First Fruits

Giving our finances – sowing and reaping – should be a normal part of Christian life. Jesus, in the Gospels, commissioned his followers to ‘give and it will come back to you’. We can go as far as to say the mark of a true convert is one who lives the exchanged life: a life that reflects Christianity as Jesus intended it to be; a life of love under-pinned by giving and receiving; a life of generosity and obedience.

1. What is first fruits?

First fruits comes from the Hebrew bikkurim: ‘promise to come’

First fruits is an offering given in faith, believing that God will bless and prosper you over the next 12 months. It's a prophetic arrow shot into the new year declaring God’s goodness and blessings over your future.

Key Scripture

"You shall bring the choice first fruits of your soil into the house of the Lord your God. "Behold, I am going to send an angel before you to guard you along the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. Be on your guard before him and obey his voice; do not be rebellious toward him, for he will not pardon your transgression, since My name is in him. But if you truly obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. For My angel will go before you and bring you in to the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites; and I will completely destroy them. You shall not worship their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their deeds; but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their sacred pillars in pieces. But you shall serve the Lord your God, [a]and He will bless your bread and your water; and I will remove sickness from your midst. There shall be no one miscarrying or barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days. I will send My terror ahead of you, and throw into confusion all the people among whom you come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. I will send hornets ahead of you so that they will drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites before you. I will not drive them out before you in a single year, that the land may not become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. I will drive them out before you little by little, until you become fruitful and take possession of the land.”Exodus 23:19-30 (NASB)

Promises from Scripture
  • The Lord sends angels.
  • The Lord removes opposition from around you.
  • The Lord commands a blessing over your food and water.
  • The Lord will take sickness away from your surroundings.
  • The Lord gives you long life.
  • The Lord will increase your inheritance.
  • The Lord will repay what was stolen.
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2. What is the difference between tithes and first fruits?

The best of all first fruits of any kind, and every sacrifice of any kind from all your sacrifices, shall be the priest's; also you shall give to the priest the first of your ground meal, to cause a blessing to rest on your house. (Ezekiel 44:30)

Tithes vs. first fruits
  • The tithe is 10% of your income.
  • First fruits is given in relation to what God wants to do in your life.
  • The tithe releases your past efficiency.
  • First fruits relates to your future prosperity.
  • The tithe protects what you have.
  • First fruits protects what you will have.
  • The Tithe is given in faith that God will protect your present needs.
  • First fruits is given believing for the increase that God will give you in the future.

Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.Luke 6:38 (NKJV)

For if the first-fruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches.Romans 11:16 (NKJV)

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