S-18 - The Kingdom Wealth Principles – FIRST FRUITS

At the start of this series of teachings I want to place these sessions in their rightful place. The Kingdom of God operates just like any other Kingdom on certain principles and concepts.

Due to the many questions I have received for an accurate and clear teaching on the economic principles according to the Word I have decided to lay this foundation over the next week or two in order for all of us to have a clear understanding of the wealth principles of the Kingdom of God with specific reference to the taxation principles. In dealing with these concepts I will address to you the relevant principles that we need to apply in our walk with God as a three day church.

All kingdoms operate on a system that secures and sustains the strength and viability of the Kingdom. The system involves the kingdom government’s providing opportunity for the citizens to participate in the benefits program of the Kingdom’s prosperity through contributing to the work ethic and culture of the Kingdom. The Kingdom economy usually involves a taxation system, investment opportunities and creative development programs for the citizens.

Let me start of by saying to you that an attitude of giving and active giving in the Kingdom of God must be seen as investment opportunities that God gives to us.

INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES:

Luke 6:38 AMP

(38) Give, and [gifts] will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will they pour into [the pouch formed by] the bosom [of your robe and used as a bag]. For with the measure you deal out [with the measure you use when you confer benefits on others], it will be measured back to you.

Luke 18:22 AMP

(22) And when Jesus heard it, He said to him, One thing you still lack. Sell everything that you have and divide [the money] among the poor, and you will have [rich] treasure in heaven; and come back [and] follow Me [become My disciple, join My party, and accompany Me].

There is however also a taxation system in any Kingdom and thus we find this principal also within the Kingdom of God.

The Kingdom Taxation Principle:

All kingdoms incorporate a taxation system which allows citizens to participate in the process of maintaining the kingdom infrastructure. The system allows the citizen to share in the kingdom’s commonwealth and return a set portion of the kings resources back to the king. In essence everything in a kingdom already belongs to the king, including taxes required from the citizen. Therefore taxation is simply the government’s allowing its resources to pass through the hands of the citizen.

Now the moment we start speaking on finances everyone starts to get uncomfortable and grab for their purses to run. Many will react and say that this is Old Testament principles and we are no longer under the law. I agree that we are no longer under the law. The Old Testament however clearly teaches us that there remain the principles that are still applicable to us today. We know that according to the principals of LAW and GRACE that we have been resolved from the holiness law or Levitical Law, however the Inheritance Law is still relevant to us today. Those of you who do not understand these concepts are welcome to access the media centre and study the teaching by Randall Smith on these concepts.

When Jesus was confronted by the question whether taxation is still applicable he replied:

Mat 22:17 AMP

(17) Tell us then what You think about this: Is it lawful to pay tribute [levied on individuals and to be paid yearly] to Caesar or not?

Mat 22:21 AMP

(21) They said, Caesar's. Then He said to them, Pay therefore to Caesar the things that are due to Caesar, and pay to God the things that are due to God.

Clearly the response of Jesus indicates that taxation unto God do still apply.

Mal 3:8-12 AMP

(8) Will a man rob or defraud God? Yet you rob and defraud Me. But you say, In what way do we rob or defraud You? [You have withheld your] tithes and offerings.

(9) You are cursed with the curse, for you are robbing Me, even this whole nation. [Lev. 26:14-17.]

(10) Bring all the tithes (the whole tenth of your income) into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and prove Me now by it, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. [Mal. 2:2.]

(11) And I will rebuke the devourer [insects and plagues] for your sakes and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground, neither shall your vine drop its fruit before the time in the field, says the Lord of hosts.

(12) And all nations shall call you happy and blessed, for you shall be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts.

In this scripture God is dealing with the priests who failed to tithe.

Lets look at the complete system as an overview and thereafter I will discuss each one of these categories with you in detail.

KINDS / TYPES / CATEGORIES OF SEED

I WANT TO PRESENT IT TO YOU IN THE ORDER OF IMPORTANCE BEFORE GOD.

1. FIRSTFRUITS

2. TITHING

a. TITHE OF YOUR REGULAR INCOME

b. MELCHIZEDEK PORTION

3. OFFERING

a. TO THE CHURCH,

b. TO TH E SET MAN

c. SCATTERING TO OTHERS IN THE BODY

d. GIVING TO THE POOR

e. PLEDGES

f. SACRIFICES

From this we can see there are basically three categories or types of seed. Keeping the blue print of the tabernacle in mind you will clearly see these categories manifested in each one of these types or kinds of seed.

Outer Court

Inner Court / Holy Place

Most Holy Place

Passover

Pentecost

Tabernacles

Offerings

Tithes

First Fruits

Barley

Wheat

Fruit

Redemption

Love & Charity

Joh 12:23,24

Thanksgiving

As we are a Household that functions as a three day church I want to start at the place of our position in Christ which would immediately applies to the concept of First Fruits. To most of us this is a foreign principle and we do not know or understand its application today.

Again we have to revisit the Building pattern that God has given to Moses and David.

Exo 25:40

(40) And see to it that you copy [exactly] their pattern which was shown you on the mountain. [Hebrews 8:5, 6]

Heb 8:5-6

(5) [But these offer] service [merely] as a pattern and as a foreshadowing of [what has its true existence and reality in] the heavenly sanctuary. For when Moses was about to erect the tabernacle, he was warned by God, saying, See to it that you make it all [exactly] according to the copy (the model) which was shown to you on the mountain. [Exodus 25:40]

(6) But as it now is, He [Christ] has acquired a [priestly] ministry which is as much superior and more excellent [than the old] as the covenant (the agreement) of which He is the Mediator (the Arbiter, Agent) is superior and more excellent, [because] it is enacted and rests upon more important (sublimer, higher, and nobler) promises.

We know that the main feasts applicable to the Tabernacle are that of Passover, Pentecost and the Feast of Tabernacles.

In the process of revealing His plan of salvation for mankind, God established His annual Holy Days around the harvest seasons in the Middle East. You can take your time to study this as it is recorded in Leviticus 23:9-16 and Exodus 23:14-16

Lev 23:9-16

(9) And the Lord said to Moses,

(10) Tell the Israelites, When you have come into the land I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest.

(11) And he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, that you may be accepted; on the next day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it [before the Lord].

(12) You shall offer on the day when you wave the sheaf a male lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering to the Lord.

(13) Its cereal offering shall be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to the Lord for a sweet, pleasing, and satisfying fragrance; and the drink offering of it [to be poured out] shall be of wine, a fourth of a hin.

(14) And you shall eat neither bread nor parched grain nor green ears, until this same day when you have brought the offering of your God; it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your houses.

(15) And you shall count from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, seven Sabbaths; [seven full weeks] shall they be.

(16) Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall present a cereal offering of new grain to the Lord.

Exo 23:14-16

(14) Three times in the year you shall keep a feast to Me.

(15) You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread; seven days you shall eat unleavened bread as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. None shall appear before Me empty-handed.

(16) Also you shall keep the Feast of Harvest [Pentecost], [acknowledging] the firstfruits of your toil, of what you sow in the field. And [third] you shall keep the Feast of Ingathering [Booths or Tabernacles] at the end of the year, when you gather in the fruit of your labors from the field.

What we see clearly from these scriptures is that the First Fruits offerings were not given once a year but at every one of these feasts. All three of these festivals are agricultural harvest Festivals. Passover is the barley harvest. Pentecost is the wheat harvest. Both of these Festivals are first fruits harvests before the final harvest that was to come at the end of the year during the Festival of Tabernacles, which is the fruit harvest.

WHAT IS FIRST FRUITS?

The first thing we need to understand is that the first fruits are not the same as the TITHE.

2Ch 31:5

As soon as the command went abroad, the Israelites gave in abundance the firstfruits of grain, vintage fruit, oil, honey, and of all the produce of the field; and they brought in abundantly the tithe of everything.

We see a clear distinction as clear mentioned is made of both the tithe and the first fruits.

Neh 10:37

(37) And we shall bring the first and best of our coarse meal, our contributions, the fruit of all kinds of trees, of new wine, and of oil to the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God. And we shall bring the tithes from our ground to the Levites, for they, the Levites, collect the tithes in all our rural towns.

Neh 12:44

(44) On that day men were appointed over the chambers for the stores, the contributions, the firstfruits, and the tithes, to gather into them the portions required by law for the priests and the Levites according to the fields of the towns, for Judah rejoiced over the priests and Levites who served [faithfully].

Again from these scriptures we can clearly see that the firstfruits and the tithe were separate entities.

Abraham was the first to apply this principal and it took place well before God gave to Moses the Law. We read about this in Genesis 14. Take your time this week and read through this portion of scripture.

Heb 7:1-2

(1) For this Melchizedek, king of Salem [and] priest of the Most High God, met Abraham as he returned from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him,

(2) And Abraham gave to him a tenth portion of all [the spoil]. He is primarily, as his name when translated indicates, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, which means king of peace.

FIRST FRUITS CONSISTED OF THE FIRST OF THE CATTLE, CORN, FRUIT AND SONS.

Exo 22:29-30

(29) You shall not delay to bring to Me from the fullness [of your harvested grain] and the outflow [of your grape juice and olive oil]; give Me the firstborn of your sons [or redeem them]. [Exodus 34:19, 20]

(30) Likewise shall you do with your oxen and your sheep. Seven days the firstborn [beast] shall be with its mother; on the eighth day you shall give it to Me.

Neh 10:35-37

(35) And [we obligate ourselves] to bring the firstfruits of our ground and the first of all the fruit of all trees year by year to the house of the Lord,

(36) As well as the firstborn of our sons and of our cattle, as is written in the Law, and the firstlings of our herds and flocks, to bring to the house of our God, to the priests who minister in [His] house.

(37) And we shall bring the first and best of our coarse meal, our contributions, the fruit of all kinds of trees, of new wine, and of oil to the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God. And we shall bring the tithes from our ground to the Levites, for they, the Levites, collect the tithes in all our rural towns.

2. HOW WERE FIRSTFRUITS CALCULATED OR DETERMINED?

· FOURTH YEAR CROP OF A NEW TREE OR THE FIRST REAPING IN A NEW LAND.

Lev 19:23-25

(23) And when you come into the land and have planted all kinds of trees for food, then you shall count the fruit of them as inedible and forbidden to you for three years; it shall not be eaten.

(24) In the fourth year all their fruit shall be holy for giving praise to the Lord.

(25) But in the fifth year you may eat of the fruit [of the trees], that their produce may enrich you; I am the Lord your God.

In the first 3 years of a new tree that was planted, no fruit was plucked. In the fourth year all the fruit of that tree was given to the lord.

Deu 26:1-2

(1) When you have come into the land which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance and possess it and live in it,

(2) You shall take some of the first of all the produce of the soil which you harvest from the land the Lord your God gives you and put it in a basket, and go to the place [the sanctuary] which the Lord your God has chosen as the abiding place for His Name [and His Presence].

If the tree was already in existence, inherited, then its first ripe fruits were consecrated to the Lord.

· FIRST REAPING IN A NEW SEASON

Exo 22:29-30

(29) You shall not delay to bring to Me from the fullness [of your harvested grain] and the outflow [of your grape juice and olive oil]; give Me the firstborn of your sons [or redeem them]. [Exodus 34:19, 20]

(30) Likewise shall you do with your oxen and your sheep. Seven days the firstborn [beast] shall be with its mother; on the eighth day you shall give it to Me.

Neh 10:35-37

(35) And [we obligate ourselves] to bring the firstfruits of our ground and the first of all the fruit of all trees year by year to the house of the Lord,

(36) As well as the firstborn of our sons and of our cattle, as is written in the Law, and the firstlings of our herds and flocks, to bring to the house of our God, to the priests who minister in [His] house.

(37) And we shall bring the first and best of our coarse meal, our contributions, the fruit of all kinds of trees, of new wine, and of oil to the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God. And we shall bring the tithes from our ground to the Levites, for they, the Levites, collect the tithes in all our rural towns.

WHEN YOU BRING YOUR FIRSTFRUITS, YOU ARE DECLARING AN APOSTOLIC SEASON (fourth year) IN YOUR HARVEST. THIS IS THE ENTIRE CROP.

IT REPRESENTS 100 PERCENT

WITH A NEW COW – FIRST CALF WAS GIVEN

PLANTED A TREE – ENTIRE CROP OF FOURTH YEAR WAS GIVEN.

IN NEW SEASON FROM FIFTH YEAR – FIRST RIPE FRUITS WERE GIVEN.

TO WHOM IS THIS GIVEN

· Tithe to the storehouse (Mal 3:10) This goes to the set man and his staff.

· The firstfruit is to be given directly to the priest (the set man).

Deu 18:3-5

(3) And this shall be the priest's due from the people, from those who offer a sacrifice, whether it be ox or sheep: they shall give to the priest the shoulder and the two cheeks and the stomach.

(4) The firstfruits of your grain, of your new wine, and of your oil, and the first or best of the fleece of your sheep you shall give the priest.

(5) For the Lord your God has chosen him out of all your tribes to stand to minister in the name [and presence] of the Lord, him and his sons forever.

Eze 44:30

(30) And the first of all the firstfruits of all kinds, and every offering of all kinds from all your offerings, shall belong to the priests. You shall also give to the priest the first of your coarse meal and bread dough, that a blessing may rest on your house.

Neh 10:35-36

(35) And [we obligate ourselves] to bring the firstfruits of our ground and the first of all the fruit of all trees year by year to the house of the Lord,

(36) As well as the firstborn of our sons and of our cattle, as is written in the Law, and the firstlings of our herds and flocks, to bring to the house of our God, to the priests who minister in [His] house.

Lev 23:10-11

(10) Tell the Israelites, When you have come into the land I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest.

(11) And he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, that you may be accepted; on the next day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it [before the Lord].

WHY DO YOU GIVE FIRST FRUITS?

· TO HONOUR GOD.

Pro 3:9-10

(9) Honor the Lord with your capital and sufficiency [from righteous labors] and with the firstfruits of all your income; [Deuteronomy 26:2; Malachi 3:10; Luke 14:13, 14]

(10) So shall your storage places be filled with plenty, and your vats shall be overflowing with new wine. [Deuteronomy 28:8]

· HONOUR GOD BY HONOURING HIS SERVANTS.

PHILLIP.4 - Epaphraditus, Onesiphorus and Macedonian church gave directly to Paul.

HOW DO WE GIVE FIRST FRUITS?

Deu 26:1-19

(1) When you have come into the land which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance and possess it and live in it,

(2) You shall take some of the first of all the produce of the soil which you harvest from the land the Lord your God gives you and put it in a basket, and go to the place [the sanctuary] which the Lord your God has chosen as the abiding place for His Name [and His Presence].

(3) And you shall go to the priest who is in office in those days, and say to him, I give thanks this day to the Lord your God that I have come to the land which the Lord swore to our fathers to give us.

(4) And the priest shall take the basket from your hand and set it down before the altar of the Lord your God.

(5) And you shall say before the Lord your God, a wandering and lost Aramean ready to perish was my father [Jacob], and he went down into Egypt and sojourned there, few in number, and he became there a nation, great, mighty, and numerous.

(6) And the Egyptians treated us very badly and afflicted us and laid upon us hard bondage.

(7) And when we cried to the Lord, the God of our fathers, the Lord heard our voice and looked on our affliction and our labor and our [cruel] oppression;

(8) And the Lord brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm, and with great (awesome) power and with signs and with wonders;

(9) And He brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.

(10) And now, behold, I bring the firstfruits of the ground which You, O Lord, have given me. And you shall set it down before the Lord your God and worship before the Lord your God;

(11) And you and the Levite and the stranger and the sojourner among you shall rejoice in all the good which the Lord your God has given you and your household.

(12) When you have finished paying all the tithe of your produce the third year, which is the year of tithing, and have given it to the Levite, the stranger and the sojourner, the fatherless, and to the widow, that they may eat within your towns and be filled,

(13) Then you shall say before the Lord your God, I have brought the hallowed things (the tithe) out of my house and moreover have given them to the Levite, to the stranger and the sojourner, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all Your commandments which You have commanded me; I have not transgressed any of Your commandments, neither have I forgotten them.

(14) I have not eaten of the tithe in my mourning [making the tithe unclean], nor have I handled any of it when I was unclean, nor given any of it to the dead. I have hearkened to the voice of the Lord my God; I have done according to all that You have commanded me.

(15) Look down from Your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel and the land which You have given us as You swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.

(16) This day the Lord your God has commanded you to do these statutes and ordinances. Therefore you shall keep and do them with all your [mind and] heart and with all your being.

(17) You have [openly] declared the Lord this day to be your God, [pledging] to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes and His commandments and His precepts, and to hearken to His voice.

(18) And the Lord has declared this day that you are His peculiar people as He promised you, and you are to keep all His commandments;

(19) And He will make you high above all nations which He has made, in praise and in fame and in honor, and that you shall be a holy people to the Lord your God, as He has spoken.

The celebrant brings his TITHES AND FIRSTFRUITS to the priest. On his way he will sing “I was glad when they said to me let us go into the house of the Lord.

He would come before the priest to preach – to declare his position – that God had kept His promise. His offering was a declaration of his accurate position and God’s wonderful faithfulness.

The celebrant declared:

· He had not eaten his tithe in mourning(during difficult times, not spent on medical bills or other living expenses)

· He had not used it for unclean purposes – paid i.e. water and lights, rent, telephone bills etc. Prefer to stay in the dark.

· He had not used it to pay for funeral expenses or to waste it upon things of this world that has no life.

This act proclaimed the Lord to be your God and your source.

After this act God proclaimed that you were his special people.

After this act God promised to set you high above all nations in praise, in name, in honour and in holiness.

This act acknowledged that God was your source.

OLD TESTAMENT TRUTHS ARE PATTERNS.

WE LIVE UNDER THE PRINCIPLES AND PATTERNS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT

This is a practical demonstration of the fact that we are putting God first. This is not a commandment but a issue of conscience. New covenant believers must demonstrate superior commitment.

Start in the law and finish in the Spirit.

In Genesis 22:2, God told Abraham, “Give me thy son, thine only son, Isaac.” God demanded Isaac as the first fruit offering from Abraham and it was only after offering his son we see Abraham being blessed over, above and beyond measure.

THE BENEFITS OF GIVING FIRST FRUITS

· SUPER-ABUNDANCE

Pro 3:9-10

(9) Honor the Lord with your capital and sufficiency [from righteous labors] and with the firstfruits of all your income; [Deuteronomy 26:2; Malachi 3:10; Luke 14:13, 14]

(10) So shall your storage places be filled with plenty, and your vats shall be overflowing with new wine. [Deuteronomy 28:8]

· YOU REAP THE BENEFITS OF PLACING THE KINGDOM FIRST

Mat 6:33

(33) But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides.

· BLESSING SHALL REST IN THE HOUSE.

Eze 44:30

(30) And the first of all the firstfruits of all kinds, and every offering of all kinds from all your offerings, shall belong to the priests. You shall also give to the priest the first of your coarse meal and bread dough, that a blessing may rest on your house.

· SUSTENANCE IN FAMINE

1Ki 17:10-16

(10) So he arose and went to Zarephath. When he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her, Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.

(11) As she was going to get it, he called to her and said, Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.

(12) And she said, As the Lord your God lives, I have not a loaf baked but only a handful of meal in the jar and a little oil in the bottle. See, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and bake it for me and my son, that we may eat it--and die.

(13) Elijah said to her, Fear not; go and do as you have said. But make me a little cake of [it] first and bring it to me, and afterward prepare some for yourself and your son.

(14) For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: The jar of meal shall not waste away or the bottle of oil fail until the day that the Lord sends rain on the earth.

(15) She did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days.

(16) The jar of meal was not spent nor did the bottle of oil fail, according to the word which the Lord spoke through Elijah.

· BLESSING OF THE WHOLE

Rom 11:16

(16) Now if the first handful of dough offered as the firstfruits [Abraham and the patriarchs] is consecrated (holy), so is the whole mass [the nation of Israel]; and if the root [Abraham] is consecrated (holy), so are the branches. [Numbers 15:19-21]

BLESSING THE REMAINDER.

· SIGNALLING THAT WHICH IS TO COME.

Firstfruits offerings signal the beginning of your harvest. It promises an abundant harvest. It establishes the law of first things first in your life. It establishes the promise of that which is to come. It positions the believer to receive the promise of God.

WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF FIRST FRUITS OFFERINGS:

· NO DELAY

Exo 22:29-30

(29) You shall not delay to bring to Me from the fullness [of your harvested grain] and the outflow [of your grape juice and olive oil]; give Me the firstborn of your sons [or redeem them]. [Exodus 34:19, 20]

(30) Likewise shall you do with your oxen and your sheep. Seven days the firstborn [beast] shall be with its mother; on the eighth day you shall give it to Me.

· FIRST FRUIT OFFERINGS ARE GIVEN IN PUBLIC:

Lev 23:9-11

(9) And the Lord said to Moses,

(10) Tell the Israelites, When you have come into the land I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest.

(11) And he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, that you may be accepted; on the next day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it [before the Lord].

This edifies the body when others see how God is blessing you, through promotion, increase and breakthrough. This way God is glorified.

· IT IS A HOLY THING.

Exo 29:33-34

(33) They shall eat those things with which atonement was made, to ordain and consecrate them; but a stranger (layman) shall not eat of them because they are holy (set apart to the worship of God).

(34) And if any of the flesh or bread for the ordination remains until morning, you shall burn it with fire; it shall not be eaten, because it is holy (set apart to the worship of God).

WHAT THEN IS THE CURRENT MODERN DAY APPLICATION- HOW DOES IT APPLY TO YOU AND ME?

· NEW JOB – FIRST CHEQUE – GIVE 100 PERCENT. - THEREAFTER YOU TITHE OF THE GROSS.

· NEW CHURCH – ALL OF FIRST TITHES AND OFFERINGS OF FIRST MONTH GIVEN TO THE APOSTLE.

· WHEN GET A INCREASE – FIRST INCREASE GIVE 100 PERCENT.

· THEN FIRST RIPE FRUITS IS THE BEST YOU CAN GIVE OF THE FIRST OF 12 MONTHS. E.G 1 WEEK SALARY OF JANUARY i.e. one part of 52 parts OR THEN THE FIRST WEEK OF YOUR FINANCIAL YEAR IN A BUSINESS.

· Special breakthroughs in finances: Melchezidek offering YOU GIVE 10% of it.

WHEN THE ISRAELITES MOVED FROM BEINGLAND OWNERS INTO THE MODERN AGE THE RABBI’S MADE THE FOLLOWING APPLICATION:

between 1/40 th & 1/60th of annual income:

BUT :

1/40th = 2 ½ %

AND Is better than :

1/60th = 1 ½%

In practical application that would mean that you apply this formula to your annual income. You decide what formula you use. This is between you and God.

QUOTE FROM THE DIDACHE:

“If you have a pastor who is willing to live among you and teach you the Word and sow into your spirit, he is worthy of your Terumah (First Fruits). If you don’t have a Pastor who is worthy of your Terumah then give your Terumah to the poor. Whatever you do, don’t eat the firstfruits.”

Rabbi Hillel who was in charge of the biggest rabbinical school in Israel said:-

1. “If a person honors Terumah at 1/40th (2.5% of his yearly income ) his eye is said to be full of light

2. If he honors Terumah at a 1/50th level: His eye is said to be a middling eye – (2%)

3. If he honors Terumah at a 1/60th level: that person has an evil eye” (1.6%)

4. People who didn’t pay Terumah at all were called infidels – a very serious accusation in Israel

Today we are the royal priesthood, and the holy Nation.

• Just like in the Priestly tribe of Levi, Today we have the five fold ministry and others that labor in the house of God (Eph. 4:10)

• These have been called and given by Jesus Christ to the Church.

• The set man of the local church, the person that gives the “bread and wine” like Melchezidek, he must receive the first fruits

• The tithe’ must go to the storehouse, the local church. This must be used by the pastor and the workers in the church to see that they are taken care of.

• Every set man and every five-fold minister must have a Melchezidek aFather figure to whom he gives his personal tithe and firstfruits.

Most of us have already established that I want to give my first fruits and I really want to walk in obedience to the Lord. This morning I want to help you to be able to do that. Most of us grow weak at the thought of after finding work and being without income that we now have to give all of that towards First Fruits.

What I am about to share with you I have not found preached by any other preacher and if I am missing the mark on this I would like to invite other pastors to engage me on this principle. The principles of tithing and first fruits have been abused by leaders for there own benefits and gains. I want to change that and break the yoke that has been placed on many believers.

Lev 27:31

(31) And if a man wants to redeem any of his tithe, he shall add a fifth to it.

Study the whole of Leviticus 27 – Apply the principle and not the law.

In my research I have come to the PREACERS COMMENTARY that states:

Verses Lev_27:30-33 deal with the tithes. Tithing, giving the first tenth, goes clear back to the patriarchs. When Abraham was met by the mysterious Melchizedek, after being blessed by him, "he gave him a tithe of all" (Gen_14:20). At Bethel, Jacob made a vow: "If God will be with me … of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You" (Gen_28:20-22). Thus, from the earliest times, tithes were regarded as a kind of vow. And the rules governing other vows apply to tithing as well.

First Fruit is a vow as well. If we then apply the principal of redeeming of a vow to the tithe or first fruit it would establish a pattern where we can redeem the first fruit by paying 20% more on the original figure and then do this with installments over the period of a year.

I have personally followed this principal over the past years and God has never stop blessing me. The last three years of our lifes are a living testimony to God’s faithfulness and provision. This is not something to be applied lightly and must be seriously considered before God. Only do this if God gives you peace to do so.

I would rather see you redeem your first fruits and tithes than to eat it and bring judgment upon yourselves and your households.

There is a lot more that can be said on this subject and the background around it, but I believe this would lay a foundation for all of you as you step into this dimension of giving unto the Lord.

God bless you as you embrace the Kingdom Wealth Principle of First Fruits in you life.