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Deuteronomy chapter 26, just
a bit of a review on the structure of the book of Deuteronomy is
sort of set up as a covenantal document and uh... some scholars
have seen parallels between what we find in terms of biblical
covenants and the covenantal arrangements going on in ancient
near-eastern cities or other nations so this isn't unique
to biblical or to the people of god but it's not as if the
people of god adopted those customs it was just a way where the king
or the Lord would make an agreement or a covenant with his subject
people. And the book of Deuteronomy starts
with a preamble or an introduction in chapter 1, verses 1 to 4,
and then there is a historical prologue, chapter 1, verse 5
to chapter 4, verse 43. Basically, what the historical
prologue does is it is where the Lord or the king making the
covenant rehearses or reviews what he has done for his people. And then the next section is
stipulations. And that took from chapter 4,
verse 44, all the way to the end of chapter 26. So the bulk
of this book is found in the stipulations. And then the latter
section is what's called succession. In a covenant document, there
was built into it directions for succession or for what's
going to happen in the future. And that's chapter 31. I'm sorry,
I'm missing a spot here. Let me just, oh, the oaths and
curses and the blessings, that comes between the stipulation
and succession. So after the section that we
are finishing tonight, then there's a section dealing with blessings,
curses, and ratification. So the idea being, if you do
what the stipulations mandate, you will be blessed. If you disobey,
then you will be cursed. And then the final section beginning
in chapter 31 to 34 is succession. It is arranged as a covenant
treaty or a covenant document, and so we come tonight to the
last portion of the stipulation section. And what it deals with
are two particular observations wherein the people of God are
thankful to Him for His goodness and His kindness to them. It
deals with the law concerning firstfruits, the law concerning
the tithe, and then there is a commitment to the covenant
in verses 16 to 19 in this particular chapter. So that's sort of where
we're going tonight. So verses 1 to 11 deals with
the law concerning the first fruits. Verses 12 to 15 deals
with the law concerning the tithe. You'll notice there's no money-back
guarantee with reference to the tithe. You don't give, and if
God doesn't bless, then they return your money. I mentioned
a couple weeks ago there's a church that has that. I saw it on their
website. You know, we know it's difficult
for you to probably tithe, and so we want to, you know, tell
you to do this for 90 days. If you don't experience great
blessing, then we'll refund your money. after those 90 days. I can't find a money-back guarantee
under Moses, so I'm guessing that that's a wrong practice.
I know it's a wrong practice. And then verses 16 to 19, as
I mentioned, deals with the commitment to the covenant or a bit of a
ratification of the covenant. So beginning in chapter 26 at
verse 1, And it shall be when you come into the land which
the Lord your God is giving you as 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 Lord your God is giving you, and put it in a basket
and go to the place where the Lord 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
Lord your God that I have come to the country which the Lord
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 Lord your God. And you shall answer and say
before the Lord your God, my father was a Syrian, or an Aramean,
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 Lord God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice
and looked on our affliction and our labor and our oppression.
So the Lord 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 first fruits of the land
which you, O Lord, have given me. Then you shall set it before
the Lord your God and worship before the Lord your God. So
you shall rejoice in every good thing which the Lord your God
has given to you and your house, you and the Levite, and the stranger
who is among you. When you have finished laying
aside all the tithe of your increase in the third year, the year of
tithing, and have given it 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 Lord your
God, 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. I have not eaten any of it when
in mourning, nor have I removed any of it for an unclean use,
nor given any of it for the dead. I have obeyed the voice of the
Lord, my God, and have done according to all that you have commanded
me. Look down from your 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. This day the Lord 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. Today you have proclaimed the
Lord 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. Also today the Lord has proclaimed
you to be His special people, just as He promised you that
you 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 Lord your
God, just as He has spoken. Amen. So as I said, this concludes
the larger section of stipulations. We've gone through a large body
of material dealing with the law. In fact, if you go back
to 12.1 for just a moment, I mentioned that it begins in chapter 4,
verse 44, with an introduction to the Decalogue. The Decalogue
or Ten Commandments is then given in chapter 5. And from chapter
6 on, we see a lot of exhortation, a lot of command, a lot of emphasis
on obedience in the land, and things will go well with them.
And then specifically, the outworking of those case laws begins in
chapter 12 at verse 1. These are the statutes and judgments
which you shall be careful to observe in the land, which the
Lord God of your fathers is giving you to possess. If you compare
that with what we just read in 26.16, this day the Lord 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. You see how it sort of bookends that section
in between dealing with various laws governing their conduct.
when they go into the promised land of Canaan. And so the first
one we want to notice tonight, these are sort of crowning activities. They are laws to be sure and
things they need to obey in terms of the first fruits and in terms
of tithing. They are an act of worship and
a time to express thankfulness to the Lord God Almighty. What
you see in the scriptures is a common pattern. You see guilt
or misery or some sort of oppression, and then you see the grace and
the kindness and the mercy of God, and then you see the recipients
of that grace, mercy, and kindness respond in gratitude. The Heidelberg Catechism follows
that threefold pattern. It goes guilt, grace, misery. And when we look at the exodus
out of Egypt, the guilt or the bondage or the oppression was
their time there as slaves in Egypt. The Lord delivers them
in the exodus and then they are to respond in the land with gratitude,
with thanksgiving, and with love and worship directed to their
covenant Lord. Now, as I've mentioned many,
many, many times, we know that they don't do what God commands
them. We'll see in the space of a few
weeks already, there is a promise of the new covenant in the latter
chapters in the book of Deuteronomy. All of this, God knew, was a
temporary arrangement. The people of Israel were going
to sin. Much of the reason why these
laws were given, or one of the reasons why these laws were given,
was to continually impress the people with the need for a Savior. In other words, there was a pedagogical
function in the law given at Sinai. It was to direct them,
it was to guide them, it was to show them their need for the
Lord Jesus Christ. A pedagogue is simply a child
tutor. Paul tells us in Galatians 3
that the Old Covenant functioned in that particular way. It was
a child tutor, it was one to instruct us, one to show us of
our need for the Lord Jesus Christ and the deliverance that He brings
through His cross. Now, having said that, the people
here didn't know that they were going to go into the land and
fail. They were supposed to listen and obey. So that's the way we
treat the passage of Scripture here. So, first of all, the law
concerning firstfruits. Notice the reminder in verse
1. And it shall be when you come into the land which the Lord
your God is giving you as an inheritance. I think it would
be an interesting study. Probably wouldn't take long.
A simple concordance would help us. to find out how many times
it's been impressed upon the people that they're going into
the land which the Lord your God is giving you. In other words,
grace is always set forth as the reason upon which, or the
foundation upon which, they are to live godly before God the
Lord. Same pattern in the New Testament.
We're delivered freely by the grace of God, and it's on that
basis of what God has done for us in and through Jesus Christ
that we are then to pursue holiness, that we are then to live as godly
men and women. And so Moses, God through Moses,
never wants to let the people forget that it's by grace that
they stand upon this ground. and it shall be when you come
into the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an
inheritance. Notice the occasion that this
offering of firstfruits would come to play. Now, there are
traces of firstfruits offering connected with other offerings
in the Old Testament. But here specifically, what Moses
has in view, or God the Covenant Lord has in view, notice, when
you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you
as an inheritance, and you possess it, and you dwell in it. So after
the conquest, I think we might as well just continue after we
finish Deuteronomy just to go right into the book of Joshua
and then Judges. I think those are a natural place
to go in our studies on Wednesday night. But when you get to Joshua,
that is tasked with going into the land, conquering the land,
and then dividing up the land. And so the idea is, is that when
that task is complete, when that particular job is finished, then
they are to engage in this offering of first fruits. In other words,
when they have this, you know, they've gotten settled, they've
got their house, they don't have a housewarming party where people
bring them trinkets, rather they engage in this offering of the
first fruits. And God specifies how this is
to take place in verses 2 to 4. It says that you shall take
some of the first of all the produce of the ground, which
you shall bring from your land that the Lord your God is giving
you, and put it in a basket and go to the place where the Lord
your God chooses to make His name abide. Remember, it was
in Deuteronomy chapter 12, where God says, there will be a central
sanctuary. Initially, it was probably Shiloh.
Bethel seemed to have been a place where there was some centralized
worship. We know ultimately it's going
to be in Jerusalem. When David consolidates power,
he takes Jerusalem as sort of the capital or headquarters,
it is the political headquarters, and then he brings the Ark of
the Covenant there, and it becomes the religious headquarters as
well. Then, of course, the temple is built there, that's the central
sanctuary, that's where these people would go. Wherever they
were living, they would take this basket of the first fruits,
and they would then go to that central sanctuary, and they would
offer it up to the Lord God Most High. The repetitive emphasis
on the grace character of the land. Again and again it's highlighted
there. From the land, or from your land
that the Lord your God is giving you. This is gratitude based
on the reality that God has given them grace. They're not doing
this in order to be redeemed, in order to get the land. It's not a barter system. They
don't take these first fruits and then God apportions the land. Rather, God gives them the land
graciously and then they respond in gratitude to the Lord God
Most High. Verse 3, you shall go to the
one who is priest in those days and say to him, I declared to
the Lord, your God, that I have come to the country, which the
Lord swore to our fathers to give us." So they were to put
the first fruits in a basket, take the basket to the central
sanctuary, come before the priest, and then the priest sets the
basket before the altar of the Lord. Now, when we drop down
to verses 10 and 11, The offerer then takes the basket and presents
it to the Lord. Some have seen a big contradiction
there and some redactor came and didn't know what he was doing.
There's nothing wrong with seeing the priest doing it and then
the offerer himself doing it. There's nothing inconsistent
or contradictory about this particular activity. So the priest takes
the basket, according to verse 4, out of your hand, he sets
it down before the altar of the Lord your God, and you shall
answer and say before the Lord your God. Now this is why history
and theology really matters. The man who offers up knows why
he's offering up. The man who goes about this task
of worship has a particular idea of the God whom he worships.
In other words, Christianity or the religion of the Bible
is not a mindless act. It's not a disengage or turn
off or tune out. Rather it is to load the mind
and to load the heart with the facts of God's revelation. with the facts of God's redeeming
activity. This is precisely what the worshiper
does here. Think if you think a little bit
and make some comparisons to what we see in this chapter.
It's not directly one-to-one, but when we come to the Lord's
Supper, we're not turning off our minds. but rather we're reminding
ourselves of the great redemptive act that Christ accomplished
on behalf of his people. In other words, Christianity
is about filling the mind and filling the heart so that our
worship will then be consistent with that knowledge. Christianity
is not empty-headed. It's not foolish. It's not madness. It is not just about doing some
chanting and having some thoughts about meadows or whatever. No,
what the worshipper does here is he recounts and rehearses
the mighty acts of God in the redemption of his people. He
speaks first of their dwelling in Egypt, verse 5. And you shall
answer and say before the Lord your God, my father was a Syrian
or the margin reads an Aramean 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. This is a reference.
to Jacob. And why does Moses, or God here,
refer to him as a Syrian or an Aramean? I didn't know. Meredith
Klein says, the references to Jacob, he is called Aramean because
the patriarchal origins were geographically, though not racially,
Aramean. And because Jacob himself sojourned
in Aram Naharim, during the period of the birth of his sons, the
future tribal fathers of Israel. So you see, in the space of just
a few verses, when this worshipper presents this basket to the priest,
the priest lays it on the altar before the Lord, then he confesses
certain tenets of the faith. In fact, one man says that this
was the creed of Israel. I don't know that that's necessarily
the case, but you see why he would say that. The offerer or
the worshiper had to rehearse, not had to, he got to rehearse,
these blessed truths concerning God. How did we get from this
dwelling in Egypt to this land of promise? How did I get to
the place where I have this basket of beautiful fruits and vegetables
that I'm able to present before the Lord God? You see, again,
the same pattern holds true in the New Testament. When we come
to take the supper, it ought never to be disengaged from the
preaching of the Word. that bread and wine is not a
magical element. It's not something that somehow
conveys power over the worshipper. It is in conjunction with the
Word. The Word explains. The preaching
of the Gospel and the doctrine of God's revelation explains
that particular sign to make it what it is. We don't just
take bread, wherever we might be, and eat it and think that
somehow we're getting a blessing. No, it is conjoined with the
proclamation of the word. Same idea here. He doesn't just
bring this basket, dump it on the ground, and then head home
and do what he wants to do. No, he remembers God. He rehearses
the mighty redemptive acts of God. He speaks of the dwelling
in Egypt. He then mentions, secondly, the
affliction that they endured in Egypt in verse 6. But the
Egyptians mistreated us, they afflicted us, and they laid hard
bondage on us. And again, I think it brings
into stark relief the grace character of what's going on here. We've
gone from a position of slavery, of harsh treatment, oppressive
treatment, at the hands of godless men, to a place now where I've
got a basket of fruit and I'm presenting it before my covenant
Lord. I don't think this was just some
dry ritual, I'm sure it was for the heartless Israelite, but
for the believing Israelite, he's probably rejoicing, his
heart is throbbing, he's delighting in the reality, much like when
the true believer takes that bread and takes that wine and
remembers in a special way the Lord who saved him from his sins. This is a time for great celebration
and of great rejoicing. This guy wasn't going through
this motion because he had to. He was going through this. Yes,
it was commanded, but it was the natural outflow of the grace
of God that he had experienced in being brought out of Egypt
into this blessed, lush land that the Lord God had given to
them. So he deals with the affliction.
Then thirdly, he speaks of their cry for deliverance in Egypt
in verse 7. Then we cried out to the Lord
God of our fathers. And the Lord heard our voice
and looked on our affliction and our labor and our oppression.
Again, you see that idea there. We cried to the Lord, and it
was the Lord who undertook. We didn't get out of Egypt because
we were strong, or more mighty, or more able. We did not go out
of Egypt based on our own successful military campaigning. We went
out of Egypt because God heard, God listened, or God looked on
our affliction, and our labor, and our oppression. And then
he deals forthly with the exodus from Egypt, verse 8. So the Lord
brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and with outstretched
arm, with great terror and with signs and wonders. It wasn't
our mighty hand. It wasn't our outstretched arm.
It wasn't our signs. It wasn't our wonders. It was
the Lord God Almighty who did this. As he's standing there,
as he sees this bowl or this basket of fruit being presented
to the Lord, all of these redemptive truths are being played over
in his mind and in his heart. Again, the faithful in Israel
were probably rejoicing. This was the equivalent of singing
Newton's hymn, Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Sound, that saved
a wretch like me. I mean, that's precisely what
we find in these verses as he's rehearsing redemptive history.
and the mercy and the kindness of God, this is an act of worship
unto the Lord. So God delivers us out of Egypt
with a mighty hand, with outstretched arm, with great terror, with
signs and wonders, and then fifthly, he mentions again the gift of
the land, verse 9. Never underestimate that promise
in the Old Testament. Land was paramount. Land was
big. Ground and dirt mattered to the
Israelites. The fact that they were now standing
in Canaan, the fact that they now had a basket full of fruit
and vegetables grown in Canaan, the fact that they were now enjoying
the milk and honey that flowed in Canaan, all that the Lord
God had promised way back when, Prior to that time in Egypt,
way back in Abraham's time, all of those promises that the Lord
God had mentioned, all of the promises that were ratified through
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob have come to fruition. This basket
of fruit is a testimony to the covenant faithfulness of the
Lord our God. This land that we now dwell in,
he describes it in verse 9. He has brought us to this place
and has given us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. And then he comes to present
these first fruits, verses 10 and 11. And now, behold, I have
brought the first fruits of the land which you, O Lord, have
given me. Then you shall set it before
the Lord your God and worship before the Lord your God, so
you shall rejoice in every good thing which the Lord your God
has given to you and your house, you and the Levite, and the stranger
who is among you. So you see the procedure, you
see the ordinance, you see the law enacted. You are to acknowledge
the faithfulness of God. And this is big. Harmon makes
this observation. This was an acknowledgment that
it was Yahweh, not Baal, the fertility god of the Canaanites. You see, when the Canaanites
grew things on that dirt, they danced around and praised Baal.
Not so the Israelite. The Israelite acknowledges that
it's the Lord God Most High who has given these good gifts to
us. Harmon says this was an acknowledgment
that it was Yahweh, not Baal, the fertility god of the Canaanites,
who was the provider, and therefore it was fitting that the offeror
set the basket down before the altar and worshiped the Lord.
Additionally, it was an acknowledgment that it was the Lord who had
blessed that. They didn't say, look at our great farming skills. Look at how quick we picked this
up. We went from a wilderness people,
a sort of nomadic people, and our first little bit of time
in the land. Look at all the good stuff we've grown. They
acknowledge it's the hand of God most high. It is the Lord
who rains on their ground. It is the Lord who causes the
sun to shine. It is the Lord who gives sprout
to those seeds. It is the Lord who has filled
their baskets. And this one basket of firstfruits
is symbolic of all that they have at home. And so it's a time
to acknowledge the kindness of God. It then is also a time to
sacrifice to the Lord. a time to sacrifice, a time to
show and to acknowledge that the Lord God is the giver of
these good gifts. We're going to give Him this
basket of firstfruits, not grudgingly, not because we have to, but as
a sign of our thankfulness and our worship unto this great God
who has blessed us so mercifully. So it is an acknowledgement it
is sacrifice, it is worship. That is specified there very
specifically at the end of verse 10. Then you shall set it before
the Lord your God and worship before the Lord your God. What
should the revelation of God's mighty redemptive works produce
in his people? Worship. Why do we come here
on Sunday? Why do we read the Scripture?
Why do we preach the Scripture? Why do we sing the Scripture?
Why do we look at the Scripture in the ordinances? What is that
supposed to promote? Worship, praise, adoration, the
honor of the living and true God. Theology promotes doxology. What we know about God ought
to produce worship that is consistent with God. And that is precisely
what is going on here. This basket of fruit becomes
the means by which the faithful Israelite acknowledges, sacrifices,
and worships before the Lord. But it doesn't end there. Notice
in verse 11. So you shall rejoice in every
good thing which the Lord your God has given to you in your
house, you and the Levite and the stranger who is among you.
In other words, when that man offered up that basket, he didn't
say, man, I could sell this at the local market and make a bunch
of money. He's rejoicing that God's blessed
him. The New Covenant worshipper,
when he gives whatever he gives to the Lord, he doesn't say,
because there's a money-back guarantee. And if I don't get
X amount of blessings, well, then the church will give me
back my dough. He doesn't give it because somebody's going to
put a gun to his head. He doesn't give it because the
deacon's going to come knocking on his door, you know, with a
big plumber's pipe. He doesn't give it under coercion. He gives it cheerfully. He gives
it happily. He gives it thankfully as a sign
that God has blessed him. And of course, this is the natural
and logical outflow of the one who has enjoyed the great redemptive
acts of God Most High. This is what we see, not just
in Deuteronomy 26, but what we see in the New Covenant Scriptures
as well. The grace of God as demonstrated
It is observing their affliction, hearing their cries for deliverance,
and redeeming them from bondage to Egypt leads to sacrifice,
worship, service, and joy in the presence of the Lord God
Most High. Romans 12. You can turn there,
just so you can see this pattern. Romans chapter 12. What does
Paul do in chapters 1 to 11? He rehearses the great redemptive
acts of God. It's a little bit longer than
what we find in Deuteronomy chapter 26. Paul gets into a lot more
detail in terms of what justification by faith looks like, and how
it is that Christ can die for us, and how it is that we are
to live the sanctified life, how we are as justified believers
relative to the law, what the case of ethnic Israel is in terms
of chapters 9 to 11, but it's the same thing in essence. Paul
in Romans 1 to 11 rehearses the great redemptive acts of God
Most High. Notice how chapter 12 verse 1
begins, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God."
You shouldn't have to scratch your head and say, what does
he mean? He's just detailed and outlined in the space of 11 chapters
what the mercies of God look like. The mercies of God look
like, you know, summarized in Romans 5a, God demonstrates His
own love toward us, and that while we were still sinners,
Christ died for us. The mercies of God are seen in
the reality that He has saved sinners from their sin by and
through the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. So in chapter 12.1,
I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you
present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to
God, which is your reasonable service. Paul says, this is reasonable,
this is rational, this is fitting, this is gratitude in response
to the grace that you have been shown. That grace that delivered
you from the guilt and misery of sin. And do not be conformed
to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind
that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect
will of God. Same idea in 1 Corinthians 11.
Paul speaks of the institution of the supper given by Christ
on the night he was betrayed. Jesus took bread. He took the
cup. He explains the significance
of it. He rehearses those redemptive
benefits. He rehearses those great acts.
And then the worshiper takes and he glorifies and he honors
and he delights in God. And when we go back to 26.11,
when he says, so you shall rejoice, It's not a command in the sense
that you better like it, you better smile if you don't. No, he's going to rejoice. The unconverted Israelite would
go through this ritual probably somewhat grudgingly. The faithful
Israelite, when he gets to this point, when he's presented his
gift to the Lord God Almighty and he's reconsidered or he's
rehearsed all these particular facts, well certainly joy would
well up in his heart. Worship is a joyful experience. Worship is a time to rejoice
in the Lord our God. How can we not when we consider
amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like
me. I once was lost but now am found,
was blind but now I see. How can we sing when we've been
there 10,000 years bright shining as the sun, we've no less days
to sing God's praise than when we first begun? How does that
not make us joyful and happy and delight? Or when we sing
that stanza in 580, my sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought.
I hope we're not saying that out of duty, my sin or the bliss
of this glory. We should be outside of ourselves. We should be back-flipping. We
should be holy-jigging. We should make Pentecostals look
tame. Especially as Reformed Christians,
when we understand the doctrine of total depravity and total
inability and the power of the atoning work of Jesus Christ,
The Pentecostals ought to be jealous of the kind of joy that
we as Reformed Christians have. We understand the doctrine of
God's Word. I'm not saying we alone. I'm
just saying there is a more accurate understanding in terms of Reformed
theology. It ought not to promote coldness
or hardness or a dryness. It ought to promote life and
joy and happiness and a holy exultation in the presence of
the Lord God Almighty. The knowledge of God's redemptive
history was crucial to the faithful Israelite, and it remains so
today. That's why we tell you, you know,
all the time, theology matters, history matters, what God has
done. Focus on those realities. I'm convinced as well that they
serve not only to promote joy in worship, but they serve to
promote hope in the midst of trial. What's going to help you
in that valley? What's going to help you in those
dark times? What's going to deliver you when
you're struggling and battling against sin? It's the reality
and the knowledge of the great redemptive acts of God. There's
certain Psalms ascribed to Asaph in the 70s, in the Psalter. And Asaph was a melancholy brother. And Asaph would agonize over
what appeared to be God's non-involvement with the children of Israel.
And there's one particular Psalm, I'm thinking 77 or 78, He's 77
or 70, 74, 77. He's really down. There's no
immediate involvement of God in terms of delivering them from
their enemies. So what does Asaph do? He goes back to the Exodus. He goes back to the delivering
power of God at a time that he can sink his teeth in. And that
is what carries him, that is what gets him through what appears
to be a very difficult and trying time. So theology not only matters
in terms of promoting worship in the public place to God, but
theology matters in carrying us in the private place, when
we're battling sin, when we're struggling against sin, when
we've got issues or problems or trials or difficulties, whatever
the case may be, we can latch on to the God of history, to
the God of sovereignty, to the God who delivers His people and
realize He is going to make good on His promises. Remember the
time span that Israel spent in Egypt. It wasn't, you know, I'm
going to do this and the next day He did it. a 400-year period
in that. How did the children of God,
the faithful in Israel, keep themselves or keep persevering?
God's faithful. He promised to Abraham he's going
to make good. God's faithful. He says he's
going to bring me through these trials. I've got to believe that.
I know, based on the past, that what he has said is true. So
that's the law of the first fruits. Second, the law concerning the
tithe. verses 12 to 15. Much of this
material we already covered in Deuteronomy chapter 14. Now this
is the triennial tithe, the every three year tithe. So conceivably,
if you got into the land and you offered up the first fruits
and you put it in the basket, you presented it to the priest,
and you presented it before Yahweh, Two years later, you would do
this triennial tithe, because you've been in the land three
years. But then subsequent to that, it's every three years.
The triennial tithe is spoken of in Deuteronomy 14 specifically,
verses 28 to 29, gets into the nuts and the bolts, gets into
the nitty gritty. And it sounds like it reads just
like what we find here. So the necessity to tithe, verse
12a, when you have finished laying aside all the tithe of your increase
in the third year, the year of tithing, and have given it to
the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, so
that they may eat within your gates and be filled." Remember,
that portion for others. Remember, that was built into
the system, so that the people who had plenty were able to help
and care for the people who did not. In what we read here, and
what we read in Deuteronomy 14, it's the Levite, the stranger,
the fatherless, and the widow. Remember that the Levite did
not get their own cities. The fatherless, obviously, were
at a position of disadvantage. The widow was at a position of
disadvantage. The stranger was at a position
of disadvantage. So the law of the land was such,
or the law of God, rather, was such that within that tithe mechanism,
there was a portion set aside for the downtrodden and poor.
It was a time to express love, a time to express community,
a time to express genuine charity in a very gracious and kind and
wonderful manner. So the tithe, the commitment
to it, or the necessity of it, rather, is found there in verse
12. And then in verse 13. Then you shall say before the
Lord your God. So just like what we see in this
offering of the first fruits. Doesn't just throw the basket
up on the altar and go. No, he comes with his tithe,
and he makes a declaration. The word accompanies the sign.
It gives explanation, explains the significance of the particular
activity. There's a great parallel here.
Anybody that gets in that baptismal tank ought to speak up for themselves.
If that's what they did when they were tithing, they were
giving the explanation for it, then we ought to make them when
it comes to the baptistry. That's note to self. Nobody's
going to read anymore. You get up there and you expound.
No, I'm kidding. But here's what they said, verse
13. Then you shall say before the Lord your God, 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. I have not eaten any of
it when in mourning, nor have I removed any of it for an unclean
use. nor given any of it for the dead." I guess those would
be pagan ways. Those would be pagan rituals.
They are forbidden to engage in that sort of mentality. Basically,
the idea is, is God has blessed us by bringing us into the land. We're going to offer up this
tithe as an evidence, as gratitude, and with the hope that through
our obedience, or because of our obedience, the Lord will
continue to bless us. The Lord will continue to be
gracious to us. in terms of this arrangement
in the land of Canaan in which we live. Verse 14, I have not
eaten any of it when in mourning, nor have I removed any of it
for an unclean use, nor given any of it for the dead. I have
obeyed the voice of the Lord my God and have done according
to all that you have commanded me. Christopher Wright makes
this good observation. with reference to the giving
of it to the Levite, the stranger, the orphan, and the widow. So
he not only doesn't do what pagans do, not only does he resist the
tendency to do what the peoples around might do, those things
that he says, I've not eaten it when I'm mourning, I have
not removed any of it for unclean use, I haven't given any of it
for the dead, I haven't used it in a pagan way, this tithe.
I've not only not done those negatives, but I've done the
positive. I've given To the Levite, I've given to the stranger, given
to the fatherless, given it to the widow. Wright says this.
This shows once again the essential thrust of Old Testament ethics. I would say an essential. I think
there's other things going on. He says, but he's just highlighting
this principle of love for neighbor. Love for the neighbor is the
practical proof of any claim love for God. Isn't this what
John tells us? How can you love God and hate
your brother? How can you love God who's invisible
and hate your brother who is visible? If you hate your brother,
don't be talking about love to God. It's just not reality. Now,
that doesn't mean you love every brother the same. It doesn't
mean you love everybody. You know, you're going to have
friends that you connect with and there's going to be, you
know, out of the 12, Jesus had three. He had Peter, James, and
John that went on the Mount of Transfiguration, that went into
Gethsemane. Out of that twelve, there were three special ones
near Jesus. I didn't hear the other nine
saying, but why aren't we in the inner circle? They didn't
whine, they didn't complain. There's a doctrine of friendship,
I think the Bible at least indirectly sets forth. We're to love all
the brethren, to be sure. We will probably gravitate towards
certain brethren. And that's not sin, that's not
wicked, it's not evil. Don't think, wow, that person
has a friend and it's not me. Have they hated you? Have they
spit on you? Have they kicked you? Have they,
you know, shot you? If they've done that, then you've
got problems. But there is an idea in the scripture
that when, you know, there's certain people that we will gravitate
to. But the idea here is that we
will love the brethren. And so Wright says that love
for the neighbor is the practical proof of any claim love for God.
It also shows how the enacted love for the poor and needy is
the practical proof of genuine God-honoring love for the neighbor.
The law itself thus agrees with the way the prophets later pinpoint
and prioritize care for the poor as somehow definitive or paradigmatic
of Israel's response to God as a whole. What he's saying is
that when you look at the prophets, one of the things that the prophets
rebuke Israel for is not showing love to one another. That's a
bad thing. When the covenant community is
not loving one another, what's the take-home message? They're
not loving God. See, when you love God, you will
love one another. It's a no-brainer. It inevitably
follows. Again, maybe not in the same
way or with the same affection or the same degree, but you genuinely
have love for brethren. He says, they argue passionately,
the prophets, that callous neglect of the weak in society utterly
invalidates all the claims of their enthusiastic religious
observance. So don't say or boast how many
times you went to the temple, how many scriptures you recited,
how many times you tithed or what you tithed or whatever,
when you don't love brethren. It just doesn't follow. He says, sacred rights are not
atonement for social wrongs. We don't just go through these
things and hope that they'll cover us for all of the garbage
that we don't do. We need to love the brethren,
and that's built in to this tithe principle. And then notice the
petition the offerer then calls out to God with. Verse 15. Look
down from your 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." This is
a powerful and a packed petition. There's some alliteration. A powerful and packed petition. Look at what they want, or look
at what the offeror rather says to God Most High. Look down from
your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless your people Israel.
He's making a theological statement here. He is acknowledging both
what's called the transcendence of God and the imminence of God. And that essentially means that
God, in transcendence, is removed from the creation. God is over
the creation. God is in his holy habitation. God is in heaven. Not just spatially,
not just up there. God is removed from the creation.
He is the creator. There's distinction. But the
worshipper, the offerer, acknowledges his imminence. That means his
nearness to the creation. You see, false religions, some
of them emphasize transcendence and they have no imminence. That's
the false religion called deism. They acknowledge the otherness
of God, but God is inactive in human affairs. Then there's the
group that emphasize immanence. God is present, but he's not
transcendent. That's called pantheism. That
means that everything is God. You see, Christianity alone has
a transcendent, immanent God. He is both removed, creator-creature
distinction, but He is with us. He is omnipresent. He is immanent. He is there personally to bless
and assist His people. So that's what the worshiper
does. He uses theology in his position and he uses covenant
theology in his petition. He says, 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. So theology, an acknowledgment
of who God is, covenant, an acknowledgment of the fact that God has sworn
an oath, and we pray that you will bless consistent with that
oath. Craigie says, the language of
the opening words of the prayer is quite remarkable, for it at
once affirms the utter transcendence of God, and yet makes plain that
God could hear the words of his people spoken in their homes
and settlements throughout the land. It's great, isn't it? He's
wholly removed, and he's right there in our closet. That's what
Christianity, that's what biblical religion brings to the table.
Deism has God as the cosmic clock watchmaker. He winds up this
world, he sets it on a shelf, he has no interaction with it
whatsoever. The pantheist has God everywhere,
but not wholly removed, not transcendent, wherein he can actually bless,
help, save, and deliver us. So the petition here is brilliant.
And then the final section, commitment to covenant or ratification. We'll see more ceremony in terms
of the covenant ratification, but this just rehearses. It's
a great summary statement of this entire section. of stipulation,
beginning properly at chapter 4, verse 42, and specifically
chapter 12, verse 1. This whole idea of the laws,
the ordinance, the statutes, all of that sort of thing. So
they are again enjoined with careful obedience. This day the
Lord 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." Notice the corporate proclamation. Again, it kind of makes you think
about what we do in 1 Corinthians 11. As often as you eat this
bread and drink this cup, you, collectively, you corporately,
you as the church, proclaim the Lord's death until He comes."
Well, this was a corporate proclamation of their willingness to be subject
to the covenant Lord. If you go back for just a moment,
you see this in Exodus 24. Exodus 24, after giving the Decalogue
in chapter 20, the laws in chapters 21 to 23, we see the covenant
ratification in chapter 24, verses 1 to 8. And a couple of times,
the people say, all the words which the Lord has said, we will
do. They say that in verse 3, and then notice in verse 7 of
Exodus 24. Then he took the book of the covenant and read in the
hearing of the people, and they said, all that the Lord has said
we will do, and be obedient. And Moses took the blood, sprinkled
it on the people, and said, this is the blood of the covenant
which the Lord has made with you according to all these words."
Which interestingly enough, this is a huge, huge significant difference
between the old and the new covenant. Notice here what they say, all
that the Lord has said we will do. Did they? No. You get to chapter 32 and they're
dancing around a calf. Who makes this statement in the
New Covenant? Jesus, with whom is the covenant
of grace made? With Christ, as the second Adam,
and all of the elect in him. When Christ says, all that the
Lord has said I will do, he carries it out. See, even back then,
I think one of the purposes for the book of Exodus was to preach
the necessity of Jesus. They could not do this. They
couldn't successfully do all that the Lord says. So going
back to 26, just to see that convention being used as corporate
proclamation, they proclaimed loyalty to the Lord of the Covenant. Verse 17 and 26. you have proclaimed
the Lord 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. Craigie says, you have proclaimed.
The verb indicates a formal declaration of commitment and may be a technical
term in terms of treaty and covenant vocabulary. So they swore allegiance,
they swore fealty to this covenant Lord. Now notice what God says
in terms of the divine proclamation in verses 18 and 19. Also today
the Lord has proclaimed you to be his special people just as
he promised you that you should keep all his commandments and
that he will set you high above all nations which he has made
in praise and name and in honor and that you may be a holy people
to the Lord your God just as he has spoken. Back in Exodus
19, 5 and 6, this was one of the purposes for Israel, that
they would be God's special people, a chosen nation. This language
is repeated in Deuteronomy 7, verse 6. Deuteronomy 14, verse
2. Interestingly enough, Titus 2,
14. uses this language of special possession, 1st Timothy 2.9.
There, obviously speaking of the church, in Titus and in 1st
Peter, it is language applied to Old Covenant Israel applied
to New Covenant Israel, which is the church of the Lord Jesus
Christ. But here, God enters into this
covenant with his people. They swear allegiance to the
Covenant Lord. The Covenant Lord swears uh... protection he swears blessing
he affirms all of the things that he has promised in his word
now of course the condition is their obedience in the land so
when they go and disobey and break covenant and God cuts them
off he's not breaking covenant he is simply operating according
to the covenant that has been made but it's interesting notice
the language that he uses in verse nineteen and that he will
set you high above all nations which he has made in praise and
name and in honor." I don't think the idea was that Israel in themselves
would be praised, would have this great name, and have this
honor. It would be as Israel reflected
the God of Israel. It would be the Lord God's glory
displayed through this covenant community. Again, Pragee says,
Israel, remaining faithful to the covenant God, would be renowned
among other nations, not because of inherent merit, but because
the covenant community would reflect the glory of the covenant
God in its national life. There's a great illustration
in Jeremiah 13, 1 to 11. God tells Jeremiah to go to this
place and get a sash. In fact, why don't we read it,
just so I don't confuse you. It's one of those signs that
the prophet's given, that sometimes we scratch our melons and say,
what's going on here? Well, thankfully the Lord interprets
for us. 13.1 of Jeremiah. Thus the Lord said to me, go
and get yourself a linen sash and put it around your waist,
but do not put it in water. So I got a sash according to
the word of the Lord and put it around my waist. And the word
of the Lord came to me the second time saying, take the sash that
you acquired, which is around your waist and arise, go to the
Euphrates and hide it there in a hole in the rock. So I went
and hid it by the Euphrates as the Lord commanded me. Now it
came to pass after many days that the Lord said to me, Arise,
go to the Euphrates and take from there the sash which I commanded
you to hide there. Then I went to the Euphrates
in Dog and I took the sash from the place where I had hidden
it, and there was the sash ruined. It was profitable for nothing.
Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Thus says the
Lord, In this manner I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great
pride of Jerusalem. This evil people who refuse to
hear my words, who follow the dictates of their hearts and
walk after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall
be just like this sash which is profitable for nothing. For
as the sash clings to the waist of a man, so I have caused the
whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah to cling
to me, says the Lord, that they may become my people for renown,
for praise, and for glory. But they would not hear." So
God likens his relationship to Israel and Judah as a man who
puts on a beautiful sash. It is to display the glory of
the man. You're not supposed to look at that sash and say,
boy, that's a great sash. You're supposed to say, that's
a great man. And that sash just shows it. It reflects that glory. That's
the purpose for which Israel is instructed in Deuteronomy
26. They are to exist in the land
of Canaan as this beautiful sash to display and to radiate the
glory of the God of Israel to the nations around them. Obviously,
we just read in Jeremiah, they don't do that. But that's the
point in Deuteronomy 26. So thus concludes the stipulation
section, the last two laws concerning rejoicing in the land, demonstrating
gratitude, worship, and service to the Lord for his kindness,
for his grace, and for his mercy. And then the section ends with
this covenant commitment or ratification ceremony in verses 16 to 19. Well, let us pray. Father, thank
you for your word and thank you for this section that we've studied
for many weeks now in Deuteronomy. It's been a great encouragement,
a great way to see the wisdom of God, the holiness of God,
the goodness and kindness of God. And we just pray that you
would seal these truths to our own hearts, cause us to express
gratitude and praise and thankfulness unto you for your great grace
demonstrated in our lives. Certainly, as we reflect upon
the cross, as we reflect upon our Savior, We have so many reasons
to rejoice in the Lord. We just pray now that you would
go with us and watch over us in the remainder of this week.
Bless our brothers and sisters that are struggling physically.
Again, we just pray for Daniel that you'd set your hand upon
him and give him safety as he travels these many miles. And
we pray these things through Christ our Lord. Amen.
