by Ptr. Art Calaguas<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shalom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The world\u2019s attention is now on the heightened conflict between Israel and Iran but the living and dead hostages are still held somewhere in Gaza after the October 7, 2023 Hamas surprise attack on Israel. The IDF says 2 more bodies have been recovered from Gaza. Let us continue to pray for the release of all the remaining 53 hostages who have been in captivity for more than 617 days (or 88 weeks) and for a just end to the wars against the Jewish nation. Continue to stand with Israel and continue to pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6-9).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Deuteronomy 26 is logically connected as a continuation to the previous chapter and contains the last of the specific and case laws included in the 2nd<\/sup> discourse of Moses. Deuteronomy 26:1-4 sets the rules for offering the first fruits from the land promised. Verses 5-11 reminds all of their story of redemption and is like a statement of faith in the LORD\u2019s faithfulness and mighty acts that multiplied the patriarch and freed the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. This section has the distinctive \u201cwandering Aramean\u201d verse (Deuteronomy 26:5). Verses 12-15 speak about tithes and community obligations toward the welfare of the Levites, the sojourner, orphans and widows. In all these verses, the land promised is a key element. Deuteronomy 26:16-19, the last section, then wraps up the discourse of Moses with reiterations of the covenant between the LORD and his people and mutual expectations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Deuteronomy 26:1-4 mentions the land promised starting in verse 1 where the word \u05d0\u05b6\u05e8\u05b6\u05e5 \u201cerets\u201d for land is used to give a view of the near future when the Israelites come into Canaan. In verse 2, the word \u05d0\u05b2\u05d3\u05b8\u05de\u05b8\u05d4 \u201cadamah\u201d is used for ground in reference to some of the first fruit harvested from the land, \u05d0\u05b6\u05e8\u05b6\u05e5 \u201cerets\u201d to be offered to the LORD in the specific \u05de\u05b8\u05e7\u05d5\u05b9\u05dd \u201cmaqom\u201d for the place that the LORD will choose. The first fruit offering is brought to the priest in office at that time with the declaration that this is indeed the first fruit from the \u05d0\u05b6\u05e8\u05b6\u05e5 \u201cerets\u201d land he has come into. The offering is set before the altar of the LORD. Then the Israelite making the offering would make the statement of faith about how he got to the land promised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Verses 5-11 documents the \u201cwandering Aramean\u201d story of redemption and a statement of faith in the LORD and his promises. From a man, then a family, to many tribes and then to become a nation while being enslaved in Egypt. And the LORD rescued and redeemed them and brought them to the land promised. The Hebrew verse of Deuteronomy 26:9 is given below (read right to left, top down):<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u05d5\u05b7\u05d9\u05b0\u05d1\u05b4\u05d0\u05b5\u0596\u05e0\u05d5\u05bc \u05d0\u05b6\u05dc\u05be\u05d4\u05b7\u05de\u05b8\u05bc\u05e7\u05b9\u05a3\u05d5\u05dd<\/mark> \u05d4\u05b7\u05d6\u05b6\u05bc\u0591\u05d4 \u05d5\u05b7\u05d9\u05b4\u05bc\u05ea\u05b6\u05bc\u05df\u05be\u05dc\u05b8\u0599\u05e0\u05d5\u05bc\u0599 \u05d0\u05b6\u05ea\u05be\u05d4\u05b8\u05d0\u05b8\u05a3\u05e8\u05b6\u05e5<\/mark> \u05d4\u05b7\u05d6\u05b9\u05bc\u0594\u05d0\u05ea \u05d0\u05b6\u059b\u05e8\u05b6\u05e5<\/mark> \u05d6\u05b8\u05d1\u05b7\u05a5\u05ea \u05d7\u05b8\u05dc\u05b8\u0596\u05d1 \u05d5\u05bc\u05d3\u05b0\u05d1\u05b8\u05bd\u05e9\u05c1\u05c3<\/p>\n\n\n\n The New American Standard Bible (NASB 1995) translation follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 9<\/sup><\/strong>and He has brought us to this place<\/mark> and has given us this land<\/mark>, a land<\/mark> flowing with milk and honey.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The word \u05de\u05b8\u05e7\u05d5\u05b9\u05dd \u201cmaqom\u201d is used here for place while \u05d0\u05b6\u05e8\u05b6\u05e5 \u201cerets\u201d for land is used twice in this verse. Note the often-repeated descriptive phrase \u201ca land flowing with milk and honey\u201d for the productive land promised used in this same verse. Verse 10 again uses the word \u05d0\u05b2\u05d3\u05b8\u05de\u05b8\u05d4 \u201cadamah\u201d for ground which produced the grain or fruit being offered. Verse 11 says the occasion is both a time for worship to the LORD and a time for rejoicing for what the LORD God has given to each one\u2019s \u05d1\u05bc\u05d9\u05b4\u05ea \u201cbayith\u201d house in fellowship with those in need. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Deuteronomy 26:12-15 then speaks of tithes (both annual and on the 3rd<\/sup> year) and the purpose of the 3rd<\/sup> year tithe. This is for the needy in the land: the Levites, sojourners, orphans and widows. The section contains a statement of faithfulness and obedience to the covenantal stipulations from the LORD. The people then request for God\u2019s blessings as found in verse 15. The Hebrew verse of Deuteronomy 26:15 is given below (read right to left, top down):<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u05d4\u05b7\u05e9\u05b0\u05c1\u05e7\u05b4\u05d9\u05e4\u05b8\u05d4\u05a9 \u05de\u05b4\u05de\u05b0\u05bc\u05e2\u05b9\u05a8\u05d5\u05df \u05e7\u05b8\u05d3\u05b0\u05e9\u05b0\u05c1\u05da\u05b8\u059c \u05de\u05b4\u05df\u05be\u05d4\u05b7\u05e9\u05b8\u05bc\u05c1\u05de\u05b7\u0597\u05d9\u05b4\u05dd \u05d5\u05bc\u05d1\u05b8\u05e8\u05b5\u05a4\u05da\u05b0 \u05d0\u05b6\u05bd\u05ea\u05be\u05e2\u05b7\u05de\u05b0\u05bc\u05da\u05b8\u0599 \u05d0\u05b6\u05ea\u05be\u05d9\u05b4\u05e9\u05b0\u05c2\u05e8\u05b8\u05d0\u05b5\u0594\u05dc \u05d5\u05b0\u05d0\u05b5\u05ea\u0599 \u05d4\u05b8\u05d0\u05b2\u05d3\u05b8\u05de\u05b8\u0594\u05d4<\/mark> \u05d0\u05b2\u05e9\u05b6\u05c1\u05a5\u05e8 \u05e0\u05b8\u05ea\u05b7\u0596\u05ea\u05b8\u05bc\u05d4 \u05dc\u05b8\u0591\u05e0\u05d5\u05bc \u05db\u05b7\u05bc\u05d0\u05b2\u05e9\u05b6\u05c1\u05a4\u05e8 \u05e0\u05b4\u05e9\u05b0\u05c1\u05d1\u05b7\u05bc\u0599\u05e2\u05b0\u05ea\u05b8\u05bc\u0599 \u05dc\u05b7\u05d0\u05b2\u05d1\u05b9\u05ea\u05b5\u0594\u05d9\u05e0\u05d5\u05bc \u05d0\u05b6\u059b\u05e8\u05b6\u05e5<\/mark> \u05d6\u05b8\u05d1\u05b7\u05a5\u05ea \u05d7\u05b8\u05dc\u05b8\u0596\u05d1 \u05d5\u05bc\u05d3\u05b0\u05d1\u05b8\u05bd\u05e9\u05c1\u05c3<\/p>\n\n\n\n The NASB 1995 translation follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 15<\/sup><\/strong>\u2018Look down from Your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel, and the ground<\/mark> which You have given us, a land<\/mark> flowing with milk and honey, as You swore to our fathers.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Again, the word \u05d0\u05b2\u05d3\u05b8\u05de\u05b8\u05d4 \u201cadamah\u201d is used (with the definite article) for ground and the familiar word \u05d0\u05b6\u05e8\u05b6\u05e5 \u201cerets\u201d for land, in the well-known phrase \u201ca land flowing with milk and honey.\u201d This is the 2nd<\/sup> occurrence of this identical phrase in this chapter. This phrase (4 words in Hebrew; 7 words in English) has been found in several places studied before in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and in earlier chapters of Deuteronomy as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the concluding section of this chapter, in Deuteronomy 26:16-19, Moses finishes with his recall of the specific rules and regulations, laws and statutes given by the LORD. He reminds the people that the LORD commands obedience to the covenant and that the people are expected to do their part to be loyal to the LORD as their only God. The LORD will then regard his people as a \u201ctreasured possession,\u201d will raise them up in praise, fame and honor \u201chigh above all nations,\u201d and they shall be a \u201cpeople holy\u201d or a holy nation to the LORD God in the land promised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We will continue next time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n God bless us all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Ptr. Art Calaguas Shalom. The world\u2019s attention is now on the heightened conflict between Israel and Iran but the living and dead hostages are still held somewhere in Gaza after the October 7, 2023 Hamas surprise attack on Israel. The IDF says 2 more bodies have been recovered from Gaza. Let us continue to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[6,7,18,9,8,5],"class_list":["post-492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ptr-art-calaguas","tag-church-of-the-risen-lord","tag-crl","tag-jesus","tag-spiritual-refreshment-of-the-day","tag-upcemi","tag-upcrl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=492"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":493,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492\/revisions\/493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}