Leviticus 23:9 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When you have come into the land which I give to you, and shall reap its harvest, then you shall bring the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. 11 He shall wave the sheaf before Yahweh, to be accepted for you. On the next day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. 12 On the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb without defect a year old for a burnt offering to Yahweh. 13 The meal offering with it shall be two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to Yahweh for a pleasant aroma; and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, the fourth part of a hin. 14 You must not eat bread, or roasted grain, or fresh grain, until this same day, until you have brought the offering of your God. This is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
The feast of first fruits is a festival of gratitude and thanksgiving. Because God provides for all of the needs of his people we are to respond by offering the first fruits of our harvest or tithe back to God. In the New Covenant the Apostle Paul refers to Christ as the first fruits of those who were dead. 1 Corinthians 15:20. In other words, Christ was the first to raise from the dead making possible the great harvest of all who will accept his free gift of salvation and be given life.