2002-01-01
Good Morning Faithful Ones,
The story of why God viewed Abel’s offering of a lamb without blemish from his flock as an acceptable offering and didn’t accept Cain’s offering of some of his harvest is found in GN 4: 1-16. I hope you will read it. I mention this because it goes to the heart of the issue of granting what is most valuable to God as an offering. What made Abel’s offering so valuable was that a lamb without defect is valuable to a shepherd for the potential breeder it can be. But, even more important, if that animal is offered, it has to be killed first, involving the shedding of its blood. We know from LV 17: 11 and HE 9: 22 that blood must be shed for there to be forgiveness. While Cain’s offering was from the work of his hands, Abel’s was from the condition of his heart-attitude. The latter is what really matters to God. Yesterday when I spoke of Christ as our Passover Lamb and explained how the lamb slain at the first Passover is a foreshadowing of Christ’s crucifixion, this principle of blood shed for forgiveness applied to both examples. Let me cite these last two verses here, so you can enjoy their messages. LV 17: 11, “The life of every living thing is in the blood, and that is why the Lord has commanded that all blood be poured out on the altar to take away the people’s sins. Blood, which is life, takes away sins.” HE 9: 22, “Indeed, according to the Law almost everything is purified by blood, and sins are forgiven only if blood is poured out.”
There is more to the Passover season than what I presented yesterday. The next phase of it, called the Festival of First Fruits, is discussed in LV 23: 9-11 in which God continues to issue commands to the people through Moses. “When you come into the land that the Lord is giving you and you harvest your grain, take the first sheaf to the priest. He shall present it as a special offering to the Lord, so that you may be accepted. The priest shall present it the day after the Sabbath.” Israel has a very interesting agricultural year, quite different from Minnesota. There are two harvest seasons, one in the Spring and one in the Fall. That is because of its climate and topography. To understand the full impact of what is being asked of the ancient Hebrews who are to have their first harvest in the Promised Land, we must know that they have been wandering in the desert for 40 years, being nourished on manna. The manna stopped coming just as soon as they passed into the Promised Land. So, this command would apply to their first harvest of ordinary crops after having been without them for so long. It would also apply to the first fruits of every year’s harvest from thence on.
Inherent in responding to this command is the need for man’s heart-attitude to be in line with what God requires. That means that God must be put first over the pent-up desires of the flesh. Offering this first fruit of the harvest is a way mankind can show God that He is indeed the first priority here. It is also man’s way of demonstrating how much God means to him by offering something of value. As with the Passover lamb slain as an offering, this offering of first fruits foreshadows a greater Offering to be made in their future. This is outlined in 1 COR 15: 20-23. “The truth is that Christ has been raised from death, as the guarantee that those who sleep in death will also be raised. For just as death came by means of a man, in the same way the rising from death comes by means of a Man. For just as all people die because of their union with Adam, in the same way all will be raised to life because of their union with Christ. But each one will be raised in his proper order: Christ, first of all; then at the time of His coming, those who belong to Him.” Offering the first fruits in ancient Israel foreshadows the First Fruits of the harvest to come, Jesus Christ.
Of course, the Hebrews of ancient times had no idea of what was to come in the future. However, God demands this order for His own reasons. We are blessed enough to have the hindsight that the Scriptures give us that they didn’t have. However, God is very likely to make certain specific demands of us which we don’t fully understand. This calls upon us to have the willingness to trust in Him and to obey Him in carrying out these assignments even if we don’t have all the facts first.
PRAYER: O Lord, You have asked Your people to celebrate the Festival of the First Fruits as a way of demonstrating that You are their first priority. When we are to follow Your commands without full knowledge of their long-range consequences in accomplishing Your work, we are called upon to do so in faith and obedience. We are blessed when we put our trust in You and obey You. That is because You are a righteous Lord Who never has an evil agenda. Often when we obey, You allow us to learn more about the goodness and positive consequences of our actions afterward. Yet, even if You don’t, we can rest and rely on Your ultimate righteousness. You have an order to things, an order we must follow. Such is the case in the resurrection of Your Son as the First among many brothers to follow, when You know the time is right. We praise, honor, thank, and adore You for Your faithfulness and love shown toward us. To You belongs the glory! In Christ’s name, amen.
We are in such wonderful hands, Dear Ones. When we understand the connections between OT events and those of the NT, our Lord is letting us see the bigger picture that He sees. We are blessed by every command of His that we obey, even when we don’t fully understand His larger perspective on it. Be encouraged in knowing that our Father is a good and kind God Who wants nothing more than for us to dwell with him in joy and close fellowship for eternity. That is the hope of the resurrection which He gives us through the faith we share in Jesus Christ. Peter and I join God in sending you our love.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn