t h e F e a s t o f Firstfruits, the ■ third in the series of Seven Set Feasts instituted by God to be kept by the children of Israel, is intimately connected with the Feasts of Passover and Unleav ened Bread. A few writers on this subject have ventured to state that the waving of the “ sheaf of first-fruits” was an essential fea ture of the Feast of Unleavened Bread and that it is not to be looked upon as a separate Feast. Actually the Feast o f Firstfruits was held at the same convocation as were those of the Passover and Unleavened Bread, but we feel it to have so distinct and separate an application as to stand alone. The Passover was held on the fourteenth day of the month. Un leavened Bread was held the fif teenth to the twenty-second day of the month. Firstfruits was held from the seventeenth day of the month, “ on the morrow after the Sabbath.” Actually there was an obvious overlapping insofar as time was concerned, but all three were designed to teach three dis tinct lines of truth: namely, sal
“And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest: And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be ac cepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. And ye shall offer that day when ye xoave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the LORD. And the meat offering thereof shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the LORD for a sweet savour: and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of an hin. And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched com, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God: it shall be a sta tute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings” (Leviticus 23:9-14).
vation, separation, and steward ship. One striking difference exist ed between this third Feast and the two which preceded it. While Passover and Unleavened Bread could be held in the wilderness during the journey from Egypt to Canaan (see Numbers 9:1-11), Firstfruits and the Feasts that followed it could be celebrated only in the Land of Promise after the children of Israel had poss essed the land. Let me suggest that you pay particular notice to the words in verse 9, “ And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying.” The use of these words certainly does not suggest a break in the narrational structure of the chapter, but we believe they do point out a fresh spiritual division. A. J. Holiday has suggested that “ here the Lord is still dealing with the week of Unleavened Bread, and is only adding a further instruction as to something to be done in that week when His people were in Canaan; but a new subject altogether is being set forth in type by this
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THE KING'S BUSINESS
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