"First-Fruits"

Reflections:  We see under King Hezekiah’s leadership the people thrived. As he reinstated all the requirements of the Law, the people started to obey and bring in their tithes of grain, new wine, olive oil, honey and all that the fields produced.  Notice it says they brought in their “first-fruits”.  This gave the priests and Levites plenty to eat and there was enough to go around plus extras.  They had so much in fact that they had to build storerooms for the extra.  This would be of value if there was a famine in the land.  There were also officials in charge of the freewill offerings that the people gave.  In all things Hezekiah was faithful and under his leadership they and he prospered.

Meanwhile Paul is tried by Festus who likewise finds nothing wrong with him.  He would like to be done with the whole matter but then Paul appeals to go to Caesar.  Since Paul was a Roman citizen and Festus found nothing of substance against him, he would have no authority to do anything.  Paul is using these circumstances to get a chance to go to Rome, where from the beginning he has known he will finish his ministry.  His main goal is to be able to preach the Gospel to Caesar the most powerful man in the world.  He figures that if this man is converted it would have a huge rippling effect on the whole Roman Empire.  Although this won’t come true in Paul’s day, 3 centuries later, Constantine the Holy Roman Emperor will convert to Christianity and it will have a profound effect on the known world. 

We see what faithfulness and obedience bring to a person.  In the case of King Hezekiah, the whole Jewish nation thrives and prospers under his leadership.  And in the case of Paul, we see his faithful leadership leads him to testify before emperors.  Where is God calling you to be faithful?  We often call this “blooming where you are planted!”  As we are faithful and obedient to God’s Word and God’s calling in our lives, not only will we prosper but God will use us to testify and ascribe great glory like David does in Psalm 29. 

Psalm 29

A psalm of David.

1 Ascribe to the Lord, you heavenly beings,

    ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;

    worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.

3 The voice of the Lord is over the waters;

    the God of glory thunders,

    the Lord thunders over the mighty waters.

4 The voice of the Lord is powerful;

    the voice of the Lord is majestic.

5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;

    the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.

6 He makes Lebanon leap like a calf,

    Sirion like a young wild ox.

7 The voice of the Lord strikes

    with flashes of lightning.

8 The voice of the Lord shakes the desert;

    the Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh.

9 The voice of the Lord twists the oaks

    and strips the forests bare.

And in his temple all cry, “Glory!”

10 The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;

    the Lord is enthroned as King forever.

11 The Lord gives strength to his people;

    the Lord blesses his people with peace.

2 Chronicles 31

31 When all this had ended, the Israelites who were there went out to the towns of Judah, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. They destroyed the high places and the altars throughout Judah and Benjamin and in Ephraim and Manasseh. After they had destroyed all of them, the Israelites returned to their own towns and to their own property.

Contributions for Worship.

2 Hezekiah assigned the priests and Levites to divisions—each of them according to their duties as priests or Levites—to offer burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, to minister, to give thanks and to sing praises at the gates of the Lord’s dwelling. 3 The king contributed from his own possessions for the morning and evening burnt offerings and for the burnt offerings on the Sabbaths, at the New Moons and at the appointed festivals as written in the Law of the Lord. 4 He ordered the people living in Jerusalem to give the portion due the priests and Levites so they could devote themselves to the Law of the Lord. 5 As soon as the order went out, the Israelites generously gave the first fruits of their grain, new wine, olive oil and honey and all that the fields produced. They brought a great amount, a tithe of everything. 6 The people of Israel and Judah who lived in the towns of Judah also brought a tithe of their herds and flocks and a tithe of the holy things dedicated to the Lord their God, and they piled them in heaps. 7 They began doing this in the third month and finished in the seventh month. 8 When Hezekiah and his officials came and saw the heaps, they praised the Lord and blessed his people Israel. 9 Hezekiah asked the priests and Levites about the heaps; 10 and Azariah the chief priest, from the family of Zadok, answered, “Since the people began to bring their contributions to the temple of the Lord, we have had enough to eat and plenty to spare, because the Lord has blessed his people, and this great amount is left over.” 11 Hezekiah gave orders to prepare storerooms in the temple of the Lord, and this was done. 12 Then they faithfully brought in the contributions, tithes and dedicated gifts. Konaniah, a Levite, was the overseer in charge of these things, and his brother Shimei was next in rank. 13 Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismakiah, Mahath and Benaiah were assistants of Konaniah and Shimei his brother. All these served by appointment of King Hezekiah and Azariah the official in charge of the temple of God. 14 Kore son of Imnah the Levite, keeper of the East Gate, was in charge of the freewill offerings given to God, distributing the contributions made to the Lord and also the consecrated gifts. 15 Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah and Shekaniah assisted him faithfully in the towns of the priests, distributing to their fellow priests according to their divisions, old and young alike. 16 In addition, they distributed to the males three years old or more whose names were in the genealogical records—all who would enter the temple of the Lord to perform the daily duties of their various tasks, according to their responsibilities and their divisions. 17 And they distributed to the priests enrolled by their families in the genealogical records and likewise to the Levites twenty years old or more, according to their responsibilities and their divisions. 18 They included all the little ones, the wives, and the sons and daughters of the whole community listed in these genealogical records. For they were faithful in consecrating themselves. 19 As for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who lived on the farmlands around their towns or in any other towns, men were designated by name to distribute portions to every male among them and to all who were recorded in the genealogies of the Levites. 20 This is what Hezekiah did throughout Judah, doing what was good and right and faithful before the Lord his God. 21 In everything that he undertook in the service of God’s temple and in obedience to the law and the commands, he sought his God and worked wholeheartedly. And so he prospered.

Acts 25:1-15

Paul’s Trial Before Festus

25 Three days after arriving in the province, Festus went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem, 2 where the chief priests and the Jewish leaders appeared before him and presented the charges against Paul. 3 They requested Festus, as a favor to them, to have Paul transferred to Jerusalem, for they were preparing an ambush to kill him along the way. 4 Festus answered, “Paul is being held at Caesarea, and I myself am going there soon. 5 Let some of your leaders come with me, and if the man has done anything wrong, they can press charges against him there.” 6 After spending eight or ten days with them, Festus went down to Caesarea. The next day he convened the court and ordered that Paul be brought before him. 7 When Paul came in, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him. They brought many serious charges against him, but they could not prove them. 8 Then Paul made his defense: “I have done nothing wrong against the Jewish law or against the temple or against Caesar.”

9 Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me there on these charges?” 10 Paul answered: “I am now standing before Caesar’s court, where I ought to be tried. I have not done any wrong to the Jews, as you yourself know very well. 11 If, however, I am guilty of doing anything deserving death, I do not refuse to die. But if the charges brought against me by these Jews are not true, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!” 12 After Festus had conferred with his council, he declared: “You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!”

Festus Consults King Agrippa

13 A few days later King Agrippa and Bernice arrived at Caesarea to pay their respects to Festus. 14 Since they were spending many days there, Festus discussed Paul’s case with the king. He said: “There is a man here whom Felix left as a prisoner. 15 When I went to Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews brought charges against him and asked that he be condemned.

We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped. Psalm 124:7

For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1

Liberating Savior, there are so many ways in which we can be ensnared by things of this world. Give us discernment, that we may always choose the freedom of right relationship in you. Amen.