With
this chapter Moses concludes the particular statutes which he thought fit to
give
Israel
in charge at his parting with
them; what follows is by way of sanction and ratification. In this chapter,
I. Moses gives them a form of confession to be made by him that offered the
basket of his first-fruits, ver. 1-11. II. The protestation and prayer to be
made after the disposal of the third year's tithe, ver. 12-15. III. He binds
on all the precepts he had given them, 1. By the divine authority: "Not
I, but the Lord thy God has commanded thee to do these statutes," ver.
16. 2. By the mutual covenant between God and them, ver. 17, &c.
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The
Offering of First-Fruits.
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B.
C. 1451.
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1 And it shall be, when
thou art come in unto the land which the LORD
thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and possessest it, and
dwellest therein; 2 That thou shalt take of the first of all the
fruit of the earth, which thou shalt bring of thy land that the LORD
thy God giveth thee, and shalt put it in a basket, and shalt go unto
the place which the LORD
thy God shall choose to place his name there. 3 And thou shalt
go unto the priest that shall be in those days, and say unto him, I profess
this day unto the LORD
thy God, that I am come unto the country which the LORD
sware unto our fathers for to give us. 4 And the priest shall
take the basket out of thine hand, and set it down before the altar of the LORD
thy God. 5 And thou shalt speak and say before the LORD
thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down
into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation,
great, mighty, and populous: 6 And the Egyptians evil entreated
us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage: 7 And when
we cried unto the LORD
God of our fathers, the LORD
heard our voice, and looked on our affliction, and our labour, and our
oppression: 8 And the LORD
brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched
arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders:
9 And he hath brought us into this place, and hath given us this land, even
a land that floweth with milk and honey. 10 And now, behold, I
have brought the firstfruits of the land, which thou, O LORD,
hast given me. And thou shalt set it before the LORD
thy God, and worship before the LORD
thy God: 11 And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing
which the LORD
thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house, thou, and the Levite,
and the stranger that is among you.
Here is, I. A good work ordered to be done, and that is the presenting of a
basket of their first-fruits to God every year, v. 1, 2. Besides the sheaf
of first-fruits, which was offered for the whole land, on the morrow
after the passover (Lev. xxiii. 10), every man was to bring for himself a
basket of first-fruits at the feast of pentecost, when the harvest was
ended, which is therefore called the feast of first-fruits (Exod.
xxxiv. 22), and is said to be kept with a tribute of free-will-offering,
Deut. xvi. 10. But the Jews say, "The first-fruits, if not brought
then, might be brought any time after, between that and winter." When a
man went into the field or vineyard at the time when the fruits were
ripening, he was to mark that which he observed most forward, and to lay it
by for first-fruits, wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, and
dates, some of each sort must be put in the same basket, with leaves between
them, and presented to God in the place which he should choose. Now from
this law we may learn, 1. To acknowledge God as the giver of all those good
things which are the support and comfort of our natural life, and therefore
to serve and honour him with them. 2. To deny ourselves. What is first ripe
we are most fond of; those that are nice and curious expect to be served
with each fruit at its first coming in. My soul desired the first ripe
fruits, Micah vii. 1. When therefore God appointed them to lay those by
for him he taught them to prefer the glorifying of his name before the
gratifying of their own appetites and desires. 3. To give to God the first
and best we have, as those that believe him to be the first and best of
beings. Those that consecrate the days of their youth, and the prime of
their time, to the service and honour of God, bring him their first-fruits,
and with such offerings he is well pleased. I remember the kindness of
thy youth.
II. Good words put into their mouths to be said in the doing of this good
work, as an explication of the meaning of this ceremony, that it might be a
reasonable service. The offerer must begin his acknowledgment before he
delivered his basket to the priest, and then must go on with it, when the
priest had set down the basket before the altar, as a present to God their
great landlord, v. 3, 4.
1. He must begin with a receipt in full for the good land which God had
given them (v. 3): I profess that I have come now at last,
after forty years' wandering, unto the country which the Lord swore to
give us. This was most proper to be said when they came first into
Canaan; probably when they had been long settled there they varied from this
form. Note, When God has made good his promises to us he expects that we
should own it, to the honour of his faithfulness; this is like giving up the
bond, as Solomon does, 1 Kings viii. 56, There has not failed one word of
all his good promise. And our creature-comforts are doubly sweet to us
when we see them flowing from the fountain of the promise.
2. He must remember and own the mean origin of that nation of which he was a
member. How great soever they were now, and he himself with them, their
beginning was very small, which ought thus to be kept in mind throughout all
the ages of their church by this public confession, that they might not be
proud of their privileges and advantages, but might for ever be thankful to
that God whose grace chose them when they were so low and raised them so
high. Two things they must own for this purpose:-- (1.) The meanness of
their common ancestor: A Syrian ready to perish was my father, v.
5. Jacob is here called an Aramite, or Syrian, because he
lived twenty years in Padan-Aram; his wives were of that country, and his
children were all born there, except Benjamin; and perhaps the confessor
means not Jacob himself, but that son of Jacob who was the father of his
tribe. However it be, both father and sons were more than once ready to
perish, by Laban's severity, Esau's cruelty, and the famine in the land,
which last was the occasion of their going down into Egypt. Laban the
Syrian sought to destroy my father (so the Chaldee), had almost
destroyed him, so the Arabic. (2.) The miserable condition of their
nation in its infancy. They sojourned in Egypt as strangers, they served
there as slaves (v. 6), and that a great while: as their father was
called a Syrian, they might be called Egyptians; so that their
possession of Canaan being so long discontinued they could not pretend any
tenant-right to it. A poor, despised, oppressed people they were in Egypt,
and therefore, though now rich and great, had no reason to be proud, or
secure, or forgetful of God.
3. He must thankfully acknowledge God's great goodness, not only to himself
in particular, but to Israel in general. (1.) In bringing them out of Egypt,
v. 7, 8. It is spoken of here as an act of pity--he looked on our
affliction; and an act of power--he brought us forth with a mighty
hand. This was a great salvation, fit to be remembered upon all
occasions, and particularly upon this; they need not grudge to bring a
basket of first-fruits to God, for to him they owed it that they were not
now bringing in the tale of bricks to their cruel task-masters. (2.) In
settling them in Canaan: He hath given us this land, v. 9.
Observe, He must not only give thanks for his own lot, but for the land in
general which was given to Israel; not only for this year's profits, but for
the ground itself which produced them, which God had graciously granted to
his ancestors and entailed upon his posterity. Note, The comfort we have in
particular enjoyments should lead us to be thankful for our share in public
peace and plenty; and with present mercies we should bless God for the
former mercies we remember and the further mercies we expect and hope for.
4. He must offer to God his basket of first-fruits (v. 10): "I
have brought the first-fruits of the land (like a pepper-corn) as a
quit-rent for the land which thou hast given me." Note, Whatever
we give to God, it is but of his own that we give him, 1 Chron.
xxix. 14. And it becomes us, who receive so much from him, to study what we
shall render to him. The basket he set before God; and the priests, as God's
receivers, had the first-fruits, as perquisites of their place and fees for
attending, Num. xviii. 12.
III. The offerer is here appointed, when he has finished the service, 1. To
give glory to God: Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God. His
first-fruits were not accepted without further acts of adoration. A humble,
reverent, thankful heart is that which God looks at and requires, and,
without this, all we can put in a basket will not avail. If a man would
give all the substance of his house to be excused from this, or in lieu
of it, it would utterly be contemned. 2. To take the comfort of it to
himself and family: Thou shalt rejoice in every good thing, v.
11. It is the will of God that we should be cheerful, not only in our
attendance upon his holy ordinances, but in our enjoyments of the gifts of
his providence. Whatever good thing God gives us, it is his will that we
should make the most comfortable use we can of it, yet still tracing the
streams to the fountain of all comfort and consolation.
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Appropriation
of Tithes.
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B.
C. 1451.
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12 When thou hast made
an end of tithing all the tithes of thine increase the third year, which
is the year of tithing, and hast given it unto the Levite, the
stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within thy gates,
and be filled; 13 Then thou shalt say before the LORD
thy God, I have brought away the hallowed things out of mine house,
and also have given them unto the Levite, and unto the stranger, to the
fatherless, and to the widow, according to all thy commandments which thou
hast commanded me: I have not transgressed thy commandments, neither have I
forgotten them: 14 I have not eaten thereof in my
mourning, neither have I taken away ought thereof for any
unclean use, nor given ought thereof for the dead: but
I have hearkened to the voice of the LORD
my God, and have done according to all that thou hast commanded
me. 15 Look down from thy holy habitation, from heaven, and
bless thy people Israel, and the land which thou hast given us, as thou
swarest unto our fathers, a land that floweth with milk and honey.
Concerning the disposal of their tithe the third year we had the law before,
ch. xiv. 28, 29. The second tithe, which in the other two years was
to be spent in extraordinaries at the feasts, was to be spent the third year
at home, in entertaining the poor. Now because this was done from under the
eye of the priests, and a great confidence was put in the people's honesty,
that they would dispose of it according to the law, to the Levite, the
stranger, and the fatherless (v. 12), it is therefore required
that when at the next feast after they appeared before the Lord they
should there testify (as it were) upon oath, in a religious manner, that
they had fully administered, and been true to their trust.
I. They must make a solemn protestation to this purport, v. 13, 14.
1. That no hallowed things were hoarded up: "I have brought them
away out of my house, nothing now remains there but my own part."
2. That the poor, and particularly poor ministers, poor strangers, and poor
widows, had had their part according to the commandment. It is fit that God,
who by his providence gives us all we have, should by his law direct the
using of it, and, though we are not now under such particular appropriations
of our revenue as they then were, yet, in general, we are commanded to give
alms of such things as we have; and then, and not otherwise, all things are
clean to us. Then we may take the comfort of our enjoyments, when God
has thus had his dues out of them. This is a commandment which must not be
transgressed, no, not with an excuse of its being forgotten, v. 13.
3. That none of this tithe had been misapplied to any common use, much less
to any ill use. This seems to refer to the tithe of the other two years,
which was to be eaten by the owners themselves; they must profess, (1.) That
they had not eaten of it in their mourning, when, by their mourning for the
dead, they were commonly unclean; or they had not eaten of it grudgingly, as
those that all their days eat in darkness. (2.) That they had not
sacrilegiously alienated it to any common use, for it was not their own.
And, (3.) That they had not given it for the dead, for the honour of their
dead gods, or in hope of making it beneficial to their dead friends. Now the
obliging of them to make this solemn protestation at the three years' end
would be an obligation upon them to deal faithfully, knowing that they must
be called upon thus to purge themselves. It is our wisdom to keep conscience
clear at all times, that when we come to give up our account we may lift up
our face without spot. The Jews say that this protestation of their
integrity was to be made with a low voice, because it looked like a
self-commendation, but that the foregoing confession of God's goodness was
to be made with a loud voice to his glory. He that durst not make this
protestation must bring his trespass-offering, Lev. v. 15.
II. To this solemn protestation they must add a solemn prayer (v.
15), not particularly for themselves, but for God's people Israel;
for in the common peace and prosperity every particular person prospers and
has peace. We must learn hence to be public-spirited in prayer, and to
wrestle with God for blessings for the land and nation, our English Israel,
and for the universal church, which we are directed to have an eye to in our
prayers, as the Israel of God, Gal. vi. 16. In this prayer we are
taught, 1. To look up to God as in a holy habitation, and thence to infer
that holiness becomes his house, and that he will be sanctified in those
that are about him. 2. To depend upon the favour of God, and his gracious
cognizance, as sufficient to make us and our people happy. 3. To reckon it
wonderful condescension in God to case an eye even upon so great and
honourable a body as Israel was. It is looking down. 4. To be earnest with
God for a blessing upon his people Israel, and upon the land which he has
given us. For how should the earth yield its increase, or, if it does,
what comfort can we take in it, unless therewith God, even our own God,
gives us his blessing? Ps. lxvii. 6.
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Israel
Reminded of the Covenant.
B. C.
1451.
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16 This day the LORD
thy God hath commanded thee to do these statutes and judgments: thou shalt
therefore keep and do them with all thine heart, and with all thy
soul. 17 Thou hast avouched the LORD
this day to be thy God, and to walk in his ways, and to keep his statutes,
and his commandments, and his judgments, and to hearken unto his
voice: 18 And the LORD
hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people, as he hath promised
thee, and that thou shouldest keep all his commandments;
19 And to make thee high above all nations which he hath made, in praise,
and in name, and in honour; and that thou mayest be an holy people unto the
LORD
thy God, as he hath spoken.
Two things Moses here urges to enforce all these precepts:-- 1. That they
were the commands of God, v. 16. They were not the dictates of his
own wisdom, nor were they enacted by any authority of his own, but infinite
wisdom framed them, and the power of the King of kings made them binding to
them: "The Lord thy God commands thee, therefore thou art bound
in duty and gratitude to obey him, and it is at thy peril if thou disobey.
They are his laws, therefore thou shalt do them, for to that end were they
given thee: do them and not dispute them, do them and not draw back from
them; do them not carelessly and hypocritically, but with thy heart and
soul, thy whole heart and thy whole soul." 2. That their covenant with
God obliged them to keep these commands. He insists not only upon God's
sovereignty over them, but his propriety in them, and the relation wherein
they stood to him. The covenant is mutual, and it binds to obedience both
ways. (1.) That we may perform our part of the covenant, and answer the
intentions of that (v. 17): "Thou hast avouched and
solemnly owned and confessed the Lord Jehovah to be thy God, thy
Prince and Ruler. As he is so by an incontestable right, so he is by thy own
consent." They did this implicitly by their attendance on his word, had
done it expressly (Exod. xxiv.), and were now to do it again before they
parted, ch. xxix. 1. Now this obliges us, in fidelity to our word, as
well as in duty to our Sovereign, to keep his statutes and his
commandments. 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. (2.) That God's part of the
covenant also may be made good, and the intentions of that answered (v.
18, 19): The Lord has avouched, not only taken, but publicly owned
thee to be his segullah, his peculiar people, as he has promised
thee, that is, according to the true intent and meaning of the promise.
Now their obedience was not only the condition of this favour, and of the
continuance of it (if they were not obedient, God would disown them, and
cast them off), but it was also the principal design of this favour.
"He has avouched thee on purpose that thou shouldest keep his
commandments, that thou mightest have both the best directions and the
best encouragements in religion." Thus we are elected to obedience
(1 Pet. i. 2), chosen that we should be holy (Eph. i. 4), purified, a
peculiar people, that we might not only do good works, but be zealous in
them, Tit. ii. 14. Two things God is here said to design in avouching them
to be his peculiar people (v. 19), to make them high, and, in order
to that, to make them holy; for holiness is true honour, and the only way to
everlasting honour. [1.] To make them high above all nations. The greatest
honour we are capable of in this world is to be taken into covenant with
God, and to live in his service. They should be, First, High in
praise; for God would accept them, which is true praise, Rom. ii. 29.
Their friends would admire them, Zeph. iii. 19, 20. Secondly, High in
name, which, some think, denotes the continuance and perpetuity of that
praise, a name that shall not be cut off. Thirdly, High in honour,
that is, in all the advantages of wealth and power, which would make them
great above their neighbours. See Jer. xiii. 11. [2.] That they might be a
holy people, separated for God, devoted to him, and employed continually in
his service. This God aimed at in taking them to be his people; so that, if
they did not keep his commandments, they received all this grace in vain.
