Page 12 - November 2022 - Truth & Tidings

Introduction Spirit and the formation of the Church, so
We have noted that Passover anticipates it is fitting that it relates to Firstfruits. The
the death of the Lamb of God, and that giving of the Spirit was dependent on the
the Feast of Unleavened Bread illustrates glorification of the Lord Jesus; “the Holy
the lives of those who are redeemed by Ghost was not yet given, because that
His blood. 1 Corinthians 5 assisted our Jesus was not yet glorified” (Joh 7:39). A
understanding of these truths. The same risen, glorified Man at God’s right hand
epistle explains the significance of the sent the Comforter (16:7).
Feast of Firstfruits: it foreshadows the Sav- Firstfruits and Unleavened Bread
ior’s resurrection. “But now is Christ risen Having noted the link with Pentecost,
from the dead, and become the firstfruits it must also be significant that the sheaf
of them that slept”; “Christ the firstfruits; of Firstfruits was waved during the
afterward they that are Christ’s at his com- week of Unleavened Bread. Remember,
ing” (1Co 15:20,23). The purpose for the unleavened bread pictures the believer’s
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teaching of the chapter was to refute the life, a life that should be free from the cor-
assertion that “there is no resurrection of rupting effects of sin. Is that possible in a
the dead.” The major plank of Paul’s argu- decadent world? Only in the power of the
ment is that since they had welcomed the risen Christ is it possible. The “exceeding
truth of Christ’s resurrection when they greatness” of God’s power toward us is
believed the gospel, it was inconsistent equated with “the working of his mighty
to reject the concept of resurrection while power, which he wrought in Christ,
accepting that He had been raised from when he raised him from the dead” (Eph
the dead! He is the great prototype of 1:19-20). Our union with the resurrected
resurrection, the firstfruits, the guarantee Christ empowers us to “walk in newness
of ours. of life” (Rom 6:4). “Christ liveth in me,”
Firstfruits and Pentecost said the apostle (Gal 2:20), and therein lies
Leviticus 23 is punctuated with the the secret for holy living. Firstfruits and
phrase “And the Lord spake unto Moses.” Unleavened Bread cannot be divorced!
The first reference is in verse 1, with no A Feast for the Land
repeat till verse 9 and the next at verse “Then ye shall bring a sheaf of the first-
23. These divisions link Passover with fruits of your harvest.” When? “When ye
Unleavened Bread, and Firstfruits with be come into the land which I give unto
the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost). So while you” (Lev 23:10). Firstfruits was a feast
Firstfruits featured during Unleavened for the land. There could be no harvest in
Bread, it does connect with Pentecost. the wilderness, but there was the prom-
Pentecost anticipates the descent of the ise of the land, where the fertile soil that
¹ Scripture quotations in this article are from the drank in the rain of heaven would yield a
KJV. plentiful crop. Annually, the first sheaf of

332 TRUTH kTidings November 2022