The incentive for this webpage should be related to a radio preacher by the name of Les Feldick of Thru the Bible Ministries on 30706 West Lona Valley Road in Kinta OK 74552 who has been critiqued by a group called "A True Church" at 9783 Hwy 82A Box 130, Moodys, OK 74444.
Preacher Les spoke of "first fruits" of harvest relating:
Exodus 23:16 You shall keep the feast of harvest, of the first fruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field. You shall keep the feast of ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in from the field the fruit of your labor.
23:19 The first of the first fruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the LORD your God. "You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk. [Fry the kid in milk, instead?]
34:22 And you shall observe the feast of weeks, the first fruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year's end.
34:26 The first of the first fruits of your ground you shall bring to the house of the LORD your God. You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk." [How about simply boiling a kid in artesian-well or spring water?]
Leviticus 2:12 As an offering of first fruits you may bring them to the LORD, but they shall not be offered on the altar for a pleasing ["stink" or "odor" or "fragrance?" How about "aroma?"].
2:14 If you offer a cereal offering of first fruits to the LORD, you shall offer for the cereal offering of your first fruits crushed new grain from fresh ears, parched with fire.
23:10 Say to the people of Israel [whether in New York City or Miami?]: "When you come into the land which I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest."
23:17 You shall bring from your dwellings two loaves of bread to be waved, made of two tenths of an ephah; they shall be of fine flour, they shall be baked with leaven, as first fruits to the LORD.
23:20 And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the first fruits as a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs; they shall be holy to the LORD for the priest.
Numbers 18:12 All the best of the oil, and all the best of the wine and of the grain, the first fruits of what they give to the LORD, I give to you.
Numbers 28:26 On the day of the first fruits, when you offer a cereal offering of new grain to the LORD at your feast of weeks, you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work... [open for business on Sunday?]
Deuteronomy 18:4 The first fruits of your grain, of your wine and of your oil, and the first of the fleece of your sheep [or full-gas-tanked polished Kia, Pontiac, VW, Nissan, Ford, Subaru, BMW, Caddy, Lincoln, or Chevy?], you shall give him.
Second Kings 4:42 A man came from Baalshalishah [sort of like Oconomowoc or Ontonigon], bringing the man of God bread of the first fruits, twenty loaves of barley, and fresh ears of grain in his sack. And Elisha said, "Give to the men, that they may eat."
Second Chronicles 31:5 As soon as the command was spread abroad, the people of Israel [in Massachusetts?] gave in abundance the first fruits of grain, wine, oil, honey, and of all the produce of the field; and they brought in abundantly the tithe of everything.
Nehemiah 10:35 We obligate ourselves to bring the first fruits of our ground and the first fruits of all fruit of every tree, year by year, to the house of the LORD
12:44 On that day men were appointed over the chambers for the stores, the contributions, the first fruits, and the tithes, to gather into them the portions required by the law for the priests and for the Levites according to the fields of the towns; for Judah rejoiced over the priests and the Levites who ministered.
13:31 and I provided for the wood offering, at appointed times, and for the first fruits. Remember me, O [my] God, for good.
Proverbs 3:9 Honor the LORD with your substance and with the first fruits of all your produce
Jeremiah 2:3 "Israel was holy to the LORD, the first fruits of his [not "her?"] harvest. All who ate of it became guilty; evil came upon them," says the LORD.
and:
First Corinthians 15:12 Now if Christ is preached as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
15:13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised;
15:14 if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is futile.
15:15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised.
15:16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised.
15:17 If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.
15:18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
15:19 If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all men [and women?] most to be pitied.
15:20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruit of those who have fallen asleep.
15:21 For as by a man [Hey! Don't forget the woman Eve who started the whole problem in the first place, per First Timothy 2:11-14!] came death, by a Man has come also the resurrection of the dead.
15:22 For as in Adam [how about Eve?] all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
15:23 But each in his own order: Christ the first fruit, then at His [pre-Millennial] coming those [few anti-beast/false-prophet beheaded to become resurrected, then afterwards at His post-Millennial coming the many others to become resurrected] who belong to Christ.
15:24 Then comes The [Final-Judgment-Day] End, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father [on the Great White Throne] after destroying every rule and every authority and power.
15:25 For He must reign until He has put all his enemies under His feet.
15:26 The last enemy to be destroyed is Death.
15:27 God has put all things in subjection under his feet. But when it says: "All things are put in subjection under Him," it is plain that He is excepted who put all things under Him.
15:28 When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself [who created Earth and everything within the entire physical Universe] will also be subjected to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be everything to every one.
15:29 Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of a dead messiah? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on His behalf?
15:31 . . . I die every day! [Sure you do, Paul. And I suppose you also are cremated or buried in some cemetery every day.]
15:32 . . . If the dead are not raised, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die."
15:33 Do not be deceived: "Bad company ruins good morals." [So I suppose that that "bad company" consists of those who claim that the dead are not raised and who eat whatever and drink whatever, and guess that they will die within 24 hours?]
15:34 Come to your right mind, and sin no more. For some have no knowledge of God. [What do those "some" have to do with us sinning?] I say this to your shame. ["Shame" for what?]
15:35 But some one will ask, "How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?"
15:36 You foolish man! [Not a foolish question at all, Paul. Merely a scientific inquiry of curiosity. We're not doubting the dead being raised, but simply want to know how. Do not berate nor condemn us inquiring minds for innocently asking!] What you plant does not come to life unless it dies. [Oh, that really helps explain the how of it all, doesn't it?]
15:38 But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. ["body" seed?]
15:39 For not all flesh is alike, but there is one kind for men, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. [Don't forget squid and lobsters, and how about insects?]
15:40 There are celestial bodies and there are terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.
15:41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. [All the examples in vs. 39-41 still do not explain the 'how' of resurrection]
15:42 So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. [Ditto with reference to the comment in v. 41]
15:43 It is planted in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is planted in weakness, it is raised in power.
15:44 It is planted a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body.
15:45 Thus it is written: "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam [how about Eve?] became a life-giving spirit.
15:46 But it is not the spiritual which is first but the physical, and then the spiritual.
15:47 The first man was from Earth, a man of dust; the second man is from Heaven.
15:48 As was the man of dust [and woman of man?], so are those who are of the dust; and as is the Man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven.
15:49 Just as we have borne the image of the male [or instead male and female?] of dust, we shall also bear the image of the Man of Heaven.
15:50 I tell you this, brethren: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
15:51 Wow, I tell you a mystery: "we" [and who is the "we?"] shall not all sleep [nor snore? - especially those resurrected beheaded ones mentioned in Revelation 20:4-5?], but we shall all [including only the resurrected beheaded ones mentioned in Revelation 20:4-5? plus a whole lot more] be changed,
15:52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye [fraction of a second], at the Last trumpet or shofar [which Last trumpet or shofar will not sound when Christ returns at Armageddon right after the 42-month Great Tribulation]. For The [Last] trumpet/shofar will post-Millennially sound, and most of the righteous and all of the wicked dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.
15:53 For this perishable nature must put on the imperishable, and this mortal nature must put on immortality.
15:56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the sinful law. [Oh, sorry. I did not mean to say: sinful Law. Now why did I do that? Really! Why did I say that?]
15:57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
. . . with the singing four creatures and elders, then myriad angels, then all lifeforms that exist:
Revelation 5:8 And when he had taken the scroll, the 4 living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp [yes, 4 living creatures can hold harps, as can 24 male-and-not-female senior-citizen elders], and with golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints;
5:9 and they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain and by your blood did ransom men (and women) for God from every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
5:10 and have made them (except the inferior gender) a kingdom and priests to our God, and they (not the women) shall reign on Earth."
5:11 Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands,
5:12 saying with a loud voice: "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!"
5:13 And I heard every creature in Heaven and on Earth and under Earth and in the sea [including the Pacific and Atlantic oceans], and all therein, saying, "To Him who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever!"
. . . plus the roaring thunderous voice accompanying voices of 144,000 harpers singing a new song:
Revelation 14:1 And I looked and wow, a Lamb stood on Mount Zion, and with Him 144,000 [but only of the twelve tribes of Israel mentioned in Revelation chapter 7 - not the entire Old-and-New-Testament-saints "church"], having His Father's name written on their foreheads.
14:2 And I heard a voice from Heaven as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder, and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps.
14:3 And they sang, as it were, a new song before the throne, and before the four living beings and the elders [the 4 living creatures and 24 elders did not sing?]; and no man [nor woman?] could learn that song, except the 144,000 who were redeemed from Earth.
14:4 These are they who were not defiled with women, being that they are virgins. These are they who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These are redeemed from among men (and women?), being the first fruits [the "first fruits"] to God and to the Lamb. [Note the vital and crucial phrase: "first fruits"]
14:5 And in their mouths was found no deceit, for they are without fault before the throne of God.
. . . and with the loud voices of either two multitudes or a first multitude followed by a multitude with additions:
Revelation 19:1 And after these things I heard a great voice of a multitude of people in Heaven, saying: "Alleluia! Salvation and glory and honor and power, be to the Lord our God,
19:2 for true and righteous are His [not "Her"] judgments: He [not "She"] has judged the great whore who corrupted the earth with her fornication, and has avenged the blood of His servants at her hand."
19:3 And again they said, "Alleluia! And her smoke rises up forever." [always more to burn]
19:4 And the 24 elders and the 4 living beings fell down and worshiped God who sat on the throne, saying: "Amen! Alleluia!"
19:5 And a voice came out of the throne, saying, "Praise our God, all ye His servants, and ye that fear Him, both small and great."
19:6 And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, and the voice of many waters, and the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, "Alleluia! Because the Lord God Omnipotent reigns.
19:7 Let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife has made herself ready." [made herself ready? Saved by "grace," not by anything we do? Really?]
19:8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen [cotton, flannel, or silk?], clean and white [note the non-rainbow color]; for fine linen is the [non-mopheaded/sleevesless/slacksless/soxless] righteousness of saints.
. . . and concluding with the non-Rapture resurrection of only a select group of first-fruit decapitated saints who had not worshipped the beast nor false prophet and not received their 666 mark on their foreheads or right hands:
Revelation 20:1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key of the Abyss and a great chain. [polyurethane, carbonite, or hardened steel?]
20:2 And he seized The Dragon, that Ancient Serpent, who is The Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years,
20:3 and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the 1000 [not 845 nor 3564 nor 18,358 nor 2599 nor 4392 nor 983,682 nor 323,543,655 nor 2] years were ended. After that he must be loosed for a little while. [and what is "a little while?"]
20:4 Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom judgment was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony to Jesus and for the word of God, and who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life, and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
20:5 The remainder of the [righteous and wicked] dead did not come to life until the 1000 [not 983 nor 8367 nor 150,344 nor 334,876,453,254 nor 8] years were ended. This is The First Resurrection.
20:6 Blessed and holy is he/she who shares in The First Resurrection! Over such The Second Death has no power, but they shall be priests [not the inferior-gender women] of God and of Christ, and they shall reign with Him 1000 [not 743 nor 1543 nor 13,769] years.
Les lamentably failed to mention that those choice, few, first fruits resurrected at the time of Christ's Second Coming at Armageddon right after the 42-month Great Tribulation are to be only those Great-Tribulation saints who are to be beheaded for not worshipping the beast nor false prophet (spoken of in Revelation chpaters 13 through 20), of which many, perhaps, will be included in the number 144,000 of Israelis mentioned in Revelation 7:3-17.
He also failed to mention that the overwhelming majority of dead saints throughout past millennias are to be resurrected, along with all the wicked dead also then resurrected (being that no wicked dead are to be pre-Millennially resurrected when Christ returns at Armageddon after the 42-month Great Tribulation) after the Millennium (review Revelation 20:11-15) at the time the heavens and Earth disintegrate with a loud noise in fervent heat (review Second Peter 3:7-13), which resurrected righteous (plus yet-alive Raptured saints snatched up and whisked away at the precise moment of Earth's fiery annihilation joining the resurrected dead saints up in the instantaneously-disintigrating air), and all resurrected wicked dead, are to stand before the Trinitarian King on His great white throne for proverbial righteous "sheep" with proverbial wicked "goats" Final Judgment (review Matthew 25:31-46) of either acquittal (for the good guys and gals) or condamnation (against the bad guys and gals).
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