“Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest:”
Speak to the Israelites and say to them: when you enter the land I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest. The firstfruits offering is introduced with the future-tense when you enter the land: this festival anticipates the agricultural settled life that the wilderness community has not yet begun. The sheaf of the first grain brought to the priest is the recognition that the harvest belongs first to God. The priest who receives the sheaf presents it before the Lord on behalf of the community. Acts 2:1 records the Spirit falling on the Day of Pentecost — the firstfruits feast that Leviticus 23 establishes is the feast on which the firstfruits of the new covenant community are gathered.
COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS
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