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A Firstfruit Teaching of Abundant Life
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The Law of Firstfruits -
The Libety of Firstfruits -
Continued.... |
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....F. How do we know that the church will have
........ great power in the coming days?
........ Jam. 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift
........ is rom above, and comes down from the Father
........ of lights, with whom there is no variation or
........ shadow of turning. 18 Of His own will He brought
........ us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a
........ kind of firstfruits of His creature.
........ Ex.34:22 “And you shall observe the Feast of
........ Weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the
....... .Feast of Ingathering at the year’s end.”
........ (also Acts 2:1-4)
....G. God established the “Law of Firstfruits”-
........ Lev.23:9-20; Deut. 26:1-11
.........1. Firstfruits is a dedication to God with joy
......... and rejoicing!
.............All of the feasts, except for the day of
.............atonement, were times of joy and rejoicing.
.........2. Firstfruits proclaims a dependence
.............upon God.
........ 3. It is a calling upon God to bring blessing
.............and preservation to your full harvest and
.............the full use of that harvest.
............ NOTE: The point of any law established by
............ God is PASSION. What is His point? His
............ point is PASSION of HEART!
........ 4. Firstfruits is an expression of prayer and
............ praise to God.
....The firstfruit harvest: The first presentation is
....called a sabbath. A sheaf or handful of new grain
....was brought to the priest, who was to heave it up
....in the air and wave it to and fro as a token of his
....presenting it to the God of Heaven. This was a
....tribute to God as the Lord of the whole earth, and
....this should be accepted for them as a thankful
....acknowledgment of God’s mercy to them in
....clothing their fields with grain. It proclaimed their
....dependence upon God and their desire towards
....Him for the preserving of it to their use. It was the
....expression of both prayer and praise. God’s
....covenant people were forbidden to eat of their
....new grain until this handful was offered to God; for
....it was fit, if God and Israel feast together, that He
....should be served first. The offering of this sheaf of
....firstfruits served to sanctify the whole harvest and
....give them a comfortable use of all the rest. They
....could eat their bread with joy when they, in some
....measure, performed their duty to God, and God
....had accepted it. By this all of their enjoyments
....became clean to them.
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....5. The keeping of firstfruits was allowing God to
........eat first at your table, thus inviting God to every
........meal.
....6. Once God had been served, those giving
........offerings could enjoy the use of all the rest.
........This made all of their enjoyments holy and
........clean.
........The presenting of the sheaf of firstfruits was an
........introduction to the harvest, and gave them liberty
........to put in the sickle, so they solemnized the
........finishing of their grain harvest at the feast of
........harvest (Pentecost).
....7. Firstfruits proclaims the end of wilderness
........living.
........When they came into Canaan the manna ceased
........upon the very day that the sheaf of firstfruits was
........offered. They had eaten of the old grain the day
........before (Jos. 5:11), and then on this day they
........offered the firstfruits, by which they became
........entitled to the new grain too (v. 12), so that there
........was no more occasion for manna.
........Josh. 5:12 Now the manna ceased on the day after
........they had eaten the produce of the land; and the
........children of Israel no longer had manna, but they
........ate the food of the land of Canaan that year.
....8. Firstfruits guaranteed the increase of creativity,
........initiative, and diligence.
........Deut. 8:7 “For the LORD your God is bringing you
........into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of
........fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and
........hills; 8 a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig
........trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and
........honey; 9 a land in which you will eat bread without
........scarcity, in which you will lack nothing; a land
........whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you
........can dig copper.”
H. Does firstfruits apply to my finances?
.....Pr. 3:9 Honor the LORD with your possessions, and
.... with the firstfruits of all your increase; 10 so your
.... barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will
.... overflow with new wine.
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