The portion of כִּי-תָבוֹא/Ki Tavo (Deut. 26:1-29:8) “when you come,” begins with a שִׂמְחָה/simcha, a joy. What joy? The presentation of a basket of first-fruits before the Lord.

While the wanderings of Israel in the wilderness are drawing to a close, Moses reminds them of better days ahead. He is saying: “You will enter the Promised Land … You will build homes, families, communities … You will grow crops and plant vineyards … And you will rejoice before the Lord.”

In Deuteronomy 26:11 the Torah says:

וְשָׂמַחְתָּ בְכָל-הַטּוֹב, אֲשֶׁר נָתַן-לְךָ יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ–וּלְבֵיתֶךָ

“And you shall rejoice in all the good that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house.”

What Moses sees, prophetically, is striking. He sees an Israelite approach the Altar on behalf of his family, make a declaration (Deut. 26:5-15), hand the priest a basket of first-fruits, and then Moses sees him settling down, in the presence of God, to rejoice with his family, but also the “Levite, and the outsider in your midst.”

How is a declaration connected to joy? Moses exhorts them to remember the trials and tribulations of, not only their personal history, but the history of our people. Jacob fled the land of promise with his family because of famine, to be recused by his long lost son Joseph. Ultimately, the Egyptians enslaved the family of Israel. The Lord then rescues Israel, leading them out of Egypt, but disobedience led to years of wandering.

The first-fruits offering and the declaration are reminders of the covenant Lord’s faithfulness to fulfill His promise, even while bringing forth joyous fruit from the most difficult of circumstances.

Still, the declaration also confirms that we have not forgotten the least. In Deuteronomy 25:17-19 the Lord reminds Israel of how Amalek treated them along the way, attacking the least among the camp, those lagging behind: the tired and the weary. We are to “blot out the memory of Amalek from under the heavens. Do not forget.” How?

The answer is in the joy. While standing before the Lord and the priests, the imagined Israelite presents his basket as evidence of God’s promise, but also the evidence of his faithfulness to the Lord’s command, as he says, “I have not transgressed or forgotten any of Your commandments” (Deut. 26:13). Forgotten what? To blot out the memory of Amalek by taking care of, rather than discouraging, the “tired and the weary.”

When the Israelite sits down, he does so with his immediate family, but also those of his “house,” and yet broader, “the Levite and the outsider in your midst.” Together we rejoice. We rejoice because of His faithfulness to provide, to deliver, and to bring us together. As Moses says, “you will rejoice in/with all the good that the Lord has given to you and to your house.”

To make this joy we share food, we sing songs, and we share time with each other. The joy of the Lord is an immersive experience! In this, we experience His peace in a more profound way. Troubles, trials, pressures and difficulties, while they yet exist, are laid aside. Rejoicing in the presence of God, tasting and seeing that He is good (Ps. 34:8), and sharing together overcomes the seemingly ever present concerns of life.

The apostle Paul encourages us: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice” (Phil. 4:4; cf. 1 These. 5:16). Paul wrote these words while in prison. How was he able to do so without a hint of irony?

Paul is witnessing the preparation and presenting of the first-fruits of his labors unto the Lord (2 Cor. 11:2). He knows well, not only Israel’s trials, but also his own, and how the Lord has kept him through it all (2 Tim 1:12). He has remembered the least (Gal. 2:10). Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto the Lord while in chains together (Acts 16:25-26). Everything that Moses envisioned, at one time or another, Paul relived and exampled for us.

How? Paul looked to the One Who is the Lord’s all sufficient supply (Phil. 4:19), Messiah Yeshua/Jesus. Messiah is the High Priest before Whom, and in Whom we stand (Rev. 1:12-13). He is our deliverer (Col. 1:13; 1 Pet. 2:9). He is the first-fruit among many brethren (Ro. 8:29). He is the fullness of God’s yes and amen promises (2 Cor. 1:20). He has made one family of renewed humanity in Himself (Eph. 2:15). He humbles the great, while caring for the least (Matt. 25:31-46).

When we behold the Gospel, as Paul and the Apostles did, we can also “rejoice always in the Lord, again I say rejoice” in the midst of any trial and circumstance. We will rest in the gracious sufficiency of His sacrifice. We will remember to be on the mission He set us to (Matt. 28:18-20), and in doing so, we will find that we rejoice, not in isolation, but in the company of family, friends, and those who at first glance, appear as strangers. What a blessed joy it is to share in such a holy fellowship.

Be well. Shalom.