1.  A lot of folks watching for Jesus want to take the idea of the first fruits of a harvest to think in terms of when Jesus might soon come for us.  

For the body of Christ, because we are in union with God, God has instead given to us of His First Fruits, the Holy Spirit.  The "presentation" is in the reverse of men offering up to God.  

When we get our new bodies and thereby finally being enabled to start experiencing the Father and the Son in fullness, along with our getting taken home, that that will be a fulfillment, or complete harvest from God to us, if you will, of that original Divine First Fruits.  You see this in Romans 8:23:  "We who have already received the first fruits of the Spirit also inwardly groan as we passionately long to experience our full status as God's sons and daughters - including our physical bodies being transformed.  For this is the hope of salvation."  (from the Passion Translation New Testament).

I believe, as I expressed in my prior posts, that we might all be gone by Pentecost.  And yes, a first fruits of spring-planted wheat in the form of loaves is to be waved before God.  However, for what is coming up, those loaves do not represent us this time around.  Those point to a future, full harvest, and this time during the upcoming judgment years.  Why do I lean this way?  Because those Pentecost loaves are made of leaven and cannot be given to God upon His altar in fire.  They were accepted as a first fruits offering, yes, but would be instead consumed by the priests and their families.  When we go home, we will be exploding with rivers of living water flowing out of us, the Holy Spirit, our capacity to live out the true righteousness of God.  We are unleavened already (see I Cor. 5:7), totally accepted in the Beloved (Eph. 1:4).

We are Jesus' long, awaited for, intimate companion.  I do not think any woman in a marriage relationship would be touched by the idea that her husband sees her in terms of a farmer's harvest crop.

2.  Nehemiah 11:1 shows how some folks, after the walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt, had the option to live in the city itself along with the leaders who were going to reside there.  I speculate from this that, once we get home, we will have the freedom/option to live in the holy city near the Throne of God.  Off and on I will try to glean insights from what I think are possibly credible accounts of Near Death Experiences.  It is possible some of us might even get to live in the Throne Room itself if we desire.

3.  I have pointed out in my prior posts that I am keeping my eye on May 21st this year.  I am also watching June 21st thinking that, what I call the "Adam part" of the body of Christ, might be given new bodies and go home then.  I observe that these two dates, one month apart, are also the starting point and the ending point for the sun as it goes through the Taurus (the Reem) constellation.  The sun, moon and stars are a messaging system.  Perhaps these 30 days will bring a preliminary judgment season.  I wonder if it might be for the US.  I recall how God removed the Children of Israel's leader, Moses, and then 30 days later, after a time of mourning the loss, God instructed Joshua to move forward and carry out the plan of taking the people into their promised land.  I wonder if such might be experienced within the US, with God then instructing Jesus to also move forward in the plan of bringing us all home into our promised land.

4.  I recall the Jewish/Rabbinic traditional understanding that during the wilderness wanderings the men of Israel had to dig graves for themselves on the day before the anniversary of when the nation embraced the 10 spies' bad report prior.  These men would lay in the graves and by morning a number of them were dead (15,000/year?).  This was so that none of their families would become unclean by touching a dead body as they then only to fill the graves.  The traditional teaching included that there was a final group of men who went through the motions but were not dead the following morning.  There was concern they were off in terms of the timing and so repeated the process until the 15th day of the 5th month, Tu B Av.  As I think about this, I realized that "the dead" rising and coming out of their graves was on the 9/10 of Av, not the 15th.  Possibly during the 40+3 days for the Jonah sign, there will be new believers who die and who will be raised on that 9th/10th of Av.  I am not clear on this.  Just putting thoughts to digital paper.

5.  As a teenager, years ago, I went to a very large amusement park in Ohio.  For some of the big rides, I recall standing in line for an hour plus.  I have sometimes wondered since that experience about spending time with Jesus in heaven.  How might it be done?  I do not think there will be lines, but still, how might it take place since I know that I want to be able to hang out with Jesus?  

One activity I want to do with Jesus is ride on separate buffalos within a 10,000 plus herd that is stampeding.  I think Jesus would enjoy doing that with me.  The Father could easily set it up.  He might even work it out for me to surprise Jesus with the activity.  I also do want a full life review but I want it only between me and Jesus.  That will involve time as well.  I like what is in the scriptures about Solomon's time with the Queen of Sheba where it is says that she spoke with him about everything that was in her heart and that Solomon answered all of her questions (I Kings 10).  No insight or wisdom was withheld from Solomon in answering her.  That is a type/shadow of Jesus with each of us.

Over time, I think the Holy Spirit has given me a clue about each of us being able to spend extensive time with Jesus.  I think it relates to what Jesus was referring to as there being many dwelling places.  As Americans we tend to think of only big houses.  I am thinking that "time" is only a play thing for God.  Jesus is quite capable of taking one second of time, divide it into 2 million parts, and then have a separate time line flow from each piece.  This means you and I can spend one on one time with Jesus for a year or more and then when we come back into the original time line, only one second will have gone by.  I might be able to, per the Holy Spirit's leading, coach others on how to enter their individualized, timeline-isolated, garden-like, "dwelling place" whenever they find a genuine desire arising within their hearts to spend one on one time with Jesus.  That would be a very cool "ministry" in heaven.  So, when you get home, keep this idea in mind.  "With God, all things are possible."

6.  The more I think about Pentecost, the more I think it is indeed the Feast for us, though lined up with the 9th/10th of Av as I wrote about prior.  

I think about being a farmer in the land of Israel with a vineyard.  I am heading to Jerusalem for that feast.  Yes, there will be drinking to celebrate God's party with others about His bountiful provision (that reason alone tells me the second gathering of men in Israel takes place at Pentecost and not Shavuot).

So, as a vineyard owner, I will be taking wine skins full of new wine.  I will likely have on hand wine skins I used the last time but they will not work.  They have already been stretched to their limit.  Nor longer supple, not capable of stretching.  They are "old". (Hint, hint you who are 50 years old plus). Those "skins" are not capable of holding the effects of the new wine even if they wanted to be.  I will need new skins filled with the new wine to present to the priests (God) as part of my first fruits offering on Pentecost.  

Again, new skins are necessary for my appearance before God at Jerusalem for Pentecost.

Our mortal bodies are not capable of handling a fuller manifestation of the Spirit.  We will get new ones.  But when?

Jesus told  his disciples during the last supper that He would not drink of the fruit of the vine until He did so with them in His Father's kingdom.  He said this in the springtime.  He used a word "new" referring to the wine.  It is the Greek word Kainos which includes the meaning of new and fresh.  The word is used in Mark 2:22 to also describe wineskins.  Jesus is pointing to new wine that He will use.

When is new wine presented to God? and then the rest enjoyed by the people?

God bless.