Deuteronomy 26:1-19

Deuteronomy: God’s Law of Love

Love and Obey the *LORD your God

Deuteronomy

Philip Smith

Chapter 26

v1 ‘The *LORD your God is giving this country to you to possess. You will own it and you will live there. v2 Then take some of the first part of each crop that you harvest from the land. That crop comes from the soil in the country that the *LORD your God is giving to you. Put the first part of the crop into a basket. Go to the place that the *LORD your God will choose. v3 Go to the priest who is serving at that time. Say this to him. “I declare today to the *LORD your God that I have come to this country. That is what the *LORD promised to our *ancestors. He promised that he would give this country to us.” v4 The priest will take the basket from you. He will place it in front of the *altar of the *LORD your God. v5 Then you will say this to the *LORD your God. “My father came from the country called Aram. And he wandered round the country. He went down into Egypt with a few people. He lived there and he became a large and powerful nation. v6 The *Egyptians were cruel to us. They made us suffer and they made us work very hard. v7 Then we cried to the *LORD who is the God of our *ancestors. The *LORD heard us. He saw that we were very sad. He saw our troubles and our difficulties. v8 So the *LORD used his great power and strength as he brought us out of Egypt. He did *signs and *wonders. He caused terrible things to happen. v9 He brought us to this place. Then he gave to us this rich and *fertile country. v10 Now I bring the first part of the harvest that you, *LORD, have given to me.” Place the basket in front of the *LORD your God. And *worship in front of the *LORD your God. v11 You and the *Levites and the foreigners who are among you will be happy. You will do that because of all the good things that the *LORD your God has given to you.’

The *Israelites must give to the *LORD a part of the crops that they had grown in the country. They took the crops to the priest at the place that God chose. The priest put the crops in front of the *altar. Then they thanked God for his kindness. Verses 5-10 are either a prayer, or a statement of what they believed. The person who came from Aram was Jacob. During his life, Jacob moved from Canaan to Haran in the country called Aram. He also married two women who came from Aram. At last, he and his family went down into Egypt. In the end, God rescued them from there, and God helped them to possess their new country. Now they gave the *offering. It came from the first crops in the country. In that way, the person thanked God for the gift. The *Lord promised this country to the person’s *ancestors. Perhaps everyone joined in a *holy meal. This ceremony might have been a part of the *Festival of Shelters. We should thank God especially for the special events in our lives. They are the times when we see God’s goodness to us.

v12 ‘Every third year, put aside a 10^th of all your crops. This is the year of the *tithe. Give it to the *Levite, the foreigner, the children without parents and the widows. Then they will have all that they need to eat in your towns. v13 Then say this to the *LORD your God. “I have taken the *holy *tithe out of my house. I have given it to the *Levites, the foreigners, the children without parents and the widows. That is what you ordered me to do. I have not neglected or forgotten any of your *commandments. v14 I have not eaten any of the *tithes while I was sad. I have not taken any of it out of my house when I was not *clean. I have not given any of it to dead people. I have obeyed the *LORD my God. I have done everything that you ordered me to do. v15 Look down from your *holy place in heaven. *Bless your nation, *Israel. *Bless also the country that you have given to us. This is the country that you promised to our *ancestors. It is a country that is rich and *fertile.” ’

These verses repeat what is in chapter 14 verses 22-29. Every third year, they kept a 10^th of their crops in the villages. That was to help the poor people. It would help the *Levites who did not own any land. The men in *Israel had to declare that they had obeyed God’s law about the *tithe. They had to take every part of it out of their house. They had to give it to the people who needed it. They would not use it as a part of an *offering to dead people. That was a custom of the people in Canaan. Each *Israelite man had to obey God. Then he could pray that God would *bless his nation and his country. He would declare that he depended on God for everything.

In Philippians 4:12-13, Paul said this. ‘I know how to live when I need things. And I know how to live when I have plenty. Everywhere and in all circumstances, I have learned the secret of how to be content. I have learned to be full and to be hungry. I have learned to have plenty and not to have enough. I am ready for anything because Christ gives me strength.’

v16 ‘Today, the *LORD your God commands you to *keep all his rules and his laws. Obey them completely. v17 Today you have declared these things. The *LORD is your God. You will do what he wants you to do. You will *keep all his rules, his *commandments and his laws. And you have declared that you will listen to him. v18 The *LORD has declared today that you are his special nation. He promised that you would be. You must *keep all his *commandments. v19 He will make you greater than any other nation that he has created. You will have more honour and fame. People will praise you more than any other nation. You will be a *holy nation for the *LORD your God, as he promised.’

Here, God promised that the *Israelites would be his special people. Also, the *Israelites declared that the *LORD was their God. But all the *Israelites needed to obey God’s laws in order to receive good things from him. Peter uses this idea to refer to Christians and the church in 1 Peter 2:9. ‘You are the people whom God chose. You are royal priests. You are a *holy nation. You belong to God. God has called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. He has done that for a reason. He wants you to tell everyone about the great things that he has done.’

Lord ~ a name for God. It translates the word ‘Adonai’ in the Hebrew language, which means ‘my ruler’. The word ‘lord’ (without a capital letter) means an ordinary ruler.

LORD ~ God gave this special name to himself. It translates the word ‘Yahweh’ in the Hebrew language. It is the Covenant name for God. It links to the words ‘I am’; it means that God has always been here.

covenant ~ the special promise that God made to his people. God’s covenant with the Israelites established a relationship between him and them. But they must obey him.

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.

Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
ancestors ~ people in your family who lived before you.
altar ~ a table on which people give gifts or sacrifices to God or to a false god.

sacrifice ~ something valuable that people give to God, or to a false god; or, to make such a gift.
Egyptian ~ someone from the country called Egypt; anything with a relationship with Egypt. The Israelites were *slaves in Egypt before God freed them.

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.

Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
sign ~ an unusual event that God uses to teach people something. But sometimes false prophets promised signs.
wonder ~ an event that astonishes people and it shows God’s power. But other people who did not love God sometimes did them too.
fertile ~ land that can produce many crops.
worship ~ when people show honour to God, or to a false god. People may sing or pray. Or they may kneel down or give a sacrifice.

sacrifice ~ something valuable that people give to God, or to a false god; or, to make such a gift.
Levite ~ an Israelite who belonged to the tribe of Levi. Levi was a son of Jacob. Levites had special duties connected to worship. All Israelite priests were Levites.

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.

tribe ~ a group of people from the same race, who all came from one person. The tribes of *Israel were the 12 large families of Jacob’s sons.

worship ~ when people show honour to God, or to a false god. People may sing or pray. Or they may kneel down or give a sacrifice.

Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

sacrifice ~ something valuable that people give to God, or to a false god; or, to make such a gift.

descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.

Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
Lord ~ a name for God. It translates the word ‘Adonai’ in the Hebrew language, which means ‘my ruler’. The word ‘lord’ (without a capital letter) means an ordinary ruler.

LORD ~ God gave this special name to himself. It translates the word ‘Yahweh’ in the Hebrew language. It is the Covenant name for God. It links to the words ‘I am’; it means that God has always been here.

covenant ~ the special promise that God made to his people. God’s covenant with the Israelites established a relationship between him and them. But they must obey him.

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.

Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
holy ~ morally good; something completely good and perfect; something that people consider to be very important in their religion.
festival ~ a happy time when people meet together to remember a person or a special event.
clean ~ good in thought and in action. But, in the Old Testament, many things could make a person not clean towards God. For example, if they touched a dead body, that would make them not clean. And the Israelites must not eat animals that God called not clean.

Old Testament ~ the first part of the Bible, it tells about the history and the beliefs of the Israelites.

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.

Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
keep ~ to do whatever you should do because of a promise or a law; to respect and to give honour to the law.
commandment ~ a rule or a command that God gave to the Jews; the 10 rules that God gave to Moses. That was on the mountain called Mount Sinai (or Horeb); a command from someone who has authority.

Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Mount ~ mountain. For example, ‘Mount Sinai’ means the mountain called Sinai.

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.

descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.