Tag: take

45.g. “Wilderness” – 9.m. “The best of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring to the house of the LORD your God”

 

Exodus 34:26  The best of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring to the house of the LORD your God.

 Deuteronomy 26:2   you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from your land that the LORD your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket, and you shall go to the place that the LORD your God will choose, to make his name to dwell there.

 Deuteronomy 26:10   And behold, now I bring the first of the fruit 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.

 Proverbs 3:9-10   Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce;  then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.

 Matthew 6:33    But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Honour the Lord with thy substance, for as it should be a man’s own that he gives, and not another’s. A man’s “substance” are his wealth and riches. They should honour him with them by giving to the poor, especially his poor saints; for as an oppressing of them is a reproaching of him, so having mercy on them is honouring him, and especially by contributing to the support of his worship, and for the spread of the Gospel. God must have the best, and in the first place. (Gill)

The firstfruits were presented by every Israelite to the priests, in token of gratitude and humble thankfulness to Jehovah, and consisted of the produce of the land in its natural state, or prepared for human food. The “firstfruits” also carried with it the idea of the best. The injunctions also show that the honouring of God does not consist simply of lip service, of humility and confidence in him, but also of external worship, and in corporeal things. They are not peculiar to Israel, but are binding on all. They oppose all selfish use of God’s temporal gifts, and lead to the thought that, in obeying them, we are only giving back to God what are his own. (Unkown)

Giving, generosity, and unselfishness are attributes of a godly life and one that sees life this side of eternity in proper light. If we see that all that we have are gifts from God, why is it that we think they are ours, hoard them selfishly, and give them sparingly? Giving is a command but certainly should be a ready desire, an expectant want, and a willing ear to be guided by the Holy Spirit through quiet whispers to our hearts. The heart and mind must agree on giving. In order to do this one must not take hold of possessions too firmly. We have been given many blessings to be able to share with others. And it is a blessing to the soul of those who give generously. Can you out-give God? Learn to be a good steward of what is His and ask Him to guide your heart and mind toward an ever-increasing generosity toward others.

My Father’s house

Zechariah 14:21  And every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be holy to the LORD of hosts, so that all who sacrifice may come and take of them and boil the meat of the sacrifice in them. And there shall no longer be a trader in the house of the LORD of hosts on that day.

Matthew 21:12   And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons.  He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”

John 2:15     And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables.  And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.”

Isaiah 4:3    And he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem,

Isaiah 35:8    And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.

Ezekiel 44:9    “Thus says the Lord GOD: No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the people of Israel, shall enter my sanctuary.

Joel 3:17    “So you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who dwells in Zion, my holy mountain. And Jerusalem shall be holy, and strangers shall never again pass through it.

1 Corinthians 6:9    Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,  nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.  And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Ephesians 2:19    So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,  built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,  in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.  In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

1 Peter 4:17    For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?

We know from scripture why the temple was built, what it’s purpose was, and how people were to revere God. Over time man turned what was intended to be Holy into something it was not intended for.  Outward appearances of obeying through performance of acts deemed to be in line with God’s expectations.  We see it became a house of trade where people were making money selling animals for sacrifice.  Christ walked into the temple and drove out these merchants and buyers.  Their heart was not inline with obedience to God but rather to a system of false seeking of God for forgiveness.  The old form of temple worship is gone and God replaced it with Jesus Christ the corner stone.  “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,  in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.”  True worship begins with the heart, mind and soul in absolute reverence to God.  We must be mindful of “drifting away” as those in history have done.  Man seems to keep lowering expectations of what it means to serve God.  There are many things in life, just as there was in the past, that water down and dilute what it means to serve God which always results in drifting away from God, but still thinking you are alright.   Humbly serving, honoring, following, obeying God should always be growing.  Anything less is drifting away – Having a form of Godliness but lacking the heart, mind, and soul commitment.  We all do well to ask God to search our heart and lead us down paths that honor Him.