Scripture tells us not to sow or harvest in the Shemittah (Sabbath Year) or in the Jubilee (fiftieth year). Crops are not to be sown or ‘harvested’ during that time.

 

 

Some teach we cannot offer a Wave Sheaf in these years because we cannot ‘bring in the harvest’ of barley then. However, Scripture does not say this. As we explain in The Torah Calendar, the command is not to abstain from partaking of the field altogether: rather, verse 12 tells us to eat that year’s fruits “from the field” (as opposed to ‘from the granary’). As in the Garden, we may eat from the field hand-to-mouth, and we may also take what we need for the day. What this passage prohibits is ‘bringing in the harvest’ (such as one might do with a combine), and then selling the crop (as one might do in other years): yet there is never a time that we should not give the Firstfruits of the land back to YHWH with thanksgiving and praise.

 

The spiritual lesson is clear: when YHWH provides for our bodily needs, He wants us to show Him our appreciation. He wants us to acknowledge that He is Elohim by giving the first of what He has just given us, back to Him. This is also what made Hevel’s (Abel’s) sacrifice so pleasing.

 

 

YHWH was not pleased with Qayin’s offering because Qayin did not think to honor YHWH with the Firstfruits of what he had been given. No matter the specifics, whether we have to work to obtain the increase (perhaps by raising crops), or whether YHWH just gives us the crops (such as when we eat ‘volunteer crops’ that grow on their own in the rest years), YHWH loves it when He can see that our hearts are filled with joy and spontaneous thanksgiving at His having given us what we need to survive.

 

YHWH does not need anything. He does not need barley, or the blood of bulls or lambs. He has no need of priests, or Levites, or even of you or me. What He wants to see, though, is that we acknowledge Him as the source of all good things; and that our hearts are filled with so much love and joy that when He provides for our bodily needs, we eagerly want to give back the Firstfruits of whatever it is that He just gave us.

 

It is not the gift itself that YHWH wants. Rather, what He wants is for us to be eager to give it. And in the case of the annual crops that YHWH blesses us with each year, YHWH lets us know we can show Him our thanks by giving Him with the Firstfruits of the new barley harvest. That principle is not going to change in the Sabbatical years, or in the Jubilee: If anything, it is only going to apply all the more.

 

As we explain in The Torah Calendar, the symbolism between barley and Yeshua is very strong. Barley is the first of the crops to come ready in the Land of Israel, and the firstfruits of the barley is the first of the firstfruits of the land. In the same way, Yeshua became the first of the Firstfruits of redeemed Israel when YHWH raised Him from the dead.

 

 

Yeshua fulfilled the first prophetic shadow of the Firstfruits of the Wave Sheaf. Yet as we explain in Nazarene Israel, all of YHWH’s festivals have other fulfillments yet to come, in the future. Therefore, to suggest that we no longer need to perform the Wave Sheaf Offering would be to deny that more fulfillments are coming. [It would also essentially be to partake of Replacement Theology, which we know from the study, ‘Tree of Knowledge, Tree of Life’ is the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is what we partake of when we decide to do what we want based on our own thoughts and intellect, rather than obeying YHWH’s Voice, and the Torah.]

 

Another reason some teach we cannot offer a Wave Sheaf of thanks in the rest years is the mistaken idea that the Wave Sheaf can only be taken from cultivated barley. Scripture does not say this either. Rather, what Scripture says is just to offer the first of the fruits of the land up to Him (in thanksgiving, and in praise). While we can harvest the crops as they come ripe, verse 14 clearly tells us that we may not eat (or sell) any of the new crops until after we have brought this praise and worship offering to Him; and this commandment applies to us and our children forever, no matter where we live.

 

 

Barley grows wild in all parts of Israel. It grows like the proverbial ‘grass of the field’ precisely because it is just such a field grass. Naturally, barley ripens sooner in the hotter areas (such as in the Jordan River Valley and in the Negev), but it also grows near the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, in the mountains of Samaria, and in the Golan. Of course it ripens fully a month or two later in the cooler mountain areas, but even in the years that we are to let the land rest, there is always plenty of barley to form a Wave Sheaf Offering. Further, ‘volunteer barley’ still springs up in the farmer’s fields, even in the rest years.

 

Barley that is irrigated typically ripens 4-6 weeks earlier than barley that is not irrigated. It is a matter of debate as to whether or not we should use irrigated (cultivated) barley to time the Aviv. Some parties believe we should not use irrigated barley, since the Land of Israel did not need irrigation in ancient times.

 

 

These believe that we should attempt to establish the “natural condition” in the Aviv sighting, and therefore they would reject irrigated barley for use in timing the Aviv since it “does not reflect the natural condition that YHWH brought about.” However, others would accept cultivated barley for the Aviv, since they would not want to put undue burden on those farmers who chose to raise barley.

 

Those who believe we should use irrigated barley fields for the Wave Sheaf point out that while the farmers can harvest their barley as it comes ripe, they cannot eat or sell any of the new crop until after the Wave Sheaf is offered. This might create a condition where the farmers would have to harvest their grain a full four to six weeks before they could either eat it, or sell it. If this practice had been used in ancient times, it could have placed an unnecessary strain on the barley farmers.

 

No matter whether we use wild, domesticated, irrigated or non-irrigated barley for the Wave Sheaf, one reason it is so important to use the barley that ripens first is because YHWH cares for the poor, the widow, the orphan and the stranger. He loves all of us, whether rich or poor. He is not just concerned for those who have, but also for those who do not. In ancient times, having enough food to eat was never a given, and YHWH tells us to leave the corner of the field and the gleanings for the poor, the widow, the orphan and the stranger.

 

 

Yochanan HaMatbil (John the Immerser/Baptist) had to eat what he could find, living off of the land. In Matthew 3:4, we are told that his food was (only) locusts and wild honey.

 

 

There were many righteous people in ancient Israel who were essentially without homes and farms. These often had to eat whatever they could find; yet they could not eat any part of the new crops until after the Wave Sheaf had been offered.

 

 

It is vital that the priesthood sets the Head of the Year according to the first of the firstfruits of the barley, so that the Wave Sheaf can be offered up, and then all the poor people can eat. Anything other than that puts a strain on the poor, and that is not pleasing to YHWH.

 

May He bring us all back to His calendar, soon and in our day.