God's 3 Great Harvests
In Bible days, the Israelites harvested 3 harvests each year, refraining from harvesting only every 7th and 50th year. The 3 harvests are the barley harvest, wheat harvest, and fruit harvest (grapes, olives, figs, etc.). These 3 harvests paint a picture of God’s plan for humanity, as we’ll soon see! They broadcast His plan to “bring many children to glory” (Heb. 2:10). The first harvest, the barley harvest, commenced with the first sickle swing each spring at the Feast of Unleavened Bread. We can deduce this from the fact that the plague of hail pulverized Egypt’s barley crop “in the bud” before Passover (Ex. 9:31) combined with God’s instructions to bring the firstfruits of the harvest before Him as an offering at the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Lev. 23:10-11). On Pentecost (also called Shavuot or the Feast of Weeks), God commanded the Israelites to bring another offering of firstfruits (Lev. 23:17) — the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, as we are told in Ex. 34:22. Jer. 8:20 shows u...