Imagine celebrating a truth for thousands of years, guarding it, preserving it and debating it while never fully understanding what it truly meant. For centuries, Israel has observed three sacred appointments: Passover, Unleavened Bread, and Firstfruits. They have argued over these feasts, defined them, protected them, yet missed the One Who stands at the very center of them all.
These feasts are not just rituals; they are not just history. They are revelations. Passover shows us that the Messiah had to die. Unleavened Bread demonstrates that His life was perfectly holy. Firstfruits reveals that death could not hold Him. When you put them together, you don’t just have three arbitrary feasts; you have a biography of the Messiah at His First Coming, written well in advance.
Passover
Let’s now look at an important fact about Passover. Here’s a simple question: if you ask a Jewish person today, “What is Passover?” how might they answer? Most would talk about the Exodus from Egypt and the liberation from slavery. They would definitely mention the Seder meal, the matzah, and the Haggadah, the book they follow at the Seder that has been kept sacred from generation to generation.
And what they recall as important concerning the Passover is both beautiful and meaningful. However, we need to ask another question: What does the Word of God say? When we turn to Exodus 12–13, we find something striking. The story is not centered only on slavery, deliverance and matzah; it is centered on a lamb.
Notice how much emphasis the Lord places on the lamb in Exodus 12. In verse 3, the lamb is taken. In verse 4 the lamb is shared. Verse 5 describes how the lamb must be without blemish. In verse 6, the lamb is kept and then slain. And then verse 7 describes how the lamb’s blood will save lives.
The text points out that it was not faith alone that saved them, it was also the blood of the lamb on the doorposts. And today, the story is still being told. All the symbols are still present. The memory is preserved. But the question we must ask is this: Where is the lamb?
I am not asking this with accusation but out of a deep longing, not to criticize, but to call them back to the Scriptures. For the Word of God places the lamb at the very center of redemption. And if the lamb is missing, then something essential is missing. This is because the Lamb is the Messiah, the Savior of Israel, the One who has been set aside, and yet the very One who loves Israel and continues to preserve her.
This is why the Torah places such strong emphasis here. In the end, what truly matters is our eternal destiny, and the Messiah assures us that all who put their faith in Him will be saved.
Unleavened Bread
The connection between Passover and Unleavened Bread is profound. The sacrifice must not only be offered, it must be perfect. The Lamb of God had to be without sin, holy and spotless, in order to be our sacrifice. This feast, then, speaks of the qualifications of the Messiah. Not only that He would die, but that He alone was worthy to die a substitute death. There is an important truth we read throughout Scripture. Holiness is required to approach God. No priest, no prophet, no man from any nation has ever been holy enough. Only One, Yeshua, the only One who lived without sin, and therefore the only One able to bring us near to God.”
Yom Ha-Bikkurim
This is when we come to the third feast: The resurrection: Yom Ha-Bikkurim or the Feast of Firstfruits. There are many references to Firstfruits in the Scriptures, but this is the first of them all, the first one of the year, the beginning of the harvest. And it is at this very feast that Yeshua rose from the dead, confirming, once and for all, the eternal destiny of all who belong to Him.
But how does this resurrection differ from all the others in the Hebrew Scriptures? This resurrection is unique. It is the first resurrection of an individual unto eternal life, never to die again. All the others who were raised died again.
Elijah raised the widow’s son in Zarephath, but that child later died. The same is true of Lazarus; he was raised, but he too died again. But when Yeshua rose, He rose never to die again. He is the Firstfruits.
And this is why the name of the feast is so significant: Firstfruits Reshit, the first of a series. And if there is a first, there must be more to follow. And the question is: Who is next? This is exactly what Paul teaches in 1 Corinthians 15:20-23: “Messiah has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep…each in his own order: Messiah the firstfruits, after that those who belong to Him at His coming.”
The word Firstfruits (aparchē) points directly back to the offering described in Leviticus 23. Paul is telling us that Yeshua is the first of the harvest, and that there is more to come. And that is the good news. Those who belong to the Messiah will follow. Whether at the Rapture or in the resurrection, we are part of that harvest.
In the first century the feast of Yom HaBikkurim, or Firstfruits, was a big event in Israel. During this feast, the quantity of grain offered at the Temple was doubled and it was a time of abundance and joy!
However, today in the practice of modern Judaism the Feast of Firstfruits, Yom HaBikkurim is almost absent. Many Jewish people are not even aware of it as a distinct feast. Ancient rabbis do speak of it, especially in the Tractate Menachot in the Mishnah, where it marks the beginning of the harvest. But the feast itself is no longer observed in its original form. Why?
The reason that is given is that it is entirely Temple-dependent, and without the Temple, the offering cannot be brought. Fair enough, but consider this: Yom Kippur is also Temple-dependent, yet it continues today, though without its sacrifices. But not Firstfruits. This very feast, which is now hidden, stands at the heart of the Torah because it symbolizes the resurrection of the Messiah: At Passover He dies, at Yom Habbikurim He resurrects and this is precisely what happened in the first century.
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