4 'These are the appointed times of the Lord , holy convocations which you shall proclaim at the times appointed for them 5 ' In the first month , on the fourteenth e day of the month at twilight is the Lord'S Passover . 6 'Then on the fifteenth e day of the same month there is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord ; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread . 7 'On the first day you shall have a holy convocation ; you shall not do any laborious work . 8 'But for seven days you shall present an offering by fire to the Lord . On the seventh day is a holy convocation ; you shall not do any laborious work .' " 9 Then the Lord spoke to Moses , saying , 10 "Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, 'When you enter the land which I am going to give to you and reap its harvest , then you shall bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest . 11 'He shall wave the sheaf before the Lord for you to be accepted ; on the day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. 12 'Now on the day when you wave the sheaf , you shall offer a male lamb one year old without defect for a burnt offering to the Lord . 13 'Its grain offering shall then be two-tenths e of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil , an offering by fire to the Lord for a soothing aroma , with its drink offering , a fourth of a hin of wine . 14 'Until this same day , until you have brought in the offering of your God , you shall eat neither bread nor roasted grain nor new growth . It is to be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Leviticus 23:4-14
Commentary on Leviticus 23:4-14
(Read Leviticus 23:4-14)
The feast of the Passover was to continue seven days; not idle days, spent in sport, as many that are called Christians spend their holy-days. Offerings were made to the Lord at his altar; and the people were taught to employ their time in prayer, and praise, and godly meditation. The sheaf of first-fruits was typical of the Lord Jesus, who is risen from the dead as the First-fruits of them that slept. Our Lord Jesus rose from the dead on the very day that the first-fruits were offered. We are taught by this law to honour the Lord with our substance, and with the first-fruits of all our increase, Proverbs 3:9. They were not to eat of their new corn, till God's part was offered to him out of it; and we must always begin with God: begin every day with him, begin every meal with him, begin every affair and business with him; seek first the kingdom of God.