Propitiation toward reconciliation was not possible before the cross.
Leviticus 23:6-8, 14; 1 Corinthians 15:20-23
There could be no edification from the firstfruits until they had been waved before the Lord and accepted by Him. Once accepted the nation could be sustained for another year. Jesus, as the reality of the firstfruits, came to fulfill this everlasting ordinance by providing a means thru which all sinners could be forgiven, in repenting, to receive the gift of everlasting life. What this means is that for the OT believers is that the means had not yet been opened to them because God had not yet accepted the offering that was foretold in the ritual. The offering had not yet been accepted. John 20:17, John 6:35, 48
John 5:39-40
“You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that testify on my behalf. Yet you refuse to come to me to have life.
The Lamb offering
Leviticus 23:12
On the day you wave the sheaf, you must sacrifice
as a burnt offering to the Lord a lamb a year old without defect,,
Exodus 12:3-5
Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them
from the sheep or the goats.
The significance of the waving of a sheaf offering of the first-fruits is its newness as the very first of the first-fruits of the harvest.
Leviticus 23:14
You shall eat no bread or parched grain or fresh ears until that very day, until you have brought the offering of your God: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your settlements.
1 Corinthians 15:20-23
But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died. For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. But
each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.
Accepting Christ as our Passover, we should also accept him as the first-fruit offering. This leads up to “The Feast of First-Fruits” otherwise known as “Pentecost”.
John 20:1
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb.
John 20:11-17
But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them,
‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
Here we see that the Messiah had not yet risen to the Father.
He had not yet become the first-fruit of all mankind.
The symbolism of the wave offering is the ascension of Jesus Christ to our Father as first of the first-fruits.
The timing of the ascension to the Father of Jesus Christ, and the sacrifice of the unblemished first-fruits lamb occurred at the same time. Just as the timing of the Messiah giving his life for mankind occurred at the same time as the unblemished Passover lamb was sacrificed.
The single male lamb without blemish is a commanded sacrifice on only two set apart feast dates. One being the Passover lamb and the other being, the Wave Offering lamb.
1 Peter 1:18-21
You know that you were
ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish. He was destined before the foundation of the world, but was revealed at the end of the ages for your sake.
Through him you have come to trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are set on God.
notes:
https://nebula.wsimg.com/31add2f969...32A45CB098432D4AD&disposition=0&alloworigin=1
Propitiation toward reconciliation was not possible before the cross.
There could be no edification from the firstfruits until they had been waved before the Lord and accepted by Him.
The significance of the waving of a sheaf offering of the first-fruits is its newness as the very first of the first-fruits of the harvest.
Accepting Christ as our Passover, we also accept him as the first-fruit offering. This leads up to “The Feast of First-Fruits” otherwise known as “Pentecost”.
Leviticus 23:14
You shall eat no bread or parched grain or fresh ears until that very day, until you have brought the offering of your God:
it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your settlements.
The timing of the ascension to the Father of Jesus Christ, and the sacrifice of the unblemished first-fruits lamb occurred at the same time.
Just as the timing of the Messiah giving his life for mankind occurred at the same time as the unblemished Passover lamb was sacrificed.
The single male lamb without blemish is a commanded sacrifice on only two set apart feast dates. One being the Passover lamb and the other being, the Wave Offering lamb.
Hence the slain lamb rather than the Lion of Judah
