Deuteronomy 26 Study Notes
General
What is the main point of the confession the worshiper recites while offering his firstfruits?
Answer: The land and its harvest are gifts from the God who saved
The confession tells Israel's story as a series of things the LORD did. The people were few, then oppressed and forced into hard labor in Egypt; they cried out, and God listened, saw their misery, brought them out with mighty power and great signs, and gave them a rich and fruitful land. Only then does the worshiper say that he now brings the first of what God has given (26:5-10). The Exodus account records the same pattern of Israel's cry and God's hearing and remembering (Exodus 2:23-25). The offering does not pay God back or prove the giver's worth; it thanks Him for gifts received. Moses warns against claiming one's own strength produced prosperity (8:17-18), and Paul asks what we have that we did not receive (1 Corinthians 4:7). Grace comes first, and worship answers it.
- Deuteronomy 26:5-10 (BSB)“and you are to declare before the LORD your God, “My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down to Egypt few in number and lived there and became a great nation, mighty and numerous. But the Egyptians mistreated us and afflicted us, putting us to hard labor. So we called out to the LORD, the God of our fathers; and the LORD heard our voice and saw our affliction, toil, and oppression. Then the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror, signs, and wonders. And He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land that You, O LORD, have given me.” Then you are to place the basket before the LORD your God and bow down before Him.”The worshiper retells Israel's history from Egypt to the land as a series of acts of the LORD.
- Exodus 2:23-25 (BSB)“After a long time, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned and cried out under their burden of slavery, and their cry for deliverance from bondage ascended to God. So God heard their groaning, and He remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God saw the Israelites and took notice.”The Exodus account records Israel's cry and God's hearing, remembering, and seeing, just as the confession summarizes.
- Deuteronomy 8:17-18 (BSB)“You might say in your heart, “The power and strength of my hands have made this wealth for me.” But remember that it is the LORD your God who gives you the power to gain wealth, in order to confirm His covenant that He swore to your fathers even to this day.”Moses warns Israel not to credit its own strength, since the LORD gives the power to gain wealth.
- 1 Corinthians 4:7 (BSB)“For who makes you so superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?”Paul teaches the same truth: everything we have was received, so there is no room for boasting.
Theological
What theological point does the credo of 26:5-10 make by the way it recounts Israel's history?
Answer: The land and its harvest are gifts from the God who saved
The credo is a recital of the LORD's saving acts: Israel's obscure origin, oppression in Egypt, its cry, the LORD's hearing and seeing, the Exodus with power and great signs, and the gift of the land (26:5-10). The offering comes only at the end, as a response to what has been received. The pattern matches the Exodus narrative, where God hears, remembers His covenant, and takes notice (Exodus 2:23-25). Worship here is not a transaction that repays God but grateful acknowledgment that every good thing is His gift, the same grace-before-law logic that governs Deuteronomy. Moses warns against self-attribution of prosperity (8:17-18), and Paul's question in 1 Corinthians 4:7 states the principle universally: every good possessed was first received.
- Deuteronomy 26:5-10 (BSB)“and you are to declare before the LORD your God, “My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down to Egypt few in number and lived there and became a great nation, mighty and numerous. But the Egyptians mistreated us and afflicted us, putting us to hard labor. So we called out to the LORD, the God of our fathers; and the LORD heard our voice and saw our affliction, toil, and oppression. Then the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror, signs, and wonders. And He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land that You, O LORD, have given me.” Then you are to place the basket before the LORD your God and bow down before Him.”The worshiper retells Israel's history from Egypt to the land as a series of acts of the LORD.
- Exodus 2:23-25 (BSB)“After a long time, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned and cried out under their burden of slavery, and their cry for deliverance from bondage ascended to God. So God heard their groaning, and He remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God saw the Israelites and took notice.”The Exodus account records Israel's cry and God's hearing, remembering, and seeing, just as the confession summarizes.
- Deuteronomy 8:17-18 (BSB)“You might say in your heart, “The power and strength of my hands have made this wealth for me.” But remember that it is the LORD your God who gives you the power to gain wealth, in order to confirm His covenant that He swore to your fathers even to this day.”Moses warns Israel not to credit its own strength, since the LORD gives the power to gain wealth.
- 1 Corinthians 4:7 (BSB)“For who makes you so superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?”Paul teaches the same truth: everything we have was received, so there is no room for boasting.
General
When the worshiper handed his basket to the priest, what did he first declare?
Answer: That he had come into the land God swore to their fathers
Standing before the priest on duty, the worshiper announced to the LORD that he had come into the land the LORD had sworn to the patriarchs, the founding fathers of Israel (26:3). The offering begins by confessing that God kept His word. God had sworn to bring Israel into this land (6:10), had announced at the burning bush that He would lead them into a broad and fertile country (Exodus 3:8), and Joshua later records that God gave them the whole of the promised territory (Joshua 21:43). The worshiper is not boasting of his own achievement but bearing witness to God's faithfulness.
- Deuteronomy 26:3 (BSB)“to the priest who is serving at that time, and say to him, “I declare today to the LORD your God that I have entered the land that the LORD swore to our fathers to give us.””The worshiper tells the priest that he has come into the land God swore to give.
- Deuteronomy 6:10 (BSB)“And when the LORD your God brings you into the land He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that He would give you—a land with great and splendid cities that you did not build,”Moses had promised that God would bring Israel into the land sworn to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
- Joshua 21:43 (BSB)“Thus the LORD gave Israel all the land He had sworn to give their fathers, and they took possession of it and settled in it.”Joshua records that God gave Israel all the land He had sworn to their fathers.
- Exodus 3:8 (BSB)“I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.”At the burning bush God announced He would bring Israel up into a good land flowing with milk and honey.
Theological
What confession does the worshiper make to the priest in 26:3?
Answer: That he had come into the land God swore to their fathers
The rite opens with a declaration of fulfilled promise: the worshiper testifies before the officiating priest that he has entered the land sworn to the fathers (26:3). The individual Israelite, bringing a single basket, personally confesses that the patriarchal oath has come to pass in his own generation. The promise of 6:10 and Exodus 3:8 is here received as fact, anticipating Joshua's summary that the LORD fulfilled the oath in full (Joshua 21:43). The confession directs attention away from the worshiper's labor to the LORD's covenant faithfulness.
- Deuteronomy 26:3 (BSB)“to the priest who is serving at that time, and say to him, “I declare today to the LORD your God that I have entered the land that the LORD swore to our fathers to give us.””The worshiper tells the priest that he has come into the land God swore to give.
- Deuteronomy 6:10 (BSB)“And when the LORD your God brings you into the land He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that He would give you—a land with great and splendid cities that you did not build,”Moses had promised that God would bring Israel into the land sworn to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
- Joshua 21:43 (BSB)“Thus the LORD gave Israel all the land He had sworn to give their fathers, and they took possession of it and settled in it.”Joshua records that God gave Israel all the land He had sworn to their fathers.
- Exodus 3:8 (BSB)“I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.”At the burning bush God announced He would bring Israel up into a good land flowing with milk and honey.
General
After Israel settled in the land, what were they to do with part of the first produce of their harvest?
Answer: Put it in a basket and take it to the chosen sanctuary
Firstfruits are the first portion of a harvest, given to God as an acknowledgment that the whole crop comes from Him. Once Israel had entered, taken possession of, and settled in the land, each worshiper was to gather a portion of the first produce, put it in a basket, and carry it to the sanctuary God would choose as the home of His Name (26:1-2). The command assumes that God will first keep His promise and give them the land. Sinai's covenant law had already required the best firstfruits to be brought to God's house (Exodus 23:19), Proverbs calls God's people to honor Him with the first of their crops (Proverbs 3:9), and offerings belonged at the one place God would choose rather than at local shrines (12:5).
- Deuteronomy 26:1-2 (BSB)“When you enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, and you take possession of it and settle in it, you are to take some of the firstfruits of all your produce from the soil of the land that the LORD your God is giving you and put them in a basket. Then go to the place the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for His Name,”Once settled in the land, each Israelite brings a basket of first produce to the chosen place of worship.
- Exodus 23:19 (BSB)“Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.”The covenant law at Sinai already required the best firstfruits to be brought to God's house.
- Proverbs 3:9 (BSB)“Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your crops;”Honoring God with the first of one's crops is a lasting principle of wisdom.
- Deuteronomy 12:5 (BSB)“Instead, you must seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to establish as a dwelling for His Name, and there you must go.”Offerings were to be brought to the one place God would choose for His Name, not to local shrines.
Theological
What does 26:1-2 require the Israelite to do with some of his first produce once he has possessed and settled the land?
Answer: Put it in a basket and take it to the chosen sanctuary
The firstfruits rite presupposes fulfilled promise: it applies only once Israel has entered, possessed, and settled the land (26:1). The worshiper takes a portion of the first yield of the soil in a basket to the sanctuary the LORD will select as the dwelling of His Name (26:2), acknowledging by the first portion that the entire harvest is the LORD's gift. The rite applies the standing covenant requirement of Exodus 23:19, expresses the wisdom principle of honoring the LORD with the first of one's increase (Proverbs 3:9), and is bound to the central sanctuary law of 12:5.
- Deuteronomy 26:1-2 (BSB)“When you enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, and you take possession of it and settle in it, you are to take some of the firstfruits of all your produce from the soil of the land that the LORD your God is giving you and put them in a basket. Then go to the place the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for His Name,”Once settled in the land, each Israelite brings a basket of first produce to the chosen place of worship.
- Exodus 23:19 (BSB)“Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.”The covenant law at Sinai already required the best firstfruits to be brought to God's house.
- Proverbs 3:9 (BSB)“Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your crops;”Honoring God with the first of one's crops is a lasting principle of wisdom.
- Deuteronomy 12:5 (BSB)“Instead, you must seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to establish as a dwelling for His Name, and there you must go.”Offerings were to be brought to the one place God would choose for His Name, not to local shrines.
General
True or False: After presenting the firstfruits, the worshiper was to celebrate God's good gifts together with the Levites and resident foreigners.
Answer: True
This is true. After setting down his basket in God's presence and bowing down, the worshiper was to rejoice in every good gift God had given him and his household, and the celebration was to include the Levites and resident foreigners living among Israel (26:11). A Levite was a member of the tribe of Levi, set apart to serve God, who received no share of the land. Deuteronomy repeatedly makes room at its celebrations for those without land or family security (12:12; 16:11). Gratitude for God's gifts overflowed into sharing them.
- Deuteronomy 26:11 (BSB)“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.”The firstfruits offering ends in shared celebration of God's good gifts.
- Deuteronomy 12:12 (BSB)“And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite within your gates, since he has no portion or inheritance among you.”Worship at the sanctuary was to include the Levite, who had no inheritance of land.
- Deuteronomy 16:11 (BSB)“and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God in the place He will choose as a dwelling for His Name—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite within your gates, as well as the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widows among you.”At the feasts, the foreigner, the fatherless, and widows were also to join the celebration.
Theological
True or False: According to 26:11, the firstfruits rite ends with the worshiper rejoicing alongside Levites and sojourners.
Answer: True
This is true. The rite culminates in prostration before the LORD and communal joy in every blessing the LORD has given the worshiper and his household, a joy that explicitly includes the landless Levite and the sojourner (26:11). This is characteristic of Deuteronomy's worship legislation, which repeatedly draws Levites, sojourners, orphans, and widows into the sanctuary celebrations (12:12; 16:11). Gratitude for grace received issues in generosity toward the vulnerable.
- Deuteronomy 26:11 (BSB)“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.”The firstfruits offering ends in shared celebration of God's good gifts.
- Deuteronomy 12:12 (BSB)“And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite within your gates, since he has no portion or inheritance among you.”Worship at the sanctuary was to include the Levite, who had no inheritance of land.
- Deuteronomy 16:11 (BSB)“and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God in the place He will choose as a dwelling for His Name—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite within your gates, as well as the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widows among you.”At the feasts, the foreigner, the fatherless, and widows were also to join the celebration.
General
Every third year, when the special tithe fell due, to whom was the tenth of the produce to be given?
Answer: Levites, resident outsiders, orphans, and widows in their towns
A tithe is a tenth. Every third year Israel set apart a tenth of its whole yield and gave it within their own towns to Levites, resident foreigners, orphans, and widows, so that they could eat their fill (26:12). The Levites had no land of their own, and the others often had no one to provide for them. This repeats the earlier law, which promised that God would bless the work of those who kept it (14:28-29). God describes Himself as the one who hears the cry of widows and orphans when they are wronged (Exodus 22:22-23).
- Deuteronomy 26:12 (BSB)“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.”In the third year the tithe is given locally to those without land or family support.
- Deuteronomy 14:28-29 (BSB)“At the end of every three years, bring a tenth of all your produce for that year and lay it up within your gates. Then the Levite (because he has no portion or inheritance among you), the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow within your gates may come and eat and be satisfied. And the LORD your God will bless you in all the work of your hands.”The earlier law sets out the third-year tithe stored in the towns for the Levite and the needy, with a promise of blessing.
- Exodus 22:22-23 (BSB)“You must not mistreat any widow or orphan. If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to Me in distress, I will surely hear their cry.”God declares Himself the one who hears widows and orphans when they are mistreated.
Theological
According to 26:12, who were the recipients of the third-year tithe?
Answer: Levites, resident outsiders, orphans, and widows in their towns
Every third year, designated for this tithe, the tenth of the produce was distributed locally to Levites, sojourners, orphans, and widows, so they might eat within Israel's towns and be satisfied (26:12). The provision rehearses 14:28-29, where the stored tithe provides for these same groups and the LORD promises blessing on the work of the giver's hands. The law institutionalizes care for those without land or kin, reflecting the LORD's own character as the defender of widow and orphan (Exodus 22:22-23).
- Deuteronomy 26:12 (BSB)“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.”In the third year the tithe is given locally to those without land or family support.
- Deuteronomy 14:28-29 (BSB)“At the end of every three years, bring a tenth of all your produce for that year and lay it up within your gates. Then the Levite (because he has no portion or inheritance among you), the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow within your gates may come and eat and be satisfied. And the LORD your God will bless you in all the work of your hands.”The earlier law sets out the third-year tithe stored in the towns for the Levite and the needy, with a promise of blessing.
- Exodus 22:22-23 (BSB)“You must not mistreat any widow or orphan. If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to Me in distress, I will surely hear their cry.”God declares Himself the one who hears widows and orphans when they are mistreated.
General
In his declaration about the third-year tithe, which of these did the worshiper say he had NOT done?
Answer: Eaten from it during a time of mourning
After distributing the tithe, the worshiper declared before God that he had cleared the holy portion out of his house and handed it over to Levites, resident foreigners, orphans, and widows. He also affirmed that he had not eaten from it while mourning, had not taken it out while ceremonially unclean, and had not given any portion of it as an offering on behalf of the dead (26:13-14). Being unclean meant being temporarily unfit to take part in worship; contact with a dead body made a person unclean (Numbers 19:11), and Hosea describes the food of mourners as defiled and unfit for God's house (Hosea 9:4). The worshiper's claim that he had done all God commanded refers to this faithful handling of the tithe. He then asks God to look down from heaven and pour out blessing on His people and on the land promised to their fathers (26:15), just as Solomon later asks God to hear from heaven (1 Kings 8:30).
- Deuteronomy 26:13-15 (BSB)“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 worshiper affirms he has handled the tithe faithfully and prays for God's blessing from heaven.
- Numbers 19:11 (BSB)“Whoever touches any dead body will be unclean for seven days.”Contact with a dead body made a person ceremonially unclean.
- Hosea 9:4 (BSB)“They will not pour out wine offerings to the LORD, and their sacrifices will not please Him, but will be to them like the bread of mourners; all who eat will be defiled. For their bread will be for themselves; it will not enter the house of the LORD.”Food eaten by mourners was defiled and could not enter the house of the LORD.
- 1 Kings 8:30 (BSB)“Hear the plea of Your servant and of Your people Israel when they pray toward this place. May You hear from heaven, Your dwelling place. May You hear and forgive.”Solomon likewise asks God to hear His people's prayers from heaven, His dwelling place.
Theological
In the declaration of 26:13-14, which action does the worshiper deny having done with the sacred portion?
Answer: Eaten from it during a time of mourning
The declaration has positive and negative parts: the worshiper has cleared the holy portion from his house and handed it to Levites, sojourners, orphans, and widows, and he has not eaten of it in mourning, taken it out in a state of uncleanness, or presented any part of it on behalf of the dead (26:13-14). The negatives guard the tithe from ritual defilement associated with death (Numbers 19:11; Hosea 9:4). His claim to have obeyed and done all that was commanded concerns faithful administration of this tithe, not a claim of sinless perfection. The declaration issues in petition: that the LORD look down from His holy habitation in heaven and bless His people and the land sworn to the fathers (26:15), a prayer echoed in Solomon's dedication (1 Kings 8:30).
- Deuteronomy 26:13-15 (BSB)“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 worshiper affirms he has handled the tithe faithfully and prays for God's blessing from heaven.
- Numbers 19:11 (BSB)“Whoever touches any dead body will be unclean for seven days.”Contact with a dead body made a person ceremonially unclean.
- Hosea 9:4 (BSB)“They will not pour out wine offerings to the LORD, and their sacrifices will not please Him, but will be to them like the bread of mourners; all who eat will be defiled. For their bread will be for themselves; it will not enter the house of the LORD.”Food eaten by mourners was defiled and could not enter the house of the LORD.
- 1 Kings 8:30 (BSB)“Hear the plea of Your servant and of Your people Israel when they pray toward this place. May You hear from heaven, Your dwelling place. May You hear and forgive.”Solomon likewise asks God to hear His people's prayers from heaven, His dwelling place.
General
At the close of chapter 26, what did the LORD declare about Israel that day?
Answer: That they were His own people, a nation He treasured
The chapter ends with two declarations. Israel declared that the LORD was their God and that they would follow His paths and obey Him; and the LORD declared that Israel was His own people and cherished treasure, just as He had promised, that He would raise them above the nations in praise, fame, and honor, and that they would be set apart as holy to Him (26:17-19). A covenant is a binding relationship established by God with promises and obligations. Twice the text says this was as He had promised: Israel's status rests on God's word, not on its merit. God first used this language at Sinai (Exodus 19:5-6), and Moses grounds it in God's choice (7:6). The New Testament applies the same language to the church, calling believers in Christ God's chosen and holy people who belong to Him (1 Peter 2:9).
- Deuteronomy 26:17-19 (BSB)“Today you have proclaimed that the LORD is your God and that you will walk in His ways, keep His statutes and commandments and ordinances, and listen to His voice. And today the LORD has proclaimed that you are His people and treasured possession as He promised, that you are to keep all His commandments, that He will set you high in praise and name and honor above all the nations He has made, and that you will be a holy people to the LORD your God, as He has promised.”Israel and the LORD each make a solemn declaration that seals the covenant relationship.
- Exodus 19:5-6 (BSB)“Now if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you will be My treasured possession out of all the nations—for the whole earth is Mine. And unto Me you shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you are to speak to the Israelites.””At Sinai God first called Israel His treasured possession, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
- Deuteronomy 7:6 (BSB)“For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His prized possession out of all peoples on the face of the earth.”Israel's status as God's prized people rests on His choosing them.
- 1 Peter 2:9 (BSB)“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”Peter applies this language of a chosen, holy people belonging to God to believers in Christ.
Theological
What does the LORD declare concerning Israel in 26:18-19?
Answer: That they were His own people, a nation He treasured
The chapter closes with a reciprocal covenant declaration: Israel avows the LORD as its God and pledges obedience, and the LORD avows Israel as His own people and cherished treasure, destined to be set high in praise, name, and honor and consecrated as holy to Him (26:17-19). The repeated qualifier, as He promised, grounds Israel's status in the LORD's prior word rather than in Israel's performance, the same election by God's choice stated in 7:6 and first announced at Sinai (Exodus 19:5-6). Obedience flows from belonging, not the reverse. The New Testament applies this vocabulary to the church, the chosen people and holy nation belonging to God in Christ (1 Peter 2:9).
- Deuteronomy 26:17-19 (BSB)“Today you have proclaimed that the LORD is your God and that you will walk in His ways, keep His statutes and commandments and ordinances, and listen to His voice. And today the LORD has proclaimed that you are His people and treasured possession as He promised, that you are to keep all His commandments, that He will set you high in praise and name and honor above all the nations He has made, and that you will be a holy people to the LORD your God, as He has promised.”Israel and the LORD each make a solemn declaration that seals the covenant relationship.
- Exodus 19:5-6 (BSB)“Now if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you will be My treasured possession out of all the nations—for the whole earth is Mine. And unto Me you shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you are to speak to the Israelites.””At Sinai God first called Israel His treasured possession, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
- Deuteronomy 7:6 (BSB)“For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His prized possession out of all peoples on the face of the earth.”Israel's status as God's prized people rests on His choosing them.
- 1 Peter 2:9 (BSB)“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”Peter applies this language of a chosen, holy people belonging to God to believers in Christ.
General
The worshiper's confession begins by recalling a wandering Aramean ancestor who moved down into Egypt. Who best fits this description?
Answer: Jacob, the son of Isaac
The confession begins with an Aramean ancestor, a man without a settled home, who moved to Egypt with only a few people, where his family grew into a great and numerous nation (26:5). This best fits Jacob. Jacob was sent to his mother's brother Laban, an Aramean living in Paddan-aram (Genesis 28:5), and he served in Laban's household for twenty years (Genesis 31:41). God told Jacob not to fear going down to Egypt, because He would multiply his family into a nation there (Genesis 46:3), and his whole family who went down numbered only seventy (Genesis 46:27). Scripture never has Laban or Esau going down to Egypt, and Moses was born there. The confession begins with Israel's small, homeless beginnings so that the greatness that followed is clearly God's doing.
- Deuteronomy 26:5 (BSB)“and you are to declare before the LORD your God, “My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down to Egypt few in number and lived there and became a great nation, mighty and numerous.”The worshiper's confession begins with an ancestor who went down to Egypt few in number.
- Genesis 28:5 (BSB)“So Isaac sent Jacob to Paddan-aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, who was the mother of Jacob and Esau.”Jacob was sent to Paddan-aram, to the household of Laban the Aramean, his mother's family.
- Genesis 46:3 (BSB)““I am God,” He said, “the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there.”God told Jacob not to fear going down to Egypt, because He would make him a great nation there.
- Genesis 46:27 (BSB)“And with the two sons who had been born to Joseph in Egypt, the members of Jacob’s family who went to Egypt were seventy in all.”Jacob's family who went to Egypt numbered only seventy.
- Genesis 31:41 (BSB)“Thus for twenty years I have served in your household—fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks—and you have changed my wages ten times!”Jacob served twenty years in the household of Laban the Aramean.
Theological
Which ancestor best fits the description in 26:5 of the ancestor who moved down into Egypt?
Answer: Jacob, the son of Isaac
The credo opens with the patriarch as a homeless Aramean who descended into Egypt with a small household and there grew into a mighty people (26:5). The description fits Jacob: his mother's family were Arameans of Paddan-aram, where he was sent to Laban (Genesis 28:5) and served in his household twenty years (Genesis 31:41); God promised to make him a great nation in Egypt (Genesis 46:3); and the household that descended numbered seventy (Genesis 46:27). Scripture never has Laban or Esau going down to Egypt, and Moses was born there. The confession deliberately begins with insignificance and homelessness, so that Israel's growth, deliverance, and inheritance are attributed wholly to the LORD.
- Deuteronomy 26:5 (BSB)“and you are to declare before the LORD your God, “My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down to Egypt few in number and lived there and became a great nation, mighty and numerous.”The worshiper's confession begins with an ancestor who went down to Egypt few in number.
- Genesis 28:5 (BSB)“So Isaac sent Jacob to Paddan-aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, who was the mother of Jacob and Esau.”Jacob was sent to Paddan-aram, to the household of Laban the Aramean, his mother's family.
- Genesis 46:3 (BSB)““I am God,” He said, “the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there.”God told Jacob not to fear going down to Egypt, because He would make him a great nation there.
- Genesis 46:27 (BSB)“And with the two sons who had been born to Joseph in Egypt, the members of Jacob’s family who went to Egypt were seventy in all.”Jacob's family who went to Egypt numbered only seventy.
- Genesis 31:41 (BSB)“Thus for twenty years I have served in your household—fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks—and you have changed my wages ten times!”Jacob served twenty years in the household of Laban the Aramean.