Drash
Leviticus 23:9-11

Blaine Robison, M.A.

Delivered 11 April 2026

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9 And ADONAI spoke to Moses, saying, 10 "Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, 'When you come into the land which I give to you and you reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. 11 And he shall wave the sheaf before ADONAI for you to be accepted; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it." (Lev 23:9-11 BR)

In this chapter of Leviticus ADONAI sets forth His annual calendar of appointed times for His covenant people. The text before us within the instruction for the Feast of Passover and Mazzot, describes the ritual waving of a sheaf of harvested grain on the day after Ha-Shabbat. This presentation was called a wave offering because the priest lifted up the sheaf and moved it back and forth laterally as well as vertically up and down. Following the "wave offering," the priests were to present a lamb for a burnt offering, a drink offering of wine and a grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil (Lev 23:12-13). All three of these things were highlighted in the last Seder Yeshua shared with his talmidim.

In the first century the Pharisees interpreted Ha-Shabbat of verse 11 to be Passover, so the day after would be Nisan 16. The Sadducees applying a strict construction to the verse interpreted Ha-Shabbat to be the regular weekday Shabbat, and in the year 30 the day after fell on the first day of the week, Nisan 17, the day Yeshua was resurrected. However, Josephus, the first century Jewish historian, says that even though the Sadducean priests controlled the temple, festival ceremonies were performed according to the direction of the Pharisees due to their popularity with the people (Ant. XIII, 10:6; XVIII, 1:3-4).

The phrase "first fruits" translates the Heb. reishith, which means beginning, first, chief or choice. It is no accident that the very first word in the Hebrew Bible, the book of origins, is b'reishit, "in the beginning." The hermeneutic principle of "first mention" has an application here. That is, the first mention of a word in Scripture determines its essential meaning in the rest of Scripture. Indeed over eighty important Bible words occur first in Genesis. Reishit conveys a definite starting point made possible by the grace, love and power of God. In the Tanakh reishith is used to denote the time of creation (Gen 1:1), the beginning of a kingdom or a royal reign (Gen 10:10; Jer 26:1; 27:1; 28:1), the beginning of a year (Deut 11:12), the first of household income and wealth (Prov 3:9-10), and the first fruits of a harvest, as in this text (Ex 23:19).

The presentation of the sheaf of grain, barley at this time of year, meant giving the first and best fruit of the harvest to God instead of eating it. In doing so the waving celebrates the goodness of God, anticipates the divine blessing of a full harvest and dedicates the harvest to God. The waving before ADONAI thus honored Him by acknowledging that in the covenant relationship He is to have first place.

Sha'ul draws attention to this term by referring to the resurrection of Yeshua as "first fruits" in 1Corinthians 15:20. Yeshua's resurrection is a sign of the anticipated harvest of souls and general resurrection at the end of the age. By applying the term reishith to resurrection Sha'ul was not engaging in a legalistic debate over scheduling a ritual. Rather, the focus is on the theological significance of the term, because God's plan of full atonement was put into effect at the same time as the creation of the universe, "in the beginning" (1Pet 1:18-20; Rev 13:8).

Consider that just as the sheaf of grain was lifted up and waved before ADONAI, so the concept of lifting up can apply to Yeshua in four ways. First, Moses lifted up the serpent on a pole in the wilderness for the healing of Israel, so Yeshua was lifted up on a stake on Passover to be the sacrificial Lamb of God providing atonement for Israel and the world (John 3:14; 12:32-33). Second, upon his death his spirit was lifted up to the Father (Luke 23:43, 46). Third, Yeshua was then resurrected or lifted up from death when his spirit was reunited with his body and he departed the tomb (Luke 24:46). Fourth, after forty days he was lifted up to the right hand of the Father to begin his royal reign (Acts 2:33).

There is one last consideration. Grain does not contain leaven; it has to be added. During the Passover week the flour from the harvested grain would be made into unleavened bread. Since leaven symbolized sin (1Cor 5:8; Berachot 17a), preparation and consumption of the unleavened bread served as an acted out parable of a commitment to get rid of sin. Unfortunately, the wilderness generation failed to make that commitment a reality and lost the opportunity to enter the land.

Yet, Yeshua bluntly called for individuals to put God first by stopping their sinful practices, such as the man he healed at the pool of Bethesda (John 5:14) and the woman caught in adultery (John 8:11). God had expressed the desire that His people would be holy, and when we enter into a relationship with the holy God He has the right to expect changes in our behavior. Let us be that kind of people who order our priorities to put God and spiritual things first.

Barukh Hashem!

Copyright © 2026 by Blaine Robison. All rights reserved.