Lookahead: To recap, I believe that James was expressly referring to new converts who had been born from on-high and it’s not so much a matter of WHERE this occurred, but WHEN. God created the human race in the Garden of Eden. I further believe Adam and Eve were the Beta Version. Now, in recent times, God had developed a new, improved version of the creation that was upgraded via the Word of Truth. The Truth was probably that, because of Jesus’ atonement for our sins, we could choose to receive new life spiritually–and actually become new spiritual beings. If anyone be in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away and all things have become new. 2 Corin 5:17 These firstfruits were new creations that arrived on the scene shortly after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension to the Father.
James 1:18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we would be a kind of firstfruits of His creation.
In the last post, we discussed a few aspects of firstfruits:
- In a spiritual sense, Jesus was the very First of the firstfruits.
- I (and many commentators) postulated that the last of the firstfruits will come on the scene in the End Times just before the Day of the LORD.
- We also discovered two verses in Paul’s epistles that seemed to hone in on a further aspect:
Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia to Christ. Rom 16:5;
…you know the household of Stephanas, that it is the firstfruits of Achaia. 1 Corin 16:15;
These verses refer to specific individuals (including within a family unit) who were living in the same place, Achaia.
A quick description of Achaia:
Achaia (Greek: Ἀχαΐα), sometimes spelled Achaea, was a province of the Roman Empire…Initially part of the Roman province of Macedonia, it was made into a separate province by Augustus. Achaia was a senatorial province, thus free from military men and legions, and one of the most prestigious and sought-after provinces for senators to govern…Achaia was among the most prosperous and peaceful parts of the Roman world until Late Antiquity, when it first suffered from barbarian invasions…Copper, lead, and silver mines were exploited in Achaia…Marble from Greek quarries was a valuable commodity…Achaia also produced household luxuries, such as furniture, pottery, cosmetics, and linens. Greek olives and olive oil were exported to the rest of the Empire.1
Achaia sounds very cosmopolitan, wealthy, and trendy, with a strong Roman influence. So it was a God thing when Paul was able to penetrate a strong secular influence and convert people to Christianity in that region. We also know that Paul visited that region at least three times.2 And it’s possible that Achaia may have benefited from Christianity, enjoying God’s blessings for ~four centuries.
According to some translations (like NIV) of Romans 16:5, Epaenetus was the first convert to Christ in the province of Asia. Similarly Stephanas and his family were among the first converts in Achaia. It further appears that Stephanas traveled to Corinth to help the church there: I was glad when Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus arrived, because they have supplied what was lacking from you. 1 Corin 16:17
The NLT translation is beautiful: You know that Stephanas and his household were the first of the harvest of believers in Greece, and they are spending their lives in service to God’s people. 1 Corin 16:15 (my underline)
So in these instances, the “firstfruits” term may refer to the very first Christian converts in the region! And although they might not have been the first Greek believers, they were the first ones that Paul won to Christ when he traveled to Greece proper. Plus the body of believers is portrayed as a harvest! Jesus Himself referred to us that way: The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few. Matthew 9:37 And the harvesting process: Let both grow together until the harvest. Then I will tell the harvesters to sort out the weeds, tie them into bundles, and burn them, and to put the wheat in the barn. Matthew 13:30 However, we also know that we are ultimately presented as a gift to God not as sheaves of wheat, but as children presented to a father…to all who did receive Him (Jesus), to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. John 1:12
We know who Paul and John considered to be firstfruits. But who was James referring to when he used the “firstfruits” term? Maybe if we understood the context of when and where James’ letter was written…
The majority of commentators believed that James wrote the letter in Jerusalem before he was martyred in 62 AD: “The location of the author isn’t difficult to discern. Both the New Testament and early church fathers suggest that James lived his life of ministry in Jerusalem. And he remained in Jerusalem until he was martyred in A.D. 62. Because of this, there’s no reason to think that he wrote the epistle from any other location.” 3 Au contraire, I found another commentator who…had a reason…
“He was reportedly the leader of the Jerusalem community of the followers of Jesus, who, tradition claims, fled to Pella before the Romans reached Jerusalem and whose city was, therefore, destroyed after they left. In other words, both his community and his natural constituency, ethnic Jewish followers of Jesus, were in disarray after 66–70 CE, a tragedy that was compounded by later Jewish uprisings elsewhere in the Roman world and the second Jewish war of 133–135 CE.” 4 “Pella (Greek: Πέλλα) is an ancient city located in Central Macedonia, Greece. It is best-known for serving as the capital city of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon, and was the birthplace of Alexander the Great.” 5 Again we see a Macedonian connection. Achaiah was also in the same province as Pella. Perhaps James was referring to the same nascent Christian communities as Paul.
On the other hand, I may have provided a clue as to who James’ firstfruits were in previous post, Unpacking #1, Part 3: “Suppose James was trying to reach the 3000+ who had been converted during Pentecost? These people had come to Jerusalem from many diverse places to celebrate First Fruits (Festival) and the Feast of Weeks, and they had been converted by the Holy Spirit—and baptized. Represented people groups included: Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs. Acts 2:9-11” These believers were converted during the First Fruits celebration in Jerusalem. They were the very first converts.
What was this First Fruits Festival all about? For that matter, what about the Old Testament references to “firstfruits?” Well, 78% of the instances of the firstfruits expression are found in the Old Testament. And ironically, the concept of firstfruits was probably introduced in the very, very beginning of the Bible in Genesis 4:4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering. Abel gave God the first and best of his “new crop!” The firstfruit offering was formalized into Mosaic Law in Exodus 23:16 with further clarification in the rest of the Torah…Celebrate the Festival of Harvest with the firstfruits of the crops you sow in your field…
The Hebrew word for firstfruits is bikûr בִּכּוּר. I quickly discovered that the equivalent Greek word “aparchēn” was used in the Septuagint (LXX), the Greek Old Testament translation that was done in ~335 BC by Hebrew scholars. So it was not a new term that Paul colloquialised. The New Testament writers were very familiar with LXX, even quoting directly from that translation occasionally. It appears that the Greeks were the ones who conceived the word “aparchēn,” probably to describe similar (counterfeit) traditions that they were observing. Hence, we can surmise that James probably did not borrow the term/usage from Paul, i.e., it was familiar to Greek-speaking Christians.
“It’s likely James was aware of Paul, but was not immediately familiar with Paul’s specific writings. Galatians was written as early as 49 CE, and Romans was written during Paul’s final stay in Corinth around 56 CE—not enough time to have traveled from Corinth to Rome and become influential enough to make their way back to Palestine, where James would have been writing in the late 50s, and certainly no later than 62 CE, when he was martyred.” 6
James 1:18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we would be a kind of firstfruits of His creation.
To recap, I believe that James was expressly referring to new converts who had been born from on-high and it’s not so much a matter of WHERE this occurred, but WHEN. God created the human race in the Garden of Eden. I further believe Adam and Eve were the Beta Version. Now, in recent times, God had developed a new, improved version of the creation that was upgraded via the Word of Truth. The Truth was probably that, because of Jesus’ atonement for our sins, we could choose to receive new life spiritually–and actually become new spiritual beings. If anyone be in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away and all things have become new. 2 Corin 5:17 These firstfruits were new creations that arrived on the scene shortly after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension to the Father.
Finally, I believe that the most important clue in this verse is the “WE.” James uses the “we” term, so he lumps himself into the same category as these converts. Therefore, he went through a conversion process, similar to the Greeks in Achaia and Pella. Or was it an Acts 2 experience? Yesterday I heard a sermon that actually might provide yet another huge clue and introduce a new theory/perspective that this seemingly standalone verse is tied to the next one. James 1:19 next time!
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2https://bibleatlas.org/macedonia.htm
3https://thirdmill.org/seminary/lesson.asp/vid/208
4https://zondervanacademic.com/blog/who-wrote-the-book-of-james
5https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pella
6https://zondervanacademic.com/blog/who-wrote-the-book-of-james
Cross-Denominational Bible Study 