1Corinthians 16:1-8 is the last event Paul deals with in his first book to the Corinthian Church. This event concludes the Passover Instructions Paul is giving to this Gentile Christian Church. We have followed Paul through the New Testament view of what Passover means to Christians. -- We have been helped to remove the leaven of sin from our lives. -- We have seen that Christ is Our Passover, and HE has provided Communion between us and our Heavenly Family. --We have rightly judged ourselves and those who are in Fellowship with us in The Church. -- We have received The Bread and The Cup in remembering JESUS' Death and Resurrection.-- Now, we have come to the Barley Harvest at the end of The Passover. Paul encourages Gentile Believers to gather and give from the abundance of The Barley Harvest they will start just after Passover and during The Feast of Unleavened Bread. Barley is a type of The Winter Harvest. In each life will come some cold days, where we see scarcity and where we must hunger and thirst after righteousness. In these times we learn to trust in GOD, and these treasures of golden grain should be shared with those who are also in desperate need.
Lets look more closely at the Barley Harvest and what The Bible Says. See Lev. 23 1. The Barley Harvest sets the start of The Year as the Barley begins to sprout and the green heads come up from the seeds planted the previous Fall. This First Month is Called Abib (New Bud) 2. Barley is unleavened - Barley does not make bread because it does not contain gluten and does not Puff-Up even if leaven gets into the Barley Flour. 3. The Barley Harvest cannot proceed until after The First Fruits Wave Sheath Offering is waved by the Local Priest in each Synagogue. 4. The Wave Offering is done about 9 AM The morning after The Weekly Sabbath (in the 7 Days of The Unleavened Bread Feast) which starts the 50 Day Count to Pentecost. 5. The First Fruits Barley Sheath Harvest and Wave Offering is a work day and NOT a Sabbath Day. 6. Once the Wave Offering is done, the Barley Harvest begins and the First Tenth (Tithe) is brought into the local storehouse. 7. The remaining 9 tenths is harvested and used to serve the needs of each farmer. He can give free will and thanksgiving offerings from this.
Paul is requesting The Corinthian Farmers to gather some of their harvest and give it to the Jews in Jerusalem, who are suffering from famine.
From the activities involved with The Barley Harvest, we can see Paul is not talking about a Sunday Meeting Collection Service, but he is encouraging each Christian to give from the blessings we have been Feasting upon - as we grow and mature in Christ.
The Passover Feast includes The 7 Days of Unleavened Bread: During these 7 days, was a Weekly Sabbath. The day after that Weekly Sabbath the First-fruits offering of Barley was waved. This event Marked The RESURRECTION of JESUS. The Resurrection occurred on The First Day of the 50 day count toward Pentecost. This day is ‘The First of The Weeks’ or literally ‘First of The Sabbaths.’ This phrase is mentioned 7 times in The New Testament. 1Cor 16:2 is the 7th and perhaps the most informative of these 7 verses:
