The video version is available at: https://youtu.be/c1eRCjo9EAM
Reading
– Leviticus 25:1-34
By
Dan and Brenda Cathcart
This
week we conclude the study of the book of Leviticus. The book of Leviticus is
all about how the children of Israel could approach a holy God. The Hebrew name
for this book is Vayikra which means “And He called out” referring to God
calling out from the tabernacle to give instructions on how the children of
Israel could draw near to a holy God. Throughout the book, we learn that the
children of Israel are to approach God through the Aaronic priesthood assisted
by the tribe of Levi. The Greek name for this book, Leviticus comes from this
theme of approaching God through the priesthood. How does the conclusion of
Leviticus summarize this theme?
As
God’s instructions about drawing near to Him are wrapped up, God gives further
instructions about the land and those dwelling in the land. He includes a final
warning. Those who choose not to follow God’s instructions that allow them to
draw near to God will be cut off, not only from God but from the land and their
people.
Even
as these words recorded in Leviticus are concluding, the people are preparing
to leave Mt. Sinai and travel a short eleven-day journey to enter the Promised
Land. These particular instructions are given for when they enter the land.
Leviticus 25:1-2 NKJV 1 And the LORD
spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, 2 "Speak to the children of Israel,
and say to them: 'When you come into the land which I give you, then the land
shall keep a sabbath to the LORD.
The
first instruction about the land, like that given to the people, is that it is
to observe a sabbath. Keeping the weekly sabbath was the first command God gave
to the people right after Moses returned from Mt. Sinai carrying the second
tablet of the Ten Words and before they began work on the tabernacle. The
importance of keeping the sabbath is emphasized when God describes the feasts or
appointed times that Israel is to keep once they enter the land. The Sabbath is
the first appointed time that the children of Israel were told to observe in
Leviticus 23. The sabbath year, like the weekly sabbath, is to be a time of
rest and the cessation of work. During the sabbath year, the land is not to be
worked. Just like the people are to rest on the weekly Sabbath, the land is to
rest from its labor during the Sabbatical year.
Leviticus 25:3-4 NKJV 3 'Six years you
shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather
its fruit; 4 'but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of solemn rest
for the land, a sabbath to the LORD. You shall neither sow your field nor prune
your vineyard.
Although
they could not sow and harvest, they could eat from what grew naturally in the
land.
Leviticus 25:6-7 NKJV 6 'And the
sabbath produce of the land shall be food for you: for you, your male and
female servants, your hired man, and the stranger who dwells with you, 7 'for
your livestock and the beasts that are in your land-all its produce shall be
for food.
Just
like with the Sabbath in the wilderness when God provided extra manna on the
sixth day to last through the Sabbath, God said He would provide a large
harvest in the sixth year to last until the harvest at the end of the year
after the sabbath year.
Leviticus 25:20-22 NKJV 20 'And if you
say, "What shall we eat in the seventh year, since we shall not sow nor
gather in our produce?" 21 'Then I will command My blessing on you in the
sixth year, and it will bring forth produce enough for three years. 22 'And you
shall sow in the eighth year, and eat old produce until the ninth year; until
its produce comes in, you shall eat of the old harvest.
The
pattern of their reliance on God which was established in the wilderness was to
continue when they entered the land. It seems that the very first year that the
children of Israel were in the land was a type of Sabbath year. Immediately
after they entered the land, the manna ceased, and the people relied on the
produce of the land.
Joshua 5:12 NKJV 12 Then the manna
ceased on the day after they had eaten the produce of the land; and the
children of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate the food of the land of
Canaan that year.
In
addition to the sabbath every seven years, there is a greater sabbath of the
land after every forty-ninth year.
Leviticus 25:8-10 NAS95 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. 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. 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.
The
word “Jubilee” is an interesting word. In English, it is defined as a special
anniversary particularly a fiftieth anniversary. We can see that the definition
comes from this usage in Leviticus to mark the fiftieth year. But what does the
Hebrew word mean? The Hebrew word is “yo-bale,” number 3104 in Strong’s
Concordance, meaning the blast of a horn. Although Strong’s Concordance
associates it with the silver trumpets, the word is never used in that context.
In fact, it is only used in conjunction with the shofar or ram’s horn! The
first use of the word yo-bale is in relation to the sound coming from Mt. Sinai
to call the children of Israel to the mountain to meet God and hear His
commands.
Exodus 19:13b NKJV 13 When the trumpet
sounds long, they shall come near the mountain."
The
word “trumpet” is actually the word “yo-bale.” Literally, this verse reads
“when the blast sounds long, they shall come near the mountain.” In the
description of the fulfillment of this event, the blast is that of the shofar.
This original blast or “yo-bale” of the ram’s horn was at the appointed time of
Shavuot or the Feast of Weeks in the third month of the year. The children of
Israel drew near to God for the first time there at Mt. Sinai. The instruction
that they are to come near is actually the Hebrew word “aw-law,” number 5927,
meaning to ascend. They children of Israel actually ascended onto the lowest
part of the mountain.
Exodus 19:17 KJV 17 And Moses brought
forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether
part of the mount.
The
children of Israel were not to approach the mountain until they were called by
the blast of the shofar! So, the yo-bale, the Jubilee, is associated with God
calling the children of Israel onto the mountain and into His presence! The
book of Leviticus opens with God telling the children of Israel how to draw
near to Him. It ends with God telling them that on the year after the seventh
sabbath year, God would call them into His presence again. They would draw near
to God as they did when He first called them into His presence at Mt. Sinai. In
the year of Jubilee, they were to proclaim release to all the inhabitants of
the land. The word translated as “release,” is the Hebrew word “der-ore,”
number 1865, meaning freedom. All the slaves were to be set free. Just like God
freed the children of Israel from slavery in Egypt, the children of Israel were
to release their slaves in the year of Jubilee.
Leviticus 25:54-55 NKJV 54 'And if he
is not redeemed in these years, then he shall be released in the Year of
Jubilee-he and his children with him. 55 'For the children of Israel are
servants to Me; they are My servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt: I
am the LORD your God.
Even
the land was to be set free by returning it to its original owner. The sale or
purchase of land was only in force until the year of Jubilee.
Leviticus 25:23-24 NKJV 23 'The land
shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are strangers and
sojourners with Me. 24 'And in all the land of your possession you shall grant
redemption of the land.
However,
when the shofar is blown to mark the beginning of the Jubilee year, it is not blown
at Shavuot the anniversary of when the yo-bale sounded from Mt. Sinai, nor is
it blown at the beginning of the year in the month of Nisan during which the
Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread occurred, and which God declared in
Exodus 12 was the beginning of months for them.
In
fact, the year of Jubilee doesn’t begin on the first day of any month; it
begins on the tenth day of the seventh month on Yom Kippur, the Day of
Atonement just before the Feast of Sukkot or the Feast of Ingathering which is observed
at the end of the year. These three times of year, Unleavened Bread, Shavuot,
and Sukkot are described in Exodus 23.
Exodus 23:14-16 NKJV 14 "Three
times you shall keep a feast to Me in the year: 15 "You shall keep the
Feast of Unleavened Bread (you shall eat unleavened bread seven days, as I
commanded you, at the time appointed in the month of Abib, for in it you came
out of Egypt; none shall appear before Me empty); 16 "and the Feast of
Harvest, the firstfruits of your labors which you have sown in the field; and
the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you have gathered in the
fruit of your labors from the field.
So,
when is the New Year according to God’s Word? It seems that we have at least three
if not more times of the year that would be considered the beginning of the
year—The first of Nisan which marks the beginning of God’s deliverance of the
children of Israel out of Egypt, Yom Kippur which marks the beginning of the
year of Jubilee, and the day after the conclusion of the Feast of Harvest or
Sukkot which marks the beginning of a new agricultural year. The traditional Jewish
new year, which numbers the years from creation, is the first day of the
seventh month on the Feast of Trumpets. Each of these “new years” mark a
different type of beginning, so each can be considered a “new year.”
In
fact, the entire year of Israel’s Exodus from Egypt can be considered a “new
year.” It marked their deliverance from Egypt and their new position as God’s
covenant people. They spent the entire year getting ready to enter into the
Promised Land. The year of Jubilee is also a “new year.” It concludes the
previous cycle of forty-nine years and begins a new cycle.
Most
Bible scholars agree that Yeshua’s ministry on Earth lasted three and a half
years. Since He died at Passover in the first month of the year, His ministry
would have begun in the seventh month of the year, the time of three of our
“new years.” One of His first actions was to teach in the synagogues of
Galilee. When he came to his hometown of Nazareth, He read from the scroll of
Isaiah about the servant of the LORD announcing a year of Jubilee.
Luke 4:17-19 NKJV 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."
When
Yeshua concluded the reading, He declared that Isaiah’s prophecy had been
fulfilled in their hearing. The conclusion from this statement was that He was
the servant of the LORD Isaiah spoke about and,that very day was the beginning
of the Jubilee. Remember, the Hebrew word “yo-bale” is the blast of a horn
associated with the sound of the shofar and the voice of God calling His people
into His presence. From the beginning of His ministry, Yeshua declared over and
over that the Kingdom had drawn near.
Matthew 4:17 NKJV 17 From that time
Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at
hand."
The
Greek word that is translated as “at hand” is the word “eng-id’-zo,” number
1448 in Strong’s Greek concordance, meaning “to make near.” Once again, we see
that the Jubilee is the time when God calls His people to draw near to Him and
enter into His presence. This, of course, takes us back to the beginning of
Leviticus when God calls out from within the Tabernacle and instructs the
children of Israel on how they can draw near to Him!
There
is a warning hidden within the instructions on redemption of the land at the
year of Jubilee. The instructions begin with selling the crop, progressing
through selling a house within a walled city, borrowing money, and, finally,
selling oneself into slavery. The Stone Edition Chumash quotes the sage
Rashi’s comments on this sequence of events.
“By the progression of the
commandments, the Torah implies that if one allows greed to keep him from
observing the Shemittah and Jubilee prohibitions, he will eventually have to
lose his money and be forced to sell his movable property (v. 14). If he still
does not repent, he will be forced to sell his ancestral portion (v. 25-28) and
his house (vs. 29-31), and, finally to borrow at interest. If this progression
of punishment has no effect, he will eventually have to sell himself as a
bondsman to a fellow Jew (vs. 37-43, and finally as a slave to a non-Jew.
Finally, and worst of all, he will sell himself and become a servant of idols
(vs. 47-55).”[i]
Notice
that Rashi specifically mentions a sequence of seven progressively harsher
punishments for not observing the Sabbath year and the Jubilee years. The Torah
picks up in chapter 26 where Rashi left off declaring that the children of
Israel shall not make idols for themselves, but should keep God’s Sabbaths and
honor the God’s dwelling place.
Leviticus 26:1-2 NKJV 1 'You shall not
make idols for yourselves; neither a carved image nor a sacred pillar shall you
rear up for yourselves; nor shall you set up an engraved stone in your land, to
bow down to it; for I am the LORD your God. 2 You shall keep My Sabbaths and
reverence My sanctuary: I am the LORD.
In
context, the Sabbaths referred to here would be the sabbaths of the land. If
the children of Israel honor these sabbaths, God will bestow blessing on them through
the produce the land.
Leviticus 26:3-4 NKJV 3 'If you walk
in My statutes and keep My commandments, and perform them, 4 then I will give
you rain in its season, the land shall yield its produce, and the trees of the
field shall yield their fruit.
The
Torah continues with a list of six statements beginning with God’s declaration
“I will.” In the middle of these six statements there is one statement
beginning with “you will.”
Leviticus 26:7-8 NKJV 7 You will chase
your enemies, and they shall fall by the sword before you. 8 Five of you shall
chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight; your
enemies shall fall by the sword before you.
In
addition to all the blessings from the land, Israel would have victory over all
their enemies. In total, this list includes seven ways God said He would
specifically bless His people if they kept His Sabbaths. However, if Israel
does not obey God in regard to the Sabbaths and all of His other instructions,
God describes four sets of seven punishments that would come on Israel. These
punishments would ultimately result in exile from the land.
Leviticus 26:33-34 NKJV 33 I will
scatter you among the nations and draw out a sword after you; your land shall
be desolate and your cities waste. 34 Then the land shall enjoy its sabbaths as
long as it lies desolate and you are in your enemies' land; then the land shall
rest and enjoy its sabbaths.
We
would think that God would totally cast off His people as He declared to Moses
that He would do when they built and worshipped the golden calf. At that time,
Moses interceded for them based on the promises God made to Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob. However, after forty days of repentance by the children of Israel and
intercession by Moses, God accepted Moses’ atonement for them. God declared
that the children of Israel were still His people. Here in Leviticus, God
declared that He would never totally cast them away.
Leviticus 26:44 NKJV 44 Yet for all
that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away,
nor shall I abhor them, to utterly destroy them and break My covenant with
them; for I am the LORD their God.
God’s
acceptance of the atonement accomplished by Moses and realized by Yeshua will
never be broken. The apostle John wrote about this connection.
John 1:16-17 YLT 16 and out of his
fulness did we all receive, and grace over-against grace; 17 for the law
through Moses was given, the grace and the truth through Jesus Christ did come;
In
order to receive mercy from God, all that the children of Israel need to do is
confess their sins and repent of their iniquities.
Leviticus 26:40-42 NKJV 40 'But if
they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, with their
unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, and that they also have
walked contrary to Me, 41 and that I also have walked contrary to them and have
brought them into the land of their enemies; if their uncircumcised hearts are
humbled, and they accept their guilt- 42 then I will remember My covenant with
Jacob, and My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham I will remember;
I will remember the land.
The
book of Leviticus ends with one final means of drawing near to God and a last
warning. One can draw near to God by a gift devoted to God. However, once a
gift is given to God, it cannot be taken back. We, as God’s people have been
exhorted to give our lives to God. Once given, they cannot be taken back; they
belong to God. As His people, God wants us to draw near to Him. We draw near to
Him by keeping ourselves separate from the world through following His
instructions for our lives. We look forward to the Jubilee to come when God’s
voice sounds long and loud calling us to enter into His kingdom and His presence.
Study
Questions:
2.
The year of Jubilee is associated with three
of God’s appointed times or feasts. What are these three appointed times and
connections?
3.
Both Matthew (Matt. 4:15-16) and Luke
(Luke 4:18-19) record Yeshua quoting from Isaiah as He begins His
ministry. How is His ministry like a
year of Jubilee? How does His return connect to the Jubilee?
General
Portion Questions
4.
What are the six “I will” statements in
Leviticus 26:4-13? The “you will” statement in verse 7 is right in the middle.
How do the six “I will” statements point to this center?
5.
The Torah portion ends with instructions
about things devoted to God. How is this a means of drawing near to God?
6.
What other insights did you gain from this teaching? What indicators are there in
this Torah Portion that point to Messiah Yeshua?
Bonus: How does Yeshua associate Himself with the Servant of the LORD
prophesied in Isaiah chapters 42 through 66?
©
2023 Moed Ministries International. All rights reserved.
[i] The
Stone Edition Chumash. General Editors Rabbi Nosson Scherman and Rabbi Meir
Zlotowitz. Mesorah Publications, ltd. ©1998, 2000. Page 699.
