By Jürgen Bühler, ICEJ President

The Passover season, like every great biblical festival given to Israel, has incredible prophetic purposes hidden within its observances. Many of these redemptive purposes were fulfilled in first coming of Jesus when he gave his life on the Cross for our sins. Even His glorious Resurrection was foreshadowed in the offering of the first fruits at Passover in ancient times.

According to the law of Moses, the people of Israel were required by God to come together for a holy convocation during the three main harvest seasons each year – namely Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles (Exodus 23:14-16). Each festival was a celebration of thanksgiving for the different seasons of harvest in Israel’s agricultural calendar.

The Feast of First Fruits
The Passover week actually consists of three holidays – the Feasts of Passover, Unleavened Bread, and First Fruits. During this time, Jewish families were to share in the Passover meal, eat unleavened bread for seven days, and also offer a first fruit offering of the spring grain harvest. Passover was often called chag habikurim, or “the feast of the firstfruit.”

“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. 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.’” (Leviticus 23:10-11)

Every year, on the first day after the Shabbat during the Passover week, a sheaf of firstfruits (bikurim in Hebrew) was to be waved before God. The firstfruit represented not only the very first produce of each year, but also the entire harvest. Paul explains in Romans 11:16 that “if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy…” This means that by setting apart the firstfruit  offering to the Lord, the entire harvest would be sanctified in the Lord’s eyes.

Waving the firstfruits before God was a declaration that all the produce of the coming year belonged to Him. He owns it all, and His blessing on the seed is crucial, as it is also God who gives the increase.

The same was true for all cattle and even for each family. God said, “Consecrate to Me all the firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, […] it is Mine.” (Exodus 13:2) So for every first child, there was a symbolic sacrifice brought to the Temple to represent the firstborn of the family.

By honouring God with our firstfruits, we declare that our families and all our possessions belong to Him. This holds much potential as a great blessing for us. If we decide to dedicate our family and our possessions to God, we submit them to His Kingship and place everything under His hand of blessing. It means that we give our best to God, just as Abel gave the firstborn (bikurim) of his flock and he found favour and acceptance with God (Genesis 4:4).

Israel the firstborn
Interestingly, God actually described the people of Israel as His firstborn. “Thus says the Lord: ‘Israel is My son, My firstborn.’” (Exodus 4:22)

This means that God has given Israel the rank of the firstborn among the nations. In saying so, God declared in a beautiful way His intention to bless all the nations of the earth. Remember what Paul said: “If the firstfruit is holy, then the lump is holy.” (Romans 11:16)

In calling and blessing Israel as His firstborn, the Creator was declaring that He also was going to call out and bless a redeemed people from all the nations. This corresponds to the calling which God placed upon Israel from the beginning: “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:3)

Indeed, it was through the one “seed” of Abraham, Jesus the Messiah, that this blessing came to all humanity (Galatians 3:13-16).

But Israel’s calling as the firstborn among the nations also gives hope for the restoration of Israel. Being the firstborn assured the privilege of a double blessing (Deuteronomy 21:15-17).

The prophet Jeremiah further proclaimed: “Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the ends of the earth… I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters, in a straight way in which they shall not stumble; For I am a Father to Israel, and Ephraim is My firstborn.” (Jeremiah 31:8-9)

Other Hebrew prophets likewise foresaw a future restoration of Israel which involves a double blessing on the nation (Isaiah 61:7; Zechariah 9:12).

Since the inheritance of a firstborn is assured by God, in the same manner we thus know that He will fulfil all His promises delivered to Israel.

Jesus, the firstborn from the dead
During the Passover holiday, on the first day after the Shabbat – that is, the first day of the new week – the firstfruit offering was waved in the Temple. The Gospels record that it was on that very day when Jesus arose from the dead.

“Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb…” (Matthew 28:1). Jesus thus became “the firstborn from the dead,” (Colossians 1:18; see also 1 Corinthians 15:20).

Jesus was the first to overcome death, and as such he entered the heavens and presented himself to the Father. But he did so not just for himself but in him, as the firstborn, were presented all the millions who would “believe in Him and not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

That is why the Bible calls him “the firstborn among many brethren.” (Romans 8:29)

“For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying: ‘“I will declare Your name to My brethren’ ….And again, ‘Here am I and the children whom God has given Me.’” (Hebrews 2:10-13)

Indeed, Jesus is the “firstborn of all creation”, and thus has the supremacy in all things (Colossians 1:15, 18). So, even though we can call him our elder brother, we honour and worship him as our Lord, King and Saviour.