Deuteronomy 26

Moses’s long discourse, starting back in Deuteronomy 4, comes to a close in chapter 26, with a discussion on offerings of firstfruits and tithes. As the Israelites recalled God’s previous faithfulness, as well as His impending deliverance into the Promised Land with abundant provisions, they were commanded to bring their best back to God out of appreciation and thanksgiving (v. 2). Additionally, every third year, God’s people were to bring forth a tithe of their produce that was to serve as nourishment for the “Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow” (v. 12). In doing so, the nation of Israel was to always remember that God was their Provider, and also recall that what was entrusted to them was to not only meet their needs, but help others as well. 

For the Church today, let us not merely acknowledge God as the giver of our financial necessities (although that is important), but may we also endeavor to recognize the precious grace He has bestowed upon every one of us. Yes, we want to be wise stewards of the monetary treasures God has provided, distributing some of those resources until there are no needs among us (Acts 4:34), but I would submit that what others need more from us is to be effective conduits of the grace we have received from the Most High. Are you willing to generously share what He has freely given to you?

As Deuteronomy 26 ends, Moses exhorts the congregation to total obedience: “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” (v. 16). When we say “yes” to following Jesus, we also confess our intention to do what He says, as He is our Lord. Matthew Henry puts it this way: “We really forswear ourselves, and perfidiously violate the most sacred engagements, if, when we have taken the Lord to be our God, we do not make conscience of obeying his commands.”[i]Can I encourage you now to recommit your heart toward obeying all that God has instructed? Recall, He has given us His divine nature to live good and godly lives (2 Peter 1:3), but we must make that intentional choice daily to deny ourselves and follow Him (Luke 9:23). 

Finally, note Moses’s last words of encouragement to the Israelite people: “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, 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” (vv. 18-19; emphasis added). Child of God, you are valuable, worthy, and treasured in the heart of God Almighty. Let that truth resonate within your total being today! 

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Journal responses to the following prompts:

·       Are you willing to generously share what God has freely given to you?

·       Do you feel esteemed in God’s eyes right now? If not, remind yourself that the Creator of the universe sent His Son to die for you so that you could be in a relationship with Him. 

[i] Henry, M. (2014). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible. (Vol. 1). Hendrickson Publishers. p. 618.