Bible Study - Earth (2) - Our Work with Creation - Leviticus 25:1-7 - August 31, 2014

Bible Study – Earth (2) – Our Work with Creation – August 31, 2014

This is lesson two (2) and our final lesson in this series entitled “And It Was Good.”

Our focus scripture is Leviticus 25:1-7.

GOD has given us responsibility over HIS creation.

GOD made humans to fellowship with HIM and to be stewards of earth.

This takes us back to Genesis 1:26-30:

26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, all the earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; He created him in the image of God; He created them male and female. 28 God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.” 29 God also said, “Look, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the surface of the entire earth and every tree whose fruit contains seed. This food will be for you, 30 for all the wildlife of the earth, for every bird of the sky, and for every creature that crawls on the earth—everything having the breath of life in it. I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 God saw all that He had made, and it was very good. Evening came and then morning: the sixth day.

After the sixth day, GOD ceased from work or ceased from all work which is the meaning of Sabbath. Sabbath is a transliteration of the Hebrew word “Shabbat” which means “restfulness.” Sabbath does not mean seven instead it refers to a specified period to cease from all work. We will see in our lesson that “Sabbath” is not limited to one day out of seven days. Sabbath or rest refers to a year following the sixth year and the year referred to as “year of Jubilee” which followed seven years of Sabbaths or 49 years. Did GOD need a break from work? No, but HE knew humans did and HE set the example for the health, well being of mankind, animals, and the cultivated land. Complete rest was a witness to those who did not worship the One True GOD of the Israelites to those who had other gods and those with no god.

GOD set the example.

Let’s read Genesis 2:15-17:

15 The Lord God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree of the garden, 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.”

GOD gave man the responsibility for the Garden of Eden and what went on in the Garden.

The title of the Book of Leviticus comes from the Latin translation of Greek “that which concerns the Levites” or the guidelines for the priests in leading worship, performing rituals, instructing the people, and instructions for tending and caring for the land GOD had given to them.

These instructions were given by GOD to the Israelites on Mount Sinai long before they were to enter the Promised Land. The Promised Land was GOD’S gift to HIS chosen people but if they defiled the land, HE would send curses on the land and ultimately take it away from them.

Christians in America, it is time to step up and rededicate your lives to GOD through your relationship with CHRIST. The Christians in America can be used by GOD to represent the truth of CHRIST to the world as GOD leads them. It is time for Christians to recommit their lives to the leadership of the Holy Spirit and respond obediently to HIS call. GOD is still in the business of revealing HIS power and strength through the faithfulness of HIS chosen: Christians.

America, as never before, is facing evil that can destroy, if we do not turn to GOD through CHRIST. The victory has been won by CHRIST but we depend upon military might (which is important) and have placed the mighty hand of GOD on the back burner of complacency. Sit on your hands and be destroyed or take a stand in the power and under the leadership of GOD and see the mighty hand of GOD prevail. After HE prevails; DO NOT slip back into complacency but stand strong in HIS power and truth as you allow the Holy Spirit to lead you. It is time for Christians to step up, not in their power and strength but in the power, strength and truth of being genuine followers of CHRIST.

Yes, Christians are under grace but with GOD’S grace comes responsibility. The future of America and the world depends upon Christians yielding their lives to GOD and obediently serving HIM through their relationship with CHRIST.

The earth belongs to GOD and we are HIS stewards. Let’s explore!

Let’s read Leviticus 25:1-3:

1 The Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai: 2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When you enter the land I am giving you, the land will observe a Sabbath to the Lord. 3 You may sow your field for six years, and you may prune your vineyard and gather its produce for six years.

The first thing we need to see is that “The LORD spoke.” This is the LORD’S directive given to the Israelites long before they entered into the Promised Land. As you recall, it was on Mount Sinai that GOD called the Israelites to be HIS chosen people, if they accepted. They accepted. GOD gave them the Ten Commandments and other laws they were to observe. Our scripture reveals GOD’S instructions to them regarding the need to observe a period of complete rest for themselves, their servants, animals and land when they enter the Promised Land. They were to observe a Sabbath to the LORD, which HE defines.

Some think that Sabbath means seven but it means rest.  GOD created for six days and then HE rested on the seventh day. GOD set the example for establishing our week.

Those who think the Bible does not reflect science simply do not know the Bible. Just look at the laws that GOD gave to HIS chosen. They were laws to protect them, keep them healthy and give them success. Land was important in Bible times and was a measure of wealth. It took land for livestock to graze, to cultivate crops, grow trees, manage water sources and much more. Having resources also carries responsibility.

GOD was leading the Israelites to the land of plenty/the Promised Land. GOD knew good agricultural practices. The Israeli Department of Agricultural had not been established, so GOD revealed good agricultural practices to them.

They were not to overwork the land because if they did, it would not produce enough nutritious food to sustain them. Therefore, every seventh year they were to let the land rest for a full year or lie fallow.

For six years, they were to cultivate, tend the land and harvest the crops but what then? Man learned the hard way to rotate crops. But GOD gave direction to the Israelites regarding good land management ahead of time. The Israelites still had to wander in the desert for 40 years before they entered the Promised Land. But GOD’S instruction regarding the Promised Land meant that in time they would enter the land GOD promised to them. They could have entered it 40 years sooner if they had faith in GOD. Only two, Caleb and Joshua, who scouted the Promised Land, had faith that GOD would give them victory over those occupying the Promised Land as we read in Numbers 14:30-35:

30 I swear that none of you will enter the land I promised to settle you in, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. 31 I will bring your children whom you said would become plunder into the land you rejected, and they will enjoy it. 32 But as for you, your corpses will fall in this wilderness. 33 Your children will be shepherds in the wilderness for 40 years and bear the penalty for your acts of unfaithfulness until all your corpses lie scattered in the wilderness. 34 You will bear the consequences of your sins 40 years based on the number of the 40 days that you scouted the land, a year for each day. You will know My displeasure. 35 I, • Yahweh, have spoken. I swear that I will do this to the entire evil community that has conspired against Me. They will come to an end in the wilderness, and there they will die.”

Caleb and Joshua entered the Promise Land. Does our lack of faith in GOD deprive us of the things GOD has planned for us to experience? Do we follow the LORD’S instructions regarding the decisions we need to make in life or do we lean upon our own understanding? Wisdom is knowledge applied to GOD’S plan.

Let’s read Leviticus 25:4-5:

4 But there will be a Sabbath of complete rest for the land in the seventh year, a Sabbath to the Lord: you are not to sow your field or prune your vineyard. 5 You are not to reap what grows by itself from your crop, or harvest the grapes of your untended vines. It must be a year of complete rest for the land.

GOD said there “will be a Sabbath of complete rest.” Since “Sabbath” means complete rest GOD, in essence was saying “I mean complete rest.”

In the seventh year, the Israelites were to let the land rest or let the land “lie fallow.” GOD was telling them not to be greedy but let the land rest from being used to provide cash crops. Let it rest and depend upon the LORD GOD to provide for your needs. There would be volunteer crops but they were not to be harvested as a cash crop but neither should they go to waste. The land owners should use the food GOD allows to be produced for themselves and to share with others as we will see in our next scripture.

This was all about having faith in GOD to provide for their needs during this year of no work. They were to trust GOD to provide. It was a test and a demonstration of obedience to GOD and a confirmation of their trust in GOD.

JESUS words give us clear instructions regarding the care of GOD for HIS children in Matthew 6:24-34:

24 “No one can be a • slave of two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot be slaves of God and of money.

The Cure for Anxiety

25 “This is why I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they? 27 Can any of you add a single • cubit to his height by worrying? 28 And why do you worry about clothes? Learn how the wildflowers of the field grow: they don’t labor or spin thread. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these! 30 If that’s how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won’t He do much more for you—you of little faith? 31 So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32 For the idolaters eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. 34 Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Verse 34, does not mean not to plan but to plan as led by the Holy Spirit and trust GOD with the results.

There is little to no evidence that the law of the Sabbath year was practiced. When we do not do what GOD tells us to do, HE steps in to get our attention. GOD warned the Israelites that if they did not worship HIM bad things were going to happen. HIS chosen had gotten so far away from worshipping HIM that HE allowed them to be captured by the Babylonians and taken from the land HE had given them for 70 years or a 70-year Sabbath for their land.

GOD’S original intent for the Israelites was for them to be HIS witnesses to the world. Christians in America are we honoring CHRIST in our lives or have we lost our first love? It is time for Christians to repent and for us to be obedient to GOD through our relationship with CHRIST. It is time that we pray for a revival to begin in us first and extend to all of America and to the world.

GOD instructed the Israelites to set aside a day of rest to renew their strength and to worship HIM. Then to set aside one year out of seven years to allow the land, the hired hands, the animals and themselves to rest, focus on GOD and let HIM care for them. It was a time to forgive debts and set slaves free. It was to be a witness to the world of the goodness of GOD.

Let’s read Leviticus 25:6-7:

6 Whatever the land produces during the Sabbath year can be food for you—for yourself, your male or female slave, and the hired hand or foreigner who stays with you. 7 All of its growth may serve as food for your livestock and the wild animals in your land.

The edible food the land produced during this seventh year or Sabbath year was to be used for food for – the land owner, slaves, hired hand or foreigner. GOD also included the livestock and wild animals.

The key is that the owners of the land were to obey GOD and trust HIM to take care of them, their slaves, hired hands, foreigners (Non-Israelites) and even the animals.

Let’s read Leviticus 25:8-12: (After 7 sabbatical years (49 years), the 50^th year is the year of Jubilee.)

8 “You are to count seven sabbatical years, seven times seven years, so that the time period of the seven sabbatical years amounts to 49. 9 Then you are to sound a trumpet loudly in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month; you will sound it throughout your land on the Day of • Atonement. 10 You are to consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim freedom in the land for all its inhabitants. It will be your Jubilee, when each of you is to return to his property and each of you to his clan. 11 The fiftieth year will be your Jubilee; you are not to sow, reap what grows by itself, or harvest its untended vines. 12 It is to be holy to you because it is the Jubilee; you may only eat its produce directly from the field.

The word “jubilee” comes from a Hebrew word which means “jubilant” and to “exult.” The word is related to the word for ram’s horn. The beginning of jubilee was to be marked by the blowing of the ram’s horn on the Day of Atonement.

Why did GOD establish a year of Jubilee?

The overarching reason is for the Israelites to realize that the land they were occupying was a gift from GOD and it was theirs on a temporary basis. The land was to return to its original owner in the year of Jubilee. The Promised Land was conquered by GOD and the land was occupied by the Israelites. Close to the end of Joshua’s life there still was land that had not been distributed. Joshua distributed the remaining land by casting lots in the presence of GOD. As stated in Joshua 18:10:

10 Joshua cast lots for them at Shiloh in the presence of the Lord where he distributed the land to the Israelites according to their divisions.

The year of Jubilee followed the seventh year of the seven Sabbath years. So that meant that the 49^th and 50^th years there would be no work or cash harvest. Why do you think GOD wanted them to not work for those two years? During those two years they were to rely upon GOD and the provisions HE would provide for the land owner and others as identified in the scripture.    

Part of Leviticus 25:10 is inscribed on the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia “proclaim liberty throughout all the land.”

With freedom comes the responsibility not to forget that GOD provides all things. HE manages the earth, the seasons and only GOD can ensure the next crop of food. How foolish, complacent and self-sufficient mankind and even Christians can become. Mankind depends upon the harvests of food.

The LORD GOD instructed the Israelites to observe a Sabbath year following the sixth year. No work was to be done in the seventh year. That meant for the Israelites to prepare for the seventh year. They were to harvest the food GOD provided during these Sabbatical years for them to eat and others. GOD provided food to be consumed in the seventh sabbatical year and the eighth year, when the year of Jubilee came. There was to be no work but complete rest for the land owners, their family, hired hands, slaves, guests and livestock.

Would we be able to survive a year without a salary or two years with no salary when the year of Jubilee followed a Sabbatical year?

Most of us feel secure and self-sufficient in the things we have but GOD’S desire is for us to consider who provides all that we have: just the right amount of water, sunlight and pollination. One day we will leave it all behind and others will manage what we had. GOD’S desire is for HIS children to realize that all we have, great or small, belongs to HIM for our use and to share with others as prompted by the Holy Spirit. Be generous! Realize that GOD cares for HIS children but HE expects HIS children to worship HIM and be obedient to HIM. Blessings!!!