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The Principle of the first things:
No one can serve two masters: |
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Abraham lived 430 years the Law was given. He had no Bible
or anyone to talk to about God. Because of his obedience God
promised him riches and blessing that would bless the
nations of the world.
He understood the principle of the First therefore God could
trust him with wealth.
One day on his return from battle he carried a lot of spoils
with him. In a valley called the Kings Valley he met up with
two kings,
The king of Sodom and
Melchezidek the king of Jerusalem.
These two kings represented two systems and two masters, God
and Mammon.
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Melchizedek:
Gen 14:18 -20
This king was king of Jebus (Jerusalem) He was king of
righteousness and king of peace. This corresponds with Jesus
Christ who is King and High priest of God All Mighty. Prince
of peace
The Hebrew writer writes:
Where the
forerunner entered for
us, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after
the order of Melchezidek.
(Heb 6:20)
Heb 7:1- 3
For this Melchezidek, king of Salem, priest of the most
high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of
the kings, and blessed him;
To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being
by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also
King of Salem, which is, King of peace;
Without father, without mother, without descent, having
neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like
unto the Son of God; abides a priest continually.
Melchizedek gave bread and wine to Abram and blessed him..
And Abram gave him tithes of all.
Sodom’s king:
told Abram that he could keep the spoils and Abram replied :
“I have lifted up my hand to Jehovah, the most high God, the
possessor of Heaven and earth, that I will take from all
that is yours, not from a thread even to a shoestring, lest
you say, I have made Abram rich. (Gen 14:22- 23)
In doing this Abram demonstrated one of the most powerful
principles that flows throughout the entire Bible.
“The first belongs to the first”
Rom 11:16
For if the first fruit is holy, the lump is also
holy; and if the root is holy, also the branches.
Jesus is the First and the Root.
1Co 15:20:
But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become
the first fruits of
them that slept.
Col 1:15:
Who is the image of the invisible God, the
firstborn of every
creature:
Rev1:11
I am the First and the last πρωτεύω –
Origin, First –Before all.
Only the First must receive the first:
Only the First knows if what I give Him is the first
The Lords reply, to the obedience of His friend Abraham, was
clearly seen in what happen immediately after this
encounter. Chapter fifteen starts with..
Gen 15:1
After these things the Word of Jehovah came to Abram in a
vision, saying, Fear not,
Abram, I am your shield and your exceeding
great reward.
Gen 15:1
After these things the Word of Jehovah came to Abram in a
vision, saying, Fear not,
Abram, I am your shield and your exceeding
great reward.
The law of the first was a lifestyle to Abraham. Not only
did he apply this principle to his own life but he also
passed it on to his son Isaac, and he passed it on to Jacob,
the father of the twelve tribes of Israel.
All these men and their families lived hundreds of years
before the Law of Moses was given.
Abel
the first man born on the earth
knew this principle, and he died for it.
By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than
Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was
righteous, God testifying of his gifts. And by it
he, being dead, yet speaks. (Heb 11:4)
What made Abel righteous in the sight of God? His more
excellent sacrifice!
What was this sacrifice? The first born of his sheep
namely The fat!
And by it he still speaks though dead.
What is he speaking about? The first and the best belongs to
God.
Jacob
knew this principle and applied it:
Fleeing from his brother, Jacob met up with the Lord.
(Gen 28:12)
“And he dreamed. And behold! A ladder was set up on the
earth, and the top of it reached to Heaven! And behold! The
angels of God were ascending and descending on it!
And behold! Jehovah stood above it, and said, I am Jehovah,
the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac! The
land on which you lie I will give to you and to your seed.
And your seed shall be like the dust of the earth, and you
shall spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the
north, and to the south. And in you and in your Seed shall
all the families of the earth be blessed.”
When Jacob met the First he vowed to give God the first
(tithe) of all:
(Gen 28:2- 22)
And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and
will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread
to eat and clothing to put on, and I come again to my
father's house in peace, then shall Jehovah be my God. And
this stone which I have set for a pillar shall be God's
house. And of all that You shall give me, I will
surely give the tenth to You..
Later in his life this vow saved his life from being robed
by his father in law Laban who deceived him many times. But
because he honoured the vow that the first belongs to the
Lord, God protected him from the deceit of Laban and gave
him all his wealth.
In Gen 30 and 31 we read of the strategy the angle of the
Lord gave him to receive all the sheep and goats of Laban.
“and your father has deceived me and changed my wages ten
times. But God did not allow him to hurt me. If he said
this, The speckled shall be your wages, then all the flocks
bore speckled. And if he said this, The striped shall be
your hire, then all the flocks bore striped. And God has
taken away the flocks of your father, and has given them to
me.”
(Gen 31:7- 9)
“And the Angel of God spoke to me in a dream,
saying, Jacob! And I said, Here I am.
And He said, Lift up your eyes and see all the rams which
leap upon the cattle, that they are striped, speckled, and
mottled. For I have seen all that Laban is doing to you.
I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the pillar, where
you vowed a vow to Me”
(Gen 31:11 -13)
The Law of Moses did not institute the law of the first only
confirmed it;
Passover and the first;
Moses was sent to Pharaoh to tell him to let Gods first born
son Israel go free. If he would not let them go God would
visit Egypt that night and kill all the first born sons in
Egypt.
God commanded His people to slaughter a first born lamb
without blemish and apply the blood to the doorposts of
their homes in Egypt.
None of the Jewish firstborn was touched because of the
principle of the first born.
“The First
is Mine says the Lord”
That first Passover night:
God commanded Moses: “The First is Mine”
Sanctify all the first-born to Me, whatever opens the womb
among the sons of Israel, of man and of beast. It is
Mine. (Ex 13:2 )
Two thousand years ago God would give His First as an
offering for the sins of the world.
NB: This is how we come to the table of the Lord and a New
and Better Testament is ratified because the First belongs
to the Lord and no man could touch that which is His
(Talking about Jesus) He was the First fruit's of many and
the first was presented Holy and so all in the First are
Holy
Exo 13:12
“ You shall set apart to Jehovah every one that opens the
womb, and
every first-born that comes of any animal which you have;
the males shall be Jehovah's.
Exo 13:13 And every first-born of an ass you shall redeem
with a lamb. And if you will not redeem it, then you shall
break its neck. And all the first-born of man among your
sons you shall redeem.
The first City of Canaan, Jericho belonged to the Lord.
When Achan took stuff of the first city that belonged to the
Lord a curse came over the whole nation of Israel and they
could not proceed in concerning the rest. He and his wife
and all his children and animals were stoned end burned with
fire. (Joshua 7)
When Ananias, and his wife Sapphira in the New Testament
touched the Lords they died.
Solomon the riches man in the entire Bible:
(Pro 3:9-10)
Honour the LORD with your substance,
And with the first fruits of all your increase:
So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses
shall burst out with new wine.
Closing remarks on the first fruits:
The first is an eternal principle. It was not instituted by
the Law.
It belongs to the First.
It must be returned to the First. (Melchezidek)
representative of Christ on earth (The church)
It brings Divine blessings and protection.
Do not give the first last. Return it first. Then it will
bring blessings and protection on the rest.
Passing this test will be one of the major factors that will
determine who can be trusted with the riches and the wealth
of the wicked.
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