There are multiple and miraculous blessings that result from obeying the command to give the firstfruit offering. Here are some of them:

  1. THE FIRSTFRUIT IS MULTIPLIED TO THE RECIPIENT

The Lord drew this truth to my attention this morning As I read 2 Kings 4: 42-44:

And there came a man from Baalshalisha, and brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley, and full ears of corn in the husk thereof. And he said, Give unto the people, that they may eat.

 And his servitor said, What, should I set this before an hundred men? He said again, Give the people, that they may eat: for thus saith the LORD, They shall eat, and shall leave thereof. So he set it before them, and they did eat, and left thereof, according to the word of the LORD.

In the context, Prophet Elisha appeared to have been in charge of the School of the Prophets, which consisted of 100 men. It was a time of famine and one of the Israelites brought the firstfruits of his land to supply the prophet. He spoke the prophetic word of multiplication over the food and it fed them with enough left over.

2. THE DUTY OF THE RECIPIENT

a. The one who received the firstfruit offering was expected to bless it:

And the first of all the firstfruits of all things, and every oblation of all, of every sort of your oblations, shall be the priest’s: ye shall also give unto the priest the first of your dough, that he may cause the blessing to rest in thine house(Eze 44: 30).

I believe that Prophet Elisha blessed the offering as well as the giver and as a result God gave the word that the food would be multiplied. Multiplication of resources is one outcome of giving the firstfruit offering. Jesus did the same to the food given by the little boy. I believe that I can safely call that boy’s meal a firstfruit since it consisted of barley loaves,a constituent of the firstfruit offering in bible days. Did not Jesus bless the food, break and multiply it?

What about the offering given by the widow of  Zarephath?  Could Prophet Elijah’s request to feed him with the last bit of meal (representing the firstfruit offering of corn) be symbolic of a firstfruit offering? I believe so because it was given in the time of famine. Crops were not being produced. Thirdly, it was all that she had left and she was going to feed herself and her son for the last time then die.

Here is the key to this cornmeal being a firstfruit offering. Prophet Elijah said to her:

… Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake FIRST, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son (1 Kings 17:13).

Prophet Elijah had obeyed God’s command to be fed by this widow and had also instructed her that she will not lack if she obeyed (1 Kings 17: 8-14). I believe that he held up that first meal to the Lord, blessed it and reminded Him of the promise to keep the barrel full of meal and to multiply the oil.

3. THE RECIPIENT IS OBLIGATED TO THE GIVER

When I say this, I do not mean that the person becomes obligated in the way that we understand it. Scriptures show us that the recipients are obligated to provide spiritual covering to those who give any firstfruit offering. For example, the son of the widow of Zarephath fell ill and died. Prophet Elijah was obligated to raise the child from the dead.

In related miracles, the woman of Shunem housed Prophet Elijah repeatedly. She received a four  fold miracle – the birth of a son, resurrection of the son, restoration of her land after a famine and transfer of money into her account (2Kings 4, 8).

4. GOD IS THE ULTIMATE RECIPIENT OF THE FIRSTFRUIT OFFERING

We balk many times at giving any kind of offering, but scriptures teach us that God  is really the recipient of the first fruit offering. When a firstfruit offering was given, the giver was commanded to take it to the temple, place it on the altar, offer a prayer of thanksgiving, worship and rejoice before the Lord (Deut 26).  This was a time of great celebration in Israel and God was teaching His people in all ages the strategies for giving an offering.  Apostle Paul later reminded the early church that God loves a cheerful giver (2 Ocr 9:7).

 The following  is an excerpt from Deut 26:

And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruitsof the land, which thou, O LORD, hast given me. And thou shalt set it before the LORD thy God, and worship before the LORD thy God (Deut 26: 10).   

The priest was also commanded to WAVE the firstfruitoffering to the Lord (Lev 23: 20). This is symbolic of waving the hands in worship to the Lord, telling Him how great He really is.  God also commanded the Jews to present the firstfruit offering as a meat offering. This was not made from meat but from fine flour mixed with oil (Lev 2: 4-6) as well as green ears of corn parched in fire (Lev 2: 14).

5. GOD HASTENS  THE FULFILLMENT OF THE PROPHETIC WORD WHEN AN  OFFERING IS GIVEN

As I read 2 Kings 3 last night, the Lord drew verse 20 to my attention. The two Jewish nations (Israel and Judah), had formed a confederacy with the King of Edom in order to fight the King of Moab. They ran out of water on their way and became stranded (v 9). Needing direction, they asked Prophet Elisha to seek God on their behalf. The word of the Lord was that the valley in which they camped would be filled with water to supply their needs and that He would deliver the Moabites into their hands.

This is the verse that struck me from 2 Kings 3: 20: 

And it came to pass in the morning, when the meat offering was offered, that, behold, there came water by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water.

I am not going to quibble and ask whether or not the meat offering came from the firstfruits, since wave and meat offerings were given to God as a regular part of worship. The valuable lesson I learnt is that I can hasten the fulfillment of the prophetic word by giving  an offering when I receive the word of the Lord. God could have delayed the miracle, but it was hastened with the giving of the offering. It seems that the warriors had carried the priests on their mission!

6. THE PROPHET’S REWARD

Jesus beautifully summarized these teachings  in Matthew 10: 41 by instructing us about the PROPHET’S REWARD:

He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet‘s reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward.

The teaching inherent in this text is that any reward received or to be received by a prophet or a righteous person is given also to those who bless  him/her. In Jesus’ ministry, Lazarus was resurrected and the little boy had 12 baskets left over. These ministered to Jesus. The disciples themselves also experienced draught of fishes and the outpouring of the Holy Ghost and many other miracles. Peter’s mother in law was healed from a fever. I am sure that you can add to the repertoire by sharing other biblical and modern day testimonies.

The Lord bless you and keep you, cause His face to shine upon you and give you peace.