ask God to teach you through every difficulty.
NUMBERS!
"You're not old enough!" or, "Sorry, you don't have enough experience." Either response can be disheartening, even when its true. It means you will have to go through a frustrating, perhaps tiresome, time of growing up or acquiring experience. The Israelites know what this is like. After the Lord delivered them out of Egypt, He led them to Mount Sinai. Here they've been encamped for more than a year, receiving God's laws and learning how to relate to Him. But at the beginning of Number things begin to change. God isn't just giving the Israelites laws to live by anymore. In fact, the instructions He give to Moses in the first two chapters seem a bit strange. But God always has a good reason for everything He does, and the instructions He gives here are for the Israelites' benefit.
The Israelites were at a transition point in their journey and taking a census was an important task (v 1:2-5). The fighting men had to be counted to determine Israels military strength before entering the Promise Land, and the tribes had to be organized to determine the amount of land each would need and to provide genealogical records. Without such a census, the task of conquering and organizing the Promised Land would have been more difficult
At every transition point in life it is important to take inventory of our resources and count the cost of each alternative (Proverbs 13:16). We will serve more effectively if, before plunging in, we set aside time to take stock of all we have - possessions, relationships, spiritual condition, time, goals and so forth. While God does not want us to trust in our material resources, he does want us to use well what we have.
Before your next move or decision, analyze your resources and count the cost. Then use what God has given you for His glory.
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