Deuteronomy 26:1-111And it shall be, when thou art come in unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and possessest it, and dwellest therein; 2That thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, which thou shalt bring of thy land that the Lord thy God giveth thee, and shalt put it in a basket, and shalt go unto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place his name there. 3And thou shalt go unto the priest that shall be in those days, and say unto him, I profess this day unto the Lord thy God, that I am come unto the country which the Lord sware unto our fathers for to give us. 4And the priest shall take the basket out of thine hand, and set it down before the altar of the Lord thy God. 5And thou shalt speak and say before the Lord thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous: 6And the Egyptians evil entreated us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage: 7And when we cried unto the Lord God of our fathers, the Lord heard our voice, and looked on our affliction, and our labor, and our oppression: 8And the Lord brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders: 9And he hath brought us into this place, and hath given us this land, even a land that floweth with milk and honey. 10And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land, which thou, O Lord, hast given me. And thou shalt set it before the Lord thy God, and worship before the Lord thy God: 11And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the Lord thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that is among you. (Deuteronomy 26:1‑11)
THIS chapter, the last of another section of Deuteronomy, suitably comes at the close of fourteen chapters, mostly warning against sin of various kinds. If the believer has examined himself in the light of the Word of God, and judged and put away everything that the Bible condemns, he is ready to take his offering to the place where God sets His name, to be a worshiper in His presence, and to that place he is directed to come. (Verses 1-11).
We learn from, these verses, and of course others that tell of the mind of God, that He wishes those who are His people to make themselves acquainted with all that He has done for them; to live in heart and ways near to Him. All that they have they owe to Him, not only in earthly things, but particularly in heavenly hopes and joys.
If their hearts are right toward God, their minds will be engaged in all their spare moments with “the land that the Lord thy God giveth thee”, —that it, with. the things of God, rather than the objects of this world. Then if the believer’s thoughts are on the things of God, there will be “fruit” to God.
There are many New Testament passages in which this word “fruit” is found, and the reader will be well repaid in searching them out; I mention only Luke 6:43,4443For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 44For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. (Luke 6:43‑44); Galatians. 5:22; Hebrews 13:1515By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. (Hebrews 13:15). Yet, after all, Christ is the first fruits, and it is of Him that the Christian thinks first and best, and of His worthiness he should always be ready to speak, both to God the Father and to his fellow men.
It is sad when Christians are found very ready to talk about their pleasures and their business, yet are almost silent when there is occasion to speak about the Lord. It is the fruit of the condemned world, and not of the “land which the Lord thy God giveth thee” that they have been gathering, is it not?
The chosen place (verse 2) for many years of Israel’s history was Jerusalem, but today there is no earthly city where the Lord has set His name. The place which He honors with His presence now is named in Matthew 18:20: “Where two or three are gathered together unto My Name, there am I in the midst of them.” It may be in some humble home, or on a back street in a great city, for this is the day of small things.
The priest (verse 3) now is the blessed Lord Himself, for since the cross of Christ, a human priesthood has no more place. (See Hebrews chapters 9 and 10. and in particular chapter 10:11-25).
Verse 5. Jacob, the beginning of the nation, was the “Syrian ready to perish” —from famine, who went down to Egypt with his family to be cared for by his great son Joseph, —type of the Lord Jesus. There is little to be said of man at best, but his needs, his sad case upon which God looked with pity, and then brought salvation by power greater than anything this world knew. But this God-fearing Israelite has much to say of the One Who has done everything for him (verses 7-9). Before (verse 7) there was prayer; now (verse 10) there is praise.
Verse 11. There is room for all—even the “stranger”, who longs to be one with the worshipers.
ML 02/15/1925