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 25.
The statutes and instructions God gave Israel in Leviticus 26 and 27 illustrate four responsibilities that every Christian believer has toward the Lord.
1. OBEYING HIS COMMANDMENTS (26:1–13)
2. SUBMITTING TO HIS CHASTISEMENTS (26:14–39)
3. TRUSTING HIS COVENANT (26:40–46)
4. KEEPING OUR COMMITMENTS TO GOD (27:1–34)
We talked about rest for the land each seventh year called the Sabbath year when they were not to do the normal agricultural things they did in the other years. They were to depend on God to provide for them the seventh year and until the harvest of the next year. In the Sabbath year all debts of Jews to Jews were forgiven, any Jew who had indentured themselves was to be released. When they met for the feast of Tabernacles the priests went over the entire Law that year. The other thing that we learned was that there is no evidence that they ever observed a single Sabbath year.
In the Jubilee year Jubilee year in which they were to do what they did in the Sabbath year and that was to rest for the normal activities. In addition, something else was to happen in the Jubilee year and that was that not only were all debts canceled, but any land also that had changed hands and to go back to the original owner.
Last week we talked about the four elements that were in play in the Jubilee year. They were repentance, release, rest, release, and restoration.
It’s significant that the Year of Jubilee started with the Day of Atonement, a day when the Jews were commanded to deny themselves and repent of their sins.
At the start of the Year of Jubilee, the people were commanded to release their indentured servants so that they might return to their own lands and families. A Hebrew servant was to serve for only six years and then be set free. How could the Jews celebrate this special year if some of their people were in bondage and separated from their loved ones and their land?
During the Year of Jubilee, the people were forbidden to carry on their normal agricultural pursuits but had to live on whatever the land produced. This gave both them and the land an extra year of rest, since the previous year would have been a Sabbath Year.
They had to rely on the Lord to keep His promises and supply sufficient food for almost three years, since they wouldn’t be able to work the land until the fifty-first year, and even then, they’d have to wait for the harvest.
Restoration includes redemption of the land and houses that were sold or lost between years of Jubilee. There was also the redemption of the poor. If a Jew became poor and then got enough money to buy any land back they had to sell or to pay any debt that cause them to become a slave or another Jew, they could redeem themselves at any time. If they couldn’t do it a close relative could redeem the land or pay the debt.
So far we only talked about the redemption policy of God when the transactions were between Jews. Today we are going to finish chapter 25 talking about what happens if a Jew becomes indebted to a Gentile.
Then we are going to get into the final instructions, before going into Canan, that God gave through Moses.
Before we start let me remind you that these instructions and everything in Leviticus took place just before the spies went into Canan and came back with their report and we know what happened. Most of the spies convinced the folk not to go into Canan in fact they talked about going back to Egypt. a
As a result, they had to wander the wilderness for 40 years until all those adults died and Moses had to do this all over again in Deuteronomy.
Let’s get started.
A Jew enslaved by a Gentile (vv. 47–55)
Leviticus 25:47-55 NIV “ ‘If a foreigner residing among you becomes rich and any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves to the foreigner or to a member of the foreigner’s clan, they retain the right of redemption after they have sold themselves. One of their relatives may redeem them: An uncle or a cousin or any blood relative in their clan may redeem them. Or if they prosper, they may redeem themselves. They and their buyer are to count the time from the year they sold themselves up to the Year of Jubilee. The price for their release is to be based on the rate paid to a hired worker for that number of years. If many years remain, they must pay for their redemption a larger share of the price paid for them. If only a few years remain until the Year of Jubilee, they are to compute that and pay for their redemption accordingly. They are to be treated as workers hired from year to year; you must see to it that those to whom they owe service do not rule over them ruthlessly. “ ‘Even if someone is not redeemed in any of these ways, they and their children are to be released in the Year of Jubilee, for the Israelites belong to me as servants. They are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.
It’s interesting to note that a Gentile “resident alien” in the land of Israel had to obey the law of Moses, even though he wasn’t a member of the Jewish covenant community. If the Jew was able to raise the purchase price, he could buy his freedom, and the price would be calculated according to the Year of Jubilee. The Gentile master was required to treat the Jewish slave as a hired servant and not treat him harshly. If not redeemed, the slave and his family would be released at the Year of Jubilee.
The Lord Jesus Christ took upon Himself sinless human flesh and became our “near kinsman”, so that He might give Himself as the redemption price and set us free.
Hebrews 2:14-18 NIV Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
Only He was qualified to do what had to be done, and He was willing to do it. Not only did He redeem us, but also He gave us a share in and made us a part of His inheritance!
It’s unfortunate that the Jewish people didn’t obey the laws given in this chapter, for their selfishness and greed brought ruin to the land and their economic system.
The prophets rebuked the rich for exploiting the poor and stealing their houses, lands, and even their children. The local courts ignored God’s decrees; the judges, enriched by bribes, passed down decisions that favored the wealthy and crushed the poor. But God heard the cries of the poor and one day brought terrible judgment to the people of Israel; they were exiled to Asserya and to Babylon.
Amos 8:4-7 NIV Hear this, you who trample the needy and do away with the poor of the land, saying, “When will the New Moon be over that we may sell grain, and the Sabbath be ended that we may market wheat?”— skimping on the measure, boosting the price and cheating with dishonest scales, buying the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the sweepings with the wheat. The Lord has sworn by himself, the Pride of Jacob: “I will never forget anything they have done.
God is concerned about how we use the resources He’s given us and how we treat one another in the marketplace. Both ecology and economy are His concern, and He eventually judges those who exploit others and treat them in ways that are less than humane. The church of Jesus Christ has thrived under many kinds of political and economic systems and isn’t dependent on any of them, but the church must always champion the rights of the poor and the oppressed and use every spiritual weapon to defeat the oppressors.
Final Instructions Leviticus 26-27
The statutes and instructions God gave Israel in Leviticus 26 and 27 illustrate four responsibilities that every Christian believer has toward the Lord.
1. OBEYING HIS COMMANDMENTS (26:1–13)
2. SUBMITTING TO HIS CHASTISEMENTS (26:14–39)
3. TRUSTING HIS COVENANT (26:40–46)
4. KEEPING OUR COMMITMENTS TO GOD (27:1–34)
OBEYING HIS COMMANDMENTS
Leviticus 26:1-3 NIV “ ‘Do not make idols or set up an image or a sacred stone for yourselves, and do not place a carved stone in your land to bow down before it. I am the Lord your God. “ ‘Observe my Sabbaths and have reverence for my sanctuary. I am the Lord. “ ‘If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands,
To obey God is to “walk in [His] statutes”, follow his decrees, but to disobey Him is to “walk contrary” to the Lord and despise His statutes.
If I continue to walk contrary to Him, I’m going to have serious problems.
Amos 3:3-6 NIV Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so? Does a lion roar in the thicket when it has no prey? Does it growl in its den when it has caught nothing? Does a bird swoop down to a trap on the ground when no bait is there? Does a trap spring up from the ground if it has not caught anything? When a trumpet sounds in a city, do not the people tremble? When disaster comes to a city, has not the Lord caused it?
Moses gave his people four excellent reasons why they should obey the Lord.
(1) Because of who God is
(2) Because of what God did
(3) Obey God because of where He dwells.
(4) Obey God because of what He promised
I’m going to include us Christians too.
(1) Because of who God is
Leviticus 26:1 NIV “ ‘Do not make idols or set up an image or a sacred stone for yourselves, and do not place a carved stone in your land to bow down before it. I am the Lord your God.
The God of Israel, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, is the true and living God and not an idol people have manufactured.
(2) Because of what God did (v. 2a).
Leviticus 26:2 NIV “ ‘Observe my Sabbaths and have reverence for my sanctuary. I am the Lord.
The word “Sabbaths” (plural) refers to all the special days on the Jewish calendar and not just the seventh day of the week. We studied the calendar and noted that these special days reminded the Jews of God’s goodness to them. Passover memorialized Israel’s deliverance from Egypt, and the Feast of Tabernacles reminded them of God’s care of His people in the wilderness. Firstfruits and Pentecost were harvest festivals that spoke of the
Lord’s blessing on their labors in the field, and Tabernacles was a time of harvest joy.
Even the weekly Sabbath was a reminder that the Jews were God’s special people.
(3) Obey God because of where He dwells.
Leviticus 26:2 NIV “ ‘Observe my Sabbaths and have reverence for my sanctuary. I am the Lord.
The God of Israel dwelt in the camp of Israel! The Jews had His sacred tabernacle in the midst of the camp. The nations around them had man-made gods in their temples, but Israel had the God who created in their midst. How could they ever think of disobeying Him when He was so near to them? To deliberately disobey God was not only a violation of His holy law, but it was also a desecration of His sanctuary. To sin was to defile the camp, which explains why unclean people were made to leave the camp.
The application to the Christian believer today is obvious. Our bodies are the sanctuary of God, and we must be careful to use them for God’s glory.
The Holy Spirit of God lives in us, and we must not grieve Him by using His temple for ungodly purposes.
Ephesians 4:30-32 NIV And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
4. Obey God because of what He promised (vv. 3–13).
Leviticus 26:3-13 NIV “ ‘If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees their fruit. Your threshing will continue until grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting, and you will eat all the food you want and live in safety in your land. “ ‘I will grant peace in the land, and you will lie down and no one will make you afraid. I will remove wild beasts from the land, and the sword will not pass through your country. You will pursue your enemies, and they will fall by the sword before you. Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you. “ ‘I will look on you with favor and make you fruitful and increase your numbers, and I will keep my covenant with you. You will still be eating last year’s harvest when you will have to move it out to make room for the new. I will put my dwelling place among you, and I will not abhor you. I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high.
The people of Israel just out of slavery they were a new nation and as such were like children in their faith.
Kind of like Christians today.
Galatians 4:1-7 NIV What I am saying is that as long as an heir is underage, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. The heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world. But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.
You teach children primarily through rewards and discipline or punishments. You can’t give children lectures on ethics and expect them to understand, but you can promise to reward them if they obey and punish them if they disobey. This approach will protect them from harming themselves, and it will give them time to grow older and better understand why obedience is the key to a happy life. Children must gradually learn that both commandments and punishments are expressions of love for their own good.
Hebrews 12:5-8, 11 NIV And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
Moses later expanded on this reward and punishment element of the covenant between God and the nation of Israel in Deut. 28—30.
Deuteronomy 29 gives a list of blessings for obedience 1 verses 1-14 and curses for disobedience verses 15-68.
Chapter 29 of Deuteronomy is a renewal of the covenant that was made at Mt. Sinai when they came out of Egypt and God gave Moses the Law.
Chapter 30 describes the prosperity after returning to the Lord following the curses described in chapter 28.
I want us to read the last few verses of chapter 30 of Deuteronomy.
Deuteronomy 30:15-20 NIV See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
https://bible.com/bible/111/deu.30.15-20.NIV
They owned the land because of God’s promises to Abraham, but they couldn’t enjoy the land unless they obeyed the laws God gave to Moses. Unfortunately, they disobeyed the law, ceased to enjoy the land, and eventually were taken from the land to suffer exile in Babylon.
As children of God, we already have everything we need for “life and godliness”, because we now possess “every spiritual blessing in Christ”.
2 Peter 1:3 NIV His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
Ephesians 1:3 NIV Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
To possess these blessings is one thing; to enjoy them is quite something else. As we trust God’s promises and obey His commandments, we draw upon our spiritual inheritance and are able to walk successfully and serve effectively. Like the nation of Israel in Canaan, we have battles to fight and work to do, but as we walk in obedience to the Lord, He enables us to overcome the enemy, claim the land, and enjoy its blessings.
To begin with, God promised them rain and fruitful harvests. God wanted to discipline His people, He would often withhold the rain, as He did in the days of Elijah.
1 Kings 17:1 NIV Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.”
The Lord also promised them peace and safety in their land. If the enemy did invade, the Jewish armies would soon chase them out, and one Jewish soldier would be worth twenty to a hundred of the enemy soldiers!
Leviticus 26:5-8 NIV Your threshing will continue until grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting, and you will eat all the food you want and live in safety in your land. “ ‘I will grant peace in the land, and you will lie down and no one will make you afraid. I will remove wild beasts from the land, and the sword will not pass through your country. You will pursue your enemies, and they will fall by the sword before you. Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you.
Other nations depended for safety on large armies and supplies of horses and chariots, but Israel’s victory came through faith in the Lord and obedience to His Word. “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God” (Ps. 20:7).
If Israel obeyed His law, God promised to multiply their population.
Leviticus 26:9 NIV “ ‘I will look on you with favor and make you fruitful and increase your numbers, and I will keep my covenant with you.
The Jews wanted many children and considered large families a blessing from God.
Deuteronomy 7:13-14 NIV He will love you and bless you and increase your numbers. He will bless the fruit of your womb, the crops of your land—your grain, new wine and olive oil—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you. You will be blessed more than any other people; none of your men or women will be childless, nor will any of your livestock be without young.
Psalms 127:3-5 NIV Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their opponents in court.
New generations were needed to maintain the economy, to help sustain the clans and tribes, and to protect the nation. A decimated population was a judgment from the Lord.
The presence of the Lord was the greatest blessing promised, because every other blessing depends on it. What other nation had the sanctuary of the living God in their midst and their God walking among them?
How tragic that Israel’s disobedience turned the temple into a “den of thieves”, forcing the Lord to destroy the temple and send His people into exile.
Matthew 21:12-13 NIV Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. “It is written,” he said to them, “ ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’”
When we lose the sense of the Lord’s presence and the privilege it is to serve Him, then we begin to despise His Word and disobey His commandments.
Nine times in Leviticus we find the Lord reminding His people that He had delivered them out from Egypt and therefore deserved their obedience.
Two of them are in chapter 26
Leviticus 26:13, NIV I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high.
45 But for their sake I will remember the covenant with their ancestors whom I brought out of Egypt in the sight of the nations to be their God. I am the Lord.’ ”
It must be pointed out that this covenant of blessing was given only to Israel and should not be applied to the church today. God certainly blesses those who obey Him, but His blessing isn’t always health, wealth, and success. Some of the greatest heroes of faith suffered because of their obedience and never experienced miracles of deliverance or provision from the Lord.
Hebrews 11 lists many heroes of faith, some by name and many whose names we don't know. Here's how Hebrews 11 ends.
Hebrews 11:36-40 NIV Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
Millions of Christians have been allowed to fall into the hands of their enemies and be martyred for their faith. This covenant, we are talking today from Leviticus and reiterated in Deuteronomy relate only to Israel in their land and was God’s way of teaching them faithfulness and obedience.
Some of the “prosperity preachers” today like to claim these covenant blessings for the church but prefer to apply the judgments to somebody else! If this covenant applies to God’s children today, then we should be experiencing the judgments whenever we disobey Him. However, experience shows us that more than one compromising believer is successful, healthy, and wealthy, while many of God’s faithful children are going through trials and difficulties read Ps. 73.
Read it all but I want to share just part of it.
Psalms 73:3-12, 16-20 NIV For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong. They are free from common human burdens; they are not plagued by human ills. Therefore pride is their necklace; they clothe themselves with violence. From their callous hearts comes iniquity; their evil imaginations have no limits. They scoff, and speak with malice; with arrogance they threaten oppression. Their mouths lay claim to heaven, and their tongues take possession of the earth. Therefore their people turn to them and drink up waters in abundance. They say, “How would God know? Does the Most High know anything?” This is what the wicked are like— always free of care, they go on amassing wealth. When I tried to understand all this, it troubled me deeply till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny. Surely you place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin. How suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by terrors! They are like a dream when one awakes; when you arise, Lord, you will despise them as fantasies.
2. We talked about the responsibility of obeying God’s commandments but we also have the responsibility of SUBMITTING TO HIS CHASTISEMENTS (26:14–39)
Hebrews 12:5-6 NIV And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”
Israel’s special relationship to Jehovah brought with it the obligation to obey His voice and glorify His name. Privilege brings with it responsibility, and no nation has enjoyed more spiritual privileges from the Lord than the nation of Israel.
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