Leviticus 25:47-27:13
Although the subjects of these remaining
chapters in Leviticus seem kind of random, you'll notice that the year of
jubilee ties them together. These are rules of redemption of persons from
servitude, and the redemption of vowed people or property is explained now in
terms of the special condition of the year of jubilee. Chapter 26 might seem
out of place, until you notice the references to the Sabbatical year. This year
is very connected to the year of jubilee. Not only was the Sabbatical year the
way to determine the year of jubilee (7 Sabbatical years + 1), but it was the
basis for gauging the faith and obedience of the people.
The weekly Sabbath and the Sabbatical year
were an incredible way to see if the leaders and people truly understood the
love and power of God. If you didn't have faith in the Lord and understand His
love, you didn't have the freedom of heart to rest on the Sabbath and celebrate
Him. If you didn't have faith in the Lord and understand His love, thereby
having the freedom of heart to rest on the Sabbath and celebrate Him, there was
no way you would celebrate the Sabbatical year. How could you depend on God and
celebrate Him for an entire year? If you didn't have this kind of faith and
love and joy in God, the year of jubilee would make no sense whatsoever. This
required incredible faith in God and dependence on Him. We know that Israel
never celebrated a Sabbatical year, and we have no mention of them ever
celebrating the year of jubilee.
I was thinking yesterday how hard it is to
convince people to read their Bibles every day. It is even harder to make a
requirement for people in a church to hold to a set of standards. For example,
what if every leader in a church (besides having to maintain the standards in 1
Tim. 3) had to read their Bible every day and pray, if they had to be doing
something to reach out to their neighbors, if they had to be in a home group,
if they had to be in a discipleship cell where they were mentored and they had
to lead a discipleship cell where they were making disciples? Some of these are
really personal things for the Lord, having nothing to do with the church per
se, and three of these are "church" things. If you had these as
requirements, you probably wouldn't have any leaders. Even if you could justify
these in terms of what disciples should be doing in a church or following the
Lord in the harvest, there would be an outcry regarding forcing people to
follow these. Who has the time for all of this? Who has the right to make this
a requirement? No leader or pastor would be so silly as to require people to do these. (See Luke 14:25-35.)
Now imagine that you are a king in Israel,
even King David, and you're coming up to a Sabbatical year where you will
legislate and enforce allowing the land, the nation, to rest for an entire
year. Even though it was written in the Word, no one had the guts to require
it. There would have been abuse and rebellion. Yet, the entire nation drifted
into disobedience, and the warning given in chapter 26 came to pass. There is a
cost to following Christ as a disciple in the harvest, but no one wants to
require it. I was reading this morning, If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither
will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead. (Luke 16:31)
Leviticus 25:47-55
Vs. 47-54 If a man had to "sell"
himself to serve another because of poverty, he could be redeemed or ransomed
by others or by himself. The basis of this ransom price would be calculated
according to the year of jubilee. This law was a benefit to those in debt or
who were very poor.
V. 55 The basis for the redemption and
freedom of the people was that all of the people belonged to God and were to
have been His servants.
Think about Jesus being our Redeemer, saving
us from our slavery to sin and judgment. He Himself is our Redeemer and our
ransom price. Oddly enough, we'll see this in the NT today.
Leviticus 26
Leviticus 26 is a very interesting chapter.
The book is almost at an end. Much has been laid out as a foundation to
understanding what is "holy and common" and "clean and
unclean." There will be many more laws to come, to govern different
situations; but God is saying in Leviticus that the people should behave
differently because they know God's care and love and power.
Now the Lord is giving them the positives of
walking as they have been told to walk and then the consequences of not
obeying.
In terms of Bible study, a guy named Traina
came up with a "law of proportion." What he means is that it is good
to notice the proportion of text given to something. For example, in Genesis,
in the last words to his sons, Jacob gives much longer blessings to Judah and
Joseph. You notice the size or proportion of text given to them in comparison
to the other brothers. (In Numbers, you will see a surprising event that you
can link back to Jacob's words to Judah and Joseph.) In this case, in chapter
26, we have the blessings given for obedience and curses given for
disobedience. Notice the proportion.
Vs. 1-2 This might seem random, but these
commands focus on the nature of God and the people's worship and dependence on
Him. Since He saved them out of Egypt with such might, feeding them in the
desert, this shouldn't inspire fear, but rather faith and love.
Vs. 3-13 These verses are the promises of
blessing if they obeyed. The covenant God made with them with Moses was
conditioned on their obedience. Notice the promise of vs. 11-13.
Vs. 14-33 These verses are the promise of
judgment if they disobeyed. Notice that God will bring judgment in degrees,
hoping they will repent, and then if they don't He will increase the judgment.
Look for this structure throughout this section. Verse 18 is the first of these
increases. Notice the if…you…sevenfold
scheme of this. God is really trying to show the people mercy. This judgment of
the people in the land ends with their exile.
Vs. 34-39 Now the importance of the
Sabbatical years comes to light. God is telling them how important this faith
and obedience (or lack of it) will be. The Sabbath and the Sabbatical year were
a gauge to measure their true faith and love. Even after the exile, God would
pursue and chasten them. In fact, the 70 years of exile were because of the
number of Sabbatical years they had missed in the 490 years they were in the
land, organized under a king.
Vs. 40-46 God is already making provision for
Israel to return from exile. Read Daniel's prayer in Daniel 9, and it is
obvious, for a couple of reasons, that he had read v. 40 and the rest of this
section. We'll talk about this verse when we get to Daniel's prayer.
V. 42 Even though Israel would break the
Mosaic Covenant, God was still bound to them by the covenant He made with
Abraham. The true object of faith in God, even under the Mosaic Covenant, was
God's promise of redemption as given in the promise to Abraham. Paul says this
in Romans, chapter 4. It is because of God's promise to Abe that Israel will be
restored and will fulfill their destiny as a witness to the nations.
V. 43 Notice again how important the
Sabbatical year was as a gauge of the peoples' hearts toward God.
V. 45 This again is the promise to Abraham.
Leviticus 27:1-13
Vs. 1-8 I don't know if we want to try this
in church, but who knows, it could be a hit. People could dedicate other people
or animals to the service of the temple. For example, Samuel's mother dedicated
him to the Lord. People could be given to the Lord for service. This is also
how some of us try to get Jephthah off the hook in Judges 11, when he says he
will dedicate or sacrifice the first person who runs out to meet him when he comes
home. He was hoping it would be a servant, but it was his only child, his
daughter. Since human sacrifice was forbidden, it is hard to imagine he
sacrificed his daughter. But in this chapter, it is saying that those
"given" to the Lord could be redeemed, bought back. He could have
gotten his daughter back for a mere 10 shekels, pocket change. If she wasn't
sacrificed, it means that the strength of his vow was, in his own eyes,
irrevocable.
Vs. 9-13 Regarding the animals, the Levites
still needed to eat something more than the sacrifices. The Levities also
farmed the land around the cities they lived in and needed animals, like
donkeys or horses, to bear burdens and plow fields. People could donate or vow
an animal to their use. If it was vowed, they could "redeem" it,
unless it was for sacrifice. When this continues tomorrow, we'll see that this
redemption price was also geared to the year of jubilee.
The symbolism that God was building into
Israel with all of these laws, regarding the year of jubilee and redemption, is
all pointing to Jesus.
Mark 10:32-52
Vs. 32-34 The threats against Jesus were so
real that the Twelve feared every step toward Jerusalem and were amazed at
Jesus' resolve. Note that Jesus was always aware of His disciples and ready to
give them His time. When He saw they were terrified about what was waiting for
them in Jerusalem, He took them aside and told them again of His coming death
and resurrection.
Vs. 35-40 In the request of James and John,
notice that Mark fails to mention that their mother, Salome, was with them when
this request was made. Tradition has it that Jesus' mother and the mother of
James and John were sisters. They might have thought they had an "in"
because they were related. Notice that Jesus mentioned suffering and that James
and John were ready to suffer. James would be the first of the Twelve who would
die and John, according to tradition, was the last.
Vs. 41-45 Notice here that when Jesus sees
that the other disciples are upset, He teaches the disciples. There is no
rebuke, but positive, forward teaching. And out of this we get one of the
greatest verses in the NT for the disciple in Mark 10:45, For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to
give His life as a ransom for many.
The model for discipleship was Jesus, in His
serving, in His suffering, and in giving His life as a ransom for others.
What Jesus is saying here is directly
connected to what we read in Leviticus today. Jesus is that redeemer, that
ransom price and that substitute, all rolled into one.
Vs. 46-52 Here we have the story of
Bartimaeus again. Remember that there was an old and new Jericho connected by a
two-mile road filled with beggars and merchants.
V. 47 Whenever you hear someone calling Jesus
the Son of David, it means they had
great faith.
V. 50 Notice that the blind man throws off
his cloak. A cloak was a very important possession to a beggar. In fact, in
Deuteronomy, God will give official legislation regarding the cloak of a poor
man. For Bartimaeus to cast off his cloak was risky business, unless he fully
believed he was about to talk with the Son of David, who would rule Israel and
heal its blind.
Psalm 45
I've got to admit that I do better with
"crying out" psalms than I do with this one. Is this one of David's
marriages or is it one of Solomon's? No clue.
If you are given to typology, that is, an
event or person in the past, suggesting another event or person in the future,
you could imagine this might have something to do with Christ and His bride,
the church. I say this because if you read the first chapter of Hebrews, where
the Son is being described as the ultimate message from God, right in the
middle of this, you find Psalm 45:6. (Heb 1:8). I don't know how many lines of
correspondence you can draw, but I do know that when we disciples are done with
our work in the harvest, there will be this huge party called the marriage
supper of the Lamb. This is where the church, the bride of Christ, will be
eternally joined to Christ. It'll be a great party and feast, and I'll be off
my diet on that day.
V. 1 Apparently the king and queen were
married and were taking their thrones for the first time.
Vs. 2-9 The description of the king grows
from a human king, perhaps David, to the Son of Man, the eternal, human son of
David. Notice that both vs. 6 and 7 apply to Jesus.
Vs. 10-17 This bride would be the church, but
as typology goes, it could apply to Israel or to all the redeemed. Notice that
in v. 17 the name of this bride is honored by all peoples through all
generations. Israel will certainly be honored forever for how God has used them
as a tool, an object lesson, and a vehicle for bringing salvation to all
mankind. On the other hand, it is the church right now that is being used to
hold back the night and work in the harvest until Israel is ready to fulfill
their destiny. If I had to vote, I'd say the bride is the church.
Proverbs 10:22
There seems to be something bad or stressful
to be found in everything. I think the idea here is learning to be totally
immersed in God as our love and our life. In those brief moments I've had where
I've understood this, there was no sorrow and I felt rich. I think our
closeness to the Lord is the goal, not the absence of irritants.
Now just for fun, the German Bible has a
variant reading, hinted at in the ESV. In
German it says,
Der
Segen des HERRN allein macht reich, und nichts tut eigene Mühe hinzu. (LUT Proverbs 10:22)
Isn't that interesting? Oh, sorry, The blessing of the Lord alone makes one
rich, and nothing you do yourself brings this or adds to it.
If you’re reading along and don’t have a One Year
Bible, click on this link http://oneyearbibleonline.com/weekly-one-year-readings/?version=47&startmmdd=0101. This version is set
to the ESV but you can reset this to a different version or different language.
I'm writing these comments to and for those who are
following a One Year Bible and interested in growing deeper as a disciple,
following Jesus in the harvest. My hope is to see the growth of a discipleship
culture in the church. Groups of 3-4 disciples, meeting weekly, encouraging
each other to follow Christ and work to reach out and make disciples who make
disciples. The Bible itself is the most universal manual we have and key to our
growth and service in Christ. Nothing keeps us more focused on why we are here
or what we are to be doing. My comments are only meant to provide some
explanation of the events or to show the flow of God's plan of redemption. My
comments are in no way exhaustive, but are designed to keep us focused on
Christ and our role in His harvest. My hope is that the people in these groups
will grow in Christ and be willing, after a year, to find 3 others to meet with
and encourage in their growth as disciples, disciples making disciples in the
harvest.
If you would like a complete description of this model
of being and making disciples you can find it in my book: Simply
Disciples*Making Disciples. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011WJIDQA?*Version*=1&*entries*=0
If you would like a more descriptive commentary that is
still readable and concise, I'd recommend the Bible Knowledge Commentary. It's
keyed to the NIV, so the result is the commentators are constantly telling you
what the Greek or Hebrew is. That never hurts.
I am not endorsing any particular One Year Bible; in
fact, I read something you don't, die revidierte Lutherbibel 1984.
Anyone reading along with us is welcome to do so and is
encouraged to take their own notes and make their own observations. If the
comments made do not agree with your particular tradition or understanding,
that's OK. Nothing I've written is meant to criticize any point of view, but
only to express the truth of what God has written to us, as I understand it.
Send comments or feedback to dgkachikis@gmail.com.
If you would like documents containing an entire month
of the Reading Notes, go to https://sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis/reading-notes. You can download
these to use on your computer or to print.
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