The practice of an "offering,"
of the first fruits began with Cain and Abel. Cain offered a gift of products
from the land and Abel offered a gift of the "first born" of
his flock. Notice that Abel's "acceptable" offer was of the
"first born" of his flock.
Listen to God’s word
about His "first born."
Exodus 4:22
22 "Then you shall
say to Pharaoh, 'Thus says the LORD: "Israel is My son, My firstborn (NKJ)
The second mention
of the significance of the firstborn concerns the event leading to the
Passover.
Exodus 11:4-7
4 Then Moses said,
"Thus says the LORD: 'About midnight I will go out into the midst of
Egypt;
5 'and all the firstborn
in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits
on his throne, even to the firstborn of the female servant who is behind
the handmill, and all the firstborn of the animals.
6 'Then there shall
be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as was not like
it before, nor shall be like it again.
7 'But against none
of the children of Israel shall a dog move its tongue, against man or
beast, that you may know that the LORD does make a difference between
the Egyptians and Israel.' (NKJ)
Exodus 12:12-34
12 'For I will pass
through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn
in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of
Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD.
13 'Now the blood shall
be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood,
I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy
you when I strike the land of Egypt.
14 'So this day shall
be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD throughout
your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance.
15 'Seven days you
shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven
from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day
until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel.
16 'On the first day
there shall be a holy convocation, and on the seventh day there shall
be a holy convocation for you. No manner of work shall be done on them;
but that which everyone must eat-- that only may be prepared by you.
17 'So you shall observe
the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this same day I will have brought
your armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this
day throughout your generations as an everlasting ordinance.
18 'In the first month,
on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened
bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at evening.
19 'For seven days
no leaven shall be found in your houses, since whoever eats what is
leavened, that same person shall be cut off from the congregation of
Israel, whether he is a stranger or a native of the land.
20 'You shall eat nothing
leavened; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.' "
21 Then Moses called
for all the elders of Israel and said to them, "Pick out and take lambs
for yourselves according to your families, and kill the Passover lamb.
22 "And you shall take
a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike
the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin.
And none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning.
23 "For the LORD will
pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on
the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door
and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you.
24 "And you shall observe
this thing as an ordinance for you and your sons forever.
25 "It will come to
pass when you come to the land which the LORD will give you, just as
He promised, that you shall keep this service.
26 "And it shall be,
when your children say to you, 'What do you mean by this service?'
27 "that you shall
say, 'It is the Passover sacrifice of the LORD, who passed over the
houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians
and delivered our households.' " So the people bowed their heads
and worshiped.
28 Then the children
of Israel went away and did so; just as the LORD had commanded Moses
and Aaron, so they did.
29 And it came to pass
at midnight that the LORD struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt,
from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn
of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of livestock.
30 So Pharaoh rose
in the night, he, all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there
was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was
not one dead.
31 Then he called for
Moses and Aaron by night, and said, "Rise, go out from among my people,
both you and the children of Israel. And go, serve the LORD as you have
said.
32 "Also take your
flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone; and bless me also."
33 And the Egyptians
urged the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste.
For they said, "We shall all be dead."
34 So the people took
their dough before it was leavened, having their kneading bowls bound
up in their clothes on their shoulders. (NKJ)
Note verse 27. This is the Passover
sacrifice, in which the firstborn of the enemy is destroyed and the
firstborn of God's people, preserved. Now see what God said to Moses
about all of the firstborn of Israel.
Exodus 13:1-2
1 Then the LORD spoke
to Moses, saying,
2 "Consecrate to Me
all the firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel,
both of man and beast; it is Mine." (NKJ)
Then God establishes
the law regarding sacrifice of the firstborn males.
Exodus 13:11-15
11 "And it shall be,
when the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as He swore
to you and your fathers, and gives it to you,
12 "that you shall
set apart to the LORD all that open the womb, that is, every firstborn
that comes from an animal which you have; the males shall be the LORD'S.
13 "But every firstborn
of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb; and if you will not redeem
it, then you shall break its neck. And all the firstborn of man among
your sons you shall redeem.
14 "So it shall be,
when your son asks you in time to come, saying, 'What is this?' that
you shall say to him, 'By strength of hand the LORD brought us out of
Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
15 'And it came to
pass, when Pharaoh was stubborn about letting us go, that the LORD killed
all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and
the firstborn of beast. Therefore I sacrifice to the LORD all males
that open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.' (NKJ)
Notice verse 13. The donkey, a stubborn
animal, shall be redeemed with a lamb. You can attribute any meaning
to that you wish but know that if the lamb had not been sacrificed then
the stubborn donkey would have had its neck broken. May the reader be
given light to understand that point. The first mention of the Messiah
being the Lamb of God, is in the Gospel of John. Listen.
John 1:29-36
29 The next day John
saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who
takes away the sin of the world!
30 "This is He of whom
I said, 'After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was
before me.'
31 "I did not know
Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing
with water."
32 And John bore witness,
saying, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He
remained upon Him.
33 "I did not know
Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'Upon whom
you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who
baptizes with the Holy Spirit.'
34 "And I have seen
and testified that this is the Son of God."
35 Again, the next
day, John stood with two of his disciples.
36 And looking at Jesus
as He walked, he said, "Behold the Lamb of God!" (NKJ)
Then, we find Jesus
referred to as the "firstborn," the Lamb of God.
Matthew 1:24-25
24 Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord
commanded him and took to him his wife,
25 and did not know
her till she had brought forth her
firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus. (NKJ)
Colossians 1:1-25
1 Paul, an apostle
of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
2 To the saints and
faithful brethren in Christ who are in Colosse: Grace to you and peace
from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 We give thanks to
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,
4 since we heard of
your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints;
5 because of the hope
which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the
word of the truth of the gospel,
6 which has come to
you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as
it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God
in truth;
7 as you also learned
from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of
Christ on your behalf,
8 who also declared
to us your love in the Spirit.
9 For this reason we
also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to
ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom
and spiritual understanding;
10 that you may have
a walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every
good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
11 strengthened with
all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering
with joy;
12 giving thanks to
the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of
the saints in the light.
13 He has delivered
us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the
Son of His love,
14 in whom we have
redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
15 He is the image
of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
16 For by Him all things
were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things
were created through Him and for Him.
17 And He is before
all things, and in Him all things consist.
18 And He is the head
of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the
dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
19 For it pleased the
Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell,
20 and by Him to reconcile
all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in
heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.
21 And you, who once
were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He
has reconciled
22 in the body of His
flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach
in His sight--
23 if indeed you continue
in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the
hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature
under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.
24 I now rejoice in
my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the
afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church,
25 of which I became
a minister (NKJ)
Israel knows better than anyone that
God commanded that the firstborn animal be sacrificed and the firstborn
son, redeemed. Our redeemer paid the price. His flesh was crucified
and now our "flesh" (Satan's domain in us) needs to be crucified.
Listen to Paul's teaching.
Galatians
2:20-21
20 "I have been crucified
with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and
the life which I now live in the flesh I live by
faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
21 "I do not set aside
the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ
died in vain." (NKJ)
Galatians 5:24-25
24 And those who are
Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25 If we live in the
Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. (NKJ)
Romans 6:3-14
3 … do you not know
that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized
into His death?
4 Therefore we were
buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was
raised from the dead by the glory of the
Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been
united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall
be in the likeness of His resurrection,
6 knowing this, that
our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done
away with, that we should no longer be
slaves of sin.
7 For he who has died
has been freed from sin.
8 Now if we died with
Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,
9 knowing that Christ,
having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has
dominion over Him.
10 For the death that
He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He
lives to God.
11 Likewise you also,
reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ
Jesus our Lord.
12 Therefore do not
let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.
13 And do not present
your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves
to God as being alive from the
dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.
14 For sin shall not
have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. (NKJ)
Our flesh will not live on. Ours souls, our spirit will live on, in
one domain or another. Read these verses carefully and pray for discernment.
Romans 8:1-18
1 There is therefore
now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk
according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
2 For the law of the
Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin
and death.
3 For what the law
could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending
His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned
sin in the flesh,
4 that the righteous
requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according
to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
5 For those who live
according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but
those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
6 For to be carnally
minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
7 Because the carnal
mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God,
nor indeed can be.
8 So then, those who
are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 But you are not in
the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.
Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.
10 And if Christ is
in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because
of righteousness.
11 But if the Spirit
of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ
from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His
Spirit who dwells in you.
12 Therefore, brethren,
we are debtors-- not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.
13 For if you live
according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to
death the deeds of the body, you will live.
14 For as many as are
led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
15 For you did not
receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit
of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father."
16 The Spirit Himself
bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
17 and if children,
then heirs-- heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we
suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified
together.
18 For I consider that
the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with
the glory which shall be revealed in us. (NKJ)
Jesus Christ is saying
to you and I, "I have redeemed you, your spirit need not die."
It is circumcision of the heart, not the flesh that will save you. Listen.
Colossians
2:11-15
11 In Him you were
also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting
off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ,
12 buried with Him
in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in
the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.
13 And you, being dead
in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made
alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses,
14 having wiped out
the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary
to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
15 Having disarmed
principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing
over them in it. (NKJ)
The Old Testament identifies
the Redeemer as One that lives, the Holy One of Israel.
Job 19:25
25 For I know that
my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth; (NKJ)
Psalms 19:14
14 Let the words of
my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight,
O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer. (NKJ)
Isaiah 47:4
4 As for our Redeemer,
the LORD of hosts is His name, the Holy One of Israel. (NKJ)
Do you yet await the arrival of the
Holy One of Israel? Will He be born of a virgin, in the town of Bethlehem,
be crucified and rise from the dead as your prophets declare? Yes those
prophecies must be fulfilled and if you are waiting for One to meet
those requirements, you need wait no longer. Listen to the words of
the Messiah, recorded for you.
Revelation
3:19-21
19 "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and
repent.
20 "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice
and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he
with Me.
21 "To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as
I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. (NKJ)
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