From today, we’re going to be examining a series of statements from verse 14 of Deuteronomy 26 that were part of the vow declaration to the Lord in which the worshipper affirms he has indeed handled the “holy portion” properly while it has been in his possession at his home.
Here’s what you’ve got to come to terms with.
There’s a helluva lot more to handling the Lord’s HOLY property than simply offering it up as called for.
In the interim, there are many factors that could cause that HOLY property to become defiled.
Very close attention had to be paid to every step of the process until that holy property (the poor-tithe) was safely stored away in the warehouse.
Here’s the thing.
Because this “poor-tithe” was taken directly to the storehouses instead of given to the priests, there was far less accountability to ensure everything was done properly.
During the normal years when one’s first fruits offerings were given directly to the priests, the produce offered up was thoroughly inspected by the priests in terms of BOTH quantity and quality.
If the quality of the produce given was considered inferior or the quantity was insufficient, the priest would turn the worshipper away.
However, this checks-and-balances system was not in place with the poor-tithe.
So one could be quite lax in many areas and get away with it.
Minus any accountability, the worshipper could easily give less than the highest quality of his produce and he was well aware that since this inferior stuff was going to the least valued folks in all society, chances were high no one would be any wiser.
Ahh, such is the sad situation of fallen human nature.
We are all so naturally selfish when it comes to our own money and possessions.
Even if there isn’t any human accountability in place, we need to remind ourselves that…
…the Lord sees EVERYTHING.
There is no fooling Him.
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