FIRSTFRUITS (The New Testament perspective)


There are seven sabbaths legislated in the Torah (The Law). They areh:

1. The Feast of Passover.

2. The Feast of Unleavened bread.

3. The Feast of Firstfruits. (Feast of Shavout)

4. The Feast of Weeks. Also called The Feast of Pentecost.

5. The Feast of Trumpets.

6. The Feast of Atonement.

7. The Feast of Tabernacles. Also called The Feast of Booths or The Feast of ingathering.

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It was foretold in the Pentateuch[/i]l, the writings and the Prophets (in forms, shadows, symbols, and types) that someone was coming to fulfill the essence of these Sabbaths (Holy-days). The Image and reality was Christ (Col. 2:16-17).

Hebrew 12:23 says, ”You have come to the joyful gathering of God's first-born, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, who is the judge of all people, and to the spirits of good people made perfect”.

Firstfruits, “[i]Bikkurim”, in the Hebrew language, means firstborn sons or male firstling of the herd. (According to the Torah, the firstfruits offering in the temple consisted of the male lamb and the barley loaf with a drink offering of wine).

In the Gospels, concerning the Day of the Feast of the Firstfruits and the resurrection of Christ Jesus from the grave, 1 Corinthians 15:20 says, “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.” Christ is referred to as the Firstfruit of the dead.

According to Apostle James, being born again according to the will of our Heavenly Father through the power of the gospel makes us a kind of firstfruits God acquires for Himself. (James 1:18).

Concerning firstfruits, Dr. John MacArthur writes, “Originally an OT expression referring to the first and best harvest crops, which God expected as an offering. Giving God that initial crop was an act of faith that He would fulfill His promise of a full harvest to come (Prov. 3: 9, 10)”.

In the same way, the saints are the first evidence of God’s new creation - a sign of a glorious harvest for all creation (Romans 8:19-23). If this is true, the 144,000 of the tribes of Israel, a type of firstfruits (Revelation 14: 4), who usher in a full harvest of redeemed people during the time of tribulation - the great multitude which no one could number of all nations, tribes, people and tongues in the ninth verse of the seventh chapter of the Revelation of John.