Context No. 3252 of 4322 · Leviticus

Leviticus 23:9-14: in context

9The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 10“Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When you have come into the land which I give to you, and shall reap its harvest, then you shall bring the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. 11He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you. On the next day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. 12On the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb without defect a year old for a burnt offering to the LORD. 13The meal offering with it shall be two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to the LORD for a pleasant aroma; and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, the fourth part of a hin. 14You must not eat bread, or roasted grain, or fresh grain, until this same day, until you have brought the offering of your God. This is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

The law of firstfruits sets an order for gratitude. When Israel comes into the land and reaps its harvest, they are to bring the first sheaf to the priest to wave before the LORD, with a lamb and grain and drink offering. And they are to eat none of the new harvest, no bread, no grain, until they have first brought God's offering.

The point is priority: God receives the firstfruits, not the leftovers. Before Israel could take any of the new harvest for themselves, they had to offer God the first portion, confessing that the whole harvest came from him. To give God the first is to put him first in practice, not just in word. It is easy to give God whatever remains after we have taken our fill; the firstfruits principle asks instead for the first portion, offered up front, as an act of trust that the rest will follow. What we give first reveals what we truly put first.

Do I give God the first portion of what I have, my time, my resources, my attention, or do I offer him only what is left after I have taken my fill?

Sources

Leviticus 23:10: "Bring the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest."
Leviticus 23:14: "You must not eat bread... until you have brought the offering of your God."
Proverbs 3:9: "Honor the LORD with your substance, with the first fruits of all your increase."