Chag Ha'Bikkur — 
    The Festival of First Fruits

 

Countdown to Chag Ha'Bikkur
April 12, 2009

Vayikra 23:9-16      9HASHEM spoke to Moses, saying, 10“Speak to the Children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you shall enter the Land that I give you and you reap its harvest, you shall bring an Omer from your first harvest to the Kohen 11He shall wave the Omer before HASHEM to gain favor for you; on the morrow of the rest day the Kohen shall wave it. 12On the day you wave the Omer, you shall perform the service of an unblemished lamb in its first year as an Olah-Offering to HASHEM. 13Its Minchah-Offering shall be two tenth-ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an Eshayah-Offering to   HASHEM, a satisfying aroma; and its libation shall be wine, a quarter-hin. 14You shall not eat bread or roasted kernels or plump kernels until this very day, until you bring the offering of your God; it is an eternal decree for your generations in all your dwelling places.     15You shall count for yourselves — from the morrow of the rest day, from the day when you bring the Omer of the waving — seven weeks, they shall be complete. 16Until the morrow of the seventh week you shall count, fifty days; and you shall offer a new Minchah-Offering to HASHEM.

The 15^th of Abib begins Chag Ha'Matzah, which is a high Sabbath, a sabbaton. It is a seven day feast to HASHEM. During that week there is another feast day called Chag Ha'Bikkur (Feast of First Fruits (Vayikra 23:10-11). The children of Israel could not eat of the first fruit harvest until the high priest waved the wave sheaf offering. This offering of the sheaf of the first fruits commenced at the time of the morning sacrificial lamb offering at about the third hour or 9 am Roman time.

Yochanan 20 17Yeshua 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 God and your God.’”

Once again, let's refer to our timeline...

Wednesday Passover Preparation Day	Abib 14	Chametz is removed from the house this night in preparation for Passover. Yeshua has Passover Seder with Disciples — Yochanan 13:1
		9 am - Yeshua crucified — Mark 15:25 12 pm — Darkness over the earth until the 9th hour — Mark 15:33   3 pm — Yeshua  Dies — Yochanan 15:34 Passover sacrifices begin in the Temple — Sh’mot 12:1-6 Curtain of the Temple torn from top to bottom — Mattit'yahu 27:51 Bodies removed from the cross in preparation for the Sabbaton — Yochanan 19:31 Yeshua  laid to rest in the tomb — Yochanan 19:32
Thursday Chag Ha'Matzah	Abib15	Evening 1 Passover eaten about midnight — Sh’mot 11:4 First Day of Unleavened Bread
		Day 1 Chief Priests request tomb guarded — Mattit'yahu 27:62-66 They are in violation of the Law because this is a High Sabbath.
Friday Rabbinical Feast of First Fruits	Abib 16	Evening 2 Second Day of Unleavened Bread
		Day 2 The Omer or the day after Pesach — bread of the FIRSTFRUITS (Pharisees) Vayikra 23:15 The Omer is offered.    Vayikra 23:14,    Rambam, Temidin U'Musafin 7:2-17 Israelites leave Ramses and journey towards Succoth, for three days.    Sh’mot 12:48-51 Two Miryams prepared spices and perfumes to embalm Yeshua.  Ur 23:56 Preparations Made for Weekly Sabbath
Saturday	Abib 17	Evening 3 Third Day of Unleavened Bread
		Day 3 The Omer — Day 2 Israelites leave Ramses and journey towards Succoth, day two.    Sh’mot 12:48-51 Moses collects Joseph's bones.    Sh’mot 13:19 Resurrection occurs shortly after sunset Resurrection Sabbath. Yeshua rose from the dead, at the end of the third day.   Mattit'yahu 12:48
Sunday Chag Ha'Bikkur Biblical Feast of First Fruits	Abib 18	Eloheim removes Yeshua's grave covering stone.     Mark 16:2-4 Fourth Day of Unleavened Bread
		The Omer — Day 3 (Pharisees) The Omer — Day 1 (Biblical) Pharaoh was informed that the Hebrew slaves had escaped.    Sh’mot 14:5 Israelites journey from Succoth to Etham.     Day 1    Sh’mot 13:20 Women go to the tomb before daybreak Two Miryams come to Yeshua's tomb to embalm Him.    Yochanan 20:1-9 Yeshua tells the women not to touch Him.    Yochanan 20:17 9 am — Priest waves the sheaf of first fruits. Yeshua ascends to the Father to present Himself as the First Fruits from the dead. — Sh'mot 23:10-12; Corinthians Rishon 15:20 Yeshua opens the Scriptures on the road to Emmaus.    Ur 24:13 Yeshua shows himself to ten apostles in the upper room the evening of the first day of the week.    Yochanan 20:19

The most common interpretation (and the one I believe is correct) is that the Sabbath refers to the weekly Sabbath after the first day of Chag Ha'Matzah.  The implication of this interpretation is that Chag Shavu'ot, which falls on the day after the omer count of forty-nine days would always occur on the first day of the week and keeps with the principle that no specific date is assigned to Chag Shavu'ot.  If the first half of the 15^th verse is taken in context with second half of that same verse and all of the 16^th verse, fifty days are counted to the day after the seventh Sabbath after the day after the Sabbath.

I believe that Mattit'yahu, who was a Jew and therefore should know,   offers some insight into solving once and for all the controversy.

Mattit'yahu 28 1Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.

Literally translated from the Greek, this passage reads:

Mattit'yahu 28 1After the Sabbaths,  at the dawning of the first of the Sabbaths, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.

After the Sabbaths refers to the high Sabbath of the first day of unleavened bread and the weekly Sabbath. 
At the dawning of the first of the Sabbaths refers to the beginning of the week of the first Sabbath in the countdown to Chag Shavu'ot.

The theme of the festival of First Fruits is resurrection and salvation. There are several important events that happened on this day in Scripture.

Noach's (Noah) ark rests on Mount Ararat B’reshit 8:4 4And the Ark came to rest in the seventh [month], on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.

Yisra'el crosses the Red Sea Sh’mot 3     18Then they will heed your voice; and you shall come, you and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt; and you shall say to him, ‘HASHEM God of the Hebrews has met with us; and now, please, let us go three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to HASHEM our God.’ Sh’mot 5 3So they said, “The God of the Hebrews happened upon us. Let us now go for a three-day journey into the desert and sacrifice to HASHEM, our God, lest he strike us dead with the plague or the sword.”

Yisra'el eats the first fruits of the Promised Land Y’hoshua 5:10-12 10The Children of Israel encamped at Gilgal and performed the Pesach-offering on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening, in the plains of Jericho. 11They ate from the grain of the land on the day after the Pesach-offering, matzos and roasted grain, on the very day.

The manna that Eloheim gave from Heaven during the days in the wilderness ceased the 16^th day of Abib after the people ate of the old corn of the land. The day following was the 17^th of Abib, the day when the children of Yisra'el ate the first fruits of the Promised Land.

Haman is defeated Ester 3:1-6      1After these things king Ahasuerus promoted Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite and elevated him; he set his seat above all the officers who were with him. 2All the king's servants at the king's gate would bow down and prostrate themselves before Haman, for so had the king commanded concerning him. But Mordechai would not bow and would not prostrate himself. 3So the king's servants who were at the king's gate said to Mordechai, “Why do you disobey the king's command?” 4Now it happened when they said this to him day after day and he did not heed them, they told Haman, to see whether Mordechai's words would prevail; for he had told them that he was a Jew. 5When Haman, himself, saw that Mordechai did not bow down and prostrate himself before him, Haman was filled with wrath. 6However, it seemed contemptible to him to send [his] hand against Mordechai alone, for they had told him of the people of Mordechai. So Haman sought to destroy all the Jews who were throughout the entire kingdom of Ahasuerus — the people of Mordechai.

In the Book of Esther, Haman plotted to murder all the Jews in Persia and Media. Haman had ten sons (Esther 9:12). By this, we can see that Haman is a type of the false messiah (antichrist). A decree was sent out on the 13^th of Abib that all the Jews would be killed (Esther 3:12). Upon hearing this news, Esther proclaims a three-day fast, which would be Abib 14 -16 (Esther 4:16). On the 16^th of Abib, Esther risked her life when she came to King Ahasuerus. The king asked her, in effect, "Tell me, what do you want?" Esther said, “If it please the king, may the king and Haman come this day to the banquet that I have prepared for him” (Esther 5:4 NAS). This was the 16^th of Abib. At the banquet, the king again asked Esther what she wanted, and she asked the king to come to another banquet to be held the next day, the 17^th of Abib. On this day, Haman (a type of the false Messiah or antichrist, as well as of ha'Satan) is hanged.

The resurrection of Yeshua, the Messiah Yochanan 12:24 24Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.  Corinthians Rishon 15:16-20 16For if the dead do not rise, then Messiah is not risen. 17And if Messiah is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! 18Then also those who have fallen asleep in Messiah have perished. 19If in this life only we have hope in Messiah, we are of all men the most pitiable. 20But now Messiah is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

Yeshua celebrated the festival of First Fruits by offering Himself as the first fruits to all future generations Mattit'yahu 27:50-53 50And Yeshua cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. 51Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, 52and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; 53and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.

1. Yeshua is the firstborn of Miryam (Mary)

   Mattit'yahu 1:23-25“Behold, the maiden will become pregnant and bear a son, and she will call his name Immanuel “God.” ” Yesha’yahu 7:14  24Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of HASHEM commanded him and took to him his wife, 25and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name Yeshua.

2. Yeshua is the first-begotten of Eloheim the Father

   Hebrews 1:6 6But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: “Let all the angels of God worship Him.”

3. Yeshua is the firstborn of every creature

   Colossians 1:15 15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

4. Yeshua is the first-begotten from the dead

   Cha’zon 1:5 5and from Yeshua Ha'Mashiach, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood,

5. Yeshua is the firstborn of many brethren

   Romiyim 8:29 29For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.

6. Yeshua is the first fruits of the resurrected ones

   Corinthians Rishon 15:20-23 20But now Messiah is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22For as in Adam all die, even so in Messiah all shall be made alive. 23But each one in his own order: Messiah the firstfruits, afterward those who are Messiah's at His coming.

7. Yeshua is the beginning of the creation of Eloheim

   Cha’zon 3:14 14And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, 'These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God:

8. Yeshua is the pre-eminent One

   Colossians 1:18 18And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.

The festival of the sheaf of the first fruits is prophetic of the resurrection of Yeshua. Yeshua prophesied that He would rise three days and nights after He was slain on the tree.

Mattit'yahu 12:38-40 38Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” 39But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Yonah. 40For as Yonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Ur 24:44-46 44Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moshe and the Prophets and the Tehillim concerning Me.” 45And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. 46Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day,”

This was foreshadowed to happen in the Tanach by type and shadow.

B’reshit 22:1-6      1And it happened after these things that God tested Abraham and said to him “Abraham, ” and he replied, “Here I am.” 2And He said, “Please take you son, your only one, whom you love — Isaac — and go to the land of Moriah; bring him up there as an offering upon one of the mountains which I shall tell you.” 3So Abraham woke up early in the morning and he saddled his donkey; he took his two young men with him and Isaac, his son; he split the wood for the offering, and stood up and went to the place of which God had spoken to him. 4On the third day, Abraham raised his eyes and perceived the place from afar. 5And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here by yourselves with the donkey, while I and the lad will go yonder; we will worship and we will return to you.” 6And Abraham took the wood for the offering, and placed it on Isaac, his son. He took in his hand the fire and the knife, and the two of them went together. Sh’mot 3:18 18They will heed your voice. You and the elders of Israel shall come to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘HASHEM, the God of the Hebrews, happened upon us. And now, please let us go on a three-day journey in the Wilderness, and we shall bring offering to HASHEM , our God.’ Sh’mot 5:3 3So they said, “The God of the Hebrews happened upon us. Let us now go for a three-day journey into the desert and sacrifice to HASHEM, our God, lest he strike us dead with the plague or the sword.” Sh’mot 8:23 23“We will go on a three-day journey in the Wilderness, and bring offerings to HASHEM, our God, as he will tell us.” Ester 4:15-17     15The Ester said to reply to  Mordechai: 16“Go, assemble all the Jews that are to be found in Shushan, and fast for me; do not eat or drink for three days, night or day: An I, with my maids, will fast also. Thus I will come to the king though it is unlawful; and if I perish, I perish.” 17Mordechai then left and did exactly as Ester had commanded him. Yonah 1:7      7Then they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots that we may determine because of whom this calamity is upon us.” So they cast lots and the lot fell on Yonah. Yonah 2:1-3      1HASHEM designated a large fish to swallow Yonah, and Yonah remained in the fish's innards for three days and three nights. 2Yonah prayed to HASHEM, his God, from the fish's innards, and said:  “I called, in my distress to HASHEM, and He answered me; From the belly of the grave I cried out — You heard my voice.

Since Yeshua was slain on the tree on the day of Passover (Pesach), the 14^th of Abib, and He arose from the grave three days and nights after He was slain, Yeshua arose from the grave on the 17^th of Abib, the day of the festival of First Fruits. This day would be the day after the weekly sabbath during the week of Passover.

Mark 16:1-6      1Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him. 2Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. 3And they said among themselves, “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?” 4But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away----for it was very large. 5And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. 6But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Yeshua of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him.”

In fact, Yeshua is called the first fruits of those who rise from the dead.

Corinthians Rishon 15:20-23 20But now Messiah is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22For as in Adam all die, even so in Messiah all shall be made alive. 23But each one in his own order: Messiah the firstfruits, afterward those who are Messiah's at His coming.

It was prophesied that Yeshua, the Messiah, would be buried in the tomb of the rich.

Yesha’yahu 53:9 9He submitted himself to his grave like wicked men; and the wealthy [submitted] to his executions, for committing no crime and with no deceit in his mouth. Mattit'yahu 27:57 57Now when evening had come, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Yeshua. Ur 23:51 51He had not consented to their decision and deed. He was from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who himself was also waiting for the kingdom of God.

In the Book of B’reshit, Yosef (Joseph) the son of Ya'akov ( Jacob), made the children of Yisra'el take a vow that when they went to the Promised Land, they would carry his bones with them.

B’reshit 50:24-26     24Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will surely remember you and bring you up out of this land to the land that He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”      25Then Joseph adjured the children of Israel saying, “When God will indeed remember you, then you must bring my bones up out of here.”    26Joseph died at the age of one hundred and ten years; they embalmed him and he was placed in a coffin in Egypt.

Ramah was a term that represented idolatry. Two countries were called the seat of idolatry in the ancient world: Babylon and Egypt. Yosef, the son of Ya'akov, was also known as Joseph of Ramah. Moshe (Moses) took the bones of Yosef with him when he and the children of Yisra'el journeyed to Succoth.

Sh’mot 13:19-20 19Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had firmly adjured the Children of Israel, saying “God will surely remember you, and you shall bring my bones from here with you.”       20They journeyed from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, at the edge of the Wilderness.

Therefore, Yosef's tomb in Egypt was empty. The empty tomb of Yosef of Arimathea (Ramah), which stood for wickedness, was a fulfillment of Yesha’yahu 53:9.

Yesha’yahu 53:9 9He submitted himself to his grave like wicked men; and the wealthy [submitted] to his executions, for committing no crime and with no deceit in his mouth.

Yosef was a type of the role of Yeshua during His first coming when He came to fulfill the role of the suffering Messiah known as Messiah ben Yosef. The bones of Yosef were carried to Succoth. Succoth is a type of the Messianic age also known as the Millennium. This is also a picture of Yeshua being both Messiah ben Yosef and Messiah ben David — as Yeshua who suffered during His first coming to earth will be King during His second coming to earth.

A sheaf in Scripture is used to typify a person or persons.

B’reshit 37:5-11      5Joseph dreamt a dream which he told to his brothers, and they hated him even more. 6 He said to them, “Hear, if you please, this dream I dreamt: 7Behold! ”        8His brothers said to him, “Would you then reign over us? Would you then dominate us?” And they hated him even more — because of his dreams and because of his talk.       9He dreamt another dream, and related it to his brothers. And he said, “Look, I dreamt another dream: Behold! the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”      10And he related it to his father and to his brothers; his father scolded him, and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamt! Are we to come —I your mother and your brothers — to bow down to you to the ground?” 11So his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.

Yeshua will return to earth during His second coming as King over all the earth. 

Z’kharyah 14:4 4His feet will stand on that day on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives will split open at its middle, east to west, [forming] a very wide valley; half of the mountain will move to the north and half of it to the south.

He also will bring the sheaves (the believers in Yeshua as the Messiah) with Him.

Mizmor 126      1A Song of Ascents. When HASHEM will return the captivity of Zion, we will be like dreamers. 2Then our mouth will be filled with laughter and our tongue with glad song. Then they will declare among the nations, “HASHEM has done greatly with these.” 3HASHEM has greatly with us, we were gladdened. 4O HASHEM, return our captivity like springs in the desert. 5Those who tearfully sow will reap in glad song. 6He who bears the measure of seeds walks along weeping, but will return in exultation, a bearer of his sheaves. Yirme’yahu  31:8-13(9-14)      8(9)With weeping they will come and through supplication I will bring them; I will guide them on streams of water, on a direct path in which they will not stumble; for I have been a father to Israel, and Ephraim is My firstborn.       9(10)Hear the word of HASHEM, O nations, relate it in distant islands, and say ‘The One Who scattered Israel, He shall gather him in and guard him as a shepherd [guards] his flock.’ 10(11)For HASHEM will have redeemed Jacob and delivered him from a hand mightier than he. 11(12)And they will come and sing joyously on the height of Zion; they will stream to HASHEM 's bounty — upon grain, upon wine, upon oil, and upon young sheep and cattle; then their soul shall be like a well-watered garden, and they shall not continue to agonize any more. 12(13)Then the maiden shall rejoice with dance, and young men and old men [will rejoice] together; I shall transform their mourning into joy and I shall comfort them and gladden them from their grief. 13(14)I shall satisfy the desire of the Kohen'im with the fat [of offerings], and My people will be sated with My bounty — the word of HASHEM. Yoel 4:11-13(3:11-13) 11Let all the surrounding nations hurry and come, and let them gather together; there HASHEM will demolish your warriors. 12Let the nations rouse themselves and go up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the nations from all around. Let the nations rouse themselves and go up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the nations from all around.      13‘Extend the sickle, for the harvest has ripened! Come and trample [the grapes], for the winepress is full, the vats have overflowed!’ — for their evil is great. Z’kharyah 14:3-5 3HASHEM will go out and wage war with these nations, as He waged war on the day of battle. 4His feet will stand on that day on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives will split open at its middle, east to west, [forming] a very wide valley; half of the mountain will move to the north and half of it to the south. 5And you will flee to the valley of the mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azal, and you will flee as you fled from the earthquake that was in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah. And HASHEM, My God, will come; all of His Holy Ones will be with you. Mattit'yahu 13:37-39 37He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. 39The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.” Mark 4:26-29 26And He said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, 27and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. 28For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. 29But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.” Hebrews 12:1      1Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, Jude 14 14Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints,” Cha’zon 1:7 7Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.

The 144,000 Jewish witnesses who witness of Yeshua during the Chevlai shel Mashiach, the birth pangs of the Messiah (also known as the tribulation) are first fruits to Eloheim during the tribulation.

Cha’zon 14:1-4      1Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father's name written on their foreheads. 2And I heard a voice from heaven, like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of loud thunder. And I heard the sound of harpists playing their harps. 3They sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures, and the elders; and no one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who were redeemed from the earth. 4These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among men, being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb.

1. The natural is before the spiritual

   Corinthians Rishon 15:46 46However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual.

2. Yisra'el was Eloheim's firstborn
   

   Sh’mot 4:22 22You shall say to Pharaoh, ‘So said HASHEM “My firstborn son is Israel” ’

But, the first will be last and the last will be first.

Mark 10:29-31 29So Yeshua answered and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel's, 30who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time — houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions — and in the age to come, eternal life. 31But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

Therefore, the Goyim became the first to receive the Messiah (as a corporate people; there are many non-Jews who do not).

Yesha’yahu 60:1-3      1Arise! Shine! for your light has arrived, and the glory of  HASHEM shines upon you. 2For, behold, darkness may cover the earth and a thick cloud [may cover] the kingdoms, but upon you HASHEM will shine, and His glory will be seen upon you. 3Nations will walk by your light and kings by the brilliance of your shine.

At the end of this present age, the Jews as a corporate people will accept Yeshua as Messiah as well.

3. The gospel (basar) was preached to the Jew first and then to the non-Jews.

   Romiyim 1:16 16For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Messiah, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. Romiyim 2:9-10 9tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man who does evil, upon the Jew first and also upon the Gentile; 10but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Mattit'yahu 10:5-6 5These twelve Yeshua sent forth and commanded them, saying, “Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not. 6But go rather to the lost sheep of the House of Israel.” Mattit'yahu 15:21-28 21Then Yeshua went thence and departed into the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.” 23But He answered her not a word. And His disciples came and besought Him, saying, “Send her away, for she cries after us.” 24But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the House of Israel.” 25Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord help me.” 26But He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs.” 27And she said, “Truth, Lord; yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table.” 28Then Yeshua answered and said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour. Acts 1:8 8But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

4. We are called to seek first the Kingdom of Eloheim

   Mattit'yahu 6:33 33But seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.

5. Yeshua was alive the first day of the week.

   Mark 16:1-6 1And when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint Him. 2Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. 3And they said among themselves, “Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulcher?” 4But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away----for it was very large.  5And entering into the sepulcher, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were frightened. 6But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Yeshua of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him.”

6. Yeshua was the first to rise from the dead.

   Acts 26:22-23 22“Therefore, having obtained help from God, to this day I stand, witnessing both to small and great, saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moshe said would come -” 23“that the Messiah would suffer, that He would be the first to rise from the dead, and would proclaim light to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.”

7. The early believers were a type of first fruits.

   Ya'akov 1:17-18 17Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. 18Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.

8. Those who arose from the dead with Yeshua during His resurrection became the first fruits of all those who would rise from the dead.

   Mattit'yahu 27:52-53 52And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who slept arose, 53and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many. Ephesians 4:8 8Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men.” Mizmor 68:18 Thessalonians Rishon 4:13-18 13But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. 14For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Yeshua. 15For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. 16For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Messiah will rise first. 17Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18Therefore comfort one another with these words.

9. Yeshua first loved us, and He is to be our first love.

   Yochanan Rishon 4:9 9In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. Cha’zon 2:4 4Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.

10. Yeshua is the aleph (first) and the tav (last)

    Cha’zon 1:8, 11, 17 8“I am the Alef [Alpha] and the Tav [Omega], the Beginning and the End,” says HASHEM, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” 11saying, “I am the Alef [Alpha] and the Tav [Omega], the First and the Last,” and, “What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.” 17And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last.” Cha’zon 2:8 8“And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write, ‘These things says the First and the Last, who was dead, and came to life:’ ”  Cha’zon 22:13  13“I am the Alef [Alpha] and the Tav [Omega], the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.” Yesha’yahu 41:4 4“Who brought about and accomplished [this]? He Who proclaimed the generations from the beginning: HASHEM, am the first and I am He Who will be with the last [generations].’ ”  Yesha’yahu 44:6      6Thus said  HASHEM, the King of Yisra'el, and its Redeemer, HASHEM of Master of Legions: “I am the first and I am the last, and aside from Me there is no God.” Yesha’yahu 48:12     12Listen to Me, O Jacob, and Israel, as he was called by Me: I Am He, I am the First, also I Am the Last.

Copyright © 1998-2009 Yavoh Ministries
Web Author: Azayel ben Hillel
Date Last Changed: Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Email Address: heiscoming@cox.net