THE FIRSTFRUITS AND RENEWAL OF THE COVENANT For the sake of the holiness of the people, God commanded the destruction of Amalek, who persists on opposing holiness, on invoking the spirit of corruption, and on spreading abominations. But the negative side is not enough; the people are committed, in the Promised Land, to do the positive work; namely, offering the firstfruits in a magnificent religious rite. The firstfruits constitute an offering of thanksgiving to God, the Grantor of the holy land; and the Giver of the good gifts; beside confirming the perpetual bond between the believer and his God, and renewing the covenant with Him on the land of sojourning. THANKSGIVING IN THE HOLY BIBLE AND THANKSGIVING DAY IN THE WEST The rite of thanksgiving in the Old Testament bears three important factors; namely, praise, giving, and renewal of the covenant with God, and confirmation of obedience to Him. In the New Testament, on the other hand, the day of ‘Thanksgiving,’ the day of Sunday, when the church offers the unique, un-repeated sacrifice of Christ, to God the Father; offers Him the firstborn Son. That is her offering that is connected with praise, giving, and the renewal of the covenant with God on an exalted level. Unfortunately, the ‘Day of Thanksgiving’ in North America, became a day of eating, and sometimes of drinking, singing, and corruption. There are many who disregard praise and enjoyment of the covenant with God. This chapter invites us to re-evaluate the concepts of thanksgiving and of giving the firstfruits to God, to please Him; not according to human concept. It is to be noticed how that amazing rite confirms the importance of praise and thanksgiving on all levels: The personal level: Every member of the congregation approaches the house of God on a personal relationship with God, to thank Him for the good gifts he enjoys. The family level: What is offered is in the name of the whole family. The church level: The believer praises God who has worked in the church since the time of the early Church Fathers, and is still working, and will work along the generations, for the edification of His church. The national level: The believer thanks God for His dealings with Israel as a special nation. 1. Offering of the firstfruits 1–11. 2. Offering of the tithes 12–15. 3. Remembering the covenant 16–19. 1. OFFERING THE FIRSTFRUITS “And it shall be when you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, and you possess it and dwell in it, that you shall take some of the first of all the produce of the ground which you shall bring from your land that the Lord your God is giving you, and put it in a basket and go to the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide” (Deut. 26:1-2) The believer was requested to bring on a basket with the firstfruits of the produce of the land every year; beside a sheaf of the firstfruit of the harvest for the whole land, offered on the day after the Passover (Leviticus 23:10). Every man will bring on a tribute of a freewill offering, a basket of firstfruits on the feast of the 7 Pentecost (of the Weeks) at the end of the harvest; hence called “the feast of ingathering” (Exodus 34:22); according to his own ability (Deut. 16:10). When man finds out that the fruits have matured, he will bring their firstfruits to the Lord; put them in the basket containing wheat, barley, grapes, pomegranates, olives, and dates; places plant leaves in between one item and the other; then goes to offer the basket. Offering the firstfruits is an offering of thanksgiving to the Lord, who granted them the Promised Land, after the bitterness of bondage in Egypt. It is a symbol of the Lord Christ, our Firstfruit, by whom we enjoyed the eternal life, and became counted as a possession of God. In this offering it is noticed: a. By this offering, the believer confesses that all what he has is a gift from God; and that he is offering what God granted him. b. Denying himself, man offers the firstfruits of the ripe fruits to God; giving Him the priority over himself; namely, putting God first in everything. It is so fitting for us to offer the firstfruits of our life, time, work, and our talents to God, presenting the best of what we have on His account. c. Offering the firstfruits of the best produce, is a proclamation that the people who are dedicated to God from among the peoples of the world, should be as such; not as described by the prophet Micah: “Woe is me! For I am like those who gather summer fruits, Like those who glean vintage grapes; There is no cluster to eat of the first ripe fruit which my soul desires. The faithful man has perished from the earth, And there is no one upright among men” (Micah 7:1, 2). d. Bringing the basket containing the firstfruits of the produce, the believer proclaims that the land that God promised to his fathers, which he received, is still in his possession. As a time came when the people lost their land, and were led captives to Assyria (Israel), then to Babylon (Judah). e. Together with the material giving, there is an offering of thanksgiving, by which the believer confesses that the dealings of God with his fathers along all the generations are dealings with him personally; saying: “And you shall go to the one who is priest in those days, and say to him, ‘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” “Then the priest shall take the basket out of your hand and set it down before the altar of the Lord your God. And you shall answer and say before the Lord your God: ‘My father was a Syrian, about to perish, and he went down to Egypt and sojourned 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” (Deut. 26:3-9) So every believer will offer a praise of thanksgiving to God for His gifts to him personally, and to the whole people along the generations. In this praise, the believer confesses the following: 1. All the generations will consider that all the blessings that have been realized with them, were a divine promise to Abraham, who was not an Israeli, but 8 was a wandering Aramaean (Syrian), with no place to settle down. On the feast of thanksgiving, they are committed to approach with the spirit of humility; with the realization that, as their fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, was not Israelites, it is fitting for them to have their hearts open toward the other nations. Abraham, the Patriarch, dwelt in the region of Mesopotamia. 2. Being proud as children of Abraham, they admit that they were few in number (5); and what they reached of great population is a divine gift. 3. His people were born poor, sojourners and oppressed in Egypt; and although they became rich and mighty, there is no point in pride, nor in disregarding the grace of God on them. No offering would be received, unless it is accompanied with praise, full of the spirit of humility and thanksgiving to God. Therefore, through this annual offering with its spiritual rites, the memories of God’s dealings with them, and His gifts and blessings to them, remain the subject of their continuous meditations. Every year, celebrating the feast of the firstfruits, or of thanksgiving, the believer praises God for the following blessings: Although he had his origin of Aramaic (Syrian) fathers, who were not yet the chosen people of God; yet they were very beloved by Him, have got the divine promises, and have entered into a covenant with God; or have renewed the covenant with Him. His fathers were sojourners in Egypt, where they fell under bitter bondage. And now he gained freedom. When they came to Egypt, they were few, but now they became very populous. He has got a portion of the Promised Land, which is still giving him continuous free goods. He is now enjoying the divine presence; standing before the Lord to offer love and a gift of what is given to him by God; and to renew the covenant with Him. e. A confirmation that what the believer offers is of what God granted him: “And now behold, I have brought the firstfruit of the land which You, O Lord, have given me.’ Then you shall set it before the Lord your God, and worship before the Lord your God” (Deut. 26:10) It is fitting for the believer to translate the praise of thanksgiving to action or giving; the way Jacob did: “Of all that you give me, I will surely give one-tenth to you” (Genesis 28:22). This is what the wise Solomon expresses on the day of dedication of the house of the Lord; and what is always confirmed by the men of God (1 Chronicles 29:14). f. This offering is accompanied by the feelings of joy that prevail on the whole house: “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” (Deut. 26:11). God wishes that His people rejoice, and eat their bread with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God (Acts 2:46, 47). g. If joy is a personal divine gift enjoyed by the believer through the blessings of God and His worship; the believer cannot practice this joy except through the congregation; rejoicing together with the ministers of the word and the strangers (11). 2. OFFERING OF TITHES In our commentary on( Deuteronomy 14:28-29) , we have dealt with the offering of tithes on the third year. Some assume that the third and the sixth years of the Sabbatical year are the two years of tithes dedicated to the poor, beside the tithes offered to the temple. In the statute of tithes, the following points are noticed: 9 1. Care for the needy and the ministers of the Lord. “When you have finished laying aside all the tithes of your increase in the third year, which is the year of tithing, and have given it to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, so that they may eat within your gates and be filled” (Deut. 26:12). After offering his tithes to the house of the Lord for two years, the believer, on the third year, does it at his own home. The third year symbolizes the resurrection together with Christ on the third day; through which we gained the spaciousness of heart toward everyone, especially the ministers of the house of the Lord, the strangers, and the needy. While the firstfruits and the tithes are offered in the house of the Lord before His altar; the tithes are likewise offered to the needy believers. While the firstfruits refer to the heavenly Lord Christ, who carries us to His heavens, the tithes refer to making us holy in Him, to turn our land or our life holy in Him. On one side, God confirms His presence in the midst of His people through His house dedicated to Him. And on the other side, He proclaims His presence in the midst of their homes – the holy family churches. By love we bring our gifts to the house of the Lord, to proclaim our longing to set forth to heaven. And we offer our gifts in our house, to behold the Lord coming to us through His ministers (the Levites), the poor, and the needy. 2. The gift of tithes is accompanied by a true longing for obedience by the divine commandment. “Then you shall say before the Lord your God: ‘I have removed the holy tithes from my house, and also have given them to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, so that they may eat within their gates and be filled; I have not transgressed Your commandments, nor have I forgotten them” (Deut. 26:13) Saying, “before the Lord your God,” does not necessarily mean that it should be only in the temple. For the believer feels the divine presence everywhere he may be. Isaac once said to his son Esau: “that I may bless you before the Lord before I die” (Genesis 27:7). As the divine commandment requires offering the tithes, that are holy to the Lord, I should give all what He commanded me to offer. By practicing this commandment, I proclaim obedience to all the commandments. That is why the material offering – especially the tithes in the Old Testament – if it does not go hand in hand with the offering of free will, the longing for obedience, and the remembrance of the covenant, it would not be acceptable by God. 3. The spirit of joy together with holiness should accompany this offering, together with all the attached rites. That is why, allowing the one who offers the tithes of the two years to eat parts of his sacrifices; he is committed to eat them, not with the spirit of greed or lust, but with that of heavenly joy, together with holiness. “I have not eaten any of it when in mourning, nor I have removed any of it for any unclean use, nor given any of it for the dead. I have obeyed the voice of the Lord my God, and have done according to all that You have commanded me” (Deut. 26:14) He probably means: I have not offered any of it to an idol; namely, I have not mixed between the sacrifices to God and those to the idols. Or I have not borne a fellowship between the worship of God and that of idolatry. It is claimed that some people used to shed the blood of sacrifices before the idols; then offer their meal in the name of the living God. The believer testifies that he has never eaten any of his produce when in mourning (26:14); namely, he never used them as an offering to the idols; according 10 to what came in the Book of ( Hosea 9:4) : “It shall be like bread of mourners to them; all who eat it shall be defiled;” and “Do not eat man’s bread of sorrow” (Ezekiel 24:17); an offering connected to the god of fertility, who died, was buried, and risen, and mourned by idolaters. He confirms the same meaning by saying: “nor given any of it for the dead” (14); namely, he did not use it in the rite concerning the god of fertility of the Canaanites. When he says: “nor given any of it for the dead,” he means that he did not offer his sacrifices and gifts to honor dead idols, nor for the sake of deceased friends or relatives. Some Jews believe that this confession (13-14), used to be said by the believer in a low voice; being a personal confession, whereas the confession concerning God’s works, used to be said in a loud voice. 4. The believer ends his confession by praying to the Lord of heaven to bless His people: “Look down from Your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel, and the land which You have given us, just as You swore to our fathers, ‘a land flowing with milk and honey’” (Deut. 26:15) As though the gifts, praises, thanksgivings, prayers, and supplications, given by the believer, are given in the name of the whole congregation. 5. The believer connects between his faithful life and his prayers. As God does not listen to the prayers of the wicked who persist on their evil, nor to the cries of the heretics. The righteous Job wonders: “Will God hear his cry when trouble comes upon him?” (Job 27:9). The Psalmist says: “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear” (Psalm 66:18). Whoever listens to the voice of sin, God will never listen to his prayer, and will never receive his offerings and his sacrifices: “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is His delight” (Proverb 15:8). “The Lord is far from the wicked, but hears the prayers of the righteous” (Proverb 15:29); and, “Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, will also cry himself and not be heard” (Proverb 21:13); meaning that man’s prayer will certainly be received if he approaches God with repentance and walking in the righteousness of Christ, together with the spaciousness of his heart toward his brethren. Offering his longing for enjoying the blessings of God, the believer feels more hungry and thirsty for the divine blessings; and will not stop seeking them with the spirit of love and not with that of selfishness. He will seek, not just for himself alone, but also for the whole congregation; saying, “Bless Your people.” The thirst of the believer for the divine blessings is counted as an integral part of his thanksgiving sacrifice to God. 3. REMEMBERING THE COVENANT “This day the Lord your God command you to observe these statutes and judgments; therefore you shall be careful to observe them with all your heart and with all your soul. Today you have proclaimed the Lord to be your God, and that you will walk in His ways and keep His statutes, His Commandments, and His judgments, and that you will obey His voice. Also today the Lord has proclaimed you to be His special people, just as He has promised you, that you should keep all His commandments.; and that He will set you high above all nations which He has made, in praise, in name, and in honor, and that you may be a holy people to the Lord your God, just as He has spoken” (Deut. 26:16-19) 11 Some see in these verses a ‘golden chain,’ starting with God and ending with God. It includes the following stages: God presents His commandments. As the people respond to these commandments with all their hearts and souls, God proclaims them to be His people, and to be their God. Becoming their God, they have to keep His commandments more and more, to become His own holy people. Becoming set high above all nations, they will praise Him, his holy name and his exalted splendor. That will hold them faster as a people of God, and more reference to the Lord as their own God. Thus, the people enter into an incessant series of glorious goods through their union with the Lord their God. The prophet Moses always concentrates on two points: the first, is that the people should be preoccupied with the commandments of the Lord, and should keep them in their inner depths. And the second, is to remember and to hold fast to the promise or the covenant of God with His own people. The Law came to confirm the following points: o The union with God: “I will be their God, and they shall be My people” (Jeremiah 31:33). o The holy life in the Holy God: “that you may be a holy people to the Lord your God” (19). o God’s care for the honor of His people as a whole among the nations He has made, and the honor of every believer; to make out of them what is like a heavenly angel who carries a heavenly citizenship, saying: “Since you were precious in My sight, you have been honored, and I have loved you…” (Isaiah 43:4).What the prophet Moses present are not his own commandments, but “the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments” of the Lord God (16); that will never grow old, but are God’s commandments given “today” (16). As to the fruits of keeping the commandments with all the heart, the soul, and faithfulness, and of holding fast to the divine covenant; these are: 1. That they will become His own people (18). 2. That God “will set them high above all nations which He has made, in praise, in name, and in honor, and that they may be a holy people to the Lord their God, just as He has spoken” (19). As it is said: “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverb 14:34). He exalts them in such a way, to give them the ability to partake of the praise of the heavenly hosts; and to grant them exaltation in name, by binding them to His great name; that heaven and earth would stand in awe because of the honor that became theirs in the Lord; and exaltation in splendor, by reflecting the splendor of His glory on them. And finally, He makes them holy, as He is Holy. At the end, we can say that this chapter is a praise of thanksgiving expressed in several ways: Praise through the church liturgies (the collective prayers according to certain system). Praise of God through practicing the spirit of joy, and invoking this spirit in the life of others. Praise through the spirit of giving; translating thanksgiving into action. Praise through the good free will through observing the divine commandment and 12 renewing the covenant with God. Praise through the perpetual thirst for God Himself, who incessantly blesses His people. 13 AN INSPIRATION FROM THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY (Chapter 26) RECEIVE ME AS YOUR FIRSTBORN You long to see me a firstborn, O You the unique Firstborn. You wish for me to be like a ripe fruit offered to You before Your divine throne. You find Your pleasure in me; O You, the Source of pleasure of all creation. You are in no need for my worship, my talents, or me. But You desire my heart, O You, amazing in Your love. Receive the basket of my firstfruits, in which I have gathered of the firstfruits of Your gifts to me. In it, I offer my exalted thanksgiving, O You, who created me out of nothing. I thank You, because You have liberated me, not from the bondage of Pharaoh, but from that of Satan. You made me cross over the Red Sea, Having brought me in the water of Baptism, granting me the conquest. You have granted me Your Holy Spirit, as the Leader of my life. You have borne me to the New Canaan. Your land that flows with milk and honey. I offer you my perpetual joy in You, O the Rejoice of my heart. From the basket of the firstfruits, allow me to offer the tithes. I am greatly ashamed to offer You of what You have given me. Stretch Your rich hand to receive from my weakness, what are Yours. I will not approach Your temple with an empty hand, As You have filled it with goods. I will offer you in Your house, like in heaven. I will open the gates of my house, by giving to your ministers, To the strangers, to the orphan, and to the widow. To let them eat together with me of what You have given me. I behold You coming in them to bless my heart, my house, and my storehouses. Let me bring of Your blessings for me to Your house. Come to my house to receive few of Your gifts to me. I will enter into Your house, and You will enter into mine. To find comfort in Your heart, and You to find comfort in mine.
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