Offerings of Firstfruits and Tithes. “Then it shall be, when you enter the land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance, and you take possession of it and live in it,
that you shall take some of the first of all the produce of the ground which you harvest from the 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 (Presence). Deu 26:1-2
INTRODUCTION TO THE OLD TESTAMENT
The Law Repeated for the New Generation
II. MOSES’ SECOND DISCOURSE, Deuteronomy 5-28
2. Laws Regulating the Religious and Social Life of the People, Deuteronomy 12-26
22. What lesson was annually taught by the offering of first-fruits?
INTRODUCTION
This is again the Greek name for this book, and signifies the “second giving of the Law.” It contains the records of public addresses to Israel, delivered in the eleventh month of the fortieth year of their wanderings through the Wilderness. As Moses uttered them on the eve of his own speedy removal, he was able to speak with unusual emphasis and urgency. The allusions to the natural features amidst which these addresses were given are consistent with the place and speaker. It has been shown also by competent scholarship that Deuteronomy has all the peculiarities of Moses’ style; and any differences of hortatory entreaty and appeal may be accounted for by the mellowing effect of age.
The special references to this book in the New Testament are very significant. Our Lord quoted from it thrice in His Temptation, Mat_4:4; Mat_4:10. See also Rom_10:19; Act_3:22; Act_7:37. There are touches by a later writer, and an appendix, Deu_34:1-12; but the origin of the treatise as a whole must be ascribed to the great Lawgiver.
OFFERINGS OF FIRSTFRUITS AND TITHES
“Then it shall be, when you enter the land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance, and you take possession of it and live in it,
that you shall take some of the first of all the produce of the ground which you harvest from the 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 (Presence).
You 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.’
Then the priest will take the basket from you and place it before the altar of the LORD your God.
And you shall say before the LORD your God, ‘My father [Jacob] was a wandering Aramean, and he [along with his family] went down to Egypt and lived there [as strangers], few in number; but while there he became a great, mighty and populous nation.
And the Egyptians treated us badly and oppressed us, and imposed hard labor on us.
Then we cried out to the LORD, the God of our fathers for help, and He heard our voice and saw our suffering and our labor and our [cruel] oppression;
and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with great terror [suffered by the Egyptians] and with signs and with wonders;
and He has brought us to this place and has given us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.
And now, look, I have brought the first of the produce of the ground which You, O LORD, have given me.’ And you shall place it before the LORD your God, and shall worship before the LORD your God;
and you and the Levite and the stranger (resident alien, foreigner) among you shall rejoice in all the good which the LORD your God has given you and your household.
“When you have finished paying all the tithe of your produce the third year, [which is] the year of tithing, then you shall give it to the Levite, to the stranger, to the orphan, and to the widow, so that they may eat within the gates of your cities and be satisfied.
“You shall say before the LORD your God, ‘I have removed the sacred portion (the tithe) from my house and also have given it to the Levite, to the stranger, to the orphan, and to the widow, in accordance with all that You have commanded me. I have not transgressed or forgotten any of Your commandments.
I have not eaten from the tithe while mourning, nor have I removed any of it when I was [ceremonially] unclean [making the tithe ceremonially unclean], nor offered any of it to the dead. I have listened to the voice of the LORD my God; I have done everything in accordance with all that You have commanded me.
Look down from Your holy dwelling above, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel, and the land which You have given us, as You have sworn to our fathers, a land [of plenty] flowing with milk and honey.’
“This day the LORD your God commands you to do these statutes and judgments (precepts). Therefore, you shall be careful to do them with all your heart and with all your soul (your entire being).
Today you have [openly] declared the LORD to be your God, and that you will walk [that is, live each and every day] in His ways and keep His statutes, His commandments, and His judgments (precepts), and listen to His voice.
Today the LORD has declared that you are His people, His treasured possession, just as He promised you, and that you are to keep all His commandments;
and that He will set you high above all the nations which He has made, for praise, fame, and honor: and that you shall be a holy people [set apart and consecrated] to the LORD your God, just as He has spoken.”
Comments by
F.B.Meyer
On
Deuteronomy 26:1-19
FIRST-FRUITS AND TITHES
The Israelites were God’s 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.
Note to the reader: Let us never forget that Jesus Christ the Mesiah was the “First-Fruits” as He was the first to be risen from the dead never to die again, as we will be one day if we accept Him as the SON of GOD the Father and follow in His ways.
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