"Overcomers" make up the barley harvest. They will be the first to be saved (harvested or glorified). They will rule and reign in Heaven under the leadership of the King Yahweh! These are the overcomers. The barley harvest started with Yahushua, the Christ (the first of the firstfruits) being glorified after He was raised from the dead and returned to His Father (1 Corinthians 15:20). The barley harvest continues with the "dead in Yahushua, the Christ" overcomers and the "we who are alive and remain" overcomers (the sealed of Yahweh, the "144,000") who will be "caught up" (translated) at Yahweh's 2nd coming. These are also represented by the wise virgins who had sufficient oil and light (Matthew 25:1-4) and those who are sealed of Yahweh (John 6:27, Revelation 7:2-4).
For Yahushua himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of יהוה [Yahweh, our god]: and the dead in the Messiah shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Master in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Master. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
Barley is the first crop of the yearly harvest cycle and ripens in the spring. In fact, the first month of the Hebrew year, Abib ("green ears") has direct reference to the ripening of barley in that month.
On the first day of that month, the priest would inspect a sheaf of barley to see if it had "eared out" yet. If so, it was announced to all the people that Passover would be observed in Jerusalem two weeks later. If the barley grain was still closed, with the grain covered by the husk, the priest would announce that they would have to wait another month (resulting in a 13 month year) before Passover could be observed lawfully.
The wave-sheaf is an offering of the first fruits of barley, two days after Passover, offered to Yahweh by the priest. Passover is ALWAYS the 14th day of the first month (Leviticus 23:5), Sabbath is ALWAYS the day after Passover, and the first fruits are ALWAYS waved on the following day, the 16th day of the first month, the day after Sabbath (Lev. 23:11) This cannot occur on our modern (false, counterfeit, Julian) calendar (see Calendars and Times). This day is sometimes called the feast of the first fruits or the counting of the omer.
Passover signifies the death of the lamb. Before Yahushua's execution it had a prophetic reference, after His death it is a day of remembrance for His victory. Until the plan of redemption is fulfilled, Passover continues to look forward to the eventual (final) barley Harvest when the overcomers go to Heaven, and for eternity it will be remembered for what Yahweh did for us and our salvation.
The wave-sheaf offering signifies resurrection from the dead, for on this day Yahushua (Jesus) was raised. Passover could not be lawfully observed unless the barley was eared out, because if the barley wasn't ripe, the simile would not be accurate (and the year would continually shift on the calendar, no longer aligning the feasts with the harvests).
Yahushua (Jesus) presented Himself before His Father in the heavenly Temple at the time the priest waved the barley sheaf in the earthly temple. The waving motion, up and down, signified resurrection. Though Jesus had actually been raised from the dead "very early in the morning" (Luke 24:1), He didn't allow Mary to touch Him before the wave-sheaf offering (John 20:17). Not until after the wave-sheaf offering was Jesus declared legally alive in the court of heaven.
But now is the Messiah risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits [barley] of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in the Messiah all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: the Messiah the firstfruits, afterward those who are Messiah's at His coming. 1 Corinthians 15:20-23
The verse tells us that (first) Yahushua, the Messiah and (afterwards) His at His (2nd) coming are the firstfruits, which is the barley harvest.
Barley grain is a soft seed. In the Bible days they would put the barley on a sheet holding the four corners and would raise the sheet to the wind. This process is called winnowing. It would easily separate the grain from the chaff and would give them pure grain. This is what we are like. We are soft and pliable in the hands of Yahweh to be corrected and re-aligned to His ways. The action of the wind is sufficient to get rid of the chaff. This speaks of the barley company, who so quickly respond to the wind of the Spirit.
All of these details point to the fact that the barley company is the first to be glorified (saved, harvested) of all of Yahweh's creatures.
In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we might be, as it were, the first fruits among His creatures ["creation"]. James 1:18
In the book of Revelation, we are told of the 144,000 who sing a new song before the throne of Yahweh. In Rev. 14:4 these are called "the first fruits unto Yahweh and to the Lamb." First fruits imply that a greater harvest is yet to come. Even as Jesus was "the First fruits of them that slept" (1 Cor. 15:20), so also are the overcomers glorified at the Messiah's 2nd coming (the dead in Christ of 1 Thes 4:16 plus the "144,000" of 1 Thes 4:17 and Rev. 14). These are the first fruits of others yet to be harvested. The first fruits offering always signaled the beginning (not the end) of the harvest.
Paul alluded to the law of first fruits.
For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches. Romans 11:16
The first fruits always sanctified the harvest. When the first fruits of a crop, whether barley or wheat, were offered to Yahweh, then the people could go home and harvest the rest of that crop. For this reason, James tells us that the Kingdom of Yahweh is the first fruits of creation. When the Kingdom is "harvested" and brought into Yahweh's house, it is not the end, but the beginning of a greater harvest.
Likewise, the overcomers are the first fruits of the Kingdom. Yahushua was the "first of the first fruits" (Ex. 23:19), that is, the barley first fruits that were offered shortly after the feast of Passover. The "overcomers" are the rest of the "first fruits". These are the ones who are taken to Heaven (glorified) after the first resurrection.
The first fruits (barley harvest) will be those translated at the 2nd coming and those raised in the "first resurrection". The second resurrection is after the thousand years are finished.
But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of Yahweh and of the Messiah, and shall reign with him a thousand years. Revelation 20:5-6
These are the barley harvest and these are they with the faith of Jesus and His Spirit.
