The burned part of each sacrifice stood for the whole offering, and the tithe symbolized that all of a person's money belonged to God. In a similar way, the first portions of each harvest, or firstfruits, represented the entire harvest and even the land itself as belonging to God (Leviticus 25:23).
During the barley harvest, people offered the first portions as part of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23:6, 10–12). They offered the first portions of the wheat harvest during "the Feast of Weeks" (23:15–21; Exodus 34:22). These gifts to God acknowledged God's earlier gifts to Israel (see Leviticus 2:1). The entire offering of firstfruits became the property and food of God's representatives, the priests (see 2:14–16).