(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Deuteronomy 26:12–15, “When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thine increase the third year, which is the year of tithing, and hast given it unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within thy gates, and be filled; Then thou shalt say before the LORD thy God, I have brought away the hallowed things out of mine house, and also have given them unto the Levite, and unto the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all thy commandments which thou hast commanded me: I have not transgressed thy commandments, neither have I forgotten them: I have not eaten thereof in my mourning, neither have I taken away ought thereof for any unclean use, nor given ought thereof for the dead: but I have hearkened to the voice of the LORD my God, and have done according to all that thou hast commanded me. Look down from thy holy habitation, from heaven, and bless thy people Israel, and the land which thou hast given us, as thou swarest unto our fathers, a land that floweth with milk and honey.”
Every third year the Israelis were to spend their tithes at home. In the other two years they were required to take those tithes and spend them at feasts. This was done in front of their neighbours, families and friends and it would be very hard to hide part of their prosperity and give less than was required by the Law. This was also done to remind people that their obedience should always begin at home. It is very easy for a person to seem to be generous and religious in public but it is much harder for a person to be consistent in their relationship with God at home, in private. The individual was also required to make a solemn vow before the Lord and confirm the fact that they had done everything correctly. This oath referred back to Deut 13: 6-11 (“If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers; Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him: But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no more any such wickedness as this is among you.”), where every Israeli was reminded that they were all responsible for the holiness each other as well ass themselves. This was given to remind them to seek out any sin in their own community and deal with it. The firsts step in dealing with in my own community is dealing with my own sin. The oath they took involved each individual being forced into self examination before the Lord God.
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