May 20 – Remembering with Joy

 

Sunday School Lesson

May 20

Remembering with Joy

 

Devotional Reading: Psalm 50:1-15

 

Background Scripture: Leviticus 25

 

Leviticus 25:1-12

 

1 And the Lord spake unto Moses in mount Sinai, saying,

 

2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the Lord.

 

3 Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof;

 

4 But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the Lord: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.

 

5 That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed: for it is a year of rest unto the land.

 

6 And the sabbath of the land shall be meat for you; for thee, and for thy servant, and for thy maid, and for thy hired servant, and for thy stranger that sojourneth with thee.

 

7 And for thy cattle, and for the beast that are in thy land, shall all the increase thereof be meat.

 

8 And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years.

 

9 Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubile to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land.

 

10 And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.

 

11 A jubile shall that fiftieth year be unto you: ye shall not sow, neither reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather the grapes in it of thy vine undressed.

 

12 For it is the jubile; it shall be holy unto you: ye shall eat the increase thereof out of the field.

 

Key Verse

 

Ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.—Leviticus 25:10

 

Lesson Aims

 

After participating in this lesson, each learner will be able to:

 

1. Summarize the nature of the rest the land was to receive during the Sabbath Year and the Year of Jubilee.

 

2. Explain the spiritual principles that these laws were meant to instill.

 

3. Identify one way he or she can proclaim the “Year of Jubilee” that Jesus has ushered in and make a plan to do so.

 

 

Introduction

 

1. Living by Faith

 

When we think about living by faith, we generally consider that to be a religious concept, meaning that one who lives by faith is trusting in God. But the fact is that everyone lives by faith, even the person who is not religious in the least!

 

Why do we get on airplanes? Because we have faith that the pilot has the proper skills to get us to our destination safely. How do we know that the pound of hamburger we purchase at the store is indeed (1) a pound and (2) hamburger? Because we have faith that the grocer is dealing with us honestly. Why do we entrust a package to a delivery person? Once again, we are taking a step of faith. Devout Christians, strident atheists, and everyone in between takes such steps of faith. This is faith based on evidence; it is not blind faith.

 

But imagine a world in which we could trust no one else because there was no evidence upon which to base that trust. How demoralizing that would be! Every action we took during any given day would be subject to incredible risk.

 

In truth, none of us lives totally on our own. To survive in society, we must have a certain level of faith in the competence of others. This sometimes involves risk. Many portions of the Law of Moses challenged the Israelites to exercise a measure of trust and risk. But the basis of the Israelites’ actions was rooted first and foremost in their trust in God.

 

1. Lesson Background

 

Often the various regulations found within the Law of Moses are placed in three categories: civil (those that helped maintain an orderly society), ceremonial (those dealing with how God’s covenant people were to express their worship to Him), and moral (those dealing with right living). Whereas the first two groups applied only to Old Testament Israel (though there may still be general principles of conduct to be drawn from them), the moral laws continue to serve as standards of right and wrong behavior.

 

Today’s passage from Leviticus 25 falls primarily within the ceremonial category, since it concerns certain religious observances that do not apply to Christians (see Colossians 2:14-17), specifically the Sabbath Year and the Year of Jubilee. These topics also have civil ramifications as well, since obedience to them was intended to help build a just society.

 

But if the specific commandments of today’s text no longer apply, then why bother studying them? The answer is hinted at above: because they speak to principles of conduct that are important yet today.

 

1. Sabbath Year

 

                                                                (Leviticus 25:1-7)

 

1. Principle Stated (vv. 1, 2)

 

1. And the Lord spake unto Moses in mount Sinai, saying.

 

There are dozens of references in the book of Leviticus that record the Lord speaking unto Moses. This is direct word-revelation: God communicating with humans (in distinction from general revelation that is affirmed in, for example, Psalm 19:1-4).

 

The Israelites gathered at mount Sinai in the third month after leaving Egypt (Exodus 19:1). The people encamp here for a little less than a year (Numbers 10:11, 12) in order to receive God’s law.

 

How to Say It

 

CanaanKay-nun.

 

DeuteronomyDue-ter-ahn-uh-me.

 

IsaiahEye-zay-uh.

 

IsraelitesIz-ray-el-ites.

 

LevitesLee-vites.

 

LeviticalLeh-vit-ih-kul.

 

LeviticusLeh-vit-ih-kus.

 

NazarethNaz-uh-reth.

 

SinaiSigh-nye or Sigh-nay-eye.

 

synagoguesin-uh-gog.

 

ThessaloniansThess-uh-lo-nee-unz (th as in thin).

 

2. Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the Lord.

 

The most important feature of the promised land that lies ahead is that it will be God’s gift. His covenant people, the children of Israel, will not be able to claim they have earned it (Deuteronomy 9:6). They will be stewards of God’s grant, not owners who are entitled.

 

At this point, the Israelites have already received the Ten Commandments, the fourth being that of keeping the Sabbath (see Exodus 20:8-11). The importance of this commandment is underlined by the fact that it is the longest of the 10. It is to be obeyed by every person in Israel, including non-Israelites who live among the covenant people. Even animals are to be given a rest.

 

In the verse before us we have reached the point of wait—there’s more! as the command regarding Sabbath is to be applied to the land as well.

 

What Do You Think?

 

As you personalize the Sabbath principle, how will you know when you’ve gotten the proper amount of rest?

 

Points for Your Discussion

 

Considering tell-tale signs of inadequate rest

 

Considering tell-tale signs of too much rest

 

1. Details Specified (vv. 3-5)

 

3, 4. Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof; but in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the Lord: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.

 

The sabbath of rest unto the land operates on a principle similar to that which undergirds the Sabbath Day: just as the people are to work for six days and rest on the seventh, the land is to be sown and its produce reaped for six years . . . but in the seventh year neither sowing nor reaping is to done. From a productivity standpoint, we know that it is good to let farmland lie fallow for a time or to rotate crops. But the focus of this legislation is spiritual: this period of rest unto the land is for the Lord.

 

The timetable to be observed with this law is similar to the laws concerning both debts and servants. In the Sabbath Year, debts are to be canceled (some suggest “suspended”) in the case of loans made to Israelites (Deuteronomy 15:1-6). The law also states that a Hebrew servant is to serve for six years, then in the seventh year he or she is to be set free (15:12).

 

Give the Land a Break!

 

A 2013 report by the Economics of Land Degradation (ELD) Initiative indicates that not giving the agricultural land breaks from growing crops or forests has consequences. Erosion increases, soil quality declines, and the capacity of the land to yield crops goes down.

 

Farmers are discovering they can double the amount of crops a parcel of land yields by allowing it to lie fallow for a few years. Such a practice has the potential of doubling the amount of livestock the land can support. ELD researchers estimate that if some form of resting the land were practiced worldwide, the crop yield could potentially increase by 2.5 billion tons annually.

 

The ancient Israelites did not have access to ELD research. They had something better: God. They could either honor His desire in faith or trust their own instincts. We face the same choice in countless ways daily, don’t we?

 

—L. G. S.

 

5. That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed: for it is a year of rest unto the land.

 

The Sabbath law of rest applies, not only to what the people intentionally sow and harvest, but also to any edible substance that grows on its own. Thus the entire land is given the opportunity to rest, not just the part the people have farmed.

 

What Do You Think?

 

How will you deal with obstacles to build seasons of rest into your life?

 

Points for Your Discussion

 

Regarding practical obstacles

 

Regarding cultural obstacles

 

Regarding psychological obstacles

 

Other

 

1. Results Promised (vv. 6, 7)

 

6, 7. And the sabbath of the land shall be meat for you; for thee, and for thy servant, and for thy maid, and for thy hired servant, and for thy stranger that sojourneth with thee, and for thy cattle, and for the beast that are in thy land, shall all the increase thereof be meat.

 

Although no harvesting or reaping occurs during the sabbath of the land, enough food will be available during that entire year. (We noted in comments on Leviticus 2:14 in lesson 11 that meat often refers to food in general.) The people need not fear, for God promises that there will be adequate food for all, whether Israelite, non-Israelite, or animal.

 

One wonders how the land is to provide food when the people are not allowed to eat what normally is sown and reaped (Leviticus 25:4, above) or reap what grew apart from any cultivation (25:5, above). The answer may lie in distinguishing between harvesting and simply living off the land. The key concept of “harvesting” is gathering the crop for storage. During the sabbatical year people can collect food from the field for use at that time. The people are to live much like the poor among them, who are permitted during the seventh year to take whatever they wish from the land (Exodus 23:11).

 

Later in Leviticus 25, the Lord offers additional assurance in anticipation of the people’s concern for having enough to eat during the Sabbath Year. He says, “I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year [that is, the year before the Sabbath Year], and it shall bring forth fruit for three years” (Leviticus 25:21). The land will experience its rest in the seventh year, the people will sow new crops in the eighth year, and then the ninth year will be the next year during which crops are harvested (25:22).

 

Such laws as these are grounded in a key truth that bears repeating: the promised land is the Lord’s. His people must trust that He, as its ultimate caretaker, will ensure that it produces exactly what the people and the animals need. Of course, the stated blessings and provisions hinge on the people’s faithful obedience to the Lord as Leviticus 25:18, 19 make quite clear.

 

1. Year of Jubilee

 

                                                                (Leviticus 25:8-12)

 

1. Counting Sevens (v. 8)

 

8. And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years.

 

This is another one of those wait—there’s more! moments. In addition to the Sabbath Year that occurs every seventh year, God has another requirement. This one involves counting off seven cycles of sabbath years to determine the passage of forty and nine years. The reason why is given next.

 

1. Sounding Trumpets (v. 9)

 

9. Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubile to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land.

 

Given the importance of the seventh day and year, it is not surprising that the seventh month (late September and early October) is also special. The first day of this month is commemorated as a day of rest and offerings (Leviticus 23:24, 25). The people cease working on the tenth day and celebrate the day of atonement (23:27-31). The details of its observance are outlined in Leviticus 16. This particular day is also described as “a sabbath of rest” (23:32). On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, the people cease work at the start of the seven-day Feast of Tabernacles (23:34).

 

The tenth day also heralds the arrival of the jubile (modern spelling adds another e at the end). The Hebrew word being translated appears to be derived from a word translated “rams’ horns” in Joshua 6:4. The word translated trumpet here is different, although still referring to a ram’s horn.

 

Just who is to sound the trumpet is not stated. Since it is to be sounded throughout all your land, it may be the duty of the priests or Levites who will be assigned territory among the people of Israel (see Joshua 21).

 

1. Proclaiming Liberty (v. 10)

 

10a. And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you.

 

Our word holiday derives from the phrase holy day, but in many cases we have kept the celebration part while not retaining the holiness aspect. The Israelites are not to miss the latter. The liberty to be proclaimed throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof every fiftieth year is certainly cause for celebration. But the people must also be sure to hallow that year, meaning to set it aside as a holy year. Exactly what the terms liberty and hallow include are next explained.

 

 

10b. And ye shall return every man unto his possession.

 

This is to be the result of the proclamation of liberty. The word possession refers to one’s ancestral property within the promised land. A scenario is described in Leviticus 25:25-28 in which an Israelite sells property because of his impoverished state. When the Year of Jubilee arrives, the property reverts back to its original owner, who is allowed to return to it. Leviticus 25:14, 15 establishes how this is fair to those who must give the land back.

 

10c. And ye shall return every man unto his family.

 

In some cases, an impoverished Israelite may sell himself into servitude to another Israelite, as Leviticus 25:39-43 describes. That person is to be given freedom to return . . . unto his family in the Year of Jubilee. Every fiftieth year is, in effect, an opportunity to start over.

 

The Israelites are thus being encouraged to see their land and their fellow Israelites as God sees them. Land is not something to be acquired and hoarded for selfish purposes, and people are not to be used as a means for promoting one’s own personal status or comfort. In all of this the Israelites are to remember their former status in Egypt (Leviticus 25:38, 42, 55) and treat others with the compassion and mercy that God showed them when He brought them out of that bondage.

 

The announcement of the Year of Jubilee on the same day that the Day of Atonement is observed is not mere coincidence. God wants His covenant people to understand that on the same day that reconciliation with Him is carried out, a kind of reconciliation among people is to happen as well every 50 years. As the people are restored with God spiritually, those who have been separated from their homes due to personal setbacks are to be restored to their families and their property. Thus reconciliation with God is to be demonstrated in a very practical, tangible manner.

 

What Do You Think?

 

What steps can we take to become known as people of reconciliation?

 

Points for Your Discussion

 

When relational debt is outstanding

 

When sin debt is outstanding

 

When monetary debt is outstanding

 

When deficits of justice abound

 

Living as Reconciled People

 

In modern times, there is perhaps no greater example of practicing reconciliation than that of Nelson Mandela. Mandela spent 27 years in prison for his role in resisting the South African government and its commitment to racial apartheid. Instead of emerging from prison embittered against his captors, he displayed an unflagging commitment to unify a nation that had been divided by years of institutionalized racism.

 

Mandela eventually became the first black president of South Africa. In that role he created the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which provided amnesty to anyone who had committed a politically motivated human rights violation during the apartheid era. Neither side of the conflict was exempt from being called to stand before these public hearings. Part of the plan’s genius was that amnesty would be granted only to those who fully disclosed their crimes. This model of restorative justice created the possibility for forgiveness between a people hopelessly divided.

 

The Day of Atonement offered reconciliation between a holy God and His sinful people. The Year of Jubilee, which was proclaimed on the Day of Atonement, encouraged the people to think of a kind of reconciliation with fellow Israelites by allowing them to return to ancestral property and family. God’s people were thus taught to think of reconciliation not just as a matter of their personal relationship with the Lord but also in terms of how others were treated. The spiritual and the practical were thus closely linked together. So it should also be for God’s people today.

 

—L. G. S.

 

1. Observing Jubilee (vv. 11, 12)

 

11, 12. A jubile shall that fiftieth year be unto you: ye shall not sow, neither reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather the grapes in it of thy vine undressed. For it is the jubile; it shall be holy unto you: ye shall eat the increase thereof out of the field.

 

The laws concerning sowing and reaping to be followed during the Year of Jubilee are similar to those that accompany the Sabbath Year (Leviticus 25:5). A question arises as to whether the Year of Jubilee is the same as the seventh Sabbath Year within a given cycle or is an additional year. If the latter, the result is two consecutive years of neither sowing nor reaping.

 

Leviticus 25:20-22 appears to say that God’s promises to provide enough abundance in the sixth year that the people’s needs will be met through the seventh, eighth, and ninth years. But that text specifies sowing during the eighth year. Since (1) the year on which the Year of Jubilee falls is an eighth year and (2) sowing is forbidden on a jubilee year (25:11), then (3) it appears that the seventh Sabbath Year in the cycle is also a Year of Jubilee. The fiftieth year may have been the same as the forty-ninth year by counting both the first and last years of the cycle.

 

The primary purpose of legislation such as that in today’s text is not agricultural or economic, although there are indeed benefits to be had along those lines. Rather, the primary purpose is spiritual. God’s people are being encouraged to place their faith in the Lord and to trust Him as the giver of the land to provide for His people.

 

What Do You Think?

 

How will your neighbors see your life change as you rely more and more on God’s provision?

 

Points for Your Discussion

 

In your approach to generosity

 

In contentment

 

In family life

 

Other

 

Sadly, what follows in the Old Testament record is the account of a people who repeatedly disobey God’s commands. When the people of the southern kingdom of Judah are taken into exile, 2 Chronicles 36:21 states the land enjoyed Sabbath rests while lying desolate—rests presumably denied before the exile by the disobedience of God’s people.

 

Conclusion

 

1. Old Testament Jubilee

 

Did the Israelites ever practice jubilee as a nation? We don’t have any firm evidence that they did (Isaiah 37:30 is a possible reference to jubilee ideas). Although the generation that followed Moses rebelled against God (Judges 2:10-13), the lack of reference to jubilee in the historical narratives of the Old Testament does not mean that jubilee was not practiced. That would be an argument from silence. We simply do not know.

 

Yet we do know that the prophets appealed to the jubilee ideal figuratively with reference to the coming kingdom of God. An example is Isaiah 61:1, where the Hebrew word translated liberty is the same word translated as liberty in Leviticus 25:10 (the only other places where this word is used are Jeremiah 34:8, 15, 17; Ezekiel 46:17).

 

1. New Testament Jubilee

 

When one considers what the Year of Jubilee signified for God’s people in the Old Testament, it is not difficult to see a reference to a new jubilee in Jesus’ declared intent “to preach deliverance to the captives, . . . to set at liberty them that are bruised” as He quoted from Isaiah 61 in Luke 4:18.

 

Jesus is the one who has made it possible for human beings, separated from God because of sin, to come home, to return to where we belong—with the Lord. The “liberty” of this jubilee is the freedom from sin that Jesus brought about by defeating the devil and releasing us from bondage to him (see Hebrews 2:14, 15).

 

The jubilee that Jesus inaugurated at His first coming will reach its ultimate fulfillment and consummation when He returns. At that time a trumpet will sound (1 Thessalonians 4:16; compare Leviticus 25:9), and all Christians will be gloriously and finally liberated from the curse and the brokenness of sin—to dwell with our rightful owner in His home forever.

 

A jubilee for eternity!

 

What Do You Think?

 

What steps can you take to help your fellow Christians live more fully as beneficiaries of Jesus’ jubilee?

 

Points for Your Discussion

 

In congregational worship settings

 

In Bible class settings

 

In fellowship settings

 

Other

 

1. Prayer

 

Our Father, we acknowledge that true freedom comes only when we follow Your commandments. Help us to treat Your Word as the ultimate authority, to follow Your Son as Lord, and to depend on Your Spirit for the power to live holy lives before the world. We pray in the name of the one who set us free. Amen.

 

1. Thought to Remember

 

View people and possessions as God does.

 

 

KID’S CORNER

God’s Way to Bless Everyone

May 20, 2018

Leviticus 25:1-12

   

Leviticus 25:1-12

(Leviticus 25:1) The LORD then spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai, saying,

 

After the LORD gave the Israelites instructions for building the tabernacle so they could worship Him, He gave them time and instructions for worshiping Him rightly. The Sabbath gave them one day a week to worship the LORD and grow closer to Him, and the feast days gave them longer periods of time (a week or more at one time) to worship the LORD, study His Law, and fellowship with family and friends. Some of these feast times followed the hard work of harvest time, so today they might be considered vacations.

 

(Leviticus 25:2) “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you come into the land which I shall give you, then the land shall have a sabbath to the LORD.

 

On the Sabbath, the Israelites, their servants, and their domestic animals were to rest from all their labors. God designed people to need rest and He gave the Sabbath law to meet their need for rest. Neither people nor their work animals were to be denied the rest they all needed. Observing the Sabbath also involved faith—faith that the LORD would meet their needs even if they did not work one day a week. The LORD also wanted the land to rest, which would make it more productive. Centuries later, crop rotation was designed to accomplish the same purpose. Not plowing and planting the land for a year also required faith that a previous harvest would provide a surplus that could be saved and used the year the land was not worked. The people could also eat what grew voluntarily (grain that was not sown), but they were not to conduct a formal harvest in the seventh year.

 

(Leviticus 25:3) ‘Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its crop,

 

The LORD required the Israelites to work their land (sow and harvest) for six years and then let the land (and themselves) rest one year. God gave this Law for their good. The Israelites could wisely use and save what they harvested during six years of production, and then use what they had saved for the seventh year. In Egypt, Joseph collected food during seven years of abundance; then, he feed the people during seven years of famine. If Egyptian farm families had followed the same principle, they would not have needed to ask Joseph for food — eventually losing their land and enslaving themselves (see Genesis 41).

 

(Leviticus 25:4) but during the seventh year the land shall have a sabbath rest, a sabbath to the LORD; you shall not sow your field nor prune your vineyard.

 

When the land rested, so did farm families and their workers. During this year of Sabbath rest for the land other work could be done; such as, building and repairing homes, barns, fences, and what the community needed done. In addition, the Israelites would have more time to learn about the LORD and fellowship with the LORD and one another. All of God’s laws were for the benefit of His people.

 

(Leviticus 25:5) ‘Your harvest’s aftergrowth you shall not reap, and your grapes of untrimmed vines you shall not gather; the land shall have a sabbatical year.

 

The Sabbath rest was for the land and the grapevines and the farm workers. They were not to plow or sow their fields to produce a large crop to harvest. They were not to have a formal harvest time of what the land produced during the Sabbath year. They were not to prune their grapevines to increase their grape production, but let the LORD give the growth. They were to depend on the LORD, use what they had saved from previous harvests, and glean what the land and grapevines produced voluntarily of themselves as the grain crops naturally sowed the land by themselves and the grapevines naturally produced grapes by themselves without pruning.

 

(Leviticus 25:6) ‘All of you shall have the sabbath products of the land for food; yourself, and your male and female slaves, and your hired man and your foreign resident, those who live as aliens with you.

 

Everyone living in Israel was permitted to glean whatever the land yielded voluntarily, in that way the needs for food of everyone in the land were met. The land belonged to the LORD, and no farmer or “land owner” was to deny food to the needy during the Sabbath year. God would provide for everyone without their working the land or their vineyards.

 

(Leviticus 25:7) ‘Even your cattle and the animals that are in your land shall have all its crops to eat.

 

They were to care for themselves and their livestock using what the land provided for them without their working the land. They must trust in the LORD, who was the Lord of the land as well as of themselves. On the other hand, if they did not work the land the other six years, the land would produce less good grain each year and they would suffer from starvation.

 

(Leviticus 25:8) ‘You are also to count off seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years, so that you have the time of the seven sabbaths of years, namely, forty-nine years.

 

In the Bible, the number seven is a perfect number or a number signifying completeness. Seven days complete a week. Six days after creating the world, God rested on the seventh day. Perhaps as an aid to memory, God told the Hebrews that the Year of Jubilee should begin after a period of seven weeks of years (or 7 times which equals 49 years. Scholars believe the fiftieth year would have been the Year of Jubilee (see Leviticus 25:10-11).

 

(Leviticus 25:9) ‘You shall then sound a ram’s horn abroad on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the day of atonement you shall sound a horn all through your land.

 

The Year of Jubilee was to begin on the Day of Atonement, which meant that the year began after the Hebrews had made sacrifices for their sins, and their sins had been forgiven by God, and their sins removed from them by the scapegoat. The year would begin a new start in the kingdom of God and for every person. They would receive the assurance that their sins were forgiven, and those who had voluntarily enslaved themselves due to debt or other misfortunes were freed and their land was returned. In every way each person would be given a new start in life.

 

(Leviticus 25:10) ‘You shall thus consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim a release through the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, and each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return to his family.

 

Over the course of the previous 49 years, either from misfortunes or poor choices, individuals, their descendants and families could have lost their liberty and could have sold (actually leased, because all land belonged to the LORD) their land and even themselves into servitude. The Year of Jubilee meant a new start for everyone, as though they had never lost anything. If applied according to the law of God, the value of “leased” land or “servitude” was to be measured relative to the time of the Year of Jubilee.

 

(Leviticus 25:11) ‘You shall have the fiftieth year as a jubilee; you shall not sow, nor reap its aftergrowth, nor gather in from its untrimmed vines.

 

The people could prepare for the Year of Jubilee by saving part of the produce or part of their earnings from previous years, for they were forbidden to work in their fields by sowing or harvesting. Just as Joseph saved food during seven years of plenty in Egypt to prepare for seven years of famine. If they prepared, they could enjoy a year without working. They could glean what the land produced of itself, but they were forbidden to plow, sow, and reap a harvest.

 

(Leviticus 25:12) ‘For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you. You shall eat its crops out of the field.’”

 

The Hebrews were restricted from sowing and reaping (in the sense of sending out harvesters to work their fields); however, just as Jesus’ disciples were allowed to walk into the fields and take what they needed for that meal or for that day, the Hebrews were allowed to do the same and “eat only what the field itself produces). The Hebrews could eat daily directly from the field, which would be a necessity for the poor, who could not save for the future. The time they did not spend working was to be set aside as “extra time” to draw closer to God and learn more about God and one another; it was not to be a time to live in sinful pleasures or idol worship.

 

 

God’s Way to Bless Everyone

May 20, 2018

Leviticus 25:1-12

 

“Whatever the land yields during the sabbath year will be food for you–for yourself, your male and female servants, and the hired worker and temporary resident who live among you” (Leviticus 25:6).

 

The LORD required a “Year of Jubilee” in the Promised Land every fifty years. The fiftieth year was set aside as a “Sabbath Year.” During that year no one in the land was to plow, sow, or reap. The year was set aside by the LORD almost as a year of vacation for everyone, but other daily tasks still needed to be done. In that year, the LORD would bless the land, and without their labor-intensive work the land would yield food and drink for everyone, not just those who believed in the LORD. Since the LORD would feed everyone in the Promised Land, the LORD forbade landowners from requiring their slaves, or hired or foreign laborers to work in their fields. In addition, in Leviticus 25:10, God commanded, “It shall be a jubilee for you, and each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return to his family.” Israelites who had sold themselves or their family into slavery to pay a debt or for other reasons were freed from slavery, all debts were considered “Paid in Full!” Everyone could return to their own land. Just as the LORD gave His people a new beginning when He freed them from slavery in Egypt, everyone was given a new beginning every fifty years. Obeying the LORD, not working their fields, forgiving debtors, breaking up land holdings, returning land to their families, and freeing their slaves required faith in the LORD; so, perhaps very few Israelites obeyed the LORD and celebrated the “Year of Jubilee.”

 

 

Thinking Further

God’s Way to Bless Everyone

May 20, 2018

Leviticus 25:1-12

Name ____________________________

 

 

1. Why do you think God established days and years of rest for people, animals, plants, and the land?

 

 

2. What are some of the possible consequences when people do not know about or disregard days of rest for themselves and/or others?

 

 

3. Why do you think the Year of Jubilee was to begin after the Day of Atonement?

 

 

4. Why do you think God gave laws for the caring of needy relatives?

 

 

5. In what ways can we make our days of rest more holy to us? What are some benefits of taking extra time and making our rest time more holy to us?

 

 

Questions for Discussion and Thinking Further

 

1. Why do you think God established days and years of rest for people, animals, plants, and the land? God told Moses that all His laws were given for our good and benefit. Speaking of God’s laws, Jesus said that the Sabbath was made for us (because we have a need for the Sabbath) and not us for the Sabbath (a day of rest and worship). God, who made us and all creation, knows our needs and the needs of all creation. He made us to need a Sabbath (a day of rest) to refresh ourselves mentally, physically, and spiritually. Our domestic animals need rest from work to restore their energy for future work, and so do we. We know that crops and land benefit when crops are rotated or land is allowed to lie fallow (not cultivated) periodically.

 

2. What are some of the possible consequences when people do not know about or disregard days of rest for themselves and/or others? There are negative consequences from not resting. Sometimes doctors or therapists need to tell someone they need rest because they did not know about or disregarded God’s laws that teach we need regular times of rest. From lack of proper rest, mental and physical breakdowns can occur that require expensive treatment, if indeed a person can recover from the breakdown. We can harm others if we do not recognize that we need to give them rest from work or allow them rest from work.

 

3. Why do you think the Year of Jubilee was to begin after the Day of Atonement? God wanted people to have a fresh beginning and a new life with their land being returned to them and/or with their being freed from voluntary slavery because of financial need and/or with them being able to take a year off from work to improve their total wellbeing and their relationships with God and others. To achieve these goals, God wanted people to also have a new beginning morally and spiritually by beginning the Year of Jubilee with the focus on God, with the worship of God, with sacrifices that granted them assurance of forgiveness and cleansing from sin which the Day of Atonement provided prior to the atoning death of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

 

4. Why do you think God gave laws for the caring of needy relatives? God knows how prone people are to selfishness and to not caring for anyone but themselves. His specific laws help prevent people’s selfishness from leading them to totally disregarding the needs of others. The next of kin should know the needs of their next of kin (their relatives the closest to them physically or by heredity), and how best to care for these needs. They would know if the needs of their next of kin were real or if the person was just lazy and did not want to work. When relatives take care of each other, undue pressure is not placed on society as a whole. The laws of God make it less easy for some people to take unjust advantage of others or society.

 

5. In what ways can we make our days of rest more holy to us? What are some benefits of taking extra time and making our rest time more holy to us? We can set aside more time in a day of rest for Bible reading and prayer, for reading books or other materials that will teach us more about God and the Bible and how to serve God and others better when we work. We can use our regular day of rest to worship God and to study the Bible with other believers or to teach others the Bible (we often learn more as a teacher than as a student). We can use our rest time to learn more about how God has expressed His love for us in the Bible and in the life and work of Jesus Christ. We can use our rest time to consciously draw closer to God, seeking to be in His presence to spend time with God. We can use our rest time as an opportunity to obey God better and to learn how to obey Him better during our time of work with the strength and wisdom God gives (often acquired during our time of rest).

 

 

 

Word Search

God’s Way to Bless Everyone

May 20, 2018

Leviticus 25:1-12

Name ____________________________

 

 

L X L A G U T U S K D N H D A

G O W Q O Q G A D Z B T L R F

W A R U M K B P N F N F E I M

S M T D I B E T M E L Q U T N

T I P H A S Y C V K V O J V P

A E N T E Z R E Y T R E B I L

O W H A J R S A V S A M D O J

V N F L I C S J E T E C Q E M

S T Z E M R U V O L Y S S X D

X G V W A B Z N K U I U O A I

E U X E I Y E L W F S T N M E

O I Y L F M I A H I O H E B L

S B E S E K G N P R U N E S H

A E O N T Q A D Z T I Y F K D

D W T Z L W G M B E P R H Y Q

LORD

Moses

Sinai

Israelites

Land

Six

Years

Sow

Prune

Gather

Seventh

Sabbath

Atonement

Liberty

Jubilee

 

 

True and False Test

God’s Way to Bless Everyone

May 20, 2018

Leviticus 25:1-12

Name ____________________________

 

Circle the true or false answers. Correct the false statements by restating them.

 

1. Before they entered the Promised Land, the LORD told the Israelites that the land itself must observe a Sabbath to the LORD. True or False

 

2. For six years the Israelites could sow their fields, prune their vineyards, and harvest their crops. True or False

 

3. In the seventh year, the land was to have a year of Sabbath rest. True or False

 

4. During the Sabbath rest of their land, the Israelites were to trade their goats with their neighbors for grain and wine. True or False

 

5. The Israelites were not to sow their fields or prune their vineyards in the seventh year. True or False

 

6. Many Israelites without goats to trade with their neighbors died during the Sabbath year. True or False

 

7. During the Sabbath year, their livestock and wild animals could eat whatever the land produced by itself. True or False

 

8. The Day of Atonement was the tenth day of the seventh month. True or False

 

9. Every fifty years, the Israelites were to celebrate a Jubilee and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. True or False

 

10. On the Day of Atonement every fifty years, each of Israelite was to return to his or her family property and to his or her own clan. True or False

 

 

True and False Test

Answers Leviticus 25:1-12

 

1. True
2. True
3. True
4. False
5. True
6. False
7. True
8. True
9. True
10. True

 

 

Prayer

Our Father, we acknowledge that true freedom comes only when we follow Your commandments. Help us to treat Your Word as the ultimate authority, to follow Your Son as Lord, and to depend on Your Spirit for the power to live holy lives before the world. We pray in the name of the one who set us free. Amen.