What does Tribe teach about first fruits?
Drawn from the messages where it was actually addressed: the words said from the front, the passages taught, and where to hear the whole thing.
At Tribe, the teaching on the Feast of First Fruits starts with the conviction that God's annual feasts belong to the whole family of God, not only to ancient Israel. Brian Hunter walked the congregation through Deuteronomy 26 and Leviticus 23, where the instruction to Israel was precise: bring the very first of the harvest to the priest at the temple the same day it is cut, hand it over without delay, and let the priest lift it before the Lord. The ritual was designed to make a person stop and credit God before enjoying anything. Brian pointed out that the feast was meant to be permanent, observed in every generation, and that the words recited with the offering were a remembrance of everything God had already done.
The turn in the teaching came with John 20 and Mary's encounter with Jesus in the garden on the morning of the resurrection. Brian noted that Mary does not recognize Jesus at first, and that when he says her name she instinctively reaches for him, only to be stopped. Jesus tells her not to hold on to him because he has not yet ascended to the Father. Brian held the congregation there, because that moment is the interpretive key to the whole feast. Jesus is presenting himself to the Father as the first of the harvest before anyone else can receive what his resurrection makes possible. Brian drew a careful distinction between resuscitation, what happened to Lazarus, who was brought back in the same body, and resurrection, what happened to Jesus, who received what Brian called an upgraded earth suit. First Corinthians 15 makes the order plain: Christ first, then all who belong to Christ when he returns. As Brian put it, "Jesus is the first of a great harvest of all who have died."
The weight the teaching lands on is confidence. Because Jesus has already been presented to the Father as the first fruit, the harvest of everyone who belongs to him is guaranteed. Brian says, "The resurrection of Jesus gives us great confidence that nothing less than total victory is our destiny." That claim is not limited to people who feel they have kept their record clean. Brian was direct that it does not matter where you have been or how badly you have blown it. The resurrection settles the question of what is coming for those who are in Christ.
Taught from 1 Corinthians 15:20-23 · Deuteronomy 26:1-11 · John 20:11-18 · Leviticus 23:9-14 · Habakkuk 2:2
“The resurrection of Jesus gives us great confidence that nothing less than total victory is our destiny.”
From The Feast of First Fruits
The passage taught · 1 Corinthians 15:20-23
20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead. He became the first fruits of those who are asleep.
21 For since death came by man, the resurrection of the dead also came by man.
22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
23 But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then those who are Christ’s, at his coming.
World English Bible
Messages that go deeper
- May 5, 2025 The Feast of First Fruits Brian Hunter walks through the Feast of First Fruits and shows how Jesus rising from the dead as the firstborn of a great coming resurrection changes everything about how we live now.
- May 4, 2025 We Gonna Live Forever A Wyoming pastor walks through the biblical Feast of First Fruits and shows how the resurrection of Jesus fulfills it, pointing to victory for every believer.