Sermon Tone Analysis

Inheritance

26 “When you come into the land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance and have taken possession of it and live in it, 2 you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from your land that the LORD your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket, and you shall go to the place that the LORD your God will choose, to make his name to dwell there.

3 And you shall go to the priest who is in office at that time and say to him, ‘I declare today to the LORD your God that I have come into the land that the LORD swore to our fathers to give us.’

The first fruits of your grain, your wine, and your oil, as well as the first of the fleece of your sheep, you shall give him.

For the LORD your God has chosen Levi out of all your tribes, to stand and minister in the name of the LORD, him and his sons for all time.

All the best of the oil and all the best of the wine and of the grain, the choice produce that they give to the LORD, I have given to you.

The first fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring to the LORD, shall be yours; everyone who is clean in your house may eat of it.

Let us consider the idea that as Christians we need to acknowledge that all that we have has been given to us by God.

Deuteronomy 26 tells us that God gave the chosen people an inheritance.

When we consider an inheritance we need to acknowledge that we didn’t obtain it but it was given.

The second part of that first verse tells us that it was given to be possessed.

A gift must be accepted if we are to possess it.

We then take some of the firstfruits (apples, wheat, oats, corn) you name it, and honor God with that which He has given we really say it was not mine until He gave it to me as an inheritance.

My family is working through inheritance at this moment and it is difficult at best because in order to receive an inheritance loved ones must die.

Secondly, we are honored to be mentioned as family.

The family of God then remembers the journey.

A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous.

When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labor on us, we cried to the LORD, the God of our ancestors; the LORD heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression.

The LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders; and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.

The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989), Dt 26:5–9.

This season of Lent is a season when we evaluate ourselves to make sure that we are honoring God who gave us all that we have.

We accepted the gift and now we must choose to honor he who gave it.

10 And behold, now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, O LORD, have given me.’

And you shall set it down before the LORD your God and worship before the LORD your God.

11 And you shall rejoice in all the good that the LORD your God has given to you and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the sojourner who is among you.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Dt 26:10–11.