Who makes up the firstfruits resurrection that is pictured by the sheaf in Leviticus?
The firstfruits resurrection is made up of Christ and the Jewish saints resurrected immediately after Him. Together they form the plural firstfruits pictured by the sheaf in Leviticus, where many grain stems were gathered and presented to the priest as a sampling of the coming harvest.
Les explains that Christ was the first to be resurrected from the dead, something that had never happened before. After His resurrection, these others could come forth and comprise the sheaf indicated in Leviticus, completing the plural word firstfruits. The feast day of firstfruits took not just one stem of grain but many, all a sampling of the crop to come; they were brought together in a sheaf and taken to the priest. Les therefore concludes that the Jewish saints resurrected right after Christ comprise what is called the firstfruits. Church age saints are not part of that firstfruits, because it has already happened; every man is resurrected in his own company. In the harvest process, the firstfruits were taken out first as a sampling, then the main harvest, and finally the gleanings.