The Feast of Firstfruits, by Kelly Irvin
Does your Bible show two feasts in Leviticus 23 — a "Feast of Firstfruits" and a "Feast of Weeks"? One of them isn't there. Here's what the text actually says.
This presentation examines what makes an annual Holy Day a Holy Day by God's own definition, why Passover and the wave sheaf offering don't meet that standard, and why the name "Feast of Firstfruits" belongs to Pentecost — not to the wave sheaf Sunday inside the Days of Unleavened Bread.
Topics covered:
— The three criteria every annual Holy Day carries: rest, holy assembly, and prescribed offering — The 7+7 structure of Leviticus 23: seven Holy Days within seven broader Festivals and Memorials — Why Passover is a holy event but not a Holy Day — What Leviticus 23: 9–14 actually commands — and what it doesn't — The 50-day harvest season from the wave sheaf to Pentecost — Four names in Scripture for one feast: Pentecost, Feast of Weeks, Feast of Harvest, Day of Firstfruits — Why there is no New Covenant observance commanded for the wave sheaf day — Christ as the once-for-all fulfillment of the wave sheaf (1 Corinthians 15: 20)
Key scriptures referenced: Leviticus 23: 5–22 · Numbers 28: 26 · Exodus 34: 22 · Exodus 23: 16 · Acts 1: 3 · John 20: 17 · 1 Corinthians 11: 24–25 · 1 Corinthians 15: 20, 23 · Colossians 1: 15, 18 A detailed reference document with full scripture citations, Hebrew terminology, and footnotes is available for personal study. It covers the miqra qodesh criterion, the historical debate over the omer count, and the New Covenant fulfillment of the wave sheaf in depth. This presentation was prepared for a pre-Pentecost assembly.
Presented by Kelly Irvin, May 23, 2026, at United Church of God in Northwest Arkansas.