My Father Was a Syrian Ready to Perish

Deuteronomy 26 closes the central law code with worship. Once settled in the land, an Israelite brought the first of all the fruit of the ground in a basket to the sanctuary and declared that he had come into the land God swore to give. The priest set the basket before the altar. Firstfruits acknowledged that the whole harvest belonged to God.

Then came a short confession of faith, Israel's story in a few lines. My father was a Syrian ready to perish, likely Jacob. He went down to Egypt few in number and became a great nation. The Egyptians afflicted us; we cried to Yahweh; He heard, saw our affliction, and brought us out with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Each worshiper spoke as if he personally had been rescued. Faith is rooted in God's acts in history.

The offering led to shared joy with the Levite and the foreigner. In the third year, the tithe went to the Levite, foreigner, fatherless, and widow, and the giver prayed, Look down from your holy habitation and bless your people. The chapter ends with mutual declaration: Israel affirmed that Yahweh was their God, and Yahweh affirmed that Israel was His own possession, a holy people. Peter echoes this when he calls the church God's own possession (1 Peter 2:9).