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Applying the Law of First Fruits

Last evening as I was praying about what to write in today's blog, the Lord gave me Lev. 19:24-25,

²⁴ But in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, an offering of praise to the Lord. ²⁵ And in the fifth year you are to eat of its fruit, that its yield may increase for you; I am the Lord your God.

I realized then that it has been three years since we went to Babylon, NY to declare the final end of Mystery Babylon. That was done Oct. 7, 2006. We are about to enter the fourth year now, where the "fruit" of our work should be consecrated to the Lord.

It was on Oct. 6, 2006 that the movie "Babel" began to show at the theaters, starring Brad Pitt.

On Oct. 3, 2006 the stock market recorded its record high (11, 727.34) before beginning to fall.

I believe that the law of first fruits can have both positive and negative applications. In this case, the negative applies to Babylon, and the positive applies to the Kingdom of God. Three years ago in Babylon, NY we poured out the seventh bowl of water and wine to signify wine of judgment upon Babylon and also the outpouring of the water of the Spirit upon all flesh.

Each action was a "seed" being planted. The one bears fruit toward destruction; the other bears fruit toward restoration. So once again, this points to the importance of the coming year in both regards, and we may possibly see signs of this tomorrow, October 7. So be watchful.

Another thing. . . I have mentioned earlier that for the past 3-1/2 years we have been in a time of building and consecrating the vessels of the temple. Keep in mind that I am speaking of the corporate Temple, not the individual temples which we are. Individual temples are built one at a time, each in his own life time throughout all generations, past and present. But like Solomon's Temple, where each stone was cut and shaped individually and then set aside until all the stones were finished--and then put together--so also is the pattern of the corporate Temple. We are living stones in this bigger Temple, and though many have been completed for centuries, they must await the day that the rest of them are completed before God actually builds the Temple.

From a prophetic standpoint, we reached the 2,520th anniversary of the Second Temple on March 15, 2006. Then the vessels began to be worked on for 3-1/2 years to Sept. 15, 2009. The cleansing time for these vessels ran until the Hebrew New Year, the evening of Sept. 18.

Anyway, the point has been raised by some that we should watch for Belshazzar's desecration of the temple vessels, which occurred just before Babylon fell (Daniel 5:1-4). I found a notation in my records from three years ago on Oct. 6, 2006: "Watch for Daniel 5 desecration of temple vessels."

I don't really have any idea at this point how the vessels of the temple might be desecrated prophetically. But it is something to watch for, if not today or tomorrow, then in the coming year. Whatever happens, keep in mind that Belshazzar's desecration did not destroy the vessels. It merely rendered them unclean and in need of an 8-day time of cleansing according to the law. Belshazzar may delay the use of God's vessels ("callings"), but he cannot stop the divine plan from going forward. In fact, God is behind all things and always uses opposition to delay His plan to the appointed time.

The most natural fulfillment of this 8-day time of cleansing would be the 8 days of the feast of Tabernacles (Oct. 3-10 this year). But right now, I have insufficient revelation to know if this has already begun, or if it is for a time yet ahead. I do know that in 2006, while we were doing the work in Babylon, NY, another prophetic work was being done to cleanse the body during the feast of Tabernacles (Oct. 7-14, 2006). But I do not know yet if or how this might re-apply now.

Other examples . . .

John the Baptist planted a seed, warning the people of his generation to "bring forth fruits in keeping with repentance" (Luke 3:8). He also warned in verse 9,

"And also the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."

In other words, it had already been determined that this corporate "tree" of Judea was not going to bear fruit, so the axe had been brought to the site in preparation for the cutting down of the tree. However, it could not be chopped down until it had proven itself to be unfruitful.

Jesus then came to look for fruit on this tree. Luke 13:6-9 says,

⁶ And He began telling this parable: A certain man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it, and did not find any. ⁷ And he said to the vineyard-keeper, Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground? ⁸ And he answered and said to him, Let it alone, sir, for this year, too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer; ⁹ and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.

So Jesus ministered for three years looking for fruit on this national "fig tree." At the end, just before being crucified, Jesus cursed the barren fig tree saying in Matt. 21:19, "No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you."

These 3-4 years show the prophetic application of the law of first fruits found in Lev. 19:23-25. If the present revelation has to do with the Israeli state, we may find that it has been given one more year in which to bring forth fruit. That would correspond to the fourth year that appears to be starting now. Or perhaps there is a general application to Mystery Babylon.

Either way, it will be interesting to watch the dunging process in 2010. God uses "dung" to help people and nations bring forth good fruit, but it takes faith to process the dung properly and put it in the ground where it belongs. Most people waste dung by throwing it back. I explained this in my book on Wormwood and the Laws of Dung. Watch for "dung" (accusations) being thrown at the Israelis in the coming year. No doubt they will simply throw it back, thinking "everybody hates us," when in fact it is God's way of giving them a final opportunity to repent of their sin against the Palestinians and bring forth the fruits of the Kingdom.

So if this revelation from Lev. 19:24, 25 is applicable to the Israeli state, we could see things heat up in the coming year, but it might be limited to a war of words. A "hot war" with Iran, then, may be postponed until the Year of Dung (2010) has been completed.

By the way, I experienced this law of first fruits myself after God called me into full-time ministry work in 1986. The first three years (1986-1989) were unfruitful, due to my refusal to leave the Net of Prayer as instructed. Finally, in 1989 the Lord revealed the problem, and I resigned Oct. 16, 1989. The fourth year (1989-1990) I was "dunged," and then on the Day of Atonement of 1990, I was laid off from work and entered the ministry full time.

So there are many applications of this law on various levels. While I have tried to give some teaching about this law of first fruits, I also realize that I am raising many questions about how this might be fulfilled. This is something to ponder and pray about in the time ahead. As more is revealed, I will re-visit this topic and explain it further.