“Now this is what you shall do to them to consecrate them to minister as priests to Me: take one young bull and two rams without blemish, 2 and unleavened bread and unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers spread with oil; you shall make them of fine wheat flour.
(Exo 29:1-2)
First of all, please understand we are not attempting to persuade or change anyone’s mind. We do attempt to cause folks to examine what each one believes and how each one walks based on a clear understanding of The Word, and not just following tradition or a traditional interpretation of The Scriptures. One of the things Rhonda and I have wrestled for ourselves since Father brought us into the realization that some things we were taught might need to be questioned is the truth that we need to ‘question’ and verify and clarify everything by The Word. Since ‘tradition does not equal Truth’, we not only had to begin to examine our former traditions and practices based on The Word, we also knew that, employing ‘equal weights and measures’, we must also examine the traditions of the HR/Messianic/Restoration camp by The Word as well.
With that said, where does The Word mandate ‘barley’ for any offering except as ‘a memorial/reminder of sin’ in Numbers 5 (Numbers 5:15)? We find it interesting that Yeshua came to destroy sin, to crush the head of the serpent, to redeem and ransom His people, to bring them out of Egypt and drink the cup for His bride. What was destroyed in the days leading up to the Exodus? The barley was destroyed. The wheat was not. The wheat is brought into the barn. It does not mention barley being put into the barn. Leviticus 23:17 speaks of the first fruits (habikkurim) offering being of ‘fine flour’. Fine flour is a reference to wheaten flour (soleth chittim) – Exodus 29:2. And, from a practical standpoint, any baker will explain that you cannot turn a coarse, rough grain such as barley into fine flour.
Tradition says we cannot have Passover if the barley is not ripe/ripening and therefore the celebration must be postponed until the next month. The Word says the lights in the heavens determine the dates/days. Tradition says the first fruits offering (HaBikkurim – Pentecost/Shavuot) must be barley. The Word makes not reference to barley in that regard.
Barley is mentioned only four times in the first five books of The Bible. Only one of those ‘mentions’ is in reference to an offering, the offering that is a reminder of sin, that thing Yeshua came to destroy. What was destroyed when we were redeemed out of ‘Egypt’? Barley.
The Gospels tell us of an incident between Yeshua and a young lad who had five loaves and two fish. John describes the loaves as barley. The number ‘5’ depicts grace and redemption. When we see the number ‘2’ we immediately think of two sticks, two donkeys and the two loaves at Shavuot. If the young man’s loaves were actually barley, then the picture should be clear. Yeshua is feeding (for He is the bread come down from heaven) His people (the two sticks, etc) with His grace and redemption. Why barley? As a reminder of the sin that is being destroyed. Why fish? Yes, Yeshua came to make us ‘fishers of men’, but we, His people, are are also referred to as fish. In Genesis 48:16, when Jacob is blessing the two sons of Joseph, he prophecies that they will grow into a multitude. The word and phrase used there (larob veyidgu) can be translated as ‘to increase as fishes do’. How can we flourish? Sin is destroyed. When did that process begin? Passover. For Christ our Passover has been slaughtered. He is The Door and the only Way by which and through which we enter the Kingdom.
Just something to consider . . . Shalom
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