The Harvest Festival

Brethren, today we're going to have a Bible study. Please feel free to stop and ask questions. It's more of an interactive. So I'm going to be asking some questions. Someday will be rhetorical. If you don't, put your hand up. I'll just keep going on. But the Bible study today is about Pentecost.

And God has set his Holy Day plan around harvests and gathering of fruit. And it is very interesting because harvesting symbolically represents as we harvest plants. God is harvesting lives into the kingdom of God. So it is a very interesting analogy. So today in the Bible study, I want to show you how Pentecost ties in to harvesting. Obviously, it's self-explanatory in a way as we go through it. But it's going to give you a few additional points as we study through it. We're going to go through a few scriptures. And also how it ties to the very first fruit, which is Christ. So we're going to look at that. But as a means of starting into the study, I want to look at God's law. And I want to start by looking at the God's law of the Sabbath. And specifically, I want you to turn with me, please, to Deuteronomy 5, 12 to 15. Am I talking too loud or too soft? Can you all hear me okay at the back there? Is that okay? Deuteronomy 5. That is the second time the Ten Commandments are reiterated. And starting in verse 12, it talks to us about the Sabbath. And it says, observe the Sabbath guy to keep her holy. As the Lord your God commanded you, six days you shall labor and do all your work. So indeed, the commandment is also to work six days. Interesting. You know, it's good to say we've got to work for six days. But the seventh is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work. You know your son, know your daughter, know your male servant, know your female servant, know your ox, know your donkey, know any of your cattle, know your stranger who is within your guides, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you.

So Yah gives a reason of keeping the Sabbath that is directly related not just to us resting, but those that are our servants rest. And then it goes on in verse 15 as a reason to remember the Sabbath.

Now, if you read in Exodus 20 a reason to remember the Sabbath, it points you to creation because in six days God created the various things around us, and man and woman, and on the seventh day he rested. And he says, therefore, remember. But now in Deuteronomy 5 it says, and remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath.

Now, isn't it interesting that in this repetition of the Ten Commandments it emphasizes the Sabbath as a reminder that we were freed from slavery. While in the first time it mentions the Sabbath in Exodus 20 it says as a reminder of creation. Is it two different things? No, it's not. So the question that we have to say, okay, besides creation, what does the Sabbath remind us of?

The rhetorical question from Yah is it should remind us of delivering from slavery, because it says it delivered us with a strong hand. So why? Why does it point to creation in one place, and now it points Yah to delivery from slavery?

And obviously it's just for us to think, but it's because delivering from slavery is essential because it's tied in to salvation. Think about it. Delivery from slavery. What's our slavery? Okay, it's sin. Egypt represents sin.

So delivering from slavery, delivering from sin is essential to salvation.

And isn't salvation a spiritual creation of mankind? So both points to creation, in both examples of the Ten Commandments, the Sabbath points to creation.

But as one point, it points directly to creation in Exodus 20, but in Deuteronomy 5, it points, let's put it indirectly to creation through an indirect statement, because it's pointing to delivery from sin from Egypt, and therefore it's pointing to a spiritual creation.

So the Sabbaths have a special meaning to the plan of salvation, because the physical creation is only one step of the actual creation, because the whole creation was made for the ultimate purpose of the creation of mankind, the sons and daughters of God.

And therefore, the Sabbath points to that.

And he delivered us with a strong hand from Egypt.

Let's look in Exodus 13, when it shows where they were delivered with a strong hand.

Exodus 13.

Verse 8 and 9.

Exodus 13, verses 8 and 9.

When he's telling them about the days of 11 bread and helping them to tell their children, to remind them the reason of the days of 11 bread and the holy days, he says, You shall tell your son in that day, saying, This is done because of what the Lord did, the eternal did, for me when I came up from Egypt.

It shall be a sign to you on your hand, and as a memorial between your eyes, that the Lord's law may be in your mouth, for with a strong hand the Lord has brought you out of Egypt.

And yes, we do know God brought the Israelites out of Egypt with a strong hand. There's no questions about it.

But what about us? Did he deliver us with a strong hand from sin? Now think about that.

And clearly, that's an opportunity for us to count the blessings.

Count the blessings of what he's done for us. How he has delivered us with a strong hand from sin. How did he deliver us?

God delivered us with the heaviest price tag. That is a strong hand, the heaviest price tag to deliver us from sin.

Because he sent us his only son to die for us. God the Father did that.

And so if we look at it at 1 Corinthians 7, there are other examples of this. I'm just looking at 1 Corinthians 7. 1 Corinthians 7, verse 23. 7, 23 says, For you we're bought at a price, do not become slaves of men. We were bought at a price. What is the price that we bought?

We're bought with Christ's own life. And therefore, let's not go back to slavery. Let's not go back to that from submitting to man's ways of doing things. We were taken from slavery. And therefore, Passover, which is one of God's festivals, symbolizes Christ's death and suffering.

It symbolizes that. So, we have God's holy days tying in to the plan of salvation, starting of the Passover, which basically symbolizes Christ's death and suffering.

And so, God set up for us a wonderful means of educating us. How is He educating us? Because we are physical. He is educating us through physical examples.

And what physical example of salvation, of the plan of salvation, which in other words is the plan of creation of children of God, what has He given us? What analogy has He given us?

And so, as you think, obviously, is harvesting and reaping of fruit, gathering of fruit. Why is it such a wonderful example? I'm not a farmer, an agriculturer, so I'm probably not the best person to tell you the wonders of farming, how great an example it is. But, I can look at it and see. For one, as a farmer, as an agriculturer, you have to work hard by preparing the land. You have to work hard by planting the seed. If you don't prepare the land and if you don't plant the seed, you're not going to reap a lot for sure. So you have to do your part. That is a beautiful analogy that the more effort and work you do into it, the more you're going to reap. However, is it a guarantee that if you plant, that you will reap?

No, because God might not give you rainy, new season. God might give you a wonderful crop growing beautifully and at the last moment you could have a tremendous flood that destroys everything. And therefore, God does not bless the final outcome of the crop. You may have oil that you have lovely fruit coming out on your trees and then suddenly, hail and the hail destroys all the fruit and then you really don't have any fruit.

So, yeah, we have a mixture of you having to do your part, but you have to rely on God to do His part.

And therefore, it's a beautiful analogy with so many lessons that you and I can draw from and meditate about. The beauty of harvesting, of planting, of being a farmer and all the growing that we have to do our part and God has to do His.

We'll see that we are in Corinthians. Look at chapter 3 of the first book of Corinthians, the same book we are in. First Corinthians chapter 3 verse 6 to 7.

Yeah, it is Paul talking about problems in the church and then he is saying in verse 6, 3-6, I planted a pollard's watered, but God gave the increase. It's God that gives the increase. What a beautiful analogy through the farming, agriculture, mechanism, example of planting and reaping. It gives us a wonderful example.

So then neither He who plants is anything nor He who waters, but God who gives the increase. There is also an additional example that God uses because there are certain crops that are the early crops, like the barley and certain crops like that that are early crops. And there are other ones, and they really normally are harvested with a sheath and really getting down and getting it from the field. So there is one type of harvesting and then there is the later crops at the end of the summer, which use a different mechanism, like picking up fruit from the trees at the end of summer and all that, which is a different type of harvest, but with a different way of doing it. So there are like two phases of harvesting through the farming agricultural example, that early cropping with certain approaches and then the later ingathering of the fruit. And so it is the early harvest and the ingathering, beautiful examples that God has given us as an analogy of the plan of salvation.

And therefore, He does that. He does give us that example of creation, because the ultimate creation is creation of mankind, as sons and daughters of God, that's the ultimate creation. He reveals that through His Sabbath.

Because the weekly Sabbath, it mainly points to the physical creation, but indirectly already links or ties in to the spiritual creation.

However, the annual Sabbaths are very more detailed and focused to the spiritual creation, and that's why they tied in with the seasons. Let's therefore look in this study a little bit into Leviticus 23, because that's where the Holy Days, the feasts and the Sabbaths, the annual Sabbaths, the Holy Days, are described, Leviticus 23.

We'll start with verse 1.

And the Lord God spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, The feasts of the Eternal, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are my feasts. And it says, so He's actually talking about the festivals, and in fact, as we get through, we can see He talks about festivals, but He also talks about annual Holy Days, annual Sabbaths, two things. They're together, but they are also two separate things. But first He starts with verse 3.

And so therefore, He first starts with the weekly Sabbath. Then, in verse 4, we start with the annual ones. And then we say, These are the feasts of the Eternal, holy convocations, which you shall proclaim at their appointed times. So appointed times, appointed times of the year.

So it clearly says they're annual. And then it says, verse 5, On the fourteenth day of the first month, so it's clearly an annual event, the fourteenth day, first month, a twilight, that means when you get the sunset and the fourteenth day begins, is the Lord's Passover. So it does not say it's a Sabbath, because it does not say that it is a holy convocation, does not say that.

But it does say it is the Lord's Passover. Later on, we can see it is described as one of the feasts, because it says, These are the feasts. So it's described as a festival. On verse 4, it says, These are the feasts. So it is a feast, but it's not a holy convocation. It's not a Sabbath. Now, that immediately following the Passover, and it's not my purpose today to talk about the Passover.

I want to talk about Pentecost, but I'm just building it up and doing a Bible study, starting from here to show you the linkage. And it says, On the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread to the eternal. Seven days, you must eat unleavened bread.

And then in verse 7 and 8, it says, On the first day is a holy convocation, which in other words, it's a Sabbath. And it says, On the seventh day is a holy convocation, it's also a Sabbath. So during the feast of unleavened bread, so the festival is for seven days. But the first day and the last day, as if it's sealing the beginning and the end, like sealing this with one, the beginning and the end, with Sabbaths.

So the second day is a feast. The third day is a feast day. The fourth day is a feast, feast of unleavened bread. It's all of them. But not all of them are Sabbaths. So there is an important difference in feast and Sabbath. But yeah, we have that immediately after the Passover, we have the days of unleavened bread. Which means the Passover makes it possible to have the first Sabbath that follows the fifteenth, because without the Passover, we could not have the other days. In other words, Christ died so that by His death our sons are being paid, and therefore it makes it possible for the Sabbath to immediately start thereafter.

Immediately to start thereafter, immediately the next day. So it makes it possible for the plan of salvation. In a sense, think about this. Just like Christ died, we also need to die to sins. We need to die. Just like Christ died, and He said as an example, we likewise need to die to sins. But we need to do it completely. Therefore, He said as an example, and therefore immediately thereafter, for seven days, representing the days of unleavened bread, we have to exemplify, follow His example of also dying to sins immediately. Immediately thereafter. So, the question, which is rhetorical, but it's in a form of review, what is it that must happen before God's plan of salvation can start?

Christ has to die. Christ has to unlock the door for it to be able to happen. That's the very first step. So the Passover triggers the days of unleavened bread. In other words, they are linked. The question I have now is, is Pentecost also linked to the Passover? Yes, it is, and we're going to see how it is linked. It is linked, because, in fact, all Holy Days are linked to Christ. Christ is the cornerstone, the chief cornerstone, but we're going to see how they are linked. You see, Jesus Christ died on the 14th.

At that year was on a Wednesday. He was buried a little later, approximately, let's say, at sunset. How do we know that? Let's look at Matthew 27, verse 57. I'm going to show you two little scriptures. Matthew 27, 57.

It says, And when evening had come. That was towards the sunset time. The evening was coming. It was that point. There came a rich man from Remethiah, named Joseph, who himself also had become a disciple of Jesus. So it was kind of, even he was coming, and the time was moving along. It wasn't sunset yet, but time was moving along. Then he went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate command, then obviously as you read in other scriptures, he inquired, has he died? So that also takes a few minutes, maybe a little bit of time. Then he says, Then Pilate commanded the body to be given to him. When Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and he laid it in his new tomb, which he had honed out of the rock, and he rolled a large stone against the lord of the tomb and departed. Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary sitting opposite the tomb. So they were there. So it was clearly evening was already in progress. Look at another scripture to back that up, which is in Luke 23.

Look 23 verse 53 and 54.

53 and 54. 53 and 54.

And when he took it down, the body wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a tomb that was honed out of the rock, there was no one where no one had ever lined before. That day was the preparation, and the Sabbath drew near. The Sabbath was drawing very near. If you have different Bible versions, for instance, the Revised Standard Version says, the Sabbath was beginning. And if you have a Dobby version, I usually like to look at the Dobby, because it's more of a literal translation, and it says, the Sabbath twilight was coming on.

So, by the time he was put into the tomb, it was as if the sun was just setting, it was right about that time. So, for practical reasons, let's say it was about 6 p.m. when he was put in the tomb.

Now, when was he resurrected then? You and I know, in Matthew 12, 40, we don't have to turn there, but that was the only sign that they asked, well, a weaker generation wants a sign, and he will be in the tomb for three days and three nights. He will be in the tomb. So, he would be in the tomb from the time he was buried, which is, let's say, as we said, for instance, about 6 p.m. He would be in the tomb for three days and three nights. So, that was Wednesday night through to Thursday night, Thursday night to Friday night, Friday night to Saturday night.

Or, towards sunset of the Sabbath, he then was resurrected. So, let's, as we said, let's say for instance, about 6 p.m. Obviously, I do not know exactly what time it was, but just saying, just for making it easier for us to understand. So, the next morning, when they came to the tomb, he wasn't there, because he had already risen. He wasn't there. And we can read that in Matthew 28. Matthew 28, verse 1 through 6. Matthew 28, 1 through 6. Now, after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, so that's Sunday morning, as we call it today, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.

And, behold, there was a great earthquake for an angel of the Lord, the sander from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door. So, there was an earthquake, a noise, an earthquake when this, when the angel came. His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. And the gods shook for fear of him and became like dead men. They were just shocked.

They kind of became pale. Can you imagine? They really just kind of were shocked. But the angel answered and said to the woman, Don't be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus, who was crucified. He's not here. He's not here. He's already gone. He's not here. For he's risen. Yes, he had risen the previous, let's call it, light afternoon evening, as he said. In other words, as he said, three days and three nights, exactly as he said, come and see the place where the Lord lay, where he was.

So, he wasn't there. But we know that that morning, later in that morning, he had an official duty to perform. Do you remember what was the official duty that Christ had to perform that morning? Turn with me to John, chapter 20. John, chapter 20, verse 17. Then Jesus said to her, Do not cling to me. In other words, don't touch me or don't hold me back or don't delay me, because I've got an appointment. I've got an important function to be present. So, don't hold me back. For I have not yet ascended to my Father, but go to my brethren and say to them, I'm ascending to my Father and your Father and to my God and your God.

He had to perform a special duty to ascend to the Father. Do you remember what that official duty was and symbolic? Symbolized by what in Leviticus? Can you remember? Let's go back onto that.

Leviticus 23. Leviticus 23. Reverend, again, what I'm showing is that Pentecost is tied to Christ's death and resurrection. So, I'm showing you how they tied, how they linked. In other words, how they linked. So, that's what I'm trying to show you. So, you don't get lost in the story flow. So, Leviticus 23, verse 10 and 11, it says, Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land which I gave you and reap its office, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your bawling to the priest.

And ye shall wave the sheaf before the Lord to be accepted on your behalf on the day after the Sabbath. That's the Sabbath during the days of the lemon bread. The priest shall wave it. So, there is this waving of the sheaf. As you study it a little bit more, that waving, quite often normally we think it's a waving like this, but as you study it you find that the sacrifice offering waving was waving it like this, waving it from down to up.

Some say that when he did that he pointed it to the four corners, but others say it was a waving, offering, giving an offering. So you take the offering and you wave it up. In other words, typical of Christ, the sending to the Father. Also, the word for sheaf, wave the sheaf, the actual Hebrew word there is the Alma.

Alma is a measurement. You'll wave the Alma. It's a measurement. A measurement is actually a tenth of an ephah. And what is an ephah? Now I'm getting technical. So I'm going to try and explain it very clearly. Very simple. What it is, is they had different measurements than we have today. Like for instance, today we have quartz and pints and things like that. There are different measurements which were related to things. An ephah was the measure of a man. What do you mean the measure of a man?

Say for instance, you have a bath full of water and you take the line where the water is. Then you're getting the bath and what happens to the line of the water? It goes up. That amount that it goes up is the measure of a man. In other words, an average man. I mean, people are different sizes, etc. But they had like an average man. That's an ephah. In other words, think about the number of cubic sizes of a portion of a man.

Now, Emma is a tenth of an ephah. In other words, think of it as like a tithe of the measure of a man. That's interesting. So that word, sheaf, was an oma which was a tenth of a measure of a man. The other point is, in the good news, June 1975. That's a while ago. But it says, the wave sheaf had been chosen in advance as Christ was.

It was tied in a bundle, symbolizing His captivity. It was cut loose from the ground just at sunset. Just the time at which Christ rose from the dead after three days and three nights in the tomb. The cutting of the grain symbolizes Christ's actual resurrection. So, on Saturday afternoon, sunset, they were waiting for sunset.

And as the sunset they went, and they selected an area they had been selected. And they cut a bundle of this barley at sunset. This cutting symbolized exactly... Imagine how God just thinks at the right time. Isn't it encouraging? The time that Christ was resurrected. Somewhere there about sunset, as we saw. Now, that's interesting because then you read a little bit further, you do a little bit of further research.

In the Mishnah, in Mena Hoth 10.4 says, Then they took that, they portioned with fire, they used it to beat it, they used to beat it with reeds and the stems of the plants, that the grains would not be crushed. So, they burnt a little bit with fire, they beat it, but the grain would not be crushed.

Then they would put it, you put the grain, put it in a mixed, a grist mold, and took there from a tenth, which was siffled through the 13 sieves. So, they had to serve this, and then they put it in oil and frankincense. So, they took this barley after the grain from the barley, and they took a measurement, which is a tenth, a measurement of it, and that measurement, which was served and cleaned and it was beaten, etc.

Then they put a portion in there, which was a tenth, and they mixed it with oil and frankincense. Now, it's interesting that Christ was also beaten, but none of his bones was broken. So, they didn't damage the barley, the grain itself. The oil represents the symbol of the Holy Spirit, and frankincense, Christ's prayers. Frankincense represents, incense represents the prayers. And so, they had this prepared, and then the next morning, as we say, they took it to the priest. And then the priest elevated it at the right time. And during that elevation, it was when Christ ascended to heaven to the Father.

I think it's beautiful. I know it's quite technical. And now I'm going through things that may be... It's interesting, but it's part of a study to show you how Pentecost is actually tied to Christ. And I thought, this will be just interesting things to help you in your study further in your own time.

So, we've seen what was the duty. Now, why this duty of Christ? Why, obviously, Christ had to ascend to the Father, but why this special symbolism? Why? Now, read with me in Leviticus 23 verse 11, which we read it, but maybe we didn't grasp it. It says, it shall wave the sheath, in other words, that elevating motion of that, let's call it a tray, maybe a tray with a tenth of the measurement of man, of that omer, and he waved it before the Lord.

And here's the reason why. To be accepted on your behalf. To be accepted on our behalf. It wasn't so that Christ would be accepted in his behalf. He was accepted, this offering was to be accepted in our behalf. You see, think about the other example, how the fire was broken and we have access to the Father. He was accepted in our behalf so that we have access to the Father. I think it's exciting when we start reading these scriptures, so that we, spiritual Israel, are accepted by God in heaven, in Israel, because Christ, so that to be accepted on our behalf.

And therefore, he has become the first fruit in our behalf. You read in Corinthians 15, verse 20, where it says, he is the first fruit. So, it is on our behalf. So, from that point onwards, think about it. From that point onwards, we've been accepted, right? It says we accept on our behalf. But, we're not yet the first fruits of the Spirit. Because the Spirit had not been given yet. The Spirit was only given, what? Thirty days later, right? And Pentecost. So, let's continue reading in verse 15 through 17 and then 20. And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheath of the way of offering, seven Sabbaths shall be completed, or seven full weeks shall be completed, and count fifty to the day after the seventh Sabbath, after the seventh week.

So, seven weeks, seven days a week, it's forty-nine, till the day afterwards, it's fifty. So, count fifty, Pentecost, count fifty. Then you shall offer a new grain offering to the Lord. Then you shall do another offering, and it says you shall bring from your dwellings two wavelengths of two tenths of an ephah. In other words, it's, again, two tithes of the measurement of a man. Because it's two loaves, one tenth on one and another tenth on the other loaf. You know, that's interesting, you see? And they shall be of fine flour. They shall be baked with leaven. And they are the first fruits to the Lord.

So, you can see, Pentecost is actually linked to Christ because it's fifty days, counting from the wave sheaf, it's fifty days when we are accepted because Christ, on our behalf, made us accepted. And therefore, that was after His resurrection. So, it's actually all tied to Christ. See, that was the point that I was trying to show you how Pentecost is actually tied to the possum over to Christ and to that.

That's the point that I wanted to show you there. So, Christ was accepted in our behalf so that we can be given the Holy Spirit. And fifty days later, we were given the Holy Spirit. Now, the eyes are another interesting point. There is a period, since the days of Unleavened Bread, where we have to die to sin completely for seven days, we have to now bear fruits of repentance for a time period, seven times seven, complete fruits of repentance.

And only then after that is given the Holy Spirit. It's like when you baptize. The minister does not baptize a person, just says, oh well, because I want to be baptized. There's a little bit of determination to see whether the person is really ready. The minister today wants to say, somebody in the street says, well, I want to be baptized. Okay, we'll baptize. Do you believe in Jesus? Yes, okay, we'll baptize. They'll be counting the cost and a few other things to determine whether they are fruits in that area.

Obviously, the minister is not inquisitive about individual sins. That's not what he tries to determine. He's the person keeping the Sabbath, assisted by six things. Other things, then, it's between the person and God, that individual thing. But overall, there is a period of determination of repentance and change before a person is actually baptized and therefore having the laying on of hands, which represents the giving of the God's Holy Spirit. So again, we have that period from the days of Unleavened Bread, which is completely determining that we're going to obey God.

There's a period of completely seven times seven bearing fruit before God gives us the Holy Spirit. So I think it's interesting, it's just part of the study, to look at that. Look at an example in YHWH. We're going to look at John 16, verse 7.

It says the following. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away. It is to your advantage that I go to heaven to the Father. For if I do not go away, the Helper, in what's God's Holy Spirit, will not come to you. But if I depart, I will send him to you. So it is to our advantage. So he had to ascend. He interceded on our behalf. He ascended in our behalf. He made us accepted in our behalf. And therefore, there was a time period of seven times seven of determining, of bearing fruit. And it's like the seed. The seed is in the ground. And it takes time before the seed starts blossoming and coming out, so it can be reaped. So there are fruits of it, the early harvest. So God uses these examples of agriculture, of harvesting, to show the plan of salvation. And it has so many facets, which are so exciting and interesting as we look at it. All right. Let's look at another example I have here, which is two chapters before that, John 14, verse 26. John 14, verse 26, which says, But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name. It's God the Father that sends us in Christ's name, in Christ's authority. Christ has made us acceptable in his behalf. And therefore, it's in his name. And the Holy Spirit will teach you all things. And so God's Spirit teaches us. And through the Holy Spirit, we are learning things. We are learning. And as we learn, as we grow in knowledge, we then have to apply in the right way and grow in grace. So we've got to grow in both ways. So he'll teach us and bring to your remembrance all things that I've said to you. So the Holy Spirit teaches us. And as we know, in Acts chapter 2, verse 1 through 8, says, When the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. Obviously, elsewhere we can determine that this was actually at the temple. And suddenly, they came a sound from heaven as of rushing mighty wind, as it filled the whole house, the house of God, the temple, where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other languages, as the Spirit gave them anteros.

So they start speaking other languages, and people start understanding. And this whole thing, as a visible demonstration of receiving God's Holy Spirit, which basically there is allowing them to communicate with one another, and therefore be able to uplift one another, and therefore the fruit thereof, which is a fruit of God's Spirit, is a fruit of people loving and having grace and being able to communicate with one another. So we can see the Holy Spirit was given on the day of Pentecost. Christ made it possible, and it's clearly tied to Christ's death and resurrection. So we can see Pentecost is clearly tied to the very first fruit, which is Christ. Now let's go back to Leviticus 23. Leviticus 23, where we were. Leviticus 23.

And we read, Yah, on verse 17, And ye shall bring from your dwellings two waves of loaves of two tents of Ephah, and they shall be fine flowers, they shall be baked with leaven, they are the first fruits of the Lord. And some people ask, why two? Why two loaves?

It would be a bit, put it this way, arrogant of me saying, well, he has the answer, because we don't have it clearly in the Bible exactly what is the answer. I will give you some reasons or explanations that people in God's church have put as why two loaves. But we do not know for sure. But a few things we do know. They both have leaven. So they both, they represent the mankind that has been repented of. Interesting is, they both have equal weight. They both are a tithe of an Ephah, which is an omen. They both are equal weight. And they both are first fruits. So that we do know that it does say.

Now, what are some of the examples? Well, I can think of the Bible cut often as examples of duality. So it is possible that the reasons that I'm going to explain to you now, as people have said, as possible reasons, they all might be true because of duality. One of the reasons that we heard people say is pointing to the Old and New Testament. The people in the Old Testament and the people in the New. I would, to support that, I would say, all right, let's look at Ephesians, the second chapter. Ephesians, the second chapter.

Ephesians, the second chapter. Verse 20. It's talking about us, the first fruits, who are being built together for a dwelling place. I beg your pardon. Verse 20. I'm reading verse 22. Verse 20. For having been built on the foundation of the apostles, which is New Testament, and the prophets, which is Old Testament. So we are built on their two foundations. Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone. So basically could mean that we are built on the foundations, the foundation of the first fruits.

The foundational work is from the apostles, the New Testament, and the prophets. So it is a very possible possibility. That's what it could mean. There is another possibility of what it could mean. Turn with me to Revelation chapter 5. Revelation chapter 5. Revelation chapter 5. Just going to break into the thought here. It's talking about the Lamb taking the scroll and being worthy to do that. And in verse 9 and 10 it says, And they sang a new song, saying, You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals for you, as slain, and you have redeemed us to God, you brought us back to God by your blood.

Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, you made us kings and priests to our God. So maybe it could be, and it says, And we shall reign on earth. It could be representing, offering to God the positions that he is going to have of kings and priests. It was church and state, out of every nation. So it could be, and if you read in Revelation 19, when it says, Christ comes, he's the king of kings and lord of lords.

And so, it could be that some people would be kings. If you read the old, the wonderful Walter Morrow booklet that Moustam Strong put out, and it shows in great detail, some people would be kings, and it would be a leg of kings of rulers. And then it shows in another one, will be the church, where it will be educators, and it ties them to educators and teachers, and people providing education to mankind and society. So, it is possible that it would be the offering these two positions of the two pillars of what people could be.

Some people say, no, we will be both kings and priests. You'll have both functions. You'll have a person that will be a king and will be a priest. Others may say, well, maybe not. And you could say, why do you say king of kings and lord of lords? And therefore, we don't know. I'm not going to make a debate or a thing of saying it does not really affect our salvation. It really doesn't affect. It's just an interesting point. Why two loaves?

And could be that is one example. There's a third example that I can think of. Why two loaves? And I want you to turn with me to Galatians II chapter. Galatians II chapter. Galatians II verses 7 and 8. And Yah is Paul describing the gospel. And he says, verse 7 and 8 says, But on the contrary, when they saw that the gospel for the uncircumcision had been committed to me, as the gospel for the circumcised was to Peter.

And so maybe it represents two groups of people that are firstfruits. Some are Gentiles, uncircumcised, and some are Israelites, circumcised, and bringing them together as an offering. So it could be that as well. And that is supported also in Romans 15. Romans 15 verse 16. Romans 15 verse 16. That says that I might be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering of the Gentiles, so there is an offering of the Gentiles, like there is an offering of the Israelites.

So it is possible, says offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit, because it is. It has the Holy Spirit, so it's sanctified by the Holy Spirit. So Gentiles have lived and sanctified by the Holy Spirit, and there's an offering. So whichever one it is, we don't know. Does it matter to our salvation? No. But it is interesting to study and to look and to say, yeah, it could be, but it is also important that we don't get focused on one thing and then cause the vision in the church. That's what we must not do. It could be one or the other.

So it could be in that, as I said, it's a duality. Maybe it's a mixture of them all. They come from the basis of the apostles and the prophets, both the Gentiles and the Israelites, to be to God, kings and priests. So maybe it's the symbolism of them all. We don't know. But I thought the important here is that they represent the first fruits.

So the question I have now is, are we now already the first fruits? Are we now already the first fruits? Turn with me to Romans 8.23. Romans 8.23.

It's a very, very nice chapter, Romans 8, a really lovely chapter about the whole understanding about how God's spirit works with us. And then it's talking about, starting from verse 18, how the whole creation is eagerly waiting for the revelation of the sons of God. And then in verse 23 it says, not only that, but we also, we have the first fruits of the spirit. We have the first fruits of the spirit.

We're not yet sons. We're not yet born as sons of God. So we're not yet the first fruits. But we have the first fruits of the spirit in the direction to become the first fruits when we're born again. But we're not yet born again. Turn with me to James 1.

James 1.17-18. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights. Every good gift, every perfect comes from God the Father. Everything, this whole plan comes from God the Father. Everything comes from God the Father. It is God the Father who we worship above all and he is, he says, with whom there is no variation and no shadow of turning. Verse 18. Of his own will, it was of God the Father's own will. In other words, he made the decision.

He brought us, as we, brought us forth. What does it mean, bring forth? It's like beget. He brought us forth. It's begetting. It begotten us. It begotten us. By the word of truth, through Christ and in the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. We are a kind of first fruits. We're not yet the first fruits. We are the first fruits of the Spirit, but we're not yet the first fruits. Because that remains to be determined whether we remain faithful to the end. And if we remain faithful to the end, then we'll be resurrected and then we'll be the first fruits. And another scripture that supports that is Revelation 14 verse 4. Yeah, it's talking about 144,000 and it says in verse 4, these are the ones who are not defiled with women. In other words, they're not defiled with false religion.

They're clean as far as religion. They are virgins. They are absolutely clean. There is no false belief in them. They've been cleansed completely. They are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. Who follows the Lamb wherever he goes? Who follows you as a husband wherever you go? It's your wife. The wife, wherever you go, follows. Okay, not literally all the time, but wherever you go, she is basically with you. So, whatever Christ goes, the Lamb, the wife will follow him. These were redeemed from among men. Yes, they were redeemed. They were brought back.

Being first fruits to God and to the Lamb. They are now first fruits because they resurrected. They are the first fruits.

So, we're not yet the first fruits, but we are the first fruits of the Spirit. We are a kind of first fruits, but we'll be the first fruits if we remain faithful till the end.

And so, that's the symbolism of those two, the first fruits, which basically point also, now link to the other holy days further down, which is the resurrection. Not yet. But now, already linking. But they are the first fruits of the Spirit because it's the spread mixed with leaven and representing the first fruits of the Spirit being presented to God, pointing already to a time in the future, of course.

So, now we have a beautiful analogy that ties to the harvest. Ties brings in the plan of salvation and the first component being the harvesting of grain. Not of fruit coming off the trees. That's not, in other words, the end gathering, but it's the early harvest, that early harvest of grain. So, it is a beautiful analogy. And now we have the Holy Spirit. So, what should the Holy Spirit do in us? And really, that's the important part, which really we've got to work on. Because it says God gives us the growth.

So, the Holy Spirit in us is working in us to help us grow. And turn with me to Acts 1.8. When Christ prophesied about giving of the Spirit, Acts 1.8, and he says what the Spirit will do. Acts 1.8. And he says that, but you shall receive the power, you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. In other words, God's Holy Spirit is power coming upon us. Power to what? Power to change. Power to overcome. It's that energy, that power, that peace of mind, that Spirit that bears all those lovely nine fruits, or nine components of the fruit. Turn with me to Galatians 5. Galatians 5, verses 22 and 23. Galatians 5, 22-23.

It says, but the fruit of the Holy Spirit, 5, 22, 23. The fruit of the Holy Spirit is these nine components.

It's got all of them. It's not just love, or it's just not self-control, but it's got love and self-control. So it's got love, joy, and peace. Those are more outward-type characteristics. Then it's got long-suffering, which is patience, being very patient, kindness, being kind with people, and the third one, translated, should actually be nikness, which is teachability. When you deal with people, teachability, humility and teachability. So it's patience, being kind, and teachable and humble. So those are kind of dealing with people, interfacing with people. And then, the last three characteristics, which is faithfulness. That's the one where there's faithfulness, nikness. That's where it should be, nikness. The one with long-suffering kindness and goodness. And then, faithfulness, nikness and self-control, which are characteristics internally in us. We are faithful, we are nik, we are teachable, and we have self-control. So those are the nine characteristics of God's Spirit.

The fruit of the Spirit has these. Now, as we exercise these, we bear fruit. We bear fruits. We bear end results. We have outcomes and end results. We bear a lot of fruits as we work with people. But these are the characteristics that God's Spirit has. We've got to have love, we've got to have joy, we've got to have peace of mind, peace with people. We have to be long-suffering, we have to be kind, we have to be good, we have to be faithful and loyal and faithful to the end. We have to be humble and teachable. We have to have self-control. So those are the characteristics of the Holy Spirit. Against such, there is no law.

And then, when Paul was explaining to Timothy a little bit more about the Spirit, 2 Timothy, chapter 1 verse 7, also the scripture that we've read many times, in fact, starting from verse 6, therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of hands. In the words of the baptism, we receive the gift of God through the laying on of hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of outcome and concern, of love, and of a sound mind. We just have that soundness not exaggerating in different things.

So, God's plan of salvation, which is basically spiritual creation, is revealed through the Sabbaths and the Holy Days. The weekly Sabbath mainly points to the creation, but it starts linking to the spiritual. But the annual Sabbaths clearly point to the spiritual creation.

Today we saw how various meanings and things link in to Pentecost, and linking to the Passover, and that first part of the early harvest. We saw that, and we saw how it ties into the first fruits, how we are the kind of first fruits, we are the first fruits of the Holy Spirit. And therefore we have to grow, we have to be a fruit, we have to exhibit that fruit of the Holy Spirit. And ultimately, it shows that we all, Christ will bring us all together, and ultimately He will then take us and give us and hand us to the Father. We will then, the Father will be all and all through the Father. So, we thank God for this wonderful, wonderful example. Now, if you have any questions, or want to talk a little bit more, I hope I've generated some thoughts of things that are encouraging, uplifting through this Bible study. But, in a way, in a form of conclusion, I'll just say, the first fruits, we are the first fruits. Just like Christ was the first fruit. Think about it. Like, Christ was the first fruit. And He states as an example that we can live that way because He gave us an example. We, as the first fruits, likewise, have to be an example to mankind that mankind, later on, can follow the way. So, it's not just people say, oh well, but that was God. But we, as the first fruits, will set an example, will pave the way to mankind in the world tomorrow for them to be converted. I really hope that this brought you some new thoughts and new inspiration about the exciting significance of Pentecost.