Deuteronomy 26:1–15

In Deuteronomy 26 we come to a brighter scene: we look forward to Israel entering their own land. It is a relief after so many warnings that assume danger on every side. Instead, rich blessing lies ahead, for we see God doing what He had promised His people long ago. If He has brought them into the land, they come to thank Him for His grace... Here then is the full confession that God's hand had done what His mouth had promised. In a higher setting this marks the Christian too. It is the same principle: not promises only, but promises made good in Christ. The Christian is not merely a man passing through the wilderness. He is already blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Both are true. We have our march through the wilderness, and we also have our portion in the heavenly land.

This verse speaks of three distinct positions of the Israelite in Canaan — that is to say, of the believer and his heavenly privileges. First he enters the land. Next, he possesses it, or makes it his own. Third, he dwells in it.

In all this let us beware of possessing without dwelling. The two and a half tribes were brave enough at possessing, that is, at making the land their own. But they did not enjoy what they got. It is the same with many of us. We may be keen and eager to chase truth and a right position according to the mind of Christ. But how far are we dwelling in the power of what we know?

Here lay the root of the matter. "I have come." He does not say, "I am coming, hoping to come, or longing to come." No; but, "I have come." So it must always be. We must know we are saved before we can offer the fruits of a known salvation. We may be completely sincere in wanting salvation, and very earnest in our efforts to get it. But we have to see that efforts to be saved and the fruits of a known and enjoyed salvation are two different things. The Israelite did not offer the basket of firstfruits to get into the land. He offered it because he was already in it.

As a picture, Canaan stands for heaven. Israel arrived in Canaan and enjoyed the promise. Read the chapter. The worshipper has already come to the good land God gave him as his inheritance. He presents himself with "the fruits of the land." This is what we have to offer to God: the grateful and joyful overflow of hearts filled with heavenly blessing... Holiness and love and joy mark the land. They are the fruits that grow there on their own. So are the thanksgivings that rise in the hearts of those who are there by redeeming power.

It is the same with the ordinance of the basket of firstfruits. At that ceremony the Israelite had to remember that his father had been a Syrian ready to perish. Yet his full basket was in his hand and before his eyes at that very moment, so that he might worship with the sense of a rich inheritance he already had.

Here lay the root of the matter. "I am come." He does not say, "I am coming, hoping to come, or longing to come." No; but, "I am come." So it must always be. We must know ourselves saved before we can offer the fruits of a known salvation. We may be completely sincere in our desire for salvation, and most earnest in our efforts to get it. But we cannot help seeing that efforts to be saved, and the fruits of a known and enjoyed salvation, are entirely different. The Israelite did not offer the basket of firstfruits to get into the land. He offered it because he was actually in it.

All his worship is simply the answer, the reflection, the bringing back to God of the fruit — the firstfruits, if real faith and godliness are there. That fruit grows out of what God has revealed Himself to be to him, and out of the heavenly joy into which He has brought him.

In type, Canaan represents heaven. Israel, having arrived in Canaan, enjoyed the promise. The worshipper has already come to the good land which God gave him as an inheritance. He presents himself with "the fruits of the land." This is what we have to offer God: the grateful and joyful outpouring of hearts filled with heavenly blessedness... Holiness and love and joy characterise the land. Those fruits grow there on their own. So do the thanksgivings that rise from the hearts of people who are there through redeeming power.

They were to go to the place the Lord chose to put His name. This was Jerusalem. They might feel that the rest of the crop was ready to harvest, so they should not leave in case bad conditions came up before they got back. But the question is simply this: is God first, or not? When we rightly give Him the first place, He will certainly take care of all that follows.

Then it happens in the place where God is fully revealed, and where He dwells. It is the place in which He has put His name, the place He has chosen for this purpose. He gathers the people, and so He gathers the soul with its firstfruits — the firstfruits of its privileged blessings. He gathers them into the place He has chosen to dwell in, and where He fully reveals Himself... For us it is the Father's house: "My Father and your Father, my God and your God."

The Name of the Lord Jesus is the only gathering centre today. The believer who does not gather simply in that Name will lack the deep enjoyment of Christ that our God wants our souls to taste.

What is true worship? It is simply telling out, in the presence of God, what He is, and what He has done. It is the heart occupied with, and delighting in, God and in all His wonderful actions and ways. Now, if we have no knowledge of God, and no faith in what He has done, how can we worship Him?

Here lay the root of the matter. "I am come." He does not say, "I am coming, hoping to come, or longing to come." No; but, "I am come." It must always be so. We must know ourselves saved before we can offer the fruits of a known salvation... The Israelite did not offer the basket of first fruits to get into the land, but because he was in it already.

Would doubt and hesitation about his position and his portion have honoured and pleased the God of Israel more?... If an Israelite could say, "I am come to the land that the Lord swore to our fathers to give us," why cannot the believer now say, "I am come to Jesus"? True, in the one case, it was sight; in the other, it is faith. But is the latter less real than the former? Does not the inspired apostle say to the Hebrews, "You have come to Mount Zion"?

It was an acknowledgment of His grace and His faithfulness in keeping His promise and bringing them into the land. The Lord had brought them in. The basket of fruits showed that they had the good things promised to them. They could truly say, the Lord kept His word, He promised us this land and now we are in it; it is ours.

The Christian can worship this way when he knows that heavenly things are his. It is the open profession of that. Without this knowledge he cannot bring his basket of first-fruits... It is not thankfulness for promises, however surely that has its place, but thankfulness that they are accomplished — in Christ, yes and amen.

"and shall go to the place which the Lord your God shall choose to place His name there" — not to a place of their own or others' choosing.

The priest in Deuteronomy 26 was the necessary administrator of such things in Israel, and we are all priests; but it was the offerer who said it all directly. Anything offered to God must have been by the priest then.

All his worship is only the answer — the reflection — that carries back to God the fruit of what God has revealed Himself to be to him, and of that heavenly joy into which He has brought him. That fruit is the first-fruits, if true faith and godliness are there... In Scripture, everywhere and always, piety shows itself this way: the first effect of blessing is turning back to God and owning it there. It is not the personal enjoyment of the blessing, which, without this turning back, turns us from God. The love that gave it is more present than even the gift... Then we truly enjoy it, and grace flows out to the Levite and the stranger, who have no inheritance in the land we enjoy.

Israel's worship rested on God's faithfulness already carried out, enjoyed in present good things. God gave them this rule in the wilderness, but it only took effect in the land. Israel was God's appointed worshipping people. In questions of sin they had to do with the priest, both in the wilderness and in the land. But they did not know the joy of worship while they were in the wilderness.

Here lay the root of the matter. "I am come." He does not say, "I am coming, hoping to come, or longing to come." We must know ourselves saved before we can offer the fruits of a known salvation. We may be most sincere in our desire for salvation, and most earnest in our efforts to get it. But trying to be saved and the fruits of a known and enjoyed salvation are completely different things. The Israelite did not offer the basket of firstfruits to get into the land. He offered it because he was already in it.

That it applies to Israel's possession of the land at any time is plain. The last words of the first verse imply as much. They speak of the time when Israel has come into the land that the Lord their God gives them as an inheritance, has taken possession of it, and lives in it. It was a standing ordinance in the land.

From this increase they were to bring a basket of the first of all the produce the land yielded. They were to take it to the place the Lord chose to put His name. This was Jerusalem. The rest of the crop was ready to harvest. They might feel they should not leave it, in case bad conditions arose before they returned. But the question is: is God first, or not? When we give Him first place, He will surely take care of all that follows.

Here we have Israel's profession. It is the profession of the grace that had brought him into present possession of the land, and into the enjoyment of its fruits. We have also the priest of Israel's profession. He is not occupied with the details of sin. His happier work is presenting the worshipper's thanksgiving, in the basket of firstfruits, before the altar of the Lord. This must have been the priest's most blessed service.

As our Great High Priest, He presents to God the gifts and sacrifices of His worshipping people. Under the law, the worshipper brought his offering to the priest, and the priest presented it to the Lord on His own altar. How perfectly his High Priest in heaven now does all this for him! Our prayers, praises and thanksgiving all pass through His hands before they reach the throne of God. What a wonderful mercy this is, when we think of our confused and mixed services. So much of the flesh mingles with what is of the Spirit. But the blessed Lord knows how to divide and separate between them. "Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name." (Heb. 13:15)

All his worship is only the answer and the reflection. It brings back to God the fruit of what God has revealed Himself to be to him. This fruit is the firstfruits, if real faith and godliness are there. Scripture shows the mark of true piety everywhere and always. The first effect of blessing is turning back to God and owning it there, not the personal enjoyment of it. Enjoyment without that turning back drives us away from God. The love that gave it is more present to us than even the gift.

God leads the soul from the blessings it enjoys to Him who is blessed for evermore; from the gift to the Giver. Acknowledging the Giver does not make the joy in the gift any less. The spirit of false worship is to rejoice in the work of one's own hands. Scripture says of Israel: "they made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to the idol and were rejoicing in the works of their hands." But in true worship God Himself is the glory of the worshipper. It is in Him that the soul makes her boast.

There are very few references to the Syrians in the early part of Scripture. Laban, "the Syrian," grandson of Nahor, Abraham's brother, is introduced in connection with Rebekah the wife of Isaac (Genesis 25:20; 28:5; 31:20, 24).

This is a very beautiful illustration of worship. "A Syrian ready to perish." Such was the origin. There is nothing to boast of, as far as nature is concerned. And as for the condition in which grace found them — what of it? Hard bondage in the land of Egypt. Toiling among the brick kilns, under the cruel whip of Pharaoh's taskmasters. But then, "We cried to the Lord." Here was their sure and blessed resource. It was all they could do, but it was enough. That cry of helplessness went straight up to the throne and to the heart of God. It brought Him down into the very middle of the brick kilns of Egypt.

Here we see grace in its first workings. A nation had a small beginning in the seventy souls that came into Egypt with Jacob. Set against that was their remarkable and unstoppable increase. Even the bondage they came into had already been promised to them. What seemed most against them was really the working out of promise for them. The hand of power works in disguise, but faith can see right through it. The story is essentially the same, whether told of the nation of Israel or of any of the Lord's redeemed. … We do not inherit grace. We came into the land of bondage with our father Adam.

Here lay the root of the matter. "I am come." He does not say, "I am coming, hoping to come, or longing to come." No — but, "I am come." It must always be like this. We must know ourselves saved before we can offer the fruits of a known salvation. We may be entirely sincere in our desires for salvation, and most earnest in our efforts to obtain it. But we cannot help seeing that efforts to be saved and the fruits of a known and enjoyed salvation are completely different. The Israelite did not offer the basket of first fruits to get into the land. He offered it because he was already in it.

Deuteronomy 26 and Ephesians 2 are two striking scriptures. They illustrate the position God's grace gives. They also call those who are blessed to keep living in the sense of it. … Israel, when in the land and enjoying their highest privilege in worship, were commanded to say before the Lord their God, "A Syrian ready to perish was my father." Gentile believers were raised with Jewish ones to the same position, set in Christ on high. They too were commanded to "Remember" what they were in the past. To forget the past because of the present position may be man's thought and way. It is not God's way for those who receive His grace.

Lovely words! They brought to remembrance what they were and the grace the Lord showed when that Syrian ready to perish was called out. And this is only a picture of what we are by nature, "ready to perish."

"A Syrian ready to perish was my father" (not "I am" — it was an old thing that was past and could not come back), "and he went down into Egypt, and was treated harshly, and the LORD brought us out, and has given us this land."

They were slaves in Egypt. That was both their condition and their position before Him: their condition was bondage, and their position was inside the territory where Satan ruled… Just as Syria, the wilderness and Canaan each picture something spiritual, so does Egypt. It is not man in his natural state as God made him. Nor is it man in his natural state fallen — that is Syria. Egypt is man in his natural state, fallen, and captive under the power of the enemy… Man had fallen, and he was under the enemy's power. God alone could deliver him now.

Egypt is a clear picture of the world. The world once fascinated us as the scene of our pleasures. One of the first steps into spiritual blessing comes when that same world turns into a place of bitter bondage for us. Sin brings bitterness with it and we cannot escape it.

The worshipper declared out loud that it was God who had done everything for him… He owed God this acknowledgment. Israel stood there only through His faithful sustaining grace. If he had not come as a debtor to that grace, with no claim of his own, he would have failed to recognise his true position. Did he then forget his own wretchedness? No. But he was in it no longer, and it made the greatness of his deliverance stand out.

"A Syrian ready to perish." Such was the origin. There is nothing to boast about, as far as nature goes. And as to the condition in which grace found them — what of it? Hard bondage in the land of Egypt. Toiling among the brick kilns, under the cruel whip of Pharaoh's taskmasters. But then, "We cried to the LORD." Here was their sure and blessed resource. It was all they could do; but it was enough. That cry of helplessness went straight up to the throne and to the heart of God. It brought Him down into the very middle of the brick kilns of Egypt.

Forgetting the past because of your present position may be man's thought and man's way. It is not God's way for those who receive His grace. Nor will a position God gives lead to pride or indifference — not while we keep it in His presence, and enjoy it before and with Him who gave it.

They had suffered as slaves in Egypt, and God had stepped in with power and goodness to deliver them. The memory of both should have softened their hearts towards the poor and needy among their brothers. It should have humbled them in the presence of God as well. The gracious, godly Israelite would look at his poor brother's situation and see a chance to show the reality and excellence of that principle of grace on which God had acted towards himself.

It is not man in nature as God made him; nor is it man in nature fallen (that is Syria). Egypt is man in nature, fallen, and captive under the power of the enemy. So a redeemed Israelite, now living in the land, comes to worship the Lord with his basket of first fruits. He should admit that this was once his own state... Man in nature had fallen, and he was under the enemy's power; God alone could now deliver.

"A Syrian ready to perish." Such was the origin. There is nothing to boast of, so far as nature is concerned. And as to the condition in which grace had found them; what of it? Hard bondage in the land of Egypt. Toiling among the brick kilns, beneath the cruel lash of Pharaoh's taskmasters. But then, "we cried to the LORD." Here was their sure and blessed resource. It was all they could do; but it was enough. That cry of helplessness went straight up to the throne and to the heart of God. It brought Him down into the very middle of the brick kilns of Egypt.

Exodus 3 shows this plainly. There the Lord tells Moses what He means to do, and speaks with tenderness of having seen His people's affliction, heard their cry, and known their sorrow. So His purpose of grace covered more than rescue from slavery. It also covered bringing them into the blessings of Canaan. For Israel to settle for the first and fall short of the second would dishonour that blessed purpose of divine grace. It would even be presumptuous self-will.

The worshipper said out loud that it was God who had done everything for him. This is how he presented himself. Israel owed God this acknowledgment. They were in the land only because His faithful grace had held them up. If he had not come as a man who owed everything to God's grace, he would have failed to recognise his true position. Is it then that he forgot his own wretchedness? No. But he was in it no longer; and it served to exalt the greatness of his deliverance.

Simply confessing this is praise. We owe it to Him to say plainly and without hesitating: Christ has saved us. Is there presumption in this? No, it is His due. We have done nothing, except, indeed, incurred the penalty which Christ has borne in His own body on the tree.

Remembering all they had suffered as slaves in Egypt, and how God stepped in with power and goodness to rescue them, should have softened their hearts towards the poor and needy among their brothers. It should also have humbled them in God's presence... When the gracious, godly Israelite saw his poor brother's situation, he saw a chance. He could show how real and excellent that principle of grace is — the grace on which God had acted towards him.

The worshipper declared aloud that it was God who had accomplished everything for him. That is how he presented himself. He owed God this acknowledgment. Israel was there only through His faithful sustaining grace. If he had not come as a debtor to that grace, with nothing to claim, he would have failed to recognise his true position. Does that mean he forgot his own wretchedness? No. But he was in it no longer; and it served to show how great his deliverance was.

"A Syrian ready to perish." Such was the origin. There is nothing to boast about as far as nature goes. And what about the condition grace found them in? Hard bondage in the land of Egypt. Toiling among the brick kilns under the cruel whip of Pharaoh's taskmasters. But then, "We cried to the Lord." Here was their sure and blessed resource. It was all they could do; but it was enough. That cry of helplessness went straight up to the throne and to the heart of God. It brought Him down into the very middle of the brick kilns of Egypt.

In Egypt they suffered for many years as oppressed slaves. Then God answered their desperate prayers and brought them out with a mighty hand. The ten plagues sent on Egypt and the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea were things never to be forgotten.

The first part of redemption was the payment of the ransom; and that, as we have seen, was done by the blood of Christ. But Israel was not redeemed — though perfectly safe under the shelter of the blood — as long as they were in Egypt. So the second part, the completion of their redemption, came when God brought them out of the land of Egypt through the Red Sea, with a high hand and an outstretched arm. There He destroyed Pharaoh and all his army in its mighty waters. The shed blood satisfied God as Judge. Now He can act for His people as their Deliverer, and so He brings them out of Egypt in power.

The children of Israel were as much sinners as the Egyptians. What right had God to favour the children of Israel over the Egyptians? The Egyptians as a nation had enslaved the children of Israel, and when God demanded that they let them go to worship in the desert, Pharaoh refused. So God in righteousness visited Egypt with His severe displeasure. On the other hand God could only redeem His people by first meeting His own righteous claims.

They had suffered as slaves in Egypt. Then God stepped in with power and goodness to deliver them. Remembering all this should have softened their hearts towards the poor and needy among their brothers. It should also have humbled them in the presence of God… A gracious, godly Israelite would look at his poor brother's circumstances and see a chance to show the reality and excellence of that principle of grace on which God had acted towards himself.

All this applies in spirit to the Christian. He was the slave of Satan, and miserable in himself. God looked with compassion on his affliction, and delivered him with "a mighty hand." He has rescued him from this Egyptian world, and made him an heir of glory in the heavenly places.

Exodus 3 shows this clearly. There the Lord tells Moses what He intends. He speaks with feeling of having seen His people's affliction, heard their cry, and known their sorrow. So the purpose of grace included not only deliverance from slavery, but the bringing into the blessings of Canaan. For Israel to be content with the first and fall short of the second would dishonour the blessed purpose of God's grace, and would even be proud self-will.

The Lord had accomplished everything. He did it according to the love of His heart and the faithfulness of His word. Not one bit had failed. "I have come." And "I have brought the fruit." The fruit of what? Of Egypt? No — "of the land which you, O LORD, have given me." The worshipper's lips proclaimed the completeness of the Lord's work. The worshipper's basket contained the fruit of the Lord's land. There was no room for a doubt, no ground for a question. It was all of God from first to last. He had brought them out of Egypt, and He had brought them into Canaan. He had filled their baskets with the mellow fruits of His land, and their hearts with His praise.

Here lay the root of the matter. "I have come." He does not say, "I am coming, hoping to come, or longing to come." No — but, "I have come." So it must always be. We must know ourselves saved before we can offer the fruits of a known salvation. We may be entirely sincere in our desires after salvation, most earnest in our efforts to get it. But we cannot help seeing the difference. Efforts to be saved are one thing; the fruits of a known and enjoyed salvation are quite another. The Israelite did not offer the basket of firstfruits to get into the land. He offered it because he was already in it.

Salvation given by such a God must be a complete salvation, and it is not complete until the land of promise is their own. The land is a good land and a large one, flowing with milk and honey. It is not a land of narrowness, as Egypt is; and heaven is not limited by the needs and struggles of earth. There is all "fatness," which the word for milk literally means, and all sweetness, as the honey implies. Salvation for us must result in satisfaction, or it is not salvation.

Milk speaks of the Word of God (1 Peter 2:2). Honey stands for the ministry of the Word of God (Song of Solomon 4:11) — that is, the sweetness believers have gathered from the Word and then pass on to others.

There is another passage that applies in form to things on earth. But it shows the spirit of worship beautifully. I refer to Deuteronomy 26. In type, Canaan represents heaven. Israel, arrived in Canaan, enjoyed the promise. Read the chapter. The worshipper has already come to the good land that God gave him as his inheritance. He presents himself with "the fruits of the land." This is what we have to offer God — the grateful and joyful outpouring of hearts filled with heavenly blessedness.

But now Israel had been brought to "a land flowing with milk and honey" (v.9). They had reason to thank and praise God with full hearts, and never to forget how kindly He had dealt with them. Christians surely have even greater reason for thanks and praise. God has delivered them from the miserable bondage of sin and blessed them in Christ with "every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 1:3).

The worshipper said out loud that God had done everything for him. This is how he presented himself. This acknowledgment was due to God, since Israel was indeed there through His faithful sustaining grace. If he had not come as an unconditional debtor to God's grace, he would have failed to recognise his true position. Is it then that he forgot his own wretchedness? No. But he was in it no longer, and it served to exalt the greatness of his deliverance. … All this applies in spirit to the Christian. He was the slave of Satan, and miserable in himself. God looked with compassion on his affliction and delivered him with "a mighty hand."

"And you shall rejoice in all the good that the LORD your God has given to you." Yes, there is nothing He has given us that He would hold us back from enjoying. We can never accept too openly, or enjoy too fully, the blessings that are ours in Christ Jesus. This joy opens the heart, it does not shut it up in selfishness and indifference.

They were to enjoy them with God. So notice that here the spirit of grace shows itself at once: "you, and the Levite, and the sojourner who is among you." No one can truly rejoice in the blessing of God before Him without the spirit of grace being present. That means returning blessing for cursing, knowing that God has called us to inherit His blessing.

The spiritual Israelite is not only to rejoice in every good thing which the LORD his God has given him. He is also to remember the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. That is, the one who has no portion on earth and gives himself fully to the Lord's work; and the one who has no home, the one who has no natural protector, and the one who has no support on earth. It must always be so. The rich tide of grace rolls down from the heart of God and fills our hearts to overflowing. As it overflows, it refreshes and gladdens our whole sphere of action.

Worship gets the first, the highest place. Let us never forget this. In our wisdom or our sentimentality, we might imagine that doing good to people — usefulness, charity work — is the highest thing. But it is not so. "Whoever offers praise glorifies Me." God inhabits the praises of His people. He delights to surround Himself with hearts filled to overflowing with a sense of His goodness, His greatness and His glory.

Such worship would involve rejoicing in all the good things the Lord had given (v.11). How right and true an attitude this is for every believer today. This spirit of worship and rejoicing would banish every complaint. God knows how we need to remember His great goodness in all the way He deals with us.

There were three sets of tithes. The first is in Numbers 18. It was not given straight to the priests. It was the increase of the people's fields and so on, given to the Levites. The Levites then gave a tenth of these tithes to the priests. These were the regular tithes. But in Deuteronomy 12 and 14 you get nothing of that. The people take the tithes, their peace offerings, and so on, and they go up to one place... The third tithes came every third year. They ate these tithes in their house, and did not go up to Jerusalem.

At the end of the "year of tithing," the offerer had to make a solemn declaration before the Lord. He had to say that he had carried out the Lord's commandment in full, and had kept back none of the tithe for his own use.

The spiritual Israelite is not only to rejoice in every good thing which the Lord his God has given him. He is also to remember the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. That is, the one who has no portion on earth and gives himself wholly to the Lord's work; the one who has no home; the one who has no natural protector; and the one who has no support on earth.

So it fits perfectly that every third year we find this tithe eaten at home, shared with the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. Not simply given to them, but shared with them — a deeper thing. Christ does not just give us something to carry away from Him. He shares. This is fellowship.

Nothing can be more beautiful than the moral order of these things. It is exactly like what we have in Hebrews 13. "Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name." Here is the worship. "Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God." Here is the active kindness. Put both together, and we have what we may call the upper and the lower side of the Christian's character. It is praising God and doing good to people. ... Show us a man whose heart is full of praise to God, and we will show you one whose heart is open to every form of human need.

The heart does not only consider what God has done for it. It also comes to regard those who are friendless in the world as the special object of our care. Are we learning such a duty before our God, and caring for them out of what His bounty has given us? ... So God called the Israelite to more than words of praise. He was to confess, with an exercised conscience, how he used the place of blessing God had brought him into. He was to say how far he spread the sense of that blessing around him.

If the offerer could speak honestly like this, he had a true right to ask. He could ask the Lord to look down from heaven, bless His people Israel, and bless their land too. The Lord encourages those who obey Him to pray for His blessing. But it is hypocrisy to ask for His blessing while living in disobedience.

We have read before of the tithe of the third year (Deuteronomy 14:28-29), a tenth of what the land produced, given to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless and the widow. On the negative side, he could say that he had not eaten this tithe himself, even in mourning, nor used it for anything unclean, nor given any of it for the dead (v. 14). For people might be inclined to make exceptions about the use of the tithe.

To eat in his mourning was profaning himself. And then follows not "bless me," but "bless your people Israel and the ground that you have given us."

Here we have personal holiness, practical sanctification, and complete separation from everything that does not fit the holy place and relationship God had brought them into by His own grace and mercy. There must be no mourning, no uncleanness, no dead works. We have no room and no time for such things. They have no place in the blessed sphere where we now have the privilege to live and move and have our being. We have just three things to do; we look up to God, and offer the sacrifice of praise. We look around at a needy world, and do good. We look in upon the circle of our own being — our inner life, and seek, by grace, to keep ourselves unspotted.

He worships in the land, and he presents to the Lord only the fruits of the land. Canaan is a picture of heaven, and we can only worship God when we are there in spirit, and with the growth of that happy land. Love, joy, holiness, praise, adoration and thanksgiving grow in plenty in our heavenly Canaan. The redeemed Israelite also shared his joy in the land with others. And this was not all. He kept up a walk of practical holiness, and without that there can be no worship.

Yes, in principle there is. The Lord had separated that people, just as He separates us. God separates us to Himself; but since I have the new man and the Holy Spirit, I also separate myself to Him. We see that in Romans 6. They had been slaves and are now set free. That is God's work. And to whom, then, are you going to give yourselves? Is it to sin, or is it to God?

If the offerer could say all this honestly, then he had a real right to ask the Lord to look down from heaven and bless His people Israel, and to bless their land as well (v. 15). The Lord encourages those who obey Him to pray for His blessing, but it is hypocrisy to ask for His blessing while living in disobedience.

Last of all is a prayer. God may bless us greatly, and He may be pleased to make us a means of blessing to others. Both of these are clearly the points we have had. But there is this further consideration: we are not taken out of the place of dependence. Worship does not weaken prayer. "Look down from Your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel and the ground that You have given us." Now we want a blessing for the people of God, a blessing that fits the place of grace we stand in. This makes us feel the need of God moment by moment.

To eat in his mourning was profaning himself. And then follows not "bless me," but "bless Your people Israel and the ground that You have given us."

So the worshipper asked God, who cared for all His people, to bless not only himself, but all Israel, and the land as well. That land was the proof of God's faithfulness and of the riches of His goodness.

If the offerer could speak honestly like this, he would have true title to ask. He could ask the Lord to look down from heaven, to bless His people Israel, and to bless their land also (v.15). The Lord encourages those who obey Him to pray for His blessing. But it is hypocrisy to ask for His blessing while disobeying Him.

Here we have personal holiness and practical sanctification. In His sovereign grace and mercy, God had brought them into a holy place and relationship. They were to stay completely separate from everything that did not fit it. There must be no mourning, no uncleanness, no dead works. We have no room and no time for such things. They do not belong to that blessed sphere where we have the privilege to live and move and have our being. We have just three things to do. We look up to God, and offer the sacrifice of praise. We look around at a needy world, and do good. We look in upon the circle of our own being — our inner life — and seek, by grace, to keep ourselves unspotted.

But the redeemed Israelite in the land shared his joy with others. He did not forget how miserable he once was in Egypt, though God had now redeemed him out of it… In his new joy he invites the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless and the widow to share his abundance. But this was not all. He also walked in practical holiness, and without that there can be no worship… And now, with his heart enlarged, he takes in all Israel.

First they possess the land and offer its firstfruits to Jehovah. Then comes rejoicing in all the good Jehovah gave. Then, every third year, comes fellowship in grace with all in need. With this goes a declaration of purity of ways, thoroughness in doing it, and obedience. And on that ground they look for a blessing. It is a picture of the true state of the people with Jehovah.