Quick Note – Deuteronomy 16:16b – 17 – Never Empty Handed

Deuteronomy 16:16b-17 – “…They shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed.  Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD our God that He has given you.”

Although I don’t necessarily always follow this rule, I have been taught a basic principle to follow whenever I am invited to a person’s home – “Never come empty-handed.”  I could bring a dessert, a dish, flowers, whatever; I was just always to bring a gift to show my graciousness to the host for inviting me over.  Now, I normally don’t follow this rule with family and close friends, since that would mean an exorbitant amount of gifts due to our constant parties; but, I do follow this principle when I am going to a person’s house for the first time.  Usually, I will bring some type of baked good for us to share, which probably stems from my mom’s habit of bringing something she has baked herself like a cake.  We try not to appear empty-handed lest we suffer the embarrassment of improper etiquette or offending our host.  Although this may seem a little extravagant, I know that I am not alone in this, for I know of people who follow this same rule.  They will never go to a house empty-handed; they do something to appreciate their host.  But if we tend to practice this principle with others, why do we not do so with our Lord God?  Is He not a more important person to please?

The context of our passage today, which speaks to this very issue, describes the three feasts in which the Jewish people were supposed to come to the Temple of the Lord with their sacrifices – the Passover, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles.  The Passover, of course, was to commemorate their deliverance from Egypt, where each Israelite house that had the blood of a lamb struck against its lintels was passed over by the Angel of death, who struck the firstborn.  The Feast of Weeks was a time to give thanks for their bountiful harvest as they brought the first fruits of their harvest to the Lord.  The Feast of Tabernacles/Booths was used to remind the people of Israel of their time in the wilderness and how God had always provided for them.  In each of these three feasts, they were supposed to make sacrifices to their Lord God, which is why vs. 16b states, “…They shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed.”  Although at each of these feasts there were specific sacrifices that needed to be made as described in the other Levitical laws by the priests for the nation as a whole, what is interesting here is that a person could bring whatever he could and offer it to the Lord, as well.  They were actually called to come before God with something, anything that they could afford to give; they were to give as God had blessed them.  There was no minimum or maximum amount; they were just to give as God had blessed them.  If they were blessed with a bountiful harvest in grains, then they were to give a lot.  If they were blessed with a more difficult year, then they give less.  The opportunity to give was not limited to just the rich but was also open for the poor.  They were just to give as they were able.

We can learn a number of things from these two verses.  The first is simply that we should never come before the Lord empty-handed.  That doesn’t mean that we need to give huge and extravagant amounts of money every time we go to church or pray.  It simply means that we must give what we can to the Lord every time we approach Him, never coming before Him empty-handed.  It can be you giving your life to Him, when you first get saved.  It could be you relinquishing your will to Him every day as you take up your cross and follow Him.  It could be your service in some ministry when you go to church on Sunday.  It could be your worship on Sunday.  It could be your praise, your honor, your glory, your pride, your time, your heart, your willingness to obey.  All of these things can be given to God and will be greatly appreciated.  God isn’t like a king who is imposing a minimum requirement; He wants you to give back to Him as He has blessed you, and we have been blessed a lot by God through His Son.  The second thing we can learn from this passage is how God appreciates every gift no matter how small.  Don’t be discouraged just because you can’t offer millions of dollars to the ministry.  God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7), and He takes joy just knowing that you are willing to give your all to Him.  Look at how Christ honors the poor widow who gave only two sixty-fourths of a day’s wage at the Temple; He lifts her above even those who put large sums in the offering box, for she gave of all that she had.  It was not the value that mattered but her willingness to give all to God (Mark 12:41-44).  God doesn’t care how much we can give, as long as we are giving our all to Him.  The third thing that we can learn is gratitude, for as the Psalms constantly say, “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.”  In this passage, the people of Israel were called to give as they had been blessed.  This seems to be, in a way, a lesson of gratitude.  They were to give back to God as they had received from Him.  This act of giving back to Him likely helped them to remember the source of all the good and to tangibly praise, worship, and thank Him for all He had done for them.  How often do we as Christians forget to say “Thank you” to our Lord God?  He has given us so much in material blessings, provisions, and protection, not to mention the more important things like salvation, grace, mercy, His Son, and a personal relationship with Him.  How can we not give our lives back to Him in gratitude?  He asks for nothing more than our full and complete devotion to Him; that is the least we could do for our Lord and Savior.  What else could we give Him that could even come close to the blessings He has poured out on us?  Oswald Chambers expressed it best in a devotional in his book My Utmost for His Highest, “In our surrender, we must give ourselves to God in the same way He gave Himself for us— totally, unconditionally, and without reservation.”¹  Next time you come before the Lord, consider what you are giving to Him and humbly lay it at His feet.

1  Chambers, Oswald.  “God’s Total Surrender to Us.”  My Utmost for His Highest.  http://utmost.org/god%E2%80%99s-total-surrender-to-us/.