UNLEAVENED BREAD – Sabbath – 2006

“Wave Sheaf Offering Day”

Fred Coulter – April 15, 2006

And greetings brethren. Welcome to the Sabbath during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and we’re going to talk about the resurrection of Christ very briefly, but we’re going to focus in on the Wave Sheaf Offering Day and the meaning of the Wave Sheaf Offering Day. Not only is this going to be for the Feast of Unleavened Bread, but this is also going to be in the coming new holy day book, which is going to be a compilation of transcripts of the best sermons given through the years of all the holy days of God. So as we do with all the holy days, since this is during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, let’s come to Leviticus 23 and let’s begin in verse 9 where it starts talking about the Wave Sheaf Offering Day and the significance of this day as it is fulfilled through Jesus Christ. And we are going to see that this is a tremendous and absolutely wonderful day – the Wave Sheaf Offering Day – that it is a celebration for God the Father and Jesus Christ. And that’s why it’s not a holy day for us. But it’s an important part of the fulfillment of the plan of God.

Now let’s begin in verse 9: “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 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 firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest…” Now this sheaf of the firstfruits was called “the premiere sheaf.” It was a special barley sheaf that was cut, and it was cut at the end of the Sabbath during the Feast of Unleavened Bread to be waved on the first day of the week during the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Now let me just say something here very important that we need to understand and grasp. The Jews do not count (and this is the first day – the Wave Sheaf Offering Day) Pentecost correctly. They calculate it, not from the Sabbath and then the first day of the week during Unleavened Bread. They calculate it from the holy day. And what this significantly does, it rejects the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ as the Savior of mankind. So all of those who follow what the Jews are doing are following a pattern that rejects Jesus Christ, as they have not only in the Passover but also the Wave Sheaf Offering and Pentecost. Subsequently because they reject Jesus Christ and do not accept the New Testament, they are cut off and do not have any understanding. Now you just need to realize that that is a very important thing. That’s why we have to do it the way that God says, calculate it the way that God says, count it the way that God says, and then put the scriptures together to get the full meaning of what these days mean.

Now let’s see what the Priest was to do with the sheaf: “…and he shall wave [elevate] the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you…” Now this shows, as we will see, the acceptance of the resurrected Jesus Christ as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all the world, more importantly beginning with those who are the firstfruits of God, because then it goes on and connects directly to the day of Pentecost, which then is the first resurrection.

Now notice when it should be done: “…on the morrow after the sabbath…” Now notice he does not say “on the morrow after the holy convocation,” being the holy day the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This is the weekly Sabbath. Then on the morrow, which means in the morning afterward: “…the priest shall wave it.” (Lev. 23:9-11, KJV). Then he gives the instruction of what to do.

Now what we are to do is look at the fulfillment of this in the New Testament. And this is what becomes so important and profound in understanding the things of God, the way of God, the Word of God, and so forth.

Now let’s come to I Corinthians 15 because the apostle Paul tells us the meaning of this day, and it also labels Christ as the firstfruits. And this tells us a part of the fulfillment of this day on the morrow after the Sabbath during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And it’s appropriate that it happens at that particular time because it falls right in line with the resurrection of Jesus Christ. You see this is why Jesus was crucified on the Passover day. And God uses all the holy days to fulfill major, epical, historical fulfillments of prophecy that He has given. And this is why unless you understand the holy days you cannot understand the plan of God. Now I want you to think for a minute: Do the Protestants accept the holy days? No. Do they understand the plan of God? No. Do the Catholics accept the holy days? No. Do they understand the plan of God? No. Do the Jews accept the holy days? Yes, with a caveat that they changed the Passover and they changed the Wave Sheaf Offering Day and hence they have changed Pentecost. And rejecting Jesus, do they understand prophecy? No. So you have to have both. You must have the Old Testament writings and the prophecies contained therein; you must have the New Testament writings and the interpretation and the prophecies there.

Now we are going to see a little later that Jesus opened the minds of the apostles to understand the prophecies concerning Him that are found in the Law and the Prophets and the Psalms. And that becomes profoundly important, because what Jesus is telling us is this: The New Testament interprets the Old Testament, not the other way around. So we need to remember that and grasp that.

Now let’s come here, I Corinthians 15:20: “But now Christ has been raised from the dead; He has become the firstfruit…” Now this interprets Leviticus 23, “the premiere sheaf.” “…Has become the firstfruit of those who have fallen asleep [resurrection from the dead].” That’s why that wave sheaf was a special one that was bound with a special ceremonial ribbon and then was cut. It was cut right as the Sabbath ends during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and then it was lifted up and carried to the altar of burnt offerings and laid alongside the altar of burnt offerings. Now having the firstfruit sheaf cut at that particular time signifies Christ being resurrected while He was in the tomb. But He did not ascend to the Father until the morning of the first day of the week at the time that they had the Wave Sheaf Offering, so He is the first of the firstfruits. Now verse 21: “For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruit; then, those who are Christ’s at His coming” (I Cor. 15:20-23, FV). Very important. And that has to fill in with all the holy days. So He’s the firstfruit.

Let’s look at a couple of other scriptures concerning this. Let’s come to Colossians 1, and again we have a very misunderstood verse for those who do not accept Jesus, that He was God before He became human. And you know the biggest problem with that is? You can answer the question very simply: Read the Gospel of John. That’s all you have to do. Christ tells you where He came from. Christ tells you that He was in heaven before. Christ tells us that He prayed to the Father to give Him the glory that He had with the Father before the world existed. Now the only way that those who believe that Jesus was only a man can believe that is if they ignore all of this. Well we’ll see. Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words shall not pass away” (Matt. 24:35, paraphrased). That’s why when Jesus said… And He told the Jews that He wasn’t going to give them a sign. They wanted a sign. Oh yes, they like miracles and magical things, and they can all gather around and revel in it just like people do when there is an apparition of Mary. Oh they come weeping and kneeling and rosarying and crying, and thousands coming. See, Christ would not, to those Jews, give them a sign. So He said, “The only sign I’m going to give you is the sign of Jonah the prophet. As Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, so shall the Son of man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights” (Matt. 12:40, paraphrased), and He turned and walked away.

Now since Jesus said that His words are truth, that He preached the words of the Father, He spoke nothing that the Father had not commanded Him to speak. And if the Word of God is true, it will not, cannot, never fails, and that heaven and earth can pass away before the Words of Christ can pass away, how long was He in the tomb? Three days and three nights. And you can look in the New Testament – we have a chart there. And you can look in the Harmony of the Gospels – we have a full explanation of it there and a chart there showing the three days and three nights. And this year with the Passover in the middle of the week we have the same sequence of days that we had in the week when Jesus was crucified and resurrected. So that’s why this is very important for us to understand.

Now come here to Colossians 1:14: “…in Whom [that is in Christ] we have redemption through His own blood…” But remember this: If Christ is not raised then you are still in your sins. If Christ did not ascend to heaven to be accepted of God the Father on the Wave Sheaf Offering Day, you have no justification. So it’s very important to realize. “…In Whom we have redemption through His own blood, even the remission of sins; Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation…” Now this is where they get hung up. Now “the firstborn of all creation” does not have to do with the physical creation of things that God has made in the universe. This has to do with all of those who are created (which salvation is creation) in the image of Jesus Christ and are resurrected as Jesus was resurrected from the dead. Now we’ll see this in just a minute because it interprets itself.

“…Because by Him were all things created…” So if He was the firstborn of creation, how could He create all things? So you see, you only can have the explanation that I gave. “…The things in heaven and the things on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether they be thrones, or lordships, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him and for Him. And He is before all, and by Him all things subsist.” And that’s what it says in the second verse of Hebrews 1 – that He upholds the world by the Word of His power; and that He is the express image and the brightness of the glory of the Father.

Now verse 18: “And He is before all [things], and by Him all things subsist. And He is the Head of the body, the church; Who is the beginning, the firstborn from among the dead…” So that’s what it means. That interprets verse 14. He is the firstborn of all of those created through the resurrection of the dead. “…So that in all things He Himself might hold the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell…” (Colossians 1:14-19, FV). So that’s quite a wonderful thing talking about Jesus.

Now let’s come to Revelation 1 and let’s see what Jesus looks like and let’s see what Jesus said of Himself. Let’s see what the message was to John. And in the series of Revelation this becomes very important so we’ll just review a few verses here. Now let’s come to verse 4: “John to the seven churches that are in Asia…” And of course this is prophetic. It was at that time. It’s prophetic and it has a fulfillment at the end-time. All three interpretations of Revelation 2 and 3 as we cover in the series on Revelation are true. “…Grace and peace be to you from Him Who is, and Who was, and Who is to come; and from the seven spirits that are before His throne; and from Jesus Christ, the faithful Witness, the Firstborn from the dead, and the Ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him Who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to God and His Father; to Him be the glory and the sovereignty into the ages of eternity. Amen” (Rev. 1:4-6, FV). Now, that is quite an introduction and is a summary of what all you’re going to find in the book of Revelation.

Now let’s come over here and see what John saw. Let’s come first to verse 17: “And when I saw Him [now we’ll read what Jesus is like in His glorified form here in just a minute], I fell at His feet as if dead; but He laid His right hand upon me, saying to me, ‘Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last, even the one Who is living; for I was dead, and behold, I am alive into the ages of eternity. Amen. And I have the keys of the grave and of death’ ” (Verses 17-18, FV). Without Christ there is no resurrection. Without the resurrection of Christ there is no resurrection of anyone else. That’s what Paul said.

Now let’s see what He looks like in His glorified form. And let’s understand what a profound thing this is. And I want to cover this and then we are going to look at the several men in the Bible who were able to see the glory of God. Now John was able see the glory of Jesus Christ, and as we’ll see a little later when we get to Revelation 4 and 5, he also saw the glory of the Father.

Now let’s pick it up here in verse 12: “And I turned to see the voice that spoke with me; and when I turned, I saw seven golden lampstands; and in the midst of the seven Lampstands…” Now let’s understand these lampstands are in a circle, and Christ being the head of the church is in the middle. Very important to understand. This is not like the lampstand that was in the temple, otherwise Christ could not be in the middle of them.

“…Clothed in a garment reaching to the feet, and girded about the chest with a golden breastplate. And His head and hair were like white wool, white as snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire; and His feet were like fine brass, as if they glowed in a furnace; and His voice was like the sound of many waters. And in His right hand He had seven stars, and a sharp two-edged sword went out of His mouth, and His countenance was as the sun shining in its full power.” Now that’s why it said that John wrote: “…when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead…”(Verses 12-17, FV). This is what Christ looks like in His full power and glory.

Now let’s look at those who were able to see the glory of God. Now we find three distinct instances recorded in the Bible. Now let’s come back to Exodus 33 and here we find that Moses… And this is why Moses was called the preeminent or the premiere prophet and law-giver of God, because he saw God in His glorified form. Not face to face, but he saw Him.

Let’s come here to Exodus 33, and this is after the destroying of the golden calf and so forth, and Moses is pleading with God. He was able to intervene and persuade God not to destroy all the children of Israel for their sins. And so Moses asked God that “If I could see Your glory…” So because of the intercession of Moses the children of Israel were spared. Verse 17: “And the LORD said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in My sight, and I know thee by name. And he said, I beseech Thee, shew me Thy glory. And He said, I will make all My goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy. And He said [to Moses], thou canst not see My face: for there shall no man see Me, and live.” And the reason being is that flesh cannot exist in the presence of the glory of God. So therefore he was only able to see a similitude of Him. “And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by Me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock: and it shall come to pass, while My glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with My hand while I pass by: and I will take away Mine hand, and thou shalt see My back parts: but My face shall not be seen” (Ex. 33:17-23, KJV). So that happened.

So Moses hewed two more tables of stone for God to write the Ten Commandments on. Remember, the first ones that were written on were stones that God had hewed. Then He wrote the Ten Commandments on [them]. And then when Moses came down from the mount and saw all the worshipping of the golden calf and all the rebellion and everything that was going on with the children of Israel, he threw them down and broke them. So God made Moses make new ones. But also this signifies that there is a step removed from God that was caused by the people’s sin because now the two tables of stone were hewn by Moses, and he took them up and gave them to God.

Now verse 5 of Exodus 34: “And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there [so there was a cloud so he couldn’t see Him directly], and proclaimed the name of the LORD. And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty [that is, without repentance]; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.” (Ex. 34:5-7, KJV). And that is referring to the second commandment of those who worship idols. And if you worship idols you hate God and so therefore you bring upon your progeny to the third and fourth generation the curse of your idol worship and breaking the commandments of God. Now just an aside, stop and think here: What one physical thing can a man make or use (be it an idol, be it beads, be it a temple) that is greater than a broken heart and a contrite spirit, and seeking to worship God in spirit and in truth, and direct access to God the Father and Jesus Christ? There’s nothing – nothing greater than that. And brethren, we need to understand that is a tremendous and wonderful blessing that God has opened up because of the death and resurrection and acceptance of Jesus Christ.

So, let’s look at another instance. Let’s come here to Isaiah 6. Now Isaiah in vision was able to see this. And we’re going to see a little later the similarity between what takes place here and what is shown in the vision in Isaiah 6 that we find in Revelation 4 and 5. So we come all the way from Moses all the way up to Isaiah. Now David did see a simile of God in the holy place when he had the Ark of the Covenant in a special tent that was in his house before the temple was built. But he didn’t see God as Moses did, and he did not see God as Isaiah did.

So let’s pick it up here in Isaiah 6:1: “In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims [now we’re going to see how that connects with Revelation 4 a little later]: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him [now we will see “the post of the door” a little later on in relationship to Christ coming to be accepted of God the Father on the Wave Sheaf Offering Day] that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.” Quite a fantastic thing that Isaiah experienced. And when God does so, He does so to give inspiration to those who are going to speak, to those who are going to write that they will do exactly as God wants done. Do you think that Moses would have done anything differently than God commanded Him after talking to God on the mount after seeing His glory? Do you think that Isaiah would have written lies and prophesied lies after he had seen God in vision on His throne? I dare say absolutely not. Would you? Of course not.

“Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: and he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Very interesting, isn’t it? Where God the Father, Jesus Christ and also the angels. And then Isaiah said, “…Here am I; send me. And He said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.” And this is what happens to the average person concerning the Word of God because they don’t want to obey it. They want to retain their sinful nature and their myths and their lies that they get from the religious teachers, which make them feel good and it appeals to their carnality, and it appeals to their deceitful nature. “Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed” (Isa. 6:1-10, KJV). And Jesus quoted that in Matthew 13 and in the parallel accounts in Mark and Luke, that God blinds people who do no believe.

And isn’t that exactly what happens in the religious world? First thing they want to do is say, “Well, God didn’t mean this,” and “God didn’t mean that,” and “We can’t trust the Word of God. It was compiled by men hundreds of years later.” Absolute lie. But they have that because their minds are closed, their eyes are shut and they can’t understand, and they have no door to salvation unless they repent. That’s why this day is so important.

Now let’s come one step further. Let’s come here to Matthew 17 and let’s see where the disciples were given a vision of what Jesus would look like in His glorified form. And this becomes very important because what does this do? This gives equal or greater status to the apostles. And in this case it was James, Peter, and John. Not all the apostles saw this – just James, Peter, and John. So God does not show Himself to people just because they desire it. And He doesn’t show Himself to anyone at anytime, and so this thing about like Pat Robertson said, “God spoke to me.” No, God didn’t speak to him.

Now let’s come here to Matthew 17:1. Now Christ did this to give them equal and greater authority than Moses, because if God showed His glory to Moses, and if God showed His glory to Isaiah this also shows that the authority that they had came directly from God – not by any man, not by boards of men, not by rabbis, not by priests, not by Levites, but by Jesus Christ Who was God manifest in the flesh. So He wanted to encourage them. He wanted them to know exactly what it was going to be like at the resurrection.

Let’s begin right here in Matthew 17:1: “And after six days, Jesus took with Him Peter and James and his brother John, and brought them up into a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them; and His face shined as the sun [now remember what we read in Revelation 1], and His garments became white as the light [just like we saw in Revelation 1]. Then behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah talking with Him.” It doesn’t say they were actually there because we will see this is a vision. And in vision you can see many different things, right? So here, this shows the authority that He gave to Moses, the authority that He gave to Elijah, that He is going to confer to the apostles. In this case the leading apostles – Peter, James, and John.

“And Peter answered and said to Jesus, ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here. If You desire, let us make three tabernacles here: one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’ While he was speaking, a bright cloud suddenly overshadowed them; and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, ‘This is My Son, the Beloved, in Whom I delight. Listen to Him!’ ” Now a very important thing for us: If you want to understand about God the Father and Jesus Christ you have to listen to the words that they have spoken, which have been recorded here in the Bible. Not some man, not some priest, not some pope, not some evangelist, but Christ. Listen to Him.

“And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces in extreme terror. But Jesus came and touched them, and said, ‘Arise, and do not be terrified.’ And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus alone.” Now verse 9 is the key. What happened here was not literal but a vision: “Now as they were descending from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, ‘Tell the vision to no one until the Son of man has risen from the dead’ ” (Matt. 17:1-9, FV). Now these are the only occasions in the Bible where we find that men were able to see the glory of God. In the case of Moses, he saw it directly. In the case of Isaiah, he saw it in vision. In the case of the apostles, Peter, James, and John, they saw it in vision. And this is what motivated them to make sure that in the writing and canonization of the New Testament that it would be the Words of God as Christ had defined it and as Christ had taught.

Now just to emphasize that point let’s come here to II Peter 1 and let’s understand exactly the motivation behind writing the New Testament and why we can trust in the Words of God, and why this becomes so important, and why as we will see, this Wave Sheaf Offering Day becomes so profound in the meaning of the plan of God with the acceptance of Jesus Christ by God the Father on the Wave Sheaf Offering Day. Let’s come here to verse 14: “…knowing that shortly the putting off of my tabernacle [that means he’s saying he’s going to die] will come, even as our Lord Jesus Christ has signified to me. But I will make every effort that, after my departure, you may always have a written remembrance of these things in order to practice them for yourselves…” This thing of oral tradition is just a myth and a lie by men so they can put in their own way. God has it written down. He told Moses – write; He told the prophets – write; He told Samuel – write; Hezekiah – to write; and He told His apostles to write. That way, with the inspired Word of God there isn’t going to be any dispute. And it’s important to understand that because what’s in the Bible is how God is going to judge each one of us. Think on that for a minute. Think of the lies that come from the pulpit of men who presume to say Jesus lied; the Word of God lies. They are the liars. They are the ones who are blinded.

Now notice what Peter says here: “…for we did not follow cleverly concocted myths as our authority…” And what does Christendom follow today? Nothing but myths, lies, fables through the occult holidays while they reject the holy days and feasts of God. “…When we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His magnificent glory; because He received glory and honor from God the Father when the voice came to Him from the Majestic Glory, ‘This is My Son, the Beloved, in Whom I am well pleased.’ And this is the voice from heaven that we heard when we were with Him on the holy mountain [which we just read of there in Matthew 17, right? Yes indeed]. We also possess the confirmed prophetic Word…” Now this “prophetic word” means the inspired word confirmed by Christ. Now you can’t have anything greater than that, can you? “…To which you do well to pay attention [not argue with], as to a light shining in a dark place…” This is the Light of God to bring you out of spiritual darkness. “…Until the day dawns [that’s the return of Christ] and the morning star arises in your hearts [that is when you are resurrected]…”

Now notice verse 20, and this is going to be very important when we go through the account of the resurrection and ascension of Christ: “…knowing this first [this is a primary thing to understand], that no prophecy of Scripture…” Now that does not restrict it to just prophetic things, because the “prophecy of Scripture” means anything that was spoken under the inspiration of God or written under the inspiration of God is a prophecy. “…Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture originated as anyone’s own private interpretation; because prophecy was not brought at any time by human will, but the holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (II Peter 1:14-21, FV). And the Holy Spirit is directed by Jesus Christ. And the Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of Truth. So we can have full confidence in the Word of God and the Truth of God and the things that we need to understand. And as it relates to this most important day, the Sabbath during the Feast of Unleavened Bread when the resurrection occurred and the next day, the Wave Sheaf Offering Day when Jesus was accepted as the first of the firstfruits. So this is why it’s so absolutely marvelous that we trust the Word of God.

Now, one other caveat here before we go on, which is this: Carnal men like to take apparent contradictions to fight Scripture against Scripture so they can cast them aside. The way God wants us to do it is to take line upon line, precept upon precept, a little here, a little there, and add it together. And lo, guess what’s going to happen? The contradictions will disappear. They will be gone, because we’re dealing with the Word of Truth, which is the Word of God, and the God of truth, and the Holy Spirit of Truth, and the truth written by the apostles who were holy men, as well as the other writings contained in the Bible from the beginning to the end – all of God.

Now we’re going to go ahead and we’re going to look at the events that took place on the resurrection day, and then the ascension on the Wave Sheaf Offering Day.