That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost. Romans 15:16
Although they didn’t realize it, the ancient Jews included the Gentiles in one of their great feasts. I refer to the great feast day in the calendar of the Old Testament Jews known as the Feast of Harvest or the Feast of Weeks. We know it better by its Greek name: Pentecost. Modern-day Jews call it Shavuot. Occurring at the beginning of the wheat harvest, this feast included a special offering, known as the new meat (or meal) offering. It is described in Leviticus 23:17: ‘Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD’. The Jews probably never stopped to wonder why there were two wave loaves in that offering. But Paul tells us why, in today’s text. And it’s great news for us Gentiles.
The timing of the Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost, is highly significant: it occurred exactly 50 days after Feast of Passover in the Jewish calendar. It is no coincidence that the great event in the Christian calendar known as Pentecost, where God poured out His Holy Spirit on the Christians, occurred exactly 50 days after God’s great Passover Lamb, the Lord Jesus, was sacrificed for us at Calvary. In the Old Testament, the Jews who celebrated the Feast of Weeks offered two wave loaves, assuming both were for themselves. But one of them was for the Gentiles all along.
The Gentiles were pretty much shut out of God’s dealings in the Old Testament, although there were many references to them, and many hints of God’s interest in them, including the records of four great Gentile brides: Keturah, Tamar, Rahab, and Ruth. As that second wave loaf tells us, God always had us in mind for blessing. Israel’s rejection of their rightful King at Gabbatha meant that only a remnant of the Jews would serve and follow Him at that time. But it opened up the way for God to grant to the Gentiles their great day of opportunity.
In our text, Paul speaks of the ‘offering up of the Gentiles’. This is a direct reference to the offering of that second wave loaf. For the Gentiles to be brought into the blessing of a relationship with God, somebody had to go and tell them. God gave Peter the key when he directed him to go and preach the Gospel to Cornelius in Acts 10. But the task of being the great pioneer in evangelizing the Gentiles was given to Paul. And we know how well he carried out that responsibility.
You and I are not a part of any second thoughts of God. He always wanted to, and intended to, bless us, as the offering of the second wave loaf reminds us. Isn’t that precious? – Jim MacIntosh