Course Content
What significance did the Wave Sheaf Offering have for the Israelites and now for us?
The Wave Sheaf Offering was harvested during the days of Unleavened Bread. In Old Testament times, the priest took a sheaf of the early barley harvest, cut it, and waved it before God for His acceptance. Only then could the harvest season begin. In like manner, Jesus Christ had to be "harvested" first by God the Father before the rest of mankind could be harvested (John 12:24; 17:1, 19; 1 Corinthians 15:21-22).
This was confirmed by Paul: "But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits [i.e., Firstfruit, singular] of those who have fallen asleep [died in the faith]" (1 Corinthians 15:20).
God depicts Himself as the Master Harvester: "Then He said to His disciples, 'The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest'" (Matthew 9:37-38).
The apostle James adds another perspective: "Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until He receives the early and latter rain [the two harvest seasons in Palestine]" (James 5:7).
God's acceptance of the Wave Sheaf Offering—in type (Leviticus 23:10-14) and in reality (John 20:17, 26-27)—allowed Israel's harvest to begin, and more importantly, depicted God's spiritual harvesting of all mankind.
Based on God's orderly design of man's salvation, the resurrection for any other man or woman could not begin earlier, not before Jesus' resurrection and change.
Jerold Aust has served in the ministry for 52 years, as a public speaker for 58 years, a published writer for 38 years, and is employed by UCG’s Media and Communications Services. He is a Senior Writer, interviewer, and editor for Beyond Today Magazine and has taught Speech Communication for UCG’s ministerial online program and the Book of Revelation for ABC.
Jerold holds a BA in theology from Ambassador College, Pasadena (1968), an MA in Communication from California State University, Fullerton (1995), a distance-learning Ph.D (2006), and a Famous Writers School diploma in non-fiction writing (1973). Additionally, he studied post-grad communication at University of Southern California (1995), radio, TV, voice-overs, and Public Relations at Fullerton College (1995-1996), and graduate communication at Wichita State University (1978). Jerold has taught communication at the University of South Alabama (7 years) and ABC (17 years). His published works include, Ronald Reagan’s Rhetoric: Metaphor as Persuasion and EZSpeakers: Public Speaking Made Easy in 7 Steps. Jerold's overarching goal is to share with humankind its incredible destiny!
