“The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land is mine; for you are strangers and sojourners with me.”
In Leviticus 25 the Lord established what was called a “year of Jubilee.” Every fifty years the land sold by the Israelites was to be return to their particular tribe. In other words, when land was sold, it was sold based on how many years it was sold before Jubilee. This is strange to us, because when we buy land we expect to keep it until we sell it or until we die. I discovered at least two reasons for the importance of the Jubilee, and what it was to teach the Israelites and us. The first discovery I made was that the Jubilee would teach the Israelites, and us, that all that we have really belongs to the Lord. This is actually the first order for what we call stewardship. Everything that we have belongs to God. We put a high priority on the ownership of things. We have a philosophy of “what is mine is mine.” To a certain extent this is true, because if someone takes what is ours without our permission it is called stealing. But in our hearts and minds, we are to understand that what we have ultimately belongs to God. If we realize this we will not be selfish with what is ours. Furthermore, if we realize that what we have belongs to God, we will want what we have to be used for His glory and for His kingdom’s work. For example, we have a bank account that has our names on it. It is ours and no one has a right to it except us. But if we realize that what we have in that bank account ultimately belongs to God, we won’t mind sharing at least a tenth of it for His kingdom’s work. It is also true that if we know that God owns that bank account, we will not be selfish with helping those less fortunate than ourselves. That’s why God also established the law of gleaning in the Old Testament. Israelites were to leave part of the crop in the field in order for the poor to have some means of sustenance. There is a parable in Luke 12 about a farmer who had a bumper crop one year. Here is how he handled the situation: “And he said, This will I do; I will pull down my barns, and build greater, and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul thou has much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat drink and be merry.” (Luke 12:18-19) He was condemned because his good fortune was only to benefit himself. He completely disregarded the law of gleaning. In the ensuing verse he was told that he would die, and “then whose will these things be, which thou hast provided?” He forgot one of the greatest teachings of Jubilee, i.e., what we have ultimately belongs to God and is to be used not just for ourselves, but to be used as God sees fit. The second discovery that I made from Jubilee, and from the law of letting the land rest every seventh year, was that it would teach the Israelites and us to trust our welfare to God. The problem for the Isralites was: “If we let the land lie fallow, this will mean that we will not have crops for three years.” God’s answer to them was: “I will be a blessing for you in the sixth year, so that it will produce a crop sufficient for three years….you will be eating this until the ninth year when the harvest comes in.” Jesus said something similar to us: “Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? Or, what shall we drink? Or, wherewithal shall we be clothed? ……..For your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:31-33) We have the promise of provision straight from the lips of Jesus. I pray that you will benefit today from the two lessons that I learned in my reading in Leviticus. There are many more lessons in Leviticus 25, but these are the two that stood out today. Believe that they are true for you as well. Be blessed! Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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