Firstfruits

VIEW:16 DATA:01-04-2020
(See FIRSTBORN.) The whole land's produce was consecrated to God by the consecration of the first-fruits (Rom_11:16); just as the whole nation by that of the firstborn. At the Passover, on the morrow after the sabbath, a sheaf of green barley (which is earlier than wheat), of the first fruits of the crop, was waved before the Lord. At Pentecost, 50 days later, two loaves of wheaten bread (Leviticus 23). The feast of tabernacles, on the 15th day of the seventh month, was itself an acknowledgment of the fruits of the harvest. Besides these national offerings the law required that the first of all ripe fruits and liquors should be offered by individuals (Exo_22:29). A cake of the first dough baked was to be a heave offering (Num_15:19; Num_15:21). The first-fruits of the oil, wine, and wheat were to be offered to Jehovah, for the benefit of the priests as His representatives (Num_18:11-13).
The Talmud fixed on the 60th as the least to be given of the produce, a 30th or 40th as a liberal offering. The individual presentation of the first-fruits in a basket took place at the temple or tabernacle. The offerer said: "I profess this day unto the Lord thy God that I am come unto the country which the Lord sware unto our fathers to give us." The priest took the basket and set it down before the altar of the Lord. The offerer added: "A Syrian (Jacob) ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt," etc. (Deuteronomy 26). The Talmud adds that companies of 24 used to assemble at evening m a central station, and pass the night in the open air; the leader in the morning summoned them, "Let us arise and go up to mount Zion, the house of the Lord our God." On the road to Jerusalem they recited Psalm 122; Psalm 150. Each party was preceded by a piper and a sacrificial bullock with horns gilt and crowned with olive.
The priests met them, and the Levites singing Psalm 30. Each presented his basket, reciting the formula in Deuteronomy 26. King Agrippa, it is stated, once carried his basket as others. The offerings were either bichurim, raw produce, "first-fruits," or tirumot, "offerings," prepared produce. Times of apostasy brought a neglect of this duty; the restoration of the offering of both kinds was a leading point in the reformation under Hezekiah (2Ch_31:5; 2Ch_31:11), and under Nehemiah (Neh_10:35; Neh_10:37; Neh_12:44). The prophets insist on this duty (Eze_20:40; Eze_44:30; Eze_48:14; Mal_3:8). Fruit trees were to be regarded as uncircumcised, i.e. profane, for three years. The produce of the fourth was devoted to God, and only in the fifth year the produce became the owner's (Lev_19:23-25).
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-Author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's 1888.


According to Israelite law, the people had to present to God the first portion of the harvest, whether of grain or fruit, as an expression of thanks to him for the entire harvest (Exo_22:29; Exo_23:19). This offering may have been in the form of a cake made from the cereal, or in the form of a basket of cereal or fruit (Num_15:17-21; Deu_26:2).
In addition to the offerings of firstfruits by private individuals, there were offerings of firstfruits at Israel’s national festivals. These included the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Lev_23:10-11), the Feast of Harvest, or Pentecost (Lev_23:15-17), and the Feast of Tabernacles, or Ingatherings (Exo_23:16; Lev_23:39). (For details see FEASTS.) The firstfruit offerings became the property of the priests and so formed one source of their food supply (Num_18:12-13).
Since people had to present their firstfruits before they could use the remainder of the harvest for themselves, firstfruits had a symbolic meaning. They were a sign of hope, a guarantee of greater things to come. This is the meaning of the New Testament illustrations of firstfruits. The risen Christ is called the firstfruits of believers who have died, because his resurrection guarantees the resurrection of all believers (1Co_15:20; 1Co_15:23). The Holy Spirit, whom believers have already, is the firstfruits, or guarantee, of future glory (Rom_8:23).
Just as the firstfruits of the Israelites were the finest from their harvest, so God wants Christians to be the finest creatures in all his creation (Jam_1:18). Like the firstfruits, they belong especially to God (Rev_14:4). Paul sometimes spoke of the first people who became Christians in a locality as the firstfruits of the church in that place (Rom_16:5; 1Co_16:15).
Bridgeway Bible Dictionary by Don Fleming
PRINTER 1990.





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