Who are the firstfruits in resurrection?
Christ and the Jewish saints resurrected right after Him comprise the resurrection firstfruits. They form the sheaf or sampling of the coming harvest. Christ alone would have been the singular firstfruit, but the plural firstfruits includes those raised with Him. Church-age saints are not part because that event already occurred.
Les explains that Christ was the first to be resurrected from the dead, something that had never happened before. After His resurrection, these Jewish saints could come forth and complete what he calls the sheaf pictured in Leviticus, completing the plural word “firstfruits.” The feast day of firstfruits required not just one stem of grain but many stems, all a sampling of the crop to come, gathered into a sheaf and taken to the priest. Therefore, Les teaches that the Jewish saints resurrected right after Christ comprise, with Him, the firstfruits. He connects this to 1 Corinthians 15:23, where every man is resurrected within his own company. Church-age saints are not resurrected with the Old Testament saints and are not part of the firstfruits, because that has already happened. The harvest pattern is firstfruits taken as a sampling, then the main harvest, then the gleanings last.