Scripture: Deuteronomy 25:17—26:19 (NKJV)
25:17 “Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you were coming out of
Egypt, 18 how he met you on the way and attacked your rear ranks, all the
stragglers at your rear, when you were tired and weary; and he did not fear
God. 19 Therefore it shall be, when the LORD your God has given you rest from
your enemies all around, in the land which the LORD your God is giving you to
possess as an inheritance, that you will blot out the remembrance of Amalek
from under heaven. You shall not forget.
26:1 “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, 2 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. 3 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.’ 4 Then the priest shall take
the basket out of your hand and set it down before the altar of the LORD your
God. 5 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 dwelt there, few in
number; and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous. 6 But the
Egyptians mistreated us, afflicted us, and laid hard bondage on us. 7 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. 8 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. 9 He has brought us to this place and
has given us this land, “a land flowing with milk and honey”; 10 and now,
behold, I have brought the firstfruits 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. 11 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.
12 “When you have finished laying aside all the tithe of your increase in the
third year—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, 13 then you shall say before the LORD your God: ‘I have removed the
holy tithe from my house, and also have given them to the Levite, the stranger,
the fatherless, and the widow, according to all Your commandments which You
have commanded me; I have not transgressed Your commandments, nor have I
forgotten them. 14 I have not eaten any of it when in mourning, nor have I
removed any of it for an 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. 15 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.”‘
16 “This day the LORD your God commands you to observe these statutes and
judgments; therefore you shall be careful to observe them with all your heart
and with all your soul. 17 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. 18 Also today the LORD has
proclaimed you to be His special people, just as He promised you, that you
should keep all His commandments, 19 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.”
Devotion
The Israelites were to be a holy people. They would build a country. They would
do business. They would farm. They would carry out all the normal functions of
a nation, but above all of it, and infusing all of it would be holiness,
righteousness, justice. God wanted this society to be different from the
Canaanite society which had dominated and corrupted the land. And Israel agreed
to follow the law of the Lord, to be not only a people, but God’s special, holy
people. “Today the LORD has proclaimed you to be His special people, just as He
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.”
But, of course, Israel did not live up to their promises. They failed on their
end. However, God did not fail on His end. He still fulfilled His promises, but
ultimately fulfilled them in Christ. St. Paul said, “For all the promises of
God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen.” (2 Cor. 1:20). And again he said, “If you
are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
(Gal. 3:29). In Christ, we also live as a holy people. A people who go about
our normal lives working, playing, and doing all the normal things that people
do, but we do all those things Coram Deo, before God’s face, and for His glory.
The Lutheran Herald is a publication of the Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of
North America. These daily devotions are authored by the bishop, pastors, and
deacons of the diocese. Daily posts are provided by The Reverend Jeffrey A.
Ahonen.
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