Early Firstfruits is called YomHaBillurim or Sfirat Haomer. “Firstfruit” is meant to refer to “a promise that is to come.” During Early Firstfruits, the firstfruits of the harvest are waved before the Lord. However, they are presented before the Lord in their natural state- omer of barley, wheat, grapes, olives, etc. This is one of the differences between Early Firstfruits and Latter Firstfruits. During Pentecost, the firstfruits are waved before the Lord in their prepared state- two loaves of bread, wine, oil, etc.
In the Old Testament, firstfruits are waved before the Lord to acknowledge that these blessings from the land that He gave Israel come from Him and Him alone. Early firstfruits is a special day, because on that day, we see many miracles occurring over and over throughout redemptive history. No other day except Passover is mentioned as many times in scripture. Here is a list of significant biblical events that happened on Nisan 17, the day of Early Firstfruits:
1) Noah’s Ark lands on Mt. Arat (Gen. 8:4- the seventh month was later changed to the first month).
2) The Hebrews enter Egypt 430 years before their deliverance (Ex. 12:40-41).
3) Moses led the people through the Red Sea (Ex. 3:18; 5:3- this happens 3 days after Passover, thus Nisan 17).
4) Israel enters into the Promised Land and eats its fruit (Josh. 5:10-12- Passover and Unleavened Bread are together, thus the day after the Passover).
5) The cleansing of the temple by Hezekiah (2 Chron. 29)
6) Esther saves the Hebrews from genocide (Esther 3:12; 5:1)
7) The resurrection of Jesus
The Counting of the Omer
The Counting of the Omer takes place during the fifty days between Early Firstfruits and Latter Firstfruits. God commanded his people to count from the day after that Sabbath until the day that the Torah was given. The offering of new barley was brought into the temple on the second day of Passover. The significance of the Omer of barely being brought in is that none of the new produce could be eaten until this was done.
Firstfruits and Omer in the Bible
During the temple times (first and second temple periods), Firstfruits and The Counting of the Omer were carried out as follows:
1) It was to be done the day after the Passover Sabbath.
2) After the harvest was reaped, they were then to bring a sheaf of the firstfruits to the priest.
3) The priest would wave the sheaf before God.
4) Then the counting of the seven weeks commenced.
5) No fruit was to be gathered from newly-planted fruit trees for the first three years, and the firstfruits of the fourth year were to be consecrated to the Lord (Lev. 19:23-25).
The Messianic Fulfillment
I think one of the most interesting things in the Old Testament is that God never told the Jews what the waving of the sheaf symbolized. It is not until we get to the New Testament that we see it symbolized Christ, who is referred to as the “firstfruit.” He is the firstfruit of harvest, in anticipation of the coming harvest of the resurrection of his people from the dead (Matt. 12:38-41; 1 Cor. 15:20; John 12:24). Thus, we see that Firstfruits speak of resurrection. Jesus died on Passover, was buried on Unleavened Bread, and raised on Firstfruits. The ironic thing about this is that on resurrection day, the priest stood before God, and waived the firstfruits, while the people had totally missed the fulfillment of all of this in Christ.
Another interesting correlation is that the Hebrew root of bikkurim (firstfruits) is the same as that of bekhor (firstborn). The firstfruits are dedicated to God because they are the first of everything, including the firstborn of man and animal. Jesus is the “firstborn over all creation” and the “firstborn” of Mary.
In closing, we see that God established all these feast and holidays in the Old Testament as a “type” which was meant to point to a future fulfillment. The future fulfillment of these feast were found in Jesus. God could not have made it any more obvious than having His Son, the Lamb of God, crucified on Passover, buried on Unleavened Bread, and resurrected on Early Firstfruits. Jesus truly is what the scriptures point to and the fulfillment of all the Law and the Prophets.