1. The Feast of Harvest.
"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 of your harvest unto the priest: 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" (Lev. 23:10, 11).
This took place "on the morrow
after the Sabbath." This was the eighth day, or the
first day of the week. The sheaf that the priest waved
before the Lord was of the "first fruits of the
harvest." What did it typify? Paul gives the answer:
"But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become
the first fruits of them that slept" (1 Cor. 15:20).
That sheaf clearly pointed to the resurrection of Christ.
True to the shadow, Christ rose on the first day of the
week. So the eighth day on which the wave offering was
made, was a part of the shadow as much as the offering. As
certain as the sheaf pointed to the resurrection of
Christ, so certain did the eighth day on which it took
place point to the day on which he arose—the Lord's Day.
That sheaf was a sample of the entire crop, so Christ's
resurrection is a sample and proof of the future
resurrection of all the redeemed (see 1 Corinthians 15).
2. The Feast of Pentecost.
"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: even
unto the morrow after the seventh Sabbath shall ye number
fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto
the Lord. 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 savor unto the
Lord ' (Lev. 23:15, 16, 18).
This offering "made by
fire" pointed to the baptism of "the Holy Ghost
and fire" received on Pentecost. The Feast of
Pentecost was on the "morrow after the seventh
Sabbath," or fifty days from the wave offering.
"Pentecost" means fifty. How wonderful this
shadow! The sheaf was waved before the Lord on the first
day of the week. It pointed to Christ's resurrection,
which took place on the same day. Just seven weeks later
came the Feast of Pentecost, an offering by fire. That
fell also on the day "after the Sabbath." Just
seven weeks after Christ's resurrection the Holy Spirit
fire fell on one hundred and twenty, and the church of God
was organized. Both took place on the first day of the
week.
In the law of shadows we read:
"And ye shall proclaim on the self same day, that it
may be a holy convocation unto you" (Lev. 23:21).
"Convocation" means assembly. "On the first
day shall be an holy convocation.... On the eighth day
shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer
an offering made by fire unto the Lord: it is a solemn
assembly" (vss. 35, 36). "On the eighth day ye
shall have a solemn assembly" (Num. 29:35). "On
the eighth day they made a solemn assembly" (2 Chron.
7:9). "On the eighth day was a solemn assembly"
(Neh. 8:18). All this was a shadow. Notice that the eighth
day, or first day of the week, stood out in great
prominence.
The two feasts held on this day
pointed to the two great triumphant events in the plan of
redemption; viz., the resurrection of Christ and the
outpouring of the Holy Spirit. In the type, the eighth day
was a day of assembly, a day when sacrifice by fire was
offered to the Lord. This foreshadowed the great memorial
day of the gospel—the Lord's Day. From the day on which
Christ rose from the dead, the eighth day has been a day
of assembling, a day of holy convocation for the church of
God, a day when sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving by
the Holy Spirit's fire have been given to God.
