Lifted Offering of the New Covenant
I have given this some thought but I don't think the reference by Paul in I Corinthians 15:23 is necessarily referring to the Wave (Tenufa) offering but to the Terumah (lifted) offering. They are both first fruits offerings (korbanot). Also the scriptural passage about the Wave offering seems to me to be more fitting for the day of the crucifixion when the perfect Lamb of God is offered just like the perfect lamb offered with the Wave offering.
"And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, 'When you come into the land that I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf (omer) of the first (reshit) of your harvest (katzir) to the priest, and he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, so that you may be accepted. On the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. And on the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb a year old without blemish as a burnt offering to the LORD.' (Lev. 23:9-12)"
Terumah as a lifted offering links in my mind more to the Messiah being lifted up in the Resurrection though of course it would also allude to Jesus being lifted up on the Cross and to his lifting up of the bread and wine at the last supper. The mystery of this lifted (terumah) offering is also discussed in Bahir 102 and103 in connection to the Tzadik who is the foundation of the world. In a sense the tenufa (wave) offering is a kind of terumah (lifted first fruits) offering. The Wave offering is lifted up and waved from left to right or right to left thus forming a cross. The left and right movement could allude to the arms of the Messiah on the Cross so the Wave offerings symbolism is more appropriate to the crucifixion whereas the Terumah (heave/ lifted) offering is lifted up and down thus more a symbol of resurrection and the elevation of the bread and wine in the Mass. Hidden in the text of Genesis 1 is the terumah offering counting 26 five times beginning with the tav of bereshit (in the beginning). The mystical understanding of this reshit with terumah is written in Nachmanides commentary linking it with the mystery of the Mother.
The Ramban (Nachmanides) states: "...For the merit aquired by... three things has the world been created: for the merit of challah (Dough), for the merit of Tithes and for the merit of the first fruits (bikkurim)...Reshit surely signifies the Dough-offering, as it is said, 'The first of your dough' [Numbers 15:20]. Reshit surely signifies the Tithes, as it is said, 'the first of thy grain' [Deut.18;4]. Reshit surely signifies the first-fruits, as it is said, 'the first-friuts of thy land' [Exodus 23:19]...""...Now Israel, which is called reshit as mentioned above, is the "Kneset Yisrael", which is compared in the Song of Songs to a bride and whom Scripture in turn calls daughter, sister and mother. The Rabbis have already expressed this in a homiletic interpretation of the verse, 'Upon the crown wherewith his mother has crowned Him [Song of Songs 3:11]', and in other places." Similarly, the verse concerning Moses, 'And he chose a first part for himself' [Deut. 33;21], which they interpret to mean that Moses our teacher comtemplated through a Isparklarya (lucid speculum/ clear crystal mirror or looking glass), and he saw that which is reshit (the first) for himself, and therefore merited the Torah. Thus all the Midrashim above have one meaning...."
In Genesis 1:3 we also see the name Miriam hidden in the text beginning with the final mem of the first mayim in Genesis counting 26 four times. And further down in Genesis 1 we see the same pattern with the name Yeshua.There are three ‘wells’ in the Hebrew Text of Genesis 1 formed by counting 4 x 26 or 5 x 26 for TeRUMaH. YHVH has four letters and YHVH is 26 in Jewish gematria. The five letters of TeRUMaH alludes to the tradition that a letter is missing from the Divine Name. The first subtext well begins with the last letter ‘tav’ of Bereshit (In the Beginning) the first word of Genesis 1 – it spells out TeRUMaH (tav, resh, vav, mem, heh). The second subtext well begins with the last word of Gen1:2 hamayim (the waters) from the last letter ‘mem’- it spells out MiRYaM (mem, resh, yod, mem). The third subtext well begins in the word Elohim in Gen 1: 17 beginning with the ‘yod’ – it spells out YeShUA (yod, shin, vav, ayin). Of course the Zohar and Rebbe Nachman of Breslov allude to this Mother in the context of the Olah (Burnt) Offering as an ascending (olah) fire (aish) offering connected to the mystery of the Isha (woman) of Genesis 3:15.
Our Lady as the Woman (Isha) of Fire (Aish) and Burning Bush
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: [2] Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring firstfruits to me: of every man that offereth of his own accord, you shall take them. [3] And these are the things you must take: gold, and silver, and brass, [4] Violet and purple, and scarlet twice dyed, and fine linen, and goats' hair, [5] And rams' skins dyed red, and violet skins, and setim wood [6] Oil to make lights: spices for ointment, and for sweetsmelling incense: [7] Onyx stones, and precious stones to adorn the ephod and the rational (breastplate). [8] And they shall make me a sanctuary, and I will dwell in the midst of them: [9] According to all the likeness of the tabernacle which I will shew thee, and of all the vessels for the service thereof: and thus you shall make it: [10] Frame an ark of setim wood, the length whereof shall be of two cubits and a half: the breadth, a cubit and a half: the height, likewise, a cubit and a half.[11] And thou shalt overlay it with the purest gold within and without: and over it thou shalt make a golden crown round about.This passage is full of hidden mystical significances regarding the Incarnation and Life, death and Resurrection of the Messiah that manifests in the mystery of the Eucharist as the flesh (basar) of the Messiah who is the Divine Word that tabernacles with men. The events of the Passover Week, Last Supper, Passion and Crucifixion and Resurrection are all one Terumah offering that today we access in every celebration of the Eucharist as a first fruits of the World and Kingdom that is Coming both when the Divine Will shall be done on earth as it is in Heaven (the spiritual Resurrection or Life from the dead mentioned in Romans 11, Ezekiel 37 and Philippians 3:11) and in the final consummation and fulfilment of the Kingdom after the Final Coming, Judgment and Resurrection at the third and final end of time.
The Bahir speaks of those who offer the lifted offering as the tzaddikim (righteous saints) which alludes to the hands of the priests lifting the offering in order to bless and consecrate and the hearts of the lay faithful joining the priests in the offering. This alludes to the Catholic priest lifting up the Eucharistic species in the Mass and in Benediction in union with the heart intentions of the people. This also alludes to the first fruits of celibate male priests mentioned in Revelation 4 who participate in the first fruits resurrection by martyrdom who reign as priests with the Messiah from Heaven through the Eucharistic reign of the Divine Will done on earth as it is in Heaven.
Some writers would hold that Jesus followed the Saducee and Essene reckoning of the counting of the Omer but this would contradict Matthew 23 where Jesus states that the Scribes and Pharisees sit in the Chair or Seat of Moses. Also the dating of these events according to Rebbe Nachman and Breslov would confirm this. Today in a sense the Wave offering and Terumah lifted is combined as one in the lifting up and waving the lulav and etrog on sukkot and in the Catholic Church when the priest lifts the Monstrance (golden vessel for holding the Eucharistic Host) and blesses the people with a cross like movement with the Sacrament. The lulav symbolises the male Messiah and the etrog the heart, womb and breast of the Messiah's mother just as the monstrance symbolises Our Lady and the Sacrament (Eucharisted bread in the Monstrance) is the Messiah's real presence.
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