Deuteronomy 26:10b – 15 “Then you are to place the basket before the LORD your God and bow down before Him. So you shall rejoice—you, the Levite, and the foreigner dwelling among you—in all the good things the LORD your God has given to you and your household.
When you have finished laying aside a tenth of all your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, you are to give it to the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat and be filled within your gates.
Then you shall declare in the presence of the LORD your God, “I have removed from my house the sacred portion and have given it to the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all the commandments You have given me. I have not transgressed or forgotten Your commandments. I have not eaten any of the sacred portion while in mourning, or removed any of it while unclean, or offered any of it for the dead. I have obeyed the LORD my God; I have done everything You commanded me. Look down from Your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel and the land You have given us, as You swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.”
The land of Egypt was full of cults devoted to various gods, but a common theme was the importance of the dead and preparation for the afterlife. The tribes surrounding the Israelites also had elaborate rituals to honor the dead, including offering choice foods to the dead and burying important people with jars containing food for the after life.
Throughout the Old Testament, God continually emphasizes that He brings life and not death. Those touching dead bodies are considered ritually unclean until sundown and must bathe and change clothes before returning to be with others. God forbids cutting hair or beards or scarification of the living for the dead. God wants a clear demarcation between that which is sacred and that which is unclean. At the same time, God wants the Israelites to make certain that they have not tried to manipulate His commandments by eating any of the sacred portion or handling it while they were unclean.
Why is it so important to keep the sacred portion completely sacred? God sees everything and everyone and God knows the intentions of our hearts. If an Israelite has mishandled the sacred portion, then he cannot make the final affirmation: “I have obeyed the LORD my God; I have done everything You commanded me. Look down from Your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel and the land You have given us, as You swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.”
God will bless Israel ONLY if the Israelites will follow His commands. Failure to follow God’s commands can bring curses rather than blessings. The milk and honey can dry up. The land can refuse to yield.
APPLICATION: Do these blessings and curses really work? Yes. The Sentinel Organization has a video portraying the phenomenal change in a community in Guatemala when believers began to come together to pray for their community. Eventually all four of the jails closed. Farmers who previously had barely scraped a living out of the soil were now seeing vegetables of enormous size. Families riddled with alcohol and drug abuse were being healed and becoming prosperous – all because people prayed and God transformed their community.
God is the One who gives good weather, good soil, and good growing conditions. God is the One who can bless a land. But when the inhabitants of a land refuse to honor God, they bring curses on themselves and on their land.
Do you want God to bless you? Then honor God by offering Him the best that you have and allowing Him to use that offering as He wishes.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Help us to honor You by giving you the best that we have. Help us not to hold back but to realize that you can multiply blessings to us beyond our wildest dreams or imaginations. In the mighty Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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