"So you shall rejoice in every good thing which the LORD your God has given to you and your house, you and the Levite and the stranger who is among you.' (v.11)
This chapter is about worshiping the Lord through giving back to Him. In it, we see the children of Israel rejoicing in what God had given them by bringing the first fruits of their increase to the chief priest. (v.1-2) After God’s people brought their firstfruit offerings to the chief priest, they were to make public declarations of God’s faithfulness. First they would say to the priest, "I declare today to the LORD your God that I have come to the country which the LORD swore to our fathers to give us" (v.3). Here they were recognizing God's fulfillment of His promise. The Promised Land lay just across the Jordan River, and though there were formidable obstacles (such as a Jordan River swollen by Spring floods and the mighty armies of Canaanites), God still assured them that they will come into the land. And so they did.
Then after the priest had received the offering and placed it before the altar, God's people would then reply, “My father was a Syrian, about to perish, and he went down to Egypt and dwelt there, few in number; and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous. But the Egyptians mistreated us, afflicted us, and laid hard bondage on us. Then we cried out to the LORD God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and looked on our affliction and our labor and our oppression. So the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm, with great terror and with signs and wonders. He has brought us to this place and has given us this land, ‘a land flowing with milk and honey’; and now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land which you, O LORD, have given me” (vv.5-10).
This wonderful confession of thanks remembered the history of Israel from the time of Jacob and his family in the land of Canaan, to the family’s going down into Egypt, and to the eventual deliverance and Exodus into the Promised Land. Israel spent some 400 years in Egypt. Yet in the course of God’s eternal plan, it was nothing more than a sojourn. We can often focus so much on our own time of trial or misery that we think that it defines our whole life; God saw Israel’s experience in Egypt as a sojourn, where they grew in number and became a great and mighty nation.
Now the initial giving of firstfruits when Israel came into the Promised Land was an appropriate way to say “thank you” to the LORD. This giving, and all giving done with the right heart, is a proper way to worship before the LORD your God.
Just like the Israelites, very Christian has been brought out of there own Egypt and set free from the slavery of sin. Similarly, we need to show our gratitude in both word and deed – testifying of His deliverance and provision in our lives. When we receive from the LORD, and give back to Him, it makes us rejoice. It is the proper response of a creature to his Creator, who has supplied him with all good things. Having been so blessed, should we not return the blessing through giving back and joyfully declaring what God has done for us? Absolutely!
The Truth: “Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” (Luke 6:38)
