The soil, the fruitful soil, is the object of religion;
it takes the place alike of heaven and of hell. Jehovah gives the
land and its produce; He receives the best of what it yields as an
expression of thankfulness, the tithes in recognition of His
seigniorial right. The relation between Himself and His people
first arose from His having given them the land in fee; it continues
to be maintained, inasmuch as good weather and fertility come from Him.
It is in Deuteronomy that one detects the first very perceptible
traces of a historical dress being given to the religion
and the worship, but this process is still confined within modest
limits. The historical event to which recurrence is always made
is the bringing up of Israel out of Egypt, and this is significant
in so far as the bringing up out of Egypt coincides with the leading
into Canaan, that is, with the giving of the land, so that the
historical motive again resolves itself into the natural. In this
way it can be said that not merely the Easter festival but all
festivals are dependent upon the introduction of Israel into Canaan,
and this is what we actually find very clearly in the prayer
(Deuteronomy xxvi.
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