FIRST FRUITS

Once every year in our Church, we celebrate what we call our FIRST FRUITS SUNDAY. This is normally every February (after the first month of “harvest” of the year is finished). Often in churches, there are plenty of Biblical terms and phrases we hear but may not understand. One such term is first fruits. So the obvious question is: WHAT IS FIRST FRUIT? The first fruits offering was an offering commanded by God to the Israelites in the Old Testament. It's mentioned several times and is in general a part of the Principle of the First in the Bible. Exodus 23:19a: "The best of the first fruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the LORD your God." Leviticus 23:10: “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest." Proverbs 3:9-10: "Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the first fruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine." The most comprehensive passage about the first fruits offering is found in Deuteronomy 26. It explains that the purpose of the first fruits was to acknowledge how God took the Israelites down to Egypt, multiplied their number, released them, and gave them the land of Canaan for an inheritance. God told the Israelites that the first fruits offering was to be given in THANKS for "cities that you did not build, and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant…" (Deuteronomy 6:10-11). In the majority of appearances, first fruits is associated with THANKSGIVING to GOD for bringing the Israelites from Egypt to Canaan. Find out more about our First Fruits Sunday: https://www.jrmsydney.com/post/first-fruits-offering