A verse-by-verse explanation of the chapter.
An overview of the principles and applications from the chapter.
Melding the chapter to life.
Tying the chapter to life with God.
Historical, geographical, and grammatical enrichment of the commentary.
Suggested step-by-step group study of the chapter.
Zeroing the chapter in on daily life.
“Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God.
And only he who sees takes off his shoes,
The rest sit around and pick blackberries.”
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
The faithfulness of God to his people in the past, according to Deuteronomy 26, will be matched by his exaltation of them in the future—provided they are faithful to his covenant.
Early in 1856, the career of explorer and missionary David Livingstone seemed on the verge of ending violently. He was in the seventeenth year of his African explorations, looking for a route into the central part of the continent from its east coast. He had been receiving reports about possible attacks by hostile tribes for much of the trip, and his bearers were growing tense and uncertain. Every noise in the jungle pushed frayed nerves closer to the breaking point.
After reading in his Bible from Matthew one night, Livingstone began to write in his journal, all the while weighing the advisability of abandoning his search:
January 14, 1856. Evening. Felt much turmoil of spirit in prospect of having all my plans for the welfare of this great region and this teeming population knocked on the head by savages tomorrow. But I read that Jesus said: “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations … and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” It is the word of a gentleman of the most strict and sacred honour, so there's an end of it! I will not cross furtively tonight as I intended. Should such a man as I flee? Nay, verily, I shall take observations for latitude and longitude tonight, although they may be the last. I feel quite calm now, thank God!
Livingstone survived the trip and completed his maps and observations. Later, after returning to Scotland to receive an honorary doctorate from the University of Glasgow, he recalled the occasion and the words of Jesus in Matthew 28:20:
Would you like me to tell you what supported me through all the years of exile among people whose language I could not understand, and whose attitude towards me was always uncertain and often hostile? It was this: “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world!' On those words I staked everything, and they never failed!”
As Yahweh encouraged Israel by the promise of his presence and providential care, so the promise of Christ encourages believers to rely upon his power and faithfulness for their every need.
His Persistent Presence
MAIN IDEA: Israel's future blessing is connected with its faithfulness to the covenant; Yahweh has already demonstrated his faithfulness to his word.
Confessing God's Faithfulness in the Past (26:1-11)SUPPORTING IDEA: Worshipers of Yahweh should confess his faithfulness to them.
26:1-2. Chapter 26 brings to a close the formal stipulations of God's covenant expectations of Israel begun at Deuteronomy 12:1. Moses opened the chapter by anticipating the days ahead when the nation would enter and settle in the land that God was providing. The Israelite worshiper should plan to go to the place that the Lord would choose for his central sanctuary. He should bring with him some of the firstfruits of the land as an offering.
26:3-4. The worshiper was to say to the priest at the entry to the tabernacle or temple, I declare today to the LORD your God that I have come to the land. Although God commanded elsewhere a regular offering of the firstfruits of the land (cp. Exod. 23:19; 34:26), the words of this verse make it clear that this was a one-of-a-kind offering. The people of God were to recognize the wonders of being in the land in a settled way, and they should make both a tangible and verbal confession of its reality. The newly harvested produce was to be given to the priest, who was to set it down in front of the altar of the LORD.
26:5. The worshiping Israelites would then declare what could be considered a summary statement of faith: My father was a wandering Aramean. The last term could also be translated Syrian, since Aram was the Hebrew term that describes the region that is today known as Syria. The reference is to Jacob, who lived among his relatives in Aram-Naharaim, “Aram of the Two Rivers” in northwest Mesopotamia. The worshiper was to verbalize the contrast between the humble and nomadic character of the patriarch and condition of his offspring, who became a great nation, powerful and numerous after being in Egypt.
26:6-7. The greatness of Israel did not consist in their numbers, however, because the Egyptians mistreated them and made them suffer. Their greatness came from their connection with the Lord, to whom they cried out in their misery. Israel was now settled in the land not because of numerical strength but because of the fact that Yahweh heard them and saw their pathetic condition.
26:8-10a. Yahweh not only heard; he responded to Israel's cries, bringing them out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. His compassionate purpose and the miraculous signs and wonders he gave translated into great terror on the part of Israel's Egyptian oppressors. Just as God had sworn to do, he would give his people this land, a land flowing with milk and honey (cp. Exod. 3:8,17).
While the preceding words were to be directed to the priest as a confession of Yahweh's goodness, the first portion of verse 10 finds the worshiper turning directly to the Lord. He was to say, Now I bring the firstfruits of the soil, that you, O LORD, have given me.
26:10b-11. The formal statement of confession was to be concluded by the worshiper's placing the basket before the altar of the Lord and bowing down. There is no contradiction between this statement and that of verse 4, since the confessor did not have direct access to the altar and would have needed the priest to serve as his mediator.
At the conclusion of this time of confession and worship, other portions of the harvest were to be shared among the worshiper, the Levites and the aliens among Israel so everyone could rejoice in the good things God had provided. Rejoicing is the handmaid of worship.
Declaring the Worshiper's Faithfulness in the Present (26:12-15)SUPPORTING IDEA: The worshiper's expectation of God's blessing in the future is nurtured in the soil of his faithfulness to God's commandments.
26:12. This paragraph specifies still another practice that would have to wait until the conquest of the promised land was complete. Every three years, in the year of the tithe, Israelites were to set aside a special portion of their produce to share with the Levite, the alien, the fatherless and the widow. This apparently was in addition to the annual tithe to support the work of the tabernacle (or later the temple; see the commentary on 14:27-29.) Although the regular annual tithe was for the support of the priesthood at the central sanctuary, this was a local tithe, designed to assist Levites who were living in towns scattered throughout the land. These four categories of people were to be able to enjoy life and be satisfied with Yahweh's provision for them just as others were.
26:13-14. The faithful Israelite would be able to say to God: I have removed from my house the sacred portion (i.e., the tithe) and have given it to the specified groups. He was to declare directly to the Lord the completeness of his obedience: according to all you commanded. This was not a claim of sinlessness, but of faithfulness in this critical area of loving one's neighbor. The faithful believer could say in a general way, I have not turned aside from your commands nor have I forgotten any of them.
Part of obedience in such matters involved storing the sacred portion, and along the way many temptations might have tested the worshiper's determination to obey. An occasion that would provoke mourning might test his resolve. While I was unclean is probably more accurately translated “for any unclean use.” The portion was sacred, thus none of it could be used for the ordinary meals of a household or be fed to animals. Nothing belonging to God could be offered to the dead in a flagrant violation of the covenant.
26:15. The worshiper who had behaved faithfully could appeal to God to look down from heaven … and bless … Israel and the land. Israel would not be blessed because their obedience merited it, but because obedience was the requirement of the covenant and because God had promised to bless them if they were faithful.
Anticipating God's Faithfulness in the Future (26:16-19)SUPPORTING IDEA: Israel's promise to obey Yahweh will be more than matched by Yahweh's promise to exalt Israel in the future.
26:16. The final paragraph of the chapter is also a summary of the entire stipulation section of Deuteronomy (chs. 12-26). These decrees and laws thus look back to the bulk of the book. But observing the letter of the law was not sufficient in itself. God intended that his people carefully observe what he had said with all their heart and with all their soul.
26:17. You have declared may refer to Exodus 24:7, where Israel declared, “We will do everything the LORD has said; we will obey.” Or it may refer to a more recent similar declaration by the current generation of Israelites. They had said publicly that they intended to keep God's decrees, commands and laws, and now it was time to follow through on their promises.
26:18-19. The covenant was now sealed. Israel had declared that Yahweh was their God. The Lord had declared this day that he recognized them as his people, his treasured possession. As they obeyed, they could expect that just as God had promised, so he would perform, bringing them fame and honor high above all the nations of the earth.
MAIN IDEA REVIEW: Israel's future blessing is connected with its faithfulness to the covenant; Yahweh has already demonstrated his faithfulness to his word.
Robert Morrison was the first Protestant missionary from England to the people of China. In 1807 he arrived in Canton as a representative of the London Missionary Society and quickly threw himself into a study of the language. Because he was so successful as a language scholar, he was hired by the British East India Company to serve as a translator and did so for about twenty-five years. The compensation he received enabled him to have time to do extensive written translations as well. He translated the Bible, a number of prayer books, hymnals, and many tracts into Chinese. He laid the foundation for others who would come later, although he saw only a handful of conversions through his own labors.
Through the challenges of his spiritual development and preparation for the field, he clung to the promise of Isaiah 43:2: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.” In a letter to his father, he explained how he drew courage during a terrifying ocean voyage from his confidence in God's presence: “I mention these circumstances to excite thankfulness to God, who brought us safely through. I pleaded the promise, in its literal sense, ‘When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee,’ and blessed by God, it was fulfilled.”
That Bible-born confidence was to support Morrison many times over through the years. Trust in the promise of God is the key not only to weathering the perils of the present but to receiving eternal life itself. The triumphant believer who can avow with John the Baptist that “He who has received [Christ's] testimony has set his seal to this, that God is true” (John 3:33 NASB).
PRINCIPLES
Tom Lehman became a Christian while in high school. After playing on his college golf team, he decided to try to make a living playing professionally. He managed to qualify for the PGA tour in 1991 when he won three tournaments on the Ben Hogan Tour and was voted player of the year.
Just as he was making a name for himself, Tom ran into a bump in the road. His doctor discovered polyps in his colon that were diagnosed as precancerous. Tom and his wife took God's promise to Joshua as their own during that difficult time: “Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go” (Josh. 1:9). After surgery, Tom was pronounced healthy and fit for the tour once again, and the next year he won the British Open. Giving tribute to the faithfulness of God, Tom said, “In every difficult situation, even on the golf course, I remember Joshua 1:9.”
Father, let us be people who place our confidence in you. When others ask us for the reasons for our hope, give us a fearless confidence in you. Amen.
A. To the Lord (26:13)
The normal rendering of the expression to the Lord is “before the Lord,” and many translations render it just that way. However, the Hebrew preposition can mean nothing more than “to” on occasion, and since the words of the confession address the Lord directly, it is apparent that the NIV translation is accurate.
The prayer of the righteous Israelite was to be, “Look down from heaven, your holy dwelling place.” The words after the comma appear here in Scripture for the first time. They are not intended as a denial of God's special presence in the tabernacle, nor a denial of his omnipresence. They simply recognize one of God's own descriptions for his place of residence and the fact that his holiness requires a separation from sinful humanity.
A. INTRODUCTION
B. COMMENTARY
C. CONCLUSION: EVEN IN THE PGA
