“You shall bring the choice first fruits of your soil into the house of the Lord your God.” Exodus 23:19.
But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. 1 Corinthians 15:20.
For all the firstborn are Mine; on the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified to Myself all the firstborn in Israel, from man to beast. They shall be Mine; I am the Lord. Exodus 3:13.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God says:
First fruits. The first and the best offered to Me blesses all that follows. When you honor Me, I honor you. Honor the Lord from your wealth and from the first of all your produce; so your barns will be filled with plenty and your vats will overflow with new wine. Proverbs 3:9-10. And where did the first fruits go? To the High Priest and his sons. Deuteronomy 18:4; Ezekiel 44:30.
The appointed time of first fruits that I taught to Moses was a shadow of My Son. He is the substance. The first fruits offering was given three days after the Passover lamb was sacrificed, the day I raised Jesus from the dead. And the priest would raise up and wave the sheaf of the first wheat. Just like Jesus coming out of the tomb.
But there is much here. It is a question of honor and of trust. It is seeing Me as the source of all and your provider. It is seeking My Kingdom first. First. Not like Cain, the last that is spoiled, but the first that is fresh. Everything is added to you when you seek Me first.
Once I redeemed the Israelites, I told Moses, “Consecrate to Me every firstborn male. The firstborn from every womb among the Israelites belongs to Me, both of man and beast.” Exodus 13:2. For all the firstborn are Mine; on the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified to Myself all the firstborn in Israel, from man to beast. They shall be Mine; I am the Lord. Numbers 3:13.
Jesus is the firstborn of many brethren, but I have sealed all who believe in My Son as Lord in Him, and as He is so are you. 1 John 4:17. You all belong to the church of the firstborn. Hebrews 12:23. Just as Rebekah clothed Jacob in the garments of the firstborn and the skins of goats so that Isaac treated Jacob as his firstborn and gave him the BLESSING, Genesis 27:5-23, so I have done for you. My servant Paul wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” Galatians 3:26-27. When I see you in Christ, I know the voice is yours but the righteousness is Christ’s. Rebekah deceived Isaac to give the BLESSING to her favorite son, Jacob. She obtained the firstborn BLESSING for the son she loved. I have done the same for you, but I so to speak, deceived Myself! I enabled Myself to justly give all those who are saved by faith in My Son the firstborn BLESSING. Galatians 3:13-14. And what is the firstborn BLESSING? The double portion. And I have spoken to you about the double portion before. In order for My people to enter the Shabbat rest, they needed a double portion so they could relax on Shabbat and not toil for survival that day. It was all there for them with no toil. And I did the same in the seventh year or the Shabbat year, the harvest of the sixth year produced double on top of the normal harvest to supply for the needs of My people in abundance as they took a year off from toil and enough to last while they planted again in the eighth year. And in the forty-eighth year the fields produced a double double to go through the forty-ninth, the fiftieth year (Jubilee year), and the next year to plant and harvest. All with no toil and plenty left over to share with the poor. There were to be no poor in the land. Shabbat and Jubilee were to take care of that.
Jesus opened and read the scroll of Isaiah as His mission statement and the prophecy that He fulfilled. If you continue in that chapter you will find the following: “But you will be called the priests of the LORD; you will be spoken of as ministers of our God. You will eat the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast. Instead of your shame you will have a double portion, and instead of humiliation they will shout for joy over their portion. Therefore they will possess a double portion in their land, everlasting joy will be theirs.” Isaiah 61:6-7. In Jesus I made you all My firstborn and gave you the double so you can all enter into My rest. And what is that? Kingdom living on earth. You are in the world but not of the world. You are citizens of My Kingdom and members of My household, and by His Blood Jesus has released you from your sins and made you a kingdom of priests, a royal priesthood, unto Me. My own special possession! I set apart the firstborn to belong to Me, My special possession, consecrated to Me! In Christ, you are Mine! You have My favor and My grace. You have the place at My right hand seated in and with Christ as My firstborn, the Son of My right hand. You are no longer a slave but a Son. Joint heirs with Christ, joint heirs of the firstborn, the double portion.
Elisha considered himself the firstborn spiritual son of Elijah. And when Elijah was about to go up in the chariot of fire, Elisha asked for the double portion. A double portion of his spirit, of his anointing. And he received that. He did double the miracles of Elijah.
And what did Jesus tell you? That you will do the works He did and greater, the double anointing! And why? Because He is pouring out My promise of the Spirit on you as He returned to My right hand. And He is there as your Great High Priest who ever intercedes for you. And you offer your first fruits to your High Priest and He shares it with His sons! As you give so you receive, for the measure with which you measured will be measured back to you.
Instead of taking the first born of every person, I took the Levites as My ministers and special priests as belonging to Me and set apart for My service in the place of all the firstborn of the other tribes. They all became in My eyes the firstborn that belonged to Me. They were substituted so that the other tribes could keep their firstborn as their own at home. But every Levite, I considered a firstborn and My special possession. Now that is all who believe in Jesus as Lord.
You are very special to Me. I have made you My firstborn in Christ and set you apart for the work of the ministry, you are all ministers of the Gospel of the Kingdom. I have told you to cast out demons, lay hands on the sick to heal them, and to take territory for the Kingdom. What are you doing?
First fruits include so much! Your offerings, your life, your prayers, and who you honor in your heart, who is it who you value first from the moment you awaken to the moment you lie down for peaceful sleep with My left hand under your head and My right hand embracing you?
You are My firstborn and the double portion and the BLESSING of Abraham are yours and the promise of the Spirit by faith. The fragrance of Christ is on you.
You cannot ever get to limit of the height and breadth and length and depth of My love for you! It is great beyond all you can ask or imagine. You did not need a Rebekah to deceive Me so that I would mistake you for My firstborn Son. I put you in Christ so that I could treat you as My perfect firstborn Son justly and righteously. I am faithful and just to treat you as I do Christ. And I have given Him everything. You are with Me always and everything I have is yours. Isn’t it time you woke up to righteousness? 1 Corinthians 15:34.
I love you. The firstborn are Mine and so you are. And your first fruits are Mine, they are to be given to your great High Priest and then He shares them with His sons. Here He is with the children I have given Him! For all I have is His and all He has is Mine. And the same holds true for you who are clothed in Him. Do you still not understand? It has pleased Me to give you the Kingdom. And that includes the double portion and the double double. Beauty for your ashes—your sins are gone and remembered no more and you are clothed in the majestic beauty of Christ. Forever.