Christ: The First Fruit of the Awakening<\/strong><\/h1>\n

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\tOur previous article explored how Nisan 17 served as the dividing marker between the Old Ways and the New Blessings God had in store for His People. This starting point for counting towards the Feast of Weeks, also known as Pentecost, was the day of Christ\u2019s Resurrection, which declared that He was the Firstfruits of those who slept and would experience the Spiritual Awakening. <\/p>\n

\tThe first mention of the Feast of Firstfruits may have been in Genesis 4, when Cain and Abel offered their gifts to God. Cain brought \u201can offering to the LORD of the fruit of the ground\u201d compared to the \u201cthe firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions\u201d that Abel offered. \u201cThe Lord had regard for Abel and his offering,\u201d while Cain\u2019s offering was disregarded, possibly because Cain did not offer the Firstfruits and thus the best of his harvest, while Abel did. This set a precedent for future worshipers and their offerings. <\/p>\n

\tThe establishment of Firstfruits as one of the Feasts of the Lord, was first mentioned in Leviticus 23, explaining that it would fall on the Sunday following Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Matthew (28:1), Mark (16:9), Luke (24:1), and John (20:19) all reinforce the fact that Christ was resurrected on this \u201cfirst day of the week\u201d after His Crucifixion on Passover.<\/p>\n

\tThe Feast of Firstfruits occurred during the ripening of the barley harvest, which was appropriate, since Israel was often closely associated with barley, which stood as a kind of national grain. When Judge Gideon was fearful of attacking a massive army with a dwindled 300 man force, God instructed Gideon to sneak to the nearby enemy camp and listen to the dream a soldier was recalling to another about a round loaf of barley bread destroying the camp. The fellow soldier understood the barley bread as a symbol for Israel, which was about to defeat them in battle. The famous feeding of the five thousand, which was made up of a population of Jews preparing for Christ\u2019s second ministry Passover, was fed with five small barley loaves and two fish. This symbolism emphasized the fact that Christ first came to save and reap the House of Israel, before the rest of the world, as we will later see in the wheat harvest beginning at Pentecost. <\/p>\n

\tWhen Christ rose on the Day of Firstfruits, people would have been \u201c[bringing] a sheaf of the firstfruits of [their] harvest to the priest\u201d in the Temple of Jerusalem. The Temple priests would have been taking these offerings and \u201c[waving] them before the Lord,\u2026on their behalf\u201d as a demonstration that the worshiper had fulfilled the statute and recognized God as the source of the coming harvest. <\/p>\n

\tFirstfruits were meant to remind the Israelites that the Lord heard their ancestors\u2019 voices in their affliction and oppression, and brought them out of Egypt with a mighty hand, great terror and signs and wonders. He then brought them to \u201ca land flowing with milk and honey\u201d, so they were obligated to bring the firstfruits of the land which God had given them (ref. Deuteronomy 26:5-10).<\/p>\n

\tThe physical Promised Land that Israel inherited, was a gift from God that required physical offerings as thanks for a physical harvest. In like manner, the spiritual kingdom that Christ had won for His People, when he conquered Death, would require spiritual offerings as thanks for a spiritual harvest. Just as the Israelites were collecting the new produce from the grains they had sown into the ground, \u201cChrist was now risen from the dead, and [had] become the firstfruits of [those] that slept\u201d (1 Corinthians 15:20).<\/p>\n

\tChrist\u2019s Resurrection, which coincided with Firstfruits, should remind Christians of the affliction and oppression we had previous experienced under the slavery of sin, and how, through Jesus\u2019s signs, wonders, and death on the cross, He bought our salvation and offers us the chance to be part of His Spiritual Kingdom, overflowing with blessings.<\/p>\n

\tThe Feast of Firstfruits was the initiation of the new harvest that was about to begin and served as a reminder to the Children of Israel of how their God delivered them and brought them into a prosperous country. Christ\u2019s Resurrection was the inauguration of the Spiritual Harvest of those who slept and would be awakened, transformed. Just as the Israelites delighted in the fruits they were about to enjoy, we received a greater reward in the Firstfruits of the Spirit. <\/p>\n

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Prepared by, Kent Simpson, Apostolic Prophet & Eric Sepulveda, PMT Administrator<\/em><\/p>\n

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Christ: The First Fruit of the Awakening   Our previous article explored how Nisan 17 served as the dividing marker between the Old Ways and the New Blessings God had in store for His People. This starting point for counting towards the Feast of Weeks, also known as Pentecost, was the day of Christ\u2019s Resurrection, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-newsletter"],"yoast_head":"\n