Read Deuteronomy 26
Firstfruits and Tithes
26 When you have entered the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance and have taken possession of it and settled in it, 2 take some of the firstfruits of all that you produce from the soil of the land the Lord your God is giving you and put them in a basket. Then go to the place the Lordyour God will choose as a dwelling for his Name 3 and say to the priest in office at the time, “I declare today to the Lord your God that I have come to the land the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us.” 4 The priest shall take the basket from your hands and set it down in front of the altar of the Lordyour God. 5 Then you shall declare before the Lord your God: “My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt with a few peopleand lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous. 6 But the Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer, subjecting us to harsh labor. 7 Then we cried out to the Lord, the God of our ancestors, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression. 8 So the Lordbrought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with signs and wonders. 9 He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey; 10 and now I bring the firstfruits of the soil that you, Lord, have given me.” Place the basket before the Lord your God and bow down before him. 11 Then you and the Levitesand the foreigners residing among you shall rejoice in all the good things the Lord your God has given to you and your household.
12 When you have finished setting aside a tenth of all your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, you shall give it to the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied. 13 Then say to the Lord your God: “I have removed from my house the sacred portion and have given it to the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, according to all you commanded. I have not turned aside from your commands nor have I forgotten any of them. 14 I have not eaten any of the sacred portion while I was in mourning, nor have I removed any of it while I was unclean, nor have I offered any of it to the dead. I have obeyed the Lord my God; I have done everything you commanded me. 15 Look down from heaven, your holy dwelling place, and bless your people Israel and the land you have given us as you promised on oath to our ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey.”
Follow the Lord’s Commands
16 The Lord your God commands you this day to follow these decrees and laws; carefully observe them with all your heart and with all your soul. 17 You have declared this day that the Lord is your God and that you will walk in obedience to him, that you will keep his decrees, commands and laws—that you will listen to him. 18 And the Lord has declared this day that you are his people, his treasured possession as he promised, and that you are to keep all his commands. 19 He has declared that he will set you in praise, fame and honor high above all the nations he has made and that you will be a people holy to the Lord your God, as he promised.
Go Deeper
In the Old Testament, one sheaf of grain was to be brought before the priests as the “first fruits” offering. No other grain could be harvested until the first fruit offering was brought before the Lord (Leviticus 23:9-14). The offering served as a reminder to the Israelites that God delivered them out of slavery, and He blessed them with a land flowing with milk and honey. It was also an expression of trust and faith that the rest of the harvest would come to pass.
In the New Testament, instead of a sheath of grain, the first fruits offering is found in Jesus. “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20). Just as the first fruit offering paved the way, through faith, for a plentiful harvest to come, Jesus’ resurrection paved the way, through faith, for our resurrection to come.
While we are no longer obliged to tangibly give of our first fruits, we can learn a valuable lesson from the first fruit offering.
We like to make sure we take care of ourselves and then give what we have left. It is much more difficult to give first to God. Giving first costs us something. Yet the first fruit offering calls the Israelites to do just that—to give the first of their crop. Imagine how difficult this must have been for the Israelites, who for so long dreamt of dwelling in the Promised Land, free from the hands of the Egyptians. They finally reap a harvest and are commanded to give.
The act of giving an offering to God serves as a reminder of His character of deliverance and provision, and as an opportunity to rejoice for all He has done. He wants to be the first place in our hearts. He wants to be before all that we do. He wants our trust and faith to rest in Him. By giving to Him first, we remind ourselves of what He has done for us, what He will do for us, and who He is to us. We express our trust and faith in Him. Everything else we do is just an overflow of our hearts being surrendered to Him. For “everything comes from God; everything exists by His power; and everything is intended for His glory” (Romans 11:36).
Questions
- If you were to answer honestly, does God come first in your life? If not, how can He become first?
- What does the first fruit offering reveal to you?
- How can you give generously of your time, talents, and treasures out of the overflow of your heart?
Keep Digging
To learn more about the biblical difference between tithes and offerings, check out this article.
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4 thoughts on “Deuteronomy 26”
God wants us to want HIM.
God ask that when the Israelties get settled in and down in the promised land that when they harvested the crops that they give a small portion as a sacrafice offering to Him. Yes it is a “law” but more than that is He wants their hearts to be turned to Him. And now He still wants us to want Him. We seek Jesus because we are broken. Our heart change should be motivated by the grace of Jesus. With our joy being to follow Christ, to be generous, with heartfelt obedience,with an atttitude of “Look at what I have been given!”. True obedience comes from being with Jesus and experiencing His grace. “If you love me, you will keep my commands. John 14:15 CSB. God is seeking is a personal relationship with us. Obedience to His commandments is His way that we can demonstrate our love to Him. When we follow God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, we make our relationship with Him the focus of our lives in love. We obey His commandments because we love Him.
God thank You that You want me to want You. God thank You for explaining in a detailed “basket” how You want me to give of myself and every aspect of my life to honor and bless You. Continue to open the eyes of my understanding to show me how to bless You. God help me to be obedient and when I fall, help me to see so that I can quickly turn back. Thank You for this day, these minutes that my actions and words are glorifing to You. God show me who and how I can love others well today. Thank You for Your Son and His sacrifice and help me see more of You in all things today in Jesus name, amen.
WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
V5. Then you shall declare before the Lord your God: ‘My father was…..’
It strikes me as odd that in the convenience of electronic bill pay, when I make our offerings to God, I don’t recite a prayer of remembrance and thanksgiving. I simply look at the notification that a payment was made.
While I am glad I do not need to bring grain or livestock as an offering, this chapter is a lesson that I need to do a better job of remembering why the offering is being made so that I.….
…..shall rejoice in all the good things the Lord my God has given me and my household. V11
God’s job is to lead, ours is to follow. In greatest detail he has given instructions, so that his people may obey. V14 declares “I have obeyed the Lord my God; I have done everything you commanded me.”May this be true of us as Christ followers, as we remember all that he has done for us, living in a posture of gratitude and propelled to honor him by full obedience. Let our lives be a sweet offering to him.
The heart of a sinner is the first fruit that he must humbly surrender unto the Lord. God seeks us, we answer in gratitude and love of our salvation remembering that all that is given us ultimately is His. Our lives will pattern this out of our hearts.