Making Lent Linger - Part 2

My alphabet cinquain to the Lord

A Little Background on First Fruits...

adapted from "The Voice of the Lord" 

In the Torah, we are told that on the day after the Sabbath during Pesach (Passover) week there is to be a special observance called Bikkurim (the Feast of First Fruits).  This holy day was to be a time of thanksgiving for the ingathering of the barley harvest, the first grain to ripen in Israel every spring. As part of the Temple ceremony, the priest was to take some of the barley, lift it up, and wave it to the Lord in the sight of all the people (Leviticus 23:9-14).

Firstfruits

9The Lord said to Moses, 10“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. 11He is to wave the sheaf before the Lord so it will be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath. 12On the day you wave the sheaf, you must sacrifice as a burnt offering to the Lord a lamb a year old without defect, 13together with its grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah^a of fine flour mixed with oil—an offering made to the Lord by fire, a pleasing aroma—and its drink offering of a quarter of a hin^b of wine. 14You must not eat any bread, or roasted or new grain, until the very day you bring this offering to your God. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live.

While this ceremony would turn people's attention to the harvest aspect of the festival, Bikkurim was to also have a deeper, spiritual meaning.


This spiritual picture comes into focus when Yeshua tells his disciples that his body will be like the grain of barley that must die in order to produce more fruit. Yet he would also be lifted up in the resurrection and "waved" before the people for all to see. No wonder many in Israel were drawn to Yeshua, the living Redeemer! Yeshua not only died on Passover, but he rose on Bikkurim in perfect fulfillment of the Torah.

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"First Fruits" begins another count, one of 50 days, leading up to the next appointed feast of the Lord...we are counting...this is what we are doing:

1) We have made a "count down" calendar...click here to find a download of what we are using

2) Each day there is a reading from the Scripture -the first readings are from Psalm 119 - one letter of the alphabet each day (and the inspiration to post the artwork of the cinquains)- and after that, I will post what we are reading ☺♪

3) When we have finished the reading, we mark the calendar and place another stalk of wheat in a vase...we began with the stalk of wheat that traveled around the Lenten Calendar with us...

Related posts:
Making Lent Linger

Joining with Jennifer and other creatives at Sneak Peek Friday