GOD’S TRUST FUND [PART TWO]
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not unto your own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in your own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil. It shall be health to your navel, and marrow to your bones. Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the first fruits of all your increase.”
Now the Lord said to Moses, “Tell the people of Israel that there will be several festivals they will they celebrate each year when they gathered to worship. And these were in addition to the Sabbath they were to keep. These were holy days to be observe, The Passover of the Lord was at the end of March, then the Feast of Unleavened Bread followed by the Feast of First Fruits.
Then the Feast of Pentecost came fifty days later, followed by the Feast to Trumpets in mid-September which was a solemn time for the people to meet for worship. And then the Day of Atonement followed nine days later leading to the Feast of Tabernacles.
Last week we talked about the tithe, tonight I want to share some thoughts about first fruits. You will see that first fruits and tithes are closely related but they are different, the tithe is ten percent of the total while first fruits are a gift of the first gathered.
The name is a good introduction to this topic. First Fruits, First, that which comes before all else; Fruit, that which is the result of planting to produce a harvest. The term first fruits were used to describe the presentation of the harvest. God commanded the people of Israel to present the first fruits to the Levitical priesthood, and that offering was used for their food.
“They were told to take the first of the fruit of the earth and place it in a basket, and go unto the place which the Lord would choose and give it to the priest, and they would place it on the altar of the Lord.” Deuteronomy 26: 1/5 In Israel, it marked the end of the barley growing season and the beginning of the wheat season, which has symbolic and spiritual meaning.
I found it strange that the Feast of First Fruits was instituted when the nation of Israel was still wandering in the wilderness without land or crops. This feast was observed by faith that God would lead the people to the land that He had promised.
I believe that the first fruits were a reminder to God’s people of the blessings, and pointed to a better covenant that was to come. The barley season was a token of their former life in Egypt, while the wheat was representative of the land that God would give them.
The wheat also pointed to the better covenant that God would usher in. In the life of every man there is a Friday, but remember Sunday in on the way. On Friday they placed Jesus on the cross and then into the tomb, but on the third day He came forth victorious over death hell and the grave. This was God’s first fruit offering given, so that all men might come know the son of God.
The first fruits celebration was a Jewish feast held in the early spring at the beginning of the grain harvest. It was observed three days after Passover and on the second day of the Feast of Unleavened bread, this was a time for thinking God for what He had provided.
By giving the first fruits, Israel acknowledged that all good gifts come from God and that everything belongs to God. Giving the first fruits was also a way of expressing trust in God’s provision; just as He provided the first fruits, so He would provide the rest of the crops that were needed.
The people were to bring a sheaf of grain to the priest, who would wave it before the Lord. A brunt offering, a meal offering, and a drink offering were also required at that time. And no grain was to be harvested at all until the first fruit offering was brought to the Lord.
This offering was presented as a reminder of Israel’s hardship in Egypt, their deliverance from slavery, and the promise that God made to them of “a land that flowed with milk and honey.”
As we view this feast day there is also a prophetic meaning, Israel was described as the first fruits of God’s harvest. The prophet Jeremiah said, “Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, thus says the Lord; I remember thee in the kindness of thy youth, [when you were a young nation] when you went after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.”
Israel was God’s pledge to mankind that a greater harvest was coming, because she had experienced God’s redemptive power that would produce a leader in the person of Jesus Christ who would shed His blood and cut a new covenant that would give birth to what we know today as the church.
When God looked down and saw the world in total chaos knowing that something must be done, He gave a first fruit offering the best that He had to give. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes on Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
And the first fruits offering found it’s fulfillment in Jesus, “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.” Jesus’ resurrection has paved the way for our resurrection. Remember the first fruit is that which has not happened before.
The bible tell us that Abraham offered his son Isaac, the promised son on the altar of sacrifice and in doing so Abraham was promised that his seed would be as the sands of the sea, that was his first fruit offering .
As we study the New Testament scriptures we are made aware how important it is for Christians to give a first fruit offering, for God loves a cheerful giver. And we are expected to give to the support of the work of the church and ministry. Paul said, “Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there is no gathering when I come.”
From the book of Romans Paul tell us that “Things that were written afore time [in the Old Testament] was written for our learning.” And as New Testament believers we are admonished to follow the instructions given by the Lord.
The concept of first fruits is not to give so you can get blessed. God says, “You take the first of whatever you have in your hands, the first harvest, whatever it is and you present it to the man of God.
In our day it could be the first fruits of a new job, or the overflow of something given to you that you were not expecting. You will remember that Jesus told a group of people “render unto the government it’s due, and unto God the things that belong to Him.” The New Testament makes it clear that giving of first fruits to God is a way of showing gratitude, but has a greater importance of things to come in the Spirit world.
Look at all the events that took place on the feast of first fruits. The word of God teaches us that Noah landed the ark on Mt. Ararat and the Jews crossed the red sea and ate their first meal on that feast day. Haman’s plot to kill all the Jews was foiled, and Jesus rose from the dead on the day of first fruits.
Now we see Paul linking it all together. “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept for since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive? But every man in his own order; Christ the first fruits and they that are Christ’s at His coming.”
So we give our lives to Him as a first fruit offering that men might see Christ in us and come to know the saving power of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Over the years I have known pastors who gave the first part of the day as a first fruit offering. Some would even tithe two hours and forty minutes a day for the cause of Christ and the saving of souls.
The word of God was given in such orderly fashion that pointed to the coming Messiah who would set up a spiritual kingdom of believers that would turn the world upside down. And He has been revealing Himself to us since the inception of His coming.
Remember that tithe is ten present and that belongs to God. And the first fruit offering is a presentation that you make to Lord showing your gratitude for what He has blessed you with. So take time to give Him the first fruit offering of you labor and watch what great blessings will come your way.
