A Survey of the Old Testament Law--Leviticus 25:24-34

 Leviticus 25:24-31—“‘24 And in all the land of your possession you shall grant redemption of the land. 25 If one of your brethren becomes poor, and has sold some of his possession, and if his redeeming relative comes to redeem it, then he may redeem what his brother sold. 26 Or if the man has no one to redeem it, but he himself becomes able to redeem it, 27 then let him count the years since its sale, and restore the remainder to the man to whom he sold it, that he may return to his possession. 28 But if he is not able to have it restored to himself, then what was sold shall remain in the hand of him who bought it until the Year of Jubilee; and in the Jubilee it shall be released, and he shall return to his possession. 29 If a man sells a house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it is sold; within a full year he may redeem it. 30 But if it is not redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house in the walled city shall belong permanently to him who bought it, throughout his generations. It shall not be released in the Jubilee. 31 However the houses of villages which have no wall around them shall be counted as the fields of the country. They may be redeemed, and they shall be released in the Jubilee.’”

In this passage we see the concept of the “kinsman redeemer.” This principle is the theme of the book of Ruth. Elimelech and his wife Naomi moved to the land of Moab with their two sons. One of the sons married a woman from Moab, and her name was Ruth. Eventually, both Naomi’s husband and Ruth’s husband died, leaving them as widows. Long story short, Ruth and Naomi returned to Bethlehem. Ruth 2:1—There was a relative of Naomi's husband, a man of great wealth, of the family of Elimelech. His name was Boaz. Boaz saw Ruth; he saw that she was pretty easy on the eyes, and said, Ruth 2:8-10—“8 Do not go to glean in another field, nor go from here, but stay close by my young women. 9 Let your eyes be on the field which they reap, and go after them…And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink from what the young men have drawn.” He also saw how tender-hearted she was. Ruth 2:11—“It has been fully reported to me, all that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you have left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and have come to a people whom you did not know before.”

(We will talk more about Ruth's Moabite heritage in a later chapter in Numbers)

Naomi, her mother-in-law, convinces her that this Boaz fellow (whom Ruth thinks is pretty easy on the eyes as well) would make her a good husband, and that he could redeem her from her poverty. Ruth 3:2-9—“2 Now Boaz…is he not our relative? In fact, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. 3 Therefore wash yourself and anoint yourself, put on your best garment and go down to the threshing floor; but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking…7 And after Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was cheerful, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain; and she came softly, uncovered his feet, and lay down…9 And he said, "Who are you?" So she answered, "I am Ruth, your maidservant. Take your maidservant under your wing, for you are a close relative."

Under the Law, the next closest relative was to take the widow unto himself to wife. And Ruth and Naomi both saw Boaz as being that “kinsman redeemer.” Just one problem. Ruth 3:12-13—“12 Now it is true that I am a close relative; however, there is a relative closer than I. 13 Stay this night, and in the morning it shall be that if he will perform the duty of a close relative for you—good; let him do it. But if he does not want to perform the duty for you, then I will perform the duty for you, as the LORD lives!” Now, these two really wanted to be together. And if that nearer relative could be persuaded to really not pursue Ruth as a wife, then Boaz and Ruth could be together.

Ruth 4:1-4—1 Now Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there; and behold, the close relative of whom Boaz had spoken came by. So Boaz said, "Come aside, friend, sit down here." So he came aside and sat down…3 Then he said to the close relative, "Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, sold the piece of land which belonged to our brother Elimelech. 4 And I thought to inform you, saying, 'Buy it back in the presence of the inhabitants and the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if you will not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know; for there is no one but you to redeem it, and I am next after you.'" And he said, "I will redeem it." Now, a couple things need explaining here. First, it was not as though Naomi had actually sold the land—she was in the process of selling it. Second, the ‘redemption’ spoken of here is based in the Law, in the passage of Leviticus we are in, Leviticus 25:25—“If one of your brethren becomes poor, and has sold some of his possession, and if his redeeming relative comes to redeem it, then he may redeem what his brother sold.” So this nearer relative had first dibs on Naomi’s land. But for some men, there are some things that aren’t even worth taking on the burden of a wife. And that would be the case for the nearer relative.

He could have bought the land that Naomi possessed—but that would mean taking Ruth to be his wife. And he just wasn’t the marrying kind. Ruth 4:5-10—5 Then Boaz said, "On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also buy it from Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance." 6 And the close relative said, "I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I ruin my own inheritance. You redeem my right of redemption for yourself, for I cannot redeem it"…9 And Boaz said to the elders and all the people, "You are witnesses this day that I have bought all that was Elimelech's, and all that was Chilion's and Mahlon's, from the hand of Naomi. 10 Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, I have acquired as my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brethren and from his position at the gate. You are witnesses this day." The ‘custom’ referred to in verse 7 does not refer to the stipulation in the Law about what was done if a brother refused to take his brother’s widow (see Deuteronomy 25:7-10). Because the nearer relative did not want a package deal—Ruth and the land—he got neither. The land went to Boaz, as did Ruth as his wife.

Now, what we have here is a picture of Christ. He is our ‘kinsman redeemer.’ Hebrews 2:11-13—11 Both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, 12 saying: "I will declare Your name to My brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You." 13 And again: "I will put My trust in Him." And again: "Here am I and the children whom God has given Me." 14 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. Romans 8:29—For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 1st John 3:1—Behold what manner of love this is, that we should be called sons of God! Christ partook of flesh and blood, even as were born in flesh and blood. Through death He redeemed us from bondage to sin, calling us His brothers, making us—as He is—children of God.

And notice something else about this whole story. Boaz was a Jew. Ruth was a Moabite. Do you understand what that means? That means that a Jew redeemed a Gentile. In fact, Moabites were under a curse due to the fact that they paid Balaam to curse Israel (see Numbers 22-24), and they later led the Israelites to act corruptly in the wilderness (see Numbers 25; Deuteronomy 23:3-4). So a woman who was not of the people of God—and was in fact under a curse—she was now of the people of God. And how did this happen? Because she was now his wife. So let’s get this straight: a man in the lineage of David redeemed a Gentile who was under a curse, and he did so by taking her as his bride. Does that sound like something Christ did? Galatians 3:13—Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the Law. Hosea 1:2, 10—2 The LORD said to Hosea: “Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry and children of harlotry, for the land has committed great harlotry by departing from the LORD”…“And it shall come to pass In the place where it was said to them, 'You are not My people,' there it shall be said to them, 'You are sons of the living God.'”  Matthew 12:15-21—15 And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all. 16 Yet He warned them not to make Him known, 17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: “18 Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased! I will put My Spirit upon Him, and He will declare justice to the Gentiles. 19 He will not quarrel nor cry out, nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets. 20 A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench, till He sends forth justice to victory; 21 And in His name Gentiles will trust.” Our Lord, a Jew by birth, became a light for us Gentiles, and in His name we Gentiles trust. He redeemed us when we were strangers from the commonwealth of Israel, and were cut off from the promises of God. He redeemed us from every tongue and nation and tribe to be sons of the living God—the brethren of Christ, our kinsman who has redeemed us from bondage to sin.

But here’s the difference: Ruth had to doll herself up and make herself look all pretty for Boaz. We don’t. In fact, Christ calls us and the Father draws us to Christ when we are still dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1-2). There is nothing about us that is appealing to Him who is our husband. There is nothing that makes Him look down and say, “Why, look at that one there! They are so godly and good and righteous! They certainly do deserve to be saved!” No, we are all clothed in filth; we are rank, disgusting sinners; we hate the very God who formed us and we mock Him every day of our lives—and yet, before the foundation of the world, God chose us to believe in His Son and He chose to grant us faith and repentance and He wrote our names in the Lamb’s Book of Life, never to blot our names from its pages.

The regulations concerning the redeeming of land belonging to the Levites were a bit different than for the common people. Leviticus 25:32-34—“‘32 Nevertheless the cities of the Levites, and the houses in the cities of their possession, the Levites may redeem at any time. 33 And if a man purchases a house from the Levites, then the house that was sold in the city of his possession shall be released in the Jubilee; for the houses in the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel. 34 But the field of the common-land of their cities may not be sold, for it is their perpetual possession.’” And if you recall from a long time ago, you may remember reading that Levites did not own any land. So you may be reading this passage thinking, “Hey, wait a minute! I didn’t think the Levites owned any land!” The ‘cities of the Levites’ were, basically, portions of cities owned by the other tribes—portions which were doled out to the various Levitical lineages. The designation ‘cities of the Levites’ may also refer to the ‘cities of refuge’ to which an accused murderer could flee until he could be tried (see Numbers 35:10-34). And, as it says in verse 33, these houses were the only real estate the Levites possessed among their brethren. And the Levite was not bound by the “redeem it by the Year of Jubilee or lose it forever” regulation we saw earlier. As it states in verse 32, if you bought a house from a Levite 3 years before Jubilee, they could redeem it back five years later. Because that was their only possession. And you could not buy their land. Period.

Father, thank You that You have provided for us a Kinsman Redeemer, One who is nearer to us than a brother, and who in fact calls us brethren (Hebrews 2:11). He is our salvation, the One who redeemed us out of sin when we deserved death. Thank You that You have welcomed us into Your kingdom, and that with us being Your sheep, we will never be cast out, but You will always seek us (Matthew 18:12-13) and that we will always hear Your voice and follow You (John 10:27).

 

Jesus Christ is Lord.

Amen.

Ignatius on The Sabbath

"If, therefore, those who were brought up in the ancient order of things have come to the possession of a new hope, no longer observing the Sabbath, but living in the observance22 of the Lord’s Day, on which also our life has sprung up again by Him and by His death — whom some deny, by which mystery we have obtained faith, and therefore endure, that we may be found the disciples of Jesus Christ, our only Master — how shall we be able to live apart from Him, whose disciples the prophets themselves in the Spirit did wait for Him as their Teacher? And therefore He whom they rightly waited for, being come, raised them from the dead"

"The prophets were His servants, and foresaw Him by the Spirit, and waited for Him as their Teacher, and expected Him as their Lord and Saviour, saying, “He will come and save us.” Let us therefore no longer keep the Sabbath after the Jewish manner, and rejoice in days of idleness; for “he that does not work, let him not eat.” For say the [holy] oracles, “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread.” But let every one of you keep the Sabbath after a spiritual manner, rejoicing in meditation on the law, not in relaxation of the body, admiring the workmanship of God, and not eating things prepared the day before, nor using lukewarm drinks, and walking within a prescribed space, nor finding delight in dancing and plaudits which have no sense in them."

--Ignatius, "Epistle to the Magnesians", Chapter IX

A Survey of the Old Testament Law--Leviticus 24-25 (Part 3)

OK, so now we move on to the next topic, the Year of Jubilee. Leviticus 25:8-10—“‘8 And you shall count seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years; and the time of the seven sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine years. 9 Then you shall cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement you shall make the trumpet to sound throughout all your land. 10 And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you; and each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you shall return to his family.’”

We’re going to use this Year of Jubilee as the basis for examining some of the other major themes in this chapter. Because some of the remaining themes have some relation to the Year of Jubilee. But before we go there, let’s look at a couple of parallels to this Year of Jubilee, one of which is that it paints one more picture of Christ in the Law. How did the people count the Year of Jubilee? Leviticus 25:8—“‘And you shall count seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years; and the time of the seven sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine years.’” How did they determine the date of Shavuot (Pentecost)? Leviticus 23:15—“‘And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed.’” Shavuot: Count seven Sabbath days, celebrate the fiftieth day. Year of Jubilee: count seven Sabbath years, celebrate the fiftieth year.

 Second, turn to Daniel 9:24-25—“24  Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy. 25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times.” Seventy weeks—literally, seventy sevens. 490 years. Four hundred ninety years from the command to rebuild Jerusalem until the year the Messiah would come. So which command to rebuild Jerusalem serves as the starting point for counting the 490 years? Well, that depends on who you read. Bishop Edward Chandler writes,

 

“The commencement of the weeks (as he remarks) must be either from the 7^th of Artaxerxes, which falls on 457 B.C. or from the 20^th of Artaxerxes. [To] 457 B.C., [add] 26 years after Christ [i.e., after His birth, here and following-Ed.]—which is the number [by which] 483, or 69 weeks, exceeds 457 years—and you are brought to the beginning of John the Baptist's preaching up the advent of the Messiah. Add 7 years or one week to the former [John the Baptist preaching Messiah], and you come to the 33^rd year of A.D. which was the year of Jesus Christ's death. Or else compute 490 years, the whole 70 weeks, from the 7^th of Artaxerxes, by subtracting 457 years…from 490, and there remains 33, the year of our Lord's death.

 

Let the 20^th of Artaxerxes be the date of the 70 weeks, which is 445 B.C. and reckon 69 weeks of Chaldean years—seventy Chaldee years being equal to sixty nine Julian; and so 478 Julian years making 483 Chaldee years—and they end in the 33^rd year after Christ, or the Passover following.

 

[…]

 

But computing from either of these dates from the 7th or from the 20th of Artaxerxes by Julian or by Chaldee years these weeks II weeks will carry us to the reign of Tiberius the Roman Emperor for the death of the Messiah and consequently the destruction of the city and temple following the Messiah's death can be no other than that by Titus Vespasian It must be to in point of time j and again no other destruction was attended with all the circumstances in Daniel beside that by the Romans.”

[Chandler, Edward. “A defence of Christianity from the prophecies of the Old Testament; wherein are considered all the objections against this kind of proof, advanced in a late Discourse of the grounds and reasons of the Christian religion”. p. 115.]

On the other hand, Adam Clarke, rather than reckoning forward from a certain date, reckons backwards, using Julian measurement:

 

“Most learned men agree that the death of Christ happened at the Passover in the month Nisan, in the four thousand seven hundred and forty-sixth year of the Julian period. Four hundred and ninety years, reckoned back from the above year, leads us directly to the month Nisan in the four thousand two hundred and fifty-sixth year of the same period; the very month and year in which Ezra had his commission from Artaxerxes Longimanus, king of Persia, (see Ezra 7:9), to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. See the commission in Ezra 7:11-26, and Prideaux’s Connexions, vol. 2 p. 380.”

 Boiling all that down, we get this: from the time that Artaxerxes commanded Jerusalem to be rebuilt, until the time that Messiah would come, was given to the people in about as clear a picture as could be given. And they missed Him. But isn't that the way we humans are? Sometimes you have to paint us a picture—and we still don’t get it.

So then, the 70 weeks of Daniel completed the tenth Jubilee year after the order went out to rebuild Jerusalem. In those Jubilee years, slaves were set free and property was redeemed. Leviticus 25:10—“And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants.” Does that sound like something Messiah did? The word that came to Isaiah said that’s what He would do. Isaiah 61:1—“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.” And when the Lord Jesus came, that was what He came to do—to bring to pass what was spoken of Him in the Law, and in the scroll of Isaiah. Luke 4:17-19—16 So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. 17 And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: “18 The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; 19 to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.” Behold, the year of His coming was the year of Jubilee, the time had come: for the poor in spirit to be made rich with the righteousness of God; for those broken over their sin to be saved from those sins; for those held captive by sin to be set free from their master Satan; for those whose eyes had been veiled to the gospel to be given sight by our Lord; for those held down and oppressed by their own human failings to rise up on eagle’s wings and soar; for God to come down and save those who had rebelled against Him and draw them to Himself.

Behold he comes!/Riding on the clouds!

Shining like the sun/At the trumpet's call!

So lift your voice!/It's the year of Jubilee!

For out of Zion's Hill salvation comes!

Leviticus 25:11-12—“‘11 That fiftieth year shall be a Jubilee to you; in it you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of its own accord, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine. 12 For it is the Jubilee; it shall be holy to you; you shall eat its produce from the field.’” Like in the seventh-year Sabbath, you were not to till your land. Not only do you let the land lay fallow, you don’t wholly reap of any kind of crop. You simply go out, every day, and pick what you need. It is as if God is giving the freeing the land from its burden of constantly being turned and sown to produce for those who derived their sustenance from it. But think about this as well: this Year of Jubilee would constitute the second half of a two-year span when the land would not be tilled and sown. Remember, the forty-ninth year was also a year of rest for the land, as was the fiftieth. So two years would pass before the people could plant any new crops; they had to rely on God to provide for not only year forty-nine, but Jubilee as well.

Leviticus 25:13-17—“‘13 In this Year of Jubilee, each of you shall return to his possession. 14 And if you sell anything to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor's hand, you shall not oppress one another. 15 According to the number of years after the Jubilee you shall buy from your neighbor, and according to the number of years of crops he shall sell to you. 16 According to the multitude of years you shall increase its price, and according to the fewer number of years you shall diminish its price; for he sells to you according to the number of the years of the crops. 17 Therefore you shall not oppress one another, but you shall fear your God; for I am the LORD your God.’”  Now, it was according to this year of Jubilee that certain things were given their valuation. For example, if a neighbor wanted to buy from you a certain piece of land, the price was prorated according to how many years remained until Jubilee. If the value of that land was 1000 shekels, and 24 years had elapsed since the previous Jubilee, you have to value that land for this transaction at 500 shekels (1000 shekels divided by 50 years equals 20 shekels per year). Also, you then deduct any Sabbath years that would come up during the time that said neighbor retained the rights to that field. That would drop the price from 500 shekels to 400 shekels (since there would be no harvest in years 28, 35, 42, 49 and 50, those five lost years would knock 100 shekels off the valuation).

We find other provisions pertaining to land and the Year of Jubilee in Leviticus 27. These cover the dedication of property to the vow of קָרְבָּן (qorban). We looked at the קָרְבָּן (qorban) back in Leviticus chapters 3 and 7 when we studied the Peace Offerings. The קָרְבָּן (qorban) was a voluntary Peace Offering of a vow (Leviticus 7:16). Leviticus 27:16-25—“‘16 If a man dedicates to the LORD part of a field of his possession, then your valuation shall be according to the seed for it. A homer of barley seed shall be valued at fifty shekels of silver. 17 If he dedicates his field from the Year of Jubilee, according to your valuation it shall stand. 18 But if he dedicates his field after the Jubilee, then the priest shall reckon to him the money due according to the years that remain till the Year of Jubilee, and it shall be deducted from your valuation. 19 And if he who dedicates the field ever wishes to redeem it, then he must add one-fifth of the money of your valuation to it, and it shall belong to him. 20 But if he does not want to redeem the field, or if he has sold the field to another man, it shall not be redeemed anymore; 21 but the field, when it is released in the Jubilee, shall be holy to the LORD, as a devoted field; it shall be the possession of the priest. 22 And if a man dedicates to the LORD a field which he has bought, which is not the field of his possession, 23 then the priest shall reckon to him the worth of your valuation, up to the Year of Jubilee, and he shall give your valuation on that day as a holy offering to the LORD. 24 In the Year of Jubilee the field shall return to him from whom it was bought, to the one who owned the land as a possession. 25 And all your valuations shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary: twenty gerahs to the shekel.’”

Suppose a man inherited a piece of land from his father. Let’s suppose for a moment that this inheritance or purchase took place during the Year of Jubilee. The man says, “I dedicate 5 acres to the LORD.” And suppose it takes a homer of barley seed to sow that 5 acre tract. What happened next: the priest takes fifty shekels of sliver according to the shekel of the sanctuary (each shekel being the equivalent of 160 coffee beans, this would make for 9000 coffee beans, or 3 lbs. of coffee beans. So 3 lbs of silver) and gives that sum to the person. Now, if it is ten years since the Year of Jubilee when this dedication takes place, then the man would receive forty shekels; if it is twenty years after Jubilee, he would get thirty shekels. And suppose the man said, “You know, I’d really like to have that land back.” He would then go to the priest, who would count the number of years until the next Jubilee (for instance, let’s say there are ten years until Jubilee). The man would have to give not only the ten shekels of silver, but he would have to add two more shekels (one-fifth of ten) and give a total of twelve shekels of silver to the priest. Now, there are a couple more clauses we need to look at concerning the dedicated field. If you did not redeem it before the next Year of Jubilee, you did not get it back—when it was released, it became the possession of the priests. If you sold it to another, it could not be redeemed, and at the next Jubilee it likewise became property of the priests. All these conditions also applied to a piece of land that the man in question may have bought from a neighbor.

Leviticus 25:23—“‘The land shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are strangers and sojourners with Me.’” The earth belongs to God (Psalm 24:1). We do not own one square inch of it. In fact, we don’t own any single thing on the face of the earth. That is the reasoning behind the prohibition in verse 23. Besides, God was trying to drive home another message, one that He wants us as Christians under the New Covenant to know as well: we are strangers, sojourners, pilgrims. We are not to get too comfortable on this miserable planet, no matter how bright and shiny the objects the world tempts us with. Hebrews 11:13—These all died in faith… [and] confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 1st Peter 2:11—Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul. This world is not the be-all end-all of everything. This world is not our final destination. This world is just a place we pass through until we reach the place where we will spend eternity. And if one desires to have the things of this world rather than the things of God, then they will have those things. And they will lose everything. Matthew 16:24-26—“24 If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” The world says “Go ahead: long for and lust after the fruit of this world, which is so appealing to the eyes and to our flawed human senses. Be like Eve, who beheld the fruit and saw that it was good for food and pleasing to the eyes.” WRONG! 1st John 2:15-17—15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. From the International Critical Commentary—

 

“The evil desires which assail men through the lower part of their nature in general, or through the sense of vision in particular, or through the external good which falls to their lot, if regarded and used as opportunities for display, have their origin not in the Father, but in the world which has broken loose from Him. And the world and the desires which it fosters are alike transitory. Only that which falls in with God’s will, and carries forward His purpose, is of permanent value and lasting character.”

 

Part 4 next week

 

Jesus Christ is Lord.

Amen.

Clement of Rome--The Destruction of the Wicked

"For it is written, 'There was no shape before mine eyes, only I heard a sound,89 and a voice [saying], What then? Shall a man be pure before the Lord? or shall such an one be [counted] blameless in his deeds, seeing He does not confide in His servants, and has charged90 even His angels with perversity? The heaven is not clean in His sight: how much less they that dwell in houses of clay, of which also we ourselves were made! He smote them as a moth; and from morning even until evening they endure not. Because they could furnish no assistance to themselves, they perished. He breathed upon them, and they died, because they had no wisdom. But call now, if any one will answer thee, or if thou wilt look to any of the holy angels; for wrath destroys the foolish man, and envy killeth him that is in error. I have seen the foolish taking root, but their habitation was presently consumed. Let their sons be far from safety; let them be despised before the gates of those less than themselves, and there shall be none to deliver. For what was prepared for them, the righteous shall eat; and they shall not be delivered from evil.'" (Job 4:16-18, Job 15:15, Job 4:19-21, Job 5:1-5)

--Clement of Rome, "First Epistle to the Corinthians", Chapter XXXIX

A Survey of the Old Testament Law--Leviticus 24-25 (Part 2)

Leviticus 24:10-22—10 Now the son of an Israelite woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel; and this Israelite woman's son and a man of Israel fought each other in the camp. 11 And the Israelite woman's son blasphemed the name of the LORD and cursed; and so they brought him to Moses. (His mother's name was Shelomith the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.) 12 Then they put him in custody, that the mind of the LORD might be shown to them. 13 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 14 "Take outside the camp him who has cursed; then let all who heard him lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him. 15 Then you shall speak to the children of Israel, saying: 'Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin. 16 And whoever blasphemes the name of the LORD shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall certainly stone him, the stranger as well as him who is born in the land. When he blasphemes the name of the LORD, he shall be put to death. 17 Whoever kills any man shall surely be put to death. 18 Whoever kills an animal shall make it good, animal for animal. 19 If a man causes disfigurement of his neighbor, as he has done, so shall it be done to him—20 fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; as he has caused disfigurement of a man, so shall it be done to him. 21 And whoever kills an animal shall restore it; but whoever kills a man shall be put to death. 22 You shall have the same law for the stranger and for one from your own country; for I am the LORD your God.'"

God put together the Scriptures as He saw fit. Many times, to the human eye and understanding, He put certain passages together that kinda make us say, “Why did He put this story of a blasphemer right after the commands about the oil and showbread, and the commands about the year of Jubilee?” Well, the short answer to that question is this: Because he wanted to. That’s the only reason I can come up with. “Make the oil for the lampstand from beaten olives. Put the showbread on the table every Sabbath. Don’t blaspheme against Me or you will die. Keep the year of Jubilee.” That makes sense to God—and if it makes sense to Him, who are we to argue?

OK, so what do we know from verse 10? We know that this man’s mother was an Israelite and his father was Egyptian. And since they are here only two years removed from that exodus, he obviously came out with the mixed multitude that left Egypt the night of the first Passover. What do we see him do in verse 11? He blasphemes. Now, there is a reason why I kept the italicized words italicized. In verse 11, we see that the Israelite woman’s son blasphemed the name—what comes next immediately? of the LORD. These words are italicized, meaning what? The translators inserted these words in an attempt to make the text more understandable. However, I do not really think (nor did the translators of the NASB think) that this needed to be done. Allow me to show you why.

When we talk about the name of God, what do we always say this name is? יְהֹוָה (YHVH). And yes, most people Anglicize it and spell/say it “Jehovah.” And we’re not going to go into all that right now; we’ve already discussed that in Exodus 20:7. What I do want us to see is this—there is another title that Jews have for the One True God, and that is  הַשֶּׁמ(HaShem)—this Hebrew word literally translates as “The Name.” And it is by this title that many Jews do not even try to pronounce the name יְהֹוָה (YHVH) or even אֲדֹנָי (Adonay). They will simply refer to God by the title הַשֶּׁמ(HaShem)—The Name. Zola Leavitt Ministries—

 

“Since ancient Hebrew did not use any vowel markings, the actual pronunciation of the sacred Name is simply not known. In ancient Temple times, only the Kohen Gadol (high priest) would utter the Name during Yom Kippur.

The Jewish tradition is to not pronounce the sacred Name at all, but to substitute the word Adonai ("my Lord") in its place. Thus, when reading Torah, you do not attempt to vocalize the Name, but say Adonai instead. When not reading Torah or the Siddur, most observant Jews refer to the sacred Name simply as Hashem or "the Name" (Leviticus 24:16).

In Hebrew the sacred Name is called Shem HaMeforash, "the ineffable Name." Attempts to provide an exposition of the Name have come to be known as Shelosh Esreh Middot, or the Thirteen Attributes of God and are usually based on exegesis of Exodus 34:6-7 (mystical speculation about the Name is found in Kabbalistic literature).”

http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Names_of_G-d/YHVH/yhvh.html

So then, we see that the young man of mixed heritage blasphemed The Name (הַשֶּׁמ(HaShem))—not simply His Name, but THE NAME.

Then in verses 12-21, we see God proscribe the punishment for blaspheming The Name—specifically, that punishment was death. Today, the man would probably get his own show on Bravo, or alongside the women on "The View". But, when a people fears YHVH, blasphemy is not tolerated, and the person is duly punished. But notice something else here: God elevates Himself—and man, who is made in His image—over all the rest of creation. If you kill an animal, you replace that animal. If you disfigure another person, you get likewise disfigured—break a bone, your bone gets broken; put out and eye, your eye gets put out; knock out a tooth, you lose a tooth. BUT! Kill a man—you die. Genesis 9:6—“Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed; for in the image of God He made man.” Blaspheme The Name—you die. Exodus 20:7—“You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.” And it didn’t matter that this man was half Egyptian. God did not give one set of commands to Israelites and another, separate set to foreigners. Leviticus 24:22—“You shall have the same law for the stranger and for one from your own country; for I am the LORD your God.” Period, paragraph. If ANY person within the camp uttered blasphemy against God, they were to be taken outside the camp, the congregation was to lay their hands on the guilty party, and that person was to be crushed under a pile of rocks to show that God does not tolerate insubordination in those who claim to be His people.

So then, what do the people do top this insubordinate riff-raff? Leviticus 24:23—Then Moses spoke to the children of Israel; and they took outside the camp him who had cursed, and stoned him with stones. So the children of Israel did as the LORD commanded Moses. They did what they needed to do—they put this man out of their misery. They destroyed the man who had flung σκύβαλον (skubolon)—rubbish, to say it politely—at the face of Almighty God. These people were quick to rid themselves of the one who had slandered their God. So why is the church today so slow to take action? Why does the church embrace every hip new trend that comes along, that claims to be “Christian”? Why do the Mark Driscolls and Perry Nobles and Steven Furticks become so popular for using language and methods that are so foul and perverse? Why do “Christians” embrace the heresies of the prosperity preachers, who teach that God is at your every beck and call, and that the cross is nothing more than an ATM that use can call on to give you more material wealth? Or they bring in Eastern Mysticism, and Transcendental Meditation, and they teach that those things that the Bible calls “sin” aren’t really sins, and that the only sin anyone can commit is when they call sin “sin”. And the sad part is, when you examine their teachings, and their doctrines are found to be wanting of any truth, their acolytes claim that the one doing the examining is the one causing division. But in all reality, the one who is bringing in the destructive heresies is the one who is truly causing division.  The one who is teaching against Christ is the one we should be taking outside the church and leaving them to their own devices until one of two things happens: they will either (a) see their pernicious errors and come back in repentance and sorrow, or (b) they will creep more closely to Satan’s side.

Paul told the Corinthians they needed to do that very thing. A man was having relations with his stepmother, and instead of removing that one from their midst, they were actually encouraging it. 1st Corinthians 5:1-2—1 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles—that a man has his father's wife! 2 And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you. Look at what Paul is telling them. He’s saying “Get that sinful person out from among you!” Then what are they to do once they remove them? 1^st Corinthians 5:4-5—4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 5 deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Then once he is put out of the church, and handed over to Satan that he may see the fullness of his sins, we are not to have any fellowship with such a one. 1st Corinthians 5:11—But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person. Steven Lawson—

“The church in Corinth is not to associate; they are not to fellowship with the so-called brother who has been put out of the church. There are to be ramifications for his continued choices of sin. He is to be cut off from all privileges of fellowship among the believers. He is to be painted into a corner where he is there, by himself with the devil.”

[note--I wrote this before all that came about with him came to light. His actions do not change the truth of his words. And actually, they seem to be rather prophetic, seeing as he is now being shunned by many]

Now you may be asking, “But that’s for sexual sins. This man in Leviticus was killed for blasphemy.” But I say there is no difference. Is not the one who claims to be saved, by default, taking to himself the name of the Lord Christ? Is he not claiming to be Christian and, therefore, under the headship of Jesus? So then, if this one who has taken the name of Christ continues in his sin, refuses to turn away from that sin, and is one that John describes as being among those who went out from us, but were not of us (1st John 2:19). These have, in fact, “taken the name of the LORD in vain.” These are the ones that the church today does not want to offend. They don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. They don’t want to look like the “bad guys.” So they will rather offend God than offend man. They are friends of the world rather than friends of God (James 4:4-6). Matthew Henry—“He who will act upon this principle, to keep the smiles of the world, and to have its continual friendship, cannot but show himself, in spirit, and in his actions too, an enemy to God.”

So now that brings us to Leviticus chapter 25. This chapter has four major themes: (1) the seventh-year Sabbath for the land, (2) the Year of Jubilee, (3) Redemption of people and property, and (4) the treatment of the poor among them. We are not going to go through this chapter so much verse-by-verse, but rather we will treat the various themes, since they are interwoven with each other.

The first theme we’re going to look at is the seventh-year Sabbath for the land. Leviticus 25:1-7, 18-22—1 And the LORD spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, “2 Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a Sabbath to the LORD. 3 Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather its fruit; 4 but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the LORD. You shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard. 5 What grows of its own accord of your harvest you shall not reap, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine, for it is a year of rest for the land. 6 And the Sabbath produce of the land shall be food for you: for you, your male and female servants, your hired man, and the stranger who dwells with you, 7 for your livestock and the beasts that are in your land—all its produce shall be for food…18 So you shall observe My statutes and keep My judgments, and perform them; and you will dwell in the land in safety. 19 Then the land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill, and dwell there in safety. 20 And if you say, "What shall we eat in the seventh year, since we shall not sow nor gather in our produce?" 21 Then I will command My blessing on you in the sixth year, and it will bring forth produce enough for three years. 22 And you shall sow in the eighth year, and eat old produce until the ninth year; until its produce comes in, you shall eat of the old harvest.”

Now, this was a command that was not for the time when it was spoken. Notice what God says in verse 2. “When you come into the land which I give you…” This was for when they would take the land of Canaan. In Exodus, God equates this seventh-year Sabbath for the land with the seventh-day Sabbath for the people, their servants and their livestock. Exodus 23:10-12—“10 Six years you shall sow your land and gather in its produce, 11 but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave, the beasts of the field may eat. In like manner you shall do with your vineyard and your olive grove. 12 Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female servant and the stranger may be refreshed.” The people were to rest on the seventh day of the week. Their servants were to rest on the seventh day of the week. Their livestock were to rest on the seventh day of the week. But what about the land? Doesn't the land need to rest also? So the people were to store up produce from the sixth year—which God promised would be enough for three years—eat that through not only the seventh but also the eighth year (they were to sow seed in the eighth year), and then eat the harvest of the ninth year. What was God trying to teach the people? The same thing He tried to teach them with the manna in Exodus 16—trust in Him to supply their food. That’s all they had to do with the manna. Just trust that God would provide it, one day after another (and twice on Friday)—and God would give them all they needed.

BUT. As I asked the question before, so I ask it now. Doesn't the land need to rest also? Yes it does. Unfortunately, there would come a time during Israel’s history when would not allow their land to rest and lay fallow. And God would punish them for this insubordination. Turn to 2nd Chronicles 36:11-14—11 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. 12 He did evil in the sight of the LORD his God, and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke from the mouth of the LORD. 13 And he also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear an oath by God; but he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the LORD God of Israel. 14 Moreover all the leaders of the priests and the people transgressed more and more, according to all the abominations of the nations, and defiled the house of the LORD which He had consecrated in Jerusalem. Zedekiah was an evil king, four generations removed from Josiah. After Josiah came Jehoahaz, then Jehoakim, Jehoachin, Zedekiah. And it was under Zedekiah that Judah’s captivity under the yoke of the Babylonians was completed. It began under Jehoakim; it was finished under Zedekiah. Now before we get too far into the Babylonian captivity, let me point out something. In Leviticus 24, we talked about blaspheming, and taking the name of YHVH in vain. Now look what Zedekiah did in verse 13. And he also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear an oath by God; but he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the LORD God of Israel. There are some who would say, “Well, but he made that oath under duress. Besides, Nebuchadnezzar was an evil man; certainly God wouldn’t punish him for making an oath under such extreme circumstances.” But He did. God did hold him accountable, and for this Judah was taken away captive to Babylon.

And lest you ask why God allowed Babylon to take Judah captive, let me point out this fact: God did not simply allow Judah to be overrun by the Chaldeans—He empowered the Chaldeans to overtake her. 2nd Chronicles 36:15-17—15 And the LORD God of their fathers sent warnings to them by His messengers, rising up early and sending them, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place. 16 But they mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against His people, till there was no remedy. 17 Therefore He brought against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, on the aged or the weak; He gave them all into his hand. Read the first part of verse 17 again. He brought against them the king of the Chaldeans. Who brought the king of the Chaldeans against Judah? God did! God fought against the people of Judah! And He used the Chaldeans, a most vile and despicable people, to inflict punishment upon them! But that is the lesson for us—if you fight against God, God will fight against you. Do you really want to fight God? How on earth do you think you would ever win that battle? And yet here, God, Judah’s only refuge turned His back on her. He would not fight for her. He fought—actively fought—against His own people. Can you think of any fate more sad than to be abandoned by God? To know that He is handing you over to be subjected to such a yoke as Babylon would put upon the neck of Judah?

And yet it was not simply the sin of a broken oath that brought about Judah’s calamity. The other main motivating factor that led to God’s judgment on the house of Judah was this: they had not allowed their land to lay fallow and enjoy her Sabbaths. 2nd Chronicles 36:18-21—18 And all the articles from the house of God, great and small, the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king and of his leaders, all these he took to Babylon. 19 Then they burned the house of God, broke down the wall of Jerusalem, burned all its palaces with fire, and destroyed all its precious possessions. 20 And those who escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon, where they became servants to him and his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, 21 to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths. As long as she lay desolate she kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years. When the writer speaks of the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah he is speaking of the prophecy found in Jeremiah 25:9-12 (Jeremiah prophesied during that period of time recorded in the parallel passages of 2nd Kings 22-25 and 2nd Chronicles 34-36). Now, commentators and scholars have debated whether the “seventy years” in 2nd Chronicles 36:21 means (a) that the land had missed seventy sabbaths over a period of 490 years, and the 70 year captivity was meant to repay one year for each seventh-year Sabbath which they neglected (70 X 7 years), or (b) they had neglected ten seventh-year Sabbaths, and God was granting the land 70 years to make up for the 70 lost Sabbaths. Whichever the case may be, God Himself punished the people for breaking the Sabbath He had declared the land should be allowed. And He did so by using a people like the Babylonians.

Now, while we’re talking about God cursing the people for their neglect in not allowing their land to lay fallow, let’s look at Leviticus 26. The 26^th chapter of Leviticus outlines the blessings and cursings God would bring about for the people’s obedience or disobedience, respectively. We are not going to go through the whole chapter right now, but we do need to see how the Babylonian captivity was in fact a result of their neglect of the seventh-year Sabbath. God tells the people that if they rebel against Him, He will send warnings and pestilence and robbers to steal their harvest. And then He tells them that if they still don’t obey, and if they still don’t allow their land to lay fallow, He paints them about as vivid a picture of the aforementioned Babylonian captivity as He possibly could without simply mentioning the Babylonians by name. In Leviticus 25:18 He promises “So you shall observe My statutes and keep My judgments, and perform them; and you will dwell in the land in safety.” But listen to what He promises in Leviticus 26, and see if this sounds familiar. Leviticus 26:27-35—“‘27 And after all this, if you do not obey Me, but walk contrary to Me, 28 then I also will walk contrary to you in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins. 29 You shall eat the flesh of your sons, and you shall eat the flesh of your daughters. 30 I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars, and cast your carcasses on the lifeless forms of your idols; and My soul shall abhor you. 31 I will lay your cities waste and bring your sanctuaries to desolation, and I will not smell the fragrance of your sweet aromas. 32 I will bring the land to desolation, and your enemies who dwell in it shall be astonished at it. 33 I will scatter you among the nations and draw out a sword after you; your land shall be desolate and your cities waste. 34 Then the land shall enjoy its Sabbaths as long as it lies desolate and you are in your enemies' land; then the land shall rest and enjoy its Sabbaths. 35 As long as it lies desolate it shall rest—for the time it did not rest on your Sabbaths when you dwelt in it.’” (we will read more about this when we get there) He tells them exactly what is going to happen if they ignore the Sabbath for the land—and then when they do neglect it, he causes to pass exactly what He promised. This is a God who tells the truth, and when He promises something will happen—whether good or bad—mark His words, it will happen!!

Jesus Christ is Lord.

Amen.

Mathetes on the character of Chrstians

"For the Christians are distinguished from other men neither by country, nor language, nor the customs which they observe. For they neither inhabit cities of their own, nor employ a peculiar form of speech, nor lead a life which is marked out by any singularity. The course of conduct which they follow has not been devised by any speculation or deliberation of inquisitive men; nor do they, like some, proclaim themselves the advocates of any merely human doctrines. But, inhabiting Greek as well as barbarian cities, according as the lot of each of them has determined, and following the customs of the natives in respect to clothing, food, and the rest of their ordinary conduct, they display to us their wonderful and confessedly striking method of life. They dwell in their own countries, but simply as sojourners. As citizens, they share in all things with others, and yet endure all things as if foreigners. Every foreign land is to them as their native country, and every land of their birth as a land of strangers. They marry, as do all [others]; they beget children; but they do not destroy their offspring. They have a common table, but not a common bed. They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh. They pass their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven. They obey the prescribed laws, and at the same time surpass the laws by their lives. They love all men, and are persecuted by all. They are unknown and condemned; they are put to death, and restored to life. They are poor, yet make many rich; they are in lack of all things, and yet abound in all; they are dishonoured, and yet in their very dishonour are glorified. They are evil spoken of, and yet are justified; they are reviled, and bless; they are insulted, and repay the insult with honour; they do good, yet are punished as evil-doers. When punished, they rejoice as if quickened into life; they are assailed by the Jews as foreigners, and are persecuted by the Greeks; yet those who hate them are unable to assign any reason for their hatred. To sum up all in one word--what the soul is in the body, that are Christians in the world. The soul is dispersed through all the members of the body, and Christians are scattered through all the cities of the world. The soul dwells in the body, yet is not of the body; and Christians dwell in the world, yet are not of the world. The invisible soul is guarded by the visible body, and Christians are known indeed to be in the world, but their godliness remains invisible. The flesh hates the soul, and wars against it, though itself suffering no injury, because it is prevented from enjoying pleasures; the world also hates the Christians, though in nowise injured, because they abjure pleasures. The soul loves the flesh that hates it, and [loves also] the members; Christians likewise love those that hate them. The soul is imprisoned in the body, yet preserves that very body; and Christians are confined in the world as in a prison, and yet they are the preservers of the world. The immortal soul dwells in a mortal tabernacle; and Christians dwell as sojourners in corruptible [bodies], looking for an incorruptible dwelling in the heavens. The soul, when but ill-provided with food and drink, becomes better; in like manner, the Christians, though subjected day by day to punishment, increase the more in number. God has assigned them this illustrious position, which it were unlawful for them to forsake."

--Mathetes, Epistle to Diognetus, chapter V