Musing – Why does God want the Firstfruits?

Hebraic Musing – Why does God want the Firstfruits?

Not sure I have all the answers, but here are some things to consider:

The fact that God was not pleased with Cain’s “fruit of the soil” offerings in Gen. 4:2-5 can be puzzling.  “Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil.  In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord.  But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor.” NIV   Both Cain and Abel had legitimate occupations so the difference must have been in the significance of the offering itself.  Consider that Abel offered the “Firstborn” of the flock which meant Abel had faith that there would be more births provided by God.  Cain however gave back to God only “some” of the crops he had been given.  Do we have a lesson about the role and importance of faith?

My favorite “Tithing” message/story is about a missionary in a faraway jungle preaching one Sunday on the topic of tithing.  He spent the rest of Sunday wondering if the message was understood.  Monday morning he answers a knock on the front of his hut and sees a boy standing there with a fish on a stringer.  The boy says “Pastor, here is my tithe.”  The missionary is pleased to see that the boy understood the message, but then began to wonder if the boy fully understood the concept of a tithe being a tenth?  So, he asked the boy “Where are the other nine fish?”  And the boy answered “Oh, they are still in the river.  I’m going back to catch them now.”  Should tithing be done as “Firstfruits”?

Why did God ask for the “Firstfruits” in Deut. 26:1-2  “When you have entered the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance and have taken possession of it and settled in it,  take some of the firstfruits of all that you produce from the soil of the land the Lord your God is giving you and put them in a basket. Then go to the place the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his Name.”   As a result, the OT Jews had very careful rituals to pick and identify the first fruit of their season’s crop. 

We all know God doesn’t eat or need fruit and He certainly doesn’t need any of ours (although it is the practice of some religions to offer fruit to their gods).  Bringing of the firstfruits was a deeply symbolic spiritual practice which characterizes the person’s relationship with his Creator.  A farmer plows and plants seeds in a field, cultivates and cares for the field and after all that labor and patience, fruit emerges.  The farmer is elated when he sees the first signs of success. He could easily say “I did it! All that hard work paid off. I created fruit from the earth.”  But the farmer shows that he knows where the crop came from by giving the firstfruits to the Creator.

Quoting Rabbi Eckstein: “The true test of our relationship is not when we are in need; rather, it is when we are most successful. It is in our greatest moments and achievements that we must recognize our dependence on God.”

Points to Ponder

Do we give our tithes and offerings as firstfruits? 
(Or do we give God our leftovers?)

Are we faithfully trusting our Creator for continued provision?

“The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.”  Isa 40:28

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                                   October 3, 2016

Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith” 
“Biblical Marriage” “Musings - A Victorious Life”  “Musings - The Torah and New Testament”
Weekly “Hebraic Musings”      www.InsightsByYosef.com

Note - Inspired by Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein’s “The Purpose of Creation”   September 22, 2016