“When you have come to the land Adonai your God is giving you as your inheritance, taken possession of it and settled there; you are to take the firstfruits of all the crops the ground yields, which you will harvest from your land that Adonai your God is giving you, put them in a basket and go to the place where Adonai your God will choose to have his name live.”-Deuteronomy 26:1-2
In Deuteronomy 26, we’re going to encounter one of the more fascinating revelations that can only be found in this chapter of Torah and no where else.
What might I be talking about?
Well, in this section, we’re given some prayers the common worshipper of Israel is to recite while performing the firstfruits rituals at the Tabernacle.
These prayer declarations are the God-ordained “form prayers” for the lay Israelites.
In other words, these prescribed declarations are just like the Lord’s Prayer in the New Testament.
Why is this significant?
It’s significant because the majority of the “form prayers” we’re given in Scripture are normally reserved for the priests to use during their rituals.
We hardly find specially prescribed prayers for the average citizen of Israel.
Here’s the thing.
The bringing of one’s first fruits to the Tabernacle and then later the Temple was an unprecedented event.
Because it wasn’t something that could be performed when the Israelites were living out in the wilderness.
We’re just talking about practical matters here folks.
It wasn’t until the Hebrews had conquered and then settled the territories of Canaan when they had their own fields and orchards would they be able to obey this command.
Also, I want to point out there’s one trivial little instruction that one would normally overlook but it actually speaks volumes.
Take a look at verse two.
“You are to take the first fruits of all the crops the ground yields, which you will harvest from your land that Adonai your God is giving you, put them in a basket and go to the place where Adonai your God will choose to have his name live…”
This seems like an awfully insignificant detail, doesn’t it?
But it’s not when we realize that up until this point in Hebrew history, Israel had practically zero exposure to farming.
I’m serious.
Historically, the Hebrews were a shepherding people.
They raised animals for their livelihood.
While it’s true that when in Egypt, there may have been a super tiny minority of Israelites who participated in agriculture, the vast majority of them were either shepherds or involved in construction.
The truth is while there were many Middle Eastern cultures who were familiar with first fruits ceremonies, Israel was NOT one of them.
The Lord had to go out of his way to give details to a group of people who within a very short period of time were going to be transformed into an agriculturally-based farming nation.
I love it!
The Lord doesn’t miss a thing when it comes to providing for our needs.
Leave a Reply