Principle
Under the Law of Moses, God commanded Israel to follow specific instructions after they took possession of the land of Canaan.
Explanation
The Law of Moses included several instructions specific to the period of time following conquest of the land of Canaan.
Special Dedication of Fruits
1 “And it shall be, when you come into the land the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance, and you inherit it and dwell in it, 2 you shall take some of the first of all the produce of your land which the Lord your God gives you and put it in a basket, and go to the place the Lord your God will choose for His name to be called upon there. 3 Then you shall go to the one who is priest in those days and say to him, ‘I declare today to the Lord my God, I have come to the country the Lord swore to our fathers to give us.’ 4 Then the priest shall take the basket out of your hands and set it down before the altar of the Lord your God.
Deuteronomy 26:1-4 OSB
Dedication for Remembrance
5 So you shall answer and say before the Lord your God, ‘My father left Syria, and he went down to Egypt and dwelt there, few in number; and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous. 6 But the Egyptians maltreated us, humbled us, and laid hard tasks on us. 7 Then we cried out to the Lord God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and looked on our humility, our labor and our affliction. 8 So the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm, with great spectacles and with signs and wonders. 9 He brought us to this place and gave us this land, “a land flowing with milk and honey”; 10 and now, behold, I brought the firstfruits of the produce of the land You, O Lord, gave me.’ Then you shall set it before the Lord your God and worship there before the Lord your God. 11 So you shall rejoice in every good thing the Lord your God gave you and your house, you and the Levite and the resident alien among you.
Deuteronomy 26:5-11 OSB
Prayer of Thanksgiving
12 “Now if you should finish tithing all the tithe of the produce of your land in the third year, you shall give the second tithe to the Levite, the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow; and they shall eat within your cities and be filled. 13 Then you shall say before the Lord your God, ‘I cleared out the holy things from my house and also gave them to the Levite, the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all Your commandments You commanded me; I have not transgressed Your commandments, nor have I forgotten them. 14 I have not eaten any of them when in mourning, nor have I cleared out any of them for an unclean use, nor given any of them for the dead. I obeyed the voice of the Lord my God, and did according to all You commanded me. 15 Look down from Your holy habitation from heaven, and bless Your people Israel and the land You gave them, just as You swore to give our fathers, “a land flowing with milk and honey.”’
Deuteronomy 26:12-15 OSB
Fruit Tree Produce
23 ‘When you come into the land the Lord your God gives you and have planted all kinds of trees for food, then you shall cleanse its impurity. Three years its fruit shall be impure to you. It shall not be eaten. 24 But in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, a praise to the Lord. 25 Then in the fifth year you may eat its fruit, that it may yield to you its increase: I am the Lord your God.
Leviticus 19:23-25 OSB
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