Seder 96: Leviticus 23---Festivals of Rest, Joy, Remembrance, and Harvest

 Leviticus 23 lays out God's festival calendar.  The biblical festivals are gifts of God to his people, times of rest and times of joy.  They are also times of remembrance---times to remember God's mighty works of salvation, and times to call upon God to remember his people.

For ancient Israel the festivals celebrated the harvests.  At the start of the spring barley harvest, a sheaf of the firstfruits of that harvest was waved before God, thanking God for the harvest and dedicating it to him, the source of all blessings (vv 9-14).  

This ritual was carried out "on the day after the Sabbath" (v 11).  The text does not specify which exact Sabbath this was, and so it was up to communities keeping this festival to make a decision on this matter.  The choice determined the timing of Shavuot/Pentecost, which came 50 days after that Sabbath.  

In Jesus' day the Sadducees began the count to Pentecost on the first Sunday after Passover, while the Pharisees began the count on Nisan 16, the day after the first day of unleavened bread.  Today Jews follow the Pharisaic tradition, while Christians basically follow the Sadducees, with Pentecost seven weeks after Resurrection Sunday.  In 2022 both methods coincide, with the count beginning on April 17 and ending on June 5.  

Pentecost is the time for another offering of firstfruits, this time the firstfruits of the wheat harvest (vv 15-17).  

Christians recognize the harvest festivals as symbolizing spiritual harvests of people. The firstfruits ritual during the days of unleavened bread is associated with the resurrection of Jesus.  "But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep," Paul wrote in 1 Cor 15:20.  Some have suggested that when Jesus made the ascension to which he referred in John 20:17, he may have been carrying out a sort of wavesheaf offering.  

The next to be resurrected are those who are "those who belong to Christ" (v 23).  This group can be associated with Pentecost and is also referred to in the New Testament with firstfruits language ( Rom 8:23; 11:16; 2 Thes 2:13; James 1:18; Rev 14:4).  

A later, larger harvest is symbolized by the Feast of Tabernacles in the fall.

Rob Wilson looked at the concept of firstfruits and the festival calendar in a sermon at Church of the Messiah on March 19, 2022.