As it is written:
"But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” (Romans 8:11, NKJV)
As it is written:
"For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches.” (Romans 11:16, NKJV)
Yeshua is risen! Messiah is risen indeed! Hallelujah!
Yahweh's Feast [An appointed time of meeting with Yahweh for rehearsal; that's what the word feast means]; the feast of Firstfruits is one that we are told to proclaim and trumpet forth
As it is written:
"And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘The feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts.” (Leviticus 23:1-2, NKJV)
One of the feasts and appointed times of meeting with Yahweh which believers are COMMANDED to PROCLAIM as holy, is the Feast or appointed time called, FIRSTFRUITS. Since we are commanded to proclaim the appointed time of firstfruits to be holy, that is what I'm doing right now. I'm trying to follow God's command of proclaiming the feast of FIRSTFRUITS.
Understanding the Feasts and Appointed Times of Yahweh in their proper context
Every Feast and Appointed Time which Yahweh has established for Himself is intended for His people to prepare themselves for the coming Wedding Supper of the Lamb. Every calendar year is intended to help God's people refine themselves and to progressively become more holy in preparation to be with our Heavenly Father and Bridegroom forever.Think about just the Spring Feasts and Appointed Times which we are celebrating right now:
The Passover - This is the betrothal dinner - The Bridegroom is offering Himself, to preserve, to protect and provide for the bride. When the people of God (the bride) drinks the full cup of wine after the Seder dinner, it is a signal to the bridegroom, "Yes, I accept your proposal. I want to be counted as a member of the Bride of Messiah." That's why we have to drink the full cup of wine or grape juice because to pass on the cup, or to drink a only portion of the cup is to formerly reject the proposal, but to drink all of it is to accept the proposal. This is why Jesus died at Passover time, He was committing Himself as the Ultimate Passover Lamb, to provide for our redemption, since that is a key obligation of the Bridegroom to His bride (John 1:29, 36; Romans 5:8; 1 Corinthians 5:6-8).
The Feast of Unleavened Bread- The Feast of Unleavened Bread is also a celebration of the purity and perfection of our bridegroom who is without sin (Hebrews 4:15). It's also a living reminder and a rehearsal that we are to actively cooperate with God in order to become partakers and imitators of His Nature, His Character, and His Behaviors (Romans 15:3a; Philippians 2:5-8; 1 Peter 2:21; Ephesians 5:1; 1 John 2:1-6)
After the betrothal dinner, the Bridegroom, and the bride separate for a time and go live in their respective parents' households. The bridegroom goes back to His Father's House and builds additional rooms and bridal chambers on to the house in preparation for the bride to come home.That's why Jesus said, As it is written: In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?” (John 14:2, ESV) So by leaving and going to prepare a place for us (His Bride), Messiah is actually fulfilling the biblical obligations of a proper Biblical bridegroom getting ready for His Bride. When we understand God's Feasts properly, we have a much clearer understanding of God's plan in the process of our renewal and redemption as God's people . Meanwhile, the Bride (meaning believers who have accepted Messiah as our Bridegroom), we have our own obligations to fulfill in this time of temporary separation from our Bridegroom. We are to learn and rehearse living in the Marriage Contract (which in this specific case is Scripture) During the feast of unleavened bread, we make a special practice of getting all of the yeast and the old leaven (which represents sin; which will not be allowed in the bridegroom's house out of our lives). We are learning to live in and practice living under the new marriage contract, so that we will be a truly fit bride for the bridegroom, and have a peaceful home with Him. That's where the concept of the new wineskins comes in (Matthew 9:14-17; Mark 2:18-22; Luke 5:33-39; Romans 12:1-2; Ephesians 4:22-32; Colossians 3:9; James 1:21-25; Hebrews 12:1-2). It all ultimately has to do with fulfilling the Feast of Unleavened Bread; forcibly getting rid of 'the leaven; i.e. the thoughts, false teachings, attitudes, desires and behaviors which do not belong and will not be accepted in the Eternal Kingdom, and letting God transform us so that we will truly be a truly fit and proper bride for Messiah. That's the point of the annual rehearsal of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The feast is seven days long; (the number of completion), which signifies that while we take special care to get rid of the leaven of sin and falsehood during Unleavened Bread, we're supposed to continually cooperate with God and continue being refined, until God is finished.
The Feast of Firstfruits - I must humbly confess to you that I am not as well versed in the feast of Firstfruits as I am the other feasts. I'm still learning and growing just like you. I mean I have a clearer and growing understanding that all the other six Feasts of Yahweh are intended as a living rehearsal in preparation for the Wedding Supper of the Lamb. I see clear pictures of it in the Sabbaths, in Passover, in Unleavened Bread, in Pentecost, in the Feast of Trumpets, in the Feast of Atonement and Judgment, and of course in the feast of Tabernacles, which is the rehearsal for when we will ever be with the Lord after our wedding; but I honestly do not have a clear picture of exactly how the Feast of Firstfruits specifically relates to our preparation for our future wedding with Messiah. I know that it must fit in somehow with a picture, because all of the other feasts fit together for that purpose, so the feast of firstfruits must fit in somehow, because the other feasts all fit in to the wedding rehearsals, so firstfruits must also fit into the wedding picture somehow. I will keep studying in praying that Yahweh will open my eyes and give me understanding. If you have any ideas, feel free to let me know and I will gladly study them and investigate them.
Anyway, rather than focusing on what I do not yet know about Yahweh's Feast of Firstfruits, let me focus more on what I do know:
Believers in Yahweh Almighty God are commanded to proclaim and honor it (Leviticus 23:1-2; Leviticus 23:9-14)
Yeshua the Messiah and Son of Yahweh fulfilled it during His first coming. The biblical feast of firstfruits IS the TRUE and biblical celebration of Messiah's physical resurrection from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:20-24)
In physically raising from the dead as the FIRSTFRUITS of the Resurrection, (and by physically resurrecting others with Him as He rose Matthew 27:52-53), Jesus is proven to be the first sheath of a greater more complete harvest of resurrection yet to come. As a result we can be confident that we too who believe and follow Him will also be resurrected after Him (Romans 8:11)
It’s a Biblical Law that if Yahweh accepts the wave-sheath of the Firstfruits the rest of the harvest accepted as holy; that’s what Paul was referring to (Romans 11:16).
The wave-sheath offering had to be presented to Yahweh before the new harvest could be collected and used. This is why Jesus would not allow Mary to touch him before He was presented to the Father (John 20:17). Jesus our High Priest in Heaven was fulfilling the Law of First-Fruit when He commanded Mary not to touch Him until He could be presented to the Father.
Happy First-Fruits!!
Brother R. Michel Lankford
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