βAnd thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the LORD thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that is among youβ (Deuteronomy 26:11).
Forty years earlier, just before entering the land of Canaan, the Jewsβ ancestors had spied it out. Numbers chapter 13 explains those scouts actionsβ: β[23] And they came unto the brook of Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bare it between two upon a staff; and they brought of the pomegranates, and of the figs. [24] The place was called the brook Eshcol, because of the cluster of grapes which the children of Israel cut down from thence. [25] And they returned from searching of the land after forty days. [26] And they β¦ came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and shewed them the fruit of the land. [27] And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.β
Sadly, verses 28-33 say that 10 of the 12 scouts voiced fear: they doubted Almighty God would give Israel victory over the landβs gigantic residents! Disbelieving and discouraged Israel was thus banned from entering that wonderful land of God. Now, in the context of todayβs Scripture, that unbelieving generation has died. A new generation of Israelites will go in and possess that land. That expression βfloweth with milk and honeyβ (Numbers 13:27) appears with todayβs ScriptureββAnd [God] hath brought us into this place, and hath given us this land, even a land that floweth with milk and honeyβ (verse 9). Canaan is an agricultural paradise: its grape clusters require two men to carry them!
Now, with the firstfruits offering of todayβs Scripture, God wants Israel to admit He gave them the military victory to enjoy that fruit of that landβ¦ source
