Many Believers have decided to return to the Biblical roots of their faith, including celebrating the Biblical Feasts. Just after Passover and during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, First Fruits (or Yom HaBikkurim) is a celebration of God’s goodness to His people and to give thanks for what He’s given us, especially our resurrected Savior!
Where Does First Fruits Come From?
In Leviticus 23, God commands seven Feasts or Holy Days for His people to observe for all generations. The command for First Fruits is included in the list.
Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you enter the land which I am going to give to you and reap its harvest, then you shall bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD for you to be accepted; on the day after the Sabbath, the priest shall wave it. Now on the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb one year old without defect for a burnt offering to the LORD. Its grain offering shall then be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering by fire to the LORD for a soothing aroma, with its drink offering, a fourth of a hin of wine. Until this same day, until you have brought in the offering of your God, you shall eat neither bread nor roasted grain nor new growth. It is to be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places.
Leviticus 23:9-14(NASB)
A High Priest would wave a barley sheaf before God, starting the Counting of the Omer, the 50 days from First Fruits to Shavuot. Offerings were then brought to the Temple (a blemish-free lamb, flour mixed with oil, and wine).
Since we don’t have high priests or even a Temple at the moment, we can keep up the spirit of this Holy Day, focusing on the themes it highlights and what God wants to teach us through this celebration. We can thank God for what he’s given us and celebrate the resurrection of Jesus!
An Offering
It’s common knowledge among Believers that we give the first of what God gave us when we give an offering to Him. It shows God that we have faith in Him to provide for us when we give back the first of what we receive (crops, animals, paycheck, etc.), and it demonstrates our faith that God will provide the rest of what we need. This offering from the first of what we’ve been given isn’t just a way to have our priorities in order. It’s Biblical.
Here are a few places the Bible mentions giving the first to God.
Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Sanctify to Me every firstborn, the first offspring of every womb among the sons of Israel, both of man and beast; it belongs to Me.”
Exodus 13:1-2 (NASB)
“Now when the LORD brings you to the land of the Canaanite, as He swore to you and to your fathers, and gives it to you, you shall devote to the LORD the first offspring of every womb, and the first offspring of every beast that you own; the males belong to the LORD. But every first offspring of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, but if you do not redeem it, then you shall break its neck; and every firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem.
Exodus 13:11-13 (NASB)
“You shall bring the choice first fruits of your soil into the house of the LORD your God.
Exodus 23:19a (NASB)
Also see Deuteronomy 18:4 and 26:1-4 for more on giving the first of what’s received.
What Does First Fruits Have to Do With Jesus?
First Fruits was the day Jesus rose from the dead, as Jesus died on Passover three days before First Fruits. But it’s not just a coincidence that He rose on First Fruits. Jesus rising from the dead on this day also confirms that he’s the first of the “harvest” to come, the first to defeat death.
Paul referred to Jesus as the First Fruits in 1 Corinthians 15:20-24. Through Jesus, we have life, and that life will be resurrected through him. How? Romans 8:11 tells us that it’s through God’s Spirit living inside us. When Jesus died, the Bible tells us many people were raised from the dead! They were to be a First Fruits offering of sorts.
And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. And behold, the veil of the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split. The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many. Now the centurion, and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, became very frightened and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”
Matthew 27:50-54 (NASB)
So when we celebrate this feast, we can rejoice that we not only have a resurrected Savior, we can also look forward to when we’re resurrected and live with him for eternity. What great reasons to celebrate!
How Can Christians Celebrate First Fruits?
Celebrate Our Risen Savior!
Jesus rising from the dead is the most important thing we can celebrate as Christians! By not staying in the grave, Jesus showed that he is the Son of God and genuinely has power over even death itself!
Celebrations can be in the form of special worship, gathering for meals or services, or focusing on the resurrection in our Bible studies.
See What God Has to Say
Speaking of Bible Study, make that a part of your First Fruits celebration. For a visual and logical timeline of the death and resurrection of Jesus, look at page 3 of this PDF by John Parsons of Hebrew for Christians.
Here are some verses related to First Fruits:
- Leviticus 23:9-14
- Deuteronomy 26
- 1 Corinthians 15:20-24
First Fruits (HaBikkurim)
First Fruits is the last of the Spring Holy Days, on Nisan 16. This Holy Day occurs during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The specific date of this feast is not given. It’s to be the first day after the Sabbath. There’s some discrepancy on the date, however, both today and among the Pharisees and Sauces of Jesus’s time. The first day of Passover is a Sabbath, so that’s how we arrive at the 16th being First Fruits.
In Temple days, this was when the Hebrew people were commanded to bring in the first of their barley harvest as an offering. Here it is in Leviticus 23:9-14.
Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you enter the land which I am going to give to you and reap its harvest, then you shall bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD for you to be accepted; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. Now on the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb one year old without defect for a burnt offering to the LORD. Its grain offering shall then be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering by fire to the LORD for a soothing aroma, with its drink offering, a fourth of a hin of wine. Until this same day, until you have brought in the offering of your God, you shall eat neither bread nor roasted grain nor new growth. It is to be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places.
Leviticus 23:9-14 (NASB)
It’s clear what First Fruits was when the Temple was standing, but how does that relate to our lives and faith today? We’ll get to that in a minute, but we can’t discuss First Fruits without discussing its relevance to Jesus.
Jesus and First Fruits
Since Jesus died on Passover, the day he rose from the grave would have been First Fruits or the day after, depending on whose timeline you study. Paul discusses the significance of this when he connects Jesus with this Holy Day.
But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming…
1 Cor. 15:20-23 (NASB)
Just like the first sheaf of barley indicated that there would be more to come, Jesus being the first fruits in rising from the dead indicates that there will be more to rise from the dead. Matthew records that people rose from the grave when Jesus died (Matt. 27:52-53). And we know through prophecy that this will happen again, but then even more will rise from the grave (Eze. 37:3-5, 10; Acts 24:15; 1 Cor. 15:52; Rev. 20:12, 14).
Another concept in First Fruits that relates to Jesus is the concept of the firstborn. The Hebrew word for this feast day, HaBikkurim, comes from the same root word as the word for “firstborn.” In Hebrew, when words share a root, the words’ meanings are related. We also see this as Jesus is sometimes referred to as the firstborn and other times as the first fruits (1 Cor. 15:20-23, Rom. 8:29, Col. 1:18, Heb. 1:6, Rev. 1:5).
In Hebrew culture, the firstborn was blessed and a blessing to those to come. We know Jesus was a blessing to all who came after him, just like the first of the barley harvest was blessed, and the rest of the crop was blessed through the offering of the first. With these connections, we can see why Paul refers to Jesus as the firstborn and first fruits.
We’re supposed to be a kind of First Fruits offering as well! James 1:18 says that we’re to be a type of First Fruits. It says that the word of truth brought us forth to be a kind of first fruits on Earth. We’re to be like Jesus in that we are to be like the first fruits and the firstborn, through whom comes a blessing to those that follow. God has revealed His truth to us so that we are blessed, and those around us can also be blessed by it as we lead others closer to Him.
How to Observe
– Take the day off. First Fruits is a Sabbath, so it’s a day free of work.
– Read the Scriptures relating to themes of First Fruits
– Lev. 23:9-14
– Jere. 2:3
– Eze. 37:3-5, 10
– Matt. 27:52-53
– Acts 24:15
– 1 Cor. 15:52
– Rev. 20:12, 14
– Bring an offering. The offering was the most prominent part of this Holy Day – to acknowledge that all we have comes from God and trust Him to provide for us in the future.
– Focus on fulfilled prophecy concerning the land of Israel. Recently fulfilled prophecy is something you could teach your children or spend some time researching them yourself. The story of the return of prosperity is astonishing! Incredibly, we can see fulfilled prophecy in our time!
Three days after Passover, during the week of Unleavened Bread, First Fruits is a time to celebrate what God has given us and what He will provide in the future. Click here for a calendar of Holy Days to find out when First Fruits will be celebrated this year!
