IF GOD WERE CANCELING HIS HOLY DAYS THEN WHY IS POWER GIVEN ON THE FEAST OF FIRST FRUITS ?
Pentecost is the Feast of First Fruits. It is also called Pentecost because in the Greek, it represents a count of fifty. The Israelites were to count seven Sabbaths starting with the Sabbath bracketed within the Days of Unleavened Bread which follow the Passover's seventh Sabbaths. The day after the Sabbath is the wave sheaf offering. It becomes seven Sabbaths plus one day. This becomes forty nine plus one which is fifty.
Leviticus 23:9-16 NKJV 9 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 10 "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: '...and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest. 11 'He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.... forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 15 '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...
If God is canceling His weekly and annual Sabbaths then why empower His church on one of the big three of His Holy Day seasons.
Exodus 23:17-19 NKJV 17 "Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord GOD.... 19 "The first of the firstfruits of your land you shall bring into the house of the LORD your God....
The obvious answer is He is NOT canceling them- He is using them as a guideline to salvation. The first vital piece of truth is that our Messiah Jesus, is the first of the the first fruits. These days are very important to God, so why would he ask His church to ignore them and then start replacing them with worldly, paganized days? Clearly, God would not do such a thing.
JESUS IS MANKIND'S WAVE SHEAF OFFERING
Pentecost is the only Biblical Holy Day that does not have a calendar date. Why? The Feast of First Fruits is tethered to the Passover/Unleavened Bread period. Pentecost is related to the sacrifice of Jesus. Christ paid for our sins and then empowered us to overcome and witness to the world. Our love for Christ will vary with our understanding of the meaning of Days of Unleavened Bread and Pentecost. John the Baptist, one of the greatest prophets of all time, said that Jesus of Nazareth was truly the Lamb of God. The significance of His being our Lamb to cover our sins is vital for all believers to deeply appreciate.
John 1:29 NKJV 29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
He is also the wave sheaf offering to God. The day after the Sabbath when his followers first saw the resurrected Christ, he had not yet fulfilled the wave sheaf offering.
John 20:16-17 NKJV 16 Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to Him, "Rabboni!" (which is to say, Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, "Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, 'I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.'"
Jesus then fulfilled the wave sheaf as the first of the first fruits to God which initiates the countdown to Pentecost. He saves us then he empowers us spiritually on Pentecost.
1 Corinthians 15:19-20 NKJV 19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. 20 But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
True believers are the first fruits to God and Pentecost or feast of first fruits celebrates this wonderful truth. Those chosen first are blessed enormously.
Revelation 20:5-6 NKJV 5 But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.
The first fruits to God are very blessed. Pentecost is about receiving thru repentance the gift of the Holy Spirit and using it properly.
CHRIST'S HOLY DAYS ARE OUR GUIDELINES TO SPIRITUAL GROWTH
Everything God does is for the benefit of his people. This includes his weekly and annual Sabbaths. Christ explains this to the over regulating Pharisees of his day.
Mark 2:25-28 NKJV 25 But He said to them, "Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry,... and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat, except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him?" 27 And He said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.
These Sabbath days are for our benefit and pleasure and growth and you leaders of the people just do not understand with all your petty administration of the laws Jesus explains.
28 "Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath."
Jesus then let us all know that he is in charge of these days. They are his days as the God of the Old Testament and he knows how they should be kept. Paul tells believers to resist those who criticize Biblical Holy Days like Pentecost. The Colossian Church was located in pagan, ascetic areas with pagan philosophies. They had an approach to religion that had a strong component of acetic severity. The pagans had started to pressure God's Church. Pagans would see the festivals of God as a stark contrast to their way of life.
Colossians 2:16-17 NKJV 16 So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, 17 which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.
Ask yourself why would God even mention this to a Church of God unless they were keeping these Holy Days. These days are shadows or guides to God's plan. Col. 2:16-17 clearly shows that gentiles in God's church were being judged because they were keeping the Sabbaths and God's Holy Days. Pagans nor anyone else for that matter, cannot judge something that they have not seen. Gentile Christians were observed keeping biblical Holy Days, foods and the calendar of God.
Col 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. {rudiments: or, elements}
Paul explains that these Holy Days are a guidelines of the future. They are a guide to God's plan of salvation. That is an important revelation and is not a dismissing of the Biblical Holy Days.
God empowered the New Testament Church on one of His Holy Days for three reasons.
- Jesus is our wave sheaf offering and the first of the firstfruits.
- Believers are the blessed, firstfruits to God.
- God's Holy Days are a guideline to the plans of salvation including Pentecost.
