It may surprise you to know that Early First Fruits was observed all the way back to the days of Adam and Eve.

Remember how Cain’s offering was unacceptable to God?

He did not offer the right early first fruits offering.  He offered not the first and the best,  but the last and the least. Able on the other hand offered his first and the best; and His Early First Fruits offering pleased God.  It was said that Able offered a lamb from his livestock, and Cain offered flax from his fields.  Lambs provide wool for clothing and flax provides linen.  Both of these two cloths were suitable for clothing; but they were not to be mixed together.

Many years later, Christ came to live as a man on the earth, and His life as a common man proved to be a living example of the offering called Early First Fruits.

His life was the very first worthy abundant harvest of a human soul who had lived out his life on the earth before God.

He proved it was possible to live righteously before God and to offer your body as a pure and holy sacrifice.

CHRIST SHOWED US THE PATTERN FOR A PERFECT OFFERING

Jesus gave of all that He had; His very best, to the Father.  He became the perfect sacrificial offering that was substituted in exchange for the penalty of our sins.  Because He gave his very life, we are able to live forever too.

Christ became the Early First Fruit of humanity.

He was the first to achieve Resurrection.

Jesus was first of the early harvest of souls of the earth.

We read in the scriptures of other souls that were resurrected after the Resurrection of Christ; but He was the very first.  He served as the Early First Fruit of the harvest of humanity.

Now that the offering of Early First Fruits has come in the form of the life of Christ; the rest of the crop (the rest of humanity) will be acceptable to God.

FIRST FRUIT OFFERINGS WERE MEASURED BY THE OMER

An omer was an ancient unit of measuring and it was used to measure the grain of the Early First Fruit offerings.

On this day of Early First Fruits an omer of the barley crop was brought to the priest as an offering to God.

The omer of barley needed to be offered before any of the rest of the barley harvest was used or consumed.

Then; (after the offering) the people began counting the 50 days from the time of the offering of the omer till they reached The Day of Pentecost.

This counting from the omer is how the ancients knew when the day of Pentecost had arrived.

AT FIRST PENTECOST WAS JUST A WAY OF KNOWING WHEN IT WAS TIME TO HARVEST THE WHEAT

The ancient people had no idea that The Holy Spirit would be given to God’s people on this particular day at a certain year in time.

They only knew after 50 days from Early First Fruits came the offering for the wheat crops.  This was called The Latter Spring Harvest.  They counted the days from the barley harvest till the wheat harvest.  They called this process “counting the omer.”  They were not literally counting omers; but they were counting days associated with the giving of an offering that measured an omer.

THE OMER CONSTITUTED THEIR CALENDAR

They did not look at a calendar or ask Google as we do today; instead they counted the days from the first and early crop’s offerings, waiting and anticipating when they would give the offering of the NEXT crop of spring; the wheat crop.

The offering of the wheat too was measured by using an omer.  The wheat too was given as a special offering.

The priest would measure out the flour from the wheat crop and make bread that would be waived before God when it was offered.  This was called the Latter First Fruits – or as we call it today; Pentecost.

THE SPRING HAD TWO HARVEST TIMES; AN EARLY HARVEST AND A LATTER HARVEST

So each spring had two harvests; an early harvest of barley and a later harvest of wheat.

The people used the harvest times and their offerings to God as a way to know God’s timing for their lives.

Their lives were all about producing a harvest.  They trusted in God to give them abundant crops in due season.

MEASURING OUT THE HARVEST OFFERINGS

Have you heard of this practice?

Have you ever wondered why it is so often referred to as “counting the omer?”

The words are actually a little misleading.  The “omer” is simply the unit of measuring the amount of grain that was brought from their first cut of the barley crop in the spring.

This measuring would be similar to us measuring out a gallon, or a cup, or a spoonful of something.   They measured out an omer.  The omer was actually equal to a little more than two quarts.

They might say “counting the omer” but they actually meant counting the days from when the omer of barley was offered up.

I have come to call it “counting the days” since that seems more logical in English.

One could say it like this:  “counting the quarts.”  Even if I did that, I would still be referring to counting the days since the quarts of grain were offered up to God.  That logic is hard to follow; so I usually refer to this season as “counting the days.”

COUNTING UP TO FIFTY

Each evening after the first day the omer of barley was offered up, a special prayer would be said at sunset, and they would remember exactly how many days it had been since the offering of barley was first given.  The number of days would be named in the prayer.

Sunset was always the official ending of each day, and right after sunset was the official beginning of each new day.

They knew that on the 50th day after the giving of the barley offering the wheat harvest would be ripe for harvesting.  They realized that day would bring them to the Day of Pentecost.

A PROGRESSIVE AWAKENING OF THE SOUL

There is a spiritual significance to this process.  Anyone faithfully counting and observing the days can experience a progressive awakening of their soul.

Each ordinary day in between the two special days of Passover through Pentecost brings a spiritual awakening and learning and stretching and growing from God.

Like a crop in the field waiting for a harvest.  There is a growing season and all the time of the counting is when the growing is taking place.

At the end of this growing season after Passover and at Pentecost the people would then take the first of the wheat and offer it to God on the Day of Pentecost.

This was the ancient pattern for harvesting in the springtime.

AN ANCIENT TRADITION BEFORE THE TIME OF CHRIST WHICH HE WOULD HAVE OBSERVED DURING HIS LIFETIME

This is how Early First Fruits and Pentecost began to be a tradition; long before the life and times of Jesus.

This is the pattern that God still uses as He goes about the work of the harvesting of souls.

Can you see how Jesus became the early first fruits of souls?

He was the first to resurrect.

Christ was the first person that lived within a human body and attained Resurrection from the dead.

WAIVING THE BREAD OF HEAVEN BEFORE GOD

The first loaf of bread that the priest waved before God during Passover week on the day of Early First Fruits represented the offering of the life of Christ.  He became our acceptable sacrifice for the atonement of sin.

The second loaf; the one the priest waved at the later spring wheat harvest was the offering of the souls of mankind who had Christ living within them.

Because Christ was our Early First Fruit; we too will be able to obtain resurrection and that is represented by the counting to 50 and the reaching of the days of Pentecost and the latter spring harvest at Pentecost.

RESURRECTION POWER COMES TO GOD’S PEOPLE AT PENTECOST

Because of God’s Holy Spirit that was sent at Pentecost (a wedding gift from Christ to His Bride the Church); we may obtain resurrection for our souls.

This could only be possible because of the Early First fruits of Christ when He poured Himself out for the souls of mankind like a drink offering.

Mankind may also obtain resurrection in the season that is right.  It will be the latter spring spiritual harvest of the souls of God’s people; called latter First Fruits.

Are the seasons ordained and created by God not amazing?

Don’t you just love watching them unfold?

Every new season brings a sense of the sacredness of God into our common ordinary days.

That is why I love The IN SEASON Lifestyle so much!