First Things First: The Law of the Fruit Trees Text: Leviticus 19:23-25
Introduction: God's Holy Rhythm
We come now to a portion of the Holiness Code in Leviticus that, to our modern, pragmatic ears, can sound a bit strange. We are a people who want instant results. We plant, and we want to eat. We invest, and we want the return tomorrow. We have drive-throughs for our food, our coffee, and even our banking because we have come to believe that waiting is a sign of inefficiency, a bug in the system. But God is not inefficient, and His system is perfect. His ways are not our ways, and His sense of timing is not ours. In this short, seemingly obscure agricultural law, God is teaching His people, and us, a foundational principle of reality. He is teaching them the grammar of gratitude, the syntax of sanctification, and the rhythm of righteousness.
This law is not simply about good horticulture, though it is certainly that. Any good farmer will tell you that letting a young tree establish its roots before letting it bear fruit leads to a stronger tree and a better long-term yield. God’s wisdom is always practical. But the primary lesson here is theological. It is a lesson about ownership, patience, firstfruits, and the gospel pattern of redemption. God is embedding a parable into the very orchards of the Promised Land. Every time an Israelite planted a tree, he was to be reminded of a story, the great story.
This law is a direct polemic against the pagan fertility cults of Canaan. The Canaanites engaged in all sorts of ritual magic and religious prostitution, attempting to manipulate their gods into granting them a good harvest. Their worship was a frantic, anxious, and demanding affair. Yahweh, in stark contrast, commands His people to wait. Don't grab. Don't demand. Don't eat. For three years, you are to do nothing but tend the tree and trust the Giver of the tree. This is a law that builds a culture of faith, not a culture of frantic works. It is a law that establishes from the outset that the land, the trees, the fruit, and the people all belong to God. Before you can get anything from God, you must first learn to give to God.
And in this, we see the pattern of the gospel. Before we can bear fruit for ourselves, or even for God, there must be a period of consecration, a time of being set apart. There is a death that must precede a resurrection, a waiting that must precede a harvest. This law is a picture of our salvation and sanctification, written in the language of bark, leaves, and fruit.
The Text
‘When you enter the land and plant all kinds of trees for food, then you shall designate their fruit as forbidden. Three years it shall be forbidden to you; it shall not be eaten. But in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, an offering of praise to Yahweh. Now in the fifth year you shall eat of its fruit, that its produce may increase for you; I am Yahweh your God.
(Leviticus 19:23-25 LSB)
The Uncircumcised Fruit (v. 23)
We begin with the prohibition in verse 23:
"‘When you enter the land and plant all kinds of trees for food, then you shall designate their fruit as forbidden. Three years it shall be forbidden to you; it shall not be eaten." (Leviticus 19:23)
The first thing to notice is the context: "When you enter the land." This is a command for the future, for the place of God's promise. This is not a wilderness regulation; it is a law for a settled, stable, and fruitful people. God is legislating for their prosperity. And in that prosperity, the very first lesson is one of restraint.
When they plant a fruit tree, the fruit for the first three years is to be designated as "forbidden." The Hebrew here is literally "uncircumcised." This is a striking metaphor. Just as a male child was not yet fully in the covenant community until he was circumcised on the eighth day, so this fruit is not yet fit for covenantal use. It is common, profane, set outside the realm of the holy. It is not to be eaten. This teaches the people a vital lesson in self-control. Their appetites are not ultimate. Their desires do not get to set the terms. God does.
This enforced waiting period does two things simultaneously. First, as we noted, it is good for the tree. It allows the tree to mature and become strong. But second, and more importantly, it is good for the man. It trains him to see the world as God's gift, not his right. He cannot simply take what he wants when he wants it. He must operate on God's timetable. This is a direct assault on the spirit of our age, which is the spirit of the toddler: "I want it now." God says, "You will wait. You will learn that I am the Lord, and you are not." This is the beginning of wisdom.
This period of "uncircumcision" is a picture of our state outside of Christ. Our lives, our works, our efforts, are all "unclean," not fit for God's use. They are fruitless, in a spiritual sense, no matter how much activity we generate. Before any true fruit can be borne, there must be a work of God to consecrate, to set apart, to make holy.
The Holy Fruit (v. 24)
After the period of waiting comes the period of dedication.
"But in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, an offering of praise to Yahweh." (Leviticus 19:24 LSB)
The waiting is over, but the eating has not yet begun. Before the people get to enjoy the fruit, God gets His portion first. And notice what His portion is: all of it. The entire crop of the fourth year is to be consecrated to God. It is "holy," which means it is set apart for a special purpose. It is to be an "offering of praise to Yahweh." This is the principle of firstfruits. The first and the best belongs to God.
This act of giving the entire first usable harvest to God was a powerful declaration of trust. The farmer was giving away a whole year's produce with no guarantee of what the fifth year would bring, other than the promise of God. This is faith in action. It acknowledges God's total ownership of everything. The land is His, the rain is His, the growth is His, and therefore the fruit is His. The farmer is merely a steward, a manager of God's property.
This principle is woven throughout Scripture. "Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce" (Proverbs 3:9). By giving God the first part, the rest is sanctified. By dedicating the fourth year's fruit, the harvests of all the following years are set apart as a blessing from God. This is a direct repudiation of the pagan mindset. The pagan gives to his god in order to get. The Israelite gives to God because he has already gotten everything from God. The pagan's offering is a bribe; the Israelite's is praise.
This points us directly to Christ. Jesus is the ultimate firstfruit. "But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep" (1 Corinthians 15:20). His resurrection is the "fourth year" offering. He is the perfect, holy fruit of humanity, offered up to God in praise. And because He, the firstfruit, has been offered and accepted, the rest of the harvest, that is, all who are in Him, is guaranteed. His resurrection sanctifies our future resurrection.
The Blessed Fruit (v. 25)
Finally, after waiting and after worship, the people are invited to the feast.
"Now in the fifth year you shall eat of its fruit, that its produce may increase for you; I am Yahweh your God." (Genesis 1:3 LSB)
The fifth year is the year of enjoyment. God is not a cosmic killjoy. He is not against pleasure. He is the inventor of it. He commands them to eat the fruit. But notice the condition. The eating and enjoyment come after the period of restraint and the act of dedication. God gives His good gifts to those who have learned to honor Him first. First the cross, then the crown. First the sacrifice, then the supper.
And there is a promise attached: "that its produce may increase for you." This is the divine economy. You give to God, and He multiplies it back to you. You honor Him with the firstfruits, and He ensures the abundance of the full harvest. This is not the "health and wealth" gospel of modern charlatans, which treats God like a slot machine. This is the covenantal principle of sowing and reaping. When you acknowledge God's ownership and honor Him with what is rightfully His, you align yourself with the grain of the universe, and He opens the windows of heaven. To put it simply, obedience leads to blessing.
The verse ends with the ultimate foundation for the command: "I am Yahweh your God." This is God's signature. He is the covenant-keeping God who brought them out of Egypt. He is the one who owns them, who provides for them, and who has the right to command them. This isn't an arbitrary rule; it is an expression of His character and His relationship with His people. He is their God, and they are His people, and this is how His people are to live in His land.
The Gospel in the Orchard
This little law about fruit trees is a beautiful illustration of God's way of dealing with us. When we are first brought into the land, into a state of grace, we are like these young trees. We are spiritually immature. God, in His wisdom, puts us through a period of "uncircumcision," a time of growth and strengthening where our fruit is not yet ready. This is the process of sanctification. He teaches us to wait, to trust, to put our roots down deep into Him.
Then comes the dedication. Our lives are to be the "fourth year" offering. We are called to present ourselves as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God, which is our reasonable service (Romans 12:1). Our whole life is to be an offering of praise to Him. We are not our own; we were bought with a price. Therefore, we are to glorify God in our bodies. The first and best of our time, our energy, our resources, belongs to Him.
And only then do we truly begin to experience the joy of the fifth year. The Christian life is not one of grim, joyless duty. God intends for us to eat the fruit, to enjoy Him and the world He has made. But this true, deep, lasting joy only comes to those who have first died to themselves and offered their lives completely to Him. It is the one who loses his life for Christ's sake who will find it. It is the one who honors God with the firstfruits who will find his barns filled with plenty.
This law reminds us that we worship a God of order, a God of patience, and a God of ultimate blessing. He is teaching us to live according to His rhythm, not our own frantic, grasping pace. We must first be consecrated before we can be fruitful. We must first give before we can truly receive. We must honor Christ as the glorious firstfruit, and only then can we take our place in the great harvest of praise that will be to the glory of His name forever. For He is Yahweh our God.