Pentecost and Symbolism (Part One)

 Pentecost and Symbolism (Part One) (Part One) As we start, I would like to make a bit of a confession: I resist change. I live a mile and a half from where I grew up, I have worked at the same place for thirty-plus years, and my car's odometer reads well above 100,000 miles. So, when someonepresents even a slight change to our doctrinal understanding, I think, "Why should we change it?" But then I remember the example of Herbert Armstrong. When he realized his understanding of how to count to Pentecost was incorrect, he changed on a dime. He followed his own advice to believe the Bible, despite his former firmly held personal views. Scripture mentions two types of grain in its symbolism of God's plan of salvation. As Lesson 35 of the old Ambassador College Bible Correspondence Course teaches, Jesus Christ fulfills the waving of the first of the firstfruits of barley before God for His acceptance on the day following the weekly Sabbath that falls during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. We call this day "Wavesheaf Day." This day begins the count to Pentecost: "And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed" (Leviticus23:15). Then, on the Feast of Pentecost, "You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are the firstfruits to the LORD" (Leviticus23:17). For all my thirty years in the church of God, I believed—or assumed—that the offering of two wave loaves on Pentecost, or Feast of Weeks, was also made of barley. It just made sense: Christ is the Head of the church, and His elect are the Body.Both are called "firstfruits," and both are waved before God as offerings. Why would they not be composed of the same grain? As we saw, Leviticus 23:17 instructs Israel to make the loaves "of fine flour" and "with leaven." But it struck me, "What kind of grain did the priests use in those wave loaves?" I decided to do a general study of Pentecost. One can imagine my surprise—and admittedly, even offense—when I read that they offered wave loaves of wheat on Pentecost during the Second Temple period! This revelation required some consideration. In Israel, barley and wheat are both planted around the same time. Barley, however, appears and ripens first, during the time beginning with the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The winter wheat does not ripen until sometime in May or June, coincidingwith the time of the Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost. So, the wheat harvest begins soon after the barley harvest ends. Notice Ruth 2:23: "So [Ruth] stayed close by the young women of Boaz, to glean until the end of the barley harvest and wheat harvest; and she dwelt with her mother-in-law." The New Living Translation clarifies the timing: So Ruth worked alongside the women in Boaz's fields and gathered grain with them until the end of the barley harvest. Then she continued working with them through the wheat harvest in early summer. And all the while she lived with her mother-in-law. The Bible repeatedly shows that God uses harvests to outline His plan for mankind's salvation. He tells Israel in Leviticus 23:9-11 that, when they entered the Promised Land and reaped its harvest, they should wave a sheaf of the firstfruits of their harvest. The grain available to harvest in that early growing season would have been barley. As shown above, the wavesheaf offering of barley at the beginning of the barley harvest represents our Savior. I Corinthians 15:20 confirms that Christ is "the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep." A careful study will show that, on the morning after His resurrection, just as the priest lifted the wavesheaf offering before God at the Temple, our Savior ascendedand presented Himself to the Father for His acceptance. But what about the Pentecost wave loaves, which represent the firstfruits among humanity, the church? They, too, are called "firstfruits," but were the loaves made of barley or wheat? Firstfruits can refer to the first crop during an agricultural growing season. Barley is also plainly associated with firstfruits in II Kings 4:42: "Then a man came from Baal Shalisha, and brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley bread, and newly ripened grain . . .." People have traditionally regarded barley as the grain of the poor, and even today, about70% of the barley produced worldwide is used as animal fodder! Karen Meeker, on her blog, WomenfromtheBook.com, adds more to our understanding of barley in the ancient world: Though wheat became the preferred grain in the ancient world, barley still played an important part in the diet of the Hebrews. Israelites ate barley and oats as porridge and flatbreads and fed both grains to their animals. Wheat was not usedas animal food. Barley gradually became known as the grain of the poor. . . . Barley was fed to horses or mixed with ground lentils, beans, and millet to enhance its taste. From this explanation, that barley represents our Savior seems a little strange. He is perfect, glorious—the King of kings! However, in Philippians 2:7, the apostle Paul tells us that "[Jesus] made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant." Or, as the Contemporary English Version puts it, "He gave up everything and became a slave, when He became like one of us." Our Savior gave up His glory to become like His creatures. As the Bread of Life, He is indeed the Bread of the poor. Yet, the elect, mere humans, are truly much lower than He (see Psalm 8:3-4)! As the apostle Paul says in I Corinthians 1:26, 28, "[N]ot many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. . . . [T]he base things of the world and the things which are despised He has chosen, and the things which are not . . .." God's called people are nothing special! Barley's identity as the food of the lowly seems to suit church members even better. What are we to make of this seeming paradox? We will investigate further in Part Two. - John Reiss