first fruits

The first-fruits of the ground were offered unto God just as the first-born of man and animals.

The law required,

  1. That on the morrow after the Passover Sabbath a sheaf of new corn should be waved by the priest before the altar (Leviticus 23:5-12; 2:12).

  2. That at the feast of Pentecost two loaves of leavened bread, made from the new flour, were to be waved in like manner (Leviticus 23:15, 17; Numbers 28:26).

  3. The feast of Tabernacles was an acknowledgement that the fruits of the harvest were from the Lord (Exodus 23:16; 34:22).

  4. Every individual, besides, was required to consecrate to God a portion of the first-fruits of the land (Exodus 22:29; 23:19; 34:26; Numbers 15:20-21).

  5. The law enjoined that no fruit was to be gathered from newly-planted fruit-trees for the first three years, and that the first-fruits of the fourth year were to be consecrated to the Lord (Leviticus 19:23-25). Jeremiah (2:3) alludes to the ordinance of “first-fruits,” and hence he must have been acquainted with the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers, where the laws regarding it are recorded.

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