John Hagee - The Law of First Fruits
Learn this principle first: that God demands being first. He doesn't ask to be first: he demands being first. The Bible says, "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all of these things shall be added unto you". Why do we worship on Sunday? We worship on Sunday because Sunday is the first day of the week. It's the first fruits of the week. Jesus rose from the dead, on Sunday. And your success, therein, your success of the week begins on Sunday. That's why we worship the Lord on Sunday. First fruits sanctifies the coming fruit. When your desires, your plans, your ideas become more important to you than God's plan, you have adopted the attitude of Lucifer. Challenging God's authority in your life is to embrace the will of the prince of darkness.
You have the attitude of the devil himself. The fact is Jesus proves this. When Jesus and the twelve were rejected by the Samaritans, James and John came to Jesus and said, "Let's call down fire on them and burn them up". Now that's in the Bible, Luke 9. Jesus looked at them and said, "You don't know what manner of spirit you are of. You don't know the spirit that's speaking through you and its source". Jesus rebuked them. He rebuked them. Satan has come to rob, to kill and destroy. Christ is come to seek and to save that which was lost, not to divide the church of Jesus Christ in America into dozens of denominations who fight over the Bible like two dogs in a dark alley. We are here to be followers of Jesus Christ. There is no white church, or brown church, or black church. We are one church under Jesus Christ, the son of the living God.
What happens if you don't obey God's will? Satan didn't obey God's will, and God kicked him out of heaven. He was an Archangel. Adam and Eve were put in paradise, and they were kicked out of the garden because they did not follow God's will. They listened to the serpent. The Bible says, "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and then all of these things shall be added unto you". Listen. If Jesus is not first, Jesus is not Lord. And if he is not Lord of all, he is not Lord at all. Can I get a witness to that? Amen to that. Why did God choose Abraham to be the father of all who believe? Why is Abraham one of the most respected names in the world today, thousands of years after he died? Why? Because he understood the law of first fruits.
When Abraham tied his son, Isaac, on the altar to sacrifice him to the Lord, he lifted his dagger, and God stopped him, in Genesis 22:12. "I know that God is first in your life," and God stopped right there. Only when you put God first is God able to provide what he promises. Only when God is first do you receive God's prosperity. Only when God is first do you receive peace that surpasses understanding. Only when he is first do you have joy that's unspeakable and full of glory. Only when he is first will he give his angels charge over you to protect you in all of your way. Only when he is first will he remove the mountains of impossibility. Only when he is first will, he open doors of opportunity that are closed. Only when he is first will he expand your territory and open the windows of heaven. Make him first and your life will be paradise on earth! Give him praise in the house of God!
God's law of first things, Exodus 34:19, 20. God established a system, sacrifice, in which animals were to be burned as an offering upon the altar. In Leviticus 1, God designed five animals as acceptable sacrifices before the throne of grace. These five, clean animals were oxen, goats, sheep, pigeons, and turtledoves. These animals sacrificed were a reflection of your financial ability. If you are a wealthy man, you should bring an ox. If you were someone that had just gotten married, you probably needed to get a loan to buy turtledoves, but that's where you are. When God gave the Jewish people the land of Israel forever, this is in Genesis 15. Why? Because Exodus 4:22 says, "Israel is my son, even my firstborn," Israel, the state of Israel.
The land of Israel has been given to the Jewish people by a blood covenant that God recorded in Genesis 15 with these five animals. And that covenant cannot be broken by the United Nations, by the European Union, or the congress of the United States of America. The Jewish people do not occupy the land: they own that land! "Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of men and beasts", listen, "It is mine". If you were the first-born child in your family in ancient Israel, you were the property of God to serve in the temple in some way for the rest of your life. According to the Old Testament law, the firstborn was to be either sacrificed or redeemed. Fast forward to the New Testament. John the Baptist meets Jesus on the banks of the Jordan river. And he makes this proclamation, listen, "Behold, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world".
Jesus was God's only begotten Son. He was the firstborn and he had to be, say it, sacrificed or redeemed. God allowed his son, a male lamb without spot or blemish, to be sacrificed for the sins of the world. And that means your sins, your sins, and mine. If you do not accept Christ' sacrifice at the cross, you must die for your sin. The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life. Therefore, what can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Celebrate the cross, because it is our redemption. And that is the only redemption possible! What if you had a donkey and you didn't have a lamb to redeem it? Listen. This is very important.
Exodus 13:13 says, "Every firstborn of a donkey, you shall redeem it by a lamb. Or if you will not redeem it, then you shall break its neck". Why would killing a donkey be beneficial to you? Because in the Bible, a donkey is the symbol of rebellion and stubbornness. Think about that. 1 Samuel 15:23, listen to this Bible equation. "Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft. And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry". So the formula is God's formula, rebellion is witchcraft and stubbornness is idolatry. Are you a stubborn person? Don't raise your hand. Just listen. Have you rebelled against God? Have you rebelled against the law of first fruits? There's a donkey in your life and it should be removed. Break the donkey's neck or get ready to live under a financial curse. Nothing is ever going to go right in your life if stubbornness is the manifesto that you so follow.
Listen to this: whatever is done to the first portion determines what happens to all of the rest. Isaac was the firstborn of Abraham. As firstborn, he was to be, say it, redeemed or sacrificed. When Abraham and Isaac came to the top of Moriah, Isaac was tied and placed on the altar. God sent a ram. And that ram was caught divinely by the horns in a thicket to redeem Isaac. Isaac had two sons. And those two sons were Esau and Jacob. Jacob had 12 sons. And their descendants became the 12 tribes of Israel. God sent Joseph into Egypt where he became the prime minister. And Joseph then sent for his family. That would be Jacob and his brothers, the Jewish people, which at that point were 70 in number. Get that number. That's a divine number. They stayed in Egypt for 430 years and became a nation of more than two million people.
Listen to what I'm about to say. Even in the most severe persecution you can imagine, the Jewish people prospered and they grew. Why? Because of first fruits. Isaac was on mount Moriah. He had been given to the Lord. What you do with the first fruit determines what happens to you generations after you've gone. You do not yield to persecution. Listen. Right now, there are people in this nation, Christians most of them, "Oh, what are we going to do in this coming year? Oh, woe is me". Let me tell you what we're going to do. We are going to prosper and be in good health, because God is with us! God is with us!
Consider the law of first fruits in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is how it affects you. Romans 11:16, saint Paul writes, "For if the first fruit is holy," meaning the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Romans 11, by the way, is in the New Testament, and it's for the New Testament church. I've heard people say, "Well, Paul was trying to write something historical here". Give me a break. Romans 11, "For if the first fruit is holy," meaning the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, "Then the whole lump is holy".
"The lump" is Israel, meaning Israel is holy. Then meaning God has not cast away his people, Romans 11:2. It's in black and white in your Bible. Hello, replacement theologians. God has not walked away from Israel or the Jewish people. He loves them still. The first fruits are found in the prophetic fulfillment in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:20, "But now Christ is risen from the grave", listen, "Christ is risen from the grave and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep," those who have died. Every person who has died is following the first fruits of Jesus Christ. What did he do? He rose on the third day. His resurrection guarantees your resurrection. Because he lives, you shall also live. Hallelujah to the Lamb of God.
There is coming a day we're going to leave this world! Good-bye, world, good-bye! Consider the law of first fruits and the fall of Jericho. Four hundred and thirty years of slavery in Egypt was followed by 40 years of heat and grit out in the desert. With Joshua as their leader, God released a plan that would begin the conquest of the Holy Land. Think of Jericho as first fruits. It was the first city that stood between Israel and the Promised Land. Think about that. Now, remember that whatever is done with the first fruit determines what happens to the rest. God made it clear he was giving them Jericho. They were not going to have to fight for it, because God was going to do all of the fighting.
There was only one thing about Jericho that was forbidden. That's the gold and silver of Jericho. God says, "Abstain from the accursed things: lest it become accursed when you take the accursed thing and make the camp of Israel accursed. But all the gold, and silver, and vessels, and bronze, and iron are consecrated to the Lord". God said all of the money that's in Jericho, gold and silver, anything of value belongs to me. "They shall take it to the treasury of the Lord". Because Israel fully understood the law of first fruits, they understood that Jericho was the first fruit of many cities that would be conquered. All of the wealth of Jericho would belong to the Lord. The latter wealth would belong to Israel. Everyone got the message except Achan.
So he slipped out of his tent and went over into the forbidden territory. And he took gold, and he took silver, and he took a Babylonian robe. Just a few days later, the nation of Israel went to battle with AI, a small, tiny, insignificant group of people that the Israeli army should have demolished instantly. And they lost the battle. Israel did. Joshua inquired of the Lord, saying, Lord, what's the matter? God said, "There is sin in your camp. Get it out". A tent-by-tent search began by every tribe. Achan had time to repent but he did not. Eleven tribes were searched. Achan's tribe, the tribe of Judah, is last. They came to the tent. Joshua commanded Achan in Joshua 7:19, "Achan, give God the glory," meaning that stuff you stole, that belongs to the Lord.
Achan had stolen the glory of God, because he took the things that belonged to God. The result: God ordered this: you take Achan, you take his wife, you take his sons, you take their daughters, you take all of their livestock and stone them until they're dead. Then stack their bodies and burn them: that you get sin out of Israel. Wow! What have you stolen that belongs to God? Think about that story. God is no respecter of persons. Because of one man's disobedience, the entire nation of Israel suffered a consequence. They had to deal with the Achan factor before they could come back and enter into the blessings of the Lord. Have you been taking things that belong to the Lord? Is your family suffering because you are the Achan in your house? Are you living by the dictates of your own will?
You may have walked in here ignorant of the fact, but now you know. The law of first fruits and tithing, and I saw this in the last part. Tithing is first fruits. Let's review what we've learned. God established first fruits to remind Israel of his Lordship. First fruits include children, animals, crops, fruit from trees. God said, I want the first portion of everything. When God destroyed Jericho, it was the first city conquered on the way to the Promised Land. God didn't say, conquer ten cities and give me the gold and silver of the tenth one. When Achan took some of that gold and silver, he became accursed. Fact: your income is either consecrated or cursed. The tithe, in scripture, is consecrated to the Lord. If you keep it for yourself, it becomes accursed, because God says it is stolen, stolen from God.
Malachi 3:8 and 9, "Will a man rob God"? Don't touch that television knob, listen, "Yet, you have robbed me. But you say, 'in what way have we robbed you'"? And God says, "In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse". I'm reading the Bible here. "You are cursed with a curse: for you have robbed me". The tithe is 10%. You say, "Preacher, do you expect me to give God 10% of what I make"? No, I do not, but God does. And he controls things like your breath, your heartbeat, your financial future. You want to take it on with him? I recommend you read the story of Achan. When a redemptive work is in progress, there is a number ten involved. God sent ten plagues to destroy Egypt.
The Ten Commandments were given to set the world free from evil. The tenth part of your increase points to the redemption of your income. Is it possible for you to give 10% of your income and not give the first fruit? And the answer is, yes. I'm going to spread ten, one-dollar bills here. Let's just pretend they're hundred-dollar bills. But this is a low-budget program here. There. Now, if these ten, one-dollar bills represent my income, how many of these do I give to the Lord? One. Boom. But the question is, which one? It has to be the first one, because this goes to God first. If the tithe is not first, it's only an offering. God will bless the offering, but the redemptive power of God comes with the first fruit.
When you sit down with a pile of your bills at the end of the month or whenever you pay your bills, and you pay your mortgage, and you pay your car note, and you pay your light bill, and you pay for your kid's college, and you pay for your Hawaiian vacation, and you pay for your poodle shampoo and various and sundry other things that come to mind but will not repeat, and you give God this. No, no, that's an offering, but there's no divine blessing that goes with putting God dead last or any place less than absolute first. "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all of these things shall be added unto you".
The first establishes his Lordship. Your success in life begins on Sunday, because it's the first day of the week. It's the first fruit of your time. Jesus is Lord of your life. Your obedience to first fruit tithing does these things: one, God opens the windows of heaven. God does that. This is a word-for-word quote from the Bible. "He pours out blessings that you can't contain". You won't have enough room to receive the blessings of God. He will control nature for your benefit. All nations will call you favored. You will receive God's unlimited favor. When your seed leaves your hand, listen to this, it goes into your future. It does not leave your life. It goes into your future. The day is going to come when all you will have is what you have given to God.
Do you know how much every person, who passed, left? All of it. All of it except those who knew the Lord. They woke up in God's tomorrow. And everything that they had put in the hands of God has been multiplied. And they will see that in God's tomorrow. It's the only way you will see eternal prosperity. Are you giving what God requires, the first fruit? Or are you playing the role of Achan? Are you stealing what is God's and praying for God's blessing and prosperity? Do you want God's favor? Do you want God's abundance? Do you want God's victory? Do you want God's unlimited promotion? Do you want an unlimited harvest? Do you want God to touch you in your health? Then give him the first fruit, and so shall you prosper.
The Old Testament, Moses told the children of Israel to bring offering to the priest. Why? Because the priest was the anointed leader of Israel and anointed hands. Jesus told the disciples in his ministry to bring the lunch of a boy, five loaves and two fish. And he blessed it and he turned it loose as first fruits, and it fed 5,000 people. They did it. God multiplied it. And they gathered 12 baskets of fragments left over. Give first fruit's offering. Give this and God multiplies it. Today, we're going to have a first fruit's offering. Would you please stand where you are?
Heavenly Father, look from the balconies of heaven and release the first-fruit blessing on every person that's in this building right now. I pray that you would bless their physical bodies. I pray that you would bless their children and their children's children. I pray that you would bless their going out and their coming in. I pray that you would prosper them exceedingly, abundantly, above that they can ask or imagine. I pray that their businesses would prosper and be supernaturally blessed of God. I ask you, Father, that you give unto them the desires of their heart, because God has promised to do so. Let their lives be filled with unlimited joy, with health, love, joy, and peace that comes from God, our Father above, because they are numbered among the redeemed. In Jesus' name, we pray and ask it. And all of God's children said, praise the Lord.