The Firstfruit Offering -- A Thoughtful Theory

Firstfruit WAVE OFFERING Theory, by Brenda Wilson.

I don’t know how I got on this particular trail (other than it being Holy Spirit led), but on January 26, 2024 I happened upon the account in Matthew 27:50-53 Then Jesus shouted out again, and he released his spirit. At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, rocks split apart, and tombs opened. The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead. They left the cemetery after Jesus’ resurrection, went into the holy city of Jerusalem, and appeared to many people. NLT

My thoughts started racing to Jesus being the firstfruit of the resurrected in 1 Cor 15:20-23 But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died. So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man. Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life. But there is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised as the first harvest; then all who belong to Christ will be raised when he comes back.  NLT

*Theory*…Could the bodies of the godly men and women who had died, but were raised after Jesus’ death and left the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection, represent the “bundle of grain” in the original Feast of Harvest…And just as the priest lifted it before the Lord back then, our High Priest lifted that bundle of resurrected bodies to Father in Matthew, making them His “wave offering” to the Father?! (Leviticus 23:9-11)

One of the reasons I began to immediately ponder this idea is because to my knowledge, there isn’t another mention of these resurrected persons in Scripture; no mention as to their lives, or ministries, testimonies, etc. that would have been part of their stories if they would have stayed on this earth when Jesus ascended. Let me be clear, I realize that just because they aren’t mentioned further, that in and of itself isn’t enough to say that they definitely did ascend with Messiah. However, IF they ascended with Him, that’s enough to wonder if they were His wave offering to Father…at least in my opinion.

Let’s dig, ponder, and seek together! 😊

As my mind began racing with the thought, I of course had questions. As I begin to dip just my toes in, I believe Holy Spirit is showing things that can be extrapolated from what:

1)has already been established in Scripture, 

2)what can be possibilities or assumptions, based on patterns that He set forth in Scripture,

3)future events described in Scripture. 

As we pull some of these ideas out, while not intending to change and/or add to His Word, I believe we can have enough reason to be excited about the possibilities of what I have dubbed “my theory”…mostly because I don’t know in my knower yet (see update to follow at the end of this article) that this is absolutely from Him, and not just me being excited with some ideas. I like to think of this theory as just one puzzle piece that may fit into our learnings of His feasts.

Question: What happened to the people? Did they live and ascend OR did they die again? These questions actually came from Debbie Ingle when I posed this theory to her, and I happened to have already questioned the same! Reasoning it out, I’m leaning more towards they ascended WITH Jesus. They wouldn’t be the first in Scripture that were just “taken up”, without experiencing death. And although Messiah wouldn’t necessarily have to do the acts laid out in Leviticus, we know it all to be a foreshadowing of the real thing…so I believe that also lends to Messiah doing the acts that would have “spoken” to the people witnessing the events and knew about YHWH’s feasts. AND…originally it was to be done by the people of Israel “in the land I’m giving you”…Messiah did it in Jerusalem…I believe the resurrected could also possibly be Jews that had died recently, but were followers of Messiah within his three year ministry. This idea is mainly based on the fact that Messiah was surrounded mainly by Jews, in the homeland of Jews, ministering mainly to Jews, and in Matthew 10:5-8 He says to the apostles, “Don’t go to the Gentiles or the Samaritans, but only to the people of Israel-God’s lost sheep. Go and announce to them that the Kingdom of Heaven is near. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy, and cast out demons. Give as freely as you have received!”

Now is a good time to throw in that “raising the dead” and “resurrection” are two distinct things, in their own rights, both being from the same word origin “egeiro”, meaning to waken, to raise up.

When Messiah led by example and raised the dead, He was showing miracles that could/would be performed by Himself, His apostles, and His followers.

Raising the dead (verb) is a supernatural power from on High that we may be anointed to do at some point, in order for someone that was alive on earth to be alive again, on earth….

Resurrection (noun) is the spirit that is given a new body for eternity.

It's possible that they were the “bundle of grain” that was waved to the Father, the ones that were offered before He would partake in the rest of the harvest…like in Leviticus 23:9-11.

THEN the great harvest of Jew and Gentile alike came after…and is still happening with and through us!

I tend to see and appreciate “parallels” in Scripture. With that in mind, here is a list that I believe can be helpful to wrap our mind around then and now…

Scripture references

Leviticus 23:9 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. When you enter the land I am giving you and you harvest its first crops, bring the priest a bundle of grain from the first cutting of your grain harvest. On the day after the Sabbath, the priest will lift it up before the Lord so it may be accepted on your behalf.

Matthew 27:50-53 Then Jesus shouted out again, and he released his spirit. At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, rocks split apart, and tombs opened. The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead. They left the cemetery after Jesus’ resurrection, went into the holy city of Jerusalem, and appeared to many people. 

Matthew 9:35-38 Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.”

Parallels in Old and New Testaments

Leviticus – instructions to the people of Israel / Matthew – happened in the holy city of Jerusalem

Leviticus – first crops / Matthew – first resurrected bodies

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Leviticus – bring a bundle to the priest / Matthew – Messiah is the priest bringing His own bundle…remember, this whole theory would hinge on this being factual

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Leviticus 23:9-11 – harvest its first crops / Matthew 9:35-38 harvest represents souls

*Update: I do not have a long history of studying and/or observing YHWH’s feasts. My heart began to turn to His feasts in 2022, primarily through Debbie Ingle’s Feasting Friends ministry…that being said, Debbie is my “go to” for most things related to the feasts. When I posed this theory to her, she responded with excitement and asked me to share with her FF Bible study group. I joined them a couple of weeks later and the overwhelming consensus was that this could really be a piece of the puzzle that fits!