Day #32
Scripture Reading: Leviticus 25 - 27 ...
God's instructions to the people of Israel covered
virtually every area of their lives. We sometimes feel as though the
government does that today, but in the nation of Israel GOD was ruling over
them and His laws were perfect and just. It is important to understand
that God's commands in the Garden of Eden were given to Adam and Eve who were
created perfect. They could have kept God's commands. But following
mankind's fall into sin, laws became necessary not only to reflect God's
holiness, His perfection, but also to restrain man's sinful tendency to take
advantage of others and to oppress them. Therefore, God gave them
guidelines for how to live together, remembering that HE was their God and that
everything belonged to Him, including THEM!
The sabbath day was part of God's commands to the
people of Israel. They were to refrain from work on the seventh day,
remembering that God was their Creator and that He had delivered them from their
slavery in Egypt. Now God instituted a "sabbath YEAR," the
seventh year in a seven-year cycle. During that year the people of Israel
were not to sow their fields or prune their vines. They could eat what
the land produced naturally. God promised that if they were faithful, He
would "send you such a blessing in the sixth year that the land will
yield enough for three years" (25:21).
God also instituted the "Year of
Jubilee," which was the fiftieth year, to be celebrated after
seven sabbath years. The year of Jubilee must have been an amazing time.
Land was sold and debts were made based on the time from the year of
Jubilee, because on the year of Jubilee the land was returned to its owner or
their family and debts were cancelled. On the year of Jubilee everyone
was free ... it was like starting over. Most certainly, this points to
our redemption in Jesus Christ. It is a beautiful picture of the
forgiveness that believers receive when they put their faith in the sacrifice
of Christ on the cross. Through faith in Jesus our debts are cancelled and we
become "co-heirs" with Christ. We become part of His family and inherit His
kingdom!!
The word, "redeem," from
which we get the word, "redemption," is clearly defined
in Leviticus. To "redeem" meant to buy back ... to
remove the debt. A man could have one of his relatives redeem his land
and it would be returned to him. The same was true of those sold into
slavery ... they could be redeemed and set free. Peter writes in I Peter
1:18-19 that believers were redeemed, not with silver or gold, but with the
precious blood of Christ, who gave the perfect payment for sin and removed our
debt by paying it Himself. Such a beautiful picture of God's salvation!
It is clear that God called the people to obedience
to all He commanded for their own good and for His glory. All of this was
not to enslave the people, but to remind them that their lives depended on the
God who brought their ancestors out of Egypt; the God of Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob. As God pronounced judgment on those who disobeyed, who turned to
idols and who forgot Him, He revealed what would eventually happen: "I
will scatter you among the nations" (26:33). The history of
Israel reveals their idolatry and God's judgment against it. God does not make idle threats. Sin brings judgment, in the present and the
future.
Yet, God makes the same promise here that He makes
later in the New Testament: "If they will confess their sins ...
when their uncircumcised hearts are humbled and they pay for their sin, I will
remember my covenant with Jacob and ... with Isaac ... and with Abraham" (26:40-42).
But how? How could they pay for their sin? They couldn't!
They needed a Redeemer ... and God would send them a "kinsman-Redeemer," one
who was Himself a true man and a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Judah
... (now you know why the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1 is so important!).
JESUS would do what they couldn't do.
Meanwhile, God promises that "in spite of
this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them or
abhor them so as to destroy them completely, breaking my covenant with them.
I am the LORD their God. But for their sake I will remember the
covenant with their ancestors whom I brought out of Egypt in the sight of the
nations to be their God. I am the LORD" (26:44-45). The
promise of grace existed even in the Old Testament as it pointed to the One who
Himself would redeem all who put their faith in Him ... Jesus, the Christ!
All the rules of "redemption" pointed
to Jesus, and as much as the people in the days of Moses needed redeeming, so
do you and I. We have in so many ways sinned against God and sold
ourselves into slavery to sin. We have disobeyed God's laws and, yes, we
have pursued and worshiped idols of our own making in this world. Were it
not for God's grace, we would most certainly perish under God's just judgment.
But "God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son,
that whoever believes in Him should NOT perish, but have everlasting life"
(John 3:16). We inevitably come back to Jesus as our only hope, as
the fulfillment of God's promises, as our Savior, our Redeemer, our Lord.
Through Jesus there will be a continual Year of
Jubilee in the glories of heaven, and eventually in the new heavens and the new
earth. God will dwell among us and never again will there be any sin or
need for redemption, for we shall be made like Him and will live with Him in
the glory of His perfection. How can you and I not long for that time to
come?? That is the hope towards which all of Scripture points and for
which our hearts must long.
For those who know Christ, the celebrating begins
now ... as we look to God’s future kingdom. We celebrate true FREEDOM in
Christ because God says that our redemption is certain and even now He sees us
as holy "in Christ Jesus." May our lives be lived in
thanksgiving and praise to God for His remarkable gift of grace in Christ and
may we daily live to serve Him, our Redeemer, our Lord and our God!!
"Almighty and everlasting God, to be able to
call You, 'Abba, Father,' is the greatest privilege anyone can receive. I
confess my sin before You today and trust in the cleansing blood of Jesus for
forgiveness and life. You are MY God and I am yours, in body and soul, in
life and in death. I thank You for redeeming me and vow to live my life
daily for You until I receive my inheritance among the saints by Your amazing
grace. I love You, Father, in Jesus' name, Amen"
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