In the book of Nehemiah, Nehemiah told the people of Israel, “to bring the firstfruits of our ground, and the firstfruits of all fruit of all trees, year by year, unto the house of the LORD. Also the firstborn of our sons, and of our cattle, as it is written in the law, and the firstlings of our herds and of our flocks, to bring to the house of our God, unto the priests that minister in the house of our God”, and in chapter ten and verse thirty-seven of Nehemiah, Nehemiah said, “we should bring the firstfruits” where we read,
And that we should bring the firstfruits of our dough, and our offerings, and the fruit of all manner of trees, of wine and of oil, unto the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God; and the tithes of our ground unto the Levites, that the same Levites might have the tithes in all the cities of our tillage.
The verse reads, “And that we should bring the firstfruits of our dough, and our offerings, and the fruit of all manner of trees, of wine and of oil, ...” Nehemiah began with the words, “and that we should bring the firstfruits” which means “and that we, the people of Israel, were to enter, come, carry and lead in with the first, beginning or chief” “of our dough”or “pertaining to our, the people of Israel's, course meal”, “and our offerings” which means “and our, the people of Israel's, contributions or sacrifices as tribute”, “and the fruit of all manner of trees” or “and the produce belonging to each, every, the whole and everyone of the types of timbers, stalks and woody pieces”, “of wine and of oil” which means “pertaining to fruit of the vine and fresh, shining and pure anointed oil”. Nehemiah shared how the people of Israel were also to carry the “first” harvest of their course meal, sacrifices and “fruit” from all the different “trees” along with fruit of the vine and pure anointed “oil”. (See Leviticus 23:17, Numbers 15:19-21; 18:12-13; Deuteronomy 18:4)
The verse goes on to say, “... unto the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God; and the tithes of our ground unto the Levites, that the same Levites might have the tithes in all the cities of our tillage.” Nehemiah continued with the words, “unto the priests” or “to the spiritual spokesmen and leaders”, “to the chambers” which means “to the cells, hall or rooms” “of the house of our God” or “pertaining to the habitation, abode and dwelling place belonging to our, the people of Israel's, Supreme Deity”; “and the tithes” which means “and the tenth part” “of our ground” or “pertaining to our, the people of Israel's, land, territory, region and district” “unto the Levites” which means “to the descendants of Levi whose name means joined to and was specially set aside by God for His service”, “that the same Levites” or “so the selfsame descendants of Levi who were specially set aside by God for His service” “might have the tithes” which means “could possess and hold the tenth” “in all the cities” or “within each, every, the whole and everyone of the towns, guarded places and places of waking” “of our tillage” which means “belonging to our, the people of Israel's, labor, work and service”. Nehemiah shared how the people of Israel promised to carry their “tithes” to the spiritual leaders to keep within the rooms belonging to the dwelling place of the Supreme Deity Jehovah God, and the tenth of the plowed produce of their land to the descendants of Levites so they could store them within every town and dwelling place in which they lived.
When we think through the words in this verse, we learn through Nehemiah how the people of Israel not only determined to carry the first harvest of their meal offerings, fruit, wine and oil to the spiritual leaders within the dwelling place of Jehovah God, but also they would give one-tenth of the harvest of their tilled land to the “Levites” so every one of them would have a one-tenth in every place they lived. The people of Israel were determined to keep their covenant promises with God and His law, and they would return to God one-tenth of their increase to God's ministers so they and the ministry of the temple would be readily supplied. God loves the people of Israel, and He wants them to be committed to Him. He wants the same for us, and as we yield our lives to His Son Jesus who died on the cross for the sins of all mankind and was raised from the dead three days later, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and put within us a desire to give the “first” of our increase to Him as well as a “tithe” of everything we receive.
Next time Nehemiah says, “the priest the son of Aaron shall be with the Levites”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
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