Deuteronomy 26:4
Then the priest shall take the basket from your hands and place it before the altar of the LORD your God,
Sermons
Commemorations of National DeliveranceD. Davies Deuteronomy 26:1-11
The Dedication of the FirstfruitsR.M. Edgar Deuteronomy 26:1-11
The Presentation of the First FruitsJ. Orr Deuteronomy 26:1-11














This interesting ceremony:

1. Reminded the individual that the land and its fruits were God's.

2. Required from him a devout acknowledgment of the fact, with a gift in which the acknowledgment was suitably embodied.

3. Threw him back on the recollection of God's former mercies to his nation.

4. Secured a confession and rehearsal of these from his own lips. It served:

1. To create and deepen religious feeling.

2. To quicken gratitude.

3. To encourage free-will offerings. Two main points -

I. GOD'S MERCIES ARE TO BE GRATEFULLY REMEMBERED. These mercies are many and wonderful (Psalm 40:5). The points dwelt on in this declaration are God's fulfillments of his promises in the increase of the nation (ver. 5), the deliverance from Egypt (vers. 6-8), and the bringing of the people into the land of Canaan (ver. 9), part of the firstfruits of which the worshipper now presented (ver. 10). We have here:

1. National mercies. Since in Israel Church and nation were one:

2. Church mercies.

3. Personal mercies.

A similar review befits every Christian. What causes of thankfulness has he, not only in the remembrance of God's loving-kindness to him personally (Psalm 40:1-4; Psalm 116:1-19), but in the review of God's dealings with his nation, and still more in the consideration of his mercies to the Church! On the one side, our noble constitution, our just laws, our civil and religious liberties, our immunity from war - the fruits of long centuries of struggle and progress. On the other side, the facts on which the Church's existence is founded - the Incarnation; Christ's life, death, resurrection, and ascension; the gift of the Spirit: and. the events of her extraordinary history - the progress she has made, God's goodness in preserving and protecting her, in raising up teachers and leaders, in purifying her by persecutions, in granting revivals, times of reformation, etc.; with the consideration of how in all promises have been fulfilled, prayers answered, deliverances vouchsafed, blessings bestowed, increase made.

II. GOD'S MERCIES ARE TO BE SUITABLY ACKNOWLEDGED.

1. By recital of them before God himself. Acknowledgment of mercies is as much a part of devotion as praise, confession, petition, or even adoration. The value of liturgical forms (within due limits) for purposes of prayer and acknowledgment, is not to be disputed. They

(1) aid memory,

(2) secure comprehensiveness,

(3) guide devotion,

(4) prevent irrelevancy,

(5) create a bond of unity.

Like hymns, they testify to the Church's catholicity amidst diversities of creed and polity. Their disadvantage, if preponderant in worship, is that they check too much the element of spontaneity. They discourage freedom and naturalness in the expression of the heart's feelings. The best form of Church order would probably be a combination of the liturgical with the free and spontaneous elements in worship-the latter decidedly predominating.

2. By free-will offerings. These are needed more than ever. The sphere of the Church's operations is yearly widening.

3. By hospitality and clarity (ver. 11). Underlying all there is, of course, to be personal consecration in heart and life. It is self God wants - the love, reverence, service, devotion of self; not a mere share in self's possessions. Confession (ver. 3), gifts (ver. 10), worship (ver. 10), joy (ver. 11), have their rightful place after that, and as the outcome of it. - J.O.

Thou shalt rejoice in every good thing.
It is our duty to give unstinted welcome to every visit of enjoyment with which we may be favoured. We frequently allow streams of refreshment or exhilaration to run past us without dipping into or tasting them; we blunderingly overlook many a cup of soothing and pleasing that is offered to us as we go trudging by. We are slow to discover and seize our golden chances, and hardly know how to make the most of them. At times we are afraid, it would seem, pausing now and then to squeeze a drop or two of severe or melancholy reflection into the goblet, as if there might be sin in having it too rich and sweet. The angel descending to solace us in our Gethsemane with a brief pleasant thrill, with a brief glimpse and gust of pleasure, flashes by under the sombre, wailing olives in vain, is allowed to vanish unharboured and un-utilised.

I. NEVER TURN, IN YOUR BITTERNESS OF SPIRIT, FROM ANY MINISTRY OF TEMPORAL ENJOYMENT THAT MAY INTERVENE; NEVER BE SO WEDDED TO YOUR WOES, SO SHUT UP AND SUNK DOWN IN THEM, THAT YOU CANNOT ISSUE FORTH TO ACCEPT SUCH MINISTRY. For, remember, we want to be made joyful for our education quite as much as we need to be tried and troubled. To laugh, to luxuriate, to ripple and glow with delight, at times is just as essential for us as it is at times to weep and suffer.

II. AT TIMES SOME OF US MAY HAVE HAD THE FEELING THAT THERE IS SO MUCH MISERY IN THE WORLD THAT IT IS HARDLY RIGHT TO IGNORE AND FORGET IT FOR A MOMENT IN REJOICING. But let us reflect that, since God is our Father and we His children, we are justified in losing sight of trouble for a time when He gives us a joy to taste. Being only a child, however, I must feel about His world, and share in His travail concerning it; I need not be afraid at intervals to cast the entire load upon Him and let Him carry it alone. Souls must turn aside at times to bask in what sunshine they. can find, and be mellowed, and warmed, and raised with it, in order to be of service in the darkness and to help to soften and relieve.

(S. A. Tipple.)

Rejoice with the morning stars, and let your adoring spirit march to the music of hymning spheres. Rejoice with the jocund spring in its gush of hope, and its dancing glory, with its swinging insect clouds and its suffusion of multitudinous song; and rejoice with golden autumn, as he rustles his grateful sheaves, and clasps his purple hands, as he breathes his story of fruition, his anthem of promises fulfilled; as he breathes it softly in the morning stillness of ripened fields, or flings it in AEolian sweeps from lavish orchards and from branches tossing bounty into mellow winds. Rejoice with infancy, as it guesses its wondering way into more and more existence, and laughs and carols as the field of pleasant life enlarges on it, and new secrets of delight flow in through fresh and open senses. Rejoice with the second youth of the heaven-born soul, as the revelations of a second birth pour in upon it, and the glories of a new world amaze it. Rejoice with the joyful believer when he sings, "O Lord! I will praise Thee; though Thou wast angry with me, Thine anger is turned away, and Thou comfortedst me. Behold, God is my salvation." Rejoice with him whose incredulous ecstasy has alighted on the great Gospel secret, whoso eye is beaming as none can beam save that which for the first time beholds the Lamb; whose awe-struck countenance and uplifted hands are evidently exclaiming, "This is my beloved, and this is my friend." Rejoice with saints and angels, as they rejoice in a sight like this. Rejoice with Immanuel, whose soul now sees of its travail. Rejoice with the ever blessed Three, and with a heaven whose work is joy. "Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous; and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart."

(J. Hamilton.).

People
Egyptians, Moses
Places
Beth-baal-peor, Egypt
Topics
Altar, Basket, Front, Hands, Placed, Priest
Outline
1. The confession of him who offers the basket of firstfruits
12. The prayer of him who gives his third year's tithes
16. The covenant between God and his people

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Deuteronomy 26:1-11

     4442   firstfruits

Deuteronomy 26:1-15

     8444   honouring God

Deuteronomy 26:2-4

     5227   basket

Deuteronomy 26:4-11

     8670   remembering

Library
The Quiet Land
Gerhard Ter Steegen Deut. xxvi. 9 Stillness midst the ever-changing, Lord, my rest art Thou; So for me has dawned the morning, God's eternal NOW. Now for me the day unsetting, Now the song begun; Now, the deep surpassing glory, Brighter than the sun. Hail! all hail! thou peaceful country Of eternal calm; Summer land of milk and honey, Where the streams are balm. There the Lord my Shepherd leads me, Wheresoe'er He will; In the fresh green pastures feeds me, By the waters still. Well I know them,
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen, Suso, and Others

Appendix iv. An Abstract of Jewish History from the Reign of Alexander the Great to the Accession of Herod
The political connection of the Grecian world, and, with it, the conflict with Hellenism, may be said to have connected with the victorious progress of Alexander the Great through the then known world (333 b.c.). [6326] It was not only that his destruction of the Persian empire put an end to the easy and peaceful allegiance which Judæa had owned to it for about two centuries, but that the establishment of such a vast Hellenic empire. as was the aim of Alexander, introduced a new element into
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

The Jews Make all Ready for the War; and Simon, the Son of Gioras, Falls to Plundering.
1. And thus were the disturbances of Galilee quieted, when, upon their ceasing to prosecute their civil dissensions, they betook themselves to make preparations for the war with the Romans. Now in Jerusalem the high priest Artanus, and do as many of the men of power as were not in the interest of the Romans, both repaired the walls, and made a great many warlike instruments, insomuch that in all parts of the city darts and all sorts of armor were upon the anvil. Although the multitude of the young
Flavius Josephus—The Wars of the Jews or History of the Destruction of Jerusalem

Manner of Covenanting.
Previous to an examination of the manner of engaging in the exercise of Covenanting, the consideration of God's procedure towards his people while performing the service seems to claim regard. Of the manner in which the great Supreme as God acts, as well as of Himself, our knowledge is limited. Yet though even of the effects on creatures of His doings we know little, we have reason to rejoice that, in His word He has informed us, and in His providence illustrated by that word, he has given us to
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

Deuteronomy
Owing to the comparatively loose nature of the connection between consecutive passages in the legislative section, it is difficult to present an adequate summary of the book of Deuteronomy. In the first section, i.-iv. 40, Moses, after reviewing the recent history of the people, and showing how it reveals Jehovah's love for Israel, earnestly urges upon them the duty of keeping His laws, reminding them of His spirituality and absoluteness. Then follows the appointment, iv. 41-43--here irrelevant (cf.
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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