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62 lines
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<title>Blue Letter Bible: Text Commentaries</title>
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<h2><a onclick="return mV('Deu',26,'all');">Deu 26</a> - Presenting Firstfruits and Tithes</h2>
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<p>A. Instruction for bringing the firstfruits and tithes.</p>
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<p class="c1">1. (<a onclick="return mV('Deu',26,'1-4');">1-4</a>) Bringing the firstfruits to the priest.</p>
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<p class="c2">And it shall be, when you come into the land which the <span class="c6">Lord</span> your God is giving you <i>as </i>an inheritance, and you possess it and dwell in it, that you shall take some of the first of all the produce of the ground, which you shall bring from your land that the <span class="c6">Lord</span> your God is giving you, and put <i>it </i>in a basket and go to the place where the <span class="c6">Lord</span> your God chooses to make His name abide. And you shall go to the one who is priest in those days, and say to him, “I declare today to the <span class="c6">Lord</span> your God that I have come to the country which the <span class="c6">Lord</span> swore to our fathers to give us.” Then the priest shall take the basket out of your hand and set it down before the altar of the <span class="c6">Lord</span> your God.</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">When you come into the land</span></b>: The Promised Land lay just across the Jordan River, and though there were formidable obstacles (such as a Jordan River swollen by <span>Spring</span> floods and the mighty armies of Canaanites), God still assured them that they will <b><span class="c3">come into the land</span></b>.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">Some of the first of all the produce of the ground</span></b>: <a onclick="return mV('Num',18,12);">Num 18:12</a> speaks of the firstfruits that must be regularly brought to the priests, but the firstfruits described here in <a onclick="return mV('Deu',26,'all');">Deu 26</a> seem to be a special offering of firstfruits, from the first of the harvest they gain in the Promised Land.</p>
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<p class="c4">c. <b><span class="c3">Set it down before the altar of the <span class="c6">Lord</span> your God</span></b>: Firstfruit giving obviously honored the <span class="c6">Lord</span>, because it gave the <span class="c6">Lord</span> His portion off the top, before any was used for one’s self.</p>
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<p class="c1">2. (<a onclick="return mV('Deu',26,'5-10');">5-10</a>) <span>The</span> words of thanks and praise at the giving of firstfruits.</p>
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<p class="c2">And you shall answer and say before the <span class="c6">Lord</span> your God: “My father <i>was </i>a Syrian, about to perish, and he went down to Egypt and dwelt there, few in number; and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous. But the Egyptians mistreated us, afflicted us, and laid hard bondage on us. Then we cried out to the <span class="c6">Lord</span> God of our fathers, and the <span class="c6">Lord</span> heard our voice and looked on our affliction and our labor and our oppression. So the <span class="c6">Lord</span> brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm, with great terror and with signs and wonders. He has brought us to this place and has given us this land, ‘a land flowing with milk and honey’; and now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land which you, O <span class="c6">Lord</span>, have given me.” Then you shall set it before the <span class="c6">Lord</span> your God, and worship before the <span class="c6">Lord</span> your God.</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">And you shall answer and say before the <span class="c6">Lord</span> your God</span></b>: This wonderful confession of thanks remembered the history of Israel from the time of Jacob and his family in the land of Canaan, to the family’s going down into <span>Egypt,</span> and to the eventual deliverance and Exodus into the Promised Land.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">He went down to Egypt and sojourned there</span></b>: Israel spent some 400 years in Egypt. Yet in the course of God’s eternal plan, it was nothing more than a <i>sojourn</i>. We can often focus so much on our own time of trial or misery that we think that it defines our whole life; God saw Israel’s experience in Egypt as a <i>sojourn</i>.</p>
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<p class="c4">c. <b><span class="c3">Few in number; and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous</span></b>: This was the major reason God had for sending Jacob and his family on their sojourn in Egypt. When they lived in Canaan, there was great risk of the family just assimilating with the wicked, pagan peoples around them. To prevent this, and to allow the nation to grow, God sent them down to Egypt, which was a very racist society, and who would not intermarry with Israel. Therefore, they could go down there <b><span class="c3">few in number; and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous</span></b>.</p>
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<p class="c4">d. <b><span class="c3">And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land</span></b>: This initial giving of firstfruits when Israel came into the Promised Land was an appropriate way to say “thank you” to the <span class="c6">Lord</span>. This giving, and all giving done with the right heart, is a proper way to <b><span class="c3">worship before the <span class="c6">Lord</span> your God</span></b>.</p>
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<p class="c1">3. (<a onclick="return mV('Deu',26,11);">11</a>) <span><b><span class="c3">So</span></b></span><b><span class="c3"> you shall rejoice</span></b>.</p>
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<p class="c2">So you shall rejoice in every good <i>thing </i>which the <span class="c6">Lord</span> your God has given to you and your house, you and the Levite and the stranger who <i>is </i>among you.</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">Rejoice in every good thing which the <span class="c6">Lord</span> your God has given to you</span></b>: When we receive from the <span class="c6">Lord</span>, and give back to Him, it makes us rejoice. It is the proper response of a creature to his Creator, who has supplied him with all good things.</p>
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<p class="c1">4. (<a onclick="return mV('Deu',26,'12-15');">12-15</a>) <span>The</span> prayer for the giving of the tithe.</p>
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<p class="c2">When you have finished laying aside all the tithe of your increase in the third year; the year of tithing; and have given <i>it </i>to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, so that they may eat within your gates and be filled, then you shall say before the <span class="c6">Lord</span> your God: “I have removed the holy <i>tithe </i>from <i>my </i>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 <i>them</i><span>. </span>I have not eaten any of it when in <span>mourning, nor</span> have I removed <i>any </i>of it for an unclean <i>use, </i>nor given <i>any </i>of it for the dead. I have obeyed the voice of the <span class="c6">Lord</span> my God, and have done according to all that <span>You</span> have commanded me. Look down from <span>Your</span> holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel and the land which You have given us, just as You swore to our fathers, ‘a land flowing with milk and honey.’ “</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">When you have finished laying aside all the tithe</span></b>: The <b><span class="c3">tithe</span></b> was required of Israel every year, but every <b><span class="c3">third year</span></b>, the tithe was given not only to the Levites for their support (as was instructed in <a onclick="return mV('Num',18,'21-24');">Num 18:21-24</a>), but was to by shared by <b><span class="c3">the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, so they may eat within your gates and be filled</span></b>.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">Then you shall say</span></b>: The prayer described here shows that the giving was done with the right kind of heart. God not only wants us to give, but to give with the right heart.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. Right giving is done according to God’s Word: <b><span class="c3">According to all <span>Your</span> commandments which you have commanded me</span></b>.</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. Right giving is done within the context of a whole life of obedience: <b><span class="c3">I have not transgressed <span>Your</span> commandments, nor have I forgotten them</span></b>.</p>
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<p class="c5">iii. <b><span class="c3">I have not eaten any of it . . . nor have I removed any of it</span></b>: Right giving genuinely sets aside what is to be given unto the <span class="c6">Lord</span>.</p>
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<p class="c5">iv. <b><span class="c3">Nor given any of it for the dead</span></b>: Right giving is not done superstitiously; “Putting food in a grave with a dead body was a common Egyptian and Canaanite practice, which is most likely what the Israelites were not to emulate.” (Kalland)</p>
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<p class="c5">v. <b><span class="c3">Look down from <span>Your</span> holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people</span></b>: Right giving is done with the expectation of blessing.</p>
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<p>B. Moses’ exhortation to Israel.</p>
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<p class="c1">1. (<a onclick="return mV('Deu',26,16);">16</a>) A call to complete obedience.</p>
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<p class="c2">This day the <span class="c6">Lord</span> your God commands you to observe these statutes and judgments; therefore you shall be careful to observe them with all your heart and with all your soul.</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">This day the <span class="c6">Lord</span> your God commands you to observe these statutes and judgments</span></b>: <a onclick="return mV('Deu',4,1);">Deu 4:1</a> began this long section with the words <i>Now, O Israel, list to the statutes and the judgments which I teach you to observe</i>. From Deuteronomy chapter 4 through chapter 26, Moses has reminded Israel of God’s commands. Now he exhorted them to <i>keep</i> the commands.</p>
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<p class="c4"><span>b</span>. <b><span class="c3">therefore you shall be careful to observe them</span></b>: Sometimes we need to be <i>instructed </i>regarding the law of God; sometimes we need to be <i>reminded</i> regarding the law of God. But most often, we need to be <i>exhorted</i> regarding the law of God. We know what to do, but we need to be encouraged to actually <i>do it</i>.</p>
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<p class="c1">2. (<a onclick="return mV('Deu',26,17);">17</a>) Israel’s proclamation.</p>
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<p class="c2">Today you have proclaimed the <span class="c6">Lord</span> to be your God, and that you will walk in His ways and keep His statutes, His commandments, and His judgments, and that you will obey His voice.</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">Today you have proclaimed the <span class="c6">Lord</span> to be your God</span></b>: Israel was to proclaim two things. First, that <b><span class="c3">the <span class="c6">Lord</span> to be their God</span></b>. Second, that they <b><span class="c3">will walk in His ways and keep His statutes</span></b>. The two go together, because the identity of our God is always demonstrated by the direction of our obedience.</p>
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<p class="c1">3. (<a onclick="return mV('Deu',26,'18-19');">18-19</a>) God’s proclamation.</p>
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<p class="c2">Also today the <span class="c6">Lord</span> has proclaimed you to be His special people, just as He promised you, that <i>you </i>should keep all His commandments, and that He will set you high above all nations which He has made, in praise, in name, and in honor, and that you may be a holy people to the <span class="c6">Lord</span> your God, just as He has spoken.</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">The <span class="c6">Lord</span> has proclaimed you to be His special people</span></b>: Israel’s obedience to the <span class="c6">Lord</span> would be more than rewarded. God promised that He exalt an obedient Israel, to set them <b><span class="c3">high above all nations which He has made, in praise, in name, and in honor</span></b>.</p>
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