Celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles 

 7 Fruits of Israel: Wheat 

Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe 

Deuteronomy 8: 7-8 "For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and date honey.” 

Parched grains of wheat were used for food in Israel (Ruth 2:14; 1 Samuel 17:17; 2Sam 17:28T) The disciples picked spears of wheat, rubbed them in their hands and ate the grain unroasted ( Matthew 12:1; Mark 2:23; Luke 6:1).  

Before any of the wheat harvest could be eaten, the first-fruits had to be presented before the Lord ( Leviticus 23:16-17): “Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath;( this is the time after the first fruit offering during the Passover season.) then you shall offer a new grain offering to the Lord. You shall bring from your habitations 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. 

From David Guzik: “Pentecost was a Jewish feast held 50 days after Passover. It celebrated the firstfruits of the wheat harvest. It was also called the feast of weeks (Exodus 34:22) and the feast of ingathering (Exodus 23:16). 

Leviticus 23:15-22 gives the original instructions for the celebration of Pentecost. As part of the public priestly sacrifices made for this feast, Leviticus 23:17 specifically says that two loaves of leavened bread were to be waved before the Lord. 

This was highly unusual. Generally, Israel could not offer any kind of leaven or yeast with a blood offering (Exodus 23:18, 34:25). But God encoded a hidden message into the ceremony for the feast of Pentecost. It was as if God said, “One day to come, on Pentecost, that which was thought to be unclean and unacceptable will be brought before Me, and I will honor that.” 

For centuries before the Pentecost described in Acts 2:1, Israel saw the leavened loaves waved before God in the ceremony commanded for this feast. Maybe they wondered what it meant. But we know; as the great English preacher Charles Spurgeon said, “Were there not two loaves? Not only shall Israel be saved, but the multitude of the Gentiles shall be turned unto the Lord Jesus Christ.”  

The unleavened bread of Passover pictures the sinless Body of Jesus. The leavened loaves of Pentecost picture redeemed believers, the Church, as the Body of Christ.  

Ephesians 1:22-23: “And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. 

1 Corinthians 12: 12-14 “For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.  For in fact the body is not one member but many.” 

   

Celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles

7 Fruits of Israel—Dates 

Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe 

Deuteronomy 8: 7-8 "For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and date honey.” 

People in biblical times used the date tree for many purposes. They ate its fruit, weaved its leaves into baskets, turned its trunks into structures, and fermented its sap to make wine. The date palm tree itself is often used in the Bible to symbolize peace, victory, and prosperity. (Dates in the Biblical Times by Nature's Candy | Apr 6, 2017 | Blog, History, Holiday Ideas) 

 

The date palm tree was seen as beauty personified, and in Genesis, it was referred to as Tamar, a term also used to describe a beautiful woman. 

There are many references in the bible directing people to use the date palm to build shelter or nourish their bodies. The images of palm trees were present in the Temple.   

Ezekiel 40: 16.  There were beveled window frames in the gate chambers and in their intervening archways on the inside of the gateway all around, and likewise in the vestibules. There were windows all around on the inside. And on each gatepost were palm trees. 

Ezekiel 41: 15-16: He measured the length of the building behind it, facing the separating courtyard, with its galleries on the one side and on the other side, one hundred cubits, as well as the inner temple and the porches of the court. 

Evidence of date palm cultivation was found by an archeologist named Ehud Netzer when King Herod’s palace was excavated on top of Mount Masada. The palace was destroyed by the Romans after the Jews committed mass suicide rather than surrender. There was a container of date palm seeds at the site, which were later treated, tested and cultivated at Yale University in the 1960’s, successfully grown into a tree dubbed the Methuselah Palm. The remaining seeds were sent off to Zurich, Switzerland, for carbon dating, and were found to be more than 2000 years old. Beyond being a scientific miracle, the seeds of that era could actually be viable, it is seen by some as a metaphor for the survival of ancient Israel, and of the resurrection. 

Psalm 92: 12-14:  The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those who are planted in the house of the Lord Shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bear fruit in old age; They shall be fresh and flourishing.

John 12: 12-13:  The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out: "Hosanna! `Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!' The King of Israel!'' 

Leviticus 23: 39-40: `Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the Lord for seven days; on the first day there shall be a sabbath-rest, and on the eighth day a sabbath-rest. And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. (This is a reference to the Feast of Tabernacles.) 

Judges 4: 4-5: Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, was judging Israel at that time. And she would sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the mountains of Ephraim. And the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. 

What do the date palms teach us as Christians? 

1. We are to be beautiful in the root meaning of the word. We are to be full of goodness and fruitful in goodness. 

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2. We are to be thankful for the grace of God in providing all our needs for protection and provision out of his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19) 

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3. We should walk in the wisdom of the Lord in such a manner that the world will come to us for advice and discernment. 

 A life hack:

1Timothy 2:1:3: First of all, then, I exhort that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men,

for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,

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