The Jews’ entrance to Eretz Yisrael created the obligation to fulfill the Mitzva of bikkurim, bringing the first fruits to the Bais Hamikdash & giving them to the Kohen; ובאת אל הכהן אשר יהיה בימים ההם ואמרת אליו הגדתי היום לה' אלקיך, You shall come to the Kohen who will be in those days, and you shall say to him "I declare today to Hashem that I have come to the land that Hashem swore to our forefathers to give us.
The Malbum questions the wording of the posuk: how is it that the one who comes to bring his Bikkurim starts by saying הגדתי היום, I declared today in the past tense? He hasn't said anything yet; the whole declaration comes after he waves the bikkurim, so why does the posuk utilize the past tense like he already declared something?
He answers that when the Torah says הגדתי, I declared, it doesn't necessarily mean something that you declare by mouth. Rather, even something that's shown by your action can be considered a declaration. The person comes with his bikkurim willingly & with joy demonstrating that the whole point of his coming is to show that he recognizes & gives thanks to Hashem who gave us the land.
An anomaly we see by bikkurim is that the poor people give the fruit that they bring with the basket they brought it in, while the rich people just give the fruit & take home the basket. The מהרי"ד מבעלז explains that the posuk says ושמרת ועשית, which Rashi explains to mean that when one brings the bikkurim, a heavenly voice blesses him that he should come again next year to bring the bikkurim. Therefore, the rich man who brought his bikkurim in a gold basket, gets his basket back so that he will be able to use it again next year. However, we take the poor man’s cheap reed basket as if to say to him, next year you should merit to bring the bikkurim in a gold basket.
This demonstrates two things. First, that we show our gratitude to Hashem for giving us the land & recognizing that the fruits come from Him. Second, that for doing that, we get the blessings of wealth. What does one have to do with the other? The sefer באר מים חיים explains with a parable.
If a child is wise, he will understand that when a father gives a gift to him, the father is not obligated to do so; the father gives it because of the love he has for the child. When the child thinks like that, then the bond & the love the child has to the father will be strengthened & the child will be very happy & thankful to the father.
When the father sees how happy & thankful his child is, he will be filled with joy & want to give that child more & more. On the other hand, if the child is not so bright & feels that everything is coming to him, when he gets something, he is not thankful, for he feels that it is incumbent upon the father to give him presents. He feels that whatever he gets is not enough, so he is never happy, This type of child actually dissuades the father from giving gifts; the father has no desire to keep giving.
This is the way Hashem treats us when He sees that we are acknowledging that the land is His & everything we get is from Him. We bring the first fruits happily to the Kohen. We are showing our gratitude; therefore, both the rich man & the poor man get the blessing of wealth. Since we are thanking Hashem for everything we have, He will want to give us more & more. So let's count our blessings & be thankful so that Hashem will shower us with only good!
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