A Joyous Confession
Deuteronomy 26:1-11
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Key Text: Deuteronomy 26:11
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.
We begin the Lenten season with a look at four texts from the Old Testament, each dealing with themes of divine grace and human commitment. We’ll then return to the New Testament for the last weeks before Easter.
The season of Lent is designed to remind believers of their story, the story of how Christ came to earth to reveal the richness of God’s love and forgiveness, to deliver us from our servitude to sin, and to call us into faithful living within God’s kingdom.
Today’s text has a similar purpose, except that it recalls the story of how God had been revealed to Israel, had redeemed the people from servitude in Egypt, and called them forth to live faithfully in a new land.
These ancient words from Deuteronomy remind us that we are only the latest chapter in a long story of faith and failure and reaffirmation that has been ongoing for thousands of years. Remembering the past is crucial for those who would make the most of their present and future.
An offering of thanks (vv. 1-4)
Do you belong to a church, or have you been to one, where reciting the Apostle’s Creed is a regular part of worship? It may feel strange if you’re not familiar with it, or if you grew up in a Baptist church. Historically, Baptists have been famously non-creedal, proclaiming “no creed but the Bible.” [DD]
But even Baptists understand confession, and tend to think of a “confession of faith” as integral to salvation and beginning a relationship with Christ. Today’s text focuses on the twin themes of gratitude and confession, with elements of thanksgiving serving as the frame for two central and significant confessions.
Our passage derives from near the end of what critical scholars believe to be an early version of Deuteronomy (see “The Hardest Question” online for more). This early core (chapters 12-26) is often called the “Deuteronomic Code.” It consists mainly of instructions for how the Israelites were to live and behave once they came into the land of Canaan.
The text is written in the form of speeches delivered by Moses as summary instructions before the people crossed into the land of promise.
The first verse speaks to a time when the people were already settled in Canaan: “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 …” This verse introduces a key theme of the land as a gift from God. A form of the verb “to give” occurs no less than six times in 11 verses. [DD]
To acknowledge the gift-like nature of the land, Israelites were to take some of the first of each year’s produce “from the land that the LORD your God is giving you” and carry it to “the place that the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for his name” (v. 2). That place came to be understood as Jerusalem. [DD]
Presenting their offerings to a priest, worshipers were to confess: “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” (v. 3).
This initial confession affirmed the worshiper’s reception of a place in the land as a gift from God, a privilege to be acknowledged through periodic offerings and worship at the temple. The priest would then set the basket of produce before the altar as a sign of consecration to God and for later use by the priests.
The tithes and offerings we bring to church are likewise a way of acknowledging that our lives and our ability to earn income are gifts of God. Most of us deal in cash rather than crops, and don’t have to wait until harvest season to bring an offering. Still, the ideal is to think of our tithes as being the “first fruits” of our income.
A confession of faith (vv. 5-9)
Having delivered the offering, worshipers were to utter a second confession, one of identity as Hebrews and indebtedness to God. Scholars generally regard this ancient credo as one of the oldest parts of the Bible. The confession, to be spoken directly God, begins: “A wandering Aramean was my ancestor …” [DD]
The ancestor (literally, “father”) in question was Jacob, thought of as the father of the 12 tribes, and the one who “went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous” (v. 5). He is called an Aramean because he spent most of his adult life in an area known as Aram before returning to Canaan. [DD]
Hebrew tradition held that God had promised both progeny and property to Abraham. The first part of the confession acknowledges the promised “descendants like the sand of the sea” as Jacob’s fertile family grew exponentially while in Egypt – to become so “mighty and populous” that the Egyptian leaders felt threatened and enslaved them (v. 6). [DD]
The second part of the confession points to the promise of property. It testifies that, after the people cried to Yahweh for help (v. 7), “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; and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey” (vv. 8-9). [DD]
The confession reflects God’s promise to Moses in Exod. 3:8: “I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey,” symbols of the agricultural richness of the land.
The confession declares an awareness that God has fulfilled the promise, delivering the Hebrews from captivity and leading them to the land foretold to the ancestors. [DD]
Though Sarah, Rebekah, and Rachel all had difficulty getting pregnant and the promise of progeny seemed threatened, God came through and Jacob’s family grew into a great multitude in Egypt. Though the Egyptian rulers enslaved and oppressed the Hebrews, God delivered them in mighty ways and brought them to the promised land.
What is at the heart of our confessions? Whether we recite something like the Apostle’s Creed or a similar confession of faith, the focus is not on rules for living, but on our belief that God in Christ has intervened to deliver us from bondage to sin, to empower us with the Spirit, and to bring us into the Kingdom of God.
A celebration of goodness (vv. 10-11)
When we remember what God has done for us, we should be motivated to respond with worship and thanksgiving, including the act of giving back to God. Thus, as the Hebrew worshiper concluded his confession of God’s deliverance and promise, he or she concluded “So now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground that you, O LORD, have given me” (v. 10).
Following the rituals of offering and confession, the Hebrews were to worship in another way: through celebration! “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” (v. 11).
It was time to party. As we enjoy fellowship meals and holiday parties with our church family, the Hebrews were to celebrate God’s goodness by enjoying the bounty of the land. Such meals would include not only everyday bread and cheese, but also rare dishes of meat and an abundance of wine.
Significantly, this was not just a family celebration, but was to be “together with the Levites and the aliens who reside among you.” Originally, Levites were priestly families who were not allotted land, but spread among the tribes to serve in various capacities. The term for “aliens” usually refers to immigrants who had come into the land seeking a better life.
The writers of Deuteronomy had a special concern for such people, calling for the Hebrews to be kind to immigrants as a sign of obedience, “so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work that you undertake” (Deut. 14:29, 24:19). Elsewhere, the command to show kindness to aliens came with the reminder “for you were aliens in the land of Egypt” (Exod. 22:21, 23:9, Lev. 19:34, Deut. 10:19).
Kindness to immigrants was often combined with the call for compassion for widows, orphans, and other oppressed peoples not only in the law, but also by the prophets (Isa. 1:17; Jer. 7:6, 22:3; Zech. 7:10). It was understood as an outgrowth of worship, a recognition of God’s blessing, and sympathy for the plight of others. Jesus echoed these teachings in his life and ministry, showing kindness to outcasts and outsiders along with others.
Consider the message of this text when a significant slice of Americans, including many who claim to follow Jesus, harbor just the opposite sentiment. They resent the presence of immigrants, want to send those without certain documents back to their home countries, and design walls of both concrete and law to keep more from coming in. How does this square with the consistent teachings of scripture?
The beginning of Lent is an ideal time to remember how fortunate we are, to confess our failures as well as our faith in the Lord who has redeemed us – and to remember God’s call to show kindness to all.
Adult Teaching Resources
Download the PDF of teaching resources for this lesson.
This PDF contains the Teaching Guide, Digging Deeper, and Hardest Question pages.
Read Scripture online: Deuteronomy 26:1-11
Youth Teaching Resources
Parent Prep
This is the first week of Lent; a time during the church year where people of faith reflect more intimately on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Traditionally, people give something up and use this time to reflect on their life with Christ. You and your family may want to decide to do something together or set aside a time for this reflection to take place. Whatever you do, be intentional about not only what you choose, but why you have chosen it.
Additional Links/Resources
Read Scripture online: Deuteronomy 26:1-11
Download the PDF for youth teaching resources using the button below. This PDF contains the Teaching Guide for this lesson:
Video
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“I Am Home” from Freedom Writers
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