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Lesson 14 Hope of Israel Ministries BIBLE Correspondence Course 5

beginning of the SUMMER WHEAT harvest. COMMENT: There are many who
The Days of Unleavened Bread occur ASSUME that Yeshua the Messiah was the
about THE BEGINNING OF THE SMALL fulfillment of the “wave sheaf offering” of
SPRING HARVEST SEASON (Leviticus Leviticus 23. They ASSUME that he was the
23:10-11). The shoots of barley, planted earlier, “firstfruits” from the dead, and therefore
have grown to maturity. They are now comparable to the “firstfruits” of the harvest.
fruit-bearing stalks -- ready to be harvested. However, the fact is that the LITERAL
This first harvest began in the following translation of I Corinthians 15:20 is, “But now is
manner: On the morning of the 16th of Nisan, Christ risen from the dead, and become the
following the weekly Sabbath and the first day FIRST FRUIT [singular noun -- not plural!] of
of Unleavened Bread (which ALWAYS fell on them that slept.” The Messiah is ONE PERSON
the same day), a small handful of newly sickled -- not two, three, four, 500, 1,000, or 3,000, or
stems and heads of barley was brought to the 100,000 -- just ONE person!
priest to be accepted by YEHOVAH God. This To fully understand the “wave sheaf”
was called the “Wave-Sheaf Offering,” or the offering we need to be aware that the original
“first of the firstfruits." Hebrew word translated “sheaf” is OMER. This
word means “a heap” -- or “sheaf” --
a dry measure. A sheaf of barley
consists of 5.1 pints of flour after it is
ground down. How many individual
“grains” of barley would that be?
There are multiple thousands of
barley grains in one omer. The
“OMER” then was not one grain, or
the grain from one plant, but many
barley plants -- MANY grains!
2. Read Amos 9:9. What does a
“grain” symbolize?
COMMENT: The “grain”
represents ISRAEL! This “omer”
represents the firstfruits (PLURAL)
of ISRAEL -- that is, the “Israel of
The Messiah’s tomb beneath Pater Noster Church on the God” (Galatians 6:16) -- the 144,000
Mount of Olives. After the Messiah’s resurrection he of Revelation 14:4. For more
ascended into heaven to “wave” the wave sheaf of the information send for our article, The
firstfruits of YEHOVAH’s spiritual harvest before SECRET of the “Wave Sheaf.”
YEHOVAH’s throne. 3. After the Messiah was
crucified, buried and resurrected, did
1. Why did YEHOVAH God instruct the HE need to be ACCEPTED as the firstfruits of
Israelites to cut a small handful of grain and the spiritual harvest? John 20:17. Were his
wave it to be accepted by Him during the Days of disciples permitted to touch him? Same verse.
Unleavened Bread? Leviticus 23:10. What does COMMENT: Once again, many people
the Wave Sheaf symbolize? I Corinthians ASSUME that the Messiah had to ascend to
15:20-23 and Revelation 14:4. Who was the heaven immediately after his resurrection to be
FIRST of the firstfruits of YEHOVAH’s accepted by YEHOVAH God. The Messiah’s
spiritual harvest? I Corinthians 15:20. sacrifice for our sins was accepted

Day of Pentecost -- The Church in YEHOVAH’s Master Plan