Deuteronomy 26--Offerings of Firstfruits and Tithes

Deuteronomy 26
English Standard Version

Offerings of Firstfruits and Tithes
26 “When you come into the land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance and have taken possession of it and live in it, 2 you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from your land that the LORD your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket, and you shall go to the place that the LORD your God will choose, to make his name to dwell there. 3 And you shall go to the priest who is in office at that time and say to him, ‘I declare today to the LORD your God that I have come into the land that the LORD swore to our fathers to give us.’ 4 Then the priest shall take the basket from your hand and set it down before the altar of the LORD your God.

5 “And you shall make response before the LORD your God, ‘A wandering Aramean was my father. And he went down into Egypt and sojourned there, few in number, and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous. 6 And the Egyptians treated us harshly and humiliated us and laid on us hard labor. 7 Then we cried to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. 8 And the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great deeds of terror, with signs and wonders. 9 And he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10 And behold, now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, O LORD, have given me.’ And you shall set it down before the LORD your God and worship before the LORD your God. 11 And you shall rejoice in all the good that the LORD your God has given to you and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the sojourner who is among you.

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.”

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So, before we jump into this passage, does it still apply to God's people today?  I think it does.  Maybe I'll get into that a little later, but even though we're no longer very agrarian and we no longer bring our firstfruits of our flocks and harvests to the Tabernacle, or Temple, I believe that we still need to give God our first and our best and that we still owe Him our tithes (10%) and offerings (voluntary giving above and beyond the tithe).  This is still the LORD's mechanism for taking care of those that work in his service (the priests and Levites at that time, but today our pastors, missionaries, and others that serve the LORD in full-time ministry) and His way He has designated for us to take care of the poor among us.

Now, this first offering of firstfruits does not apply to us--it was specifically for the first generation coming into the Promised Land and their very first harvest.  However, notice that even in their time of giving it is a time of worship for remembering how much the LORD has done for them and how worthy He is.  Every year when they bring their tithes and offerings it is a statement of how He has done everything for them--bringing them out of Egypt, bringing Abraham to the land of Canaan. and how the LORD brought them out of Egypt and gave them the Law.

They were to remember as they gave their tithes and offerings to be careful to give of themselves in their obedience first, for the LORD desires obedience more than sacrifice (as he would tell King Saul in 1 Samuel).  We should give generously and cheerfully as we see in the New Testament and we should not be stingy, but should give in proportion to how great we believe God is.  We see the early Church where people gave everything they had because they were totally sold out for Jesus and His gospel.  I'm not saying everyone needs to sell everything and give it to the Church, but we are warned about trying to cling to our wealth in Jesus' parables in the New Testament.  We are also told that Jesus was obedient in all of the Law even though He knew He was exempt from the tithe because He was the Son of the King, but He was still obedient to this and told HIs disciples to do this too.  We may no longer pay our tithes and offerings at the Tabernacle or Temple, but we give of our time, talent and treasure every day, and should give the LORD our first and our best--He deserves nothing less, since He has given us His first and best when He gave Jesus to pay the price for our sins.

That is not to say that we have a debt we can pay or that we should try view our tithes and offerings in this way, but that our giving is an expression of how much we love God and how much we value Him and all He has done for us.  Like David in 2 Samuel 24:24, I say that I will not offer to the LORD an offering that costs me nothing, because that shows that I don't show that I value Him at all.