What the Bible says about Wavesheaf Symbolism
(From Forerunner Commentary)
It is a well-known historical fact that, despite many differences among their various sects over when the sheaf was to be waved, no Jewish group throughout history ever resorted to observing Wavesheaf Day on any Sabbath. They always kept it on a common workday because the labor of harvesting began immediately after the sheaf was waved.
Consider yet another factor drawn from the wavesheaf symbolism: Does not the sheaf above all else represent the true First of the Firstfruits—Jesus Christ? Our Savior was an Israelite, from the tribe of Judah. The Most Holy of all men was born into the holy people (John 1:11). Can grain from a Gentile source—an unclean source in the symbolism—represent this greatest and purest of all Israelites, especially so since it typifies Him as just resurrected?
John W. Ritenbaugh
Pentecost Revisited (Part Two): Joshua 5Related Topics: Canaanite Grain | Clean/ Unclean Distinction | Grain Offering, Requirements for | Jesus Christ as Wavesheaf Offering | Wavesheaf | Wavesheaf Day | Wavesheaf Day must be a Workday | Wavesheaf not on a Sabbath | Wavesheaf Offering | Wavesheaf Offering Must Follow Weekly Sabbath | Wavesheaf Offering, Requirements of | Wavesheaf Symbolism
John 20:16-19 absolutely proves which Sabbath during the Days of Unleavened Bread God intends us to use to determine wavesheaf Sunday. These verses show that Jesus ascended to the Father to be accepted on the day following the weekly Sabbath. In the year Jesus was crucified, Passover was on a Wednesday. He was still in the grave when the first day of Unleavened Bread, a Thursday Sabbath, passed by. He rose from the dead late on the weekly Sabbath and was "waved" before God for acceptance on the Sunday morning following the weekly Sabbath. The Pharisees and rabbinic Jewry were wrong in using the day after the first day of Unleavened Bread Sabbath. The Sadducees were correct in using the weekly Sabbath. Taken together, these factors point conclusively to the wavesheaf day as being on a Sunday, the day following the weekly Sabbath within the Days of Unleavened Bread.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Countdown to Pentecost 2001