You’ve probably heard of the first fruit offerings and likely given them too.
“What is the first fruit?
“Are those under the new covenant meant to give it?”
“If yes, to whom?”
“If no, why not?”
“And if yes, how much?”
“Every January?”
“What about the first of every month?”
“Does giving the first fruits guarantee prosperity for the rest of the year?”
“How can Jesus demand this when He doesn’t ever mention it?”
“Or does He? Who said He does?”
“How can God say we should suffer so much in January after all the expenses of December?!”
“We haven’t finished settling tithes, and people are raising first fruit. There’s no way God is interested in this.”
Let’s see how this housefire started!
READ ALSO: SHOULD CHRISTIANS TITHE? SHOULD CHRISTIANS TITHE? (PART 1)
The Presentation of First Fruits
The first of the firstfruits of your soil you must bring to the house of the LORD your God… Exo 23:19a (NET)
Celebrate the Festival of Weeks with the firstfruits of the wheat harvest… Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the Lord your God. Exo 34:22-23, 26 (NIV)
“As soon as the order went out, the Israelites generously gave the firstfruits of their grain, new wine, olive oil, and honey, and all that the fields produced. They brought a great amount, a tithe of everything.” 2 Chronicles 31:5 (NIV)
“You shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from your land that the LORD your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket, and you shall go to the place that the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for His name.” Deut. 26:2 (ESV)
Honor the LORD from your wealth and from the first fruits of all your crops; Prov. 3:9 (NET)
As they offered their first fruits, the people of Israel were not just to hand over their first fruits. They were to tell the story of how their forefathers were oppressed in Egypt, how God delivered them, and how He brought them into a good land; a land flowing with milk and honey (Deut. 26:3–9).
Finally, they were to say, “And now, behold, I have brought the first of the produce of the ground which You, O LORD, have given me” (Deut. 26:10). Then they would offer their frist fruits, then worship and rejoice before the Lord for His goodness to them, the Levites and the strangers among them (Deut. 26:11).
READ ALSO: SHOULD CHRISTIANS TITHE? SHOULD CHRISTIANS TITHE? (PART 2)
What do you see from the passages above?
- Do you see a salary or agricultural produce?
- Was the command to bring all the produce, or the first of the produce?
- Did they have to bring some of the first fruits, or all of the first fruits?
- Do you see an offering given randomly, or after a harvest?
Chew on these today, and in the next episode, we’ll see from the word of God how to cool down this hot topic called first fruits.
READ NEXT: FIRST FRUITS (PART 2)
