FIRSTFRUITS giving

[mfblume]

What is everyone's thoughts about this plan I heard one minister propose for being blessed?



Tithing is a firstfruits ONE A SENSE, but not technically so.

Proverbs 3:9-10 KJV Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: (10) So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.

Solomon mentioned firstfruits.

Numbers 18:11-19 KJV And this is thine; the heave offering of their gift, with all the wave offerings of the children of Israel: I have given them unto thee, and to thy sons and to thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever: every one that is clean in thy house shall eat of it. (12) All the best of the oil, and all the best of the wine, and of the wheat, the firstfruits of them which they shall offer unto the LORD, them have I given thee. (13) And whatsoever is first ripe in the land, which they shall bring unto the LORD, shall be thine; every one that is clean in thine house shall eat of it. (14) Every thing devoted in Israel shall be thine. (15) Every thing that openeth the matrix in all flesh, which they bring unto the LORD, whether it be of men or beasts, shall be thine: nevertheless the firstborn of man shalt thou surely redeem, and the firstling of unclean beasts shalt thou redeem. (16) And those that are to be redeemed from a month old shalt thou redeem, according to thine estimation, for the money of five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs. (17) But the firstling of a cow, or the firstling of a sheep, or the firstling of a goat, thou shalt not redeem; they are holy: thou shalt sprinkle their blood upon the altar, and shalt burn their fat for an offering made by fire, for a sweet savour unto the LORD. (18) And the flesh of them shall be thine, as the wave breast and as the right shoulder are thine. (19) All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer unto the LORD, have I given thee, and thy sons and thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever: it is a covenant of salt for ever before the LORD unto thee and to thy seed with thee.

The hebrew term for HEAVE OFFERINGS is TERUMAH. TERUMAH is the firstfruits.

It is compared above with "the covenant of salt". Salt is known for flavouring other things. One life can flavour another life, for example. In Marriage in Israel, the bride and groom each come with salt to the ceremony. The rabbi pours both into one bag. This indicates the two are never separated. And it also joins them to the man of God in type.

Firstfruits were given as an offering at the first of the year.

You could say the firstfruits offering "flavours" the rest of the offerings of the year. It is given in faith and alloows God to consider that offering as though it were the entire harvest not yet reaped, for the year. So God blesses it and in effect blesses the entire harvest for that year. The offering moves God to do this. Those who do not give this would not be blessed in this way. So it is as though one thinks that if one wants God to bless the entire future year's income, then one should give a good firstfruits offering.

Firstfruits can only be TERUMAH in specific ways.

One must bring it to the Lord's representative in our lives -- whoever your "Melchisedek" is in the ministry. Not to general people in need, or else it is not counted as firstfruits. The minister lifts it up to God and then it becomes TERUMAH.

Deut 26 shows the meaning of firstfruits.

Firstfruits tell where we came from, like our former lives. They remind us of where we came from, and how in God's power we reached the place where we are presently.

Deuteronomy 26:1-10 KJV And it shall be, when thou art come in unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and possessest it, and dwellest therein; (2) That thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, which thou shalt bring of thy land that the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt put it in a basket, and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy God shall choose to place his name there. (3) And thou shalt go unto the priest that shall be in those days, and say unto him, I profess this day unto the LORD thy God, that I am come unto the country which the LORD sware unto our fathers for to give us.(4) And the priest shall take the basket out of thine hand, and set it down before the altar of the LORD thy God. (5) And thou shalt speak and say before the LORD thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous: (6) And the Egyptians evil entreated us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage: (7) And when we cried unto the LORD God of our fathers, the LORD heard our voice, and looked on our affliction, and our labour, and our oppression: (8) And the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders: (9) And he hath brought us into this place, and hath given us this land, even a land that floweth with milk and honey. (10) And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land, which thou, O LORD, hast given me. And thou shalt set it before the LORD thy God, and worship before the LORD thy God:

Above you can see the offerer speaks to the priest as though speaking to God.

Numbers 18:27 KJV And this your heave offering shall be reckoned unto you, as though it were the corn of the threshingfloor, and as the fulness of the winepress.

The heave is reckoned as FULLNESS. It counts for the entire harvest. It is given before the rest of the harvest is reaped in order to ensure a blessing on the remainder of the harvest.

For example, Jesus is the Firstfruits, and is thereby the FIRST of many more like Him to come. If Jesus is lifted up, He will draw all men to Him: A firstfruits sort of statement.

Jesus mentioned the TERUMAH in the New Testament.

In the Old Testament it applied to farmers. Every male of the cattle was God's. But whatever was born first was also considered to be God's, except for donkeys. If one wanted to keep the newborn donkey, although it was not considered an offeirng to God, one still had to purchase it, or else its neck would be broken.

In Judaism, the rabbi measures the person's field. 1/40 to 1/60 of the crop would come up for firstfruits. The rabbi would determine which measure should be taken. It was an estimation. Whatever the harvest would be, it was considered that 1/40 - 1/60 would be firstfruits. If one concerned oneself had a bad field, then 1/60 of the estimated future income for that year would be given. If the field was deemed good by the rabbi, 1/40 would be offered.

Many people cheated and only gave 1/60, as though they had bad fields, and only gave the least amount.

The jews consider one has having an EVIL EYE if one always only ever gave 1/60. If one gave the average of 1/50, it was considered MIDDLE EYE. If one gave 1/40 all the time, then their eye was considered FULL OF LIGHT. Jesus picked up on this as follows:

Matthew 6:22-23 KJV The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. (23) But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

John Gill confiorms this:

Jews... in whose writings we read of three sorts of eyes; a good eye, a middling one, and an evil one; so in the offerings of the first fruits (s),

עין יפה, "a good eye" gave the fortieth, the house Shammai say, the thirtieth part; a middling one, the fiftieth; and an evil one, the sixtieth part.''

Upon which the commentators say (t), a "good eye" means one that is liberal, and an "evil eye" the contrary: hence you often read (u) of "trading, dedicating", and "giving with a good" or "an evil eye"; that is, either generously, liberally, or in a niggardly and grudging manner; which may help us to the sense of our Lord in these words; whose meaning is, that if a man is not covetous, but his mind is disposed to generosity and liberality; if

Jesus referred to treasures in Heaven when speaking of the evil and good eyes.

He was using FIRSTFRUITS language!

Practically, today, we can apply this to our giving.

Consider our year of 52 weeks. The firstfruits can be ONE WEEK's worth of income as firstfruits for the year. 1/52

It cannot be compulsory, but must be voluntary. But it will bring blessings.

1/40 = 2.5%

If one earns $1000/mo. income, the firstfruits would be $250.

10% tithes go regularly , but firstfruits is only at first of the year.

[Truthseeker]

I'm glad your not saying tithes is firstfruits like so many do. They are different.

[mfblume]

Originally Posted by Truthseeker

I'm glad your not saying tithes is firstfruits like so many do. They are different.

They are defintely different!

[Truthseeker]

Originally Posted by mfblume

They are defintely different!

ye are not far from the kingdom! LOL

I will look closer at what your presented related to firstfruits.

[mfblume]

Bump!

[pelathais]

Do you recommend a tithe + 2.5?

I remember some time ago there was the "half shekel" teaching that essentially said you could buy healing and forgiveness with a tithe + 5%.

From the examples you gave, the 1/40th doesn't seem to be coming from all the income an Israelite might have, just from the fields.

[mfblume]

Originally Posted by pelathais

Do you recommend a tithe + 2.5?

I am not recommending this. I just heard a man teahc on it and wondered what everyone thought about it.

I remember some time ago there was the "half shekel" teaching that essentially said you could buy healing and forgiveness with a tithe + 5%.

My oh my. That is insane. Jesus bought my healing by his blood.

From the examples you gave, the 1/40th doesn't seem to be coming from all the income an Israelite might have, just from the fields.

Correct. It was from their fields. Does the bible indicate a means of income aside from that?

[pelathais]

Originally Posted by mfblume

Correct. It was from their fields. Does the bible indicate a means of income aside from that?

"Casting your bread upon the waters..." that is sending a portion of your harvest to markets afar off. This is incipient capitalism.

Livestock gains would not have been measured by the 1/40 of a field measure. Neither would the work of artisans, craftsmen, smiths, jewelers, potters and fishermen. Not to mention the scribes, lawyers and rabbis and governement officials and the standing army. Also the levy workers and day laborers. I forgot prostitutes. Lots of ways to get an "increase" in those days. Of course all of it was dependant upon the harvest from the field.

[mfblume]

Do you recommend a tithe + 2.5?

I must remind all that the firstfruits is not in addition to tithes every week or biweekly. Firstfruits is done ONCE at the start of the year alone.

[mfblume]

bump for anyone else?