BARLEY
THE FIRST HARVEST GRAIN Taken from the book "The SPIRITUAL ROOTS of BARLEY" by Dr. Mary Ruth Swope, published in 1988 ".......The biblical record for this root is Leviticus 23:10-12......In this chapter, Moses is receiving very specific instructions from the Lord God Jehovah......That sheaf from the first crop to ripen every year was made up of leaves and fruits of barley...... GOD'S HEALTH PLAN Being the creator, God knew what many seem to have forgotten or ignored: that He designed all creatures with self-renewing systems that work perfectly only when supplied with nutrition according to His plan. It is clear that His plan was for us to eat a varied selection of grains, nuts, seeds, legumes, fruits and vegetables. Within each of these categories God has purposefully provided a wide variety of nutrients. In vegetables for example, the part we eat may be the leaf, stem, flower, fruit, seed, tuber, bulb or root. Surely God's supply of food is a 'fearfully and wonderfully made' as are the ones for whom it was created! We tend to think of food as primarily fuel - like gasoline in a car. But a closer look reveals God designed food for three purposes: besides supplying energy for action, food becomes part of our bodies as it is used to build tissue; it is also intended to maintain the organism by regulating a myriad of body processes in the cells, tissues, and organs throughout life. Thus, our cells are actually built up (or torn down) by the food we eat, digest, and assimilate. In fact, the very processes of life are regulated by the organic chemicals found in food. fresh food and pure water are, of course, the best sources of these...... When God created us from the 'dust of the earth,' He provided for that renewal process by giving us food from the earth that contained all the nutrients needed for renewal. Being a perfect God, He designed barley perfectly to accomplish these purposes. He knew that our bodies would maintain themselves in an ongoing state of health if we obeyed His instructions about what to put (and what not to put) into them. We will see that His instructions include a strong emphasis on barley as part of His health plan...... MISSING GOD'S PLAN Modern food-marketing has resulted in our eating less and less of the food from the earth required for the God-given process of growth, maintenance and renewal......Ask yourself how God's design for health and healing through renewal can proceed unhindered if we ignore the foods we're instructed to feed on in our User's manual (Holy Scripture), and insist on loading our systems instead with substances they were never designed to handle. The Bible shows us that not following God's plan always has its price......Prov.1:29-31...... How then shall we recover from the nutritional crisis we have brought about by neglecting God's advice on how to eat?.....For sound nutritional counsel and Godly wisdom, let's turn to the Lord who made heaven and earth - the one who designed our bodies and understands our metabolisms!...... PRACTICAL TRUTHS ABOUT BARLEY ......I want to introduce you to some practical truths that interested me as I studied about barley. I believe God's providence is clearly seen in these facts. In our country barley is sown in November and harvested in April. Barley is the first grain to ripen in the spring; wheat is next and it takes 4-6 weeks longer to mature. It ripens without the aid of all the 'latter rains.' This is significant and will be referred to later. Its vibrant growth offered the ancient people, especially, a new sign...of new life in the spring - a sign of hope. It brought a new taste appeal to the meals of the ancient people whose winter diets were often measured in both types and amounts of food. The barley crop was a revelation of God's faithfulness; His immutable ways were displayed in each year's new crops. It grew wild for hundreds of years and was plentiful; it was also plentiful after it became a cultivated crop. Barley was cheap to buy; everyone could afford it. It is hardy; it thrives in high altitudes and northern climatic conditions. It resists disease. It is not attacked by bugs, molds, fungi, or worms, which abound later and in warmer climates. It is thought to be the first cereal cultivated by man. Grains found in Egypt have been tagged as 5,000 years old. Regrettably, in america 65 percent is used in animal feed and another large proportion goes into brewing beer and ale. ALKALINITY ......Barley grows very well in alkaline soil, so it comes as no surprise that the green leaves of barley test, in the laboratory, as one of the most alkaline of all natural foods. Spinach is its next rival in alkalinity but is only about 40 percent as alkaline as Barley Green, for example. It is well known in medical circles that many diseases thrive in an acid-medium; only a few can survive an alkaline pH. Recently an M.D. made the statement that the pH of the average American is 5.4 instead of the ideal 7.35-7.45. Why is this? Our systemic acid condition may be attributed to our high intake of meat (beef, pork, veal, chicken, turkey, etc.), high sugar and soft-drink consumption and excessive consumption of preserved foods. This puts us outside of God's design for our optimal functioning. Many Americans are plagued, therefore, with unhealthy bodies due to this....." Dr. Mary Ruth Swope (expert nutritionist) continues in her book giving the wonderful benefits of Barley as pertaining to chlorophyll, enzymes, protein, vitamins and minerals, and then continues in chapter two with: PERFECTION: Barley, Type of the Perfect Sacrifice "Anyone with a nutritional science background can look at the analysis of green barley leaves and be amazed at the near-perfect balance among the nutrients. But as a Christian, my desire was to understand the biochemical structure, and the function of this food within the context of God's overall design, for only then would the essential purpose of its nearly perfect configuration come into true perspective...... From the beginning of Israel's history as a nation and right down to the present say, barley is the sheaf used as the Offering of the Firstfruits in the Feast of the Passover. Of course, the basic requirements of an offering is that it be 'perfect, without spot or stain.' Barley, due to its early maturation, is almost completely free of the pets and infestations other crops are plagued with. Thus, it is naturally perfect......" Dr. Swope goes on to recount how she came to read Lev.23:9-11 and then 1 Cor.15:20 and saw how Scripture links the firstfruits, barley, with our saviour, Jesus Christ. Then she realized that we as Christians are a "kind of firstfruits of all He created" (James 1:18, NIV). With all this in mind Dr. Swope started an in-depth study of the Feasts of Israel. Here in part is what she wrote as we continue in her book. THE FEASTS OF ISRAEL "There are three major feasts of the Lord in Israel, with a total of seven celebrations within the three......Here are some general facts about all the feasts: They are God's idea - not man's; and God expects obedience from every participant. God want to meet man on His terms, to accomplish His purpose in their lives. The times and seasons for the feasts are very specific and unvarying, as are the directions for the specific celebrations and sacrifices in each feast. These are holy days, a time for renewed commitment to a holy life, renouncing sin,idolatry, and immorality. Gentiles can attend, but only if they are believers..... Offering of Firstfruits was a part of each feast: Passover: the firstfruits of the barley are offered at the barley harvest in the Spring. Pentecost: the firstfruits of wheat are offered 50 days after Passover. Tabernacles: the firstfruits of orchard and vineyard are offered in the fall of the year. .......I believe that what the Lord was really looking for in all these feasts and offerings was a people that would acknowledge that He was their Lord and their God and that they were willing to obey Him even to the smallest detail. He still desires that in us today as we receive His sacrifice in Jesus and obey the Holy Spirit's urging to 'grow up' in Christ and to walk as Jesus walked.....The link between the spiritual and natural events was a primary focus of each feast. And it is the most important fact to remember in relation to barley. There is every reason to expect the spiritual and the natural to work together when we walk in obedience to god's design for our sustenance and restoration. He perfects us as we obey Him. OFFERING THE FIRSTFRUITS Now that we have had an overview of the feasts of Israel, let us focus on barley itself as the firstfruits of the barley harvest......This was the crop that, in God's perfect will, would renew and restore both His people and their animals after the long winter of nutritionally meager foods. It would strengthen them by cleansing accumulated internal toxins, poisons and metabolic ashes...... Another point for meditative consideration: we are, through our union with Christ, a firstfruits people ourselves......Both Paul (in Galatians 6:7,8) and James, the brother of our Lord, (in James 1:14-18) warn us that we will reap what we sow. If we sow a crop of disobedience to God's law in the realm of nutrition and health, we're not likely to make a very perfect or lively sacrifice, are we? We won't even be in fighting condition when the enemy tries to steal a march on us! The lusts of the body will cause us to reap a harvest of destruction, as Scripture warns us. If, on the other hand, we are willing to sow good seed to our bodies, eating what is not only physically but spiritually good for us, we will reap a double blessing. Our bodies will be perfected as a suitable temple for the living God, and we will be in excellent condition should attack come from our enemies.....And like barley, we will be available and nourishing to those around us. GOD'S SPECIAL 'BARLEY PEOPLE' This brought forth another idea: it is easy to see for ourselves that among professing Christians there are several distinct levels of commitment to discipleship. As one pastor said, there are curious disciples, convicted disciples, and committed disciples. I can see how these types can be compared to various grains. For example. let's take rye first and compare it to being a curious disciple. This type of 'inferior wheat,' as it is often called, is not the find that is in great demand. It is easily threshed, but it comes to harvest later than the other grains, for it requires all of the 'latter rains' in order to mature. Then there is wheat - the grain that is called the staff of life. It is always threshed and ground before it can be best used. It can take being whipped, flailed, and tossed about without damage. It is even ground by being bruised, crushed and reduced to powder. The wheat people make up the greater portion of the consumed grain. They represent the convicted disciples who are the real backbone of Christianity. Now comes the best for last. God has a small group of barley people, I believe, who truly are the committed ones. Exodus 21:5 describes these bondslaves as those who love their master so much that they want to become a volunteer permanent slave. They are the ones who only require winnowing - being fanned, as opposed to beaten, by a current of air to separate the chaff from the grain. These barley people just need to be exposed to the wind of the Holy Spirit to have the waste material fall off and be blown away. No heavy bruising, repeated striking or grinding as in the case of the other grains. The barley people have always shown superior character qualities. They too thrive in cold climates, unfriendly circumstances, without lots of rain, and they resist the conditions of disease and filth in their environment. They want to be pure, holy, righteous - yes, even perfect as is their heavenly Father...... PERFECTION DESIGNED INTO THE STRUCTURE OF BARLEY .......We have learned that God's way of protecting us is to perfect us. In looking at the principle of cell selection.... nutrition according to God's plan protects our health by perfecting our cell structure. How is this accomplished in the case of barley? Barley grain has been shown by chemical analysis to contain 67 percent carbohydrates and 12 percent protein; scientists today consider this to be the perfect balance for human nutrition. Because of its early maturation and hardiness, barley grass requires no artificial fertilizers, herbicides, or pesticides...... Barley grows in alkaline soil, so the concentrate of its leaves tests out as one of the most alkaline of foods...... It is clear when we look into these aspects of perfection built into barley that God's nature is written not just into His Word, but into His very creation...... GIVING OURSELVES TO GOD Now let's look at what the Bible has to tell us about offering the firstfruits, since we are to be a Firstfruits people in Christ: The giving of the firstfruits is in obedience to a direct command from God: 'The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the Lord thy God' (Exodus 23:19). There is an urgency to bringing your firstfruits: 'Thou shalt not delay to offer the first....unto me' (Exodus 22:29). We are not to allow other matters, even eating, to keep us from offering our first and best to God: 'When ye are come into the land....you shall eat neither bread....until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God' (Leviticus 23:10-14). God expects the offering to be the best you have to give: 'All the best....they shall offer unto the Lord' (Numbers 18:12). We are to give where our gifts will be properly used to feed the people spiritually - or even physically, if needs be: '(he) brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits....And he said, Give unto the people, that they may eat' (2 Kings 4:42). I hope you have been as nourished as I have by this 'feast' of exciting and edifying firstfruit truths. For our final course, let us pursue the link between the natural and spiritual even more deeply. For that, as we saw, is the main focus of the feasts. PRINCIPLES OF SACRIFICE ......the fulfilment of the feasts is in Jesus Christ, the Passover Lamb, who brings heaven and earth together. It is Jesus who, through His sacrificial death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven, completed the cycle of atonement. And it is that atoning work that enables us believers to come to the feast, bringing ourselves as an offering. This is ultimately the only kind of offering God is interested in...... The significance of the Offering of Firstfruits can be summed up in the words of Devin Conner when he said: 'So we may say that as the sheaf (Christ) was accepted before Jehovah for Israel (the true believers of all ages, actually) and Israel (the true Church of Jesus Christ) was accepted of Jehovah in that sheaf, so Christ is accepted before God for us and we accepted of God in Christ.' .......As Saint Paul wrote to the Corinthians: 'But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at His coming. Then cometh the end, when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power' (1 Corinthians 15:20-24). Again and again in the New Testament we see how the Lord Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of all the truth symbolized in the firstfruits, and more specifically as the sheaf that was offered on behalf of all. He is the 'first-begotten' of the Father (Hebrews 1:6). He is the 'firstborn' of Mary (Matthew 1:23-25). He is the 'first-begotten (born) of the dead (Revelation 1:5; Colossians 1:15,18) He is the 'firstborn among many brethren' (Romans 8:29) He is the 'firstfruits' of the resurrected (1 Corinthians 15:23). THE PERFECT SACRIFICE Jesus Christ is indeed the first, the choicest, and the preeminent 'Most Holy One,' sanctified by the Father. He is the sheaf of the firstfruits which....barley represent in the Festival of the Firstfruits......" Here we end the quotes from Dr. Mary Ruth Swope's book "The Spiritual Roots of Barley." ............................... Written and compiled by Keith Hunt in April 2000
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