The First Fruits

The First Fruits

Joshua 7:1

I had just read about all that happened to Achan because of his thievery

36 soldiers died, Achan, his children, animals and all he had destroyed

and then I read

Josh 8: 1 And the LORD said unto Joshua, Fear not, neither be thou

dismayed: take all the people of war with thee, and arise,

go up to Ai: see, I have given into thy hand the king of Ai,

and his people, and his city, and his land: 2 And thou shalt

do to Ai and her king as thou didst unto Jericho and her king:

only the spoil thereof, and the cattle thereof, shall ye take for

a prey unto yourselves:

God is giving them the very things he just punished them for taking. Why?

Because God said in

Josh 6:19 But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, [are]

consecrated unto the LORD: they shall come into the

treasury of the LORD.

Josh 7:21 When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment,

and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of

fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them;

and, behold, they [are] hid in the earth in the midst of my

tent, and the silver under it.

Josh 7: 19 And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to

the LORD God of Israel, and make confession unto him; and

tell me now what thou hast done; hide [it] not from me. 20 And

Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against

the LORD God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done:

First Mention Gen 4:3 Cain and Able

Cain just gave an offering (works) Able the firstlings= his best (faith)

We have to put God first

Deut 6:15a (For the LORD thy God [is] a jealous God among you)

Exod 20:5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for

I the LORD thy God [am] a jealous God, visiting the iniquity

of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth

[generation] of them that hate me;

Deut 6:5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and

with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

Luke 10:27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with

all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength,

and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.

WHY WE GIVE OUR FIRST FRUITS?

We are commanded to give it.

Prov 3:9 Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the

firstfruits of all thine increase:

Exod 23:19 The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring

into the house of the LORD thy God.

By giving it, you demonstrate your appreciation for God and the things

He has done in your life

(Deut 26:10 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: 11 And thou shalt rejoice in every good [thing]

which the LORD thy God hath given unto thee, and unto

thine house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that

[is] among you.

God is delighted in our obedience to His word;

for it is better to obey than to sacrifice

1Sam 15:22 And Samuel said, Hath the LORD [as great] delight in

burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice

of the LORD? Behold, to obey [is] better than sacrifice,

[and] to hearken than the fat of rams.

First Fruits in Hebrew is "bikkurim" and literally means "promise to come.

1Cor 15:20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, [and] become the

firstfruits of them that slept.

Gold= His Diety

Silver= His Redemption

Clothes= His covering our sin

Heb 11:4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than

Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous,

God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet

speaketh.

CHURCH CAKE COVER-UP

It was time for the annual cake sale at a Presbyterian church not much different than our own. Ms. Billings always made the most beautiful cakes...she was expected to make another one this year. However, Ms. Billings was a very busy woman with the time she spent with her family and the time she gave to her community. She put off making the cake this year thinking she could put it all together at the last minute.

When the cake came out of the oven, Ms. Billings was horrified to see that the cake had fallen. She didn’t have the time or the ingredients to make another one...she panicked. Frantically, she devised an ingenious plan. She would find a way to "fix" the cake...then she would be the first one to the sale and buy her own cake back.