Verse: Leviticus 23:17 You shall bring from your dwelling places two loaves of bread to be waved, made
of two tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour, and they shall be baked with leaven, as firstfruits
to the LORD. ESV
Read Messiah in the Feasts of Israel pp. 89-99
The two wave loaves.
YHWH expressly forbade the offering of grain to be mixed with leaven.
Leviticus 2:11
"No grain offering that you bring to the Lord shall be made with leaven, for you shall burn no
leaven nor any honey as a food offering to the Lord.” ESV
Yet, God required that the two wave loafs offered at the Feast of Weeks (Shavout or Pentecost) were to
be made of fine flour baked with leaven. The offerings were waved (presented) before the Lord, not
burned (consumed).
The wave loaves were leavened.
From The Temple, its Ministry and Services by Alfred Edersheim
“Contrary to the common rule of the Sanctuary, these loaves were leavened,
which, as the Mishnah, informs us (Men. v. 1), was the case in all thank-
offerings…
“Let it be remembered that these two loaves, with the two lambs that formed
part of the same wave-offering, were the only public peace-and thank-
offerings of Israel; that they were accompanied by burnt- and sin-offerings;
and that, unlike ordinary peace-offerings, they were considered as most
holy.' Hence they were leavened, because Israel's public thank-offerings,
even the most holy, are leavened by imperfectness and sin, and they need a
sin-offering. This idea of a public thank-offering was further borne out by
all the services of the day. First, the two lambs were waved' while yet
alive; that is, before being made ready for use. Then, after their sacrifice,
the breast and shoulder, or principal parts of each, were laid beside the two loaves, and waved…
“Not only were the loaves baked with leaven, the offering was considered to be “most holy”. This public
peace offering was the only peace offering to be “most holy”. Peace offerings might also be rendered
“the offering of completion” as they always followed all other sacrifices. “This was indeed, a season of
happy fellowship with the Covenant God, in which he condescended to become Israel’s Guest at the
sacrificial meal, even as He was always their Host” ( ). “It is this sacrifice which is so frequently referred
to in the book of Psalms as the grateful soul justified and accepted before God. (Psalm 51:17; 54:6;
56:12; 116:17, 18).”
Peace offerings picture sharing a meal with God.
Peace offerings could be either public (national) or private (individual). In the peace offering at Shavuot
the wave offering was public and thus signified that the whole of Israel was complete and at peace with God.
It is the Passover sacrifice of the Lamb of God that makes us holy and acceptable to God, the leaven in
the two loaves shows the condition of our souls. While we are delivered out of Egypt (the land of Sin),
we are still not complete in our maturity “…. until Christ is completely and permanently formed
(molded) within you” (Gal 4:19 AMP). Fifty days after the sacrifice of Jesus, our Messiah, the Holy Spirit
was poured out into the hearts of believers to empower and instruct them in all righteousness. The two
loaves represent the Jews and the Gentiles, the two groups of people that bear witness and benefit from Messiah’s sacrifice.
When we look at the waving of the two loaves with leaven, we see our right standing granted to us
through the sacrifice of the Lamb, and we also see our own mixture and the need we have for God’s
grace to continue to work in our lives to bring us to completion. God has brought us out to bring us in,
and He provides the way for us even when there seems to be no way.
1 John 1:5-10
This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is
no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and
do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with
one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin,
we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to
forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we
make him a liar, and his word is not in us. ESV
There are two first fruits days in the appointed times.
The first day, three days after Passover, speaks of Jesus Christ, our Firstfruits. This occurred at the season of the barley harvest in Israel.
1 Corinthians 15:20
But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. ESV
The second day, 50 days after Passover, speaks of the whole house of Israel, the firstfruits of His atonement. Shavuot occurs at the season of the wheat harvest in Israel, a second crop.
James 1:17-18
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with
whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the
word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of all he created. ESV
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