First Fruit in the Bible

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Question: What does first fruit mean in the Bible? Also, what is sowing seeds?

Answer: First fruit is a term used to describe the first fruit of the first harvest. God commanded His people to present the first fruit of the land to the Levitical priesthood:

". . . that you shall take some of the FIRST of all the PRODUCE of the ground, which you shall bring from your land that the Lord your God is giving you, and put it in a basket and go to the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide. " (Deuteronomy 26:2, NKJV throughout)

Fausset's Bible Dictionary states about firstfruits in relation to the kingdom of Israel:

"The whole land's produce was consecrated to God by the consecration of the first-fruits; just as the whole nation by that of the firstborn .

"For if the firstfruit is holy , the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches." (Romans 11:16)

"At the Passover , on the morrow after the sabbath, a sheaf of green barley (which is earlier than wheat), of the first-fruits of the crop, was waved before the Lord:

"And the Lord spoke to Moses , saying, "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them:  'When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the FIRSTFRUITS of your harvest to the priest.  He shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted on your behalf;  on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it . . .' " " (Leviticus 23:9-11)

"At Pentecost, fifty days later, two loaves made of fine flour were waved before God:

"You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour;  they shall be baked with leaven. They are the FIRSTFRUITS to the Lord . . . The priest shall wave them (the meat sacrifice) with the bread of the FIRSTFRUITS as a wave offering before the Lord . . ." (Leviticus 23:17, 20)

"The feast of tabernacles, on the 15th day of the seventh month, was itself an acknowledgment of the fruits of the harvest. Besides these national offerings the law required that the first of all ripe fruits and liquors should be offered by individuals:

"You shall not delay to offer the first of your ripe produce and your juices . . ." (Exodus 22:29)

"The firstfruits of the oil, wine, and wheat were to be offered to Jehovah, for the benefit of the priests as His representatives: "

“All the best of the oil, all the best of the new wine and the grain, their firstfruits which they offer to the Lord, I have given them to you (priests). Whatever first ripe fruit is in their land, which they bring to the Lord, shall be yours." (Numbers 18:12-13)

To sow a seed simply means to plant a seed. The word of God uses this as a metaphor to describe the concept of working to achieve something positive.

The Bible often uses symbolism associated with agricultural production because it was such an important part of ancient people's daily life, unlike the majority of people today.

In one of Jesus' parables he uses the analogy of someone sowing seeds, and what can happen to the seeds afterwards, to teach about the different responses people will have regarding the gospel message:

"And when a great multitude had gathered, and they had come to Him from every city, He spoke by a parable:  "A sower went out to SOW his SEED.  And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it.  Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture.  And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it.  But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold."

"When He had said these things He cried, 'He who has ears to hear, let him hear!'

"Then His disciples asked Him, saying, "What does this parable mean?"

"And He said,  "To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that 'Seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.'

""Now the parable is this:  The SEED is the word of God.  Those by the wayside are the ones who hear;  then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.  But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy;  and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away.  Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity.  But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience." (Luke 8:5-15)

By seed time, I believe you are referring to the time when the environment, temperature and season are appropriate for the placing of seeds in the ground for their best success of growing. Growing up on a farm we spoke of seedtime as the time when the earth was warm enough and moist enough from the early spring rains to best guarantee the "sprouting" of the seed once it was placed in the ground. Otherwise, it would simply lie buried in the soil and die.

Springtime is the time of seeds. It is the time when life springs forth from the earth. We could associate "seed time" with the time of planting.

"Also your people shall all be righteous;  they shall inherit the land forever, the branch of My PLANTING, the work of My hands, that I may be glorified." (Isaiah 60:21)

"To console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;  That they may be called trees of righteousness, the PLANTING of the Lord, that He may be glorified." (Isaiah 61:3)

Spiritually, we could say that when God places his Holy Spirit in us at the time of our repentance and baptism, it is a spiritual seed, the "beginning" of spiritual life within us. However, we can't let that "seed" just sit there and not grow, or it will die. We must water the "seed" of the Holy Spirit with continued bible study and prayer. We must put into practice every word of the teachings of the ENTIRE Bible to allow the Holy Spirit to grow in us.

So, when the time of the harvest comes, spiritually, at the second coming of Jesus Christ, those who have been and are true Christians will be part of God's firstfruits of salvation.

Thank you for your question about what does first fruit in the Bible mean.