The Concept of First-Fruits

Welcome HOTM LONG

Show 38L The Concept of First-Fruits and the Forever Increasing Kingdom
Taped June 20th 2021
Aired Tuesday June 22nd 2021

Hey guys,

Just an update on the TVAR and specifically the book of RevelationA symbolic prophecy fulfilled in 70 A.D.—not a prediction of future global events.. We are going to launch release the TVAR Revelation of Revelations as soon as it has been formatted. What is taking so long is we have twenty-two commentary books that will go along with it for those who want them. Once it is complete it will change the complexion of eschatologyStudy of “last things”—TGNN teaches all biblical eschatology was fulfilled in 70 A.D. More in anyone's mind who reads it.

Those few of you out there who have specifically supported the creation of the TVAR (and you know who you are) I thank you so deeply. It will be a really solid work.

Speaking of Revelation I want to talk about the 144,000 mentioned in Revelation 14. There we read at verse 2:

“And I heard a voice from heaven like the roar of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps, 3 and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 4 It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as first-fruits for God and the Lamb, 5 and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless.”

Understanding the 144,000

A great deal has been said about these souls a lot of it bunk. So, what do we learn about the 144,000 here in chapter 14? It’s a major description. Ready? The 144000

• are standing with the Lamb on Mount Zion
• They have the name of the Lamb and His Father’s name written on their foreheads.
• They were redeemed from the earth.
• They (and only they) could learn the new song that was being sung
• They are virgins (having never been “defiled” by women is what it says)
• They follow the Lamb wherever He goes
• In their mouth no lie was found for they are blameless (and I’d like to find just a hundred people on earth today who can meet this criteria.)

and the point I want to talk about tonight . . .

They are said to be redeemed from mankind as first-fruits of God and the Lamb

Some suggest that 144000 is an exact number 12000 x the twelve tribes of Israel. Others says it representative but I want to talk about two biblical concepts with you tonight:

Isaiah's Messianic Description

The concept of first-fruits combined with the messianic description of Jesus in Isaiah 9:6-7 where we read:

6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

So again, we have the notion of first-fruits in scripture and then we have the stated prophetic fact that when it comes to the increase of the Kingdom of GodGod’s spiritual reign—fulfilled and present, not political or future. there will be no end.

The Mystery of First-Fruits

How the world will end but the increase of his kingdom will be eternal is a mystery to me, but nevertheless, let's talk about first-fruits – as the 144,000 are described in Revelation 14 says, “They are said to be redeemed from mankind as first-fruits of God and the Lamb.”

If the 144000 have not been redeemed from mankind yet then the redeemed from mankind has yet to occur because scripture calls them the FIRSTFRUITS of God and the Lamb.

So either they were already redeemed as the firstfruits from mankind and the Kingdom has continues to increase ever since, OR nobody has been redeemed yet because we are waiting for the 144000 to be redeemed as the firstfruits of God and the Lamb.

Let’s talk about the very biblical concept of first-fruits.

The word used for first-fruits in the Greek is aparchn and it generally applies to the first-fruits of a harvest, or that which is first collected and consecrated to God as an offering of

First-Fruits in Scripture

The idea is when the blessing of God are poured out we respond by taking the first part of it, in recognition of His love and mercy, and give it back to Him. Built within the concept is an order or rank. Additionally, first-fruits also applies to the best of the whole harvest.

Let’s say you have a grove of apple trees and you want to give the first-fruits to God. This does not mean that the very first apples to come to the grove are God’s. In fact, we learn from Leviticus 19:23-25 that when it came to “tree first-fruits” the Children of Israel were to wait for four cycles of harvests before either offering the first-fruits to God or harvesting the crop for themselves. So, the order and rank part applies to the first “acceptable harvest as a whole” and then the best of that specific harvest.

Importance of First-Fruits

Numbers 18:12 says it well: “All the best of the oil, and all the best of the wine, and of the wheat, the first-fruits of them which they shall offer unto the LORD, them have I given thee.” Proverbs 3:9 says, “Honor the LORD with thy substance, and with the first-fruits of all thine increase.”

It goes without saying that the first-fruits, as we’ve defined them, were very important to God. Ezekiel 48:14 says: “And they shall not sell of it, neither exchange, nor alienate the first-fruits of the land: for it is holy unto the LORD.”

So, and in accordance to God and His sovereign ways and perfect foreknowledge, the idea of first-fruits – which picture His Only Begotten Son – was initiated from the beginning. Remember, first-fruits include the concepts of “the best, the first, and a rank among others that are to come.” Remember this! First-fruits include the notions of
1, the best of a crop,
2, the first out of that crop, and
3, the first among other ranks to come.

First-Fruits in Humanity

When God created everything in the Garden of Eden He said that it was good. Adam and Eve were the first-fruits of all humanity as they fit the definition of first-fruits: They were first, they were the best (God created them, right?) and they were first in rank of many to come.

God gave them a choice – to love Him and therefore obey Him, or to choose their own will and way. Did God know what they would do? Certainly. Which is why scripture says His Son was slain from the foundations of the world. Did others follow in after the first and best called Adam and Eve? Of course they did. Even all the way down to each of us today. So Adam and Eve were the first in rank of many more to come.

With the first-fruits of the human race failing to love and choose God, God later created and elected a nation above all other nations. Romans 11:16, speaking of the Nation of Israel, and likening them to a tree God created and elected for specific purposes, says: “For if the first-fruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.”

But the first-fruit nation, Israel, like the first-fruit couple, Adam and Eve, failed to live the law or to choose God over their own will. Now listen, this is key—just as more individuals came after the first-fruit couple Adam and Eve, filling the earth, so did “other nations” follow in after the first-fruit nation (Israel) once she failed to choose God and ultimately rejected the Messiah He sent them. These other fruits would include all other Nations, right? The whole world.

Jesus as the First-Fruit

So God elected (based on His foreknowledge of what Adam and Eve and the Nation of Israel would choose to do) to use them as a means to achieve His will, not because He respected them any more but because of His foreknowledge of what they would do. We know then that God sent His Only Begotten Son, right? This would initiate a shift in first-fruit fails found in Adam and Israel. His Son and all those who followed in after him, would have victory.

So, Jesus was the first-fruits of God (now called the Father) and of Mary and He would be the only one to ever choose to do His will. In many ways, Jesus was…

The Concept of First-Fruits in Scripture

The first-fruit of many things when we think about it. First and only to come from above. First and only born of a virgin. First and only without sinMissing the mark of faith and love—no punishment, just lost growth or peace.. First and only to come down from above. First and only to obey the Law. And having been the best, the first, and the first of an order of humanity, he became the first-fruits in overcoming the grave by overcoming sin and deathSeparation from God—now overcome. Physical death remains, but it no longer separates us from life with God..

1st Corinthians 15:20 says it this way:

“But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept.”

Because of Him, all of mankind (every rank and order) will be resurrected or as it says in 1st Corinthians 15:23:

“But every man in his own order: Christ the first-fruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming."

From His ascension on, the Bride in that day served in many ways as the first-fruits of His body on earth. In other words, those believers then, whom John would label as the 144000, served as the best of a crop, (were they not? Remember the description of them) the first out of that crop (they were the first to be redeemed and taken to the New JerusalemThe spiritual reality of God's fulfilled presence with humanity—replacing Sheol after 70 A.D.), and the first among other ranks to come (which would be . . . us).

Romans 8:23 called them, “the first-fruits of the Spirit.” Of the first, of a rank, of therefore, the best of all.

The Significance of First-Fruits in the Early Church

First-fruits plays such a role in God achieving His own pleasure and will, that when a person became a believer in a certain geographical area, they were even known as the first-fruits of that area. In Romans 16:5, Paul is giving greetings, and says:

“Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Salute my well beloved Epaenetus, who is the ‘first-fruits of Achaia’ unto Christ.”

Here’s the point, first-fruits automatically implies that there is more fruit coming later even though it stands as the best of the first harvest, therefore the first in rank, and then the first among many. Adam and Eve were followed by more people. The Nation of Israel was followed by more nations. Jesus, the first resurrected, was (and is) followed by many many more. The first believers of an area were followed by more, and the church of the redeemed, represented by 144000 was and is followed by more adding to “a kingdom whose increase will never end.”

James 1:18 says it well to believers in that very age in which he wrote:

Of his own will (of His own good pleasure) begat he us with the word of truth (according to His election based on His foreknowledge), that we should be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures.”

The Eternal Impact and Relevance

So what we are reading in the scripture is a history of how and what God did, through Adam and Eve, the Nation of Israel, His only begotten Son, and the devout believers in the early church – all first-fruits – as a means for many many more to come, forever adding to that Kingdom of which there is no end to the increase.

People often ask me, “If everything is fulfilled, even to the point that Jesus has already come back and taken his bride, the 144000, and the world has been reconciled to God once and for all, why share Jesus? Why even be a Christian?”

I would say that we are Christians in response to all God has done through His Son, that God is reconciled to us does not mean all have been reconciled to Him. And those who wish to be, who seek and desire Him, are all adding and going to add to the increase of His Kingdom, which is never ending.

There is life in Jesus Christ. Outside of Him, in the eternal scheme of things, there is nothing. So live Him, share Him, and be grateful for all God has done so that we can be beneficiaries of His loving work on our behalf.