Scripture Daily

Context No. 4076 of 4322 · Leviticus

Context · Reflection

Leviticus 23:15-21: in context

15“‘You shall count from the next day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. 16The next day after the seventh Sabbath you shall count fifty days; and you shall offer a new meal offering to the LORD. 17You shall bring out of your habitations two loaves of bread for a wave offering made of two tenths of an ephah of fine flour. They shall be baked with yeast, for first fruits to the LORD. 18You shall present with the bread seven lambs without defect a year old, one young bull, and two rams. They shall be a burnt offering to the LORD, with their meal offering and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of a sweet aroma to the LORD. 19You shall offer one male goat for a sin offering, and two male lambs a year old for a sacrifice of peace offerings. 20The priest shall wave them with the bread of the first fruits for a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the LORD for the priest. 21You shall make proclamation on the same day that there shall be a holy convocation to you. You shall do no regular work. This is a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.

This passage describes the Feast of Weeks, or Firstfruits, a celebration held at the wheat harvest, when the people were to bring an offering of new bread and grain to the LORD as firstfruits. The heart of the feast was gratitude, bringing to God the first portion of the harvest as an acknowledgment that it all came from him.

There is meaning in this principle of firstfruits. To give God the first of the harvest, before consuming the rest, was to declare that God comes first, that the harvest was his gift, and that he was to be honored with the beginning and prime of it, not the leftovers. It was an act of thanksgiving and of faith, trusting that the God who gave the firstfruits would provide the full harvest. Giving God the firstfruits means honoring him with the first and the prime of what we have, our time, our resources, our energy, rather than offering him only what is left over after we have taken care of ourselves. And this feast, which came to be called Pentecost, would one day mark the outpouring of God's Spirit, the firstfruits of a greater harvest.

Do I give God the firstfruits, honoring him with the first and prime of my time, resources, and energy in grateful acknowledgment that all I have comes from him, rather than offering him only what is left over?

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