Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Deuteronomy 26:1
And it shall be, when thou [art] come in unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee [for] an inheritance, and possessest it, and dwellest therein;
1. when thou art come in, etc.] As in Deu 17:14, but with these additions: and it shall be and for an inheritance (Deu 15:4). As Cullen (p. 88) points out the substance of the statement is already in Deu 8:1.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
IV. Fourth Division of the Laws. Ideals of Ritual Procedure with Proper Prayers, Deu 26:1-15
The Presentation of Firstfruits (Deu 26:1-11) and the Distribution of Tithes (Deu 26:12-15). Throughout in the style of D (with particular affinity to the Law of Tithes, Deu 14:22-29) and in the Sg. address; for additions, see below. These beautiful forms of service express fully D’s ideals of worship that it shall be national, at the nation’s one sanctuary, but performed by the separate families with their local dependents; that it shall be historical, recounting the Providence of God from the beginnings of the nation till their settlement in the Promised Land, and therefore joyful and eucharistic; and further that it shall be equally mindful of God and His dues and of the poor and their dues. No two rites could have better summed up the ritual teaching of D in its essential features, nor, with the ethical supplement which follows, have formed a fitter close to the whole Code.
On the ground of the similarity between 26 and Deuteronomy 6-11 (esp. Deu 8:1-18) Cullen ( Bk. of the Covt. in Moab, 79 ff.) refers the whole of 26 to his ‘Miwah’ or earlier deuteronomic Book published before the reforms of Josiah. He gives a detailed examination of the ch. well worthy of study. He points out the number of expressions in 26 not found in the Code but in 6 11. Others, however, common to 26 and the Code are not found in Deuteronomy 6-11, and the whole subject of Deu 26:1-15 is otherwise more suitable to the Code than to 6 11.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Two liturgical enactments having a clear and close reference to the whole of the preceding legislation, form a most appropriate and significant conclusion to it, namely,
(1) the formal acknowledgment in deed and symbol of Gods faithfulness, by presentment of a basket filled with firstfruits, and in word by recitation of the solemn formula prescribed in Deu 26:3, Deu 26:5-10; and
(2) the solemn declaration and profession on the part of each Israelite on the occasion of the third tithe Deu 26:12.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
CHAPTER XXVI
First-fruits must be offered to God, 1, 2.
The form of confession to be used on the occasion, 3-11.
The third year’s tithe to be given to the Levites and the poor,
12,
and the form of confession to be used on this occasion, 13-15.
The Israelites are to take Jehovah for their God, and to keep
his testimonies, 16, 17.
And Jehovah is to take them for his people, and make them high
above all the nations of the earth, 18, 19.
NOTES ON CHAP. XXVI
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And it shall be, when thou [art] come in unto the land,…. The land of Canaan, which they were now on the borders of, and just entering into:
which the Lord thy God giveth thee [for] an inheritance; which is often mentioned, to observe that it was not through their merits, but his gift, that they should enjoy the land; and the rather here to enforce the following law concerning the basket of firstfruits:
and possessest it, and dwellest therein; not only had entered into it, but got the possession of it, and settled there. This shows as Jarchi observes, that they were not bound to the firstfruits till they had subdued the land and divided it; not as soon as they were in it.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
To the exposition of the commandments and rights of Israel Moses adds, in closing, another ordinance respecting those gifts, which were most intimately connected with social and domestic life, viz., the first-fruits and second tithes, for the purpose of giving the proper consecration to the attitude of the nation towards its Lord and God.
Deu 26:1-4 Of the first of the fruit of the ground, which was presented from the land received from the Lord, the Israelites was to take a portion ( with partitive), and bring it in a basket to the place of the sanctuary, and give it to the priest who should be there, with the words, “I have made known to-day to the Lord thy God, that I have come into the land which the Lord swore to our fathers to give us,” upon which the priest should take the basket and put it down before the altar of Jehovah (Deu 26:1-4). From the partitive we cannot infer, as Schultz supposes, that the first-fruits were not to be all delivered at the sanctuary, any more than this can be inferred from Exo 23:19 (see the explanation of this passage). All that is implied is, that, for the purpose described afterwards, it was not necessary to put all the offerings of first-fruits into a basket and set them down before the altar. (Deu 26:2, Deu 26:4, and Deu 28:5, Deu 28:17) is a basket of wicker-work, and not, as Knobel maintains, the Deuteronomist’s word for rof (Exo 16:33. “ The priest ” is not the high priest, but the priest who had to attend to the altar-service and receive the sacrificial gifts. – The words, “I have to-day made known to the Lord thy God,” refer to the practical confession which was made by the presentation of the first-fruits. The fruit was the tangible proof that they were in possession of the land, and the presentation of the first of this fruit the practical confession that they were indebted to the Lord for the land. This confession the offerer was also to embody in a prayer of thanksgiving, after the basket had been received by the priest, in which he confessed that he and his people owed their existence and welfare to the grace of God, manifested in the miraculous redemption of Israel out of the oppression of Egypt and their guidance into Canaan.
Deu 26:5-9 , “ a lost (perishing) Aramaean was my father ” (not the Aramaean, Laban, wanted to destroy my father, Jacob, as the Chald., Arab., Luther, and others render it). signifies not only going astray, wandering, but perishing, in danger of perishing, as in Job 29:13; Pro 31:6, etc. Jacob is referred to, for it was he who went down to Egypt in few men. He is mentioned as the tribe-father of the nation, because the nation was directly descended from his sons, and also derived its name of Israel from him. Jacob is called in Aramaean, not only because of his long sojourn in Aramaea (Gen 29-31), but also because he got his wives and children there (cf. Hos 12:13); and the relatives of the patriarchs had accompanied Abraham from Chaldaea to Mesopotamia (Aram; see Gen 11:30). , consisting of few men ( , the so-called beth essent., as in Deu 10:22; Exo 6:3, etc.; vid., Ewald, 299, q.). Compare Gen 34:30, where Jacob himself describes his family as “few in number.” On the number in the family that migrated into Egypt, reckoned at seventy souls, see the explanation at Gen 46:27. On the multiplication in Egypt into a great and strong people, see Exo 1:7, Exo 1:9; and on the oppression endured there, Exo 1:11-22, and Exo 2:23. – The guidance out of Egypt amidst great signs (Deu 26:8), as in Deu 4:34.
Deu 26:10 “ So shalt thou set it down (the basket with the first-fruits) before Jehovah.” These words are not to be understood, as Clericus, Knobel, and others suppose, in direct opposition to Deu 26:4 and Deu 26:5, as implying that the offerer had held the basket in his hand during the prayer, but simply as a remark which closes the instructions.
Deu 26:11 Rejoicing in all the good, etc., points to the joy connected with the sacrificial meal, which followed the act of worship (as in Deu 12:12). The presentation of the first-fruits took place, no doubt, on their pilgrimages to the sanctuary at the three yearly festivals (ch. 16); but it is quite without ground that Riehm restricts these words to the sacrificial meals to be prepared from the tithes, as if they had been the only sacrificial meals (see at Deu 18:3).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| The Offering of First-Fruits. | B. C. 1451. |
1 And it shall be, when thou art come in unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and possessest it, and dwellest therein; 2 That thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, which thou shalt bring of thy land that the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt put it in a basket, and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy God shall choose to place his name there. 3 And thou shalt go unto the priest that shall be in those days, and say unto him, I profess this day unto the LORD thy God, that I am come unto the country which the LORD sware unto our fathers for to give us. 4 And the priest shall take the basket out of thine hand, and set it down before the altar of the LORD thy God. 5 And thou shalt speak and say before the LORD thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous: 6 And the Egyptians evil entreated us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage: 7 And when we cried unto the LORD God of our fathers, the LORD heard our voice, and looked on our affliction, and our labour, and our oppression: 8 And the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders: 9 And he hath brought us into this place, and hath given us this land, even a land that floweth with milk and honey. 10 And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land, which thou, O LORD, hast given me. And thou shalt set it before the LORD thy God, and worship before the LORD thy God: 11 And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the LORD thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that is among you.
Here is, I. A good work ordered to be done, and that is the presenting of a basket of their first-fruits to God every year, Deu 26:1; Deu 26:2. Besides the sheaf of first-fruits, which was offered for the whole land, on the morrow after the passover (Lev. xxiii. 10), every man was to bring for himself a basket of first-fruits at the feast of pentecost, when the harvest was ended, which is therefore called the feast of first-fruits (Exod. xxxiv. 22), and is said to be kept with a tribute of free-will-offering, Deut. xvi. 10. But the Jews say, “The first-fruits, if not brought then, might be brought any time after, between that and winter.” When a man went into the field or vineyard at the time when the fruits were ripening, he was to mark that which he observed most forward, and to lay it by for first-fruits, wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, and dates, some of each sort must be put in the same basket, with leaves between them, and presented to God in the place which he should choose. Now from this law we may learn, 1. To acknowledge God as the giver of all those good things which are the support and comfort of our natural life, and therefore to serve and honour him with them. 2. To deny ourselves. What is first ripe we are most fond of; those that are nice and curious expect to be served with each fruit at its first coming in. My soul desired the first ripe fruits, Micah vii. 1. When therefore God appointed them to lay those by for him he taught them to prefer the glorifying of his name before the gratifying of their own appetites and desires. 3. To give to God the first and best we have, as those that believe him to be the first and best of beings. Those that consecrate the days of their youth, and the prime of their time, to the service and honour of God, bring him their first-fruits, and with such offerings he is well pleased. I remember the kindness of thy youth.
II. Good words put into their mouths to be said in the doing of this good work, as an explication of the meaning of this ceremony, that it might be a reasonable service. The offerer must begin his acknowledgment before he delivered his basket to the priest, and then must go on with it, when the priest had set down the basket before the altar, as a present to God their great landlord, Deu 26:3; Deu 26:4.
1. He must begin with a receipt in full for the good land which God had given them (v. 3): I profess that I have come now at last, after forty years’ wandering, unto the country which the Lord swore to give us. This was most proper to be said when they came first into Canaan; probably when they had been long settled there they varied from this form. Note, When God has made good his promises to us he expects that we should own it, to the honour of his faithfulness; this is like giving up the bond, as Solomon does, 1 Kings viii. 56, There has not failed one word of all his good promise. And our creature-comforts are doubly sweet to us when we see them flowing from the fountain of the promise.
2. He must remember and own the mean origin of that nation of which he was a member. How great soever they were now, and he himself with them, their beginning was very small, which ought thus to be kept in mind throughout all the ages of their church by this public confession, that they might not be proud of their privileges and advantages, but might for ever be thankful to that God whose grace chose them when they were so low and raised them so high. Two things they must own for this purpose:– (1.) The meanness of their common ancestor: A Syrian ready to perish was my father, v. 5. Jacob is here called an Aramite, or Syrian, because he lived twenty years in Padan-Aram; his wives were of that country, and his children were all born there, except Benjamin; and perhaps the confessor means not Jacob himself, but that son of Jacob who was the father of his tribe. However it be, both father and sons were more than once ready to perish, by Laban’s severity, Esau’s cruelty, and the famine in the land, which last was the occasion of their going down into Egypt. Laban the Syrian sought to destroy my father (so the Chaldee), had almost destroyed him, so the Arabic. (2.) The miserable condition of their nation in its infancy. They sojourned in Egypt as strangers, they served there as slaves (v. 6), and that a great while: as their father was called a Syrian, they might be called Egyptians; so that their possession of Canaan being so long discontinued they could not pretend any tenant-right to it. A poor, despised, oppressed people they were in Egypt, and therefore, though now rich and great, had no reason to be proud, or secure, or forgetful of God.
3. He must thankfully acknowledge God’s great goodness, not only to himself in particular, but to Israel in general. (1.) In bringing them out of Egypt, Deu 26:7; Deu 26:8. It is spoken of here as an act of pity–he looked on our affliction; and an act of power–he brought us forth with a mighty hand. This was a great salvation, fit to be remembered upon all occasions, and particularly upon this; they need not grudge to bring a basket of first-fruits to God, for to him they owed it that they were not now bringing in the tale of bricks to their cruel task-masters. (2.) In settling them in Canaan: He hath given us this land, v. 9. Observe, He must not only give thanks for his own lot, but for the land in general which was given to Israel; not only for this year’s profits, but for the ground itself which produced them, which God had graciously granted to his ancestors and entailed upon his posterity. Note, The comfort we have in particular enjoyments should lead us to be thankful for our share in public peace and plenty; and with present mercies we should bless God for the former mercies we remember and the further mercies we expect and hope for.
4. He must offer to God his basket of first-fruits (v. 10): “I have brought the first-fruits of the land (like a pepper-corn) as a quit-rent for the land which thou hast given me.” Note, Whatever we give to God, it is but of his own that we give him, 1 Chron. xxix. 14. And it becomes us, who receive so much from him, to study what we shall render to him. The basket he set before God; and the priests, as God’s receivers, had the first-fruits, as perquisites of their place and fees for attending, Num. xviii. 12.
III. The offerer is here appointed, when he has finished the service, 1. To give glory to God: Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God. His first-fruits were not accepted without further acts of adoration. A humble, reverent, thankful heart is that which God looks at and requires, and, without this, all we can put in a basket will not avail. If a man would give all the substance of his house to be excused from this, or in lieu of it, it would utterly be contemned. 2. To take the comfort of it to himself and family: Thou shalt rejoice in every good thing, v. 11. It is the will of God that we should be cheerful, not only in our attendance upon his holy ordinances, but in our enjoyments of the gifts of his providence. Whatever good thing God gives us, it is his will that we should make the most comfortable use we can of it, yet still tracing the streams to the fountain of all comfort and consolation.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
DEUTERONOMY – CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Verses 1-3:
This is a repetition and expansion of the “Law of the Firstfruits,” see Exo 23:19; Num 18:12-14; Deu 18:4. This provision deals specifically with the produce of the field, orchard, and vineyard.
“Basket,” tene, “basket of woven or twisted work, wickerwork.”
“The priest,” not the high priest, but the common priest, particularly the one on duty at the time of the offering.
This offering was the acknowledgment that Israel was in possession of the Land, and confession of their stewardship and God’s ownership. This symbolizes the basis of Christian stewardship today.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
1. And it shall be when thou art come. The Israelites are commanded to offer their first-fruits, for the same reason that they were to pay the tribute for every soul; viz., that they might confess that they themselves, and all that they had, belonged to God. This was the only distinction, that the tribute was a symbol of their emancipation, that they might acknowledge themselves to be free, as having been redeemed by the special mercy of God; but by the firstfruits they testified that the land was tributary to God, and that they were masters of it by no other title than as tenants at will, so that the direct sovereignty and property of it remained with God alone. This, then, was the object of the first-fruits, that they might renew every year the recollection of their adoption; because the land of Canaan was given to them as their peculiar inheritance, in which they were to worship God in piety and holiness, and at the same time reflect that they were not fed promiscuously, like the Gentiles, by God, but like children; whence also their food was sacred. But we shall have to speak again elsewhere of the first-fruits, in as much as they were a part of the oblations; yet it was necessary to insert here their main object, that we might know that they were appointed to be offered by the people, in pious acknowledgment that their food was received from God, and to shew that, being separated from other nations, they were dependent upon the God of Israel alone.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
THE RECAPITULATION OF THE LAW
Deu 5:1 to Deu 26:19 record for us a recapitulation of the Law. The study of this section sets out clearly certain fundamental truths.
The Decalog is repeated with significant variations. Chapter 5, fundamental to all the laws of God is the Decalog. In Exodus, Moses delivered the same as he brought it from the tip of the fingers Divine. In Deuteronomy, the Law is given again. From the first to the tenth commandment, the very language of Exodus is employed, save in the instance of the fourth. Here, the reason assigned to the Jew for keeping the Sabbath, is strangely and significantly changed, namely, from because the Lord in six days made heaven and earth and rested on the seventh day, to Remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm; therefore, the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the Sabbath day (Deu 5:15).
This change is so strange and so unexpected that it arrests immediate attention and demands adequate explanation. Why did God shift the reason for keeping the Sabbath from the finished creation to a completed redemption? The answer is not difficult. In the Divine plan, redemption is a far greater event than creation; the soul of man exceeds the weight of the world; for that matter, of all worlds. The Law was given by Moses, but Grace and Truth came by Jesus Christ. The Law was given for Jews; the Gentiles were never in bondage to it, and above all, believing Gentiles are not bound by it. To them, the Law is not a great external or outside force created for practices of restraint. Its spirit is transcribed to their souls rather; they walk at liberty while seeking Divine precepts. This is not to inveigh against the Law. The Law is just, and true and good, but by Law no man has ever been redeemed. It is to exalt Grace, which God hath revealed through Jesus Christ, in whom men have redemption from sin. If I only love my father and mother because the Law commands it, I do not love them at all; if I refrain from making images and bowing down before them because this is the demand of the Law, my heart may yet be as full of idolatry as a heathen temple. Redemption is not by the Law; it is by Grace in Jesus Christ!
The early Church was shortly called upon to settle this question of salvation by Law or Grace, and in the Jerusalem Conference Peter rose up and said unto them,
Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the Word of the Gospel, and believe.
And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as He did unto us;
And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.
Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? (Act 15:7-10).
Later he said, We believe that through the Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ (not by Law) we shall be saved, even as they (Act 15:7-11). Mark you, in that very sentence, Peter, the Apostle, proves his realization of the fact that the Law had failed as a savior and the very Jew himself had hope alone in grace. How strange, then, for men of the Twentieth Century to turn back to Law and proclaim the Law as though it were a redeemer, and protest that men who ignore the Jewish Saturday as the Sabbath will plunge themselves into the pit thereby, when the Law never saved! The keeping of the Sabbath was the one Law that contained in itself no ethical demand. The Law to worship, the Law to honor father and mother, the Law against killing, stealing and covetousnessthese are all questions of right and wrong; but to tithe time by the keeping of the Sabbath was a command solely in the interest of mans physical life. When, therefore, by the pen of inspiration the reason for it was shifted from a finished creation to a finished redemption, the act was lifted at once to a high spiritual level and became a symbol of the day when Christ, risen from the grave, should have completed redemptions plan. That great fortune to mankind fell out on the first day of the week, creating not so much a Christian Sabbath as making forever a memorial day for redemption itself, for the eighth day, or the first day of the week, clearly indicated the new order of things, or the new creation through Christ.
We have no sympathy whatever with secularizing each one of the seven days; but we would have the first day of the week kept in the spirit of rejoicing as redemptions memorial. On that day our Lord rose from the dead; on that day He met his disciples again and again; on that day the brethren at Troas assembled with the Apostles and broke bread; on that day the Christians laid aside their offerings; on that day they met for prayer and breaking of breadthe fellowship of the saints; on that day John was caught up in the spirit and witnessed the marvels recorded in his apocalyptic vision. Oh, what a day! No legal bondage, for what have we to do with holy days, sabbaths and new moons; but salvations memorial, a day of special service to the Son of God, our Saviour, a day for the souls rejoicing in Jesus. Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
But as we pass on in the study of this section of Scripture, we find Moses defends the Decalog in character and consequence. He reminds them of the glory out of which the voice spake (Deu 5:24). He reminds them of the obligation in the words themselves (Deu 5:32). He reminds them of the relationship of the possession of the land to obedience of the precepts. He pleads with them as a father, Hear, therefore, O Israel (Deu 6:4). He anticipates the day of prophecy and begs that these words have place in their hearts (Deu 6:6), to be diligently taught to their children (Deu 6:7); bound for a sign upon their hands and frontlets between their eyes, lest they be forgotten (Deu 6:8); written upon the posts of the house and on the gates, where they could not be unobserved (Deu 6:9). Moses knew the relationship of law-keeping to national living. It is doubtful if modernists now have or will ever again entertain the same sacred reverence for Law that characterized the ancients, even the heathen of far-off days.
We cannot forget how Socrates, when he was sentenced to death and, after an imprisonment of thirty days, was to drink the juice of the hemlock, spent his time preparing for the end; friends conceived and executed plans for his escape and earnestly endeavored to prevail upon him to avail himself of the opportunity, but he answered, That would be a crime to violate the law even when the sentence is unjust. I would rather die than do evil. If a heathen philosopher could treat unjust laws with such reverence, Moses was justified in pleading with his people to regard the laws that were true and just and good, and such were the mandates of Deuteronomy.
It is easy enough for one to pick out some one of these precepts and, by detaching it from its context, create the impression that it was foolish or superficial or even utterly unjust; but when one reads the whole Book, he sees the effectual relationship of laws, general and particular, to the life Israel was leading, and for that matter, catches the supreme spiritual significance of the same as they interpret themselves in the light of New Testament teaching. There is not a warning that was not needed, nor an exhortation which, if heeded, would have failed to profit the people. It all came to one conclusion for Israel.
What doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul (Deu 10:12)?
And as there was not a law in the Old Testament but was fitted for the profit of Israel, so there is not a command in the New Testament but looks to the conquest of the Christian soul.
Among these enactments were personal and significant suggestions. They gave dietary and sanitary suggestions (Deuteronomy 14); they established the Sabbatic year (Deuteronomy 13); they fixed the time of the Passover (Deuteronomy 16); they set forth the character of the offerings (Deuteronomy 17); they determined the duties of the Levites (Deuteronomy 18); they gave direction concerning the cities of refuge (Deuteronomy 19); they determined the way of righteous warfare (chap. 20); they established a court of inquest (Deuteronomy 21); they announced the law of brotherhood (Deuteronomy 22); they descended to the minute instances of social life and regulations of the same (Deuteronomy 23); they dealt with the great and difficult question of divorce (Deuteronomy 24); they ended (Deuteronomy 23) in an almost unlimited series of regulations concerning the social life of the people knowing a wilderness experience, including the law of the first fruits (Deuteronomy 26).
It is interesting to study not alone the laws enacted here, but the penalties declared, including the blessings and curses from Ebal to Gerizim. There is about them all an innate righteousness that has been unknown to those purely human codes for which God never assumed responsibility. From the curse against bribery to the curse against brutal murder to this day the sentences are justified in the judgment of the worlds most thoughtful men.
In all they contrast the injustice and inordinately severe punishments often afflicted by godless governments. Plutarch, in writing about Solon, tells us that he repealed the laws of Draco except those concerning murder. Such was the severity of their punishments in proportion to the offense that we are amazed as we read them. If one was convicted of idleness, death was the penalty. If one stole a few apples or potherbs, he must surely die, and by as ignominious a method as did the murderer. And out of that grew the saying of Demades that Draco wrote his laws, not with ink but with blood. And when Draco was asked why such severe penalties, he answered, Small ones deserve it, and I can find no greater for the most heinous. Such were human laws in contrast to these laws Divine.
But a further study of these laws involves a third lesson.
Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley
CRITICAL NOTES.The rehearsal of rights and duties, pubilc and private, terminates in this chapter with two liturgical enactments. These have a clear and close reference to the whole of the preceding legislation, and form a most appropriate and significant conclusion to it. (Sp. COM.)
Deu. 26:1-11 First fruits. Fruit. Visible proof of possession; distinguished from those offered in harvest (cf. Exo. 22:29), at feasts of Passover and Pentecost, and from offerings prescribed (Num. 8:8). These are private and personalnot national.
Deu. 26:3. Priest. Owned the first fruits as property. Profess, a confession of offerer, of indebtedness.
Deu. 26:5. Syrian. (Lit. aramcean) from residence with Laban in Syria. Perish. by Labans severity and many hardships in nomadic life. Egypt (cf. Genesis 46).
Deu. 26:6. Evil. On multiplication and oppression in bondage, and guidance out (cf. Exodus 1, 2, 4, 5, Deu. 26:11. Rejoice either in the possession of blessings given, or in feasting with friends, Levites, and strangers.
Deu. 26:12-15. Tithin. Third years tithe employed at home in charity and hospitality.
Deu. 26:13. Hallowed. Consecrated, things devoted to holy uses. I have not. Not a self-righteous boast, but solemn declaration that nothing which should be devoted to God had been secretly kept back.
Deu. 26:14. Mourning. When the Israelite would be unclean; or like Egyptians made in harvest time, offered the first fruits of earth and kept feast of Isis in doleful lamentation. Unclean. unworthy of divine acceptance. Dead in funeral service as some; or to idols, deified heroes and lifeless imagesall things were dedicated to glad and holy, not to unclean and idolatrous purposes.
Deu. 26:15. Look. Form of thanksgiving (cf. Isa. 63:15).
Deu. 26:16-19. Faithful obedience. A brief and earnest exhortation by way of conclusion to the second and longest discourse of the book. Avouched. solemnly pledged themselves to obey; accepted Jehovah as their God, who had declared that if they kept the covenant they should be His special people.
Deu. 26:19. Above. (cf. Exo. 19:6). The sanctification of Israel was the design and end of its divine election, and would be accomplished in the glory to which the people of God were to be exalted.Keil.
GAINING THE INHERITANCE.Deu. 26:1-11
Reference had been made to the sanctuary as the place chosen by God and fit for religious worship (Deuteronomy 12). Two gifts specially connected with the social life of the people had to be presentedthe first fruits and the second tithe. Moses now prescribes the form of the interesting ceremony, which reminded the nation of their indebtedness, and duty to God.
I. An acknowledgment of Gods help in getting the inheritance. God was very prominent in Israels history and position. Precept and command, rite and ceremony, reminded them of this.
1. God promised the inheritance. Good and great things are promised to us to wean affection from earth, excite hope, and stimulate effort. God presents worthy objects on which to centre hope, and gives grace by which it may be realised.
2. God settled them in the inheritance. Good may be withheld and fulfilment delayed through ingratitude, unbelief and rebellion. But if we are faithful and follow God, he will fulfil the promise and lead us into the land. We shall possess without fear; dwell without disturbance, and no power on earth can uproot us. He can establish (fix), strengthen (for defence), and settle (1Pe. 5:10).
II. A confession of unworthiness to receive the inheritance. No merit is due to us. If inheritance is given, it is not created by human toil and skill. From beginning to end of life God must be honoured and man humbled. Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto?
1. Humble in origin (Deu. 26:5). The nation great, mighty and populous sprang from a few, the many from one, a Syrian ready to perish. God is wonderful in working, and brings great results from small beginnings. Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase (Job. 8:7; Job. 42:12).
2. Helpless in history. Few, hated, and oppressed, what could Israel do? The mighty hand and the outstretched arm alone could deliver, defend, and secure the inheritance. The might of Egypt, the perils of the desert, and the dangers of conquest were overcome by Gods help. With omnipotence on our side we can do anything. They got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but thy right hand, and thine arm (Psa. 44:3).
III. The duty imposed by securing the inheritance. Duty means debt. Gods bounties always put us under obligation. The response should be hearty. What shall we render unto the Lord for all His benefits towards us?
1. To consecrate the first fruits. Thou shalt take the first of all the fruit of the earth. Conscientious and careful dedication of first fruits is required. Everyone should bring his basket to God as an acknowledgment of mercy. This in token of the sanctification of the whole. Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the first fruits of all thine increase.
2. To worship God in public. The offerer bad to go into the place which God had chosen. The gift must be accompanied with public worship and confession; worship before the Lord (Deu. 26:10). Remembrance of Divine goodness kindles adoration and praise. Fervent praise is acceptable to God, and loads to love and amity in His people.
3. To cultivate social joy (Deu. 26:11). God has made us prosper, and we should make others glad. Gifts received in the right spirit and used in the right way enlarge our sympathies and help us to promote the enjoyment of our fellow men. The highest will remember the lowest in society. The most wealthy will seek out and relieve the outcast and most degraded. In the spirit of Christ we shall sit down with strangers and fatherless, with publicans and sinners, and eat with them.
DIVINE HELP IN HUMAN LIFE
Israel had come to the land, but the way had not been discovered and cleared by their own guides. They had been brought unto the place, almost carried like helpless children by Divine goodness. It was fit that they should know, confess this and learn lessons of wisdom. The private life of man, says Napoleon I., is a mirror in which we may see many useful lessons reflected.
I. Divine help in timely circumstances. Life is full of change, a journey through many a scene of joy and woe. But God helps in time of need.
1. In periods of risk, A Syrian ready to perish was Jacob. The cruelty of Laban, the wrath of Esau and the perilous journey to Egypt endangered life. There is but a step between me and death, said David.
2. In periods of adversity. Evil entreated, afflicted and under hard bondage (Deu. 26:6). This prepares us for advancement, as it did Joseph, David, and Israel. The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor can we be perfected without suffering.
3. In periods of prosperity. The day of adversity is not our entire lot. The day of prosperity is equally a divine appointment. God also hath set (made) the one over against (like parallel with) the other (Ecc. 7:14.) We need divine instruction especially in prosperity, to humble and show us our unworthiness (Gen. 32:10). To keep us dependant and grateful, and remind us of our origin and history. Look unto the rock whence ye are known, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged.
II. Divine help secured through prayer. We cried unto the Lord our God (Deu. 26:7). Prayer teaches dependence upon God. In trouble we have an incentive to pray. Men who have ridiculed have then been compelled to acknowledge God. In affliction and danger prayer is earnest and prolonged. We cried unto the Lord. Confidence in God has given courage and gained success in battle. Moses and Elijah were the real defence of Israel; Hezekiah and Isaiah brought down blessings upon Jerusalem (2Ch. 32:20-23). The good mans prayer moves Omnipotence in the administration of the universe. It is a mighty, moral force in the history of men; it has achieved what numbers and valour never could achieve. Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses.
III. Divine help acknowledged in grateful remembrance. Several forms of memorial are given. Sensible signs are often needful to quicken memory and prompt gratitude in reviewing past life.
1. In self consecration to God. There can be no worship without this. Attendance and reverent attitude are outward acts. The heart must be touched and drawn out before we can offer spiritual service. Nothing can rise above its limits. A beast cannot act as a man, and a man perform the work of an angel. Neither can the impenitent, ungrateful sinner render true worship. Only when love fills the heart and mercy is duly appreciated do we present ourselves as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God.
2. In acts of practical piety. The Israelite was not merely to profess (Deu. 26:3), but perform, take the first of all the fruit. Words are cheap but deeds are scarce. God requires sincerity as well as sacrifice. The first fruits of time and mental vigour. The produce of our land and the share of our gains belong to Him. The best of everything should be offered to God. The first fruit of thy corn, of thy vine, and of thine oil, and the first of the fleece of thy sheep, shalt thou give Him.
3. In works of perpetual charity. Love to God must show itself in benevolence to menthe divinity we preach be seen in the humanity we practise. Charity must never fail. Relief must not merely be given in deserving cases, to persons worthy of help, but to the undeserving. The world is the hospital of Christianity, and the duty of the Church is to seek out the destitute and aged, those in great suffering and unable to work. This is the mark of pure religion says Jas. 1:27. This gained Job a character which his friends could not assail, and a reputation which they could not tarnish (Deu. 31:16-22). Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that those bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him, and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? (Isa. 58:6-7; Isa. 50:11).
GODS GIFTS.Deu. 26:9-11
The dedication of first fruits was an act of worship, an acknowledgment of Gods bounty, and a confession of entire dependence upon Him for every mercy received.
I. Gods gifts bestowed in rich abundance. Deliverance, security, health, and honourthe fruits of the earth and the profits of business. Everyone has personal experience to relate of thrilling interest;escape from danger, incidents of travel, reunion of friends. What signs and wonders in our past and present life!
II. Gods gifts designed for human happiness. Thou shalt rejoice in every good thingin private comfort or in social festivity. We are objects of Gods constant care and kindness, and others should be remembered and share with us. Our gilts are not for selfish indulgence. We must not be like the Caspian Sea which receives rain and rivers which flow into it, and which is said not to have an outletnot a rill to run from its waters. Eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared (Neh. 8:10).
III. Gods gifts dependent upon obedience for continuance. What we have may be taken away if we do not improve it (Mar. 4:25). The diligent worker gathers to himself what is lost by the idle, and talents not used pass away from the possessor. If we do not use, we lose.Matthew Henry. Temporal mercies can never produce holy joy unless used for God. Withhold the first fruits and the whole may be withdrawn. Give and you shall possess a blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God (Deu. 11:27; Deu. 30:1; Deu. 30:15).
HOMILETICS HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Deu. 26:3-6. Gratitude to God enforced. We shall
1. Point out our duty in reference to the mercies we have received. For this purpose we ought
1. To review them frequently;
2. To requite them gratefully. Il. Recommend it to your attention. It is
1. A universal;
2. A reasonable;
3. A delightful duty.C. Simeon, M.A.
Deu. 26:5. Great results from small beginnings.
1. In the history of Israel.
2. In personal history.
3. In history of the Christian church. What hath God wrought! Admire the power of God; recognise the providence of God; acknowledge dependence upon God.
Deu. 26:11. Duty of delight. A duty specially appropriate to a Christian upon whom all gifts of grace and sweet influences are bestowed by a reconciled God. Who giveth us richly all things to enjoy (1Ti. 6:17). This was
1. An O. T. principle, Neither be ye sorry, for the joy of the Lord is your strength (Neh. 8:10).
2. N. T. command. Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice (1Th. 5:16). Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord (Php. 3:1).
3. A duty sadly forgotten. They dwell on the duty of self-denial, but they exhibit not the duty of delight, says Ruskin.
This verse exhibits
1. The will of God. Some say they will suffer for it if they are glad, as if God grudged happiness to His creatures and took hard compensation for their enjoyments. They forget that Gods nature is a joyful naturethat the element in which He lives is a joyful one, and that when He communicates good and bestows a new nature they are parts of His joy. Showing forth praise is a work and a witness for God in a joyless world and a thankless race.
A sunshine in a shady place.
2. The nature of true religion. See the exquisite sense that is in this wonderful book, the Bible. The one extreme is you must live an ascetic, denying yourself everything; the other extreme is, you must live like an epicurean, enjoying exclusively a monopoly of everything. The prescription of the Bible is, take the food that God sends you, thank Him for it, rejoice in it.
THE SACRED USE OF COMMON GIFTS.Deu. 26:12-15
The second years tithe, or vegetable tithe, instead of being taken to the sanctuary as in other years, was devoted to hospitality and charity at home (cf. Deu. 14:28.) At the end of tithing, a solemn declaration was made before God that the law had been strictly fulfilled, and nothing reserved for personal use.
I. Nothing had been misappropriated. In many ways Gods gifts are misapplied.
1. In ways of uncleanness. I have not eaten thereof in my mourning, when the Israelite would be unclean (Lev. 21:1; Hos. 9:4). Sorrow should not be associated with thanksgiving and joy in God. The blessings of life tend not to degrade, but to elevate and dignify.
2. In alienation from sacred purposes. Neither have I taken away aught for any unclean use (Deu. 26:14). For any common use different from that appointedgifts have a sacred as well as secular use. They are desecrated if spent upon ourselves or in sin. They are Gods property and must not be used as we please. He has claims upon us. The Levite, the widow, and the fatherless, represent His claims. To neglect them is to disobey and insult Him.
3. In consecration to unlawful practices. Nor given aught for the dead. In funeral expenses or feasts Of mourning which were often urgent and unforseen. Houses of mourning or idolatrous customs, it would be unlawful to sanction. Our gifts are abused if diverted from hospitality and religion, if devoted entirely to worldly customs or forbidden uses.
II. Everything had been duly performed. Nothing had been withheld. I have hearkened and done all thou hast commanded. If disobedient, this solemn confession was a liean act of hypocrisy! The danger of the Church to-day is not from outward assailants, but from unfaithfulness and inward corruption, from false vows of mere professors and partial consecration of real believers. The precepts of the Gospel and the spirit of the Master lay a tax upon the worldly goods and personal sympathies of the wealthy and gifted. If from selfish motives we keep back some and profess to have devoted all to God, we act the part of Ananias. Every one should declare the supreme worth and manifest the inward beauty of truthfulness. Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord; but they that deal truly are his delight
III. Everything was enjoyed by permitting others to share it. I have given them unto the Levite and unto the stranger, etc. (Deu. 26:13). Dedicated things were devoted to glad and holy feasting. Do good to all men, for they are Gods creatures. But the necessitous are the special objects of Gods care, and should partake of our beneficence. God hath left his poor saints to receive his rents (Gurnall). Alms given to them are lent to God (Pro. 19:17) and will be paid back with interest in their increase and enjoyment. We double our joys and increase our own store when others share them. We should remember the poor (Gal. 2:10).
PRAYER AND CHARITY.Deu. 26:13-15
The tithes were to be presented, a declaration made that they had not been withheld, and then an earnest prayer offered for the land and the people who dwelt in it (Deu. 26:15).
I. Prayer and charity united in Christian life. We have the aspect man-wards and god wards. Love as you are loved; forgive that you may be forgiven, bestow that you may receive again. Alms and prayers spring from one root and are bound together by one law. Cornelius was a devout man, gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God always (Act. 10:3).
II. Charity no ground for boasting in prayer. We only do our duty that we are commanded to do, when we help the destitute This affords no ground for pride and the spirit of the Phariseea self-complacent and self-vaunting spirit. Instead of numbering fasts, tithes and merits; we must forsake our sins, love God and our neighbour as ourselves (cf. Luk. 18:11-12). These ought ye to have done and not to leave the other undone.
III. Prayer that charity may be constantly practised. We cannot give to others unless blessed ourselves. Constant prayer secures constant supply. Ask and ye shall receive. Prayer begets dependence, fitness to receive, and readiness in bestowing our blessings. Our liberality should ever be the outcome of our gratitude to God. Freely ye have received, freely give.
HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Deu. 26:13-15. Devotion and daily life. Integrity in daily life the condition of acceptable prayer. Prayer reminds of shortcomings in daily lifeshould prompt to self examination and obedience.
Deu. 26:15. Prayer and patriotism. The prosperity of the nation (land) intimately connected with the moral condition of the people. A blessed people, a blessed land. We must learn hence to be publics-pirited in prayer, and to wrestle with God for blessings for the land and nation, our English Israel, and for the universal Church, which we are directed to remember in our prayers, as the Israel of God (Gal. 6:16).
Reverence in prayer.
1. For God is Holy. Holiness becomes His house.
2. For without His cognizance we could get nothing.
3. It is marvellous condescension to hear at all. Took down from thy holy habitation.
4. All that He bestows is from sovereign mercy. Which thou hast given us.
A Memorable Day.Deu. 26:16-19
This day was a time of solemn admonition, of wonderful pledges between God and His people, and of deep spiritual significance.
I. A day of beneficent deeds (Deu. 26:16). Laws had been revealed for worship and life. The people had vowed to God that they had liberally devoted their hallowed things to the needy. Distress had been relieved, hearts had been gladdened, and burdens removed. Giver and receiver had been thankful, and rejoiced together before the Lord.
II. A day of solemn dedication to God. Thou hast avouched the Lord this day to be thy God (Deu. 26:17). Their hearts had been weaned from idolatry and self. Gods providence had brought them on their journey, and Gods goodness enriched them with blessings. Gratitude bound them to God, and they pledged themselves not to forget nor disobey him. Canaan would have been a dark and dreary land without Him. His presence, like sunshine, fills all hidden recesses of life, and makes creation glad.
III. A day of distinguished privileges from God. God accepts His peoples pledge generously, espouses them, and makes new discoveries of His love.
1. In material pre-eminence. To make thee high above all nations. Eminence and honour come only from God. Glory, honour, and immortality are reserved in heaven for well-doing (Rom. 2:7).
2. In spiritual adoption. He chose them to be His own special and peculiar people (Deu. 26:18). They were elevated in position and moral conditionbrought near to God by obedience. Christians have a special place in Gods regards on earth. In heaven the relation will be complete.
3. In moral purity. That thou mayest be an holy people (Deu. 26:19). This was the end of their obedience and exaltation. They were chosen to be holy (Eph. 1:4). Moral purity is the highest honour. Worldly greatness will never satisfy the cravings of the heart. Holiness is the admiration of friends, a terror to enemies, and the end of life. All the people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the Lord; and they shall be afraid of thee.
HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Deu. 26:16-18. Ready obedience and great reward.
1. The law of God revealed. Divine in origin, wonderful in history, authoritative in claims. These injunctions are not devices of men, but commandments of God.
2. The voluntary obedience to law. They willingly and publicly avowed God to be their God. They were to do, not to dispute the commands. It is not enough to read and understand them. They must be sincerely, faithfully and universally kept. Not as the result of human energy, but of Divine influence (Eze. 36:27).
3. The expression of Divine pleasure at this voluntary obedience. Jehovah reciprocates the feeling, The Lord hath avouched thee. Natural and supernatural blessings are pledged in variety. Loyal obedience secures present favour, and will gain future honour and renown. If ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people.
Deu. 26:19. High above all nations. It is written, righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people (Pro. 14:34). While Israel regarded Gods word, and kept His testimonies, they were the greatest and most respectable of all nations; but when they forsook God and His law, they became the most contemptible. O Britain! even more highly favoured than ancient Israel, learn wisdom by what they have suffered. It is not thy fleets, or thine armies, howsoever excellent and well appointed, that can ultimately exalt and secure thy permanence among nations. It is righteousness alone. Become irreligious, neglect Gods ordinances, profane His sabbath, despise His word, persecute His followers, and thou art lost.A. Clarke.
Deu. 26:17-19. Covenanting with God. I. Our covenant engagements.
1. To accept God as our God.
2. To act towards Him as becomes us in that relation. II. Our covenant advantages.
1. God will own us as His people.
2. Bestow on us blessings worthy of that relation: holiness, honour, and happiness.C. Simeon, M. A.
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 26
Deu. 26:2-4. First. This is the rule of sacrificea costly precept to the worldling and the formalist. But to the servant of God, it is a privilege to lay aside a portion with the sacred stamp, This is for God. This sacred devotedness is the true road to riches (Pro. 11:24). God challenges us to prove him now herewith, if the abundant harvest, and the overflowing vintage shall not put unbelief and covetousness to shame (Neh. 3:10; 2Ch. 31:5-10).C. Bridges.
Deu. 26:5. Few. Athens and Rome, Babylon and Persia, as well as England and France, rose by slow degrees to their unrivalled eminence. Whereas, the Hums and Vandals flashed in their terrible greatness for a few years, and passed unto oblivion as mysteriously as they rose into power.Dr. Brewer.
Deu. 26:6-9. Our affliction. Suppose, Christian, that the furnace was seven times hotter, it is but to make you seven times better; fiery trials make golden Christians (Dyer). Gods children, says an old author, are most triumphant when most tempted; most glorious when most afflicted; most in favour with God when least in mans esteem. As their conflicts, so their conquests; as their tribulations, so their triumphs
The good are better made by ill,
As odours crashed are sweeter still.
Rogers.
Deu. 26:10-11. Rejoice. Who partakes in anothers joy is a more humane character than he who partakes in his grief.Lavater.
All who joy would win
Must share ithappiness was born a twin.
Byron.
Deu. 26:12-14. Done all. People in general have no notion of mixing religion with common lifewith their pleasures, with their meals, with all their thoughts. Hence it is they think that their Maker is an enemy to happiness, and that religion is fit for the closet only.Mayow.
Deu. 26:15. Look down. Prayer and thanksgiving are like the double motion of the lungsthe air that is sucked in by prayer is breathed forth again by thanksgiving.Godwin.
Deu. 26:16-19. Above all. Do not forget that greatness before men is sometimes littleness before God, and that every man who lives only to love God and to do good to his fellows is in the sight of his Maker truly great. It is honour and blessedness the greatest to belong to the army of Jesus Christto be holy, loving and faithful, a witness for God, an instructor in His House, a benefactor among men.(J. E. Rosoman). In the estimate of honour he should learn to value the gifts of nature above those of fortune; to esteem in our ancestors the qualities that best promote the interests of society, and to pronounce the descendant of a king less truly noble than the offspring of a man of genius whose writings will instruct or delight the latest posterity.Gibbon.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(2) OFFERING THE FIRST-FRUITS (Deu. 26:1-11)
And it shall be, when thou art come in unto the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and possessest it, and dwellest therein, 2 that thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which thou shalt bring in from thy land that Jehovah thy God giveth thee; and thou shalt put it in a basket, and shalt go unto the place which Jehovah thy God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there. 3 And thou shalt come unto the priest that shall be in those days, and say unto him, I profess this day unto Jehovah thy God, that I am come unto the land which Jehovah sware unto our fathers to give us. 4 And the priest shall take the basket out of thy hand, and set it down before the altar of Jehovah thy God. 5 And thou shalt answer and say before Jehovah thy God, a Syrian ready to perish was my father; and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there, we in number; and he became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous. 6 And the Egyptians dealt ill with us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage: 7 and we cried unto Jehovah, the God of our fathers, and Jehovah heard our voice, and saw our affliction, and our toil, and our oppression; 8 and Jehovah brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders; 9 and he hath brought us into this place, and hath given us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10 And now, behold, I have brought the first of the fruit of the ground, which thou, O Jehovah, hast given me. And thou shalt set it down before Jehovah thy God, and worship before Jehovah thy God: 11 and thou shalt rejoice in all the good which Jehovah thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thy house, thou, and the Levite, and the sojourner that is in the midst of thee.
THOUGHT QUESTIONS 26:111
452.
For what purpose was the offering made?
453.
Where and before whom was this offering made?
454.
Is the offering here the same as what we also know as Pentecost? Cf. Deu. 16:9-12.
455.
There appears to be an exchange between the priest and the worshipper. Approximate the part of each. This is a very impressive ceremony.
AMPLIFIED TRANSLATION 26:111
When you have come into the land which the Lord your God gives you for an inheritance, and possess it, and live in it,
2 You shall take some of all the produce of the soil which you harvest from the land that the Lord your God gives you, and put it in a basket, and go to the place [the sanctuary] which the Lord your God has chosen as the abiding place of His name [and His presence].
3 And you shall go to the priest who is in office in those days, and say to him, I give thanks this day that I have come to the land which the Lord swore to our fathers to give us;
4 And the priest shall take the basket from your hand, and set it down before the altar of the Lord your God.
5 And you shall say before the Lord your God, A wandering and lost Aramean ready to perish was my father [Jacob], and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there, few in number, and he became there a nation, great, mighty, and numerous.
6 And the Egyptians treated us very badly, and afflicted us, and laid on us hard bondage.
7 And when we cried to the Lord, the God of our fathers, the Lord heard our voice, and looked on our affliction, and our labor, and our (cruel) oppression;
8 And the Lord brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great (awesome) power, and with signs, and with wonders;
9 And He brought us into this place, and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.
10 And now, behold, I bring the first fruits of the ground, which You, O Lord, have given me. And you shall set it down before the Lord your God, and worship before the Lord your God;
11 And you shall rejoice in all the good which the Lord your God has given you and your household, you and the Levite, and the stranger and the sojourner among you.
COMMENT 26:111
See also Deu. 16:9-12 and notes. We have connected this ceremony to the feast of the first-fruits (Pentecost) as the two events must have come at approximately the same time.
The Israelite was to take a portion of these first fruits, and placing it in a basket, take it to the sanctuary, where it was to be received by the priest that shall be in those days (Probably not the high priest, but a priest whose function it was to officiate on such occasions, see Deu. 17:12). There, in a formal way, he was to say words to the effect I profess this day unto Jehovah thy God, that I am come (etc.) The priest now setting the basket down before the altar, the offerer responds, A Syrian ready to perish, etc. (Deu. 26:5-9); concluding with the recognition and grateful acknowledgement that all the blessings he now enjoyed (after so humble an origin) were the result of Gods mercy and goodness, (Deu. 26:10-11). Thus he was both rejoicing and giving thanks. The ceremony, when carried out as directed, must have been an impressive one.
A SYRIAN READY TO PERISH WAS MY FATHER (Deu. 26:5)Jacob, their father, was in fact a Syriana wandering Aramean (Berkely)for twenty years (Gen. 31:38; Gen. 31:41). A wandering and lost Aramean ready to perish was my father Jacob (Amplified O.T.). This was, specifically, the land of Paddan-aram or Mesopotamia. Thus, Laban, Jacobs father-in-law, was referred to as the son of Bethuel the Syrian (Aramean). And if these were humble origins for what was to become the great tribe of Israel, their sojourn into Egypt (Deu. 26:5-8), while few in number (see Gen. 46:27) further demonstrated their lowly beginning.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
XXVI.
Deu. 26:1-11. PRESENTATION OF THE FIRST FRUITS.
(1) When thou art come in.Rashi says they were not bound to the discharge of this duty until they had conquered and divided the land. But the state of things described in the Book of Joshua (Jos. 21:43-45) would demand it. From the words of Deu. 26:11, thou shalt rejoice, the Jews gather that the thanksgiving to be said over the firstfruits (in Deu. 26:5-10) must be said at some time between the close of the feast of unleavened bread on the twenty-first day of the first month (the solemn assembly of Deu. 16:8) and the Feast of Tabernacles. If firstfruits were presented between the Feast of Tabernacles and the Passover, this formula was not used (Rashi).
(3) The priest that shall be in those days.No mention is made of the Levite here. The priest (though of the tribe of Levi) has an office distinct from the Levite in the Book of Deuteronomy as much as in the rest of the Old Testament.
I profess.Literally, I declare. To show that thou art not ungrateful for His goodness (Rashi, from the Talmud).
This day.The formula was only used once in the year.
(4) The priest shall take the basket.To wave it. The priest put his hand under the hand of the owner, and waved it.
(5) A Syrian ready to perish.The reference is to Jacob, more especially when pursued by Laban, who would have taken from him his all, except for the Divine mercy and protection. We may also recall his danger from Esau (Genesis 31, 32), from the Shechemites (34, 35), and from the famine, until he heard of Joseph.
(7) When we cried unto the Lord.Samuel in his famous speech (1Sa. 12:8) takes up the language of this passage, When Jacob was come into Egypt, and your fathers cried unto the Lord, then the Lord . . . brought forth your fathers out of Egypt, and made them dwell in this place.
(6-7) See Exo. 2:25; Exo. 3:9; Exo. 6:5-6 for the source of this confession.
(10) And thou shalt set it before the Lord thy Godi.e., take it up again after it was first waved by the priest, and hold it in the hand while making this confession, and then wave it once more. After this it would become the priests.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
1. The land which the Lord thy God giveth thee The people are often reminded that this possession is not one gained by their own valour. It is Jehovah’s gift to them. They are to keep this ever in mind; the promised land is from him, and the bountiful gifts which it is to furnish are from him.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Offering of the Firstfruits ( Deu 26:1-11 ).
The offering of the firstfruits was to take place at the Feast of Sevens when the harvest had hopefully been gathered in. Here Israel were commanded to gather their firstfruits once they were in the land and bring them to Yahweh at the place that He will choose, declaring their gratitude to Him as they acknowledged what He had done for them, and placing their tribute before Him.
Analysis in the words of Moses:
a And it shall be, when you are come in to the land which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance, and possess it, and dwell in it, that you shall take of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you shall bring in from your land that Yahweh your God gives you, and you shall put it in a basket, and shall go to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there (Deu 26:1-2).
b And you shall come to the priest who will be in those days, and say to him, “I declare this day to Yahweh your God, that I am come to the land which Yahweh swore to our fathers to give us” (Deu 26:3).
c And the priest shall take the basket out of your hand, and set it down before the altar of Yahweh your God (Deu 26:4).
d And you shall answer and say before Yahweh your God, “A wandering Aramaean (or ‘an Aramaean ready to perish’) was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there, few in number, and he became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous” (Deu 26:5).
d “And the Egyptians dealt ill with us, and afflicted us, and laid on us hard bondage, and we cried to Yahweh, the God of our fathers, and Yahweh heard our voice, and saw our affliction, and our toil, and our oppression, and Yahweh brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders” (Deu 26:6-9).
c “And He has brought us into this place (maqom), and has given us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey” (Deu 26:9).
b “And now, behold, I have brought the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, O Yahweh, have given me.” And you shall set it down before Yahweh your God, and worship before Yahweh your God (Deu 26:10).
a And you shall rejoice in all the good which Yahweh your God has given to you, and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the resident alien who is in the midst of you’ (Deu 26:11).
Note that in ‘a’ when they come in to the land which ‘Yahweh their God’ gives them for an inheritance, to possess it, and dwell in it, that they must take of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which they must bring in from your land that Yahweh their God ‘gives them’, and put it in a basket, and go to the place which Yahweh their God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there, and in the parallel they are to rejoice in all the good that ‘Yahweh their God’ has ‘given them’. In ‘b’ they must come to the priest who will be in those days, and say to him, “I declare this day to Yahweh your God, that I am come to the land which Yahweh swore to our fathers to give us” and in the parallel declare that “I have brought the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, O Yahweh, have given me” and set it down before ‘Yahweh your God’ and pay Him homage and worship Him (note here the reversal of ‘Yahweh your God’ and Yahweh’ in the second part). In ‘c’ the priest will take the basket out of their hand, and set it down before the altar of Yahweh their God and in the parallel they will point to it and declare “And He has brought us into this place (maqom), and has given us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey” as indicated by the basket of firstfruits.
In ‘d’ they declare And you shall answer and say before Yahweh your God, “A wandering Aramaean (or ‘an Aramaean ready to perish’) was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there, few in number, and he became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous”, while in the parallel they declare “and the Egyptians dealt ill with us, and afflicted us, and laid on us hard bondage, and we cried to Yahweh, the God of our fathers, and Yahweh heard our voice, and saw our affliction, and our toil, and our oppression, and Yahweh brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders”. Note that both statements commence with a picture of lowliness, refer to Egypt, and multiply nouns ‘great, mighty, and populous’ compared with ‘our affliction, and our toil, and our oppression’ and ‘with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders’.
Deu 26:1
‘ And it shall be, when you are come in to the land which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance, and possess it, and dwell in it,’
This was to take place when they have come into the land, and possess it and dwell in it. As ever the basis for what they are doing would be that Yahweh had brought them safely into the land, which He had given them as an inheritance to possess and dwell in (compare Deu 12:1; Deu 25:19. See also Deu 15:4; Deu 17:14; Deu 19:2; Deu 19:14; Deu 21:1). They were to enjoy that land to the full. And as can be seen His aim was that there be no poor (Deu 15:4), that no innocent blood be spilled there (Deu 19:2; Deu 21:1), and that no ancient landmarks be removed (Deu 19:14). Their future would thus consist in personal security, security of life, and security of property for all, a land of blessing indeed.
Deu 26:2-3
‘ That you shall take of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you shall bring in from your land that Yahweh your God gives you, and you shall put it in a basket, and shall go to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there, and you shall come to the priest who will be in those days, and say to him, “I declare this day to Yahweh your God, that I am come to the land which Yahweh swore to our fathers to give us.” ’
Thus when the time of growth arrives their first move must be to gather from ‘the first of all the fruit of the ground’, and bring it in from the land that Yahweh has given them and go to the place which Yahweh their God has chosen. Note the repetition of the fact that it is the land that Yahweh has given them. This is what the firstfruit is declaring, gratitude to their Overlord for that land. And in order to express that gratitude they were going to the place which He had chosen and caused His name to dwell there, and where, from an earthly point of view (see Deu 26:15), He now dwelt in His glory. They were going in order to declare their loyalty and pay tribute.
They will come to the priest (the appointed Priest at the Sanctuary, at this time Eliezer) who will be in office in those days (which yet lie ahead while Moses is speaking), with a basket of produce carefully selected from the firstfruits, and make their first covenant declaration. ‘I declare this day to Yahweh your God that I am come to the land which Yahweh swore to our fathers to give us’. Note what the heart of their confession is, that Yahweh swore to their fathers to give them the land (Deu 1:8; Deu 6:10; Deu 6:18; Deu 6:23; Deu 7:13; Deu 8:1; Deu 9:5; Deu 10:11; Deu 11:9; Deu 11:21), and that that is why they have come there in obedience to His will, because they have now received it at His hands, as the firstfruits that they have brought amply demonstrate. They are presenting their credentials and evidence of faithful service to their Overlord’s representative, as any tribute bearer would do.
What a contrast is this noble and humble declaration to that which was forbidden in Deu 9:4 which was a boast of innocence. Here they do not declare their innocence, they rather recognise that they are there because of Yahweh’s gracious oath to the patriarchs their fathers.
The basket would be of wicker-work (compare Deu 28:5; Deu 28:17). For the law of the firstfruit see Deu 18:4; Exo 23:16; Exo 23:19; Exo 34:22; Exo 34:26; Lev 23:17; Num 18:12-13; Num 28:26.
Apart from the description here which is very much abbreviated we do not know how this ceremony was first kept. But in later times every family head would bring his basket of firstfruits, and it would be brought with the above words to the priest, who would wave it before Yahweh at the altar before setting it down. The second declaration would then be made by the worshipper who would then, on speaking the words in verse 10, himself present the basket ‘before Yahweh’.
Deu 26:4
‘ And the priest shall take the basket out of your hand, and set it down before the altar of Yahweh your God.’
As each family head comes with their basket of firstfruits and makes the declaration in Deu 26:3, the priest will then accept their basket of firstfruits, and ‘set it down before the altar of Yahweh’, as tribute to Him as their Great Overlord.
The people will then make, before the Overlord’s representative, their second, longer covenant declaration given in Deu 26:5 onwards, in which they express their gratitude for what the Great King has done for them. It commences with a brief history of the past emphasising their previous lowliness, celebrates Yahweh’s deliverance and how He has brought them to this land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and then offers the firstfruit of the ground which He has given them, at which point they pay Him homage. It is a typical covenant response.
Deu 26:5
‘ And you shall answer and say before Yahweh your God, “A wandering Aramaean (or ‘an Aramaean ready to perish’) was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there, few in number, and he became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous.” ’
This is to be the people’s covenant declaration, as no doubt formulated by Moses for their use. They are to begin by declaring their background. Their father was ‘an Aramaean (Arami)’. That is, he had come originally from Aram. Both Abraham, and then Jacob on his return to Canaan, had come from Aram to the north of Canaan (Gen 11:31; Gen 25:20; Gen 28:5; Gen 28:7; Gen 31:20; Gen 31:24; compare Hos 12:12), and Jacob’s whole family, from whom the children of Israel were theoretically descended, had been born in Aram. The description was probably intended to signify humility. The ‘wandering Aramaeans’ might well have been despised in Egypt.
“Wandering/ready to perish” (either is possible, for the word has connotations of wandering hopelessly).’ This may signify that as a result of the famine Jacob had been ready to perish, but more probably in this context emphasises the fact that he had no settled home but had wandered from place to place because they had no land of their own. See Psa 105:12-25.
But either way he had gone with his households to Egypt to reside there because of his need, also on a temporary basis (Exo 1:1-5). They had at first been ‘few in number’ (compare Gen 34:30). They were probably a few thousand made up of ‘seventy’ close family members with their households (Gen 46:8-27). As Abraham’s household included 318 fighting men (Gen 14:14) it may well be that the households of the twelve patriarchs contained a great deal more. Remember how they had decimated Shechem (Genesis 34).
But while dwelling in Egypt they had become a mighty and populous nation because Yahweh had been with them (Exo 1:20). Note the emphasis on what Yahweh had done. They were wanderers and they were few, but from the few He had produced this multitude (compare Deu 1:10; Psa 105:12-25).
In mind in these words is their change in circumstances. They had been humble, but they had become great. They had been wanderers, but now they had Yahweh’s land. They had been few and weak, but now they were a mighty and populous nation.
Deu 26:6-8
“ And the Egyptians dealt ill with us, and afflicted us, and laid on us hard bondage, and we cried to Yahweh, the God of our fathers, and Yahweh heard our voice, and saw our affliction, and our toil, and our oppression, and Yahweh brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders,”
Their potted history, provided to their Overlord’s representative as an act of submission, continues. Egypt had dealt ill with them, afflicting them and laying on them hard bondage. The result had been that they had cried to Yahweh (Exo 2:23; Exo 3:9) the God of their fathers (Exo 3:6; Exo 3:13-16). And He had seen their threefold afflictions (Exo 3:7; Exo 4:31), their ‘affliction and toil and oppression’. Note the threefold emphasis indicating the completeness of their troubles. They had been afflicted, they had toiled, they had been oppressed. Life had been very difficult.
But their mighty Deliverer, the God of their fathers, had intervened. He had delivered them and brought them forth out of Egypt with fivefold power, ‘with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs and with wonders’. The fivefoldness stresses that the deliverance was greater than the affliction and made with covenant power. Five is the number of covenant. It incorporated great strength and power, awesomeness, and miraculous manifestations, all drawing out the mightiness of their Deliverer. (Exactly what any Overlord would want to hear).
The whole declaration reads like an ancient and carefully worded submission, based on the early Exodus history, stressing the humbleness of the submitter (a wandering Aramaean would have been seen as the lowest of the low) and the glory of the Deliverer, and even the sceptical agree that it is indeed very ancient. In view of its tone it is probable that Moses prepared it in readiness for the occasion, for he knew the etiquette for approaching great overlords, but it may be that something like it was already in use in their current ceremonies. However, later generations would not be likely to have thought in terms of their father Jacob as ‘an Aramaean’. But we should note that it is not a creed. This is not the place for a creed. It is rather a declaration of what they are, in humble terms, and what their great Overlord has done for them. Sinai would not fit in here. The emphasis is on their previous weak and humble state and their mighty deliverance, not on the niceties of the covenant. It is an act of submission.
Deu 26:9
“ And he has brought us into this place (maqom), and has given us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.”
Note the contrast with Deu 26:6, ‘he (Jacob) went down into Egypt — and the Egyptians dealt ill with us, and afflicted us, and laid on us hard bondage.’ Now they gratefully declare that ‘Yahweh has brought them into this place’ and has given them this land, ‘a land flowing with milk and honey’, a land which contains all that a man could desire. So while Jacob had taken them into affliction and bondage and hard toil, Yahweh has brought them to a land flowing with milk and honey.
(To have brought any more detail into this statement would have been to wreck its stark impact. It precisely describes what is in mind as they at that stage look at their present condition and compare it with the past. This is not a statement of faith so much as a declaration of loyalty and gratitude).
Thus to the priest, the Overlord’s representative, they have now fully explained why they have come, in typical covenant fashion. It is in order to express how great has been their Overlord’s supreme goodness to them, which they want Him to know that they appreciate fully.
“Place” (maqom) has been regularly used of the place which Yahweh would choose. Here the same word is applied to the whole land. That too was chosen by Yahweh.
Deu 26:10
“ And now, behold, I have brought the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, O Yahweh, have given me.” And you shall set it down before Yahweh your God, and worship before Yahweh your God.’
Then finally they get to the point of why they have now come. It is to pay tribute of the firstfruit of their ground which He had given them (to as it were pay their rent). At this point they then take up their basket of firstfruit, which the priest had previously waved before Yahweh and set down and which symbolises all their firstfruits, and ceremonially again set it down ‘before Yahweh’, (often spoken of in terms of ‘at the door of the tent of meeting’), and pay homage to Him in adoration and worship. Their submission is complete.
Others see the reference to setting down as simply a reminder of what had been done in Deu 26:4-5.
This whole depiction of the ceremony is clearly abbreviated, and we can imagine the busyness of the actual scene when it took place. Many would be flooding in from all parts of the land with their baskets, each of which had to be ceremonially presented twice, once to the priest for him to wave before Yahweh, and then as the offering of the worshipper, possibly by a simple laying of a hand on it to identify himself with his gift, to be followed by his act of submission.
The second setting down would be a further stage in the ceremony coming later than Deu 26:4. The setting down by the priest was a setting down before the altar by the priest as a preliminary gesture, certainly later after waving it before Yahweh (on the grounds that the firstfruits were the priests and had to be so dedicated), accompanied by the first brief statement, (the basket would be heavy). It would then be followed by the longer statement with the speaker picking up or laying his hand on his basket as he speaks the words of verse 10 and offers it with those words, setting it down again ‘before Yahweh’.
Note the change from plural to singular. Each individual family head first recited the history in terms of the whole nation and then makes his family’s personal offering.
Deu 26:11
‘ And you shall rejoice in all the good which Yahweh your God has given to you, and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the resident alien who is in the midst of you.’
To this Moses adds that they must then rejoice in all the good that Yahweh has given to them; to the family head and to the whole family, and, they must remember, to the Levite and resident alien that dwell among them. It is to be a time of rejoicing (compare Deu 12:7; Deu 12:12; Deu 12:18). This rejoicing would include their feasting before Yahweh.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Deu 26:1 And it shall be, when thou art come in unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and possessest it, and dwellest therein;
Deu 26:1
Deu 26:5 And thou shalt speak and say before the LORD thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous:
Deu 26:5
Deu 26:5 “ready to perish” – Comments – This refers to the period of the seven-year famine, which drove Israel into Egypt with seventy souls.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Prayer of Thanksgiving
v. 1. And it shall be when thou art come in unto the land which the Lord, thy God, giveth thee for an inheritance, and possessest it, and dwellest therein, v. 2. that thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, v. 3. And thou shalt go unto the priest that shall be in those days, v. 4. And the priests shall take the basket out of thine hand, and set it down before the altar of the Lord, thy God, v. 5. And thou shalt speak and say before the Lord, thy God, a Syrian, ready to perish, v. 6. and the Egyptians evil entreated us, v. 7. and when we cried unto the Lord God of our fathers, the Lord heard our voice, and looked on our affliction and our labor and our oppression, v. 8. and the Lord brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, v. 9. and He hath brought us into this place, and hath given us this land, even a land that floweth with milk and honey.
v. 10. And now, behold, I have brought the first-fruits of the land which thou, O Lord, hast given me. And thou shalt set it, v. 11. and thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the Lord, thy God, hath given unto thee and unto thine house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that is among you,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
THANKSGIVING AND PRAYER AT THE PRESENTATION OF FIRSTFRUITS AND TITHES.
As Moses began his exposition of the laws and rights instituted for Israel by a reference to the sanctuary as the place which the Lord should choose, and the place where religious service was to be rendered (Deu 12:1-32.), so here he follows up his address by a reference to the same. Of the gifts which had to be presented at the sanctuary there were two specially connected with the social and domestic life of the people, viz. the firstfruits and the second tithe. To these, by a natural transition from the preceding discourseoccupied as that is with injunctions regarding their social and domestic relationsMoses here refers for the purpose of prescribing certain liturgical forms with which the presentation of the gift was to be accompanied by the offerer.
Deu 26:1-11
Of the firstfruits the Israelite was to take a portion, and placing it in a basket, to bring it to the place of the sanctuary, where it was to be received by the attendant priest. The offerer was to accompany his presentation with the declaration, “I profess this day unto the Lord thy God, that I am come unto the country which the Lord swore unto our fathers for to give us;” and the priest having set the basket down before the altar, the offerer was to make confession and prayer, gratefully acknowledging the Divine favor showed to Israel in choosing them to be a great nation, in delivering them out of Egypt, and bringing them into a rich and fertile land; and along with this his bounty to the individual who now presented the firstfruits of his land unto the Lord.
Deu 26:2
The first of all the fruit of the earth. (On the law of the firstfruits, see Num 18:12; Deu 18:4.) A basket; , a basket of wickerwork.
Deu 26:3
The priest that shall be in those clays; not the high priest, but the priests collectively, or the individual priest whose function it was to officiate on the occasion. The fruit presented was the sensible proof that the land was now in their possession, and the confession made along with the presentation was an acknowledgment of their unworthiness, and of the Divine favor as that to which alone they were indebted for the privileged position in which they were placed.
Deu 26:5
A Syrian ready to perish was my father. The reference is to Jacob, the stem-father of the twelve tribes, tie is here called a Syrian, or Aramaean, because of his long residence in Mesopotamia (Genesis 29-31.), whence Abraham had originally come (Gen 11:31), and because there the family of which he was the head was founded. The translation “ready to perish” fairly represents the Hebrew; the verb means not merely to stray or wander, but also to lose one’s self, to perish, to be in danger of perishing (cf. Deu 4:26; Job 29:13; Pro 31:6, etc.). Different renderings of this clause have been given. The Targum, Vulgate, Luther, etc; have, “The Aramaean (i.e. Laban) oppressed my father;” The LXX; (“My father left Syria”); others, “To the Aramaean my father wandered.” But these either follow another reading than that of the received text, or they are expedients to soften down the apparent ignominy of the description. The probable allusion to the wandering, nomadic life of the patriarch, however, is not to be lost sight of. With a few; literally, in men of few; i.e. consisting of few men, as a small company; the father and head of the tribe is named for those belonging to him (cf. Gen 34:30; Gen 46:27). A great nation, etc. (cf. Exo 1:7, Exo 1:9).
Deu 26:6
The Egyptians evil entreated us (cf. Exo 1:11-22; Exo 2:23, etc.).
Deu 26:8
(Cf. Deu 4:34.)
Deu 26:10
Thou shalt set it, etc.; either a general concluding remark, taking up the statement of Deu 26:4, or the offerer may have resumed hold of the basket, and after holding it in his hand while offering prayer, would solemnly deposit it before the altar.
Deu 26:11
And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing, etc.; i.e. with these bounties of God’s providence make a feast for yourself and your household, and omit not to invite the Levite and the stranger to partake of it with you. As with the yearly tithe (Deu 14:23) and the firstlings (Deu 15:20), so with this portion of the firstfruits, a festive meal was to consummate the service. According to the Law, the firstfruits were the perquisite of the priest (Deu 18:4; Num 18:12, etc.); but of these a portion was to be taken for this special service, and of that a feast was to be made.
Deu 26:12-15
On the occasion of presenting the tithes, a special service was also to be made. The tithe here referred to is the vegetable or predial tithe, which, at the end of each third year, as here prescribed, was to be converted into a gift to the poor and needy. This, properly the second tithe (LXX; ), but usually called the third tithe (Tobit 1:7, 8; Josephus, ‘Antiq.,’ 4.8, 22), is quite distinct from the Levitical tithe prescribed in Le 27:30-33 and Num 18:21-32; and it is a mistake to suppose that the law here was designed to contravene or supersede that in the earlier books. As this tithe completed the triennial series of tithes which the Israelites had to offer, it was fitting that in presenting it a solemn declaration should be made by the offerer to the effect that he had honorably and conscientiously discharged all the obligations in this respect which the Law laid upon him.
Deu 26:12
The third year, which is the year of tithing. As each week ended with a Sabbath, so a sabbatical year ended each cycle or week of years; and as on it no tithes were levied, “the year of tithing” here specified would be the third and the sixth years in each septennial period.
Deu 26:13
Say before the Lord; i.e. address him as present and ready to hear. The expression, “before the Lord,” does not necessarily imply that it was in the sanctuary that the prayer was to be offered. Isaac proposed to bless his son “before the Lord,” i.e. within his own house or tent (Gen 27:7); and so the Israelite here might in his own home make his prayer to the Omnipresent Jehovah. I have not transgressed thy commandments, etc. This is not a self-righteous boast; it is rather a solemn profession of attention to duties which might have been neglected, and refers, not to the keeping of every commandment, but to the having faithfully done all that the Law required in respect of tithes.
Deu 26:14
In my mourning; i.e. while ceremonially unclean (cf. Le Deu 7:20; Deu 21:1, etc.). Neither have I taken away ought thereof for any unclean use; rather, Neither have I removed ought of it being unclean; i.e. he had not only not eaten of it, but he had not removed any part of it from his house (Deu 26:13) while he was ceremonially unclean, in which state it was unlawful to touch what was hallowed (Le Deu 22:23). Nor given ought thereof for the dead; i.e. on account of the dead; he had not sent any part of it to where there was one dead, according to the custom for friends and relations to send to a house of mourning provisions for the mourners (2Sa 3:35; Jer 16:7; Hos 9:4; Tobit 4:17). Or the reference may be here to the expenses incurred by the death of one for whose funeral the individual had to provide. This view is adopted by Dr. Thomson, who, remarking on this passage, says, “This was the strongest possible protestation that he had dealt faithfully in the matter of tithing and consecrated things and in charities to the poor. He had not allowed himself to divert anything to other uses, not even by the most pressing and unforeseen emergencies. It is here assumed, or rather implied, that times of mourning for the dead were expensive, and also that the stern law of custom obliged the bereaved to defray those expenses, however onerous . The temptation, therefore, to devote a part of the tithes, hallowed things, and charities to defray these enormous, unforeseen, and providential expenses would be very urgent, and he who stood faithful at such times might safely be trusted on all other occasions” (‘Land and the Book,’ 1.149). The LXX. rendering, , “to the dead,” has led some to suppose that the reference here is to the placing of articles of food in the tomb along with the corpse; but though this custom prevailed among the Jews in later times, as well as among other peoples, there is no ground for supposing it to be referred to here. As all connected with a dead body was held to be unclean, as well as the body itself, a house of mourning with its inhabitants was held to he unclean, and into it, therefore, nothing that had been hallowed might be lawfully carried.
Deu 26:15
(Cf. Isa 63:15; Isa 66:1.)
Deu 26:16-19
Moses winds up his address by a solemn admonition to the people to keep and observe the laws and commandments which the Lord by him had laid upon them, reminding them that they had entered into covenant with God, and had thereby pledged themselves to obedience to all that he had enjoined, as he on his part had pledged himself to be their Benefactor, who would fulfill to them all his gracious promises, and would exalt them above all the nations of the earth.
Deu 26:16
This day. This refers generally to the time when this discourse was delivered.
Deu 26:17
Thou hast avouched, etc.; literally, Thou hast caused Jehovah this day to say to be a God unto thee; i.e. thou hast given occasion to him to declare himself to be thy God, and (as a consequence of this) that thou shouldest walk in his ways and keep his commandments. In declaring that he was their God, he virtually declared also that they were to be wholly obedient to him.
Deu 26:18
So, on the other hand, God had given Israel occasion to say that they were his special people, his treasured possession (cf. Exo 19:5, Exo 19:6), whose it was, as such, to keep all his commandments, and to whom he would be faithful to fulfill all that he had promised.
Deu 26:19
(Cf. Jer 13:11; Jer 33:9; Zep 3:19, Zep 3:20.) An holy people (cf. Exo 19:5, Exo 19:6). “The sanctification of Israel was the design and end of its election of God, and would be accomplished in the glory to which the people of God were to be exalted” (Keil).
HOMILETICS
Deu 26:1-11
Joy in the use of temporal mercies; or, sanctification of our possessions to God warrants a holy joy in the use of them.
The order of thought is this:
1. In due time Israel would be in possession of the land which the Lord promised to give them.
2. Of this comfortable possession the gathering of the fruits thereof would be the proof and sign.
3. In accordance with a well-understood law, the firstfruits were to be offered to God (see reference).
4. In thus offering the firstfruits, the offerers were to go up to the house of the Lord, and present them to the priest, who was to lay them before the altar as offerings to the Lord.
5. This being done, there was to be an oral avowal of Divine mercy in pitying “the perishing Aramaean” from whom they were descended, in watching over the growth of their nation, in delivering them from Egypt, in giving them the good land, and in permitting it to yield them its fruit.
6. This being done, they could then rejoice before the Lord their God in the sacrificial meal which followed, in the companionship of friends invited to share with them the joy of harvest, and in the after use of the bounties of God’s providence. For they would be doubly blessed, as, over and above the temporal mercies themselves, they would share the benediction of him who gave them all things richly to enjoy. Good Bishop Wordsworth remarks that this passage exhorts to harvest thanksgivings in the Christian Church. Such services are undoubtedly fully in harmony with the spirit of the chapter. But it seems to us to contain principles of far wider scope, and of everyday application. They are four in number.
I. OUR GOD WOULD HAVE US RECOGNIZE HIM AS THE AUTHOR OF ALL OUR MERCIES. For such he is. Without him no land would yield its increase, nor would man have power or skill to cultivate the soil. Without him no sun would shine nor rain descend. It is easy to say that such and such a harvest came in the ordinary course of law. We at once press the questions, Who ordained these laws? Who causes forces to act according to them? For no law ever did or could make itself. “Law“ is a purely mental conception. It is not an entity, save as mind ordains it, and it only operates as energy works by it. It is unsound in philosophy, as well as rotten in piety, if we fail to acknowledge God in all. Nor is it bare power that we have to recognize; but goodness, mercy, loving-kindness. And all these kindnesses of God he would have us acknowledge:
1. By a confession of our entire dependence upon him.
2. By grateful retrospect of the past; remembering and recalling through what scenes God has brought us year by year.
3. By grateful survey of the blessings which are around us now. Nor should we ever leave out of account that which is the substratum of this chapter (and indeed of all the chapters in this book), though not here specified in words, viz. that, as sinful beings, our natural claims on the Great Being as his dependent creatures have been forfeited by sin, and that the continuance to sinful beings of such heaps of mercy is due only to, and is indeed a part of, that redemptive grace which to Israel was disclosed in germ, but to us in its fullness through Jesus Christ our Lord. Such thanksgivings as we owe may well even now be offered in the house of the Lord; but they should daily be the promptings of grateful and devoted hearts. In private and in the family circle our song should be, “What shall we render to the Lord for all his benefits toward us?”
II. THE THANK OFFERING SHOULD NOT ONLY BE VERBAL BUT PRACTICAL. There was to be the offering of the firstfruits to the Lord (see Homily, Deu 14:22-29). When God gave all, what precept could be more appropriate? What can be more becoming than to let God have the first of everything? This is the principle which ran through these varied regulations as to firstfruits and tithe. Jacob spontaneously said, “Of all that thou givest me, I will surely give the tenth unto thee.” Solomon urges, “Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase.” We have no distinctive proportion laid down in the New Testament as to our offerings to God. Yet the conscientious Christian should require no further hints than such as are found in 2Co 8:7-9; 1Co 16:2. Circumstances have changed. Details will vary. Yet the great and mighty cause of God, even that of righteousness, truth, and love, has to be maintained and spread in the world by the efforts and offerings of those “put in trust with the gospel.” And it will not be possible to be faithful to the claims of God and the demands of the times without a conscientious, systematic, proportionate giving of our gains to the Lord. Christians should never suffer the absence of detail in New Testament precepts on the subject of giving to the Lord, to be taken advantage of to the weakening of his cause who trusts our spontaneity. Let us not abuse God’s confidence. Let the love of Christ constrain us.
III. THE GIVING OF THE FIRSTFRUITS TO GOD IS A TOKEN OF THE SANCTIFICATION OF ALL WE HAVE TO RIGHT AND HOLY USES. There is no better guarantee of a wise and right use of our substance than the conscientious dedication of firstfruits to our God. He who is conscientious enough in this respect may be safely relied on to spend rightly the rest of his gains, because the same conscientiousness which marks his first spendings will mark all the others.
IV. WHEN OUR GAINS ARE THUS RECEIVED IN A RIGHT SPIRIT, AND SPENT IN A RIGHT WAY, WE MAY REJOICE THEREIN BEFORE THE LORD. God hath given us “all things richly to enjoy.” And men who know nothing of the Christian consecration of all things to God do not know how to enjoy what they possess. If men rejoice in earthly good for its own sake, it will soon cease to yield delight. “The world passeth away, and the lust thereof.” But when regarded, received, and spent in the way we have already pointed out, it may yield a pure delight.
For:
1. It will be enjoyed, as the gift of One who is our redeeming God, in covenant relation to us, and with whom we are at peace.
2. It will be enjoyed with a sense of rectitude which only those can have who have been severely right in the regulation of their gettings and givings.
3. It will be enjoyed, because gains so acquired and spent will be a means of grace to a man. Riches in such a case will expand the heart.
4. It will be enjoyed, because such a man will bear about with him the holy and blessed consciousness that he is fulfilling God’s will and spreading God’s cause in the right use of his gifts.
5. It will be enjoyed, because such a one knows that God’s blessing is resting on him and on all he has, that, rich as may be his earthly good, though he enjoys it while it lasts, yet he can afford to hold it with a loose hand, for it is not his all, and that when he is called to part with it, he will find richer treasure still laid up for him in heaven, for when “flesh and heart fail, God will be the strength of his heart, and his portion forever.”
Thus and thus alone is it possible to extract from earthly good the full delight it is calculated and intended to yield. If we make worldly possessions the food of our souls, they will turn to ashes in the mouth. They bring no blessing with them. They will disappoint, and if they take their flight, as they so often do, we shall be left miserably poor. But if through the grace and Spirit of our God we are led first to choose God as our all, and then to use our all for God, we shall enjoy the life that now is, and. enter on a fullness of joy in that which is to come.
Deu 26:12-15
Integrity in the will a condition of acceptable and successful prayer.
We do not recall any passage in this book, on which we have as yet touched, that conveys a more striking impression than this of the purity and heart-searchingness of the Law of God. For elucidation of the several points of detail, the reader may consult the expository section. For our purpose now it is enough to say that it is assumed that the people will faithfully carry out the precepts and ordinances of God with regard to the tithes, to the offerings, to the poor, the fatherless, and widow, and the specific injunctions with respect to ceremonial purity. When this is done, so that they can declare it before the Lord, (See Keil on this phrase in Deu 26:13) then they may also plead with God for a blessing. They, having, with a clear conscience and an upright will, fulfilled to the extent of their knowledge the requirements of their holy religion, may then come and entreat their God for his benediction and smile, according to his promise. Hence we have presented to us for homiletic teaching the all-important topicIntegrity in the fulfillment of Divine commands a condition of acceptable prayer. We propose to show how constantly this principle is recognized in the Word of God, by a comparison of Scripture with Scripture.
Prayer is an inestimable privilege. That weak and sinful man should be permitted to unburden his spirit to the Father of spirits is a mercy so great, that no words can adequately express it. It is only on the ground of the One Sacrifice of Christ, of which the Hebrew sacrifices were but foreshadowings, that such fellowship between God and sinful man is vouchsafed. We may pray, because we “are not under Law, but under grace.” But though through the aboundings of mercy sinful men are permitted to pray, yet it is on the understanding that they repent of their sin. And true though it be that we are under grace and not under Law, yet grace brings with it its own law; it is no license to lawlessness. Throughout the Word of God this precious privilege is guarded from abuse. Prayer is not thrown open promiscuously. The shriek of a terrified man or the query of an inquisitive man is not prayer. “The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him; but the desire of the righteous shall be granted.” “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord; but the prayer of the upright is his delight.” Let us trace the recognition of this chronologically.
I. JOB KNEW OF IT. He asks in Job 27:9, concerning a hypocrite, “Will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him?”
II. DAVID TEACHES IT LIKEWISE. In Psa 66:18, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.” He expects no answer to his prayer if in his inmost soul there is any tolerance of sin.
III. SOLOMON INDICATES THIS TRUTH. In the prayer at the dedication of the temple, See Keil on this phrase in Psa 66:13. 1Ki 8:35, 1Ki 8:36, “If they pray towards this place, and confess thy Name, and turn from their sin then hear thou,” etc. In the Book of Proverbs the same truth is repeatedly taught (Pro 11:20; Pro 15:8, Pro 15:29; Pro 21:13, Pro 21:27). True penitence and integrity of will are necessary conditions of appropriate prayer.
IV. ISAIAH IS BIDDEN TO PROCLAIM IT. In Isa 1:18, there are words of priceless worth, which may well be a comfort to every penitent; but they are often quoted without sufficient prominence being given to the words which precede: “Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well,” etc.; then follow the words, “Come now, and let us reason together,” etc. Past sin is forgiven when it is forsaken, and only then.
V. EZEKIEL DECLARES THE SAME. There came to him certain of the elders of Israel, and stood before him to inquire of the Lord (see Eze 14:1-11). Ezekiel is bidden to tell them that it is useless to inquire of God if they were cherishing any hidden sin; it would be a stumbling-block of iniquity, that would prevent any answer coming from God. How grievously the disheartened Saul found this out! (1Sa 28:6.)
VI. MALACHI DECLARES THE LIKE LAW. He tells the people that they have withholden the tithes from God, and that consequently God is withholding the blessing from them oil (1-12). Thus in the varied ages of the Jewish Church this truth is uniformly taught, that cherished sin will block up the way of an answer to prayer.
VII. NOR IS THIS PRINCIPLE REPEALED UNDER THE NEW ECONOMY. Our Lord taught it. See Mat 5:23, Mat 5:24, in which we are forbidden to present any offering to God while anger towards a brother is cherished in the heart. In Mat 6:15, we are assured that he who forgives not is not forgiven. In Joh 15:7, Joh 15:16, our Lord shows his disciples that the condition of their freedom and success in prayer is fruitful obedience. The Apostle James also warns those to whom he is writing that the non-success of their prayer is owing to impurity in the will, and if they would that God should draw nigh to them, they must return unto him (Jas 4:3-8).
Possibly at this stage, or earlier, a difficulty may have suggested itself. It may be said (cf. Luk 18:11, Luk 18:12) in that passage the Pharisee, who had been most punctilious in his discharge of sundry obligations, and most austerely proper in his outward conduct, is yet rejected. How is this? The reply is threefold.
1. He did not pray at all. Not one petition did he offer.
2. He thanked God he was so good! As if there were any merit in simply doing one’s duty, or any cause for self-gratulation.
3. He looked down with scorn on others. He “exalted himself.” His spirit was wrong, though his observances might be right. Conscious rectitude of purpose, and self-complacency over-performances, need never be confounded, and only where they are so can this difficulty arise.
In conclusion
1. While we thank God for permission to pray, let us ever guard the dignity of prayer.
2. The mournful thought ‘is suggested, How many there are who seem to be doing what they can to make it useless for them to pray! A man who tells lies over the counter cannot pray. A man who bribes or who accepts a bribe cannot pray. A man who forgives not, asks uselessly for forgiveness. The only advice to be given to such is to repeat the apostolic demand, “Repent, therefore, of this thy wickedness, and pray.”
3. How diligently should we, at times, search into our own hearts, to see if we are zealously putting away “the leaven of malice and wickedness!” The possibility that any secret sin may be shutting off any answer to our prayers should make us cry fervently, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”
4. Let none rush to the opposite extreme. Let none be disheartened at the stringency of the demands of God’s grace; rather let the heart be unreservedly opened to God in gratitude for his holiness, and for his desire for the absolute purity of his people; rather let us be supremely solicitous to be “upright in heart.” It is not where there is a distressing consciousness of falling in execution below our desires and yearnings that prayer is blocked out. Far from this. But the desire to cherish sin, or the refusal to do the will of God, makes prayer itself useless and sinful, because the heart whole does not submit entirely to God.
Deu 26:16-19
The golden chain.
The end of the career of Moses was drawing nigh. Nothing could be more natural than that he should gather up all his powers to remind the people of their solemn vows, and to repeat in their hearing the sum and substance of that code which was to regulate their personal life, their religious service, and their judicial procedure. Having done this, he closes with a brief but very earnest appeal to the people’s heart and conscience. In it there is much that has, primarily, an historical and local hearing, but the principles included therein have a far-reaching, a worldwide, a permanent significance. The phrases used here are reproduced by the Apostle Peter (1Pe 2:1-25.), and are applied by him to Christians. What Israel then was, locally and theoretically, believers are now spiritually. The words here uttered by Moses form a golden chain, which we will examine link by link. We may thus come to see that, notwithstanding the lapse of ages and the advance of the world, this golden chain is as real and as complete as ever. With God the first link begins; with God is the last. The chain is on this wise: God sends a Law; this Law is accepted by the people; so accepting the Law they are received in covenant; people loyal to God are elevated among men; they are thus for a praise and honor and glory;and all this is according to the word of the Lord, “as he hath spoken.” Thus that which goeth forth from his lips as a declaration cometh back to him as a fulfillment.
First link: HERE ARE COMMANDMENTS, STATUTES, AND JUDGMENTS APPOINTED BY GOD. From beginning to end this is the distinct declaration of Moses and the postulate of the Hebrew faith. That the Law was received from Sinai is, historically, as indisputable as that the battle of Waterloo was fought. That this Law was of God was the proclamation from the first; while our homiletic studies in this book have, we trust, deepened our conviction that from none but God could aught so holy with such a claim have proceeded, and that this commandment, which is holy and just and good, does disclose the exceeding sinfulness of sin in a way which could only have been done through one taught of him who is the Lord of consciences and souls. This effort to educate the people in righteousness was the most startling stride in morals which the world had ever known. It was then, and remains still, the only attempt ever made to start into being a new nation with God alone for its acknowledged King, righteousness alone for the corner-stone of its polity, and a free and holy brotherhood alone for its citizenship. In reference to worship, there was the revealed law of sacrifice as the ground of acceptance. In regard to life, the rule was, “Love to God and love to man.” It is precisely so now. Just as beneath the Law there lay unrepealed the Divine Abrahamic promise, so along with the gospel there is the rule unrepealed, “Be ye holy, for I am holy.” There was a gospel with the Law; there is a law with the gospel.
Second link: THE PEOPLE HAD VOWED UNTO GOD THAT THEY WOULD OBEY HIS VOICE. (Deu 26:17.) It is not noted, perhaps, with sufficient frequency and force how often, even amid the terror, thunder, and smoke of Sinai, the Lord threw the decision of this question upon the people’s free consent. Not even their response in the moment of glad freedom and terrible awe was sufficient. God would not take the people by surprise nor fasten them unawares to an engagement they did not understand. They gave their assent, first to an oral inquiry, then to the Law when written in a book and read in their hearing, then to the covenant sealed with blood. So now. While, in one sense, God is Sovereign over us by a right none may dispute, yet there is another sovereignty to which he asks our willing, loving consent (Rom 12:1). He stoops to ask of us therefore of our hearts.
Third link: THE COVENANT THUS ENTERED INTO BY LOVING CONSENT TO DIVINE SWAY IS DIVINELY RECIPROCATED. (Deu 26:18.) “And the Lord hath avouched thee,” etc. We must be careful, however, how we set this, or we shall obscure the gospel in the act of endeavoring to set forth its most priceless relations. We must not put the matter thus: “God loves us because we love him;”that would be an entire reversal of the revealed order of things. But rather thus: “God loves first.” When we respond to his love and are saved by it, he rejoices over us. The love of compassion becomes a love of complacency, and the Lord avouches us to he his “peculiar people.” The Apostle Peter applies precisely this phrase to all believers (1Pe 2:1-25.). But, to an ordinary reader, the English phrase would not yield an approximation to its true meaning, which may be shown thus: the word pecus, cattle; peculium, property in cattle, private property, that which has been bought for one’s self; and thus the phrase, “peculiar people,” means a people whom God has secured as his own by purchase. Hence the New Testament phrases, “Ye are bought with a price,” etc, God’s satisfaction in man is complete only when man finds his home in God.
Fourth link: WHEN A MAN IS FOUND OF GOD, HE IS DESTINED FOR HONOR AMONG MAN. (Deu 26:18, Deu 26:19.) “Then,” says David, “shall I not be ashamed when I have respect unto all thy commandments.” And whenever the citizens of a state are loyal and obedient to God, the state which is leavened by them will certainly rise to honor and renown.
Fifth link: SUCH A LIFE WILL BE FOR A PRAISE AND A NAME AND AN HONOR. For whose? Certainly God’s (cf. Isa 43:1, Isa 43:21). A holy man is the noblest work of God on earth. The life he lives among men is, in its way, a revelation of God, and reflects honor on him.
Sixth link: This glory, being thus brought to God through the power of holy lives, will be best confirmation of the origin, meaning, and power of the written Word. “As he hath spoken” (Deu 26:19). The Word regulates the life; the life confirms the Word.
NoteChristian people have the vindication of the faith in their own hands. Argument may do much, but holiness will do very far more.
HOMILIES BY J. ORR
Deu 26:1-11
The presentation of the first fruits.
This interesting ceremony:
1. Reminded the individual that the land and its fruits were God’s.
2. Required from him a devout acknowledgment of the fact, with a gift in which the acknowledgment was suitably embodied.
3. Threw him back on the recollection of God’s former mercies to his nation.
4. Secured a confession and rehearsal of these from his own lips.
It served:
1. To create and deepen religious feeling.
2. To quicken gratitude.
3. To encourage free-will offerings. Two main points
I. GOD‘S MERCIES ARE TO BE GRATEFULLY REMEMBERED. These mercies are many and wonderful (Psa 40:5). The points dwelt on in this declaration are God’s fulfillments of his promises in the increase of the nation (Deu 26:5), the deliverance from Egypt (Deu 26:6-8), and the bringing of the people into the land of Canaan (Deu 26:9), part of the firstfruits of which the worshipper now presented (Deu 26:10).
We have here:
1. National mercies. Since in Israel Church and nation were one:
2. Church mercies.
3. Personal mercies.
A similar review befits every Christian. What causes of thankfulness has he, not only in the remembrance of God’s loving-kindness to him personally (Psa 40:1-4; Psa 116:1-19), but in the review of God’s dealings with his nation, and still more in the consideration of his mercies to the Church! On the one side, our noble constitution, our just laws, our civil and religious liberties, our immunity from warthe fruits of long centuries of struggle and progress. On the other side, the facts on which the Church’s existence is foundedthe Incarnation; Christ’s life, death, resurrection, and ascension; the gift of the Spirit: and. the events of her extraordinary historythe progress she has made, God’s goodness in preserving and protecting her, in raising up teachers and leaders, in purifying her by persecutions, in granting revivals, times of reformation, etc.; with the consideration of how in all promises have been fulfilled, prayers answered, deliverances vouchsafed, blessings bestowed, increase made.
II. GOD‘S MERCIES ARE TO BE SUITABLY ACKNOWLEDGED.
1. By recital of them before God himself. Acknowledgment of mercies is as much a part of devotion as praise, confession, petition, or even adoration. The value of liturgical forms (within due limits) for purposes of prayer and acknowledgment, is not to be disputed. They
(1) aid memory,
(2) secure comprehensiveness,
(3) guide devotion,
(4) prevent irrelevancy,
(5) create a bond of unity.
Like hymns, they testify to the Church’s catholicity amidst diversities of creed and polity. Their disadvantage, if preponderant in worship, is that they check too much the element of spontaneity. They discourage freedom and naturalness in the expression of the heart’s feelings. The best form of Church order would probably be a combination of the liturgical with the free and spontaneous elements in worship-the latter decidedly predominating.
2. By free-will offerings. These are needed more than ever. The sphere of the Church’s operations is yearly widening.
3. By hospitality and clarity (Deu 26:11). Underlying all there is, of course, to be personal consecration in heart and life. It is self God wantsthe love, reverence, service, devotion of self; not a mere share in self’s possessions. Confession (Deu 26:3), gifts (Deu 26:10), worship (Deu 26:10), joy (Deu 26:11), have their rightful place after that, and as the outcome of it.J.O.
Deu 26:12
The year of tithing.
Why so called? A double tithe was taken each yearthe ordinary Levitical tithe (Num 18:21-28), which Deuteronomy, without mention, takes for granted; and the festal tithe, ordained as a provision for the sanctuary feasts (Deu 14:21-27). On the third year a tithe was to be devoted to festivities at home (Deu 14:28, Deu 14:29). It is usually, but too hastily, assumed that this third tithe was but the second diversely applied. That in itself is unlikely, as the feasts at the sanctuary required to be held on the third and sixth years, as well as on the others, and the provision for these could not well be dispensed with. Neither does it explain the expression, “year of tithing;” for while, on this supposition, the tithe was differently applied, there was nothing unusual in the manner of taking it. Each year was a year of tithing (sabbatical years excepted), and this no more than the rest. The ordinary view, besides, is directly in the teeth of the testimony of Josephus, who may be supposed to have known the practice of his time. His statement distinctly is that one-tenth was to be given to the priests and Levites; one-tenth was to be applied to feasts at the sanctuary; and a tenth besides was, every third year, to be given to the poor. If this was so, we have a natural explanation of the phrase, “the year of tithing,” and self-consistency is introduced into the laws. The tithe-laws in Deuteronomy are often represented as if in conflict with those in Leviticus and Numbers. Part of the plausibility of the objection lies in the use of the definite article in the English version”all the tithe” (Deu 14:28; Deu 26:12)which gives an impression of allusion to the ordinary, the well-known tithe. That impression is not created if we take the plain Hebrew”a whole tithe”which by its very nakedness suggests a new regulation. Deuteronomy legislates for its own purposes in connection with the centralizing of the worship at the sanctuary. The newer criticism seems to have abandoned the old ground, which made the Levitical laws the earliest. It assumes that the distinction of priests and Levites, with the body of legislation based on that distinction, took shape not earlier than the exilea view hopelessly in conflict with the histories of the return. Indeed, so great was the disproportion in the numbers of priests and Levites returning with Zerubbabeltwelve or thirteen priests for every Levitethat the Levitical laws could only have been put in force with material alterations and modifications. They are in some respects singularly inapplicable to the very times in which they are supposed to have originated.J.O.
Deu 26:12-15
A good conscience toward God.
This solemn avowal, ordained to be made at the completion of the round of tithe obligations, was a wise safeguard against unpunctuality and neglect. The subject suggested isThe importance of self-examination in respect of the fulfillment of duties of religion.
I. SELF–EXAMINATION A DUTY. The text suggests that we examine ourselves:
1. As to religious givings.
2. As to our fulfillment of the duties of hospitality and charity.
3. As to the condition in which these duties have been performed
whether from the right motive (regard to God’s commandment), and in a right state (the state of sanctification). Extend the principle to all duties of religion.
Self-examination, to be of service, should be:
1. Comprehensive.
2. Conscientiousas “before the Lord thy God” (Deu 26:13), who cannot be deceived.
3. Periodical, as:
(1) At the end of a year.
(2) The close of a financial year.
(3) Birthdays.
(4) Even the end of a week. A review of this kind not an unsuitable Sabbath day’s employment.
II. SELF–EXAMINATION A SAFEGUARD.
1. Prevents neglect. Things which we ought to dowhich, at bottom, we are willing to doget frequently overlooked:
(1) From inadvertency.
(2) From unpunctuality.
(3) From habits of procrastination.
A review of the kind proposed would bring many of these forgotten duties to recollection, and would act as a check on the causes of forgetfulness.
2. Brings practice into comparison with the standard of obligation. When duty is known, it does not follow that it is always done, or that we are always aware of the extent of our shortcomings. We may be greatly deceiving ourselves in this very particular. There may grow upon us the vicious habit of comparing ourselves with others rather than with the standard of the Divine Law. And nowhere is self-deception more common than in the matter of religious and charitable givings. People will be heard expatiating on the vexatiousness of the calls of this kind made on them, who, were they to put their givings all together, would find that they did not amount to so much as they have often spent on the gratification of some whim, perhaps on a single dinner-party. Self-examination would counteract the tendency to take our performances of duty so readily for granted. It would e.g. require the rich man to measure his givings directly with his income, and with the proportion of that income which he felt to be due to God.
3. Reminds us of the obligations themselves. For, besides the shortcomings in practice referred to, there is often no little danger that the standard of duty itself may get to be lost sight of.
4. Makes hypocrisy more difficult. The withholder of the tithes would scarcely venture to stand before God and make this solemn declaration. His tongue might well cleave to the roof of his mouth if he attempted it. He would feel that he must either go and do what he ought or hold his peace. The hypocritical professor shuns self-examination.
Two thoughts in closing:
1. We cannot expect blessing, save as duties are honorably fulfilled (Deu 26:15).
2. Reflecting on fulfilled duties, we need to beware of Pharisaic pride (Luk 18:11, Luk 18:12).J.O.
Deu 26:16-19
Avouching extraordinary.
A wonderful sight! Israel and God exchanging pledges, plighting troth, “avouching” fidelity each to the other. The people, by the heed they had given to Moses’ exposition of the Law, perhaps by signs made as he proceeded, had avouched their willingness to abide in the covenant. God, in turn, had renewed his promises and pledges towards them. The covenant thus renewed was the same in essentials as that made with believers.
I. COVENANT WITH GOD INVOLVES ENGAGEMENT TO OBEDIENCE. (Deu 26:17.) It did so under the Law. It does so under the gospel. The gospel exhibits grace, and involves at the outset the reception of that grace. Nevertheless, obedience is required of us. It is the end of our redemption. We die with Christ that we may rise with him to newness of life (Rom 6:4). “New obedience” is the proof of true discipleship. Every real believer will seek to render it. It is a condition of ultimate salvation (Rom 2:6-12).
II. COVENANT WITH GOD INVOLVES A RELATION OF PECULIAR NEARNESS. (Deu 26:18,) This is borne out by all Scripture. God chooses us, in Christ, to a relation of nearness so remarkable that it has no counterpart, save in the Son’s relation to the Father (Joh 17:21). The saints are his peculiar treasure (1Pe 2:9, 1Pe 2:10). He is their “Shield,” and their “exceeding Great Reward” (Gen 15:1). They are nearer to him than the angels
“Near, near, so near,
I cannot nearer be;
For in the person of his Son
I am as near as he.”
III. COVENANT WITH GOD SECURES HIGH HONOR AND BLESSEDNESS. (Deu 26:19.) Great distinction was in store for Israel, should it prove obedient. God says he will make it high above all nations, “in praise, and in name, and in honor.”
Its honor would consist:
1. In the proud distinction of being God’s people (Deu 4:7).
2. In its high moral repute (Deu 4:6).
3. In the material pre-eminence to which obedience would be certain to raise it (Deu 7:12-16). Obedience, honor, blessedness, are three ideas ultimately inseparable. The “glory, honor, immortality” of heaven are for those who persevere in well-doing (Rom 2:7), for “an holy people.” The honors in store for obedient Israel, great as they were, are not to be compared with the “exceeding and eternal weight of glory” now revealed as the inheritance of believers (2Co 4:17).J.O.
HOMILIES BY D. DAVIES
Deu 26:1-11
Commemorations of national deliverance.
An instinct in man impels him to dwell with pleasure on his national beginnings and growth; and, in cases where that beginning sprang out from a specific event, that event has been the subject of public commemoration year by year. Of this Rome is a conspicuous instance. But the Jews were designed to be eminently a religious people; hence this commemoration was to be a simple act of pietythe presentation of firstfruits.
I. MAN IS THE OBJECT OF GOD‘S LAVISH GENEROSITY. Everything round the Hebrew in his home reminded him of the exuberant kindness of his God. The land which he possessed was land which Jehovah had given him. The temple was the place which Jehovah had chosen “to place his Name there.” The priest was God’s gift. The corn and fruit of the land were produce “which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” Each man was taught to look on himself as belonging unto God. Of everything the absolute Proprietor was God. Their history, their deliverance, their security, their renown, were all due to God. Behind every visible object, behind every visible event, they discerned God.
II. REMEMBRANCE OF GOD‘S DELIVERANCES WAS TO BE PERPETUATED. It is vital to the interests of a man that he should know the “rock whence he was hewn, and the hole of the pit whence he was digged.” Are we from above, or from beneath? Are we the creatures of fortuitous circumstance, or has our life been planned by a Divine Artificer? Are all the forces and energies of life within ourselves, or are we dependent upon the will and the resources of another?
1. It is salutary to remember our original. “A Syrian ready to perish was my father.” It will serve to beget in us humility. It will make us hopeful; for if we have risen so much, may we not rise higher yet?
2. It is salutary to remember the oppressions of men. “The Egyptians evil entreated us.” Poor, selfish, changeful man can never be relied upon, Friendly today, they turn to be bitterly hostile tomorrow. “Cease from man, whose breath is in his nostrils.”
3. It is salutary to remember the efficacy of prayer. “We cried unto the Lord.” His ear is always open to human solicitations. The affairs of this universe do not unfit him to attend to our need. True prayer is never in vain.
4. It is salutary to remember God’s interpositions. “He looked. He brought us forth. He hath given us this land.” The affliction was essential to fitness for Canaan. Winter is essential to the fruitfulness of spring. When God begins to bless us, what limit shall there be? What? Only that which our incapacity to receive may impose! Being redeemed, our expectations are infinite.
III. GRATITUDE FOR GOD‘S GIFTS MUST BE PRACTICAL. Words of thankfulness are cheap, unless accompanied by deeds. Songs of praise are sweet minstrelsy in the ear of God, but they must spring from the heart; and if the heart is grateful, the hands will be full of offerings. The firstfruits of all our increase belong to God as a matter of right. But duty is delight. This requirement is representative. We may not be husbandmen; still our firstfruits are due. The firstfruits of our time belong to Godthe fresh dewy hours of every day. The first of our gains belong to God. Say not, “They are mine,” Nay! they are his. The firstfruits of mental strengthour youth; the best of all we have belong to him. To secularize these is sacrilege.
IV. THROUGH ALL GOD‘S GIFTS HIS INTENTION IS HUMAN GLADNESS. This gladness is fostered and fed by proportionate offerings. For this habit of religious offering will serve to draw away our confidence from our material possessions, and place it in the living God. This will strengthen and establish joy. It is surely better to trust the Fount than the channelthe Source than the stream. If every man on earth is not brimful of joy, it is not God’s fault. To rejoice in God is our duty and our privilege. And this joy is contagious. “Thou shalt rejoice thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that is among you.” Joy makes men generous, and the recipients of our generosity will share our joy. There will be joyous action and reaction. We are to be the channels through which God will pour his joy into others’ hearts. In return they will give us their prayers.D.
Deu 26:12-15
Complete consecration a condition of continued blessing.
The system of social dependence is ordained of God. By a deliberate act of wisdom, God devoted the Levites to poverty, or rather to an equitable interest in the whole land. The necessities of some are created as the most fitting outlets for the charity of others.
I. MEN ARE APPOINTED TO BE GOD‘S ALMONERS. Not more really does the sovereign of an empire employ persons of rank to be his stewards and almoners than God employs us. To expend upon ourselves the whole of our earthly possessions is sinis the worst of sinsis sacrilege. We hold in our keeping God’s property. We are not at liberty to use it as we please. Nor is the amount which appertains to God determined by the caprice of human inclination. A definite portion is God’s, and becomes in the highest sense trust property. One-tenth of all our gains is the fixed proportion claimed by God. God identifies himself with the Levite, the widow, the fatherless. The Levites are his messengers. The poor are his friends. To deny them is to wrong him; and he will surely avenge the insult. On stated occasions, viz. triennially, each proprietor was required to render an account of his stewardship, and to make a solemn declaration that he had faithfully discharged his momentous trust. As often as we supplicate new favors we virtually protest our faithfulness.
II. SURRENDER TO GOD A CONDITION OF SUCCESSFUL PRAYER. In this passage the Hebrews were taught not to ask for God’s blessing upon their land until they had confessed their complete surrender to God’s revealed will. Pride bars the door which keeps out Divine favors. Pride chokes the channels so that the stream of God’s bounty cannot flow. In like manner God acts in our earthly life. He will not give health except through the channel of food. He will not give strength except through the channel of exercise. He will not allow us to use steam or electricity except by surrender to his material laws. We do not really pray so long as any part of our nature is rebellious against his will. Lip-prayer is counterfeit. Genuine prayer is the up-going of the whole man.
III. GOD‘S SOLEMN PLEDGES ARE CONDITIONED BY EARNEST PRAYER. God had sworn to the patriarchs to give this goodly land to their seed, yet his oath implied trust, surrender, prayer, upon their part. Indeed, if these things had been wanting in the Hebrews, no external possession would have been a blessing: Canaan would have been a curse. Material light is no boon unless there be an organ of human vision to enjoy itunless the eye be open. Nothing really benefits a man until it actually enters his nature and becomes a part of himself. This is God’s efficient act. “Ask, and ye shall receive.” For all things promised of God, “he will yet be inquired of.” Prayer gives the final fitness to receive.D.
Deu 26:16-19
The spiritual creation.
In the creation of the material world, “God spake, and it was done.” But in dealing with rebellious men, obedience does not spontaneously follow on command. God has called into existence a substance that cannot arbitrarily be controlleda human will. Therefore, to gain loyal response from human nature, God makes known himself as infinitely worthy of man’s regard, indicates his authority, and sets forth the high advantages of his friendship. The largest obedience is man’s real interest. It is the only path to promotion.
I. WE HAVE HERE GOD‘S REVELATION OF HIS KINGLY AUTHORITY. It is his part to commandman’s to obey. We cannot reverse or disturb this order without introducing anarchy and sorrow.
1. This revelation of God is always new. “This day” thy God hath commanded thee afresh. New discoveries of the extent, the wisdom, the graciousness, of God’s sovereignty may be made to us every day. Every morning the voice of heavenly authority speaks to us afresh.
2. The spirit of wise authority is very imperative. “Thou shalt keep and do.” It would not be safe for God to abandon any part of his prerogative. It would not be safe to allow men to diminish his sovereignty. We are creatures: he is Creator; hence it is supremely fitting that he alone should rule.
3. His commands are irrevocable. They are well designated “statutes,” i.e. things well established. In the material world men are discovering how fixed and uniform are all God’s laws. No deviation is allowed. Nor is it tolerated in the spiritual realm, and every new-born man says, “I will keep thy statutes with my whole heart.”
4. Obedience embraces the whole man. Outward and ostensible service does not satisfy God, because they will bring no blessing to his creature man. These commands are for man as a spiritual being; and mere external service is hypocrisy, No fragrance is in our obedience unless heart and soul go out in our deeds. Obedience, to have any worth with God, must be the efflorescence of our love.
II. WE HAVE HERE MAN‘S WILLING ACCEPTANCE OF THE COVENANT. The Jews, as one man, chose God to be their King, and swore to be loyal subjects. “Thou hast avouched the Lord to be thy God.” 1. It must be an act of personal choice. Whether we perceive it or not, our course in life is our own choice. We may never consciously have faced the question, nor put into words our decision; yet our life plainly shows that some decision has been made. Happy the man who, after due reflection, can calmly say, “The Lord is my God!”
2. The language indicates progressive obedience. The loyal servant “walks in God’s ways.” He is not content with standing still. In proportion as he obeys, he sees more clearly the wisdom of the commandhe finds more pleasure in loyal service. At first he obeyed because it was a plain duty; now he responds because it is a delight. “He loves the Law.”
3. And hearty obedience brings clearer knowledge of our Master’s will. Having learnt the wisdom and the pleasure of obedience, he is more eager to hearken to the Divine voice. His ears have been opened. He can hear the soft whispers of a voice which is unheard by others. He loves to hearken. “The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him.”
III. WE HAVE HERE GOD‘S GENEROUS PLEDGE OF LARGER GOOD.
1. Here is adoption. He solemnly avers them to be “his peculiar people.” He gives them a special place in his regards. Before the intelligent universe he espouses them as his own. “He is not ashamed to call them brethren.” All his power is pledged for their protection. All his possessions become theirs.
2. He gives them an obedient disposition. His blessing can reach the interior will. If we have made a general surrender of ourselves to him, he imparts gracious strength to every energy of our souls. In response to our desire he makes us willing. “I will pour out my Spirit upon them, and cause them to walk in my statutes, and they shall keep my judgments, and do them.” When men have embraced his external and written covenant, then “he makes a new covenant, and writes it upon their hearts.” First there is what is natural, afterward that which is spiritual.
3. Here are eminence and honor secured. “To make thee high above all nations.” Real glory is God’s gift to his chosen. False honor and glitter Satan scatters abundantly among his votaries; but these are superficial and ephemeral. Satan cannot give what he does not possess. All honor belongs to God; and the dignities and eminence and glory which are God’s, he has chosen to share with his saints. “Where I am, there ye shall be also.”
4. Man’s crown of beauty is promised: “that thou mayest be holy.” Purity is the perfection of humanity. For this our spirits thirst. No external honor or greatness will satisfy us if we are not internally holy. And the purpose of God in our redemption is “that we may be conformed unto the image of his Son.” “Then shall I be satisfied, when I awake in thy likeness.”D.
HOMILIES BY R.M. EDGAR
Deu 26:1-11
The dedication of the firstfruits.
A beautiful religious service is here associated with the dedication of the firstfruits. It was to be an act of worship. There was to be the appearance before the priest, the acknowledgment of God’s great bounty to the forefathers as well as to the worshipper himself, the presentation of the firstfruits as a return of God’s gifts to him, the setting of the basket before God, and the rejoicing in the Divine presence. All this is surely typical.
I. JESUS CHRIST IS THE PRIEST TO WHOM WE SHOULD BRING THE FIRSTFRUITS OF ALL OUR INCREASE. In other words, we should bring our systematic beneficence before Christ, and prayerfully deal with it before him. He is the Mediator for our liberality, as well as for every other blessing.
II. WE NEED CHRIST‘S MERITS TO RENDER OUR LIBERALITY, AS WELL AS EVERY OTHER GRACE, FRAGRANT BEFORE GOD. For we should never forget that no single grace is really fit in its naked imperfection to be presented to God. It requires to be performed with the merits of our adorable High Priest. There should be no boasting about it, as if it could stand alone.
III. OUR LIBERALITY SHOULD BE THE OUTCOME OF OUR GRATITUDE FOR FAVOR SHOWN TO THE FATHERS AS WELL AS TO OURSELVES. The Jew reviewed gratefully the national history, the Syrian origin, the Egyptian bondage, the Exodus, the entrance into Canaan, and the fruitfulness of the land of promise. All this history of God’s goodness made the firstfruits simply the expression of gratitude.
It is on this grace that systematic beneficence is to be built. Nowhere else can a fitting foundation be found.
IV. OUR LIBERALITY SHOULD BE ASSOCIATED WITH AN ACT OF JOYFUL WORSHIP. In no other way can liberality be sustained. “On the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him” (1Co 16:2). Why on the first day of the week? Manifestly to associate the grace with the religious services of the resurrection day. No week-day liberality will last longit requires a Lord’s day, with all its holy associations and sanctions, to sustain the liberality of the people.
And this saves the spirit of liberality from the grudging that is so vexatious and so worldly. “The Lord loveth a cheerful giver,” and so he draws the giver into his own presence, and makes him joyful there, that he may offer in his liberality a “sacrifice of joyfulness.”
V. THE JOY REACHED THROUGH LIBERALITY IS TO BE CARRIED INTO THE SOCIAL CIRCLE, TO MAKE HOME TRULY HAPPY. The Jew, after presenting his firstfruits, was to rejoice in every good gift of God, along with the Levite and stranger who formed part of his household. A cheerful giver is the secret of a happy home. His relations with his Lord being bright and beautiful, he brings the fragrance home.R.M.E.
Deu 26:12-19
Looking up for the blessing.
The interests of the dependent classes, “the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow,” being considered and secured by the tithing of the third year, the Jew was directed then to look up for the Divine blessing on the land. The tithe was first paid, and then the blessing sought.
I. SYSTEMATIC BENEFICENCE SHOULD BE THE PRELIMINARY OF SUPPLICATION FOR BLESSING, AND NOT CONDITIONED UPON IT. There is a temptation to make liberality a matter of speculation, to vow a certain portion if a certain blessing is conferred. Now, this may be all very well regarding what is beyond a tithe, but the tithe is a settled proportion to be promptly and gratefully paid, and the blessing can then be honestly asked when the debt to God has been discharged.
II. THE TRULY LIBERAL WILL LOOK FOR SPIRITUAL BLESSING FOR HIS COUNTRY, AND NOT BE CONTENT WITH TEMPORAL. In fact, it was revival, as we should now call it, that the Jew after his tithing sought. And systematic beneficence should be regarded as the indispensable preliminary of revival, if Mal 3:10 has any meaning. It is manifest that illiberality may hinder spiritual blessing, and consequently liberality should be fostered as the manifest test of sincerity regarding blessing. If one is not willing to pay his share that every hindrance of blessing may be removed, he cannot be in earnest about it.
III. MOSES, AS THE MEDIATOR, GUARANTEES THE COVENANT BLESSINGS TO THE COVENANT–KEEPING PEOPLE. God had brought Israel out of Egypt, and was about to introduce them to the land of promise, that they might prove his “peculiar people,” and be “high above all nations which he hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honor,” and above all, be “an holy people.” This was his covenant engagement. Hence Moses urges them to keep the commandments God has given them with all their heart and soul, and they shall find how faithful God is.
Obedience is consequently to be the manifestation of their faith in God as “Faithful Promiser.” If he gave the blessings in all their fullness first, faith would have no room to grow, and his people would be able to live well enough by sight. But when they are asked to obey and be blessed in and through their obedience, faith has its beautiful sphere.R.M.E.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Israel before the Lord
Deu 26:1-19
1And it shall be, when thou art come in unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and [thou] possessest it, and dwellest therein; 2That thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, which thou shalt bring of thy land that the Lord thy God giveth thee, and shalt put it in a basket, and shalt go unto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place his name [to cause his name to dwell] there. 3And thou shalt go unto the priest that shall be in those days, and say unto him, I profess this day unto the Lord thy God, that I am come unto the country which the Lord sware unto our fathers for to give us. 4And the priest shall take the basket out of thine hand, and set it down before the altar of the Lord thy God. 5And thou shalt speak [answer] and say before the Lord thy God, A Syrian [An Araman] ready to perish [lost, lost, wandering about]1 was my father; and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a [in] few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous: 6And the Egyptians evil-entreated 7us, and afflicted [oppressed] us, and laid upon us hard bondage: And when [om. when]2 we cried unto the Lord God of our fathers, [and] the Lord heard our voice, and looked on our affliction, and our [heavy, exhausting] labour, and our oppression: 8And the Lord brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders; 9And he hath brought us into this place, and hath given us this land, even a land that floweth with milk and honey. 10And now, behold, I have brought the first-fruits [first of the fruits] of the land, which thou, O Lord, hast given me: and thou shalt set it [or the basket] before the Lord thy God, and worship before the Lord thy God: 11And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing [all the good which] which the Lord thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house, thou and the Levite, and the stranger that is among you. 12When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thine increase [in] the third year, which is the year of tithing, and hast given it unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the Widow, that they may [and they eat] eat within thy gates, and be, [and are] filled: 13Then thou shalt say before the Lord thy God, I have brought away the hallowed things out of mine [the] house, and also have given them unto the Levite, and unto the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all thy commandments [commandment] which thou hast commanded me: I have not transgressed 14[of, from] thy commandments, neither have I forgotten them: I have not eaten thereof in my mourning, neither have I taken away aught thereof for any unclean use [in uncleanness (unclean condition)]3, nor given aught thereof for the dead: but I have hearkened to the voice of the Lord my God, and have done according to all that thou hast commanded me. 15Look down from thy holy habitation, from heaven, and bless thy people Israel, and the land which thou hast given us, as thou swarest unto our fathers, a land that floweth with milk and honey. 16This day the Lord thy God hath commanded thee to do these statutes and judgments: thou shalt therefore [and thou shalt] keep and do them with all thine heart, and with all thy soul. 17Thou hast avouched4 the Lord this day to be thy God, and to walk in his ways, and to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and to hearken unto his voice: 18And the Lord hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people [people for a possession], as he hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all his commandments: 19And to make [give] thee high above all nations which he hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honour [splendor, glory]; and that thou mayest be an holy people unto the Lord thy God, as he hath spoken.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. Deu 26:1-11. Upon Deu 26:1 comp. Deu 17:14. Deu 26:2, partitive. (Gen 4:4). According to Jewish tradition a part of the seven kinds of the fruits of Canaan. Deu 8:8. Schultz: Not all the first-fruits, generally, were to be delivered at the sanctuary. Keil: Only those necessary for the following purpose or end. Comp. upon Exo 23:19, and besides Deu 18:4. from , to weave. For the rest comp. Deu 12:11; Deu 12:5, (Deu 16:17). Deu 26:3. Either the priests collectively, or the one who was officiating, comp. Deu 17:12. The declaration (saying) is the explanation of the basket with the first-fruits, as a completed actual acknowledgment of the possession of the land, and as an expression of corresponding gratitude. Deu 26:4. Comp. Deu 26:10. Before the altar of burnt-offering, Exo 27:1 sq. Deu 26:5. Comp. Deu 25:9. To the profession before men, there is joined a wider retrospective and comprehensive prayer before the Lord. Jacob (Israel) nominally and virtually the ancestor of the twelve-tribed people, (Isa 43:27), an Araman because of his long residence in Mesopotamia, whence Abraham removed, Gen 11:31, (Deu 25:20; Deu 28:5; Deu 31:20; Deu 31:24), and because he there grew to such a family. Comp. Hos 12:13 sq. losing himself, who not only wandered about, led a nomadic life, but ran the risk of being lost. (Psa 119:176; Jer 1:6). Duro servitio primum (Gen 31:40) deinde fame (Gen 42:2; Gen 43:8). J. H. Michaelis. Comp. Gen 35:3. Keil against the accents: A lost Araman was my father. Luther (Vulg.). The Araman (Satan) would destroy my father, as if the reading was . The Sept.: . the beth essenti. Deu 10:22. (Plurali tantum) from to extend, i.e., the extended, grown, adult, men. from to rub away, small, diminish) of few men. Comp. Gen 34:30. In himself nothing, with his own, few, and yet! Comp. Deu 7:1; Deu 9:1. (Exo 1:7; Exo 1:9). Deu 26:6. Comp. Exo 1:11 sq. Deu 26:7. Comp. Exo 2:23; Exo 4:31. Deu 26:8. Comp. Deu 4:34; Deu 5:15; Deu 6:21 sq. Deu 26:9. Comp. Deu 6:3. (Exo 3:8). The offering brought by the individual private Israelite, Deu 26:10, corresponds to this bringing of the people into the land on the part of Jehovah. Comp. Deu 26:2. The setting it down either as resuming the closing remark of Deu 26:4, or implying that the offerer had taken up the basket with the first-fruits during the prayer. Deu 26:11. The solemn festal joy, Deu 12:7; Deu 12:12; Deu 16:11; Deu 16:14; Deu 18:4. The first-fruits, as the firstborn and the tithes (Deu 25:19 sq.; Deu 14:23).
2. Deu 26:12-15. The making an end and all the tithes, Deu 26:12, refer to the second tithe in the third year. (Comp. Deu 14:28). The year of tithing, because the whole tithe obligations, even to the special application, was completed in each third year. Comp. Deu 14:29. Hence Deu 26:13, after such a close, an account is to be rendered, perhaps when they appeared before the Lord at the feast of tabernacles in the third year. Keil understands the saying, avowal, here as before God generally, (Gen 27:7), a view which Deu 26:15 certainly favors. Brought a way, not as an obligation, or debt (Schultz, Keil), but as something which does not belong to me, to annul, wipe away all title to which, it is brought out from the house; spoken with emotion. Hallowed things, i.e., whatever is devoted to God, as it was to be conveyed or disposed of in the legally defined way. The whole command, to wit, whatever could generally come into account here. The individual commands are alluded to in what follows. Neither wilfully nor consciously. ( closed to the consciousness). Deu 26:14. The further conscious deduction in definite contrasts. I have not eaten thereof, in a case of sorrow, or mourning for the dead (some hold in respect to the Egyptian mourning in the offering of the first-fruits to Isis, or the like); nor in any other way as legally unclean, have I taken it out from the house, Deu 26:13); nor even (Deu 14:1) have sent from it into a friendly house of mourning. Comp. Hos 9:4; Jer 16:7 sq.; 2Sa 3:35. Sept.: Given from it to the dead. There is no necessity for holding with Schultz, to some superstitious application. As Deu 26:5 sq., unfolds into thanks, so Deu 26:15 into prayer. It may moreover rightly be urged against that exclusive assertion of the earthly sanctuary foisted upon Deut. by the critics. Comp. Isa 63:15. Whoever preserves the hallowed things holy, may make his claim before the holy place of the Lord. The prayer for a blessing relates to the organic whole, keeps in mind the whole people.
3. Deu 26:16-19. The prominence of the law generally as a basis upon which such a prayer rests, now and always, while it is called to-day. Deu 26:16. Comp. Deu 4:1 sq.; Deu 5:5; Deu 5:1, Deu 6:1 sq., and indeed as to what kind of fulfilling of the law, comp. Deu 6:5; Deu 10:12. Deu 26:17 intimates at the same time the covenant relation of Israel. If the Hiphil is retained, i.e., bring under obligation, made to say, since Israel had said that he hears and does (Deu 5:24comp. also Deu 26:14 above) he thereby scoures Jehovah as his God. Others regard it as a strengthened form of Kal.: to promise or to accept; to extol, glorify. Gesen., Knobel, Keil: thou hast let Jehovah say, declare, promise. Comp. for the rest of the verse Deu 8:6; Deu 5:26. Deu 26:18. The same applied to God. Comp. Deu 7:6; Deu 14:2; Exo 19:5. Since Jehovah requires all, as is stated, Deu 26:1 sq., He makes Israel sure as His people, according to the promise; but when Israel has shown his faithfulness to all the commands, then first follows the exaltation of Israel above all the nations, also created by God (Jehovah is also Elohim, not only the God of Israel). His faithfulness naturally produces praise, renown, and the glorification from the Lord. Comp. Jer 13:11; Jer 33:9; Zep 3:19 sq.; Exo 19:6. [An holy people.This was the design and end of the divine choice in regard to Israel, as it is still of the personal choice or election of believers. Comp. Eph 1:4.A. G.]
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. Two formulas of prayer, Deu 26:1 sq. and Deu 26:12 sq., enclose the perfection of Israel; it is comprehended by them in its most inward and holy aspect. The fulfilling of the law completes itself in prayer, as inversely the idea of prayer is realized only through the fulfilling of the law (Deu 26:16 sq.).
2. Prayer appears at the very summit of the life of Israel, at the same time as the most essential thing, as the very soul of all thought and deeds which only find their strength and growth here, and thence
3. The given formulas of prayer, with which compare the Lords prayer, include generally reverence, and particularly praise, thanks, petition, intercession, all the elements of prayer. The personal prayer appears hence as the common (Deu 26:15).
4. In this direction, as to the first fruits (Deu 26:2) and the tithes (Deu 26:12), the service of God in Israel appears, by the way, as the worship of God, in which man gives God the honor of that with which God has first honored him. Ye must at all times (preaches Zinzendorf), at the very front, begin with declaring to what straits your father had been reduced,how he went down to Egypt, was a stranger there, and evilly entreateduntil God at last redeemed him, made him a great people, and brought him to this wished for land.
5. The duty of prayer is thus truly the grace of prayer, which man must yield, and whatever can hinder must be put away (Deu 26:13 sq.).
6. Prayer in truth is through God even, not so much because in its expression it brings before God the thoughts and word of God (Deu 26:5 sq.; 13 sq.), but rather because in its inmost spirit it is the consecration of the whole man to God. Otherwise all the subjective and objective relation of life (Deu 26:13), the personal as the social condition (Deu 26:14), would not be pervaded and made serviceable to the kingdom of God.
7. As the object and end of prayer is the union of my will with that of Godnot my will but thine be doneso prayer manifests itself through obedience to the law, through faithfulness in covenant relations (Deu 26:16 sq.). His service is moreover our blessedness, the true honoring of God, the glory of men (Deu 26:19). Instead of closing at its end the way of God, the law points in that respect directly to that which is new and greater. (Schultz.)
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
Deu 26:1. Kohlbrugge: We come into the land as soon as we believe; then it typifies to the believer, heaven, the everlasting and full enjoyment of all blessedness, Heb 4:11; Eph 2:5-6. It is all a free gift. It is the nature of God to give, to be good to the poor, Gal 3:18; Gal 3:29. Deu 26:2 sq. The same: Diversities of fruit. Comp. 1Co 12:4 sq.; Eph 4:7; Php 1:11; Gal 5:22; 2Pe 1:3 sq. He gives a fruitful land, Eph 2:10; and there should not be any exotic fruits, Gal 1:7-8. Deu 26:3. Starke: Thanksgiving and prayer are sisters which should never be separated. Kohlbrugge: The confession of the mouth disburdens and warms the heart, awakes a joyful faith. Thy God who has put thee into office to praise the name of God, His faithfulness and truth before the people,thus from my confession to take occasion to comfort and encourage others, that God will not forsake the work of His hands. The priest takes the basket, as he must ever bring before the throne whatever the people offer, Jer 30:21. The altar of burnt offering a figure of Christ and His cross. Deu 26:5 sq. Baumgarten: Israel is in himself nothing more than the receptive subject of the grace of Jehovah. This is plain for all the future in the twofold beginning of his history. First, Israel the individual man, whose loneliness in the three patriarchs is three times inferred; no violent, lawless Nimrod, but an Araman stranger and shepherd going through the regions of kings and nations (Psa 105:12-13), and exposed to their assaults. As Jehovah prevented this, He alone established this beginningfor Israel, as a lost man, had no strength in himself. So also in the second beginning, where Israel became a great people, but thus given into the power of a strange and harsh king, he was lost again. In measure indeed as Israel had grown to a great mass, the grace of Jehovah became grander and more wonderful. [Wordsworth: We must remember our past miseries as well as our present mercies; what we were by nature as well as what we are by grace.A. G.] Cramer: Alms are not given from vanity, but from faith. Richter: Deu 26:7 praises the omniscience of God, Deu 26:8 His power and righteousness, and Deu 26:9 His goodness and faithfulness. Deu 26:10. Starke: The first to God, and not to Satan. Ye young men and maidens, devote to God the bloom of your years. Deu 26:11. Baumgarten: With the first fruits for the priests (Num 18:13) they were to bring others also, free-will offerings and what was joined with them, Deuteronomy 12. Deu 26:13 sq.: Like the Pharisee, Luke 18, but not the same, indeed unlike. Deu 26:14. Randglosse: The sacrifice to God should be joyful, pure and holy. Deu 26:15. Schultz: If a living prayer ascends to God, a certain obedience, as well as a certain experience of grace, is necessary. Baumgarten: Because He who dwells in the earthly sanctuary is at the same time enthroned in the heavenly sanctuary, so He must be called upon in every house of Israel. What freedom and variety in Israel, in connection with all earnestness for the unity of the sanctuary, and the sacredness of the priesthood and its position. Deu 26:16. Osiander: For the fulfilling of the commands, God requires the whole man. Deu 26:17. Starke: Great similarity with the question in the baptismal covenant, 1Pe 3:21. Deu 26:19. Richter: To be for the praise of God (Ephesians 1.) is the ultimate end of all the revelations and forms of the kingdom of God. V. Gerlach: In the first fruits there is a continuous homage and acknowledgment with reference to all earthly possessions. The second tithe changed every Israelitish home into a sanctuary.
Footnotes:
[1][Deu 26:5. Literally, perishing was my father. The rendering adopted by our version is not only most nearly literal, but best agrees with the history referred to.A. G.].
[2][Deu 26:7. The word when is not in the original, and should have been in italics.A. G.].
[3][Deu 26:14. Schroeders rendering is the most literal and obvious, and gives a better sense than others proposed, or adopted.A. G.].
[4][Deu 26:17. Literally, caused to saycaused him to say.A. G.].
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
CONTENTS
As the man of GOD is drawing to a conclusion on the subject of laws, in this chapter he points out the form of words to be used in offering the basket of first-fruits; and the prayer with which the offering is to be brought; and then follows up both, with reminding the people once more, in whose name and authority he had acted, in the delivery of the commandments.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
There seems to have been a double design in this precept. In presenting the first of everything to the LORD, we not only acknowledge the right of his sovereignty, but we deny ourselves. The prophet Micah saith, “My soul desired the first ripe fruit.” Mic 7:1 . The giving that to GOD, which the heart seems most itself to desire, is therefore a blessed proof of self-denial. But beside these things, is there not an eye to JESUS in this appointment? Is he not expressly called the first fruits by the apostle? 1Co 15:20 . And it is remarkable, that the day the first fruits of barley were to be offered, corresponded to the day when JESUS arose from the grave. And so again, on the day in which the first fruits of the wheat-harvest were presented to the LORD, corresponded to the day when JESUS sent down the first fruits of the HOLY GHOST. Compare Deu 16 with the Evangelists on the resurrection, and Act 2:1-2 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
National Safeguards
Deu 26:10
Each young man takes an immense stride in experience when he discovers that God has made him not only the member of a family but also the citizen of a nation. Gradually he comes to realize how much the word ‘nation’ means. The earlier part of the Bible occupies itself not so much with individuals as with the fortunes of a chosen nation. We read in the Old Testament how God called and trained up and delivered and chastened and restored His people Israel. And these precepts in Deuteronomy XXVI. were given as safeguards to the nation after it had entered into possession of Canaan, and had become settled and peaceful and prosperous, for the real test and touchstone of any people or any individual are how they endure prosperity. The whole tenor of these verses implies that a people’s security depends not on outward but on inward conditions. And hence we may infer what are those invincible powers which alone can garrison the heart of any nation.
I. The first of these great guardian angels is reverence for the nation’s past. The previous chapter has recalled Israel’s deliverance from Amalek, and ends with the warning words ‘Thou shalt not forget’. And through the Old Testament God’s warnings and promises and appeals are based on the actual facts of Hebrew history. That wonderful and glorious record must never fall out of mind. And it still remains true that a nation which ignores its history is like a man who has lost his memory.
II. Hand in hand with such understanding comes a sense of the nation’s election. God’s calling and discipline had been manifest throughout the long generations of Israel. God Himself had chosen them and sealed them for His own high ends, and moulded them by the secret counsel of His will, and made them His witnesses and standard-bearers in the world. And on our land also God’s finger has stamped a manifest and marvellous destiny which should needs make us humble and sober in proportion as we realize what it means.
III. Beyond the sense of national responsibility there must also be gratitude for national blessings. If Israel could rejoice in every good thing which God had given them, we too are bound to praise Him for all His benefits to us. Young men and women who have never lived in less favoured lands fail to estimate the incalculable blessings of their own.
IV. A nation’s supreme safeguard lies in the dedication of its youth. Those firstfruits laid on the ancient Jewish altar were but an allegory. And we fulfil the spirit of the ancient command only as we consecrate the flower and firstfruits of our own lives.
T. H. Darlow, The Upward Galling, p. 80.
Reference. XXVII. 15. C. C. Bartholomew, Sermons Chiefly Practical, p. 464.
Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson
(See the Deuteronomy Book Comments for Introductory content and Homiletic suggestions).
XIII
SECOND GREAT ORATION, PART 2
Deuteronomy 12-26
This section is on the second part of the second great oration of Moses, as embodied in Deuteronomy 12-26 inclusive, of the book of Deuteronomy. If you have carefully read all this section, it will be easier for me to emphasize in the brief limits of this chapter the most salient points and easier for you to grasp and retain them. By the grouping of correlated matters under specific heads, the important distinction between many statutes and the constitutional principle from which they are logically derived will become manifest. A constitution is a relatively brief document of great principles, but legislative enactments developing and enlarging them become a library, which continually enlarges, as new conditions require new statement and application.
Yet again you must note that while one discussion arranges in order many statutes, it necessarily leaves out much of the homiletical value of each special statute. Each one of them may be made a text for a profitable sermon. Indeed these fifteen chapters constitute a gold mine of texts for the attentive preacher.
First of all, it should be noted that Moses is speaking here to the whole people as a national unit and concerning the future national life in the Promised Land which they are about to occupy. He carefully puts before them the national ideal of a people belonging to Jehovah separated from other nations and devoted to a special mission. Because addressing the whole people he recalls the history and law in Genesis, Exodus, and Numbers much more particularly than the special legislation of Leviticus relating mainly to the official duties of a single tribe.
Secondly, when he touches the tribe of Levi in Deuteronomy, it is as a part of the nation rather than about their specific duties as priests and Levites. On this account Deuteronomy is called the people’s code and Leviticus the priest’s code. This fact will help us much to understand tithing in Deuteronomy when compared with tithing in the preceding books. Note carefully this point.
While it is difficult to classify satisfactorily such a multitude of topics and laws, we may profitably group the whole section under the following heads:
I. Unity in the Place of National Worship, Deu 12:5
In their pilgrimage history the cloud and the ark, shifting from place to place according to the exigency of travel, designated day by day the central place of worship. But the people are here admonished that when they conquer the land and become a settled people, God himself will designate one fixed locality as the center of national unity and one permanent place of national worship. In Joshua, Judges, Ruth, and I Samuel, when we get to those books, we shall find only a temporary central place, and occasionally, more than one at the same time, the land not yet all conquered, the people not yet all settled, but in David’s time everything prescribed about the central place of worship is fulfilled, Jerusalem is the place thenceforward throughout their history until Jesus, that prophet like unto Moses, comes and says to the woman of Samaria, “Believe me, the hour cometh when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem shall ye worship the Father. Ye worship that which ye know not; we worship that which we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in Spirit and Truth.”
To this place, that is, the central place of worship, three times a year must the tribes come in national assembly to keep the great festivals of the Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles, and as a nation they must observe the great day of atonement. In this connection observe particularly that the tithing in Deuteronomy, to which we have before referred, is not the first tithe of the other books, which was the Lord’s inheritance and devoted to the general support of the great festivals, in which indeed the Levites share as a part of the people. Hence the Levites’ share of this tithe does not correspond to their title to the whole of the first tithe, and hence the third year’s provision in Deuteronomy for the poor is unlike any provision of the first tithe. If you have that point fixed in your minds, you are able to answer one of the gravest objections ever brought against Deuteronomy, that is, that it contradicts, on the question of tithes, what had been previously said in other books.
The marvelous effect of this one fixed place of national worship, and of these great festivals, on national unity, on the preservation of a pure worship, appears in all their subsequent history and becomes the theme of psalm, song, and elegy. When we get over into the Psalms and the Lamentations of Jeremiah, we will see backward references to this central place of worship. It is in the light of this law that we discover the sin in the later migration of the Danites and their setting up a new place of worship (Jdg 18 , particularly verses Jdg 18:27-31 ); the sin of Jeroboam (1Ki 12:26-33 ); the sin of the Samaritans later, and the sin of a temple in Egypt. That is the first thought, the unity in national worship. For an account of the Samaritan Temple see Josephus, “Antiquities,” Book XI, chapter 8, and for the Egyptian Temple see “Antiquities,” Book XIII, chapter 3.
2. Unity in the Object of Worship
The second thought in this oration is unity in the object of worship, the exclusive worship of Jehovah. Under this head the section prescribes the death penalty on the following:
(1) The false prophet, who however attested by signs and wonders, shall seek to divert the people to the worship of some other god.
(2) Any member of a family, however near and dear the tie of kindred, who sought to induce the rest of the family to turn away from the worship of Jehovah to worship another god, that member of the family had to die.
(3) Any city that turned aside as a municipality to other worship, that city must be placed under the ban and blotted out. If you have been much of a student of classic literature, you must have noticed how each city stresses the worship of some particular patron divinity, as Minerva at Athens, Diana in the City of Ephesus and Venus at Corinth. Now, this law teaches that any city, in its municipal life, turning aside from the worship of Jehovah to worship a false god for local advantage shall be blotted off the face of the map. The underlying principle here is of immense importance in our times. Cities are tempted continually to sacrifice the paramount spiritual and moral interests of the community in order to promote material interests. So in their annual fairs which bring local advantage in commercial affairs, they lose sight of God and handicap what is commendable in these enterprises by overloading them with poisonous and corrupting attachments, and count any man an enemy to his home place, however much he may approve the good, if he protest against the bad. See the striking examples and illustrations in the cases at Philippi and Ephesus (Act 16:19 ).
(4) To show more emphatically that Jehovah alone is God and must be worshiped, the death penalty was assessed on any necromancer, soothsayer or wizard who sought by illicit ways to understand and interpret the future. To Jehovah alone must the people come to know secret things. What he chose to reveal was for them and their children. What he withheld must remain hidden. All prurient curiosity into Jehovah’s domain of revelation must be rebuked; all seeking unto the dead, all fortunetelling and divinations were mortal sins and punishable by death in every case.
(5) All persons guilty of crimes against nature; the nature of the subject forbids me to specify. They were such outrageous violations of the dignity of man made in God’s image, and indicated such disregard for Jehovah that capital punishment alone would meet the requirements of the case.
(6) Every breaker of the covenant must be put to death. If any had knowledge that another had violated the covenant, it became his duty to investigate the case and bring the attention of the magistrates to it. There is a reference to that in the letter to the Hebrews, where it is said, “He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: of how much sorer punishment, think ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God [offense against the Father], and hath counted the blood of the everlasting covenant an unholy thing [sin against the Son], and hath done despite unto the Spirit of Grace [sin against the Holy Spirit, and an unpardonable sin]?” (Heb 10:28-29 ).
(7) To impress still more this thought of the exclusive worship of Jehovah: There must be no borrowing from other religions in bewailing the dead; Jehovah’s law alone was the one exclusive standard. The custom of cutting themselves, and disfiguring themselves in the days of their mourning as practiced in other religions, finds here a positive prohibition. I stop to say, Oh, what a pity that so soon after apostolic times, in the great apostasy which Paul predicted and which took place in the Roman Catholic development, there was borrowing old robes of every religion in the world.
3. All Administrations of Law Subject to Jehovah
Whether ceremonial law, moral or civil and criminal law, all administration of law was subject to Jehovah. The government was a theocracy pure and simple, no matter whether it remained a republic or became a kingdom, as it did in the days of Saul, it was a theocracy, God was the only real King and governed all officers himself, whether executive, judicial, or religious.
(1) They were representatives of Jehovah and must first of all consider his honor, justice, and mercy. This fact determined the prescribed character and qualifications of every prince, ruler, elder, judge, sheriff and scribe. These officers must be God-fearing men, hating covetousness, impartial and fearing not the face of any man.
(2) They must in judging hear all evidence fairly.
(3) They must not convict except upon adequate testimony.
(4) It took two good witnesses to prove any point.
(5) They must justify the innocent and condemn the guilty without any regard for age, sex, social position, or financial position. Even and exact justice must be administered to all.
(6) Decision when given must be enforced speedily.
(7) If the case was too hard for them, they must appeal to Jehovah and no other for light. A provision was made by which Jehovah would give the right answer in every such case of appeal. What a pity we have not that kind of a supreme court!
(8) The conduct of all their wars must be under the laws prescribed by Jehovah. War must not be declared against any nation except upon his direction. Their later history furnishes many examples of referring the declaration of war to Jehovah, and it furnishes many examples of disaster befalling them when they went to war in their own wisdom and strength. The regulations touching war covered all material points, such as sanitary measures in camp, treatment of prisoners, conducting sieges, and sparing fruit trees when besieging a city. The boasted progress of modern civilization falls far short of the Mosaic code in ameliorating the sufferings and horrors of war. A great Federal general of the War Between the States well said, in view of his own practice in conducting it, “War is hell!”
(9) On account of this subordination to Jehovah, note the remarkable paragraph Deu 21:1-9 , touching civic responsibility in a case of murder where the offender is unknown. In my prohibition speech in the last prohibition contest in Waco, I used that paragraph as a principle upon which prohibition is based. If you will look at the passage in your Bible and mark it, you will notice that the case is this: A man is found murdered and it is not known who killed him; the nearest city thereto is determined by measurement and must purge itself of responsibility for the crime. The municipal officers in that city must come in the presence of that dead body, hold up their hands before God and swear that they are innocent of the blood.
In my speech I recalled the case of the County Attorney of Tarrant County who was shot down on the streets of Fort Worth, his murderer also being killed; nobody could be held directly responsible for the murder. I said, “Suppose the mayor, the city council, and all the other city officers had been required to place their hands on that dead body and swear that no negligence on their part was resposnible for that murder. They could not have taken the oath. Every one would have been convicted, because they were responsible for the conditions that not only made that particular murder possible, but made murder in some cases certain.”
(10) The numerous statutes concerning charities, mercy, and humanity constrain the people to imitate Jehovah himself in dealing with the poor and with the unfortunate. Indeed some of the most beautiful and pathetic of these laws relating to treatment of the lower creatures embody principles capable of application in a wider range of higher things. They reprobate all cruelty and the infliction of all unnecessary suffering as hateful to Jehovah, for example: “Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn”; and “Thou shalt not seethe a kid in its mother’s milk.”
Once in Waco a young man whom I had known when he was a little fellow came to me bringing a letter purporting to be from his father, commending this young man to me and asking me to help him in any way I could. When he next came and asked me to endorse a paper for thirty dollars, I endorsed it. When it matured, I had to pay it. I wrote to the father about it and he replied that his son had forged that letter, and that is was only one case out of many. That son had broken him up. The boy was arrested on a similar case at Corsicana and sent to the penitentiary. When it was suggested that I testify against him, I would not, because of this scripture, “Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother’s milk.” The only way I could help to convict that boy would be to submit his father’s testimony to prove that he was a forger.
(11) In like manner all laws regulating business, such as weights and measures. Once I called upon a man whose name I will not give, and asked him why, when he bought goods, he weighed on one scale and when he sold goods he sold by another. He said. “They are all right.” I said, “No, sir, you have loaded the one you sell by and whoever buys from you does not get full weight.” All laws touching business, such as weights and measures, the restraints on exacting pledges for debt, the withholding of wages for day laborers which they have fairly earned, the limitations on usury and the like are but expressions of divine mercy and justice and tended to build up an honest and righteous people, not forgetful of mercy.
(12) The social laws concerning marriage, slavery, parental power over children, while far from the highest expression of God’s will, do yet in every particular prohibit many current evils freely practiced in other nations. Our Lord himself explains that on account of their hardness of heart and low order of development imperfect laws were suffered. “The people but recently were a nation of slaves, with much more of the slave spirit remaining. It cannot be denied that even the civil and criminal codes on these points were far superior to the codes of other nations. The sanctity of human life, the sanctity of the home, and the sanctity of the family are marvelously safeguarded in these laws. And wherever this code touched an evil custom, it never approved the evil but limited the power and scope of the evil, as far as the unprepared people were able to bear it.
(13) Restrictions on entering the covenant, Deu 23:1-7 , constitute a paragraph very few people understand. This applied to proselytes from other nations. The body politic must not be corrupted by alien additions that could not be easily assimilated. On that line our own nation is gravely troubled by loose naturalization laws that permit the scum and offscourings of other nations to be absorbed into our national life and so fearfully endanger the perpetuity of free institutions and make our great cities cesspools of iniquity. An orator once prayed, “O that an ocean of fire rolled between us and Europe!” The Pacific Slope seems also praying ,”O that an ocean of fire rolled between us and the Orient!”
(14) The governing Jehovah idea appears in an emphatic way in the paragraph Deu 24:1-11 , where by an offering of a basket of firstfruits the Israelite must confess Jehovah’s absolute ownership over his products and his own unworthy derivation. The oration concludes with his general result: “Thou hast avouched Jehovah this day to be thy God, and that thou wouldest walk in his ways and keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his ordinances, and hearken unto his voice: and Jehovah hath avouched thee this day to be a people for his own possession, as he hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all his commandments, etc.”
QUESTIONS
1. What the importance of grouping correlated matters under specific needs and what is a constitution?
2. What the homiletic value of these fifteen chapters?
3. What two things especially noted concerning the second part of Oration Two?
4. Under what three heads does the author group all the material of these fifteen chapters?
5. Under the first head, when was the central place of worship to be established; when, where and by whom actually established; how long continued?
6. How often and at what festivals must the nation assemble at this central place of worship?
7. What bearing has this fact on the tithing question of Deuteronomy?
8. What the marvelous effects of this one fixed place of national worship?
9. Give examples of the violation of this law, and what their particular sin?
10. Under the second head, what cases of violation called for capital punishment?
11. What underlying principle governing the cities is of great importance in our times? Illustrate.
12. What reference to the covenant breaker in the New Testament, and what the threefold sin therein described?
13. Which of these prohibitions are Romanists most guilty of violating?
14. Under the third head (1) What must be the qualifications of all officers? (2) What their several duties? (3) If the case was too hard for them what were they to do? What the provision for Jehovah’s answer? (4) What prescriptions concerning war? (5) How determine civic responsibility in the case of murder where the murderer was unknown? Present day application and illustrate. (6) What laws relating to the poor and to lower animals? (7) What laws regulating business? (8) What social laws? (9) What the restrictions on entering the covenant and the present day application? (10) How does the governing Jehovah idea appear emphatically
15. How does the oration conclude?
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Deu 26:1-11
1Then it shall be, when you enter the land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance, and you possess it and live in it, 2that you shall take some of the first of all the produce of the ground which you bring in from your land that the LORD your God gives you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place where the LORD your God chooses to establish His name. 3You shall go to the priest who is in office at that time and say to him, ‘I declare this day to the LORD my God that I have entered the land which the LORD swore to our fathers to give us.’ 4Then the priest shall take the basket from your hand and set it down before the altar of the LORD your God. 5You shall answer and say before the LORD your God, ‘My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down to Egypt and sojourned there, few in number; but there he became a great, mighty and populous nation. 6’And the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, and imposed hard labor on us. 7Then we cried to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and saw our affliction and our toil and our oppression; 8and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with great terror and with signs and wonders; 9and He has brought us to this place and has given us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10Now behold, I have brought the first of the produce of the ground which You, O LORD have given me.’ And you shall set it down before the Lord your God, and worship before the LORD your God; 11and you and the Levite and the alien who is among you shall rejoice in all the good which the LORD your God has given you and your household.
Deu 26:1 when you enter the land This documents the fact that Israel was still on the plains of Moab on the eastern side of the Jordan when these words of Moses were given.
the LORD your God See Special Topic: Names for Deity .
gives you as an inheritance This is an idiom of Israel’s election (cf. Exo 6:4; Exo 6:8; Exo 15:17; Exo 23:30; Exo 32:13; Deu 1:6-8; Deu 4:38; Deu 4:40; Deu 5:31; Deu 7:13; Deu 8:1-10; Deu 9:4-6; Deu 11:8-12; Deu 11:17; Deu 26:1; Deu 26:9; Deu 32:49; Deu 32:52; Deu 34:4). The land (all land) belongs to YHWH (cf. Exo 19:5; Lev 25:23). If Israel is not obedient to YHWH’s covenant He will dispossess them (cf. Lev 26:14-33; Deu 4:25-28; Jos 23:14-16), but still YHWH will have mercy (cf. Deu 4:29-31; Deu 30:1-3; Deu 30:10).
Deu 26:2 you shall take some of the first of all the produce The exact amount for the offering of the first fruits is not specified (but it could fit in one basket, cf. Deu 26:3-4). This account seems to be a one time event on the plains of Moab but it reflects a later regular harvest ritual (cf. Exo 22:29; Exo 23:16; Exo 23:19). This practice was a metaphorical way of showing God’s ownership of the entire crop. The same ownership symbolism is exemplified in (1) the firstborn; (2) tithing; (3) the Sabbath; (4) the sabbath year; and (5) the Year of Jubilee.
the place where the LORD your God chooses to establish His name This refers to God’s choice of the location of the central sanctuary, which is a distinctly Deuteronomic emphasis (cf. Deu 12:5; Deu 12:11; Deu 12:14; Deu 12:18; Deu 12:21; Deu 12:26; Deu 14:23-25; Deu 15:20; Deu 16:2; Deu 16:6-7; Deu 16:11; Deu 16:15-16; Deu 17:8; Deu 17:10; Deu 18:6; Deu 26:2; Deu 31:11). It was originally at Gilgal, then Shechem, then Shiloh, then Mizpah, and later, after David’s conquest of Jebus, Jerusalem (cf. 2Sa 5:6-7; 1Ch 11:5; 1Ch 11:7). The purpose of a central sanctuary was tribal and religious unity. It was also to keep the Israelites away from local Ba’al shrines.
Deu 26:3 the priest who is in office at that time At first this seems to refer to the High Priest of Aaron’s line (cf. The Tyndale OT Commentary, Deuteronomy, p. 254), but the context demands that it refers to the different families of Aaronic priests who took turns ministering at the central altar.
and say to him All that follows is a liturgy to be repeated by those who obediently bring their first fruits to the Tabernacle or later the central sanctuary.
the LORD my God The MT has your God. This variation in PRONOUNS had no theological meaning. It was simply a Hebrew idiom of talking to someone of religious authority.
Deu 26:4 priest shall take the basket from your hand and set it down before the altar Many compare Deu 26:10 and claim a contradiction. The problem is, we do not have a detailed account of the ritual.
Deu 26:5 My father This refers to the patriarch Jacob, later called Israel (cf. Gen 32:28 and Special Topic: Israel at Deu 1:1). This was a theological statement about their being God’s chosen people. This was a creedal affirmation.
NASB, NRSV,
TEV, NJBwandering
NKJVabout to perish
REBhomeless
JPSOAfugitive
This means perishing (BDB 1, KB 2, Qal ACTIVE PARTICIPLE). Sometimes this term is used of a lost or wandering animal (1Sa 9:3; Jer 50:6; Eze 34:4; Eze 34:16).
Aramean This refers to Padan-Aram or Syria (BDB 74, cf. Gen 25:20; Gen 28:5; Gen 31:20; Gen 31:24). Laban was from this area which included the city of Haran (cf. Gen 31:40-42). Jacob lived there for several years and then fled from Laban.
sojourned This VERB (BDB 157, KB 184, Qal IMPERFECT) means to dwell as a newcomer or resident alien (cf. Gen 47:4).
few in number In Gen 46:27 and Exo 1:5 it says that they were originally only 70 persons. When they left Egypt their number was as high (cf. Exo 1:10; Exo 20:22; Exo 1:9) as 1,500,000 to 2,500,000 persons. The number depends on the proper interpretation of the Hebrew term thousand. It can mean (1) a literal 1,000; (2) a clan; or (3) a military unit (cf. Exo 12:37). See Special Topic: Thousand (eleph) .
Deu 26:7 we cried to the LORD. . .heard our voice and saw our affliction God had promised and foretold Abraham about this (cf. Gen 15:12-21; Exo 3:7; Exo 3:9).
the LORD, the God of our fathers This identified the God of the Patriarch’s, El Shaddai (cf. Exo 6:2-9), with YHWH, who confronted Moses (cf. Exo 3:14). See Special Topic: NAMES FOR DEITY .
Deu 26:8 a mighty hand and an outstretched arm This is expressed in anthropomorphic language of power and victory. See note at Deu 4:34. It is also possible that this particular idiom was chosen because it is used so often in Egyptian literature and art for Pharaoh’s power
with great terror and with signs and wonders This relates to the ten plagues on Egypt (e.g., Deu 4:34; Deu 6:22; Deu 7:19; Deu 11:3; Deu 26:8; Deu 29:2; Deu 34:11).
Deu 26:9 a land flowing with milk and honey This was both a physical description and the legal designation for Palestine in the Assyrian documents. God gave them a wonderfully productive and beautiful inheritance (i.e., Canaan or Palestine, cf. Deu 6:3; Deu 11:9; Deu 26:9; Deu 27:3; Deu 31:20).
Deu 26:10 You, O LORD have given me This shows a true religious perspective on life (cf. Deu 26:2; Deu 8:11-20). This verse implies that one growing season has past or that the Israelites dedicated the produce they found growing.
worship This is literally prostrate oneself (BDB 1005, KB 295, Hishtapael PERFECT). See Special Topic: Worship .
Deu 26:11 you. . .shall rejoice in all the good which the LORD your God has given you and your household Note the festival element in God’s dealings with His covenant people (and others who lived with them, i.e., aliens). Worship should be joyful! Reverence cannot be defined as silence and somberness! The rabbis later used this verse to refer to rejoicing over the giving of the Law (cf. Deu 26:14).
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
land. Heb ‘erez = Canaan.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Deuteronomy, beginning with chapter 26.
Again it is important that we set the scene for you. Here’s Moses, one hundred and twenty years old. In just a few days he’s going to go up into the mountain and die. He is giving the last, of the last instructions to the people of God. He is releasing the reigns by which he has been guiding these people these forty years, and turning them over now unto Joshua. But Moses is sorta rehearsing for the children of Israel, again the conditions by which they will enjoy this land, the conditions upon which God’s blessings were predicated. For the children of Israel had a covenant relationship with God that revolved around the law and around their obedience to the law.
And the covenant that God established with the nation of Israel was they that do them shall live by them. In other words, it was a covenant that was established in their doing and keeping the law of God. Now Moses even predicted, and we’ll get into it tonight, their failure to keep the law. God knew that they wouldn’t be able to keep it. And the failure has been predicted along with the resultant tragedies and curses that would come upon them for their failure.
Now God has established a new covenant with man that is no longer based upon the law and the keeping of the law. So when Jesus took the cup with His disciples and He gave them the cup, He said, “This is a new covenant that is in my blood, which is shed for the remission of sin.” So the new covenant that God has established with man is through Jesus Christ and the work of Jesus Christ. So that in this new covenant it is in my believing in that work of Jesus Christ on my behalf by which I can now enjoy all the blessings of God. So I experience the blessings of God’s grace upon my life. I experience all these wonderful things from God, not because I’m so good and have kept so perfectly the law of God, but because I have now a new covenant relationship with God; it is through Jesus Christ and His finished work. And I simply believe in that finished work of Christ and God imputes my faith for righteousness and blesses me.
Now if I were still living under the law I would be just as cursed as the children of Israel became, because the law could make nothing righteous. It only pointed to a better covenant that was to come. So in Deuteronomy we have the rehearsal of the covenant and the establishing of the covenant, whereby you come into the land. You obey these things. And over and over you’ll notice he is pointing out obedience to the commands, obedience to the statutes, obedience, obedience, obedience. And if you obey, then this blessing will be yours, you’ll be blessed, blessed, and blessed, but if you disobey then you’ll be cursed. And I think there are more curses than there are blessings
Now I thank God that I can relate to God in the new Covenant in Jesus Christ, and thus, I have been blessed and am blessed by God. Not for any righteousness that I have done or not for any righteousness that I have, because that is not the basis by which I am relating to God tonight. I’m relating in that new Covenant. I’m simply believing in Jesus Christ to wash me and cleanse me of all my sins and to work in me His work of love as I submit my life to Him. That He might give to me the power and the capacity to live a life that is pleasing unto the Father.
So as we get into Chapter twenty-six, he first of all speaks to them that when you come into the land and you begin to gather the fruit of the land, the first fruits of the land. Now they were not really to gather anything for themselves until the third year. They were to plant but just let it go until the third year and then they were to begin to reap. But when you gather together your harvest then you are to bring before the Lord, actually,
the first of all the fruit of the earth, which thou shall bring in thy land of which the LORD has given thee, and thou shall put it in a basket, and shall go to the place of which the LORD thy God shall choose to place His name. And you are to go in there, and you are to profess that day unto the LORD thy God, that I am come into the country which the LORD swear to my fathers ( Deu 26:2-3 ).
And so you are now to bring the firstfruits of the land. You are to give them to God and you are to confess that you are now in the land that God has promised; the acknowledgment of the faithfulness of God to keep His promise because God had promised to Abraham that He would give him this land. So now you’re in the land, bring the firstfruits to God and so profess, make the confession God did keep His promise.
Then interestingly in verse five,
And thou shall speak and say before the LORD thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father, he went down to Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became a nation, great, mighty, and populous ( Deu 26:5 ):
And so, speaking of Jacob, calling him a Syrian, who went down to Egypt with just a few. Yet while in Egypt in that four hundred-year period of time, God made them a great nation. And God brought them out, spoiling the Egyptians. And you are to rehearse actually God’s great work in bringing you out and bringing you into the land that flows with milk and honey, out of the bondage of Egypt into the blessings of God. And now I bring the firstfruits unto God of this glorious land that He has given to us.
And in verse eleven,
Thou shall rejoice in every good thing in which the LORD thy God has given unto thee, and unto thy house, thou, and the Levites, and the stranger living among you ( Deu 26:11 ).
Again here is a commandment where God is commanding them to rejoice. God wants a happy people. And God’s people should be a happy people. We should be the happiest people on the face of the earth. And what kind of a witness is it to God if His people are always depressed and down and sour and dour. God wants you to be a rejoicing people.
And in verse twelve,
When thou has made an end of the tithing of all the tithes of your increase in the third year, which is the year of tithing, you’ve given it to the Levites, [and so forth]; Thou shall say to the LORD, before the LORD thy God, I have brought away the hollowed things out of my house, and give them to the Levites, the stranger, fatherless, the widow, I have not transgressed the commandments, neither have I forgotten them: I have not eaten thereof in my mourning, neither have I taken away ought thereof for any unclean use, nor given ought for the dead ( Deu 26:12-14 ):
And thus, he goes on with this again, acknowledgment that God has brought them into the land that flows with milk and honey.
And you must avouched the LORD this day to be thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and to hearken unto his voice ( Deu 26:17 ):
All right again, at this point you are to swear that God is your God, actually, that Jehovah is your God, to walk in His ways and to keep the commandments and all. And for the Lord has avouched thee this day to be His peculiar people, who are obeying, actually, His commandments.
And to make thee high above all nations which he hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honor ( Deu 26:19 );
“
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
Here we have the final movement in the second of these great farewell discourses of Moses. In it the lawgiver lifted his eyes and looked at the land to be possessed, and proceeded to tell the people how they were to worship in the new land.
The first recognition and act of worship necessarily is that of approach to God. Therefore they were instructed to go to the place of worship with the first fruits of the land. Then a formal confession of a threefold nature was to be made; first, the fact of possession was to be stated; second, the helpless origin of the nation was to be remembered: “A Syrian ready to perish was my father”; and, finally, the people’s possession of the land was to be acknowledged as the work of Jehovah alone.
With such confession, offerings were to be presented to the Lord and the people to rejoice together.
Then followed a recognition of the other side of worship, which is the true and outward expression of the first. Gifts were to be bestowed on men, the Levites, the strangers, the fatherless, and the widow.
This having been done, prayer again was to be offered to God in which the gifts bestowed on men are spoken of as dedicated to Him.
All this is most suggestive, as it teaches us that our worship can be perfected only in service to our fellow men. The discourse ended with words that reminded the people of their relationship to God. Of the nation it was affirmed, “Thou hast avouched Jehovah this day to be thy God.” Of Jehovah it was affirmed, “Jehovah hath avouched thee this day to be a people for His own possession.”
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
First-Fruits and Tithes
Deu 26:1-19
The Israelites were Gods tenants-at-will. The entire land and its produce were His; and they were required to acknowledge His ownership by the payment of first-fruits-both at Passover and at Pentecost, Lev 2:14; Num 28:26 -and of tithes.
All we possess and all we earn are equally the gift of God. Let us acknowledge this by setting apart a fixed proportion of the results of our daily work, whether wages, or crops, or brood, or herd. The words of this ancient collect, with very slight modifications, will suit us well, Deu 26:5-10. Note the injunction of Deu 26:11. There is not enough joy in our lives or faces. Nothing so quickly commends our religion as the gladness which the world can neither give nor take. To joy let us add intercession, Deu 26:15; and let us never forget to renew our vows of consecration when we bring our gifts, Deu 26:16.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
Deu 26:11
It is our duty to give unstinted welcome to every visit of enjoyment with which we may be favoured. We frequently allow streams of refreshment or exhilaration to run past us without dipping into or tasting them; we blunderingly overlook many a cup of soothing and pleasing that is offered to us as we go trudging by. We are slow to discover and seize our golden chances, and hardly know how to make the most of them. At times we are afraid, it would seem, pausing now and then to squeeze a drop or two of severe or melancholy reflection into the goblet, as if there might be sin in having it too rich and sweet. The angel descending to solace us in our Gethsemane with a brief pleasant thrill, with a brief glimpse and gust of pleasure, flashes by under the sombre, wailing olives in vain, is allowed to vanish unharboured and unutilised.
I. Never turn, in your bitterness of spirit, from any ministry of temporal enjoyment that may intervene; never be so wedded to your woes, so shut up and sunk down in them, that you cannot issue forth to accept such ministry. For, remember, we want to be made joyful for our education quite as much as we need to be tried and troubled. To laugh, to luxuriate, to ripple and glow with delight, at times is just as essential for us, as it is at times to weep and suffer.
II. At times some of us may have had the feeling that there is so much misery in the world that it is hardly right to ignore and forget it for a moment in rejoicing. But let us reflect that, since God is our Father and we His children, we are justified in losing sight of trouble for a time when He gives us a joy to taste. Being only a child, however I must feel about His world, and share in His travail concerning it, I need not be afraid at intervals to cast the entire load upon Him and let Him carry it alone. Souls must turn aside at times to bask in what sunshine they can find, and be mellowed, and warmed, and rosied with it, in order to be of service in the darkness and to help to soften and relieve.
S. A. Tipple, Echoes of Spoken Words, p. 239.
References: Deu 28:1.-F. W. Farrar, Ephphatha, Sermons, p. 289. Deu 28:6.-J. P. Gledstone, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xviii., p. 168.
Fuente: The Sermon Bible
22. Firstfruits and Prayer
CHAPTER 26
1. The basket of first-fruits, confession and rejoicing (Deu 26:1-11)
2. Obedience yielded and prayer (Deu 26:12-15)
3. Jehovah acknowledges His people (Deu 26:16-19)
The possession of the land is anticipated and a most beautiful ceremony is appointed for confession and worship in the place the Lord chose to place His Name there. The first of all the fruit of the land was to be gathered and put in a basket. This basket was presented unto the priest with the following words: I profess this day unto the LORD thy God, that I am come unto the country which the LORD sware unto our fathers for to give us. The priest then set it down before the altar. It was an acknowledgment of His Grace and His faithfulness in keeping His promise and bringing them into the land. The Lord had brought them in and the basket of fruits witnessed to the fact that they possessed the good things promised unto them. They could truly say, the Lord kept His Word, He promised us this land and now we are in it; it is ours. And we know, as saved by grace and in Christ, that we are blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies. We too are brought In and have the right of access into His presence. And this blessed consciousness that we are redeemed and belong to Christ is essential to true worship in spirit and in truth.
Most beautiful is the confession Moses gave to Israel, to be used when the basket of firstfruits was set before Jehovah. A Syrian ready to perish was my father. Lovely words! They brought to remembrance what they were and the grace which Jehovah manifested, when that Syrian ready to perish was called out. And this is but a picture of what we are by nature, ready to perish. Then comes the story of Egypt and their deliverance out of the house of bondage. Even so we are delivered. They were to rejoice in every good thing the Lord had given unto them; and we rejoice in the Lord and all His goodness to us. And this joy was practically expressed in giving to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, the widow; they ate and were filled. Thus they could tell Jehovah, I have not transgressed Thy commandments, neither have I forgotten them. While we rejoice in the Lord, know that we are saved and worship in the spirit, may we also remember that it is written, But to do good and to communicate forget not; for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. How often we forget this! Yet it must ever be an outflow from true worship.
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
Deu 5:31, Deu 6:1-10, Deu 7:1, Deu 13:1, Deu 13:9, Deu 17:14, Deu 18:9, Num 15:2, Num 15:18
Reciprocal: Exo 13:5 – shall bring Lev 5:15 – in the Lev 14:34 – When Lev 23:17 – the firstfruits Deu 27:2 – unto the Amo 8:2 – A basket
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Deu 26:1-2. When thou art come into the land Every Israelite being obliged, by law, to offer the first-fruits of his field and vineyard at the tabernacle, at the proper seasons of the year, Moses now prescribes to them the forms of solemn profession and prayer with which each offerer should present them. Thou shalt go unto the place which the Lord shall choose This seems to have been especially enjoined to each master of a family, and the time when these first-fruits were to be presented was the feast of pentecost, Exo 23:16; when, as well as at the two other great feasts, that of the passover, and that of tabernacles, they were obliged to go up to the place of Gods altar.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Deu 26:5. A Syrian ready to perish. The whole Hebrew family came from Mesopotamia, and Jacob repassed the Euphrates with only a staff in his hand. It is good to remember that we rose from the dust, and return to it again.
Deu 26:12. The year of tithing. In attempting to discuss the doctrine of tithes once for all, it may be proper to premise, that it was the universal custom of the whole patriarchal world, and of all the early gentile nations, to give the tenth of their fruits and the firstlings of their flocks to the Lord. This is obvious from Abrahams giving the tenth of his captured spoil to Melchizedek, Gen 14:20; and from Jacob, who vowed to give his tenths to the Lord, which were partly consumed on the altar, and chiefly eaten by himself and the poor as a religious festival. Gen 28:22. The Persians also gave the tenths, as appears from many passages in Xenophons Cyropdia, which assert that Cyrus would never suffer his immense spoils to be divided, till the priests had taken their share. A multitude of quotations may be found in Critical Commentators from Greek writers, which prove that this was the universal practice and custom of all the east: consequently the spirit of the doctrine is of full force and everlasting obligation. This question, in our advanced state of agriculture, being very interesting; the following may be stated as the result of a careful examination of several critical writers on the principal passages which require the payment of tithes.It is agreed on all hands that the Jews gave the tithe as above to the Lord; out of which the priest took a tenth of the tithe, or a hundredth part of the increase of the whole land; and the levites had the nine parts. This the people gave besides all their sin-offerings, their peace-offerings, gifts, &c. If on account of the distance of the way to Shiloh, and afterwards to Jerusalem, a person turned his tithe into money, he was required to add a fifth part thereto; because a modus being in favour of the farmer, the Lord must have his full and perfect right. Will a man rob God? Now, besides this tithe, besides these freewill offerings, most of the christian divines contend, that there was a second general tithing throughout all Israel of the tenths, which for two years was eaten before the Lord in his holy place, and the third year it was eaten at home by the levites and the poor. They quote in favour of this second tithing, Exo 23:19. Lev 27:30-31. But both these texts most evidently refer to the regular tithe of the priests and levites. Our Richard Ward, (anno 1640) quotes MOSES ROTSENS, fol. 199, Colossians 3, to say, that in doubtful things, as mint, anise, and cummin, the sanhedrim decreed, that a second tithe should be paid. Mat 23:23. No proof appears however, of a second general tithing, so confidently asserted. And it may be asked, considering the small part of the Israelites who went up to the temple, and admitting them to stop in all fifteen days at the three feasts, how could they eat the tenth part of the produce, besides all their other offerings? It may also be enquired, whether the levites had double tithe; for in the third year they were to eat in the houses of the people, in common with the poor. Now these assertions concerning a double tithe eaten at home the third year, as in the two other years before the Lord, flatly contradict the letter of scripture, which says, that the people did eat the FIRSTLINGS of their herds before the Lord, and that the third year the tithe of their increase was set apart at home for the levites and the poor. Deu 14:22-28. Against this statement, it is farther objected, that Tobit, chap. Deu 1:7-8, gave the tenth of all his increase to the priests; that he sold the second tenth, and spent all the money at Jerusalem, and the third he gave to them to whom it was meet. But what is the third? The Vulgate, which is in general the standard of modern translations, reads, But I went to the temple of the LORD: and worshipped there the Lord God of Israel, faithfully offering unto him all his firstfruits and his tenths: and the third year I distributed all the tenths to the proselytes and strangers. Sed pergebat in Jerusalem ad templum Domini, et ibi adorabat Dominum Deum Israel, omnia primitiva, sua, et decimas suas fideliter offrens: Ita ut in tertin anno proselytis et advenis ministraret omnem decimationem. Thus the Vulgate perfectly agrees with Deu 14:22-28. Hence it appears plain, that the overplus of the tithe was eaten by the poor, and in a religious way.
REFLECTIONS.
No branch of the ceremonial code was more reasonable and instructive than the oblation of the firstfruits to God, who has every claim of gratitude from his creatures. The Israelite, dwelling in a climate the most salubrious, and on a soil the most fertile that can be conceived, would find his piety very much increased by the oblation of so small a tribute to his Maker: for reflection must accompany his gift. He must retrace the astonishing history of his Sires. He must recollect that Jacob was an Assyrian ready to perish; that he passed the brook simply with a staff in his hand, when fleeing from the wrath of Esau; that Laban after twenty years, pursued him to take away his life and his substance; that the Lord, conformably to his promise and oath, had preserved him unhurt from a thousand dangers, and now made him a great nation controlling all the east. Interesting recollections for the posterity of a patriarch. Surely this family was in covenant with God; surely providence had watched for its welfare; surely the strong arm of God had been their salvation, or they had never escaped from Egypt, and conquered Canaan. And that arm, that providence, the Hebrew would say, has been thy salvation too! Oh that my heart would melt like wax. Oh that my eyes might overflow with tears of grateful joy. Oh that my whole life might repay, were it possible, in homage and thanksgiving to my God! Christians, here are sentiments worthy of evangelical times, and here is piety pleasing to God. Here we have the gospel preached by the shadows of the law. Israels JEHOVAH, and messenger of the covenant, who required the earthly firstfruits to be brought into his sanctuary, as if he had been long in arrears with man, hath himself repaid in the firstfruits of paradise. On the day of pentecost, the festival when the Israelites offered their fruits, he shed down on the church the firstfruits of the Spirit. Rom 8:24. Three thousand were converted one day, and five thousand another, as a sort of firstfruits unto God. And all the saints, having once tasted of these celestial fruits, the indulgent returns of heaven, groan within themselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of their bodies. Oh my soul, what wonders are couched in the divine law! The whole sanctuary of God is full of glory, full of grace; and if the whole Hebrew nation rejoiced when they saw the courts crowded with sheaves, how much more should we rejoice when all these temporal gifts are changed into spiritual blessings, and pregnant with all the hopes of the Messiahs kingdom, and eternal glory.
But while the christian is endeavouring to present his body and soul to the church, as a sort of firstfruits unto God, let him remember that he also was an Assyrian, a poor dark sinner, ready to perish, being carried away with the vanities and vices of the age. But now the Lord has enlightened and converted his soul, and raised him up to the hope of all his saints; let him review the mercies and cares of an indulgent providence; let him review his provocations and sins, and the dangers through which he has passed. Oh the care and kindness of God: oh the weight of mercies crowding from all preseding years! Let his eyes overflow with grateful tears; let his vanquished heart say, what shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits. Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for all his wonderful works to the children of men.
On giving thanks for spiritual things, we must not forget our temporal mercies. These, so great in the Hebrew code, are less noticed in the christian scriptures. But in this commercial age, in a country abounding with smiling farms, towering factories, immense merchandise, and ports which seem the emporiums of the earth; in a country high above all nations, let us remember that our fathers once wandered in the English woods eating acorns, and clothed in skins, and that christianity has now made us the first of nations.
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Deuteronomy 26
“And it shall be, when thou shalt come in unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and possessest it, and dwellest therein; that thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, which thou shalt bring of thy land that the Lord thy God giveth thee, and shalt put it in a basket, and shalt go unto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place his name there” – not to a place of their own or others’ choosing – “And thou shalt go unto the priest that shall be in those days, and say unto him, I profess this day unto the Lord thy God, that I am come unto the country which the Lord sware unto our fathers for to give us. And the priest shall take the basket out of thine hand and set it down before the altar of the Lord thy God.” (Vers. 1-4.)
The chapter on which we now enter contains the lovely ordinance of the basket of firstfruits in which we shall find some principles of the deepest interest, and practical importance. It was when the hand of Jehovah had conducted His people into the land of promise, that the fruits of that land could be presented. It was, obviously, necessary to be in Canaan, ere Canaan’s fruits could be offered in worship. The worshipper was able to say, “I profess this day unto the Lord thy God, that I am come unto the country which the Lord sware unto our fathers for to give us.”
Here lay the root of the matter. “I am come.” He does not say, “I am coming, hoping to come, or longing to come.” No; but, “I am come.” Thus it must ever be. We must know ourselves saved, ere we can offer the fruits of a known salvation. We may be most sincere in our desires after salvation, most earnest in our efforts to obtain it. But then we cannot but see that efforts to be saved, and the fruits of a known and enjoyed salvation are wholly different. The Israelite did not offer the basket of firstfruits in order to get into the land, but because he was actually in it. “I profess this day, that I am come.” “There is no mistake about it, no question, no doubt, not even a hope. I am actually in the land, and here is the fruit of it.”
“And thou shalt speak, and say before the Lord thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father; and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous. And the Egyptians evil entreated us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage. And when we cried unto the Lord God of our fathers, the Lord heard our voice, and looked on our affliction, and our labour, and our oppression. And the Lord brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs and with wonders; and he hath brought us into this place, and hath given us this land, even a land that floweth with milk and honey. And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land, which thou, O Lord, hast given me. And thou shalt set it before the Lord thy God, and worship before the Lord thy God. And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the Lord thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that is among you.”
This is a very beautiful illustration of worship. “A Syrian ready to perish.” Such was the origin. There is nothing to boast of, so far as nature is concerned. And as to the condition in which grace had found them; what of it? Hard bondage in the land of Egypt. Toiling amid the brick kilns, beneath the cruel lash of Pharaoh’s taskmasters. But then, “We cried unto Jehovah.” Here was their sure and blessed resource. It was all they could do; but it was enough. That cry of helplessness went directly up to the throne and to the heart of God, and brought Him down into the very midst of the brick kilns of Egypt. Hear Jehovah’s gracious words to Moses, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry, by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; and I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land, and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey…. Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me; and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them.” (Ex. 3: 7-9.)
Such was the immediate response of Jehovah to the cry of His people. “I am come down to deliver them.” Yes; blessed be His Name, He came down, in the exercise of His own free and sovereign grace, to deliver His people; and no power of men or devils, earth or hell, could hold them for one moment beyond the appointed time. Hence, in our chapter, we have the grand result as set forth in the language of the worshipper, and in the contents of his basket. I am come unto the country which the Lord sware unto our fathers for to give us…. And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land which thou, O Lord, hast given me.” The Lord had accomplished all, according to the love of His heart, and the faithfulness of His word. Not one jot or tittle had failed. “I am come.” And “I have brought the fruit.” The fruit of what? Of Egypt? Nay; but “of the land which thou, O Lord, hast given me.” The worshipper’s lips proclaimed the completeness of Jehovah’s work. The worshipper’s basket contained the fruit of Jehovah’s land. Nothing could be simpler, nothing more real. There was no room for a doubt, no ground for a question. He had simply to declare Jehovah’s work and show the fruit. It was all of God from first to last. He had brought them out of Egypt, and He had brought them into Canaan. He had filled their baskets with the mellow fruits of His land, and their hearts with His Praise.
And now, beloved reader, let us just ask you, do you think it was presumption on the part of the Israelite to speak as he did? Was it right, was it modest, was it humble of him to say “I am come”? Would it have been more becoming in him merely to give expression to the faint hope that, at some future period, he might come? Would doubt and hesitation, as to his position and his portion, have been more honouring and gratifying to the God of Israel? What say you? It may be that, anticipating our argument, you are ready to say, “There is no analogy.” Why not? If an Israelite could say, “I am come unto the country which the Lord sware unto our fathers for to give us,” why cannot the believer now say, “I am come unto Jesus”? True, in the one case, it was sight; in the other, it is faith. But is the latter less real than the former? Does not the inspired apostle say to the Hebrews, “Ye are come unto mount Zion”? And again, “We receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace whereby we may serve God with reverence and godly fear.” If we are in doubt as to whether we have “come” or not, and as to whether we have “received the kingdom” or not, it is impossible to worship in truth, or serve with acceptance. It is when we are in intelligent and peaceful possession of the place and portion in Christ, that true worship can ascend to the throne above, and effective service be rendered in the vineyard below.
For what, let us ask, is true worship? It is simply telling out, in the presence of God, what He is, and what He has done. It is the heart occupied with, and delighting in God and in all His marvellous actings and ways. Now, if we have no knowledge of God, and no faith in what He has done, how can we worship Him? “He that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” But, then, to know God is life eternal. I cannot worship God if I do not know Him; and I cannot know Him without having eternal life. The Athenians had erected an altar “to the unknown God,” and Paul told them that they were worshipping in ignorance, and proceeded to declare unto them the true God as revealed in the Person and work of the Man Christ Jesus.
It is deeply important to be clear as to this. I must know God ere I can worship Him. I may “feel after him, if haply I may find him;” but feeling after One whom I have not found, and worshipping and delighting in One whom I have found, are two totally different things. God has revealed Himself, blessed be His Name! He has given us the light of the knowledge of His glory in the face of Jesus Christ. He has come near to us in the Person of that blessed One, so that we may know Him, love Him, trust in Him, delight in Him, and use Him, in all our weakness and in all our need. We have no longer to grope for Him amid the darkness of nature, nor yet among the clouds and mists of spurious religion, in its ten thousand forms. No; our God has made Himself known by a revelation so plain that the wayfaring man, though a fool in all beside, may not err therein. The Christian can say, “I know whom I have believed.” This is the basis of all true worship. There may be a vast amount of fleshly pietism, mechanical religion, and ceremonial routine, without a single atom of true spiritual worship. This latter can only flow from the knowledge of God.
But our object is not to write a treatise on worship, but simply to unfold to our readers the instructive and beautiful ordinance of the basket of firstfruits And having shown that worship was the first thing with an Israelite who found himself in possession of the land – and, further, that we, now, must know our place and privilege in Christ before we can truthfully and intelligently worship the Father – we shall proceed to point out another very important practical result illustrated in our chapter, namely, active benevolence.
“When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thine increase the third year, which is the year of tithing, and hast given it unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless and the widow, that they may eat within thy gates, and be filled; then thou shalt say before the Lord thy God, I have brought away the hallowed things out of mine house, and also have given them unto the Levite, and unto the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all thy commandments, which thou hast commanded me; I have not transgressed thy commandments, neither have I forgotten them.” (Vers. 12, 13.)
Nothing can be more beautiful than the moral order of these things. It is precisely similar to what we have in Hebrews 13. “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.” Here is the worship. “But to do good and communicate, forget not; for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.” Here is the active benevolence. Putting both together, we have what we may call the upper and the nether side of the Christian’s character – praising God and doing good to men. Precious characteristics! May we exhibit them more faithfully! One thing is certain, they will always go together. Show us a man whose heart is full of praise to God, and we will show you one whose heart is open to every form of human need. He may not be rich in this world’s goods. He may be obliged to say, like one of old who was not ashamed to say it, “Silver and gold have I none, but he will have the tear of sympathy, the kindly look, the soothing word, and these things tell far more powerfully upon a sensitive heart than the opening of the purse-strings, and the jingling of silver and gold. Our adorable Lord and Master, our Great Exemplar, “went about doing good;” but we never read of His giving money to any one; indeed, we are warranted in believing that the Blessed One never possessed a penny. When He wanted to answer the Herodians on the subject of paying tribute to Caesar, He had to ask them to show Him a penny; and when asked to pay tribute, He sent Peter to the sea to get it. He never carried money; and, most assuredly, money is not named in the category of gifts bestowed by Him upon His servants. Still He went about doing good, and we are to do the same, in our little measure; it is, at once, our high privilege and our bounden duty to do so.
And let the reader mark the divine order laid down in Hebrews 13 and illustrated in Deuteronomy 26. Worship gets the first, the highest place. Let us never forget this. We, in our wisdom or our sentimentality, might imagine that doing good to men, usefulness, philanthropy is the highest thing. But it is not so. “Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me.” God inhabits the praises of His people. He delights to surround Himself with hearts filled to overflowing with a sense of His goodness, His greatness and His glory. Hence, we are to offer the sacrifice of praise to God “continually.” So also the Psalmist says, “I will bless the Lord at all times, his praise shall continually be in my mouth.” It is not merely now and then, or when all is bright and cheery around us, when everything goes on smoothly and prosperously; no, but “at all times” – “continually” The stream of thanksgiving is to flow uninterruptedly. There is no interval for murmuring or complaining, fretfulness or dissatisfaction, gloom or despondency. Praise and thanksgiving are to be our continual occupation. We are ever to cultivate the spirit of worship. Every breath, as it were, ought to be a hallelujah. Thus it shall be, by-and-by. Praise will he our happy and holy service while eternity rolls along its course of golden ages. When we shall have no further call to “communicate,” no demand on our resources or our sympathies, when we shall have bid an eternal adieu to this scene of sorrow and need, death and desolation, then shall we praise our God, for evermore, without let or interruption, in the sanctuary of His own blessed presence above.
“But to do good and to communicate, forget not.” There is singular interest attaching to the mode in which this is put. He does not say, “But to offer the sacrifice of praise, forget not.” No; but lest, in the full and happy enjoyment of our own place and portion in Christ, we should “forget” that we are passing through a scene of want and misery, trial and pressure, the apostle adds the salutary and much needed admonition as to doing good and communicating. The spiritual Israelite is not only to rejoice in every good thing which the Lord his God has bestowed upon him, but he is also to remember the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow – that is, the one who has no earthly portion and is thoroughly devoted to the Lord’s work; and the one who has no home, the one who has no natural protector, and the one who has no earthly stay. It must ever be thus. The rich tide of grace rolls down from the bosom of God, fills our hearts to overflowing, and, in its overflow, refreshes and gladdens our whole sphere of action. If we were only living in the enjoyment of what is ours in God, our every movement, our every act, our every word, yea, our every look would do good. The. Christian, according to the divine idea, is one who stands, with one hand lifted up to God, in the presentation of the sacrifice of praise, and the other hand filled with the fragrant fruits of genuine benevolence to meet every form of human need.
O beloved reader, let us deeply ponder these things. Let us really apply our whole hearts to the earnest consideration of them. Let us seek a fuller realisation and a truer expression of these two great branches of practical Christianity, and not be satisfied with anything less.
We shall now briefly glance at the third point in the precious chapter before us. We shall do little more than quote the passage for the reader. The Israelite, having presented his basket, and distributed his tithes, was further instructed to say, “I have not eaten thereof in my mourning, neither have I taken away ought thereof for any unclean use, nor given ought thereof for the dead; but I have hearkened to the voice of the Lord my God, and have done according to all that thou hast commanded me. Look down from thy holy habitation, from heaven, and bless thy people Israel, and the land which thou hast given us, as thou swarest unto our fathers, a land that floweth with milk and honey. This day the Lord thy God hath commanded thee to do these statutes and judgements; thou shalt therefore keep and do them, with all thine heart and with all thy soul. Thou hast avouched the Lord this day to be thy God, and to walk in his ways, and to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgements, and to hearken unto his voice. And the Lord hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people” – that is a people of His own special possession – “as he hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all his commandments; and to make thee high above all nations which he hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honour; and that thou mayest be an holy people unto the Lord thy God, as he hath spoken.” (Vers. 14-19.)
Here we have personal holiness, practical sanctification, entire separation from everything inconsistent with the holy place and relationship into which they had been introduced, in the sovereign grace and mercy of God. There must be no mourning, no uncleanness, no dead works. We have no room, no time for any such things as these; they do not belong to that blessed sphere in which we are privileged to live and move and have our being. We have just three things to do; we look up to God, and offer the sacrifice of praise. We look around at a needy world, and do good. We look in upon the circle of our own being – our inner life, and seek, by grace, to keep ourselves unspotted. “Pure religion and undefiled, before God and the Father, is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.” (Jas. 1: 27)
Thus, whether we hearken to Moses, in Deuteronomy 26, or to Paul in Hebrews 13, or to James in his most wholesome, needed, practical epistle, it is the same Spirit that speaks to us, and the same grand lessons that are impressed upon us – lessons of unspeakable value and moral importance – lessons loudly called for, in this day of easygoing profession, in the which the doctrines of grace are taken up and held in a merely intellectual way, and connected with all sorts of worldliness and self-indulgence.
Truly there is an urgent need of a more powerful, practical ministry amongst us. There is a deplorable lack of the prophetic and pastoral element in our ministrations. By the Prophetic element we mean that character of ministry that deals with the conscience and brings it into the immediate presence of God. This is greatly needed. There is a good deal of ministry which addresses itself to the intelligence; but sadly too little for the heart and the conscience. The teacher speaks to the understanding; the prophet speaks to the conscience;* the pastor speaks to the heart. We speak, of course, generally. It may so happen that the three elements are found in the ministry of one man; but they are distinct; and we cannot but feel that where the prophetic and Pastoral gifts are lacking in any assembly the teachers should very earnestly wait upon the Lord for spiritual power to deal with the hearts and consciences of His beloved people. Blessed be His Name, He has all needed gift, grace and power for His servants. All we need is to wait on Him, in real earnestness and sincerity of heart, and He will, most assuredly, supply us with all suited grace and moral fitness for whatever service we may be called to render in His church.
{*Very many seem to entertain the idea that a prophet is one who foretells future events; but it would be a mistake thus to confine the term. 1 Cor 14: 28-32 lets us into the meaning of the words “prophet” and “prophesying.” The teacher and the prophet are closely and beautifully connected. The teacher unfolds truth from the word of God; the prophet applies it to the conscience; and, we may add, the pastor sees how the ministry of both the one and the other is acting on the heart and in the life.}
Oh! that all the Lord’s servants may be stirred up to a more deep-toned earnestness, in every department of His blessed work! May we be “instant in season, out of season,” and in no wise discouraged by the condition of things around us, but rather find, in the very condition, an urgent reason for more intense devotedness.
Fuente: Mackintosh’s Notes on the Pentateuch
Deu 26:1-11. A preliminary offering of first-fruits (Deu 18:4) is to be presented annually in a basket (Deu 28:5; Deu 28:17) at the Temple, a hymn or liturgy, acknowledging Yahwehs goodness, to be recited at the same time. 1. = Deu 17:14 a.
Deu 26:2. Render, some of the first-fruits of the ground. This seems to have constituted a small sacrificial meal, anticipatory of that supplied by the rest of the first-fruits.
Deu 26:3. the priest (Deu 17:9, Deu 19:17): i.e. the principal of the priests at the central sanctuary, not the high priest of post-exilic times, of whom even Ezekiel knows nothing.
Deu 26:4 (the priest) and Deu 26:10 (thou) seem to contradict each other. For this and other reasons Steuernagel, Bertholet, and others omit Deu 26:3 f.; Deu 26:5 follows Deu 26:2 well.
Deu 26:5. answer: better, speak. The Heb. (anah) means to be prompted to speak by something done or said.A Syrian: render, A wandering (mg.) Syrian was my father. Jacob is so called on account of his Syrian (Heb. Araman) descent (see Gen 24:4; Gen 24:10).few: seventy according to Gen 46:27 (MT., Syr., Sam., Targ., Vulg,) though the LXX (followed in Act 7:14) has seventy-five.
Deu 26:6-9 consists mostly of bits taken from older sources (see RV refs.).
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
FIRSTFRUITS AND TITHES
(vs.1-15)
In Amalek we have seen that which God refuses. Now a lovely positive contrast is seen in that which God accepts. The Lord giving Israel their promised land, and He would bless the fruits of their labors, the increase being great, depending on their obedience to Him. Of this increase they were to bring a basket of the first of all the produce the land yielded, and go to the place the Lord chose to put His name (vs.1-2). This was Jerusalem. They might feel that since the rest of the crop was ready to harvest, they should not leave in case of some adverse conditions arising before they returned. But the question is simply, is God first, or not? When He is rightly given the first place, He will certainly take care of all that follows.
The basket was to be carried to the priest and the offerer was given words with which to speak, in verse 3. In declaring to the priest that he, the offerer, had come to the country the Lord had sworn to Israel’s fathers to give them, the individual was confessing what would be constantly remembered by Israel, that God had proven faithful to His word and Israel’s blessings had come from His hand. We too need constant reminders of God’s marvelous dealings with us in faithfulness and grace.
The priest was then to take the basket and set it before the altar. Then again the offerer was to speak, telling the priest his father was “a Syrian about to perish,” who went down to Egypt to live and increased there from a very few to a great nation (v.5). Of course this refers to Jacob and his family, who lost their Syrian identity when God made them a distinct nation. But in Egypt they were oppressed as slaves, suffering for many years until, in answer to their agonizing prayers, God brought them out of Egypt with a mighty hand “with great terror and with signs and wonders” (v.8). Then ten plagues sent on Egypt and the miraculous passage of the Red Sea were things never to be forgotten.
But now, brought to “a land flowing with milk and honey” (v.9), Israel had reason to thank and praise God with full hearts, and never to forget how graciously He had dealt with them. Surely Christians have greater reason still for thankfulness and praise in having been delivered from the miserable bondage of sin, to be “blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in Christ” (Eph 1:3).
Therefore the offerer could say he had brought the firstfruits of the land the Lord had given him, and there he was to worship before the Lord his God (v.10). Such worship would involve rejoicing in all the good things the Lord had given (v.11). How right and true an attitude this is for every believer today. This spirit of worship and rejoicing would banish every complaint. God knows how we need to remember His great goodness in all the way He deals with us. For this reason, as well as other reasons, He has prescribed the Lord’s supper in remembrance of Him. If we today value this feast of remembrance, we shall not give in to the complaining attitude that characterizes unbelievers, and which believers too often imitate.
We have read before also of the tithe of the third year (Deu 14:28-29), a tenth of the increase of the land given to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless and the widow. When this was fulfilled, one could say before the Lord, “I have removed the holy tithe from my house, and also have given them to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all Your commandments which You have commanded me. I have not transgressed Your commandments, nor have I forgotten them” (vs.12-13). On the negative side, he could claim he had not himself eaten of this tithe, even in mourning, nor had used it for anything unclean, nor given any of it for the dead (v.14). For people might be inclined to make exceptions as to the use of the tithe.
If the offerer could thus speak honestly, then he would have true title to ask the Lord to look down from heaven and bless His people Israel, and bless their land also (v.15). The :Lord encourages prayer for His blessing on the part. of those who obey Him, but it is hypocrisy to ask for His blessing when one is disobedient.
ISRAEL A SPECIAL PEOPLE
(vs.16-19)
Again the Lord lays emphasis on the commandments He was giving to Israel, that they should be careful to observe them with all their heart and soul. They themselves declared that the Lord was their God. Let them be therefore true to Him by keeping His statutes, His commandments and judgments, being fully obedient (vs.16-17).
On God’s side, He proclaimed them to be His special people (v 18). Gentiles were given no such privilege, and they could not be expected to keep the commandments given to Israel. Israel was not simply a nation among nations, but a nation separated by God from all others, to belong to Him and to represent Him before the world. Thus they were set high above all nations,” as “a holy people to the Lord your God” (v.19). Let them maintain this distinction by being holy in practice.
Fuente: Grant’s Commentary on the Bible
C. Covenant celebration, confirmation, and conclusion ch. 26
This chapter concludes the "purely legal material" [Note: Thompson, p. 253.] begun in chapter 5.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
1. Laws of covenant celebration and confirmation 26:1-15
The ordinances with which Moses concluded his second address (chs. 5-26) not only specified the Israelites’ actions in further respects but also focused their thinking on the goodness of God.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
The presentation of the firstfruits 26:1-11
When the Israelites entered the land they were to bring a special offering of firstfruits they harvested from the land to Yahweh at the tabernacle (cf. Deu 14:22-27). It was to be an expression of their gratitude to God for fulfilling His promise to bring them into the land. This was to be a combination of the feast of Firstfruits and a ceremony of covenant renewal. [Note: W. J. Dumbrell, Covenant and Creation, p. 116.] They were to remember their humble origins as well as express gratitude for their present blessings. The "father" referred to (Deu 26:5) was Jacob. Moses described him as an Aramean because he lived many years in Paddan-aram, and he married his wives and began his family there. Jacob was essentially simply a semi-nomad whom God had blessed (cf. Deu 18:4; Exo 23:19; Num 18:12-20).
It was common for Semites to regard a part of the whole as the whole (Deu 26:9; cf. Jos 21:43-45; 2Sa 5:6-10; 1Ki 13:32; Jer 31:5). They did not think of the firstfruits that they offered to God as the only portion they owed God. They viewed it as representing all that God had given them, all of which belonged to Him. [Note: See A. J. Mattill Jr., "Representative Universalism and the Conquest of Canaan," Concordia Theological Monthly 35:1 (1967):8-17.]
God’s people should acknowledge God’s goodness to them publicly, not forgetting their former condition (cf. Heb 13:15; Eph 5:4; Php 4:6; Col 2:7; Col 3:16; Col 4:2; 2Co 9:15).