Leviticus 25

Updated
2001-05-26; 14:32:07utc

Regulations Regarding Possession Ch. 25:1-55

The commandments given in this chapter were presented by God to Moses during his forty-day stay on Mount Sinai. So these commandments are older than some of the other ones we find in this book. They date from the same period as the Ten Commandments.

There was no question yet of the forty years wandering in the desert as a result of the people's disobedience. This chapter reaches toward the future to what would happen after Israel entered the promised land. The battle had not been fought yet, but God considers the victory to be an accomplished fact. None of the Israelites could see that far ahead; not even Moses. "Higher Criticism" would refer this portion to a period after the captivity. The problem in this, however, is that, as far as we know, the Year of Jubilee and even the Sabbath Year were never celebrated. What would be the point of incorporating these laws in the book and predating them if they served no practical purpose? This is even more reason for us to take literally the opening verse of this chapter which says: "The LORD said to Moses on Mount Sinai...."

1. Vs. 2-7 deal with the Sabbath Year, as do vs. 18-22.

2. Vs. 8-17 deal with the Year of Jubilee.

3. Vs. 23-28 pertain to redemption of the land.

4. Vs. 29-34 pertain to redemption of houses, and

5. Vs. 35-55 deal with the poor in the land.

The Sabbath Year Vs. 2-7, 18-22

God shares with Moses His vision of the future. "When you enter the land ..." The use of the Sabbath Year for the fields and the vineyards is not specifically mentioned here. God wanted His people to understand that He is the owner of the land and the Lord of the harvest. He is the one Who does the work. Man can sow and fertilize and irrigate, but he cannot make seeds grow. God is the Lord of the harvest. Just as much as the weekly observation of the Sabbath Day is a reminder that God is the Creator of Heaven and earth, so is the celebration of the Sabbath Year a reminder of the fact of God's lordship over the fields and the vineyards. The land did not belong to the people; God only loaned it to man.

The Sabbath command was a test of obedience for the Israelites. God ordered them to leave the land alone. It was much harder to obey the commandment to leave the land alone than to work on it and sweat over it. It is much more difficult to keep quiet than to be busy. Waiting for God is a commandment few people obey. It takes strength of character and courage to wait for the Lord. David said: "Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the LORD."[ 1 ] Man needs to rest and interrupt his routine from time to time and to recharge his batteries. The land needs rest also. The question is an academic one, but one wonders what the world economy would look like if the farmers kept the Sabbath.

This Sabbath command was also a test of faith for the Israelites. They had to trust God to give them a harvest in six years that would last them eight. That would be a challenging experience! It might have seemed, sometimes, that the reserves would be insufficient. God puts people often to the test in this way in order to prove that His promises carry more weight than visible reality. Promises to this extend were given clearly in vs. 18-22. We read: "Follow my decrees and be careful to obey my laws, and you will live safely in the land. Then the land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill and live there in safety. You may ask, 'What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not plant or harvest our crops?' I will send you such a blessing in the sixth year that the land will yield enough for three years. While you plant during the eighth year, you will eat from the old crop and will continue to eat from it until the harvest of the ninth year comes in."

The important part is not our reserves but our obedience. We tend to turn this around. God does not only promise abundance as a result of obedience but also safety. A student in the Bible School in Irian Jaya, where we taught, believed that he would never be bitten by a poisonous snake because he had never committed adultery. I doubted the solidity of his conviction when I heard him say this, but he may have been more correct than I gave him credit for.

There is a factor in the fertility of the land which modern man knows nothing about, a factor which some might call ridiculous superstition. This factor is the farmer's relationship with God. Many farmers feel a kinship with the ground they cultivate. This kinship between a farmer and his land represents only two sides of a triangle. Obedience and prayer are just as important as fertilizer and pesticide.

2. The Year of Jubilee Vs. 8-17

The Year of Jubilee occupies a unique place in the Israelite law and, probably, in the world's legal system as a whole. It had to be celebrated once every fifty years; once in a lifetime. It was closely related to the Day of Atonement. The Year of Jubilee followed the seventh Sabbath Year. This meant that once every fifty years the farmers had a two year vacation and were not allowed to work their fields.

The year opened with the sounding of a trumpet in all the land. Everyone who had been reduced to poverty and who had been obliged to sell himself or his property, was given back his liberty and his dignity. Nowhere in the Old Testament do we read that the Year of Jubilee has ever been seriously observed.

The name Jubilee is derived from the Hebrew word for ram's horn, jobel. The fact that the celebration of the Year of Jubilee was connected to observation of the Day of Atonement indicates its spiritual character. Much more was at stake than cancellation of debts and social independence. The material and physical aspects of the feast were the result of God's forgiveness of sins and of the purification of the Sanctuary. The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, makes us free and honorable human beings who can celebrate and rejoice. Isaiah speaks about the Year of Jubilee in spiritual terms. He calls it "the year of the LORD's favor." We read: "The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn."[ 2 ] Jesus quoted these words in the synagogue of Nazareth and thus announced the beginning of the real Year of Jubilee. He closed the book at one point and did not read the words "and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn."[ 3 ] In Nazareth also, as well as everywhere else, the Jews did not want to have anything to do with "the year of the LORD's favor." They tried to assassinate Jesus after He made His proclamation.

The verses 14-17 show us how this hope of redemption and rehabilitation should govern the trade relations among people. If everyone takes his or her salvation seriously, the whole economy of a country will change. Yet among Christians it is not considered immoral to ask a price that is too high if the buyer is foolish enough to pay it. But whoever takes the Year of Jubilee seriously will not take advantage of his neighbor.

The Year of Jubilee also changes our concept of property. God is the owner and we are the tenants. This puts the phrase "aliens and tenants" (vs. 23), or, as the KJV has it: "strangers and sojourners," in a new light. The writer to the Hebrews emphasizes this feature of our life on earth. Speaking about the faith of Abraham and his descendants, he says: "All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth."[ 4 ]

We demonstrate how real our faith is in the way we handle our possessions. God Owns My Business[ 5 ] ought to be the normal attitude of every Christian businessman, or woman. Strictly speaking, we cannot transfer our business to God because He owns everything to begin with. The most we can do is to accept this reality and act accordingly.

The Redemption of the Land vs. 23-28

The main theme of this chapter is expressed most clearly and in its most elementary form in the redemption of the land. God owns the land; He is the proprietor. The promised land was given to the tribes of Israel as a life-lease; they were never the owners. This means that their enjoyment of their possessions was dependent upon their fellowship with God. Isn't that the main theme of Ecclesiastes? "For without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God ... I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil-- this is the gift of God ... Then I realized that it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given him-- for this is his lot. Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work-- this is a gift of God."[ 6 ]

God emphasizes also in these verses that the economic depression which can force a man to sell his field is a temporary and passing phase. Just as the coming of sin into the world, through which man incurred a moral debt, this economic debt is not the normal condition in which God has called man to live. Man was created to be free and to rule, not to be enslaved by debts. The redemption of the land is an image of our redemption in Jesus Christ. It is true that our material possessions or the lack of them does not make us more human or less, but our spiritual possessions do. Without redemption we are poor beggars in the sight of God. God wants us to inherit the Kingdom.

The redeemer of the person who got himself in debt, had to be a close relative. He had to use his own means to buy back the field and return it to his brother. The writer to the Hebrews stresses this facet of our redemption. We read: "In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers. He says, 'I will declare your name to my brothers; in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises.' And again, 'I will put my trust in him.' And again he says, 'Here am I, and the children God has given me.' Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death-- that is, the devil-- and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham's descendants. For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted."[ 7 ] He partook of our flesh and blood as we partake of His. He is our closest relative.

The quotation from Hebrews also shows us the depth of our redemption. We are redeemed from death and, consequently, from the power of the devil. Jesus paid for us with His own means. Peter expresses this so beautifully when he says: "For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect."[ 8 ] That is the true redemption, paid with the true price, based on true brotherly love.

In vs. 26 and 27 the image differs from the reality in that nobody would ever be able to pay for his spiritual debt with his own means. In the story Jesus tells to Simon, the Pharisee,[ 9 ] Jesus stresses the fact that none of the debtors were able to repay their debt. "What can a man give in exchange for his soul?"[ 10 ] Vs. 27 and 28 do put the hope for the Year of Jubilee in the foreground. The price of the land had to be calculated in relation to the Year of Jubilee. If there is no hope on the human level and all else fails, God makes it known that He will interfere and that we can expect a complete deliverance at the sounding of the last trumpet.

4. The Redemption of Houses vs. 29-34

The right to redeem houses in an ordinary city was more restricted than that of houses elsewhere. The fact that men built houses, in which they could entrench themselves and separate themselves from other people groups (and from God), had a restricting effect upon redemption.

The history of cities in the Bible is related to man's fall into sin. The first city mentioned in the Bible is the one built by Cain after he murdered his brother. "So Cain went out from the LORD's presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden. Cain lay with his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was then building a city, and he named it after his son Enoch."[ 11 ] Cain built this city, obviously, to protect himself against the violence he had begun. This violence was a direct result of his rebellion against God. Every city in this world has a similar history attached to its existence.

This pre-history influenced redemption, both in a material and spiritual sense. Redemption was not an impossibility, but man had to act fast in order to make it possible. Redemption of city dwellers is an urgent matter, because people who live in a city live under a great amount of stress and it is easier to be lost in a city than outside. The cities of the Levites were an exception. We can see in those an image of the City of God, the New Jerusalem, the city of the redeemed.

Houses in villages that had no walls around them could be redeemed. We see in that condition an image of a life in which the condition God had created for man had not yet been destroyed completely. The house of a man in the village was the dwelling place of a man who worked the land, not an entrenchment where man defended himself against God and men.

The Good News Bible translates vs. 33 as follows: "If a house in one of these cities is sold by a Levite and is not bought back, it must be returned in the Year of Restoration." That is much clearer than the rendering of the KJV, which reads: "And if a man purchase of the Levites, then the house that was sold, and the city of his possession, shall go out in the year of jubilee." A footnote in the Good News Bible tells us that the Hebrew is unclear. The intent is, probably, that a house, originally owned by a Levite outside the Levitical city, could always be purchased back by a Levite. In that case there was no one year time limit. The fact that the owner was a Levite, a servant of God, included the right to redemption, regardless of the place.

The land surrounding the Levitical cities could never be sold; it was the heritage God had given to the Levites: a fixed possession in an alien world. There are always fixed positions for a child of God in a world in which he lives as a stranger and alien.

The Poor in the Land vs. 35-55

The principle that lies at the base of the preceding verses in this chapter is that the land of Israel belongs to God and that the Israelites leased the land. The principle that forms the basis of the present verses is that man himself belongs to the Lord, and, consequently, he cannot be the slave of men. This principle applies particularly to the people of Israel, whom God redeemed from slavery in Egypt. They are God's slaves because He freed them. As David said: "O LORD, truly I am your servant; I am your servant, the son of your maidservant; you have freed me from my chains."[ 12 ] We have to bear this in mind; otherwise, we would wrongly interpret the verses 44-46 as a divine fiat for slavery in general.

Vs. 35 sums up the whole section: "If one of your countrymen becomes poor and is unable to support himself among you, help him as you would an alien or a temporary resident, so he can continue to live among you." As fellow aliens and temporary residents, God's children are under obligation to help others of God's children. This does not, necessarily, mean philanthropy, although that is not excluded. Food may be sold at cost, and money may be loaned without interest, and labor may be required as payment. These verses do not promote laziness. In the light of the present debate about unemployment benefits, this topic is very relevant to our time.

This section contradicts the concept that God wants all His children to have abundance; neither does it mean that God wants all of His children to be needy. Under the present fallen condition of this world, however, there will always be people who cannot keep their heads above the water financially. Whether they can be blamed for their condition or not is not deemed important, and the question is not even pertinent for discussion. The point of this Scripture portion is that there should be Christian compassion and charity.

We also have to remember Jesus' words in the context of these verses: "The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me."[ 13 ] There is a danger that our "social concern" becomes detached from our love of the Person of our Lord. That is why the relationship to God is the focus of these verses. Vs. 38 declares: "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God;" vs. 55: "The Israelites belong to me as servants. They are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt. I am the LORD your God." All demonstrations of neighborly love that are not based upon our love for God is self deception.

As twentieth century people, we may have trouble with the verses 44-46. It sounds as if God does not object to exploitation as long as it does not concern Israelites. We have to keep two things in mind: firstly, there is a growing line of revelation of truth in the Bible and, secondly, the emphasis in this chapter is on redeemed man and his status in this world. The fact that God does not say much about slavery here does not imply that He approved of it. His words were directed to a world in which slavery was practiced.

[ 1 ] Ps. 27:14 (NAS)

[ 2 ] Isa. 61:1,2

[ 3 ] See Luke 4:16-21

[ 4 ] Heb. 11:13

[ 5 ] Title of a book by Stanley Tamm

[ 6 ] Eccl. 2:25,26; 3:12,13; 5:18,19

[ 7 ] Heb. 2:10-18

[ 8 ] I Pet. 1:18,19

[ 9 ] Luke 7:41,42

[ 10 ] Matt. 16:26

[ 11 ] Gen. 4:16,17

[ 12 ] Ps. 116:16

[ 13 ] Matt. 26:11