A Survey of the Old Testament Law--Numbers 3 (Part 3)

Numbers 3:11-13—11 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 12 "Now behold, I Myself have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the children of Israel. Therefore the Levites shall be Mine, 13 because all the firstborn are Mine. On the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified to Myself all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast. They shall be Mine: I am the LORD." If God says something belongs to Him, does it belong to Him? So when He says He has taken the Levites to Himself, do they then belong to God? Well, yes. But these were His people, His tribe, rather than all the firstborn of Israel. For one very important reason: that they may act as a go-between between God and Man. Were they better than the others? By no means. We have already shown, from the book of Judges, that they could be just as dastardly as anyone. He does it for one reason and one reason only: because He can. Because that’s what He decided He wanted to do.

Don’t think you are any different. He chose who would be His from before the foundation of the world. Why? Are we better than those He didn’t choose? Oh goodness, no. We are far worse than we could ever think, far worse than we could ever be accused of being. And likewise, these Levites were no better than the others. But the others were set apart for His armies, and the Levites for His service in the Tabernacle. This was done to maintain order in this crowd of over 600,000 people. Ever take part in putting something together or tearing it down? It can be frustrating. People milling about, moving stuff in no particular order, with seemingly no rhyme or reason. Then one person puts something where it doesn't belong, and everything gets out of whack, and… Now, suppose instead of setting up a stage for a production, we’re talking about the place where God has decided to put His name. And instead of a dozen or so workers, we have over a half million. So God says, Okay, before we get started, we are only going to have the sons of the tribe of Levi handling this. They are going to put stuff up, they alone are going to take it down and put all the stuff where it’s supposed to be, and do everything else. Now, that’s settled.

Now, suppose one of these Levites said “Nah, I’d rather not”. Could they have just walked away from this calling? No. “The Levites shall be MINE”. They belonged to God. If you are in Christ, you belong to God. And that should make us the most humble of all people. That we have been bought with the price of the blood of the Son of God. Not because we were good enough or smart enough or holy enough or righteous enough to accept that payment. But that we were chosen, based on nothing, by God, redeemed with His blood, and we are now set apart to Him. There are some who say “Yes, but you can always walk away. You can say ‘I don’t want to do this anymore’”. Seriously? You think that once you are in Christ, saved from the wrath to come, that God thinks so little of you that He would let you waltz off into Hell? 1st Corinthians 3:23—and you are Christ’s and Christ is God’s. Ephesians 1:13-14—13 having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. See that word “guarantee” in verse 14? In the KJV it is translated “earnest”. It is defined as “money which in purchases is given as a pledge or down payment that the full amount will subsequently be paid.” God gives us His Holy Spirit as a pledge. And God does not go back on His word.  The Holy Spirit is our guarantee, our earnest. If God guarantees something, will it happen?

Verses 14-39 detail which duty each division of the Levites was to carry out, so we will skip on down to Numbers 3:40-51—40 Then the LORD said to Moses: "Number all the firstborn males of the children of Israel from a month old and above, and take the number of their names. 41 And you shall take the Levites for Me—I am the LORD—instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the livestock of the children of Israel." 42 So Moses numbered all the firstborn among the children of Israel, as the LORD commanded him. 43 And all the firstborn males, according to the number of names from a month old and above, of those who were numbered of them, were twenty-two thousand two hundred and seventy-three. 44 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 45 "Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites instead of their livestock. The Levites shall be Mine: I am the LORD. 46 And for the redemption of the two hundred and seventy-three of the firstborn of the children of Israel, who are more than the number of the Levites, 47 you shall take five shekels for each one individually; you shall take them in the currency of the shekel of the sanctuary, the shekel of twenty gerahs. 48 And you shall give the money, with which the excess number of them is redeemed, to Aaron and his sons." 49 So Moses took the redemption money from those who were over and above those who were redeemed by the Levites. 50 From the firstborn of the children of Israel he took the money, one thousand three hundred and sixty-five shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary. 51 And Moses gave their redemption money to Aaron and his sons, according to the word of the LORD, as the LORD commanded Moses.

Here we see a picture of redemption. The Old Covenant is often referred to as a “Covenant of Works”, and the New Covenant is referred to as a “Covenant of Grace”. I would argue they are both a Covenant of Grace. Adam’s sin plunged all humans into death and sin. God would have been perfectly justified in wiping us all out and starting all over again. But He didn’t. Even before He began the work of Creation, He knew Man would sin. So He planned to redeem some with the blood of His Son, Whom He would send at an appointed time. Until that time, He would chose for Himself a people He would call Israel. And He would give them types and shadows to serve as guideposts so that when that Son came into the world, they would know it was Him. One of those guideposts was this concept of redemption.

First, He says in verse 45 that He shall take the tribe of Levi instead of all the firstborn of all Israel. There were 22,000 males in the tribe of Levi, there were 22,273 firstborn males in all of Israel. That meant there were 273 more firstborn males than there were males in the tribe of Levi. So how would these additional 273 souls be redeemed? Well, in verses 46-48, we see that God told Moses that there was a price to be paid for them. They couldn’t just say “eh, close enough”. The first 22,000 firstborn had to be redeemed with a Levite, the remaining 273 had to be redeemed with something. God determined that that price was five shekels. This would be the price of anything devoted to the service of God, as it says in Numbers 18:16— And those redeemed of the devoted things you shall redeem when one month old, according to your valuation, for five shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs. God could have said “that one is Mine, and I shall have it”, but He didn’t.  He said “give five shekels to the Levites, that they might minister on My behalf, and intercede for you”. So the principle of redemption was established.

This principle would find its way into the New Covenant, but instead of paying five shekels to redeem a soul to God, it was now a price God paid to redeem a particular people. In 1st Corinthians 6:20 it says you were bought with a price. That price was not five shekels, but rather the blood of the Lamb without spot or blemish. As John the Baptist said, “the Lamb of God which takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29). In order for your sins to be taken away and forgotten, something had to be given in its place. God cannot just forget about the times you have disobeyed Him and rebelled against Him. Under the Law, that something was the blood of bulls and goats. But as we saw earlier, Hebrews 10:4—It is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. We had to be redeemed. We had to have someone go into the Holy of Holies in Heaven with blood from a perfect sacrifice in order for God to forgive our sins. Hebrews 9:12—Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. F.B. Meyer in his commentary, wrote—

We are led to consider Christ’s high-priestly work. The scene for it is no edifice made with hands in this transitory world, but eternal and divine. His stay in the Holiest is not brief, hurried, and repeated year by year, but once for all He enters by virtue of His own blood. That blood cleanses not only from ceremonial guilt, but from moral and spiritual pollution. A will or testament comes into force when the testator dies; so the will of the eternal Father toward us has been made valid through the blood of Jesus.

I’ll end with the words of the Apostle Peter, in 1st Peter 1:17-19—17 And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; 18 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. If you are in Christ, it cost more than five shekels to redeem you from the curse of sin. You were bought and paid for with the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Jesus Christ is Lord.

Amen.

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.

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.

A Survey of the Old Testament Law--Commands concerning offerings

A few weeks ago we saw how the Pharisees virtually ignored the commands to look after and take care of the needs of widows and orphans. They were demanding that the poorest of the poor give everything they have to the building of that temple—the same temple that Jesus, looking at, knew would be destroyed in just a few short years. And we saw that Jesus said of those who run that kind of system that “They will receive greater condemnation.” That system was condemned and destroyed less than 40 years later as God used the Roman army to destroy that temple and slay those who used it to become wealthy. If you read the account of the destruction of Jerusalem written by the Jewish historian Josephus—may see it entitled called either “The Jewish War” or “The Wars of the Jews”—when you read it, you will find that the leaders of Jewish people were not necessarily innocent victims of Rome’s cruelty. In fact, there were many factions within the Jewish people, and these fought against each other and killed their own countrymen and polluted the temple with dead bodies before the first Roman soldier even set one foot within the city walls, let alone the temple. Furthermore, the Romans were more than content to allow the Jewish people to continue their temple sacrifices if they would only surrender. But these rabble were driven by pride and by rage and in the end, caused the destruction of the city and the temple and more than one million citizens.


And while all this was taking place, this same Josephus was pleading with the leaders of the various factions, before the Romans had even breached the walls of the city, to avoid the bloodshed that he knew would take place. And even this devout Jew understood that it was indeed God who was using the Romans to exercise His wrath upon the sinful city.

“And who is there that does not know what the writings of the ancient prophets contain in them?…For they foretold that this city should be then taken when somebody shall begin the slaughter of his own countrymen. And are not both the city and the entire temple now full of the dead bodies of your countrymen? It is God, therefore, it is God himself who is bringing on this fire, to purge that city and temple by means of the Romans, and is going to pluck up this city, which is full of your pollutions.”

And this is what God had promised in Exodus 22:23-24—23 If you afflict [the widow and orphan] in any way…24 My wrath will become hot, and I will kill you with the sword.” The Pharisees afflicted the widows and orphans—and God killed them with the sword.


Now, we move on to the commands concerning the people's offerings to God. Exodus 22:29-31—“29 You shall not delay to offer the first of your ripe produce and your juices. The firstborn of your sons you shall give to Me. 30 Likewise you shall do with your oxen and your sheep. It shall be with its mother seven days; on the eighth day you shall give it to Me. 31 And you shall be holy men to Me: you shall not eat meat torn by beasts in the field; you shall throw it to the dogs.” This is the principle of Firstfruits. God gives the people some very simple, very straight-forward commands. Basically, “Give Me the first of everything.” The first of your crops—give them to God. The first of the juice you make from your grapes—give it to God. If the first child you have is a son—give Him to God. Your ox, your sheep—give the first male to God. Now, I'm not going to say that God never tells us “Give me everything you have so that you have nothing left over.” He may call some to do that—but that is not the normal pattern. God blesses us with whatever material possessions we have, and simply asks that we use some of those things to glorify Him first. Now, notice the first part of the command in verse 29. How long were they to wait before they gave it? Maybe hang onto it for a little while? Keep it with you until you have more of an increase?


“You shall not delay…” This was to be an act of faith. For the “ripe produce and juices”—as soon as you saw that a portion of your crop was ripe and fit for consumption—you reap it and you give it. Because what we humans would have a tendency to do is to look at that first portion of the crop, and say “Well, let’s wait for some more of the crop to come in just in case something happens and the rest of the crop was wiped out.” So they would wait until they had enough to harvest—then they would reap that portion they had dedicated to God, so that they would be sure they had some left over. But God said “Give it to Me as soon as it is ripe.” Matthew Henry—

“There is danger, if we delay our duty, that we may leave it out completely; and by neglecting the first opportunity, in expectation of another, we allow Satan to cheat us of all our time. Young people should not delay to offer to God the first-fruits of their time and strength, lest their delays turn into denials…and the more convenient season they promise themselves never arrives.”

In other words, if that farmer says “I'm gonna wait to give my firstfruit until it’s more convenient just in case something happens,” then he looks up one day and lo-and-behold a swarm of locusts descends on his field and wipes out the entire crop before he has given to God—that delay has turned into a denial.


Now, time-out. What did it mean for these people to “Give it to God”? Does it mean we take it, lift it up in our hands and it gets magically transported up to Heaven where it is consumed by God? No. God does not need to eat. Acts 17:24-25—“24 The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; 25 nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things.” We see what this command means in Deuteronomy 26. The people would put their firstfruits in a basket and bring it to the priest, and offer it to God through the priests and Levites. Since these were of the tribe of Levi, they did not have a portion of land, so all the offerings went to them so they could minister on behalf of the people. Deuteronomy 26:4-10—"4 Then the priest shall take the basket out of your hand and set it down before the altar of the LORD your God. 5 And you shall answer and say before the LORD your God: 'My father was a Syrian, about to perish, and he went down to Egypt and dwelt there, few in number; and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous. 6 But the Egyptians mistreated us, afflicted us, and laid hard bondage on us. 7 Then we cried out to the LORD God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and looked on our affliction and our labor and our oppression. 8 So the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm, with great terror and with signs and wonders. 9 He has brought us to this place and has given us this land, ‘a land flowing with milk and honey’;10 and now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land which you, O LORD, have given me.' Then you shall set it before the LORD your God, and worship before the LORD your God." So the offering of firstfruits was a way of thanking God for hearing their cries and delivering them from their bondage to Pharaoh—slaying the firstborn of Egypt and sparing the firstborn of Israel.


Now, let’s flip back to Exodus 22:29-30. As far as the giving of the “The firstborn of your sons…your oxen and your sheep”—you got keep them for seven days, then on the 8th day you gave them to God. And this was not only an act of faith, but it was also to bring to mind at least one, probably two, historical events. First, of course, this was a reminder of the faith of Abraham, who offered up his firstborn son, Isaac. Genesis 22:1-3—1 Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” 3 So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. So what God was telling them was, basically, to have the faith of Abraham. To love God enough, and trust Him enough, to give up even the first son that they had—not knowing if they would have any more children, let alone another son.


And this is what James said about that kind of faith in James 2:21-23—21 Was not Abraham our father justified…when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?...23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." Abraham believed—and that faith led him to do what God commanded. Does this mean that God wanted them to take their firstborn son up a hill and slay him? No. It means that the firstborn son was separated from their family and devoted to the service of God. We see an example of that with Hannah, in 1st Samuel. She was barren, she prayed year after year for a son, and when she finally conceived and gave birth to a son—that son being the prophet Samuel—she did as she promised God and dedicated him to the service of God.


The second event it brought to mind was the command God gave to the Israelites on the night of the first Passover. Exodus 13:1-2, 11-15—1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Consecrate to Me all the firstborn…both of man and beast; it is Mine”…11 [Moses said to the people] “And it shall be…12 that you shall set apart to the LORD all that open the womb, that is, every firstborn that comes from an animal which you have...14 So it shall be, when your son asks you, saying, ‘What is this?’ that you shall say to him…‘15 it came to pass, when Pharaoh was stubborn about letting us go, that the LORD killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of beast. Therefore I sacrifice to the LORD all males that open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’” Now, let’s follow this line a little further. If your first child was a son, that boy belonged to God. If that child’s parents wanted to keep that child, they had to redeem him. What does that mean? Well, that means they had to pay a price to the priest or Levite for the privilege of keeping their child. We find that price in Numbers 18:16—“And those redeemed of the devoted things you shall redeem when one month old, according to your valuation, for five shekels of silver.” Adam Clarke gives us a glimpse into what happens during a redemption, when parents want to keep their firstborn son.

“When the child is thirty days old, the father sends for one of the descendants of Aaron: several persons being assembled on the occasion, the father brings a cup containing several pieces of gold and silver coin. The priest then takes the child into his arms, and addressing himself to the mother, says: Is this thy son?
Mother. Yes.
Priest. Hast thou never had another child, male or female, a miscarriage or untimely birth?
Mother. No.
Priest. This being the case, this child, as first-born, belongs to me.
Then, turning to the father, he says: If it be thy desire to have this child, thou must redeem it.
Father. I present thee with this gold and silver for this purpose.
Priest. Thou dost wish, therefore, to redeem the child?
Father. I do wish so to do.
The priest then, turning himself to the assembly, says: Very well; this child, as first-born, is mine, as it is written in Bemidbar, (Numbers 18:16), Thou shalt redeem the first-born of a month old for five shekels, but I shall content myself with this in exchange. He then takes two gold crowns, or thereabouts, and returns the child to his parents.”

So the firstborn son, when he was 30 days old, was purchased back by the parents for five shekels of silver. Now, Christian parents are no longer under obligation to pay for their children—even though their children, and every other thing on the face of the earth, belong to God. But when we are born—whether we are a firstborn son, or a 15th-born daughter—we are all dedicated, at the moment of our birth—in fact, at the moment of our conception—we are dedicated to the service of sin, Satan and the flesh. Psalm 51:5 (NLT)—For I was born a sinner—yes, from the moment my mother conceived me. That is our first birth—our physical birth. The first time we are born, we are servants of sin, Satan and the flesh. We are born in bondage to this Law we are studying. But, for those whom God has called, there comes a time when they experience a second birth. This is not a physical birth; this is a spiritual birth. This is what Richard spoke about last week, what Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:3—“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Literally, He says “Unless one is born from above…” Every single person is born “from below”—that is, born into the human family that has been stained and cursed because of sin, and is therefore subject to the Law of God. But, when one is born “from above” they are adopted into the family of God and called children of God. 1st John 3:1—Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! And the firstborn of our new family is none other than our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 8:29—For whom [God] foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.


Now, when that second birth—that birth “from above”—takes place, there must be a redemption price paid. To be redeemed from bondage to the Law, some payment must be made to free us from that service. That payment was made to the One who is ruler and sovereign over all—the One who owns every single square inch of the universe. And that is Almighty God. We must be redeemed from the Law. Who has redeemed us? God has! Isaiah 43:1—But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine.” Isaiah 63:16—You, O LORD, are our Father; Our Redeemer from Everlasting is Your name. Lamentations 3:58—O Lord, You have pleaded the case for my soul; You have redeemed my life. Hosea 13:14—“I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death.” Revelation 5:9—And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation!” And what was that price that was paid for our redemption? Galatians 3:13—Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. 1st Corinthians 6:20—You were bought with a price. 1st Peter 1:18-19—18 you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold…19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.


Under the OT Law, everything that opened the womb belonged to God. Under the New Covenant, everything that is born again—born of water and the Spirit—belongs to God. The firstborn son in a human family was redeemed with gold and silver—the Only Begotten Son of God redeems those in the family of God with His blood. And none can snatch us out of His hands. Charles Spurgeon—

“My Brethren, the life of a Jew, happy as it was compared with that of a heathen, was perfect drudgery compared to yours and mine! He was hedged in with a thousand commands and prohibitions. His forms and ceremonies were abundant and their details minutely arranged. He was always in danger of making himself unclean. If he sat upon a bed or upon a stool he might be defiled. If he drank out of an earthen pitcher, or even touched the wall of a house—a leprous man might have put his hand there before him and he would thus become defiled. A thousand sins of ignorance were like so many hidden pits in his way. He must be perpetually in fear lest he should be cut off from the people of God. When he had done his best any one day, he knew he had not finished—no Jew could ever talk of a finished work. The bullock was offered, but he must bring another. The lamb was offered this morning, but another must be offered this evening, another tomorrow and another the next day. The Passover is celebrated with holy rites—it must be kept in the same manner next year. The high priest has gone within the veil once, but be must go there again. The thing is never finished—it is always beginning. He never comes any nearer to the end…But see our position—we are redeemed from this! Our Law is fulfilled, for Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness! Our Passover is slain, for Jesus died! Our righteousness is finished, for we are complete in Him! Our victim is slain, our Priest has gone within the veil, the blood is sprinkled! We are clean and clean beyond any fear of defilement, ‘For He has perfected forever those that were set apart.’”

Jesus Christ is Lord. Amen.