Deuteronomy · chapter 26 of 34
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Deuteronomy 26 closes the specific laws with two ceremonies of gratitude. In the first, the Israelite brings the firstfruits of the land to the sanctuary and recites the story of how the Lord brought him out of Egypt. In the second, he declares that he has given the tithe of the third year to the needy. The chapter ends with the covenant: the Lord declares that Israel is his people, and they promise to obey him.
After the long laws of chapters 12 to 25, Deuteronomy 26 closes them with gratitude and covenant. Before hearing the blessings and curses, Israel must learn to respond to God with offerings that tell the story of their salvation. It is a transitional chapter: from detailed law to the renewal of the covenant that will occupy the chapters that follow.
When Israel enters the land the Lord is giving it and takes possession, each family will bring the firstfruits of its produce in a basket to the place the Lord chooses. There the worshiper will tell the priest that he has come to the land the Lord swore to his fathers, and the priest will set the basket before the altar.
Then he will recite a confession: his father was a wandering Aramean who went down to Egypt with few people and became a great nation there; the Egyptians mistreated them, they cried to the Lord, and he brought them out with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and brought them to this land flowing with milk and honey. So the worshiper presents the firstfruits, bows down before the Lord and rejoices with the Levite and the foreigner.
Every third year, the year of the tithe, they will give the tithe to the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, and declare before the Lord that they have obeyed and have not removed anything holy for unclean use. They ask him to look down from heaven and bless his people and the land. The chapter closes with the declaration that today the Lord commands these laws, and they have declared that the Lord is their God and that they will walk in his ways. The Lord, in turn, has declared that Israel is his people, his treasured possession, and that he will set them high above all nations in praise, fame and honor, a people holy to the Lord.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The worshiper begins by saying his father was a wandering Aramean who went down to Egypt. Remembering a humble origin keeps the people grateful: what they have is not their achievement but a gift from God.
The Lord brought his people out of Egypt with a mighty hand, an outstretched arm, signs and wonders, and brought them to a land flowing with milk and honey. The firstfruits offering is the response to that concrete history of deliverance.
The people will rejoice in all the good the Lord has given them, together with the Levite and the foreigner. Gratitude is not kept to oneself but shared with those who have no inheritance.
The Lord declares that Israel is his people, his treasured possession, and that he will set them above the nations as a holy people. The covenant is mutual, and the people's obedience answers God's choice.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: The firstfruits of the produce of the land, in a basket. — Deuteronomy 26:2
Answer: As a wandering Aramean who went down to Egypt with few people. — Deuteronomy 26:5
Answer: He heard their voice, saw their affliction and brought them out with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. — Deuteronomy 26:7-8
Answer: It was given to the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. — Deuteronomy 26:12
Answer: That he has brought it out of his house and given it, without transgressing or forgetting the commandments. — Deuteronomy 26:13-14
Answer: That they are his people, his treasured possession, and that he will set them high above all nations as a holy people. — Deuteronomy 26:18-19
The firstfruits offering does not begin with an amount but with a story. The worshiper tells who he is, where he comes from and what God did for him. Before giving, he learns to remember. In a small group you can share how giving, serving and helping grow out of remembering what God has done in our lives.
The chapter also teaches that gratitude is shared: the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow eat from the Lord's blessing. A grateful church opens its table to those who have none, and discovers that giving is taking part in God's generosity.
Deuteronomy 26 closes the laws with gratitude and covenant: the people declare that the Lord is their God, and he declares that they are his people. The next chapter describes a concrete ceremony to seal that covenant when Israel crosses the Jordan: the stones with the law on Mount Ebal, the blessing and the curse.
Most interpreters understand him as Jacob, whose family came from Aram and who went down to Egypt with his household. With that phrase the worshiper acknowledges that the people were born from a weak, landless man and that everything they have comes from God.
They were the first part of the harvest, given to the Lord before using the rest. It was an act of gratitude and faith, acknowledging that the harvest came from God. The New Testament calls Christ the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
So the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow would have regular support in their own towns. It was a system of care within the community that reminded Israel that God cares for those without land or family.