Seasons of The Harvest

Jesus Christ, First Of The Firstfruits

• Old Testament Preview
  • "And The Lord [see The Logos and Rock Of Ages] said to Moses, "Say to the people of Israel, When you come into the land which I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest; and he shall wave the sheaf before The Lord, that you may find acceptance; on the morrow after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. And on the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb a year old without blemish as a burnt offering to The Lord." (Leviticus 23:9-12 RSV)

  • "The first of the first fruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of The Lord your God." (Exodus 23:19 RSV)

• New Testament Fulfillment
  • "But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep." (1 Corinthians 15:20 RSV) (see Jesus Christ)

  • "But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at His coming those who belong to Christ." (1 Corinthians 15:23 RSV)

The Firstfruits, The First Resurrection

• Old Testament Preview
  • "For six days you shall eat unleavened bread; and on the seventh day there shall be a solemn assembly to The Lord your God; you shall do no work on it. You shall count seven weeks [i.e. after Passover when the lamb was slain]; begin to count the seven weeks from the time you first put the sickle to the standing grain. Then you shall keep the feast of weeks [i.e. Pentecost] to The Lord your God" (Deuteronomy 16:8-10 RSV)

  • "And you shall observe the feast of weeks, the first fruits of wheat harvest" (Exodus 34:22 RSV)

• New Testament Fulfillment
  • "Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of His creatures." (James 1:18 RSV)

  • "For The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel's call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet The Lord in the air" (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 RSV) (see The Return Of Jesus Christ)

  • "They came to life, and reigned with Christ a thousand years ... This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and they shall reign with Him a thousand years." (Revelation 20:4-6 RSV)

  • "it is these who follow The Lamb wherever He goes; these have been redeemed from mankind as first fruits for God and The Lamb" (Revelation 14:4 RSV)

The Later Harvest

• Old Testament Preview
  • "On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the produce of the land, you shall keep the feast of The Lord seven days; on the first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest. And you shall take on the first day the fruit of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before The Lord your God seven days. You shall keep it as a feast to The Lord seven days in the year; it is a statute for ever throughout your generations; you shall keep it in the seventh month." (Leviticus 23:39-41 RSV)

• New Testament Fulfillment
  • "The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended." (Revelation 20:5 RSV)

  • "for the hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear His voice and come forth, those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment." (John 5:28-29 RSV)

  • "Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it; from His presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Also another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, by what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead in them, and all were judged by what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire; and if any one's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." (Revelation 20:11-15 RSV) (see The Last Day)

Fact Finder: Is there a rightful time for everything?
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8