Now we need to go to Deuteronomy 14:23 to find more items of the groceries. “And thou shalt eat before the Lord thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the Lord thy God always.” In this verse there are three categories of groceries which are not of the oxen or of the sheep. These three are vegetables. Corn is wheat or cereal. Wine is of the grapevine. Oil is of the olive tree. Following the three categories of vegetable life are the firstlings of the herds and of the flocks. Firstling means the firstborn. This is the firstborn of your oxen and of your sheep.
This verse mentions that thou mayest learn to fear the Lord thy God always. What does this mean? Let me illustrate. When we pay income tax, we all fear the government. You have to be careful to pay it rightly. If you don’t pay it rightly you offend the government. This is exactly what is mentioned here. God ordained this ordinance so that His people might learn to fear Him. If they didn’t tithe all the increase of their seed from the field and if they didn’t offer the firstborn ones of their herds and of their flocks, this means they did not fear God. This means they did according to what they liked, according to their desire, according to their intention, according to their will, not according to God’s ordination. So they did not fear God. These ordinances were given that they might learn how to fear God.
You may consider that this is too much of the law. Don’t say this. Today you feel free and you feel good, so you come to the meetings. But if you don’t feel free and you don’t feel good you don’t come to the meetings. Then after coming to the meetings, if you feel happy you say something. If you don’t feel happy you don’t say anything. What does this indicate? This indicates that you don’t have any fear of the Lord. If you have the fear of the Lord surely you will come to the meetings regularly, and when you come, you will surely offer Christ.
To use our illustration once more, if you feel that you are tired of paying income tax and you don’t want to pay income tax anymore, this means you have no fear of the government. If you have the proper fear of the government you will pay your tax before April 15. Our country has a government with all the ordinances concerning the taxation of our income. We have to fear the country. We have to pay the taxes according to the regulations and the requirements.
By studying the type I have realized that to come to the meeting indicates a fear of God. I have no choice. And I must come to the meeting to function. That is my obligation. I have no choice. I fear my God. I cannot stay home when the church is meeting. If you can stay home and take it easy, playing your piano or watching your television or relaxing instead of coming to the meeting, this means you don’t have a proper fear of God. If the church meeting is going on, yet you stay home for your pleasure this indicates you don’t fear God. It seems that your God doesn’t have any government or any ordinances.
Sometimes when you are tired you may consider getting to the meeting late. Instead of arriving on time you arrive ten minutes after the scheduled time. This is not only your laziness; this is your lacking of a proper fear toward God. I am pretty sure God is there before the scheduled time. I surely don’t like for Him to wait for me. I should go there to wait for Him. If you are invited by a certain brother to his home for dinner by six o’clock and you arrive at seven-ten, this means you don’t respect the host. You don’t have the proper fear that you might offend the host.
I can surely testify that unless I am quite sick or unless I am very much occupied by something I cannot avoid, I don’t have the peace to stay home when the church is meeting. If the meeting is going on and I am staying home I don’t have the peace. I get condemned, and my conscience doesn’t allow me. A hole is made in my conscience, and I have to get it clear. This is why we have to learn to fear God by coming to the meetings regularly, by functioning, and by being on time. We must have a proper fear toward our God. We are not playing. We are not in some kind of religion serving idols. If you are serving idols it doesn’t matter whether you come late or not. If the government of a country is just a mess it might not make much difference whether you pay tax or not; perhaps nobody would bother you. But I wouldn’t like to live in a country like that. But this country is good. It has order in everything. It has all the governmental ordinances. To be good citizens we have to have a proper fear of the government. We must have the same attitude toward God concerning the meetings.