b y L ehm a n S tr a u s s
meat offering, and their drink offering, even an offering made by fire, o f sweet savour unto the LORD. Then ye shall sacrifice one kid of the goats for a sin offering, and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offerings. And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the ffrstfruits for a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs: they shall be holy to the LORD for the priest. And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be an holy convocation unto you: ye shall do no servile work therein: it shall be a sta tute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations" (Leviticus 23:15-21). The fourth in order of the Set Feasts was known to the Jews as the “ Feast of Weeks,” held seven full weeks, or a week of weeks, after Firstfruits. It is designated in the Scriptures as the “ Feast of Harvest” (Ex. 23:16) and the “Day of Firstfruits” (Num. 28:26), but perhaps best known as the “ Feast of Weeks” (Ex. 34:22; Deut. 16:10; II Chron. 8:13). Since this Feast came on the fiftieth day after the sheaf of firstfruits had been waved before the Lord (Lev. 23:16), we term it the Feast of Pentecost (Greek for “ fiftieth” ). (See Acts 2 :1 ; 20 ;16; I Cor. 16:8.) The type and anti-type are quite clear. Acts 2:1 is the fulfillment of the type in the fourth of the seven Feasts, for the Holy Spirit descended on the fiftieth day after the Resurrection of' our Lord Jesus Christ. The order of the Feasts and their fulfillment should be observed also. Of necessity the Passover must precede the Firstfruits, and the
“And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf o f the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be completed: Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a neio meat offering unto the LORD. Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be o f fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the first- fruits unto the LORD. And ye shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first yea/r, and one young bullock, and two rams: they shall be for a burnt offering unto the LORD, with their W E a l r e a d y h a v e seen that Passover finds its fulfillment in the death of Christ, redemption through His Blood being the point of contact be tween God and the believing sinner. The first Feast, then, is the Feast of Salvation, our union with God. Unleavened Bread, intimately associated with the Passover, speaks o f the perfection o f the Lamb who was without blemish and without spot. It is a type of the practical holiness o f the believer and it speaks of our Sanctification, an essential element for our communion with God. Firstfruits, closely related with the first two Feasts, teaches the principle of divine ownership. Since the anti-type is Christ’s resurrection and then the believer’s resurrection at the rapture, we are to learn that we are God’s possession; that what we are and have belongs to Him. It speaks of our stewardship.
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DECEMBER, 1968
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