Wave Sheaf

Wave Sheaf

“9 And Avinu spoke to Moshe, saying, 10 Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, When you be come into the land which I give to you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then you shall bring a sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest: 11 And he shall wave the sheaf before Avinu, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. 12 And you shall offer that day when you wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering to Avinu. 13 And the grain offering thereof shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire to Avinu for a sweet smell: and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of an hin. 14 And you shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that you have brought an offering to your Avinu: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.” (Lev 23:9-14)

** A sheaf from the new barley crop was cut and brought to the priest to be waved before the Holiest Place. That AVINU might bless the remaining crop and make it bountiful, healthy and acceptable. Barley is a course grain that is limited in it’s usefulness. Here, it is used to represent Yeshua as “the First of the Firstfruits”. The “coarseness” of the grain represents the attributes of Yeshua that we find in Isaiah 53: 1 – 5 .

When Yeshua was resurrected, He went before Avinu and presented Himself as that First of the Firstfruits offering that his crop,us, might be both bountiful and acceptable in the coming harvest, the Resurrection of the Dead.

Here is how Yeshua fulfilled the “Law of the Wave Sheaf Offering”.

“11 But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Yeshua had lain. 13 Then they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Master, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” 14 Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Yeshua standing there, and did not know that it was Yeshua. 15 Yeshua said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, “Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” 16 Yeshua said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him, “Rabboni!” (which is to say, My Teacher). 17 Yeshua 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 Elohim and your Elohim.’ ” 18 Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Master, and that He had spoken these things to her.” (John 20:11-18)

“19 Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Yeshua came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Master. 21 So Yeshua said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” 22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” 24 Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Yeshua came. 25 The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Master.” So he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.””

“26 And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Yeshua came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!” 27 Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.”” (John 20:19-27)

** Occurring on only one day each year, the day of the wave sheaf offering is not designated a holy day But it is far from minor or obscure in its meaning to salvation. In fact, we could say that, without what it means to our salvation, there would be no salvation! The wave sheaf consisted of an omer of barley, still on the stalk, cut at the beginning of the spring harvest. Since it came from the very beginning of the harvest of the firstfruits, it can be called the first of the firstfruits (Exodus 23:19). A comparison of Exodus 23:14-19; 34:22-26; Leviticus 23:10-11 and Nehemiah 12:44 confirms that each Israelite possessing a harvest was required to give an offering. A priest then lifted or “waved” each sheaf before Avinu for acceptance. However, while the individual Israelite farmers did bring a firstfruits offering to the priests, the standard, recorded practice during the Second Temple period (the time ofMeshiach) was to perform only one official waving of a sheaf by a priest in Jerusalem. This one sheaf and its waving represented all the others brought by individual farmers.

In its setting, the wave sheaf offering represents a thankful acknowledgment to Avinu as the Giver of the harvest, while dedicating or consecrating it to Him. Its waving set the stage for the rest of the harvest to proceed. In fact, the work of harvesting could not begin until the wave sheaf offering occurred.

Though Scripture specifies the day the wave sheaf was to be cut, it gives no specific time of day to cut it. Jewish history from the Second Temple period gives an interesting insight. The second-century Mishnah affirms that, when the Sadducees controlled the Temple, the sickle was put to the grain just as the sun was going down on the weekly Shabbat, Menahot 10:1-4, Jacob Neusner translation, pp. 753-754). The book, Biblical Calendars, states, “The Boethusians [Temple priests] reaped [the firstfruits sheaf] at the going out of the Sabbath” (p. 218. Additional information can be found in the section titled “Temple Service,” p. 280, as well as in The Temple: Its Ministry and Services by Alfred Edersheim, 1994, pp. 203-205). The priests began to make the first cutting right at the end of the Sabbath, continuing over into the first day of the week, when the bulk of the work would be done. The ritual, however, was not complete until the sheaf was offered (waved) before Avinu the following morning, or more precisely, between 9:00 a.m. and noon. Some might object to the reaping of the sheaf in the closing minutes of Shabbat it is a day of rest when no work is to be done. After one understands the full reason for it, as well as Yeshua’s direct statement that a priest is blameless in the performance of his required duties (Matthew 12:5), any objections to the practice disappear.

The spiritual reason is supplied in the New Testament, when a major step in Avinu’s plan begins to unfold. The Old Testament situates the festivals of Avinu within the agricultural harvests, but in the New Testament, these agricultural harvests become types of Avinu’s spiritual harvests of souls into His Kingdom. The New Testament uses this imagery extensively (e.g. John 4:35-36; Matthew 9:36-38).

Another clear reference to a spiritual harvest is the Parable of the Wheat and Tares:

The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat. . . . [The owner said,] “Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, ‘First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.'” (Matthew 13:24-25, 30)

In His explanation of this parable, Yeshua says, “The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. . . . Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” (Matthew 13:39, 43). It is so plain! A harvest symbolizes a resurrection. More specifically and positively, a harvest is a type of a resurrection to eternal life—birth into the Kingdom of Avinu!

The resurrected Yeshua fits into this picture as the archetypical Wave sheaf. He was crucified “in the middle of the week” (Daniel 9:27), a Wednesday, and put into the grave near sunset (John 19:31, 38-42). Mark confirms this: “Now when evening had come, because it was the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath [an annual Sabbath, the first day of Unleavened Bread]” (Mark 15:42). The holy day fell on a Thursday, followed by a second preparation day, then the weekly Sabbath (Luke 23:54-56).

Yeshua explains in Matthew 12:39-40 that the length of time He would be in the tomb is the sign of His Messiahship. Counting three days and three nights from Yeshua’ burial in the tomb on Wednesday evening near sunset brings us to Saturday evening near sunset. As the Sabbath was ending, the Father burst the bonds of Christ’s death by the power of His Holy Spirit and resurrected Him as very Avinu.

He was now prepared to be accepted before the Father. But John 20:1 and John 20:17 show that His ascension did not occur until sometime Sunday morning.The Bible nowhere indicates that the priests understood the ritual they were performing on Saturday evening when Yeshua, the archetypical Wave sheaf, was “harvested” from the material world by being resurrected from the dead. On Sunday morning, as the firstborn of many brethren, He was lifted into and through the heavens to Avinu’s throne to be accepted by Him as the sacrifice for our sins and as our High Priest.

Avinu’s plan had just taken a momentous step toward its completion. The Redeemer of mankind had triumphed and been glorified. “For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to Avinu through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life” (Romans 5:10). Now the payment for our sins had been secured and a sinless and dynamic High Priest installed as our Mediator before the Father. Our salvation had now been assured and death conquered, preparing the way for many to follow.

On the surface, the wave sheaf offering may seem an insignificant event lost in the more visible activities of Pesach and Chagg HaMatza, However, it memorializes the most significant spiritual event that has yet taken place on earth: the resurrection and ascension of our Savior Yeshua HaMeshiach! Thank Avinu that He has given us understanding of it! We can be even more thankful when we understand that it signifies the real beginning of the spiritual work of harvesting human souls, culminating with us being resurrected and changed to spirit as Yeshua’s brothers and sisters at His return!

“1 Now in the end of the Sabbaths, when the first day of weeks began to dawn, Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary came to see the sepulcher, 2 And behold, there was a great earthquake: for the Angel of Avinu descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. 3 And his countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow. 4 And for fear of him, the keepers were astonished, and became as dead men. 5 But the Angel answered, and said to the women, Fear ye not: for I know that ye seek Yeshua which was crucified: 6 He is not here, for he is risen; as he said: come, see the place where the Master was laid, 7 And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead: and behold, he goeth before you into Galilee: there ye shall see him: lo, I have told you. 8 So they departed quickly from the sepulcher, with fear and great joy, and did run to bring his disciples word. 9 And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Yeshua also met them, saying, Avinu save you. And they came, and took him by the feet, and worshipped him.” (Mt 28:1-9)

“1 And when the Sabbath day was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought sweet ointments, that they might come, and anoint him. 2 Therefore early in the morning, the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulcher, when the sun was now risen. 3 And they said one to another, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulcher? 4 And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away (for it was a very great one). 5 So they went into the sepulcher, and saw a young man sitting at the right side, clothed in a long white robe: and they were sore troubled. 6 But he said unto them, Be not so troubled: ye seek Yeshua of Nazareth, which hath been crucified: he is risen, he is not here: behold the place where they put him. 7 But go your way, and tell his disciples, and Peter, that he will go before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you. 8 And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulcher: for they trembled, and were amazed: neither said they anything to any man: for they were afraid. 9 ¶ And when Yeshua was risen again, early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils: 10 And she went and told them that had been with him, which mourned and wept.” (Mr 16:1-10)

“1 Now the first day of the week early in the morning, they came unto the sepulcher, and brought the odors, which they had prepared, and certain women with them. 2 And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulcher, 3 And went in, but found not the body of the Master,Yeshua. 4 And it came to pass, that as they were amazed thereat, behold, two men suddenly stood by them in shining vestures. 5 And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said to them, Why seek ye him that liveth, among the dead? 6 He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you, when he was yet in Galilee, 7 Saying, that the son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again. 8 And they remembered his words,” (Lu 24:1-8)

“ But now is Messiach risen from the dead, and was made the first fruits of them that slept.” (1Co 15:20)

“ But every man in his own order: the first fruits is Messiach, afterward, they that are of Messiach, at his coming shall rise again.” (1Co 15:23)

“ Now brethren, I beseech you (ye know the house of Stephanas, that it is the first fruits of Achaia, and that they have given themselves to minister unto the Saints)” (1Co 16:15)

“ Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be the first fruits of his creatures.” (Jas 1:18)

“These are they, which are not defiled with women: for they are virgins: these follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth: these are bought from men, being the first fruits unto Avinu, and to the Lamb.” (Re 14:4)