Barley Cake Blessings

About Gideon:

First a little about barley, because the barley harvest is tied to Gideon.

The three feasts that Israel were to keep, as you all know, was Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. They are archetypes of many different things, but one of the things they represent is the three kinds of harvests that occured at the time of those feasts.

Passover was at the time of barley harvest, the time when the people brought a handful of barley, a first fruits offering to the Lord as a pledge or earnest of the whole harvest to come. The priest would then take it and on the Sunday after Passover wave some of it up and down before the Lord.

When Jesus fed the 5000 it was with five barley loaves and two fishes because it was during the time of Passover. He instructed them to gather all the fragments that nothing remain. We are the firstfruits unto God that is being, and has been, as broken bread to feed the hungry and every part of "these loaves" is gathered together unto Him that no part of us is lost. The fragments are to be taken up....speaking of resurrection life. "And this is the will of Him who sent me, that I should not lose any of all that he has given me; but that I should give them life and raise them all up at the last day." John 6

Pentecost was the time of the wheat harvest.

Tabernacles was the grape harvest.

We are just focusing on the barley for this post...by the way,I just learned that barley is winnowed but wheat has to be threshed, and grapes, of course, have to be crushed. Each one represents an intensified dealing to extract the fruit from each.

So the barley harvest is the firstfruits of the resurrection.

"Blessed and holy is he that has part in the first resurrection..."

"Every man who has this hope, purifieth himself."

We probably are all familiar with the story of how God had Gideon whittle/winnow his army down from thousands to just 300 by taking them down to the 'water'. How they partook of the water determined if they would qualify to be in this army of the Lord.

Gideon was instructed to sneak down near the enemy camp [which was enormous] and he heard a dream that one of them had.
"Behold, I dreamed a dream; and lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of the Midian, and came to the tent and struck it so that it fell, and turned it upside down, so the the tent lay flat.
And his comrade replied, This is nothing else but the sword of Gideon...Into his hand God has given Midian and all the host." [take note that he said he believes this is the "sword" of Gideon]

God told Gideon to take his little band of 300 and have them follow and do as he did. All that they had was their trumpet and an earthen pitcher with a torch in it. [we have this treasure in an earthen vessel] When he blew his trumpet, then they were to blow theirs. The trumpet is a symbol for resurrection [ at the last trump] then they were to break their earthen vessels or pitchers revealing their lights and to cry forth this message, "The Sword for the Lord and Gideon." All the enemy cried out in fear and fled or turned on one another.....and nary a literal sword was used.

The Sword of the Spirit, the Word of the Lord came forth in resurrected vessels...their earthen vessels broken to reveal the Light of the glory of God. \o/

So Gideon teaches us of an overcomer people who are the first fruits of the resurrection....the Barley Company waved before the Lord as a first fruits testimony of the full ingathering of all creation unto God.

Barley cake blessings to all
Karen