Leviticus 23:9

The Bible says in Leviticus 23:9-13, “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,[10] 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:[11] And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.[12] And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the LORD.[13] And the meat offering thereof shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the LORD for a sweet savour: and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of an hin.” In this offering notice that it says in verse 10, “ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest.” God is involved in everything in your life. Every good thing that you have comes from God. Concerning material things, one way to demonstrate that you recognize that everything you have comes from God is that you use some of your income for His glory. You give back to God what He has given to you. Notice also that a “sheaf” is a very small amount of an entire field of grain. It is not the amount that matters. What matters is that you remember the Lord Jesus in regards to handling your material possessions. Notice also that the priest “shall wave the sheaf before the LORD.” This emphasizes the fact that the offering is for God. God sees. God knows. It is pleasing to God. Most people on the earth take every penny that they have, use it on themselves, and do not think about God. It must be pleasing to God when He sees someone that understands this and remembers the Lord even with a small amount of their material possessions.

Along with the offering of the first fruits, God said in verse 12 that “an he lamb without blemish” should also be offered. This is a reminder that nothing that you give will ever be enough. There needs to be the sacrifice of the innocent one. Our good works are never enough to make us acceptable to God. We must rely upon the sacrifice of the Innocent Lamb of God: Jesus Christ the righteous. It says in Titus 3:5, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.”

The Bible says in Leviticus 23:14, “And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.” This commandment is an emphasis on putting the Lord before material things, even before food. We must have our priorities right. Some people seem to have all the right beliefs, but because their priorities are wrong, they are not spiritually-minded and they do not have a zeal to serve the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Bible says in Leviticus 23:15-21, “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:[16] Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD.[17] 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.[18] 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.[19] 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.[20] 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.[21] 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 forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.” Notice that verse sixteen mentions “fifty” days. That is seven weeks plus the day after, which equals fifty days. Fifty days after the Passover was this next special yearly Sabbath feast, called the Pentecost, which means “fifty.” There were several sacrifices made on the Day of Pentecost. There were seven weeks since the Passover, and verse eighteen says that “seven lambs without blemish” were to be offered. This would be a reminder that the Passover sacrifice was not enough to take away sins. None of the sacrifices were ever enough throughout the centuries that sacrifices were given in the temple. We needed Jesus to come and to be our Passover lamb for sins to be taken away. Jesus was crucified on the Passover, and then Jesus appeared during forty days before the Day of Pentecost after His death and resurrection. But there were no sacrifices required between the Passover when Jesus died and the Day of Pentecost. That is because Jesus had fulfilled the law. Jesus was the last sacrifice. His sacrifice takes away our sins forever. Because Jesus died, all of the free gifts from God are made available to believers. For example, on the Day of Pentecost after Jesus died and arose, there were no requirements for people to perform. There was only a great gift given by God: the gift of the Holy Spirit that is now given to every believer. It says in Acts 2:1-6, “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.[2] And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.[3] And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.[4] And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.[5] And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.[6] Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.”

The Bible says in Leviticus 23:22, “And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest: thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I am the LORD your God.” This requirement has been mentioned before in Leviticus. You do not want to get so caught up in surviving and prospering so that you forget and neglect those that are less prosperous than you. This was God’s welfare system. Every person made sure that some of their harvest had a little left over for “the poor” and “the stranger.”

The Bible says in Leviticus 23:23-25, “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,[24] Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation.[25] Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.” Not much is known about the feast of the blowing of trumpets other than what is said here. It is not referred to again in the scriptures. Some people find other places in the Bible that have trumpets, and they relate this event to such a time such as when the law was given to Moses or at the Second Coming of Christ. It may very well be that the trumpets at the giving of the law is what is referred to, but that is not stated here in Leviticus chapter twenty-three. It is interesting that this Sabbath is called “a memorial” of the blowing of the trumpets. One of the important things in serving the Lord Jesus faithfully is to have a good memory of what the Lord has done for you. If you are a true believer then the Lord has done many things for you. First of all and most importantly, Jesus has saved your soul. That was the blowing of trumpets for sure. A trumpet announces a significant event. Is there anything more significant than being born again? You now have a destiny in heaven for ever and ever. And until you go to heaven, because of Jesus your life on earth has the possibility of reaching its potential of goodness and truth and a good impact on the rest of the world instead of a life of sin and degradation that it would have been. Other events in your life would be as the sounding of trumpets to announce a great blessing: such as, marriage, the gift of one or more children, gifts of the Spirit given to you to serve Christ effectively, open doors of opportunity to serve the Lord Jesus in a ministry for His glory. Do you remember all the things that God has done for you? Do you hear the trumpets that announce the great things God has done for you? In other words do you remember and appreciate the goodness of God in the times that the trumpets have sounded in your heart and life? Remember what you should remember, and you will have a chance to serve Christ faithfully. Forget what you should remember, and you will not serve Christ faithfully.

The Bible says in Leviticus 23:26-32, “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,[27] Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.[28] And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the LORD your God.[29] For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people.[30] And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people.[31] Ye shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.[32] It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath.” The Day of Atonement has to do with the forgiveness of sins. God always provides a means to forgive sins because God loves everyone and wants everyone to go to heaven. But God is also holy and a just Judge. That means that sin must be punished. The way that God can forgive sin and punish sin at the same time is through a sacrifice. The sacrifices of the Old Testament were symbolic of the sacrifices that Christ would be. We no longer need animal sacrifices because Jesus died for our sins. Jesus was the one great sacrifice. His sacrifice was so great that the effects and benefits of His sacrifice last forever. Notice that verse thirty-one says that “Ye shall do no manner of work.” This symbolizes the fact that “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us...” as we are told in Titus 3:5.

Notice also that it says in verse twenty-seven about the Day of Atonement that “ye shall afflict your souls.” This refers to true repentance in the heart and soul of a person when they come to Christ for salvation. Jesus said in Luke 13:3, “Except ye repent, Ye shall all likewise perish.” You must have a change of mind about the direction that you are going in life, turn from sin and turn to Jesus, and truly desire a holy and godly life. Some people who claim to be saved may not be saved. They certainly are not saved if they have not repented. Water baptism will not do it, a shallow profession will not do it, and repeating the words of a prayer that someone gives you to say will not do it. “Except ye repent, Ye shall all likewise perish.”

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