Deeper Commentary
Deu 26:1 When you come into the land which Yahweh your God gives
you for an inheritance, and possess it and dwell in it-
"Drive out" is s.w. "possess". We must note the difference between the
Canaanite peoples and their kings being "struck" and their land "taken" by
Joshua-Jesus; and the people of Israel permanently taking possession. This
is the difference between the Lord's victory on the cross, and our taking
possession of the Kingdom. Even though that possession has been "given" to
us. The word used for "possession" is literally 'an inheritance'. The
allusion is to the people, like us, being the seed of Abraham. The Kingdom
was and is our possession, our inheritance- if we walk in the steps of
Abraham. But it is one thing to be the seed of Abraham, another to take
possession of the inheritance; and Israel generally did not take
possession of all the land (Josh.
11:23 13:1; 16:10; 18:3; 23:4). The language of inheritance / possession
is applied to us in the New Testament (Eph. 1:11,14; Col. 3:24; Acts
20:32; 26:18; 1 Pet. 1:4 etc.). Israel were promised: "You shall possess
it" (Dt. 30:5; 33:23). This was more of a command than a prophecy, for
sadly they were "given" the land but did not "possess" it. They were
constantly encouraged in the wilderness that they were on the path to
possessing the land (Dt. 30:16,18; 31:3,13; 32:47), but when they got
there they didn't possess it fully.
Deu 26:2 take of the first of all the fruit of the ground which you bring
in from your land that Yahweh your God gives you, and put it in a basket
and go to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose to cause His name
to dwell there-
It was therefore not
impossible for God to accept non-blood sacrifices (Num. 15:17-21;
18:12,13; Dt. 26:1-4). Cain, the epitome of 'the devil' (Jn. 8:44), was
characterized by the attitude that he was not his brother's keeper (Gen.
4:9). But the Lord Jesus perhaps offered a commentary on the incident when
he said that our offering can only be accepted if we are first reconciled
to our brother (Mt. 5:24). Cain's insistent lack of responsibility for his
brother was the real sin, and therefore his sacrifice wasn't accepted by
God. He wanted to serve God his own way, disregard his brother, justify
his disagreement with him... to be a private person. But this was the
basis of his rejection.
Deu 26:3 You shall come to the priest who will be in those days and tell
him, I declare this day to Yahweh your God that I have come to the land
which Yahweh swore to our fathers to give us-
There is both a collective and personal dimension to salvation. We
are saved in the body of Christ, as Israel were saved in the body of Moses
(1 Cor. 10:1,2). But each individual was to respond to this by personally
visiting the sanctuary and declaring that the promises to Abraham were to
him personally. And had been fulfilled. There is no evidence Israel ever
did this. Whilst church membership and attendance is all good, the problem
with membership of a denomination can lead to this vital individual
dimension of salvation being overlooked. When it is of the essence.
Deu 26:4 The priest shall take the basket out of your hand and set it down
before the altar of Yahweh your God-
The cameraman of Divine inspiration is as it were zoomed in upon the
individual setting down the basket out of his hand. This was to be a
highly significant act; and yet there is no record Israel ever did so.
Like Paul in his time of dying, Moses in Deuteronomy saw the importance of obedience, the harder side of God; yet he also saw in real depth the surpassing love of God, and the grace that was to come, beyond Law. This appreciation reflected Moses' mature grasp of the Name / characteristics of God. He uses the name "Yahweh" in Deuteronomy over 530 times, often with some possessive adjective, e.g. "Yahweh thy God" [AV- i.e. you singular], or "Yahweh our God". He saw the personal relationship between a man and his God. Jacob reached a like realization at his peak.
Deu 26:5 You shall answer and say before Yahweh your God, A Syrian ready
to perish was my father and he went down into Egypt and lived there, few
in number, and he became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous-
The reference is to Gen. 20:13. Abraham's comment that God caused him
to go astray from his father's house would likely have been understood by
those who first heard it as a negative reference to God- for the word
"gone astray" is used of a lost sheep (Jer. 50:6; Ez. 34:4,16; Ps.
119:176); and it was understood that "A bad shepherd causes a sheep to go
astray from the flock because he is careless". Perhaps God recognized
Abraham's failure by instructing His people to confess every year that "An
Aramean gone astray was my father" (Dt. 26:5). I take this to be a
reference to Abraham more than Jacob; for it seems that the people of Aram
migrated to Ur, and that Abraham having settled in Padan Aram, Abraham
could also for that reason be called an Aramean. So Israel were asked to
remember that their forefather Abraham had gone astray both literally and
spiritually; and thus Abraham's God was a God of grace, and was thereby
their God too.
Israel were to recognize that
their Arab brethren were in fact their cousins, and Abraham and Jacob their ancestors
were at times no more than starving, desperate, homeless, wandering
Arabs. That they had been given a fruitful land was therefore a great grace
to them.
The closer we look at the Pentateuch, the more we see the huge emphasis placed by Moses upon deconstructing the wrong views about Satan and presenting Yahweh as omnipotent, and the ultimate source of both good and evil in the lives of His people. Thus in the prayer of the first fruits recorded in Dt. 26:5-11 we have the Hebrew verb "to give" repeated seven times. The first and last three usages of it refer to what God has 'given' to Israel; but the centerpiece reference is to Israel being 'given hard bondage' in Egypt (Dt. 26:6). Thus Yahweh is presented as the ultimate giver- of both good and evil.
Deu 26:6 The Egyptians behaved badly with us, afflicted us and laid on us
hard bondage-
Literally, 'gave us hard bondage'. The closer we look at the Pentateuch, the more we see the huge
emphasis placed by Moses upon deconstructing the wrong views about Satan
and presenting Yahweh as omnipotent, and the ultimate source of both good
and evil in the lives of His people. Thus in the prayer of the first
fruits recorded in Dt. 26:5-11 we have the Hebrew verb "to give" repeated
seven times. The first and last three usages of it refer to what God has
'given' to Israel; but the centerpiece reference is to Israel being
'given hard bondage' in Egypt (Dt. 26:6). Thus Yahweh is presented as
the ultimate giver- of both good and evil.
Deu 26:7 and we cried to Yahweh, the God of our fathers and Yahweh heard
our voice and saw our affliction, our toil and our oppression-
The individual Israelite was to perceive his absolute connection with
God's historical deliverance of His people from Egypt. And to be
appropriately awed by all the grace shown in that. In our world, human history is generally felt to be bunk, irrelevant
to this generation, of merely passing cultural fascination to the hurrying
man of modern society. And in some ways, that may indeed be a legitimate
take on secular history. But Biblical history is to be seen quite
otherwise by God's people. It is a living word spoken to us, and the
salvation acts which are there recorded happened to us. We are to learn
from history, not as a merely fascinating exercise. But the Bible is
history, and yet it is a living word to us. Israel were supposed to reason
back from the actions of Egypt towards them, and their weakness
spiritually at that time. And to respond personally to that grace.
Deu 26:8 and Yahweh brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, with
an outstretched arm and with great terror, with signs and wonders-
The might of Yahweh's hand was shown through His grace in as it were
forcing Israel out of Egypt, when they actually wanted to remain there and
He wished to destroy them (Ez. 20:8). They were idolatrous and had told
Moses to leave them alone and let them serve the Egyptians. Yahweh's
strength therefore refers to the power of His grace in continuing His
program with them.
Moses was to stretch forth his hand to cause the waters of the Red Sea to part and return, not his rod; because he was manifesting the hand of Yahweh which was to deliver Israel (s.w. Ex. 7:5). The repeated references to the stretched our arm or hand of Yahweh to save His people invite us to recall this incident, and to perceive that Yahweh's hand had been manifest through the hand of Moses (Dt. 4:34; 5:15; 7:19; 11:2; 26:8). That stretched out, saving arm and hand of Yahweh was and is stretched out still, to save His people (1 Kings 8:42; Ez. 20:34; Dan. 9:15 "as at this day") and bring about a new creation in human lives (Is. 45:12). For the deliverance through the Red Sea is intended to be experienced by all God's people, and is now seen through His saving grace at baptism (1 Cor. 10:1,2). What happened there was but the beginning of the work of God's outstretched arm (Dt. 3:24). Yet the stretched out arm / hand of God is also a figure for His judgment (1 Chron. 21:16; Is. 9:12; 10:4). His hand is at work in our lives- either to our condemnation or our salvation. And it is for us therefore to humble ourselves beneath that mighty hand (1 Pet. 5:6).
Deu 26:9 and He has brought us into this place and has given us this land,
a land flowing with milk and honey-
Israel came to describe the Egypt they had been called out from as
the land flowing with milk and honey (Num. 16:12), and denied that the
Kingdom was in fact like that. And so we have the same tendency to be
deceived into thinking that the kingdoms of this world, the world around
us, is effectively the Kingdom of God, the only thing worth striving
after.
Deu 26:10 Now, behold, I have brought the first of the fruit of the ground
which You, Yahweh, have given me. You shall set it down before Yahweh your
God, and worship before Yahweh your God-
Again we lament that there was no record of their ever doing this. It
was a redemption which went largely unappreciated by them. As noted on :4,
the language is zoomed in upon the individual setting down the produce out
of the basket in his hand.
Deu 26:11 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 foreigner who
is in the midst of you-
So often, the Mosaic law associates rejoicing with giving, for truly
it is more blessed or happy to give than to receive. The Lord's teaching
about this was clearly reflective of this major Mosaic theme (Acts 20:35).
Deu 26:12 When you have made an end of tithing all your increase in the
third year, which is the year of tithing, then you shall give it to the
Levite, to the foreigner, to the fatherless and to the widow, so that they
may eat within your gates and be filled-
Israel were given manna in the wilderness, and they ate it and were
full (Ex. 16:8,12). But they were promised that in the promised land of
the Kingdom, they would likewise eat and be full, again from blessing
given by God (s.w. Dt. 8:10; 11:15; 14:29; 26:12; 31:20). After our Red
Sea baptism, we are now in the wilderness; but by feeding on the manna,
the word of God in the Lord Jesus, we have a foretaste of the Kingdom
experience. But the curse for disobedience was that they would eat and not
be full / satisfied (Lev. 26:26).
LXX "And when thou shalt have completed all the tithings of thy fruits in the third year, thou shalt give the second tenth to the Levite, and stranger, and fatherless, and widow; and they shall eat it in thy cities, and be merry". The stranger / foreigner may refer to those of the "mixed multitude" which were with them, or to those Canaanites who had accepted the message of Yahweh's Kingdom.
There were three separate tithes commanded under the Law of Moses.
Yet the tithing churches have simply said: ‘There’s something about
tithing in the Old Testament. So, hey, give us 10% of your money!’. The
first was the Levitical tithe of 10% on 100% of the produce for the first
six years and was destined for the Levites and priests (see too Dt. 12:19).
The second tithe was the Festival tithe of 10% on the 90% remaining
produce after the Levitical tithe. This tithe had to be eaten in the
presence of the Lord and was collected on the 1st, 2nd,
4th, and 5th years only. The third tithe was the
tithe of the poor to be collected on the 3rd and 6th
years only (Dt. 14:22-29; 26:12-15; Am. 4:4-5). No tithe was collected on the
7th year or Sabbatical year. The farmers were to let the land rest in that
year. The tithe consisted of fruit, grain, wine and later animals that are
treated as produce from the land. It never consisted of money. Tithes were
conducted annually and were based upon one’s produce increase for the
year. This just isn’t talking about putting paper money or cheques on an
offering plate each week as demanded by the tithing churches.
Deu 26:13 You shall say before Yahweh your God, I have put away the
holy things out of my house and have given them to the Levite and to the
foreigner, to the fatherless and to the widow, according to all Your
commandment which You have commanded me. I have not transgressed any of
Your commandments, neither have I forgotten them-
So often the Mosaic law was designed to elicit introspection, and to
convict of sin. For who could truly say "I have not transgressed any of
Your commandments". These very words are placed by the Lord Jesus in the
mouth of the hypocritical elder brother. and it is he who remains outside
of the Father's fellowship, whereas the disobedient younger son is the one
finally accepted. Likewise in the parable of the two sons, the one who
says he will be totally obedient actually isn't. The whole structure of
the law was to lead the spiritually minded Israelite to a conviction of
sin, and a longing for a way to permanently resolve this. And that was to
ultimately be in the Lord Jesus.
Deu 26:14 I have not eaten of it in mourning, neither have I put away any
of it while unclean, nor given any of it for the dead. I have listened to
the voice of Yahweh my God. I have done according to all that You have
commanded me-
See on :13; these protestations of total obedience would have elicited a
sense of sin and self examination in all spiritually minded people. GNB "I
have not given any of it as an offering for the dead" suggests that there
was in Israel the existence of false understandings of the death state.
Yet still God loved His people and accepted them in covenant with Him.
Deu 26:15 Look down from Your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Your
people Israel-
The "holy habitation" alludes to the most holy place, which is here
presented as a figure of "heaven", just as Heb. 9:24 makes clear The
temple and ark are sometimes referred to as the heavens (2 Sam. 15:25 cp.
1 Kings 8:30; Ps. 20:2,6; 11:4; Heb. 7:26). The church is the new temple,
and is therefore at times referred to as the heavenlies in the New
Testament.
And the ground which You have given us, as You swore to our
fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey-
The land was only potentially one flowing with milk and honey; it
required God's blessing upon the ground. And that blessing was predicated
upon Israel's obedience, as Dt. 28 makes clear. And so it is with the
promise of the Kingdom of God to us. It is not without any conditions,
although the word of promise is absolutely certain.
Deu 26:16 This day Yahweh your God commands you to do these statutes and
ordinances. You shall therefore keep and do them-
Because God saved them from Egypt by grace [cp. baptism- 1 Cor.
10:1,2], with they themselves so spiritually weak at the time, still
taking idols of Egypt through the Red Sea with them- therefore
they were to keep the law (Dt. 11:7,8). Because God gave them the land of
Canaan, a land for which they did not labour, didn't do any 'work' to
receive, but were given because "You did a favour unto them" (Ps. 44:3)-
therefore they were to keep the law (Dt. 26:15,16; 29:8,9; Josh.
23:5,6). David said that he loved keeping the law because God's
testimony to him was so miraculous (Ps. 119:129 Heb.). There is an
awesomeness to God's grace in all this. Hence the paradox of Ex. 20:20:
"Fear not... that the fear of God may be before your faces". We are not to
fear Him, for such perfect love casts out fear... yet it is exactly
because of the wonder of all this that we live life in some fear / awe of
misusing and abusing that grace.
With all your heart and
with all your soul-
Time and again, Moses speaks of the state of their heart. He warns them
against allowing a bad state of heart to develop, he speaks often of how
apostasy starts in the heart. Moses makes a total of 49 references to the
heart / mind of Israel in Deuteronomy, compared to only 13 in the whole of
Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers. This indicates the paramount importance
which our Lord attaches to the state of our mind. This was perhaps his
greatest wish as He faced death; that we should develop a spiritual mind
and thereby manifest the Father and come to salvation. Moses likewise saw
the state of our mind as the key to spiritual success. But do we share
this perspective? Do we guard our minds against the media and influence of
a mind-corrupting world? It's been observed that the phrase "The God of
[somebody]", or similar, occurs 614 times in the Old Testament, of which
306 are in Deuteronomy. Our very personal relationship with God was
therefore something else which Moses came to grasp in his spiritual
maturity. Statistical analysis of the word "love" in the Pentateuch
likewise reveals that "love" was a great theme of Moses at the end of his
life (Moses uses it 16 times in Deuteronomy, and only four times in
Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers).
Deu 26:17 You have undertaken Yahweh this day to be your God and that
you will walk in His ways and keep His statutes, His commandments and His
ordinances and listen to His voice-
See on :16. The Hebrew mishpat, "ordinances", has a wide range of meaning.
The idea is of judgment, as if God and His Angels gave these laws as their
considered judgment after considering the human condition, and Israel were
to abide by them. But the word also the idea of a right or privilege; and
that is how we should see God's laws. They are only felt as a burden
because of human hardness of neck towards God's ways. His laws are not of
themselves burdensome, but rather a privilege and blessing. The law was
indeed "holy, just and good" (Rom. 7:12), designed to inculcate a holy,
just and good life (Tit. 1:8), a way in which a man should "walk" in daily
life (Lev. 18:4), a culture of kindness and grace to others which
reflected God's grace to man. If we dwell upon the idea of "rights"
carried within the word mishpat, we note that the law begins in
Ex. 21:1,2 (also Dt. 15:12-18) with the rights of a slave- those
considered to have no rights in the society of that day. The "rights" to
be afforded by us to others are the essence of God's rightness / justice.
A covenant is a two way thing. This tie that binds
applies to God too (:18); hence the wonderful, oft-repeated idea of His
chesed, His covenant faithfulness to us His people. He likewise
carries a kind of responsibility to us.
Deu 26:18 And Yahweh has undertaken to you this day that you shall be a
people for His own possession, as He has promised you, in order that you
should keep all His commandments-
Deu 26:19 so as to make you high above all nations that He has made, in
praise, in name and in honour, and that you might be a holy people to
Yahweh your God, as He has spoken-
The allusion is to the glory and beauty (s.w. "honour") of the
priestly garments, which were all holy to Yahweh (Ex. 28:2). The idea is not
that the clothes should be beautiful and glorious; they were "for" the
manifestation of the glory and beauty of God's saving ways, once their
significance was perceived. The naked flesh of man was to be covered over
with a glory and beauty which was to come from God, looking forward to the
idea of imputed righteousness which Paul explains in Romans. Glory and
beauty were to be the features of all Israel in their role as priests /
teachers of the Gentile world. Again we see repeated the ideal intention
that all Israel were to be a nation of priests, and not just resign the
work of witness to the priestly tribe.
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