Yom HaBikkurim/First Fruits - Traditional Hebraic Perspective
First Fruits (Yom Habikkurim) — And the LORD spoke unto Moses saying: Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them: When ye are come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring the sheaf of the first-fruits of your harvest unto the priest. And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you; on the morrow after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.
To present the first fruits of the harvest to the Priest (Lev. 23:10)
To offer the first fruits wave offering to G_D (Lev. 23:11)
And in the day when ye wave the sheaf, ye shall offer a he-lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt-offering unto the LORD. (Lev. 23:12)
To offer up the meal-offering on First Fruits (Lev. 23:13)
Not to eat bread made of new grain before the Omer of barley has been offered up on First Fruits (Lev. 23:14)
As we can see from the introduction and the few specific commandments related to Yom Habikkurim … we are at a surface level dealing with an agriculturally centric Mo’ed. Specifically we are dealing with the first fruits set-aside of the annual Spring barley harvest … the early harvest.
In a traditional Hebraic perspective the significance of Yom Habikkurim is directly related to the fact that G_D is the continued source of sustenance and blessings. G_D is faithful in re-generating the land … year over year and is the all-powerful source that controls nature.
Certainly we as people traditionally look upon “Spring” as the beginning season within our annual cycle (certainly even more so for Israel since Spring actually starts the Biblical year as ordained by G_D) … and naturally we people tend to associate this season with re-birth and hope. Spring represents the emergence from the traditional darkness, hardship and uncertainty of the Winter season. Spring represents the time when the land which was dead and unproductive regenerates and springs back into life.
The specific commandments related to Yom Habikkurim attest to this truth and also mandate that Israel bring to G_D … bring to the Priests … the first fruit share of the land’s produce. In fact the Israelites were commanded to not even partake or use any of the crop harvest until such time that the first fruit offerings were presented to the Mishkan … at which time a “special wave offering” and “meal offering” would be presented to The LORD by the Priest on behalf of all the people of Israel.
At face value then we see that the Yom Habikkurim Mo’ed is designed to serve as a permanent memorial of G_D’s continued sustenance and blessings to Israel. We see further that the Mo’ed is also designed to remind Israel that it is G_D who is ultimately responsible for the temporal re-generation of the land and that he controls all things … including nature.
Although this traditional Hebraic perspective is by no means insignificant, we must look at a number of key factors surrounding G_D’s pronouncement of this festival to garner additional insights and context related to Yom Habikkurim.
First of all Yom Habikkurim is an agricultural based festival that was not kept for 40 years while the Israelites wandered in the desert. As such, when this mandate to keep the Festival was given by G_D, it most certainly served as a future portent of things to come. A declaration by G_D that the promises of a temporal homeland made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had been declared and would assuredly be fulfilled at some point in the future.
Secondly we see in the timing of this festival by G_D that Yom Habikkurim was by design intertwined with both Pesach and Chag HaMatzot. The festival itself by declared divine ordinance must fall within the timeframe of the Chag HaMatzot Festival days. In fact we can see by logical deduction that Yom Habikkurim, a festival indicative of the promised inheritance and temporal renewal of the land, is dependent upon the Hebrew Exodus from Egypt and their ultimate survival. Simply speaking there could be no festival of inheritance if there was no freedom from Egypt and subsequent occupation of the land of inheritance by the Israelites.
Our previous Mo’ed discourses herein discretely associated Pesach and Chag HaMatzot with G_D’s redemption and separation from Egypt respectively. We also could see where these Mo’ed were discretely represented and supported by the “hand of G_D” within the Exodus account. So we undoubtedly see how the Biblical record depicts these redemption and separation events. But … we also know that the Exodus was not the end of the Egyptian experiences … the Exodus did not fully remove the Israelites from the shadow of Egypt … from the shadow of death.
And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians were marching after them; and they were sore afraid; and the children of Israel cried out unto the LORD. And they said unto Moses: 'Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? Wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to bring us forth out of Egypt? Is not this the word that we spoke unto thee in Egypt, saying: Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it was better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.' And Moses said unto the people: 'Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you to-day; for whereas ye have seen the Egyptians to-day, ye shall see them again no more forever. The LORD will fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.'
And the LORD said unto Moses: 'Wherefore why cry unto me? Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward. And lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thy hand over the sea, and divide it; and the children of Israel shall go into the midst of the sea on dry ground. And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall go in after them; and I will get me honor upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gotten me honor upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen.' … And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all the night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left. And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. …
And the LORD said unto Moses: 'Stretch out thy hand over the sea that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.' And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it; and the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, even all the host of Pharaoh that went in after them into the sea; there remained not so much as one of them. But the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left. Thus the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea-shore. And Israel saw the great work which the LORD did upon the Egyptians, and the people feared the LORD; and they believed in the LORD, and in his servant Moses. …
Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the LORD, and spoke, saying: I will sing unto the LORD, for he is highly exalted; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation (Yeshua); this is my G_D, and I will glorify him; my father's G_D, and I will exalt him. The LORD is a man of war, The LORD is his name. Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea, and his chosen captains are sunk in the Reed Sea (Sea of Suph). The deeps cover them--they went down into the depths like a stone. Thy right hand, O LORD, glorious in power, Thy right hand, O LORD, dashes in pieces the enemy. And in the greatness of Thine excellence Thou over throws them that rise up against Thee; Thou sends forth Thy wrath, it consumes them as stubble. And with the blast of Thy nostrils the waters were piled up--the floods stood upright as a heap; the deeps were congealed in the heart of the sea. The enemy said: 'I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.' Thou didst blow with Thy wind, the sea covered them; they sank as lead in the mighty waters. Who is like unto Thee, O LORD, among the mighty? Who is like unto Thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? Thou stretched out Thy right hand--the earth swallowed them. Thou in Thy love hast led the people that Thou hast redeemed; Thou hast guided them in Thy strength to Thy holy habitation. … All the inhabitants of Canaan are melted away. Terror and dread falls upon them; by the greatness of Thine arm they are as still as a stone; till Thy people pass over, O LORD, till the people pass over that Thou hast gotten. Thou brings them in, and plants them in the mountain of Thine inheritance, the place, O LORD, which Thou hast made for Thee to dwell in, the sanctuary, O LORD, which Thy hands have established. The LORD shall reign forever and ever. For the horses of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and the LORD brought back the waters of the sea upon them; but the children of Israel walked on dry land in the midst of the sea. (Exodus 14:10-15:19)
We can see from the Biblical record the awesome and miraculous crossing of the Reed Sea, undoubtedly one of the most heralded events within the auspices of Jewish tradition, is not just aligned with the Pesach Mo’ed but certainly an integral component thereof. We should see this Reed Sea crossing as the culmination of the Exodus/Egyptian experience. The event wherein the shadow of Egypt and its stronghold was permanently removed from the Israelites! The event that solidified the destruction of Egypt wherein the power of its hosts were utterly put down into the watery graves of the Reed Sea!
As we ponder this amazing event it should seem apparent that this picture of all Israel descending by night into the darkness and desolation of the parted sea is representative of man’s very struggle against the ultimate power of the grave and death itself. Perhaps Scriptures can shed even more light on this potential relationship between mankind’s mortality and the sea.
Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste; and he said: 'I have sinned against the LORD your G_D, and against you. Now therefore forgive, I pray thee, my sin only this once, and entreat the LORD your G_D, that he may take away from me this death only.' And he went out from Pharaoh, and entreated the LORD. And the LORD turned an exceeding strong west wind, which took up the locusts, and drove them into the Reed Sea; there remained not one locust in all the border of Egypt. But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go. (Exodus 10:16-20)
In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed; then he wrote the dream and told the sum of the matters. Daniel spoke and said: I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven broke forth upon the great sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. (Daniel 7:1-3)
The sea is come up upon Babylon; she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof. Her cities are become a desolation, a dry land, and a desert, a land wherein no man dwells, neither doth any son of man pass thereby. And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up, and the nations shall not flow any more unto him; yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall. My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and save yourselves every man from the fierce anger of the LORD. (Jeremiah 51:42-45)
Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee; hide thyself for a little moment, until the indignation be over-past. For behold, the LORD comes forth out of his place to visit upon the inhabitants of the earth their iniquity; the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain. In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword will punish leviathan the slant serpent, and leviathan the tortuous serpent; and he will slay the dragon that is in the sea. (Isaiah 26:20-27:1)
Who is a G_D like unto Thee, that pardons the iniquity, and passes by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? He retains not his anger forever, because he delights in mercy. He will again have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. Thou wilt show faithfulness to Jacob, mercy to Abraham, as Thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old. (Micah 7:18-20)
And they said everyone to his fellow: 'Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us.' So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah. Then said they unto him: 'tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us: … And he said unto them: 'I am a Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the G_D of heaven, who hath made the sea and the dry land.' Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him: 'What is this that thou hast done?' For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them. Then said they unto him: 'What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us?' for the sea grew more and more tempestuous. And he said unto them: 'Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you; for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you.' … We beseech Thee, O LORD, we beseech Thee, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood; for Thou, O LORD, hast done as it pleased Thee.' So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea; and the sea ceased from its raging. Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly; and they offered a sacrifice unto the LORD, and made vows. And the LORD prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his G_D out of the fish's belly. And he said: I called out of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he answered me; out of the belly of the nether-world cried I, and Thou heard my voice. For Thou didst cast me into the depth, in the heart of the seas, and the flood was round about me; all Thy waves and Thy billows passed over me. And I said: 'I am cast out from before Thine eyes'; yet I will look again toward Thy holy temple. The waters compassed me about, even to the soul; the deep was round about me; the weeds were wrapped about my head. I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars closed upon me forever; yet hast Thou brought up my life from the pit, O LORD my G_D. When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the LORD; and my prayer came in unto Thee, into Thy holy temple. They that regard lying vanities forsake their own mercy. But I will sacrifice unto Thee with the voice of thanksgiving; that which I have vowed I will pay. Salvation is of the LORD. And the LORD spoke unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land. (Jonah 1:7-2:11)
And I will send the hornet before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee. I will not drive them out from before thee in one year, lest the land become desolate and the beasts of the field multiply against thee. By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land. And I will set thy border from the Reed Sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness unto the River; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shall drive them out before thee. (Exodus 23:28-31)
Initially we see where the Reed Sea itself, within the very confines of the Exodus/Egypt experience, is the dumping ground for the hordes of locusts sent upon Egypt by G_D. The Reed Sea in this instance has been defined as the place where G_D’s judgment will rest. And of course it is the very same Reed Sea that became the watery grave for the Egyptian army.
From the Scriptures however we see much more. We see where “the sea” is the place from where the “Beasts” … the imperial powers of the Earth emerge.
We see where “the sea” is depicted as the awesome force that overflows and covers Babylon … the picture being one of judgment.
We see where the serpent Leviathan (Death) will be punished by the LORD in the time when mankind’s iniquity (slaying of the innocents) will be uncovered. Leviathan is likened unto the “Dragon” … and therefore connected to the Beasts.
We see where “the sea” is where the LORD will cast away all iniquities from Israel in accordance to the promises of the Everlasting Covenant.
We see in the story of Jonah where “the sea” is likened to the pit … likened to “sheol” or hell itself. The place where there is only blackness, separation from G_D … hopelessness.
And finally we see where the very place that the children of Israel emerged out of the Reed Sea actually represents a “border” of the promised-land.
When we aggregate all of these passages from Holy Scripture we should have little problem in discerning that the crossing of the Reed Sea is indeed symbolic of the children of Israel descending into the very grave and emerging safely because of G_D’s favor and faithfulness. We should recognize that Egypt, emblematic of olam hazeh and humanity in general, also descended into the grave … but without G_D’s protection they were not spared the righteous judgment! In the Reed Sea the Egyptians met their fate … they met death and went down to “sheol”.
What we end up with is a grand picture of the permanent separation between light and dark. For it was in the morning, when the light shone forth, that G_D’s judgment fell upon the Egyptians. It was at this same emergence of light that the Israelites rose up out of the depths of the sea to stand on firm ground … the ground that will ultimately serve as a southern border for the promised-land. It was at this same emergence of light that the Israelites escaped the very clutches of death itself!
Hopefully we should see within a Biblically Hebraic perspective how Yom Habikkurim is indeed a Mo’ed that memorializes regeneration. Most assuredly this Mo’ed points towards the annual regeneration of the land … but … just as importantly the Mo’ed points to the regeneration of the people, the nation of Israel.
In the broadened Hebraic perspective then we see where Yom Habikkurim is the Mo’ed that memorializes:
The chosen people’s complete separation from Egypt … the complete elimination of Egypt’s shadow;
Israel’s position/status, being G_D’s first born son, as representing the new first fruits of humanity … the first fruits not from the seed of hasatan but as the firstlings of the seed of G_D.
G_D’s miraculous works in displaying his power over the very depths of the Sea … over nature … over death itself;
THE LORD graciously guiding Israel through the darkness and terror of death to bring them up to their inheritance … the land of promise;
THE LORD beginning the process, in accordance with the promises of the Everlasting Covenant, of regenerating both the promised-land and his chosen people Israel.
G_D’s glorious victory of light over darkness
Ultimately let us travel back in time and stand with the Israelites on the banks of the Reed Sea. We are harrowed, shaking, exasperated, dumbfounded and awestruck. Just moments after we assuredly thought we would be either crushed by the sea or overtaken by Pharaoh’s army … we find ourselves looking over the pit of death and the destruction of Egypt’s glory. We know that Egypt poses no more threats to us … we know that G_D has severed all ties with their way of life … we know that for us Egypt is “no more”! What can we say?
Thou didst blow with Thy wind, the sea covered them; they sank as lead in the mighty waters. Who is like unto Thee, O LORD, among the mighty? Who is like unto Thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? Thou stretched out Thy right hand--the earth swallowed them. Thou in Thy love hast led the people that Thou hast redeemed; Thou hast guided them in Thy strength to Thy holy habitation. … Barukh HaSHEM!
It would appear that we now have a more succinct and deeper Hebraic perspective associated with the Mo’ed of Yom Habikkurim. A perspective that is thoroughly aligned with the Pesach and Chag HaMatzot Festivals and Exodus experiences. Now let us proceed to a review of this awesome festival fulfillment within the auspices of the B’rit Chadasha and Mashiach Yeshua.
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