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Articles, Bible studies, and sermons that contain Leviticus 23:21:
The Feasts, New Moons, and Sabbaths of the HebrewsLeviticus 23:21
Excerpted from: The Very Same DayThis is part of the instructions for the Feast of Weeks, and here it is called a “bone day.” As with the others, it is a significant day in its own right, but it also does not stand on its own. For one thing, the Feast of Weeks looks back on Wavesheaf day, because without that, we don’t know when Pentecost is. But even more than that, the sparse records in Exodus put the Israelites at Mount Sinai around Pentecost, and indeed, tradition says that the Law was given on Pentecost. However, there is another possibility that is based on a biblical pattern. As you probably know, God commanded that the Law be read every seven years at the Feast of Tabernacles. Not only was the seventh year for the Law at the Feast, but the seventh year was also the land Sabbath, meaning the Israelites would not be doing their customary work. This would have allowed them more time to reflect on God’s instructions—His Law—if they were so inclined. But the seventh year was for the Law.
Now, let’s apply that pattern of seven and the Law. God may have given the Law on the seventh Sabbath after Israel left Egypt. The seventh seven may have been for the giving of the law, even as subsequent sevens were for the reading of the Law. Then, Exodus 24:4 says that Moses rose early the next morning and built an altar, and then sealed the covenant. Thus, Pentecost may have been the day the covenant was sealed. There is something similar in Acts 2. It was on Pentecost that some 3,000 people repented and were baptized and received the Holy Spirit, thus showing their entrance into the New Covenant. So, Pentecost, among its other themes, also reminds us of our covenant. And so, when God calls Pentecost an esem day, a “bone day,” in addition to reflecting back on Wavesheaf day, it is also a memorial of the covenant becoming active.
Leviticus 23:9-21
Excerpted from: Let the Saints be Joyful in Glory!Leviticus 23:9-21 outlines God's instructions for the wave sheaf offering, the seven-week count, the Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost. And when we understand the purpose of God's holy days and how they outline God's plan of salvation, we see that this entire period focuses on what the first of the firstfruits has made possible by preparing the saints for God's spiritual harvest. Now the full impact of the wave sheaf offering on God's people becomes clear when we recognize the importance of the counting required for observing Pentecost.
So the wave sheaf consisted of an omer of barley still on the stalk and cut at the start of the spring harvest. Now because it came from the very beginning of the firstfruits, it is called the first of the firstfruits. So each Israelite with a harvest was required to offer an offering. Then a priest would lift and wave each sheaf before God for acceptance. Now in the Old Testament, the wave sheaf offering represented a thankful acknowledgment to God as the Giver of the harvest. In this way, it was sanctified or dedicated to Him.
Now in the New Testament, the spiritual purpose of this offering is revealed. The Old Testament places God's festivals within the agricultural harvest. But in the New Testament, these agricultural harvests become types of God's spiritual harvest of people into His Kingdom. So this period begins with the offering of the barley sheaf symbolizing Christ and then ends 50 days later with two leavened loaves representing God's people, imperfect yet accepted into His Kingdom. Together, these elements illustrate the full scope of God's work with His firstfruits, from Christ's perfect sacrifice to inclusion of His followers in His Family.
Leviticus 23:18-22
Excerpted from: Psalms: Book Two (Part One)So this is the first major crop and it is to the Lord, it is to Him and for Him and everything is supposed to be directed toward Him. Verse 18 has to do with offerings being made, so there is a lot of sacrifices going on, burnt offerings, grain offerings, drink offerings, made by fire as a sweet aroma to the Lord.
Tacked on to the end of the Pentecost instructions is this important instruction not to glean the edges of your field but to leave it for the poor and the stranger. So you have this idea of helping the needy and that the poor and the stranger will be able to feed from your labors. All of these are very important concepts. They are just thrown in here one after another and we have had to make sense of them over the years.
Leviticus 23:21-22
Excerpted from: Psalms: Book Two (Part Three)So we see tacked on the end of the instructions about Pentecost, that we are to keep the stranger and the poor in mind, we are to leave the corners of our fields unharvested so that they can have something to gather. We find in the book of Ruth that is exactly what she did, she went and gathered grain in the field that just happened to be Boaz's field. Boaz is a type of Christ who redeemed her, and by her he had a child. This child is the one who became the father of Jesse who became the father of David and then suddenly we are right back in Book Two of the Psalms.
Leviticus 23:21
Excerpted from: The Selfsame DayHere it is in the context of Pentecost. So, Pentecost is being observed on a selfsame day. Remember, the "selfsame" suggests an anniversary, an anniversary kept each and every year—that is what the verse says: "throughout your generations"—on the date something significant occurred in the past.
What occurred on Pentecost? It celebrates the anniversary that God gave His law on Mount Sinai, and it also celebrates the anniversary of His gift of the Holy Spirit. Two things on the selfsame day. Pentecost is observed partly because of these events.
The Feasts, New Moons, and Sabbaths of the Hebrews
The Sabbath During the Day of Temptation
EssaysPentecost and Symbolism (Part Two)
Pentecost's Two Leavened Loaves (Part One)
The Work of the Firstfruits
SermonsGod's Holy Days — Our Shared Vision Of Hope
Spiritual Maturity
Do You Recognize This Man? (Part 4)
Patience With Growth
Faithful, Following Firstfruits
Letters to Seven Churches (Part Ten): The Church
Themes of Ruth (Part Three): Redemption
The Church, One Body
The Spirit and the Way
Pentecost and Hope
God's Spiritual Harvest
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