There is so much mention of this first fruits offering in the Bible and yes God decreed this kind of an offering to the Israelites. Now the big question is preaching about this offering are we Holy Spirit inspired or we are just chasing after "the root of all evil". Yes for a lot of churches today are but serious business organizations. Quality time is spent preaching about financial break through(s) and so earthly riches, much time needs to be spent on telling people about the Kingdom of God - the reality of hell and heaven. Why spending so much time on the gospel of "getting rich tomorrow"? Earthly riches- Earthly riches, do we not know that Jesus spoke so much against such? Matt 6:19 "Lay not up yourselves treasures upon earth where moth and rust does corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal". Do we not remember what Jesus said? "So do not worry saying, 'What shall we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?...' Matt 6:31". Have we not heard what Jesus said? "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of Heaven...." Mark 10:25. Christ took this occasion to speak to his disciples about the difficulty of the salvation of those who have abundance of this world.
Now has the bible anywhere mentioned the measure of this offering? Is it supposed to be 100% of our first earnings year by year? Let us hear what the bible says. Leviticus 23:9-14 institutes the first fruits offering. The people were to bring a sheaf of grain to the priest, who would wave it before the Lord. A burnt offering, a meal offering, and a drink offering were also required at that time. Deuteronomy 26:1-10 gives even more detail on the procedure of first fruits. NO GRAIN WAS TO BE HARVESTED AT ALL UNTIL THE FIRST FRUITS OFFERING WAS BROUGHT TO THE LORD (Leviticus 23:14), this therefore cannot be argued that it simply means YOU SHALL NOT MAKE USE OF YOUR EARNINGS AT ALL BEFORE OFFERING TO GOD, GOD FIRST). The offering was made in remembrance of Israel’s sojourn in Egypt, the Lord’s deliverance from slavery, and their possession of “a land that floweth with milk and honey.” The day of the first fruits offering was also used to calculate the proper time of the Feast of Weeks (Leviticus 23:15-16).
In the New Testament, the first fruits offering is mentioned seven times, always symbolically. Paul calls Epaenetus and the household of Stephanas “the firstfruits of Achaia” (Romans 16:5; 1 Corinthians 16:15). His meaning is that, just as the FIRST FRUITS OFFERING WAS THE FIRST PORTION OF A LARGER HARVEST (Not everything of your entire harvest, the emphasis was on offering to God first before putting anything in our bellies or before making use of anything in our produce), these individuals were the first of many converts in that region. James calls believers “a kind of first fruits of His creatures” (James 1:18). Just like THE SHEAF OF GRAIN WAS SET APART for the Lord (NOT THE ENTIRE HARVEST), so are believers set apart for God’s glory.
In summary, first fruits illustrates giving to God from a grateful heart, and it sets a pattern of giving back to Him the first and the best of what He has given us (NOT EVERYTHING OF WHAT HE HAS GIVEN US). Not being under the Old Testament Law, the Christian is under no further obligation than to give cheerfully and liberally (2 Corinthians 9:6-7). Nehemiah 10:35 We obligate ourselves to bring the first fruits of our ground and the first fruits of all fruit of every tree, year by year, to the house of the Lord; if only we understand how many times does a tree bear fruits per year, we will understand that God never said give out all, but rather offer to Him first before making use of anything. From my understanding here the Bible says year by year, but normally a fruit bearing tree bears fruits once to twice a year meaning if that implied "all to God" then people were to be left with nothing. This therefore gives me every reason to say God never said all like we are being taught today to give out our entire earnings.
Ezekiel 44:30 And the FIRST OF ALL THE FIRST FRUITS OF ALL KINDS (Not the entire harvest NO, don't we see here that the emphasis was on God first?), and every offering of all kinds from all your offerings, shall belong to the priests. You shall also give to the priests the first of your dough, that a blessing may rest on your house. Deuteronomy 26:2-4 YOU SHALL TAKE SOME OF THE FIRST of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from your land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket, and you shall go to the place that the Lord your God will choose, to make his name to dwell there. And you shall go to the priest who is in office at that time and say to him, ‘I declare today to the Lord your God that I have come into the land that the Lord swore to our fathers to give us.’ Then the priest shall take the basket from your hand and set it down before the altar of the Lord your God. NOTE HERE THAT "SOME OF" DOESN'T MEAN ALL, RATHER "PART OF". Why then are we being taught to bring forth our entire earnings? Leviticus 23:17 You shall bring from your dwelling places two loaves of bread to be waved, made of two tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour, and they shall be baked with leaven, as first fruits to the Lord. (interesting, here God ask for 2 loaves only, God is as reasonable He never asked for all). Why are we being taught to bring forth our entire earnings?!
As far as the first fruit offering as described in the Old Testament, the church is exempt. Jesus did not come to abolish the law, but He did come to fulfill it—including being the first fruit, Himself (1 Corinthians 15:20). If the usage of the term "first fruit" in the New Testament is to be considered, the manifestation of first fruit in the church age means that those who were saved in the early church were a promise that more would follow. And Jesus' resurrection is a promise that we, too, will be resurrected. Any other use of "first fruits" is either abusive or careless. There are better terms to use when a church collects a special offering, and there are more biblical ways to do so than to insist, cajole, and threaten people to give.
This doesn't mean that l am saying giving a first fruit offering is bad in and of itself. Like the term (or even the practice) "tithing," "first fruit" can be used as a sort of shorthand to mean "voluntary offering given in thanks or faith." There's nothing wrong with giving above and beyond what is regularly budgeted for—as long as the motivation is personal and not pressured by church leadership. To give an offering in thanks that God provided is perfectly acceptable. But if a church wants to have a period of fund-raising, it would be better to have a specific purpose and not just try to 'spiritualize' the desire to have more capital in the bank. This brings to mind the purposes the New Testament gives for church offerings. First Timothy 5:17-18 says that the church should support those who run the church. First Corinthians 9:14 says that those who preach the gospel should be supported by their work. Several times the New Testament exhorts believers to give to those who are in need (Matthew 25:34-36; 1 John 3:17-18). The New Testament says we are to give in faith, but it doesn't say that we are to give to the point of destitution so that our faith can grow (1 Corinthians 16:2). There is a difference between faithful sacrifice and bad resource management.
TO GOD BE THE GLORY!
