Deut 26-Celebrating God's Bounty

When you have come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, and you possess it, and settle in it, 2 you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place that the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his name. 3 You shall go to the priest who is in office at that time, and say to him, ‘Today I declare to the Lord your God that I have come into the land that the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us.’ 4 When the priest takes the basket from your hand and sets it down before the altar of the Lord your God, 5 you shall make this response before the Lord your God: ‘A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous. 6 When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labour on us, 7 we cried to the Lord, the God of our ancestors; the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. 8 The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and 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 So now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground that you, O Lord, have given me.’ You shall set it down before the Lord your God and bow down before the Lord your God. 11 Then you, together with the Levites and the aliens who reside among you, shall celebrate with all the bounty that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house.

Introduction

This wonderful passage has been a favorite of scholarly commentary since Gerhard von Rad's seminal essay on it in 1938 (translated in The Problem of the Hexateuch and Other Essays). Von Rad argued that it presents one of the earliest Hebrew credos or confessions of faith. In addition, since these words only speak of the patriarchs, the sojourn in Egypt and then entrance into the land, he hypothesized that there might have been two traditions circulating in ancient Israel--a "non-Sinai" tradition, such as here, and the Exodus-Sinai tradition. The Germanic mind loves speculation, and von Rad's suggestions were met with eager approval by many American scholars in the past generation, but today they have faded considerably--even though if you picked up a commentary on Deuteronomy in preparing for this lesson, you might run into them. Nevertheless, what seems significant about this passage for homiletical/teaching purposes is the way that Israel's celebration is based on a long history of dislocation and, finally, homecoming. Something as common as bringing in the harvest evokes the deepest reflections on the people's identity. In Celebrating God's Bounty, then, we need to exposit two things: (1) Its Long Time In Coming; and (2) The Present Experience in the Land.

I. Celebration--A Long Time in Coming

Few Israelite celebrations in the present can happen without reference to the past. Faith is anchored in history. History helps to give stability and explanation. It provides stability because people realize that each event of the present is not unique or inexplicable: it fits into an overarching relationship between the people and Yahweh. History also provides explanation--a sort of pattern or overarchicing hermeneutic of God's faithful dealing with the people. Thus, when the people celebrate the harvest of first fruits (scholars differ as to whether this is a one-time celebration for each person or an annual event), they do so by coming to the place chosen by God and then reciting the story of the people's past. Two points of this historical narration leap out at us: (A) the weakness of the ancestors; (B) the deliverance by God. Verse 5 is particularly illustrative of the former. We usually translate it as "A wandering Aramean was my father," and that isn't incorrect, but the Hebrew is considerably richer. We should note the euphony of the Hebrew: "`arami 'oved 'avi..." It is easy to memorize and recite; it can quickly become fixed in the mind of even the most casual listener. But the middle word, 'oved,' may be translated in two ways. It can mean "straying" or "wandering" and thus refer to the migratory life of the Patriarchs. More usually, however, it means "perishing." Thus we have the interesting confession that it is a sort of dying man from whom all the great descendants of Israel have come. This interpretation stimulates me to think about Rom. 4, where Paul is making an argument about Abraham's faith [In Deut. 26 the wandering Aramean may be Jacob, or Abraham]; "He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead..." (Rom 4:19). That is, God's deliverance reaches even to people nearly dead, to those who have lost hope, to those who are at the end of their human endurance. One scholar has rendered the first words of Deut 26:5: "An ailing alien was my father." We are descendants, then, of the "ailing alien."

Yet, deliverance comes for those who cry to God. The people were treated harshly and oppressively, but God more than offset Egyptian cruelty with wonders and displays of power. What stronger "proof" of the truth of the tradition, of the gloirous power of God to deliver than the basket of the first fruits which the person gives to the priest? The people who were no people are now a people. The people who knew nothing about agriculture are now presenting the fruit of the ground to the priest. The celebration of bounty had been a long time in coming, but now it is here.

II. Now is the Time for Celebration

When the Israelite first harvested the land, he was to do three things: (A) Bring the first fruits to the priest; (B) Declare his faith; (C) Celebrate with the Levites and aliens who also reside in the land. Deut. 18:4 spoke of the first fruits of three growing commodoties: "grain, wine, oil" and the Mishnah (Tractate Bikkurim 3:1) helpfully told the farmer that when he saw the first ripe fruit of each species he should tie a cord or clod of grass on it for identification. But the text here isn't so much concerned with mechanics of the first fruits as with the fact that Yahweh gets them. This practice is a continual reminder of the fact experienced by the "ailing alien"--that God sustains life and ought to get the first part of it. Declarations of faith are usually ignored or are only recited in some liturgically-oriented churches which use the Apostles or Nicene Creeds. But here, when we offer the first fruits of our lives to God, we ought to have words to say. Why not have an exercise with the people to draft "personal" statements of faith that can be reciited when they bring their firstfruits (tithes, offerings, stewardship pledges, etc.) to God? Finally, once the offerings are made and the declaration of faith given, the people party. And not simply the one who brings in the harvest. There is a party of aliens and Levites, too. Bring in the outsiders to your parties (this is the message of Luke's Gospel--the NT lectionary readings).

Recongize that your bounty is rooted in the past, that it is enabled today by the gracious hand of God, and that you can celebrate it with others. How would you sing God's bounty to you today?

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