The Firstfruits Rapture: Part 1
In this study, I will explain the concept of the Firstfruits Rapture and present evidence to support its validity as a true Biblical doctrine. To understand what a firstfruit is, we need to go to the Old Testament to look at the harvesting process Jehovah commanded the Israelites to follow. Firstfruit were the crops and fruit that ripened first and ahead of the remainder of the main harvest. Firstfruit crops were a special group of crops and exclusively regarded by Jehovah God, and He gave very specific instructions on how these crops were to be handled, even declaring that a special feast should be observed for the firstfruits of wheat, called the feast of weeks.
Exodus 34:22 And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest…
Leviticus 19:26 The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring unto the house of the LORD thy God.
When the firstfruits were ripe and ready for reaping, the field workers would tie either a red string or a reed band around the firstfruits as a way to mark them for the reapers. These crops were not be cut with a sickle, but rather were to be pulled out of the ground, then bundled, and taken to the temple to be presented to the Lord. Pentecost is the Greek name used for the Feast or Festival of Weeks, and it is also called Shavuot.
Jehovah also gave very specific instructions on how the remainder of the harvest should be handled. The second phase of the harvesting process was the reaping of the main harvest. If it was a wheat harvest, the stalks of wheat would be taken to the threshing floor of a barn, where they would be beaten in order to separate the grains of wheat from the chaff, after which the crop was hurled into the air while a fan would blow the chaff away. The Gospel of Matthew makes a reference to this in describing how the Lord Jesus will purge the threshing floor at His coming, and will gather His wheat, and then burn up the chaff.
Matthew 3:12 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.
The last phase of the harvesting process regarded the four corners and the gleaning of the fields. Jehovah decreed that the four corners of the fields were not to be reaped, but were to remain untouched and left for the poor, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow.
Leviticus 19:9-10 And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest. And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger: I am the LORD your God.
Deuteronomy 24:21 When thou gatherest the grapes of thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean it afterward: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.
The firstfruits are also described as precious fruit to the Lord, and in James 5, we find a passage referring to this.
James 5:7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for until he receive the early and latter rain.
Now I will begin to tie this information with what is found in Revelation chapter 12. This chapter begins by describing a “great wonder in heaven”; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, with a crown with 12 stars. There are some people that teach this woman is the constellation Virgo, and that at acertain time each year, Virgo will show the Earth’s moon at her feet, and the 12 stars of the constellation Leo at her head. There are some that teach the woman represents the Virgin Mary, there are some that teach she represents national Israel, and others teach that she represents the NewTestament church. I am presenting the concept that the woman might possibly represent Mother Earth, which is clothed with the sun, has a moon that orbits around her and therefore the moon in under the dominion of the Earth, and has 12 constellations of the zodiac above her in the sky, and so she could be considered as being crowned with them, but let’s see what the first 5 verses of chapter 12 tells us.
Revelation 12:1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head acrown of twelve stars: 2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. 3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. 4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. 5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.
In verse 2 we see that this woman has gone into labor pains and is crying for someone to help her deliver this child. This crying out to be relieved of pain can be tied to the cries that Jehovah heard coming from Sodom and Gomorrah.
Genesis 18:20-21 And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.
Next in Rev 12:3-4, we see a great red dragon that has 7 heads, 10 horns, and 7 crowns on his heads. The heads represent leaders, the horns represent powers or authorities, and the crowns represent dominions. The dragon’s tail draws one third of the stars of heaven down to the earth, and the dragon stands before the woman eagerly waiting to devour the child as soon as it is born. I believe this dragon is a Satanic alliance of fallen angels (and both good and fallen angels are sometimes described as stars in the Bible). In verse 5 we read that the woman gives birth to a man child that is caught up unto God and to his throne. This verse has created many debates over the identity of this man child. Some say that the man child is Jesus, and some say that the child represents 144,000 Jews, some say the man child represents born again Christians, but I say that the man child represents the firstfruits of the precious fruit of the Earth, which are all the born again New Testament true believers, and I will show you why.
First of all, we know from reading James 5 there are two harvests of precious fruit of the earth.
James 5:7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
God here is telling us that the first harvest of precious fruit of the earth is reaped from the early rain, and that the second harvest is reaped from the latter rain. Some teach that the early rain is the Old Testament, but this cannot be supported because we can know from Matthew 27 that all of the Old Testament true believers were resurrected from the dead when Christ died on the cross and ascended into heaven; and we can know that Christ ascended into heaven as a resurrected spirit because Jesus told the thief on the cross that "today", he would be with Him in paradise.
Matthew 27:51-53 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; And the graves were opened; and a great number of bodies of the saints which slept, arose, and came out of the graves after His resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.
Luke 23:43 And Jesus said unto him[the thief], Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.
Christ is also described as a firstfruit and the firstfruit, or root, always sanctifies the rest of the “lump”, or “branches”. Christ is also a firstborn, which is also a type of firstfruit.
Romans 11:16 For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.
I heard a Bible teacher teach that Abraham was a firstfruit that sanctified the lump (or branches), and that so was David, and Moses, and Joshua, etc. And that we as born again true believers in Christ are also considered firstfruit, and he teaches that we are the man child, we are the body of Christ, we are all one with Christ, that we will rule the earth with a rod of iron with Christ, and that we as firstfruits are able to sanctify the lump, or branches. This is also supported by 1 Corinthians 7 where we see that a woman who is a true believer, and so here is representative of a firstfruit, can sanctify her unbelieving husband.
1 Corinthians 7:13-14 And the woman which hath an husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy.
And of course, the Lord Jesus Christ is our ultimate firstfruit and firstborn, who is able to sanctify all of His branches, who are also His body.
Colossians 1:18 And He is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things He might have the preeminence.
Romans 12:5 So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.
Exodus 34:22 And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest…
Leviticus 19:26 The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring unto the house of the LORD thy God.
When the firstfruits were ripe and ready for reaping, the field workers would tie either a red string or a reed band around the firstfruits as a way to mark them for the reapers. These crops were not be cut with a sickle, but rather were to be pulled out of the ground, then bundled, and taken to the temple to be presented to the Lord. Pentecost is the Greek name used for the Feast or Festival of Weeks, and it is also called Shavuot.
Jehovah also gave very specific instructions on how the remainder of the harvest should be handled. The second phase of the harvesting process was the reaping of the main harvest. If it was a wheat harvest, the stalks of wheat would be taken to the threshing floor of a barn, where they would be beaten in order to separate the grains of wheat from the chaff, after which the crop was hurled into the air while a fan would blow the chaff away. The Gospel of Matthew makes a reference to this in describing how the Lord Jesus will purge the threshing floor at His coming, and will gather His wheat, and then burn up the chaff.
Matthew 3:12 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.
The last phase of the harvesting process regarded the four corners and the gleaning of the fields. Jehovah decreed that the four corners of the fields were not to be reaped, but were to remain untouched and left for the poor, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow.
Leviticus 19:9-10 And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest. And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger: I am the LORD your God.
Deuteronomy 24:21 When thou gatherest the grapes of thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean it afterward: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.
The firstfruits are also described as precious fruit to the Lord, and in James 5, we find a passage referring to this.
James 5:7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for until he receive the early and latter rain.
Now I will begin to tie this information with what is found in Revelation chapter 12. This chapter begins by describing a “great wonder in heaven”; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, with a crown with 12 stars. There are some people that teach this woman is the constellation Virgo, and that at acertain time each year, Virgo will show the Earth’s moon at her feet, and the 12 stars of the constellation Leo at her head. There are some that teach the woman represents the Virgin Mary, there are some that teach she represents national Israel, and others teach that she represents the NewTestament church. I am presenting the concept that the woman might possibly represent Mother Earth, which is clothed with the sun, has a moon that orbits around her and therefore the moon in under the dominion of the Earth, and has 12 constellations of the zodiac above her in the sky, and so she could be considered as being crowned with them, but let’s see what the first 5 verses of chapter 12 tells us.
Revelation 12:1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head acrown of twelve stars: 2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. 3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. 4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. 5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.
In verse 2 we see that this woman has gone into labor pains and is crying for someone to help her deliver this child. This crying out to be relieved of pain can be tied to the cries that Jehovah heard coming from Sodom and Gomorrah.
Genesis 18:20-21 And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.
Next in Rev 12:3-4, we see a great red dragon that has 7 heads, 10 horns, and 7 crowns on his heads. The heads represent leaders, the horns represent powers or authorities, and the crowns represent dominions. The dragon’s tail draws one third of the stars of heaven down to the earth, and the dragon stands before the woman eagerly waiting to devour the child as soon as it is born. I believe this dragon is a Satanic alliance of fallen angels (and both good and fallen angels are sometimes described as stars in the Bible). In verse 5 we read that the woman gives birth to a man child that is caught up unto God and to his throne. This verse has created many debates over the identity of this man child. Some say that the man child is Jesus, and some say that the child represents 144,000 Jews, some say the man child represents born again Christians, but I say that the man child represents the firstfruits of the precious fruit of the Earth, which are all the born again New Testament true believers, and I will show you why.
First of all, we know from reading James 5 there are two harvests of precious fruit of the earth.
James 5:7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
God here is telling us that the first harvest of precious fruit of the earth is reaped from the early rain, and that the second harvest is reaped from the latter rain. Some teach that the early rain is the Old Testament, but this cannot be supported because we can know from Matthew 27 that all of the Old Testament true believers were resurrected from the dead when Christ died on the cross and ascended into heaven; and we can know that Christ ascended into heaven as a resurrected spirit because Jesus told the thief on the cross that "today", he would be with Him in paradise.
Matthew 27:51-53 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; And the graves were opened; and a great number of bodies of the saints which slept, arose, and came out of the graves after His resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.
Luke 23:43 And Jesus said unto him[the thief], Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.
Christ is also described as a firstfruit and the firstfruit, or root, always sanctifies the rest of the “lump”, or “branches”. Christ is also a firstborn, which is also a type of firstfruit.
Romans 11:16 For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.
I heard a Bible teacher teach that Abraham was a firstfruit that sanctified the lump (or branches), and that so was David, and Moses, and Joshua, etc. And that we as born again true believers in Christ are also considered firstfruit, and he teaches that we are the man child, we are the body of Christ, we are all one with Christ, that we will rule the earth with a rod of iron with Christ, and that we as firstfruits are able to sanctify the lump, or branches. This is also supported by 1 Corinthians 7 where we see that a woman who is a true believer, and so here is representative of a firstfruit, can sanctify her unbelieving husband.
1 Corinthians 7:13-14 And the woman which hath an husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy.
And of course, the Lord Jesus Christ is our ultimate firstfruit and firstborn, who is able to sanctify all of His branches, who are also His body.
Colossians 1:18 And He is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things He might have the preeminence.
Romans 12:5 So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.
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