Day 435: Don't forget to remember – Deuteronomy 26 vs 1 – 11
1-3 When you have entered the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance and have taken possession of it and settled in it, take some of the firstfruits of all that you 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 that the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his Name and say to the priest in office at the time, ‘I declare today to the Lord your God that I have come to the land the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us.’ 4 The priest shall take the basket from your hands and set it down in front of the altar of the Lord your God.
5-9 Then you shall declare before the Lord your God: ‘My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous. But the Egyptians ill-treated us and made us suffer, subjecting us to harsh labour. Then we cried out to the Lord, the God of our ancestors, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression. So the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with signs and wonders. He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey; and now I bring the firstfruits of the soil that you, Lord, have given me.’
10-11 Place the basket before the Lord your God and bow down before him. Then you and the Levites and the foreigners residing among you shall rejoice in all the good things the Lord your God has given to you and your household. Deuteronomy 26:1-11 New International Version
How well God knows the human heart! The words above describe a simple ceremony that the Jews were to carry out once they were settled in the land which God had promised to bring them to. What would you say was the purpose of the 'confession' they made in vs 5-9?
The Israelites were confessing (i.e. acknowledging) that it was the Lord who had brought them out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with signs and wonders; and that it was the Lord who had brought them to where they now were, and given them a land flowing with milk and honey. They were also acknowledging their humble origins. In other words, they were remembering who it was who had rescued them from slavery and brought them to such freedom and abundant blessing! And because God knows out hearts, and how easily we forget who we are dependent on, He gave them this ceremony to remember that.
Years later the Holy Spirit moved one of the descendants of these people to write the words “Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name . . . may I never forget the good things he does for me. He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies. He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” (Psalm 103:1-3 NLT)
What was true of Israel then is just as true for Christians now. The apostle Paul says to people who weren’t Jewish, but who became Christians: “Remember that at one time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise. You were without hope and without God in the world - but now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” (Ephesians 2:12-13) And God has given us a simple ceremony by which we can remember what He has done for us through the blood of Jesus Christ. It's what Christians refer to as 'The Lord's supper' or 'Holy Communion'. On the night the Lord Jesus was betrayed He had a meal with His disciples at which He took bread and broke it and said, ‘This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me'. He also took the cup and said ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ Taking communion doesn't save anyone! But it is the way in which Christians remember how God has saved us.