ance of their enjoying the whole crop from God, and as a mean by which the whole crop was consecrated and sanctified to their use.'* All the first fruits, both of fruit and animals, were consecrated to God.† From the Jewish custom of offering first fruits to Jehovah, the heathen borrowed a similar rite. There were different kinds of first fruits. When the bread in the family was kneaded, a portion was set apart for the priest or Levite of the place; if there were none, it was cast into the oven and consumed.§ Those offerings were often called first fruits, which were brought by the Israelites from devotion, to the temple, for the feasts of thanksgiving. When the wheat harvest was over, i. e. the day of Pentecost, first fruits were again offered of another kind in the name of all the nation, which consisted of two loaves of two tenth-deals, i. e. three pints of flour each, made of leavened dough. Horne presents us with a very animating description of the custom of offering the first fruits, which shows it to have been a very solemn and impressive ceremony. At the beginning of harvest, the sanhedrin deputed a number of priests to go into the fields and reap a handful of the first ripe corn: and these, attended by great crowds of people, went out of one of the gates of Jerusalem into the neighboring cornfields. The first fruits thus reaped were carried with * BURKITT'S Commentary on the First Fruits. Exod. xxii. 29. Numb. xviii. 12, 13. Deut. xxvi. 2. Neh. x. 35, 36. See Pliny, Nat. Hist. lib. xviii. c. 2. Horace, Sat. lib. ii. Sat. v. 12. Tibullus, Eleg. lib. 1. El. i. 13. § Numb. xv. 19—21. great pomp and universal rejoicing through the streets of Jerusalem to the temple. The Jewish writers say that an ox preceded them with gilded horns and an olive crown upon his head, and that a pipe played before them until they approached the city on entering it they crowned the first fruits, that is, exposed them to sight with as much pomp as they could, and the chief officers of the temple went out to meet them. They were then devoutly offered to God in grateful acknowledgment of his providential goodness in giving them the fruits of the earth. These first fruits, or handful of the first ripe grain, gave notice to all who beheld them that the general harvest would soon be gathered in.'* How beautiful and striking is the allusion of the apostle to this religious ceremony. From this, he illustrates the resurrection of Christ, and represents him as the first fruits of a glorious and universal harvest of all the sleeping dead. 'But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept.' The use which the apostle makes of this image is very extensive. 'In the first place, the growing of grain from the earth where it was buried, is an exact image of the resurrection of the body: for, as the one is sown, so is the other, and neither is quickened * 'Although,' says Dr. Lightfoot, the resurrection of Christ, compared with some first fruits, has very good harmony with them; yet especially it agrees with the offering of the sheaf, commonly called omid, not only as to the thing itself, but also as to the circumstances of the time. For, first, there was the pass-over, and the day following was a Sabbath day, and on the day following that, the first fruits were offered. So Christ, our pass-over, was crucified; the day following his crucifixion was the Sabbath; and the day following that, he, the first fruits of them that slept, rose again.' except it first die and be buried. Then the whole harvest, from its relation to the first fruits, explains and ensures the order of our resurrection. For, is the sheaf of the first fruits reaped? then is the whole harvest ready. Is Christ risen from the dead? then shall all rise in like manner. Is he accepted of God as an holy offering? then shall every sheaf that has grown up with him be taken from the earth and sanctified in its proper order:-" Christ the FIRST FRuits, and afterwards they that are Christ's at his coming."'* Every view we take, shows the extreme beauty and force of the imagery employed by the apostle. It will be seen that the passage contains two declarations; the fact of the resurrection of Jesus, and the resurrection of all the dead. The latter, however, by the critic may be considered rather as inferential than as positively established. But if all are not raised, then the illustration brought by the apostle is altogether inappropriate. If the FIRST FRUIT be holy, the lump also is holy.' The apostle everywhere presents the resurrection as a joyful theme; but how can this be, unless universal happiness was connected in his mind with the event? Better let the trump pass silently over the grave of man, than to awaken him to be struck out again from existence, or to be forever * An Introduction to the Scriptures, by Thom. H. Horne, vol. iii. p. 288. Phil. ed. Jones's Works, vol. iii. p. 64. Harwood's Introd. to the New Test. vol. ii. p. 307. Michaelis's Commentaries, vol. iii. pp. 146-149. Beausobre's Introd. to the New Test: (vol. iii. p. 200. of Bishop Watson's Collection of Tracts.) Dr. Lightfoot's Works, vol. i. p. 984. vol. ii. pp. 184, 306, 307. folio edit. Lamy's Apparatus, vol. i. p. 204. Ikenii Antiq. Hebr. part i. c. 15. pp. 210-224. Schulzii Archæol. Hebr. pp. 287–292. Lamy's Apparatus Biblicus, vol. i. pp. 203-206. miserable. But whoever will follow out the apostle in this most consolatory and closely reasoned chapter, will learn that the idea of a judgment day, or of misery of any kind, succeeding the resurrection, was perfectly foreign to his mind; and if not found here, in vain shall we find it in Revelation. How consoling! How grand and elevating! Christ, the first fruits, has arisen from the dead. The harvest must follow! It seems that the offering of the first fruits was always a joyful occasion among the Jews. Calmet says, 'The first fruits were of wheat, barley, grapes, figs, apricots, olives, and dates. Each carried his basket. The rich had gold or silver, the poor had wicker baskets. At Jerusalem, the citizens came out to meet and to salute them. When they arrived at the mountain on which the temple was situated, each one, even the king himself, if he were there, took his basket on his shoulder, and carried it to the court of the priests, the Levites singing, “I will magnify Thee, O Lord, &c. Psal. xxx. If there was so much joy at the gathering in of the fruits of the earth, then how great must be the joy when the grand harvest shall arrive, when all the sleeping dead will come forth, and be gathered into the great garner above! What a joyful theme! My soul longs to revel in the glory now before me. But the subject is overpowering to the mind. We must enter upon the grand scene before we can fully realize its glory and blessedness. XXXI. FORERUNNER. 'Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made a high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.' Heb. vi. 20. THIS is the only instance where this word occurs, though in the Septuagint it is found in Isa. xxviii. 4, where it signifies the first fruits of the fig-tree, or first ripe figs. The word prodromos does not merely signify one that goes or runs before another, but also one who shows the way; he who first does a particular thing; also the first fruits. The application to Jesus is more extensive than might at first be supposed. A reference to the ancient custom of sending forerunners will very much illustrate the passage. See the beautiful allusions of Isaiah. 'The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, "Prepare (even) ye the way of the LORD; Make straight IN THE DESERT a highway for our God. And every mountain and hill shall be lowered; The writer of the apocryphal book of Baruch, makes a fine use of this ancient practice. For God,' says he, 'hath appointed that every high hill, and banks of long continuance, should be cast down, and valleys filled up to make even the ground that Israel may go safely in the glory of God.' |