The key to placing the Firstfruits season in time, is our knowing which Sabbath is intended in Leviticus 23:11:
“He shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.”
There are four Sabbaths in close proximity to the Feast of Unleavened Bread; they are:
The key Scripture to consider is:
“And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the Lord.” (Leviticus 23:15-16)
The counting method prescribed for arriving at Shavuot would appear to eliminate the first two Sabbaths in the above list because, in order for the fifty-day count to end after the completion of seven Sabbaths (49 days), the count must begin the day after a weekly Sabbath (i.e.on a Sunday). As between the two remaining possibilities, this writer prefers the third on the list – the weekly Sabbath which falls within the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This Sabbath is the more distinctive of the two in that it is always within the Feast period, while the Sabbath which follows the Feast has little distinction and would not warrant the recognition of being called “the” Sabbath. Furthermore, it is shown later in this paper that only this Sabbath is consistent with Yeshua having risen on Bikkurim which, if true, has profound prophetic importance.