The Christ Church Wednesday Bible Study Group is studying of the Old Testament book of Leviticus. The key to the book of Leviticus is found in verses 45 and 46 of chapter 11.
Leviticus 11:44-45 NIV I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean by any creature that moves along the ground. I am the Lord, who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.
These are the notes to Session 22 complete the study of chapter 24 in which the Lord gave Moses instructions concerning three holy things: the holy oil for the lampstand, the holy bread for the table, and the holy name of the Lord, which all the people were to honor.
In chapters 25 and 26 the focus is on Israel in their land. If the Israelites were to possess and enjoy their land, they had to recognize and respect some basic facts, the first of which was that God owned the land. Because He owned the land, He had every right to dispose of it as He saw fit. God He could also expect obedience from also owned the people of Israel, because He had redeemed them from Egyptian bondage.
A period of preparation and fasting likely has been observed before the Easter festival since apostolic times, though the practice was not formalized until the First Council of Nicaea in 325 CE. It was a time of preparation of candidates for baptism and a time of penance for grievous sinners who were excluded from Communion and were preparing for their restoration. As a sign of their penitence, they wore sackcloth and were sprinkled with ashes. This form of public penance began to die out in the 9th century, and it became customary for all the faithful to be reminded of the need for penitence by receiving an imposition of ashes on their foreheads on the first day of Lent—hence the name Ash Wednesday.
In the early centuries, fasting rules were strict, as they still are in Eastern churches. One meal a day was allowed in the evening, and meat, fish, eggs, and butter were forbidden. The Eastern church also restricts the use of wine, oil, and dairy products. In the West these fasting rules have gradually been relaxed. The strict law of fasting among Roman Catholics was dispensed with during World War II, and only Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are now kept as Lenten fast days. However, the emphasis on penitential practice and almsgiving remains, and many Catholics also observe a meatless fast on Fridays during Lent. In addition, Catholics and other Christians often choose to give up specific pleasures, such as sweets, alcohol, or social media, during Lent as a way to foster simplicity and self-control; many use their cravings or desires for these items as a reminder to pray and to refocus on spiritual matters.
In the Anglican churches The Book of Common Prayer prescribes that Lent be observed with fasting. In Lutheran and many other Protestant churches, Lent is observed with various services and practices, though Lent is not formally observed in many Evangelical or nondenominational churches.
Something I read
D.L. Moody, an influential evangelist and Christian educator of the late 19th century, once said, “The Bible was not given to increase our knowledge, but to change our lives.” It’s a manual for living.
The Bible says, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete” (2 Timothy 3:16-17 NKJV).
That verse points to four things about God’s Word. It shows you the path to walk on; that's doctrine. It shows you where you got off the path; that's reproof. It shows you how to get back on the path; that's correction. And it shows you how to stay on the path; that's instruction in righteousness. God’s Word is practical, real-world truth.
The problem is, most of us know a lot more than we actually put into practice. You say you believe in forgiveness, but do you forgive the people who’ve hurt you? You say you believe in waiting on God, but are you patient? God doesn’t want you to just take notes and say you believe things about his Word. He wants you to be a doer of his Word.
Jesus said in Matthew 28:20: “Teach them to do everything I have commanded you” (GW). He didn’t say, “Teach them to know everything I commanded you” or “Teach them to think about everything I commanded you.” He said, “Teach them to do.”
Don’t fool yourself into thinking that hearing God’s Word also means you’re applying God’s Word. Make plans to do something about what you hear so that you can grow into the person God created you to be.
Discerning God’s mind (vv. 17–22).
Leviticus 24:17-23 NIV ‘Anyone who takes the life of a human being is to be put to death. Anyone who takes the life of someone’s animal must make restitution—life for life. Anyone who injures their neighbor is to be injured in the same manner: fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. The one who has inflicted the injury must suffer the same injury. Whoever kills an animal must make restitution, but whoever kills a human being is to be put to death. You are to have the same law for the foreigner and the native-born. I am the Lord your God.’ ” Then Moses spoke to the Israelites, and they took the blasphemer outside the camp and stoned him. The Israelites did as the Lord commanded Moses.
The Lord further applied this legal decision to other areas of life and laid down the principle that the punishment must fit the crime. This is known as “the law of retaliation,” a principle that made sure the guilty offender was not punished more severely than the crime demanded. The murderer was to be put to death, but the penalties for other crimes had to suit the offense.
This law was actually an expression of God’s justice and compassion, because it helped restrain personal revenge in a society that had no police force or elaborate judicial system.
Apart from this law, the strong could have crushed the weak at the least offense.
Today, many sincere people, both believers and unbelievers, would have opposed killing the offender, but the sentence was carried out. It was a capital offense, and the guilty man forfeited his life.
The arguments surrounding capital punishment are many and varied, but we must not make our personal opinions or convictions a test of fellowship or spirituality. The law of Moses made a distinction between murder and manslaughter and provided six “cities of refuge,” where an innocent man could be protected and get a fair trial (see Numbers 35 for details on cities of refuge).
Exodus 21:12-14 NIV “Anyone who strikes a person with a fatal blow is to be put to death. However, if it is not done intentionally, but God lets it happen, they are to flee to a place I will designate. But if anyone schemes and kills someone deliberately, that person is to be taken from my altar and put to death.
In the Bible, murder is considered a serious crime. Humans are made in the image of Go, and to kill a human being is to attack God’s image. Life is a sacred gift from God, and only God can take it away or authorize it to be taken away.
Leviticus 24 begins in the Holy Place of the tabernacle and ends outside the camp. It opens with oil and bread and closes with the shedding of guilty blood. But the emphasis is the same: Our God is a holy God and we must honor Him, whether in bringing our gifts or respecting His name. The Lord doesn’t execute blasphemers today, but there is coming a day of judgment when the secrets of all hearts will be revealed
Romans 2:6-11 NIV God “will repay each person according to what they have done.” To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism.
This Land Is God’s Land (Leviticus 25)
The focus in chapters 25 and 26 is on Israel in their land. In fact, the word land is used thirty-nine times in these two chapters. As we study these two chapters there are some things we are going to discover and talk about.
If the Israelites were to possess and enjoy their land, they had to recognize and respect some basic facts, the first of which was that God owned the land. Because He owned the land He had every right to dispose of it as He saw fit.
Leviticus 25:2, 23, 38 NIV “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you, the land itself must observe a sabbath to the Lord. “ ‘The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you reside in my land as foreigners and strangers. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.
God also owned the people of Israel, because He had redeemed them from Egyptian bondage.
Leviticus 25:55 NIV for the Israelites belong to me as servants. They are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.
Because they belonged to Him, all the Jews were to treat one another as brothers and sisters and not take advantage of one another when it came to personal debts or property claims.
Leviticus 25:25, 35-38 NIV “ ‘If one of your fellow Israelites becomes poor and sells some of their property, their nearest relative is to come and redeem what they have sold. “ ‘If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and are unable to support themselves among you, help them as you would a foreigner and stranger, so they can continue to live among you. Do not take interest or any profit from them, but fear your God, so that they may continue to live among you. You must not lend them money at interest or sell them food at a profit. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.
The Jews were expected to toil in their fields, but it was God who gave the increase and supplied them with sunshine, rain, and harvests.
Leviticus 25:21 NIV I will send you such a blessing in the sixth year that the land will yield enough for three years.
In other words, the people of Israel had God as their “land Lord” and had to live by faith in His Word. This meant obeying His commandments and trusting His promises.
Another important fact emerges from this chapter: God was in control of the calendar. God not only gave His people their land and their food, but He also gave them special times to observe so that the land would not be ravaged and spoiled. God is concerned about ecology and the way we treat His creation. Like the ancient Jews, we today are but stewards of God’s gifts; we must be careful not to abuse or waste them.
Had Israel obeyed these principles, their economic system would have functioned smoothly, the land would have provided all they needed, and everybody would have been cared for adequately. However, as we know from Scripture and from history, they didn’t obey the Lord. The result was that the rich got richer, the poor got poorer, and the land was ruined.
REST FOR THE LAND: SABBATH YEAR (25:1–7, 18–22)
Leviticus 25:1-7, 18-22 NIV The Lord said to Moses at Mount Sinai, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you, the land itself must observe a sabbath to the Lord. For six years sow your fields, and for six years prune your vineyards and gather their crops. But in the seventh year the land is to have a year of sabbath rest, a sabbath to the Lord. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards. Do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the grapes of your untended vines. The land is to have a year of rest. Whatever the land yields during the sabbath year will be food for you—for yourself, your male and female servants, and the hired worker and temporary resident who live among you, as well as for your livestock and the wild animals in your land. Whatever the land produces may be eaten.
18-22 “‘Follow my decrees and be careful to obey my laws, and you will live safely in the land. Then the land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill and live there in safety. You may ask, “What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not plant or harvest our crops?” I will send you such a blessing in the sixth year that the land will yield enough for three years. While you plant during the eighth year, you will eat from the old crop and will continue to eat from it until the harvest of the ninth year comes in.
When we studied Leviticus 23, we noted that the Jewish calendar was based on a series of sevens. There were seven annual feasts, three of them in the seventh month, and the seventh day of the week was the Sabbath, a day of rest. Now we learn that the seventh year was to be a year of rest for the land, the people, and their animals.
During the Sabbath Year, the people were not to work the fields or have organized harvests but were to take from the fields the food they needed as it grew of itself. The people, including the poor and the aliens, could gather from the fields and be God’s guests.
Not only did the land rest, but also the people and the farm animals rested. The men certainly took care of the routine tasks that keep buildings from falling, but they were not to engage in the normal activities of an agricultural society, like plowing, sowing, and harvesting. This prohibition also included the servants and the animals, all of whom were given a year of rest from their normal duties.
Something else happened in the seventh year.
Deuteronomy 15:1-11 NIV At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts. This is how it is to be done: Every creditor shall cancel any loan they have made to a fellow Israelite. They shall not require payment from anyone among their own people, because the Lord’s time for canceling debts has been proclaimed. You may require payment from a foreigner, but you must cancel any debt your fellow Israelite owes you. However, there need be no poor people among you, for in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you, if only you fully obey the Lord your God and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today. For the Lord your God will bless you as he has promised, and you will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. You will rule over many nations but none will rule over you. If anyone is poor among your fellow Israelites in any of the towns of the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward them. Rather, be openhanded and freely lend them whatever they need. Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: “The seventh year, the year for canceling debts, is near,” so that you do not show ill will toward the needy among your fellow Israelites and give them nothing. They may then appeal to the Lord against you, and you will be found guilty of sin. Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.
Personal debts were also canceled during the Sabbath Year and that indentured servants were set free. Indentured servitude refers to a contract between two individuals, in which one person worked not for money but to repay an indenture, or loan, within a set time period. Indentured servitude differed from slavery in that it was a form of debt bondage, meaning it was an agreed upon term of unpaid labor that usually paid off the costs of the servant's immigration to America. Indentured servants were not paid wages but they were generally housed, clothed, and fed.
The word release in Deuteronomy 15:1 means “to let loose, to drop.” It means the canceling of debts and the freeing of slaves. As the people shared with the poor and with their liberated servants, they were to be generous and open-handed.
The Sabbath Year was also the occasion when the priests read and explained the law to all the people
Deuteronomy 31:9-13 NIV So Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the Levitical priests, who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel. Then Moses commanded them: “At the end of every seven years, in the year for canceling debts, during the Festival of Tabernacles, when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God at the place he will choose, you shall read this law before them in their hearing. Assemble the people—men, women and children, and the foreigners residing in your towns—so they can listen and learn to fear the Lord your God and follow carefully all the words of this law. Their children, who do not know this law, must hear it and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”
( the reason that I had you go to the book of Deuteronomy is because Moses is instructing a new generation of Israelites about to enter the Promised Land. This multitude had not experienced the miracle at the Red Sea or heard the law given at Sinai, and they were about to enter a new land with many dangers and temptations. The book of Deuteronomy was given to remind them of God’s law and God’s power.
Once they were in Cannan this reading of the law was done during the annual Feast of Tabernacles. During that special Sabbath year, the nation learned the meaning of “give us this day our daily bread”. God promised to protect them and provide for them throughout the year, if only they would trust and obey.
Leviticus 25:18-22 NIV “ ‘Follow my decrees and be careful to obey my laws, and you will live safely in the land. Then the land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill and live there in safety. You may ask, “What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not plant or harvest our crops?” I will send you such a blessing in the sixth year that the land will yield enough for three years. While you plant during the eighth year, you will eat from the old crop and will continue to eat from it until the harvest of the ninth year comes in.
We have no biblical evidence that the Jews ever celebrated the Sabbath Year, in fact, the Bible indicates that they didn’t:
Jeremiah 25:8-11 NIV Therefore the Lord Almighty says this: “Because you have not listened to my words, I will summon all the peoples of the north and my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,” declares the Lord, “and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy them and make them an object of horror and scorn, and an everlasting ruin. I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, the sound of millstones and the light of the lamp. This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
2 Chronicles 36:20-21 NIV He carried into exile to Babylon the remnant, who escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and his successors until the kingdom of Persia came to power. The land enjoyed its sabbath rests; all the time of its desolation it rested, until the seventy years were completed in fulfillment of the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah.
God sent Israel into Babylonian exile for seventy years to give the land the rest it needed. This suggests that for nearly 500 years, the Jews had disobeyed God’s law concerning the Sabbath Year.
By disobeying the law of the Sabbath Year, the Jews robbed themselves not only of spiritual blessings but also of the strength of the land and of their servants and farm animals. By working the same land, year after year, they got their harvests, but they lost the renewal that comes from allowing the land to lie fallow and the workers to rest. They also lost the blessings that come from sharing with the needy, and they robbed God of the glory He would have received as the other nations saw how much He blessed His people. It was a costly mistake on their part, and they paid for it dearly.
It’s a basic principle of life that whatever we rob from God, we can never keep and enjoy ourselves. That could be money, it could be praise, it could be any number of things.
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