2024-04-28 Deuteronomy 26:12-29 We are the Lord's

Text Read

12 “When you have finished paying all the tithe of your produce in the third year, which is the year of tithing, giving it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, so that they may eat within your towns and be filled, 13 then you shall say before the Lord your God, ‘I have removed the sacred portion out of my house, and moreover, I have given it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all your commandment that you have commanded me. I have not transgressed any of your commandments, nor have I forgotten them. 14 I have not eaten of the tithe while I was mourning, or removed any of it while I was unclean, or offered any of it to the dead. I have obeyed the voice of the Lord my God. I have done according to all that you have commanded me. 15 Look down from your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless your people Israel and the ground that you have given us, as you swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.’

16 “This day the Lord your God commands you to do these statutes and rules. You shall therefore be careful to do them with all your heart and with all your soul. 17 You have declared today that the Lord is your God, and that you will walk in his ways, and keep his statutes and his commandments and his rules, and will obey his voice. 18 And the Lord has declared today that you are a people for his treasured possession, as he has promised you, and that you are to keep all his commandments, 19 and that he will set you in praise and in fame and in honor high above all nations that he has made, and that you shall be a people holy to the Lord your God, as he promised.”

Text Explained

Giving of the 3-Year Tithe vs 12-15: 12 “When you have finished paying all the tithe of your produce in the third year, which is the year of tithing, giving it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, so that they may eat within your towns and be filled, “While the tithe was an annual offering (14:22), the interest in this passage is on the tithe of the third year, which was reserved specially for the disadvantaged (Deuteronomy 14:28–29 “At the end of every three years you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in the same year and lay it up within your towns. And the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your towns, shall come and eat and be filled, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do.”).” (McConville, J. G. (2002). Deuteronomy (D. W. Baker & G. J. Wenham, Eds.; Vol. 5, p. 380). Apollos; InterVarsity Press.) This particular tithe was to take place in the Israelite towns or settlements, and those tithes were to go specifically to the underprivileged. It is interesting to note that most of the tithes did not require a confession, yet for the gift of the First-fruits (which we looked at last week) and the tithe of the third year, there was a confession. When we look at the tithe of the first-fruits and compare it to the 3-year tithe we see that one of the points of the text is to operate in two directions, the vertical and the horizontal. The offering of the first-fruits to the Lord could not be separated from the charity that was to be shown to fellow kingdom citizens. The focus of this portion of the text is on that confession found in verse 13-15. 13 then you shall say before the Lord your God, Verse 13 contains the Positive statement in which the Israelite would declare that they had fulfilled the requirements of the Law ‘I have removed the sacred portion out of my house, and moreover, I have given it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all Your commandment that You have commanded me. and then the Israelite would emphasize this positive with the use of two negative statements I have not transgressed any of your commandments, nor have I forgotten them. Then as we move to verse 14, we see the reverse. Verse 14 begins with a negative statement to emphasize that the tithe was given in the proper way,14 I have not eaten of the tithe while I was mourning, or removed any of it while I was unclean, or offered any of it to the dead. and it ends with an affirmation that the person giving the tithes had done so according to the requirements that God had prescribed. I have obeyed the voice of the Lord my God. I have done according to all that You have commanded me. And this confession ends with a prayer to the Lord. 15 Look down from Your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel and the ground that You have given us, as You swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.’ This prayer is wonderful because it keeps the focus in the proper direction. Notice the direction, The Lord is looking down, the request is to bless those who belong to the Lord by blessing what the Lord had given to His people, and it ends with a request for the Lord to keep His promise. So the direction of this prayer is entirely dependent upon the Lord and who He is. So the giving of the 3-year tithe was to be followed by a confession that it had been done according to God’s commands and ends with a request for the Lord to bless their obedience. This then shifts to verse 16-19 which is an interlude where Moses exhorts and encourages the Israelites to not just hear, by do.

Interlude: 16 “This day the Lord your God commands you to do these statutes and rules. You shall therefore be careful to do them with all your heart and with all your soul. 17 You have declared today that the Lord is your God, and that you will walk in His ways, and keep His statutes and His commandments and His rules, and will obey His voice. Notice all of the ways in which Israel is being commanded to not just know what their God expected of them, but all the ways they are being told to do what God commanded them. “ commands you to do; be careful to do, you will walk, you will keep, you will obey.” Also, notice what all they were expected to obey. They were expected to obey ALL that God had commanded them: “statutes & rules” with all their heart & soul, walk in His ways, keep His statutes, keep His commandments, keep His rules, obey His voice. Do you notice the emphasis? It was not enough that they knew what the Lord their God was commanding, but they were to do it. Then Moses gives the the reason. 18 And the Lord has declared today that you/Israel are a people for His treasured possession, as He has promised you, and that you are to keep all His commandments, Once more a call to obedience 19 and that He will set you in praise and in fame and in honor high above all nations that He has made, and that you shall be a people holy to the Lord your God, as He promised.” You see, Israel was called to be God’s Holy people, a Kingdom of Priests, and with that call came a heavy responsibility. As one scholar notes, “Israel, remaining faithful to the covenant God, would be renowned among other nations, not because of inherent merit, but because the covenant community would reflect the glory of the covenant God in its national life. This glory was the potential of the community of God’s people...” (Craigie, P. C. (1976). The Book of Deuteronomy (p. 325). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.) All the Israelites had to do was obey the commands God had given them, and they would have recieved honor, fame, and praise.

Text Applied

All Blessings come from God. This is the same as last week. Everything we have, comes from God. We see this confession in the prayer that was to be offered in vs 15. The direction is to the Lord. Folks, we need to always be mindful that James 1:17 “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” The people went to the Lord their God with requests for God’s blessings and in full assurance that He would answer according to His will.

Make Requests with a pure heart. Notice when the request comes in this prayer. The request comes after the individual has obeyed. Verses 13-14 goes through great pains to emphasize the obedience of the individual. The person is verbally confessing that they not only brought the required tithe as God had commanded, but they had gathered and set aside the required tithe as God had commanded it. Both the ends and the means were done according to the command of the Lord. Only then does the requests begin. Psalm 66:18 “If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.” Folks, how many times have our prayers been hindered because we have been holding on to sin in our hearts. How many times has the Lord refused to listen to your requests because have refused to let go of sin? What sins you may ask? Galatians 5:19–21 “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” 2 Timothy 3:2–5 “For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.” Or how about a lack of forgiveness: Colossians 3:13 “bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.” 1 Corinthians 6:9–11 “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” Dear one, if you are knowingly holding on to sin in your heart, even if no one else can see it, God does and He will not listen. Dear one, make requests of the Lord b/c all blessings come from Him, however, make your requests with a pure heart.

You belong to the Lord. By What Right? What right does the Lord have to command you to do all the things? Now most of us would never verbally ask this, but many of us have lived this question. What right does God have to tell me what to do? I like these certain sins, so I will abstain from orgies, but I will keep watching my pornography. I won’t be abusive, but I will love my money. I won’t steal, but I will slander. I want other to forgive me, but there are certain people I refuse to forgive. and then we sooth our souls by saying God understands. God is with me, I have only harbored a few sins in my heart so I am good with God. No. Just no. That is not how this works. In fact, that way of thinking is the reason the stereotype of the hypocritical church exists. If you are born again, you belong to the Lord. The Lord is only on your side if you are on His. When Moses saw the Israelites worshiping the golden calf, he did not ask, who is on my side. Exodus 32:26 “then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, “Who is on the Lord’s side? Come to me.” And all the sons of Levi gathered around him.” The Lord is only on your side if you are standing on His side. If you are born again, you are not your own. 1 Corinthians 6:19–20 “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” You belong to the Lord. That means you are responsible to know and to do His commands. So many times we cherish all of the rights/benefits of being one of God’s children, yet we quickly struggle against the responsibilities we have as God’s people. You belong to the Lord. You are commanded/expected to do His will. Not just what you find easy to obey, but ALL of it. You belong to Him. Beware living in disobedience, for you may find that the Lord is not on your side, b/c you are choosing to not be on His. James 4:7–10 “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.”