The Feast of Harvest

This 3^rd Holy Day goes under several names. Two are based on the method of timing the observance of the day.

Feast of Weeks – refers to the method of counting 7 weeks [plus a day] after the first Sabbath occurring during the feast of Unleavened Bread.

Pentecost – the Greek way of describing the counting of 50 days [7 weeks plus 1 day]. Also the most commonly used in reference to this day.

Feast of Harvest – directs us to the meaning of this great and momentous day… a harvest. Reaping the product [fruits] of what was planted.

God Has a Master Plan

Planting, growing, and finally reaping indicate a plan and schedule. God has a plan for bringing many children to a state of eternal life and joyous fellowship with Him. We are not in the midst of a titanic battle of good versus evil to see which will win out. We are in the midst of a carefully considered plan that was determined even before the creation of the universe, or planet earth, or of humanity.

Revelation 13:8 He has always planned for a result far greater than this life in the flesh. There was always going to be a sacrifice of a perfect sinless life. There was always going to be a book of life. There was always going to be people written into the book of life. God’s plan is a plan for life.

Where are we in the plan? The answer is found in the 7 annual holy days. Let’s rehearse where we have been so far…

The Spring Holy Days

The plan begins with Passover: an innocent lamb is killed to save the lives of many. Its blood on their door posts and lintels causes God to passover those homes and avoid destruction of the first born.

Next comes the Feast of Unleavened Bread: during this feast there is an offering called the wave sheaf Leviticus 23:9-12. It takes place the day following the first weekly Sabbath that falls in the midst of the feast of Unleavened bread.

1. The wave sheaf was a cutting made from the first grain produced from the barley harvest. Barley is the first and earliest of the three main harvests. The grain grows during the winter and is harvested in spring.
2. The wave sheaf had to be presented before God to be accepted by Him Leviticus 23:11
3. The wave sheaf is accompanied by a sacrifice of a lamb without blemish

How Do These Apply to Us Today?

The plan to “save you”… to draw you out of the ways of thinking and behaving that lead to death… ways that are a dead end with no future… this plan begins with forgiveness of sin.

Consider this… the KOG is appealing and satisfying because it is the promise of a just world.

Would the KOG be worth hoping for is it was not based on justice?

When we see crime go unpunished we usually have a reaction of outrage… if we see too much crime go unpunished our outrage can become cynicism. But we all yearn for something better…

But to be true justice, it must also be applied to my disobedience towards the perfect law of God. [To have perfect justice we must have perfect law]

If the perfect, all knowing, unbiased, justice of God is applied to me, and her, and him, and them… no one would be left alive… So there must also be mercy and forgiveness.

SO…

1. Passover lamb – Jesus fulfilled this sacrifice with the sacrifice of His own life to redeem yours from the necessary justice of God’s impartial judgment on sin. He is the lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world. It was always part of the plan.
2. The ripe sheaf of barley which was the first of the harvest presented to God [waved before God] by the Priest. Jesus is that sheaf.
   1. Romans 8:29  1 Corinthians 15:20-26  Colossians 1:15-18  Acts 26:23
3. John 20:17 – Jesus is here speaking of presenting himself to the Father. He would ascend to the throne room of God and I suppose there would be some form of ceremony there. He would be accepted by the Father because of his perfect sinless life.
   1. He is now also the high priest so he presents himself
   2. Consider the timing… after the 3 days and 3 nights in the tomb he arose. The day when He was speaking to Mary was early n the morning on the day following the first weekly Sabbath that falls in the midst of the feast of Unleavened bread.

50 days later Comes the Feast of Weeks/Pentecost

Those 2 names reference the method of counting off the days until the Holy Day. The other name “feast of harvest” refers to the significance of this Holy Day in the plan of God in bringing many children to glory.

Exodus 23:15-16 there are three seasons of harvest

We have considered the first harvest, the barley. It happened during the time of the feast of Unleavened Bread. 7 Weeks later the people would harvest their wheat. This happens during the feast of harvest [also known as Pentecost/Feast of Weeks].

Leviticus 23:15-23 – now there is another first fruit offering Holy to God.

James 1:18 This second session of harvest are the people God has drawn to Himself in this present age. They have been begotten by the seed of life… the Holy Spirit… the down payment and guarantee of eternal life.

What Comes Next?

Hebrews 11:39-40 the second harvest takes place over a long period of human history.

We who are called and who receive God’s Spirit… live our lives… our bodies die… our spirit returns to God for safekeeping… That spirit is not alive. It has no thoughts or feelings, plans or joys until the day it is awoken again to life to receive new and glorious bodies. 1000 years ago, 100 years ago, 10 years ago… we and all who have gone before await the same day and the same resurrection.

1 Corinthians 15:20-26

1 Corinthians 15:35-44

That’s the message of the Feast of Trumpets which we will cover in greater detail this fall.

But there is more…

The world must be cleansed of evil, Satan must be put out… the day of Atonement. This cleansing prepares for something never seen on planet earth. The righteous reign of Christ pictured in the glorious Feast of Tabernacles.

Finally, there is yet a final and complete harvest. The Eighth day, the last great Holy Day of God’s amazing plan to bring abundant life to the vast creation.