Always and Forever

And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest: And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the LORD. And the meat offering thereof shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the LORD for a sweet savour: and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of an hin. And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.-Leviticus 23:9-14***Decades after fraternal twin sons Esau (Edom) and Jacob (Israel) were born to Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob married Rebekah's nieces Leah and Rachel, the daughters of Rebekah's brother Laban the Syrian. Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and Dinah were born to Jacob and Leah. Dan and Naphtali were born to Jacob and Bilhah, Rachel's maidservant. Gad and Asher were born to Jacob and Zilpah. Joseph and Benjamin were born to Jacob and Rachel. When Joseph was at least 17 years old, his brothers sold him to merchants traveling to Egypt and led Jacob to believe that Joseph was killed by a wild animal. The merchants sold Joseph to Potiphar, an Egyptian official. After Potiphar's wife made a false accusation, Potiphar put Joseph in the king's prison. When the cupbearer and the baker who served Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, were imprisoned, Joseph interpreted each man's dream. At least 2 years after the cupbearer was released from prison and returned to Pharaoh, Joseph was taken from prison and explained the interpretation of 2 dreams to Pharaoh. Afterwards, Pharaoh proclaimed Joseph to be second-in-command in Egypt and arranged for Joseph to marry Asenath. During a famine in Canaan, Jacob kept Benjamin home and sent his others sons to Egypt to buy grain. Joseph recognized his brothers without his brothers recognizing him. Joseph questioned his brothers, and kept them in custody 3 days, and commanded them to return to Canaan and bring their youngest brother to Egypt. Moreover, Joseph kept Simeon imprisoned in Egypt. As the famine continued, Jacob sent his sons, including Benjamin, to Egypt to buy more grain. Joseph identified himself to his brothers, and told them to bring their families, with Jacob, to Egypt. Pharaoh also gave Joseph hospitable commands for Joseph's family. Sometime after 130-year-old Jacob arrived in Egypt, Jacob made Joseph vow to bury his body in Canaan, the Promised Land, and Jacob proclaimed Joseph and Asenath's sons Manasseh and Ephraim to be his own sons. Sometime after born 147-year-old Jacob died, and Joseph and his siblings were dead, their descendants the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt. Miriam and her younger brothers Aaron and Moses were born into the tribe of Levi. When Moses was 80 years old and Aaron was 83, the Lord God sent them to speak to the Israelite elders and Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. After the Lord God brought the 10th and final plague upon Pharaoh and Egypt, Moses and Aaron led the Israelites, and those with them, away from Egypt, across the divinely parted Red Sea, and into the desert wilderness of Shur. Months thereafter, in the desert wilderness of Sinai, in the region of Mount Sinai, the Israelites heard the voice of the Lord God proclaim the Ten Commandments to them, and the Lord God began giving Moses judgments, statutes and laws for the Israelites, the treasured and chosen people of the Lord God. The Lord God commanded that after the Israelites began living in the Promised Land, the firstfruits of the land, the 1st crops harvested, were to be brought to the house of the Lord. When Moses was upon Mount Sinai with the Lord God for 40 days and nights, the Lord God told Moses that only Aaron and Aaron's sons and the sons born to their descendants were to serve the Lord God as priests. Initially, the priests performed their duties at the tabernacle, and the Israelites brought their offerings to the tabernacle. The Israelites were commanded to bring a specified amount of their firstfruits to the priests. On the day specified, the priest was to wave the offering before the Lord God, and the Israelite was required to offer an unblemished male lamb and other offerings. If an Israelite wanted to bring a grain offering of their firstfuits, the grain had to be from particular corn prepared according to the laws that the Lord God gave to Moses. The Lord God told Aaron that Aaron and his sons, daughters and descendants were to eat the offerings that were not burned in fire upon the altar of burnt offering. During the 40-year journey to the Promised Land, Miriam died and was buried in Kadesh in the desert wilderness of Zin. Upon Mount Hor, 123-year old Aaron died and was buried. Shortly thereafter, Moses began speaking his final messages to the Israelites and told them the words they were to declare when they brought their firstfuits to the priests. When 120-year-old Moses went upon Mount Nebo, the Lord God showed Moses the Promised Land, and Moses died and was divinely buried. Joshua, Moses' successor  from the tribe of Ephraim, led the Israelites across the divinely parted Jordan River and onto the land that the Lord God promised to give to Jacob, and Isaac, and to Isaac's father Abraham (Abram the Hebrew), and their descendants. Over 300 years after 110-year-old Joshua died and was buried in his tribe's portion of the Promised Land, Solomon, the 2nd child born to King David and Bathsheba, became the 3rd king to reign over all of the Israelites. In Jerusalem, Solomon built the temple of the Lord, and the Lord God identified the temple as the place he had chosen as a house of sacrifice. From thenceforth, the Israelites brought their offerings to the temple. Over 900 years after Rehoboam, the son born to Solomon and Naamah, became the 4th king to reign over all of the Israelites, Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, was born. Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary, a virgin, and Jesus was born into the tribe of Judah to Mary and her husband Joseph when Mary was a virgin. Approximately 30 years after Jesus was born to Joseph and Mary, Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River by Mary's relative John the Baptist, from the tribe of Levi. Jesus having prayed, the heavens tearing open, the Holy Spirit descended as a dove and lit Jesus. The Lord God in heaven audibly acknowledged his Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert wilderness. Jesus fasted for 40 days and nights and was tempted. Afterwards, Jesus was tended to by angels, and Jesus went to the area near John the Baptist, and John the Baptist proclaimed Jesus to be the Lamb of God taking away the sin of the world. In Galilee, Jesus told specific Israelite men to follow him, and Jesus began to preach, teach and perform miracles among the Israelites, the treasured and chosen people of the Lord God. Less than 3 1/2 years after Jesus was baptized, Jesus was betrayed, arrested, crucified, buried in a tomb, resurrected, seen by over 500 people, and returned to heaven. Several years thereafter, the apostle Paul (Saul) was divinely inspired to write a letter to believers in Corinth and everywhere that revealed Jesus the Christ to be the firstfruit.-Genesis 11:26-50:26, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers 20:1-29, 27:12-23, Deuteronomy 31:1-30, 32:44-52, 34:1-12, Joshua 1:1-4:24, 23:1-24:33, Judges 1:1-2:23, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles 1:1-34, 2:1-3:24, 6:1-81, 7:20-29, 10:1-29:30, 2 Chronicles, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts 1:1-26

Reference Information:
firstfruits = resit/reshith = rosh = beginning, the first, chief

sheaf = omer = amar = a heap, a dry measure

Reference Scriptures:

Thou shalt not delay to offer the first of thy ripe fruits, and of thy liquors: the firstborn of thy sons shalt tho fiu give unto me. Likewise shalt thou do with thine oxen, and with thy sheep: seven days it shall be with his dam: on the eighth day thou shalt give it me.-Exodus 22:29-30

But when ye go over Jordan, and dwell in the land which the LORD your God giveth you to inherit, and when he giveth you rest from all your enemies round about, so that ye dwell in safety; Then there shall be a place which the LORD your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there; thither shall ye bring all that I command you; your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which ye vow unto the LORD:-Deuteronomy 12:10-11

And this shall be the priest's due from the people, from them that offer a sacrifice, whether it be ox or sheep; and they shall give unto the priest the shoulder, and the two cheeks, and the maw. The firstfruit also of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the first of the fleece of thy sheep, shalt thou give him. For the LORD thy God hath chosen him out of all thy tribes, to stand to minister in the name of the LORD, him and his sons for ever.-Deuteronomy 18:3-5

Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.-Proverbs 3:9-10

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