Each year there are two feasts that last 7 days; this one in the spring, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and the Feast of Tabernacles in the fall. Now, if you are like me you plan for the second one and anticipate it more than this one. That’s natural because we spend a fair amount of money and time planning the activities of the Feast of Tabernacles whereas for this feast we spend a fair amount of time and energy cleaning before this one. What’s more, this is the time of year that people we work with or go to school with really think were bonkers when we refuse to eat anything with leaven for a whole week. I remember vividly the anxiety I had as a kid when I would have to go to school with matzo sandwiches that all the other kids looked at and thought I was from another planet.

As we were new to the church it never dawned on us that we could try to make the spring festivals special as we do the fall festivals. Special meals or activities that would cement the themes of these days and the lessons they teach. It is part of the Heritage that we have been called into as members of God’s family to rejoice and grow throughout the entire festival season. When someone asks me about my religion I usually reply that I am a Christian that observes the Sabbath and Holy Days from the bible. Now, that often raises an eyebrow when I make it known that I don’t keep the Holidays but the Holy Days. They think I am some kind of zealot because most religions have days they celebrate but would never say of themselves, “I am a Christian that keeps Christmas and Easter”. The fact that we often bring that up sounds strange to many who hear it so you might ask yourself, “Why do we share that information?” We do because it is part of our identity.

We could keep it hidden and downplay who we are and not to stress those things that make us unique like our understanding of the Kingdom of God. But if we did we would become like a group of God’s people that did that once before. Today they are known as the Lost 10 Tribes of Israel. They turned their back on the Sabbath and Holy Days and were lost to history. We want to embrace who we are. We are members of God’s family that has been given Festivals by God. But why are these festivals important? Simply put, they contain a mystery that is unknown to the rest of world. The mystery is the plan of God for mankind. It is the very meaning of life. This the world does not know. Each year we gather for the Spring Holy days and worship together. These days are so full of symbolism and meaning that it is not possible to cover all the elements in messages prepared on these days.

Each year we look at the tremendous meaning and pull out aspects to focus on. As these days picture so much I would like to go back to the Old Testament and take a look at an aspect of the Days of Unleavened Bread that does not get talked about all that often but has so much to do with tying the meaning of the Festival Days together. It’s the Wave sheaf offering. But before we dig down into this topic we need to cover some background first. We are so blessed to know the plan of God. The Church of God has been teaching this plan as God has revealed it and many have had their eyes opened by God so they can understand this magnificent plan; a plan that will give everyone the chance to one day know what we know. But we have to walk that road as an example to others so they can trust it is possible for them. And If we, the weak of the world can walk that walk, then the strong will have no trouble pulling it off. Each of the festival days paints a different part of the whole plan of God.

They start with the weekly Sabbath and end on the Last Great Day that we celebrate each year. If we fail to keep these days we lose the meaning of them and thus lose the plan of God. That is why it is so important to practice these days each year and to study the immense meaning these days contain. It’s a wonderful gift. Now I use the term festival days and not just Holy Days because Passover, for one, is not a Holy day but it is so vitally important to the plan of God. If I was to speak of only the Holy Days, then I would have to leave out Passover, and where would we be without Passover? No Lamb of God, slain for the sins of the world. No King to replace the God of this world. Without the meaning of Passover there would be no need of Holy Days. Think of the churches of this world. They do not keep the Holy Days. They do keep Easter though, and in that is shares many of the themes of Passover; they know the role Jesus Christ plays as Savior of mankind. But how, in their understanding, does God save the world?

We do have to accept Jesus Christ but what about those that live their whole life and never do this? At what about those who are Christian in name only? Without whole plan, it gets pretty bleak for the rest of the world. God calls, but we answer, and we know when and how that calling is going to go out to the whole world. We keep God’s festival days and each of these days picture a different aspect of His plan to save mankind. Just as the weekly Sabbath is a mini model of this plan that shows that there is a time for man to look after his needs, there is also a completion of that week where we are reunited with God.

We understand this, but this is not by accident. God has to open our eyes to see the mystery that is hidden to the rest of the world. Have you ever thought about the fact that you understand the biggest mystery of all time? The meaning of life; Yes, we do know why we are here. (The two Adams) 1 Corinthians 15:45-52 45 And so it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. 49 And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man. 50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. 51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed -- 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. What we have here is the mystery of the Plan of God that answers so many questions this world struggles with every day.

So how do you sum up the plan of God as told by the Holy days and more importantly, how does the Wave Sheaf offering tie them together? To best see how the Festivals fit together we need to see them as one unit. There are clues all through each of the days that bind them together. Once our minds are opened by God then you only have to look for them. Although they are split between Spring and Fall, there is a tie that binds them together and the wave sheaf plays a significant part. What binds them all together is the idea of the Harvest. The title for the Sermon today is The Tale of Two Harvests You can look at all the festivals together as the Tale of two harvests. One in the spring, the other in the Fall. Exodus 23:15-16 15 "You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread (you shall eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt; none shall appear before Me empty); 16 "and the Feast of Harvest, the firstfruits of your labors which you have sown in the field; and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you have gathered in the fruit of your labors from the field.

Now this word Abib is our first clue. In many places we read that Abib was the first month of the sacred year whereas in other places we see that Nisan was the first month. The ISBE (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia) says of it, abib means young ear of barley or other grain. - Abib is not properly a name of a month, but part of a descriptive phrase, the month of young ears of grain. " We also know that the sacred year that the festivals are timed around is based on the harvest because the first month of the year could not be determined until the barley harvest. At the End of the Agricultural cycle, after the fall harvest, there is a new planning of winter grain among them Wheat and Barley. It only partially grows until winter sets in and then it waits until spring to continue on. When it ripens they then use that event to calculate the first month at the next new moon. The Calendar is calculated from and for the Harvest season. Now as we sit in services to lean about this plan and how it relates to our calling we often only look at the day we are presently keeping. Each day represents so much as we know it is difficult to look at all them together. That is why I went through this rather long introduction.

Because today I am going to cover the Wave sheaf offering from the Old Testament and how it applies to us today and the whole world as the harvest pictured in His plan. But in doing so I will also show how it connects the other days in God’s plan together. It is here where the beauty of what God creates is unmatched by human hands. When God creates a plan to save mankind, it is big. But it is all connected together and in harmony. God is the master architect of salvation and as we piece this mystery together we will see some of that detail. But I simply cannot cover all of it in one message. And what’s more important, it is better to learn these through our personal study. I have been working on this message for the last few months. And as amazed as I am with how it all fits together. After I am away from it for a week or so I begin to forget. That is why we cannot just get what we need from a sermon. It should point us in the right direction but we need to study the symbols and their meaning to get the best understanding of His will for us. As we keep these days of Unleavened bread we often focus on our part in the plan of God.

The removing of our sin and replacing it with the life and mission of Jesus Christ our savior. We think about the hidden sin in our lives, the parts we never think about that lay dormant and often go unnoticed. As we remember back the pre-Passover time where we examined ourselves in preparation, we begin to shine a light on these areas of our lives that God has taught us no longer have a home. We ask Him for help in removing these sins and we pledge to fill the void with the good works of the spirit. To follow Christ and allow Him to live in us to help us create a new spiritual life that will replace this physical life. During the ancient ceremony of the Wave sheaf offering was something else. Our second clue comes from Leviticus 23: Let’s pick up the story in verse 1. Leviticus 23:1-8 NKJ And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'The feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts. 3 ' Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation.

You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings. Notice here that in a discussion about the feasts of the LORD, we find the Sabbath mentioned first. It is no coincidence that the Sabbath is here and that it is first as the Sabbath is a mini-model of what all the festivals teach. 4 ' These are the feasts of the LORD, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times. 5 'On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the LORD's Passover. 6 'And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD; seven days you must eat unleavened bread. 7 'On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it. 8 'But you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD for seven days. The seventh day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it.' " So what would you expect to be talked about next? Pentecost right? But here is another clue… Notice here how quickly God goes through these days. We do not learn everything we need to know about the Sabbath, Passover, or Days of unleavened bread because they are being summarized here.

So it stands out as odd that this next passage will take up so much space here with quite a bit of detail that does not directly talk about Pentecost. It is easy to read through this and not notice it. Verses 1-8 the Sabbath, the Passover and Days of unleavened bread. What we are about to read stretches the next 15 verses to cover the Wave Sheaf and then Pentecost. That’s nearly double the verses here and two third the length of scriptures used to talk about all the fall Holy Days. So this is very significant amount of real-estate given to this ceremony. So as we begin verse 9 of Leviticus 23, let’s keep this in mind. Leviticus 23:9-17 NKJ And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 10 "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest.

So the first thing we will want to notice here it was not a command that took place immediately. In fact, they would wait 40 years to keep this as they wandered throughout the wilderness. But the command was there non-the-less that when they reached their destination, when they had crops that they would reap, then, this would take place. Continuing on to verse 11 'He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. 12 'And you shall offer on that day, when you wave the sheaf, a male lamb of the first year, without blemish, as a burnt offering to the LORD. 13 'Its grain offering shall be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to the LORD, for a sweet aroma; and its drink offering shall be of wine, one-fourth of a hin. 14 'You shall eat neither bread nor parched grain nor fresh grain until the same day that you have brought an offering to your God; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. At first glance it appears that the wave sheaf is part of the Pentecost Celebration and that this is a long section talking about the next Festival. But let’s look at the chronology of the next verse. Continuing on to verse 15 ' And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. 16 'Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the LORD. So we see that the 50 days of counting are between the Wave sheaf offering and the day of another offering of New Grain. This would be of the wheat harvest.

The Wave sheaf offering was done the day after the Sabbath during the Feast of unleavened bread. On Saturday Evening, after sundown, the start of the first day of the week, they would make their first cutting of the Barley and then the next day they would perform the Wave sheaf ceremony. The Priest would wave it before the Lord for a wave offering on behalf of the people. This ceremony is then linked to Pentecost where 50 days later another offering is made of two loaves of the wheat that is harvested and made with leaven. Some believe the Sabbath mentioned inverse 15 refers to the first day of unleavened bread. But if that were true then two things would not happen. First, there would be no need to count the days between Unleavened bread and Pentecost.

We see that the Unleavened bread was the 15 day of the first month, then the day of Pentecost would also be a date on a calendar instead of a calculated day and would not fall on Sunday each year. The second reason is the linking of these two festivals together. They are linked as we will see in verse 17. On the Day of Pentecost there is another offering. 17 'You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are the firstfruits to the LORD. The Wave Sheaf starts of cycle that concludes with Pentecost and is all about the first fruits. But if Pentecost represents the first fruits, then why is the wave sheaf ceremony performed during the Days of Unleavened bread? We find our third clue in the wave sheaf ceremony itself where we read in verse 12 the sacrifice of a Lamb with Unleavened bread and wine. The whole ceremony was to show first of all that all in increase of the people were because of God, but secondly, the symbols of a Lamb, bread and Wine cannot escape notice.

They are the symbols of the Passover. These sacrifices were done during unleavened bread and used as a starting point to count to Pentecost; always on the Day after the weekly Sabbath landing on the same day 50 days later of the First fruits theme. 1 Corinthians 15 lays out the whole plan of Salvation starting with the Death and resurrection of the first of the first fruits, leading into the resurrection of the rest of the first fruits (the saints), and then to the completion of God’s plan. 1 Corinthians 15:20-23 20 But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. 23 But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's at His coming. So we know that Christ is the first born of many brethren and thus the first of the first fruits. When did Christ die? Not Pentecost, not Unleavened bread, but Passover. Our harvest is represented by Pentecost but Christ by Passover. Each are part of the same Harvest. Christ being first and then comes us. But In the Days of Unleavened bread of the Wave Sheaf that link them together.

Now, Ancient Isreal did not understand this in their time. Not that there wasn’t important meaning to the days they kept. After all, Passover in the Old Testament still had a salvation theme. Unleavened bread has a similar meaning today. Let’s read about the Wave sheaf offering in more depth. Leviticus 23:11-13 NKJ 'He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. 12 'And you shall offer on that day, when you wave the sheaf, a male lamb of the first year, without blemish, as a burnt offering to the LORD. 13 'Its grain offering shall be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to the LORD, for a sweet aroma; and its drink offering shall be of wine, one-fourth of a hin There are just so many clues here to examine. One is the Day after the Sabbath during Unleavened bread. We will get back to that one The next is the offering of a lamb without blemish.

We rightfully look at Christ as the Passover Lamb but here we see that same symbolism here in this ceremony with a few other familiar symbols. The Bread and Wine. The Grain offering is just a recipe for unleavened bread that is cooked in the fire for a sweet aroma. And there is wine as part of this too. Here we see the New Testament Passover being symbolized here in this ceremony. Now when the Priest offered the first of the Barley as part of this ceremony, Israel saw it as a way to offer the first of the harvest to God and to recognize Him as the source of Life in the crops the grew. Today we see so much more of the mystery. It represents the Offering of Christ as our Passover and then the 50 day countdown till the Pentecost when we would join Christ as members of the first fruits. That is why we need to always connect these days together because they are linked by God, Linked by the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and linked by the common harvest that they belong to. All of the spring festivals make up the first of the Two Harvests in the Plan of God. The Second Harvest is clear in scripture as we keep the fall feasts. God will reap a huge harvest of humanity as His plan is made known finally to them. But it is often easy to forget this as we keep the many intricate details of the spring festival seasons; so much self-reflection, cleaning, and ceremony that it is easy to mistake the forest for the trees. It is all about the tale of two harvests.

We are working to be members of that first harvest so we can help Jesus Christ with reaping the great harvest yet to come. But there are more Clues to this mystery that links the Old Testament to the new. When Christ Died on Passover he was taken off the Cross before sundown marking the first day of Unleavened Bread. Passover that year was on a Wednesday. Christ kept the Passover on the night before as we do now. So Tuesday Evening after sundown. Late that evening, after dinner He was arrested and tormented that night and into the next day Wednesday where he was tried, scourged and then crucified. He was taken from the Cross before the High Day that started Wednesday at sunset and ran through Thursday. Friday was the day they purchased the items to anoint the body and then came the weekly Sabbath. The Sabbath during the Days of unleavened bread. Late that Sabbath afternoon Christ was resurrected. This was exactly three days and three nights that he was in the tomb. Turn over the book of John 20.

Now if you read each of the accounts in Mathew, Mark, Luke and John you get part of the story in each book. But remember that the Gospel of John was written much later than the other Gospels and because of this John had the benefit of filling in key details that were omitted in other Gospels. We know that they approached the tomb, found that Jesus was not there, that Angels talked to them but in John we see this important clue. While the others were in the tomb Mary Magdalene stayed outside and wept thinking that someone stole the body. John 20:15-17 15 Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?" She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, "Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away." 16 Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to Him, "Rabboni!" (which is to say, Teacher). 17 Jesus 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.' " Expositor's Bible Commentary, The way Jesus stated his destination is illuminating: "I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God." Nowhere in the Gospels did Jesus himself address God as "our Father" or "our God." One seeming exception is the prayer Jesus taught his disciples, which is commonly referred to as the Lord's Prayer (Matt 6:9-13; Luke 11:2-4). But in that prayer Jesus was teaching the disciples to address God and was not necessarily including himself in the petition.

What we see here are two important clues. First, Jesus on that Sunday morning had ascended to the Father and did not want to be touched. Just like the Wave sheaf that was waved before God, Jesus was to return to God to fulfill this sacrifice being accepted by God. Although Jesus had died for the sins of mankind and been resurrected, there was yet one more important part of the plan that was saved for this day, the day after the Sabbath. The day the Wave sheaf was offered by the High Priest for the God’s people more than 1400 years before would be the same day the Jesus would rise to the father, to be accepted as an offering for God’s People. After this took place, Jesus returned that very same day in verse 19. John 20:19 19 Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, "Peace be with you."

Here they could touch Christ so he had fulfilled that Wave Sheaf offering by being accepted by God as an offering for His people. So it was Sunday that He ascended to the father. The other important clue is that now, since they were reconciled to the Father through His Sacrifice, He tells Mary that He goes to “our” Father not “the” Father. The relationship had changed at this point. They had access to our God in a way they did not before His Death. Remember when Christ said on the Cross it is finished? He was not saying that the plan of God was finished. What was finished was the part that ended with His death for this world. The Wave sheaf points us to another vital piece of the puzzle. We can read about it in Romans 5:10 Romans 5:10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. The Wave sheaf points to Christ as the first fruits of many brethren. It is His life that saves us not his death. Without Christ living in us, as represented by the eating of Unleavened bread during these days, then there would be no eternal life for us. What we learn here is that the two harvests celebrated in Ancient Israel represents the two harvests that God will perform at the return of Jesus Christ of the First fruits and then after the 1000 years are finished a much greater harvest taken from the rest of mankind.

They teach us that God has a plan to bring salvation to all of mankind. This theme of harvest is all through the plan of God and if we look for the clues we will see it over and over again. God has opened our eyes to see this mystery unfold. John 12:23-24 23 But Jesus answered them, saying, "The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. 24 "Most 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. Jesus Christ was that grain that was waved for us. He died so a much bigger harvest could follow. So as we keep this feast each year let’s take time to take in the spiritual food yes, but let’s also incorporate things that help us rejoice in this feast as God intended because it pictures so much good news. This is part of our identity and heritage and we should look forward to the growth and festivities each of these festivals offer.