"These I will bring to My holy mountain
and give them joy in My house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will
be accepted on my altar; for My house will
be called a house of prayer for all nations."
The Sovereign LORD declares--
he who gathers the exiles of Israel:
"I will gather still others to them
besides those already gathered."
Isaiah 56:7-8
Whether the gathering is of Jews, non-Jews, or a combination, the Lord performs significant events when He gathers His flock. Here I examine specific gatherings in the scriptures which are followed by a movement of the Lord. Three are original events represented by the menorah lamps on the left of center and are from the Old Testament, or Tenack. The three on the right represent feasts which the Lord ordained in the early days of Moses. The middle lamp, the menorah center, represents the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, our salvation.
I believe the second half of this menorah reveals a beautiful blessed message of God's redemptive plan for His people. The ordained feasts of Passover, Pentecost, and the Feast of the Tabernacles are commandments to assemble before the Lord. When His people come to His altar in one accord and receive His redemption, when they accept His covenant, He will dwell amongst them as Jehovah-Shammah, "The Lord is There".
"And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD. Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD. And ye shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year, and one young bullock, and two rams: they shall be for a burnt offering unto the LORD, with their meat offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of sweet savour unto the LORD. Then ye shall sacrifice one kid of the goats for a sin offering, and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offerings. And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits for a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs: they shall be holy to the LORD for the priest.
And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be an holy convocation unto you: ye shall do no servile work therein: it shall be a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations." (Leviticus 23:15-21)
The second ordained feast is The Feast of Weeks, Shavuot, celebrated fifty days after the waving of the omer. Once again, there is a pilgrimage to Jerusalem where offerings are presented to the Lord. At the time of the temple, this was a grand event within the land with masses presenting their harvest. It was a joyous time with much celebration and singing. Imagine the excitement in the air as thousands gathered to praise and thank the Lord for the bounty of their harvest! Baskets overflowing with barely, wheat, vines, figs, pomegranates, olive oil and honey, all adorned with live pigeons, being raised towards Heaven. The priest waving the offerings first forward, then backward, up and down, all the people of one accord united before their Jehovah-Jireh, "The Lord who Provides". "And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land, which thou, O LORD, hast given me. And thou shalt set it before the LORD thy God, and worship before the LORD thy God: And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the LORD thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that is among you." (Deuteronomy 26:10-11)
The waving of the omer occurred at the conclusion of the Passover feast. Christ's resurrection, therefore fulfilled both the sacrament of the Passover Lamb and the First Fruit offering. The First Fruit represents new life, resurrection, and life from the dead. Scripture makes reference to Israel, Christ, His believers as being the First Fruits. "Israel was holiness unto the LORD, and the firstfruits of his increase:" (Jeremiah 2:3a); "But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at His coming." (1 Corinthians 15:23); and "Of His own will begat He us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures." (James 1:18)
Pentecost is also celebrated as the season for the appointing of the Law at Mount Sinai. The Jews gathered for Pentecost would have known the oral history of God speaking the Law, it being heard in all the languages of the world. The Torah, or Law, was offered to all the nations of the world. It was only the nation of Israel that chose to accept it. Moses gave the command to "Assemble the people--men, women and children, and the aliens living in your towns--so they can listen and learn to fear the LORD your God and follow carefully all the words of this law." (Deuteronomy 31:12)
It was after His resurrection that Christ instructed the apostles to wait in Jerusalem for "the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about... But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you;" (Acts 1:4, 8) God used the occasion of this beloved feast when "all with one accord continued stedfastly in prayer" (Acts 1:14), to usher in the spirit of the Lord, it descending on the gathered peoples. Just as the languages of the masses were spoken at Mt. Sinai, so too were the people from "all of Gailiee" able to "hear their own languages being spoken by the believers." (Acts 2:6)
What a mighty collection of acts the Lord delivered at Pentecost. "Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them." (Acts 2:2-4) This was reminiscent of the receiving of the law when, "On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the LORD descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently, and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder. Then Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him." (Exodus 19:16-19) Both gatherings experienced the message of God's word in multiple languages as well as the outpouring of fire and flame.
The Lord had commanded in Leviticus 23:16-20 "Count off fifty days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath, and then present an offering of new grain to the LORD. From wherever you live, bring two loaves made of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour, baked with yeast, as a wave offering of firstfruits to the LORD. 18b an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the LORD. 20a The priest is to wave the two lambs before the LORD as a wave offering, together with the bread of the firstfruits."
Pentecost ushered in the Law. Pentecost required the first fruit offering. Pentecost witnessed the resurrection of Christ. Pentecost brought the thundering of fiery multi lingual tongues. It presented the two loaves, offered as one, representing the unity of the Jew and Gentile at the formation of the church. It fulfilled the promise, "But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: " (Acts 2:16-17a) It happened at Pentecost that the Spirit was indeed poured out, "but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies." (Romans 8:23)
The Apostle Paul assures the people, "If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches." (Romans 11:16) The one accord experienced at Pentecost did not include the entire nation of Israel. Paul goes on to say, "I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: "The deliverer will come from Zion; He will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins." As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God's gifts and His call are irrevocable. Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God's mercy to you." (Romans 11:25-31) A time will come that the two loaves are one. Jew and Gentile will unite and bring their First Fruits before the Lord with unity and one accord. "Now the God of patience and of comfort grant you to be of the same mind one with another according to Christ Jesus: that with one accord ye may with one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." (Romans 15:5-6)
The Feast of Weeks, counted down 50 days from the Feast of First Fruits, begins on May 19, 2010 in Israel. May we join in the celebration of the harvest by participating as well as receiving the blessings promised in Proverbs 3:9-10. "Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine."
Accept the admonition from Paul found in Philippians 2:1-4 "If there is therefore any exhortation in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any tender mercies and compassions, make full my joy, that ye be of the same mind, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind; doing nothing through faction or through vainglory, but in lowliness of mind each counting other better than himself; not looking each of you to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others."
May we be of one accord, watchful and expectant for the movement of the Lord! Remember the ordained feasts of the Lord. Remember who was the First Fruit. Remember His spirit sent as a First Fruit. Be unto Him a First Fruit ye redeemed of the Lord!
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