‘And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. 16 Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to YHWH. 17 You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are the firstfruits to YHWH. 18 And you shall offer with the bread seven lambs of the first year, without blemish, one young bull, and two rams. They shall be as a burnt offering to YHWH, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering made by fire for a sweet aroma to YHWH. 19 Then you shall sacrifice one kid of the goats as a sin offering and two male lambs of the first year as a sacrifice of a peace offering. 20 The priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before YHWH, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to YHWH for the priest. 21 And you shall proclaim on the same day that it is a holy convocation to you. You shall do no customary work on it. It shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations. (Lev. 23:15-21, NKJV)

As the last trumpet sound marked the end of the seventh Sabbath and the beginning of Pentecost, the appointed time of the firstfruits harvest was fulfilled. Israel, betrothed to YHWH at Passover, completed the arduous journey in the wilderness and, through His gifts of the Spirit, prepared herself (the Hebrew root of ‘bride’ conveys the sense of all complete, as if perfect, Seekins, p. 238). Yet, one more transformation was needed for her to become a compatible helpmeet to her God. This transformation (1Co. 15:50-53), which was the culmination of all that YHWH had been teaching Israel during the seven Sabbaths journey, was realized when the triumphant shout of her King announced His bride’s resurrection to spirit and her entry into day fifty. (In ancient times, when a king married the bride, He also married the land and the people.) Just as the Wavesheaf was cut and prepared at the end of the weekly Sabbath and made ready to be waved for acceptance on the eighth day, so too the fiftieth day’s harvested grain was prepared at the end of the seventh Sabbath and made ready that night for the morning’s two wave-loaf offerings on the eighth day. The Wavesheaf offering and Pentecost’s wave loaves offerings mark the beginning and end of the spring harvest. With its clear parallels to our role as believers today, this ritual holds profound significance for us.

The firstfruits harvest has a definite beginning and end, designated by the sacrifices offered on these days. After the priests waved the first cutting of the barley harvest before God, he offered a whole burnt offering of a male lamb of the first year. Usually, a one-tenth grain offering accompanied the lamb whole burnt offering, but for the wavesheaf whole burnt lamb offering, the priest offered two-tenths of fine flour mixed with oil as an offering made by fire to YHWH. The ceremony had no sin offering because the Wavesheaf offering represented the sinless Yeshua.

The fiftieth-day closing harvest ceremony’s whole burnt offering to YHWH consisted of seven lambs of the first year without blemish, one young bull, and two rams. The priest offered these with their usual grain and drink offerings designated for each animal species. After the burnt offerings, the priests slaughtered a young goat as a sin offering and sacrificed two male lambs of the first year as a peace offering. These were waved with the bread of firstfruits as a wave offering before YHWH. The bread of firstfruits consisted of two-tenths of Israelite-grown grain, ground into fine flour and baked with leaven, an exception to the Leviticus 2:11 rule. (Biblically, leaven always depicts sin.) The firstfruit grain, parched with fire that night, ground, sifted, and baked, halting any leavening action for the Pentecost wave offering. The two peace offering lambs and the two leavened wave loaves were holy to YHWH and eaten only by the priests, not the usual Israelite and priest sharing a peace offering meal. On Pentecost, there were more peace offerings than on any other holyday.

For the Israelites, the order of the sacrifices held a deeper meaning: first, the sin offering, followed by the whole burnt offering, and then the peace offering, shared in fellowship with the priests. The sin offering was a necessary step before approaching a holy God. In the fiftieth-day ritual, the whole burnt offerings came first, symbolizing the offeror’s complete dedication to serving and being consumed by the will of God, rejecting the notion of doing what was right in one’s own eyes. The seven sacrificial lambs represented a total willingness to suffer and die for YHWH’s will. Chosen by YHWH in covenant partnership, Israel was to be the noble self-offering in suffering at the hands of the world, the intercessor who bore evil to save herself and the nations. In covenant loyalty, Yeshua fulfills the role of a true Israelite, the suffering servant, the lamb led to the slaughter, bearing our sins so that all humanity might be saved. This understanding of suffering in our journey as believers can evoke a sense of empathy and kindness in our community, bearing with one another (Gal. 6:2).

The young bull depicted a young Israel’s patient endurance and untiring work required of rulers in serving the people. The two sacrificial rams imaged strong leadership with singleness of purpose sent to support and build up. The two-tenths loaves were leavened because Israel was called to suffer in bearing sin, die, and rise to triumph. The ritual sacrificial system defines how YHWH and Israel, in covenant faithfulness, deal with sin by dying to it but being raised up in glory.

God called Israel and Yeshua into a sacrificial role that holds profound significance for us as believers. Learning from the things He suffered, Yeshua became the perfect representation of Israel. As on the wavesheaf day, on day fifty, the Firstborn from the dead and the High Priest received a double portion, two-tenths or 20% of the grain offering (see Blog 41). Joseph, a type of Christ, suffered and saved the nations from famine by claiming 20% of the grain harvested. We will see that the feeding of the multitudes plays into John’s fourth sign in the next blog. This sacrificial role, exemplified by the perfect Israelite Yeshua, is a testament to YHWH’s chesed (covenant love and faithfulness) and our salvation.

Takeaway:
The meaning of the fiftieth-day harvest ritual is anchored in covenant faithfulness to the will of God being done on earth as it is in heaven. Yeshua started the spring harvest, and at its end, the bride of YHWH is a comparable helpmeet. The sacrifices offered depict the suffering servant bearing sin unto death and being raised in glory. It defines our self-sacrificing role in suffering today as believers, tirelessly leading by bearing with one another, singleness of mind to worship only YHWH, and building up the house of God for all nations.

Fun Factors:
Leviticus 23:15-22 has 525 letters (3 × 175, 3 × Abraham’s age; 5 × 2 × 5 = 50; 5 + 2 + 5 = 12) in 125 words (5³, mercy’s perfect cube, and the sum of two squares, 2² + 11², 4 + 121, the light of the world), totaling 41074, 22 × 1867; 1867 is the 285^th prime (285 = 15 × 19); 4 × 1 × 7 × 4 = 112 = YHWH Elohim; 4 + 1 + 0 + 7 + 4 = 4². The numbers tell the story of YHWH’s covenant faithfulness to Abraham (3 × 175), in whom all nations will be blessed through Israel (12), the light of the world (4 + 121), His favor to mercifully (5³) bring us out of exile into His glorious Presence so that God is all in all (50). “I am YHWH your Elohim” (v. 22) = 193, 44^th prime, 20^th Pythagorean prime; 144 + 49, 12² + 7², the sum of the spring harvest seven-Sabbath cycle.