We briefly mentioned in a previous post the importance of giving first. Now let’s take a closer look at what the Bible teaches us about firstfruits giving. A lot of people, including myself in the past, confuse the tithe with firstfruits offerings. So what is the distinction between them? The tithe is what we bring after our harvest while a firstfruits offering is what we bring before our harvest. Succinctly stated…by honoring the Lord with the first and the best the whole or the rest is blessed. A close examination of the scripture finds firstfruits is always mentioned before the tithe in order of giving.  The following are some scriptures that talk about firstfruits giving:

Honor the Lord with your possessions. And with the firstfruits of all your increase. So your barns will be filled with plenty. And your vats will overflow with new wine. (Proverbs 3:9-10)

And at the same time some were appointed over the rooms of the storehouse for the offerings, the first fruits and the tithes, to gather into them from the fields of the cities the  portions specified by the Law by the priests and Levites. (Nehemiah 12:44-45; See also Neh. 10:35-38 and Ezekiel 44:30) 

The children of Israel would bring the firstfruits before the harvest was totally gathered. This honored God and by giving of the first fruits it sanctified the whole harvest. The tithe is what we bring after our harvest while the firstfruits is what we bring in the beginning of the harvest as a faith gift to the Lord. This is not a legalistic duty but another opportunity to give according to a pattern in the Word of God.

My wife and I recently had a revelation of firstfruits offerings so we gave 20% of the first extra check we received for the year above our normal income. We did this in faith but honestly we were surprised to see that gift multiplied with thousands of dollars of extra income within a month. Amazing. Then we gave a first fruits offering on this additional income as well and saw some more unexpected cash come in.  This pattern of firstfruits giving and tangible results happened a total of three times that first year. I have been guilty of lumping together the firstfruits offering with tithes in the past, but I will not make this mistake anymore.

Firstfruits’s giving is not something we have to do but something we get to do. If we get a revelation of firstfruits giving I believe it will open up a whole new level of blessing to flow in our lives. We have believed in tithing for many years but this new revelation of the firstfruits offerings, as something different in addition to the tithe, has released a whole new level of blessing in our personal finances. We discovered another way to give.

Generally the firstfruits offerings are given to a spiritual authority or someone/something that is pouring life in to your life.