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Deuteronomy 26 Commentary
by Brad Boyles
Once again we enter into an Old Testament story which has significant implications for how we understand events documented in the New Testament.
“Then it shall be, when you enter the land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance, and you possess it and live in it, 2 that you shall take some of the first of all the produce of the ground which you bring in from your land that the LORD your God gives you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place where the LORD your God chooses to establish His name.
Deuteronomy 26:1-2 NASB
The first fruits would have been the very first gathered grains, fruits, and vegetables from the people’s harvest. Following the Passover feast, the people were to offer these to the Lord in order to recognize His faithfulness. Just as they had offered praise to God on the heels of their deliverance from Egypt, they were to offer this harvest as a celebration of that freedom. In fact, it included a verbal confirmation of their deliverance from Egypt during the ritual. In the New Testament, Paul wrote of how Christ became the first fruits of those who are asleep.
If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied. 20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. 21 For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
1 Corinthians 15:19-22 NASB
How does Jesus relate to the first fruits?
Just as God was faithful to giving freedom at the Red Sea and providing the first fruits of the people’s harvest, He was also faithful in resurrecting Jesus from the grave. In this way, Jesus was given as the first fruits of the resurrection. Just as the Israelites were set free from bondage in Egypt, and gave the first fruits as a sacrifice, Jesus brought freedom from sin and death as a sacrifice given to God. Interestingly, the first fruits were then given to the Levite, to the stranger, to the orphan, and to the widow, that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied (v. 12). This is another fascinating layer which speaks to how Jesus was given for those who were orphaned and estranged from God the Father!
How should we respond to this? The idea verifies that through Christ, all will be made alive. Just as the first fruits were given immediately before the rest of the harvest would come in, Jesus was given by God and resurrected before the harvest (humanity) will be gathered. At that time, the wheat will be resurrected with Christ and the tares will be separated and thrown away (Matt 13). We could go on and on with these layers as they run so deep in helping us to understand God’s heart from the very beginning, but the point being, God is practical. He uses routine functions of everyday life to lure us deep into His eternal truth and prove to us that only He could be the master architect to construct such deep, elaborate ideas.
I want to leave you with one final image. One of our pastors, Alex Carlin, preached a great sermon on how the first fruits relate to the hope of Jesus. In it, he used this graphic which is incredibly helpful in understanding the pattern that God has followed throughout history.
