Feast of the first Fruits

This Feast is part of Pessach. It is held during the Feast of the Unleavened Bread, one day after Shabbat. The first grain was given to God and the priest was to offer it to the Lord as a swing offering, "He is to wave the sheaf before the LORD so that it will be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath," Leviticus 23:11. Until then, no bread was to be eaten from the first crop.

"'From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, count off seven full weeks," Leviticus 23:15. This is the so-called Omer-counting (Omer is the first sheaf of the new crop), e.g. 50 days. This goes up to Shavuot, which is therefore called "Feast of Weeks".

Firstfruits is the first one of three harvest feast of the year. The second one being Shavuot and the third feast Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles.

The day after this Shabbat is the Christian Resurrection Day. Firstfruits is a shadow showing toward Yeshua, who as the first among many brothers and sisters who rose from the dead, fulfilled this Feast: "But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep," (1. Corintians 15:20; see also Romans 8:29).