Promises for Keeping God's Laws

Continuing a chronological Bible study:

(Leviticus 26:1) "‘You shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall you set up an image of stone in your land, to bow down to it, for I am the LORD your God.'"

God continued to tell Moses the words to speak to the people.  At the end of the last chapter God discussed the case of an Israelite who sold himself into servitude to a foreigner who dwelt among them.  Some of the early Jewish writers, like Jarchi and Aben Ezra, thought this law against idolatry was mentioned on account of the Israelite sold to a stranger, as he might be drawn into idolatry as was the custom of the stranger, I suppose was their reasoning.  I'm not sure I believe that in this case.  I suppose it's possible there was some idolatry going on in the foreigners' homes, but these were foreigners who dwelt among the Israelites and had to adhere to certain laws, including how they were to release the Israelites who sold themselves into servitude to them, and how they were to treat them while in their possession.  It may just be that this was a principle law that bore repeating at this time.  The original word for "idol" here was "eliyl", and it literally meant "nothing", a thing of no value.  Any likeness of any man or beast made out of anything--wood, stone, gold, silver, or brass--was literally worthless and could in no way represent their Lord God.  He alone was their Lord God.

(2) "'You shall keep My Sabbaths and reverence My sanctuary; I am the LORD.'"

The people were to observe and keep all God's Sabbaths, the seventh day Sabbaths, and the seventh year Sabbaths, that had just been discussed in the last chapter.  They were to honor and reverence God's sanctuary, for He alone was their Lord God who had the supreme right to such reverence and worship, and the right to command such laws and to expect them to be obeyed.

(3) "‘If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments, and do them, (4) Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield its produce, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.'"

God promised that if the people walked in His statutes and kept His commandments, then He would bring them rain in due season which would make their land fruitful.

(5) "'And your threshing shall reach till the vintage, and the vintage shall last till the sowing time; and you shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.'"

Continuing His promises to the people if they would walk in His ways and obey His commandments, God would bless the people with plentiful harvests, so abundant that there would be no intervals between threshing and vintage, and vintage till the next sowing time.  They would be able to dwell in their land in safety as they would have no need to go out of it in search of food.

(6) "'And I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none will make you afraid; and I will rid the land of evil beasts, and the sword will not go through your land.'"

God promised peace in the land; the people would be able to lie down in peace with no fear of evil beasts or war in their land.

(7) "'And you will chase your enemies, and they shall fall by the sword before you.'"

Rather they would chase their enemies and those enemies would fall before them by the sword of the Israelites.

(8) "'And five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight; and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.'"

As the proportions are not the same, I believe the sense is that a small number of Israelites will put a large number of enemies to flight, and they will fall before them, through the blessing of God.

(9) "'For I will have respect to you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish My covenant with you.'"

The word translated as "respect" was "panah" and it literally meant "to turn to or face".  If they walked in His ways and obeyed His commands, God would turn toward them, be with them, making them blessed and fruitful, and He would increase their numbers in the land.  I think rather than "establish", one of the other meanings of the original word "qum"--"confirm" or "continue"--would be a better interpretation; if the Israelites adhered to their side of the bargain, and followed in the Lord's commands, He would bless them and confirm and continue His covenant with them.

(10) "'And you shall eat the old harvest, and bring out the old because of the new.'"

The sense is that the people would have so plentiful a harvest, they would still be eating of the old harvest, and would have to move it out to make room for the new harvest.

(11) "'And I will set My tabernacle among you; and My soul shall not abhor you.'"

Continuing His promise to the people if they walked in His ways and obeyed His commandments, God would set His tabernacle among them and be a constant presence with them.  Although in their sinful selves, they were loathsome and abominable, God would not detest them if they adhered to His laws.

(12) "'And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and you shall be My people.'"

God would be a constant presence with the Israelites, He being their God, and them being His special people, if they walked in His statutes and obeyed His commandments.

(13) "'I am the LORD your God, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves; and I have broken the bands of your yoke and made you walk upright.'"

The Lord God who was to be with the Israelite people constantly was the same God who brought them out of slavery in Egypt, breaking the bonds of slavery and allowing them to walk upright, that is, not under the yoke of bondage, but as a free and confident people.

(14) "‘But if you will not hearken to me, and will not do all these commandments, (15) And if you despise My statutes, or if your soul abhors My judgments, so that you do not do all my commandments, but that you break my covenant, (16) I also will do this to you: I will even appoint terror over you, consumption and fever which shall consume the eyes and cause sorrow of heart; and you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.'"

However, if the people did not listen to their Lord and obey His commandments, and even worse, if they treated His word and laws with disrespect and contempt so that they had no intention of even trying to adhere to His laws, thereby breaking their part of their covenant with their God, then He would bring terror to them.  The original word translated as "terror" was "behalah" and indicated panic or sudden ruin or destruction.  The terror would include panic, and also disease that would not only seize their bodies, but would fill their hearts with grief and sorrow because of their pain and agony.  It would also mean that they would sow their fields in vain for their enemies would besiege their cities and plunder their fields and granaries.  Note these are the very opposite of what God promised if His people would follow Him and obey His commands.  Instead of peace they would have panic; instead of more than enough food from their harvests, it would be stolen by their enemies, which also indicated war where He had promised none if they walked in His statutes.

(17) "'And I will set my face against you, and you shall be slain before your enemies; they who hate you shall reign over you, and you shall flee when no one pursues you.'"

Indeed, if the people refused to adhere to their Lord's statutes, He would not only turn His face away from them, turning His protecting arm away from them, but He would actually set His face against them, actively exerting His power against them to be slain before their enemies, in direct contrast to their enemies falling before them.  Rather than the people being free and walking upright in liberty and confidence, they would again be ruled by their enemies, and in their fear, they would flee even though no one actively pursued them, in stark contrast to the promised blessing of very small numbers of them being able to chase hundreds of their enemies.

(18) "‘And after all this, if you will not yet hearken to me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins.'"

If after these punishments the people still did not listen to their Lord and walked in disobedience to Him, He would punish them abundantly more, not necessarily exactly seven times more, but the number seven generally represented perfection or completion, which in this case, might mean the complete measure of His wrath, which no man could endure.

(19) "'And I will break the pride of your power; and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass.'"

With that more complete and severe measure of His wrath, He would indeed break their pride and arrogance in their own power.  To make their heaven as iron would be to make it solid and dry, giving no rain or dew; their earth would be as brass, so that nothing could grow out of it.

(20) "'And your strength shall be spent in vain, for your land shall not yield its produce, nor shall the trees of the land yield their fruit.'"

All their work would be in vain as their land and the trees of the land would not bear any fruit or produce.

(21) "'And if you walk contrary to Me, and will not hearken to me, I will bring on you seven times more plagues, according to your sins.'"

If still the people refused to walk with their Lord, but were in active opposition to His ways, He would bring even more plagues in proportion to their transgressions of His righteous laws.  Again, it's not another seven times His wrath, but a more complete measure of it now including the following additional plagues:

(22) "'I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, destroy your livestock, and make you few in number; and your highways shall be desolate.'"

Not only would they work in vain and be attacked by their enemies, but even wild beasts would be allowed to destroy their livestock, kill their children, even kill them reducing their number, and making their highways desolate, both by the reduced number of them and because of their fear of the beasts of prey.  Again this is in stark contrast to the peace they would feel when God rid the land of evil beasts (v. 6) if they obeyed Him and followed in His statutes.

(23) "'And if you will not be reformed by Me by these things, but will walk contrary to Me, (24) Then I will also walk contrary to you, and I will punish you yet seven times for your sins.'"

Finally, if the people refused to be reformed by God's previous punishments (for that is always the goal of God's chastisement, to bring His people back to Him, back to their only life), and if they continued to walk contrary to Him and His ways, then He would also be contrary to them, turning away from them, and even setting His face toward them to punish them even more severely.

(25) "'And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of My covenant; and when you are gathered together within your cities I will send pestilence among you; and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.'"

If the people refused to be reformed, God would bring a sword against them, bringing war and captivity by their enemies, or killing them Himself by pestilence.  He would avenge the outraged cause of His covenant.

(26) "'When I have cut off your supply of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall bring back your bread by weight, and you shall eat and not be satisfied.'"

When God cut off the supply of their bread, rather than everyone baking in her own oven, there would be only enough for ten women to bake in one oven, and it would be divided and rationed by weight among ten families, and would not be enough to satisfy their hunger.

(27) "'And if you will not, after all this, hearken to me, but walk contrary to me, (28) Then I will walk contrary to you also in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins.'"

If still the people refused to reform their ways, and continued to walk contrary to the ways of their Lord, He would also walk contrary to them in fury.  Not just contrary to them, but in heated anger.  The original word translated as "fury", "chemah", a form of our word "chemical", also means "venom, poison".  The Lord Himself, even HE, would bring even greater punishment than they could imagine, as described in the following:

(29) "'And you shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters you shall eat.'"

Truly this was an unimaginable horror that they would be reduced to cannibalism of their own children because of their desperate hunger.

(30) "'And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcasses upon the carcasses of your idols, and My soul shall abhor you.'"

The high places were elevated areas dedicated to idol worship according to other scriptures (Deut. 12:2, Num. 22:41).  The word translated as "image" is "chamman" and referred to idols and images used in idol worship; I can't help but see the similarity to our word "shaman" that refers to someone dealing with supernatural and otherworldly spirits.  The Lord then vowed to cast their dead bodies upon their dead worthless idols, and He would detest them.  I couldn't help but notice that all the other verses above spoke of "IF you...", but this one didn't say "if you" worship images of idols in high places, but assumed the people would positively be worshiping idols if they were not following God's statutes and refused to reform their ways.  I think this proves people will always choose to follow something; even if they think they are agnostic and don't take a position either way, they are listening to spirits that are seeking to move them away from the one true God of life.  There are only two choices, life and death, everlasting life in the one true God and death in anything else:

“I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live, that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days..." - Deuteronomy 30:19-20a

He alone is your life!  Anything else in which you put your faith is a worthless idol, and you will die upon your dead worthless idols, whatever they might be.

(31) "'And I will lay your cities waste and bring your sanctuaries to desolation, and I will not smell the scent of your sweet odors.'"

If the people repeatedly refused to reform and follow God's statutes, He would destroy their cities or allow them to be destroyed by their enemies, and would also destroy their sanctuaries.  Since the word is plural here, it seems to imply that the people might have more than their one sanctuary, their Lord's tabernacle; He vowed to bring them all to desolation, and He would refuse to accept any of their incense and sacrificial offerings.

(32) "'And I will bring the land to desolation, and your enemies who dwell in it shall be astonished at it.'"

God would bring their entire land to desolation, and their enemies who took possession of their land would be astonished at the desolation of the land once so fruitful.

(33) "'And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you; and your land shall be desolate and your cities waste.'"

The Lord would drive the people out of their promised land and scatter them far and wide among the heathen nations.  Whether the Lord figuratively drew a sword and drove them out or if by the swords of their enemies they were driven out, they would be definitely driven out.  Possibly the meaning is that the sword would follow them into the heathen nations and they would have no rest there, either.  The fact that their land would be desolate and their cities waste is repeated.

(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. (35) As long as it lies desolate it shall rest because it did not rest in your sabbaths when you dwelt in it.'"

When the people were driven out of the land into their enemies' lands, their promised land would then enjoy those sabbatical years of rest from tilling that they did not give it in their disobedience.  Adam Clarke, in his Commentary on the Bible, pointed out that this was prophecy that became a historical truth:

“From Saul to the Babylonish captivity are numbered about four hundred and ninety years, during which period there were seventy Sabbaths of years; for 7, multiplied by 70, make 490. Now the Babylonish captivity lasted seventy years, and during that time the land of Israel rested. Therefore the land rested just as many years in the Babylonish captivity, as it should have rested Sabbaths if the Jews had observed the laws relative to the Sabbaths of the land.”

(36) "'And upon them who are left, I will send faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; and the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them; and they shall flee, as fleeing from a sword; and they shall fall when no one pursues. (37) And they shall fall one upon another, as it were before a sword, when no one pursues; and you shall have no power to stand before your enemies.'"

God would then strike any of the children of Israel who were left alive in the lands of their enemies with such a fear that the sound of a rustling leaf would cause them to flee, as if fleeing for their lives, and they would fall even when no one was really pursuing them.  In their fear and confusion, they would stumble over one another, fleeing for their lives, even though no one was actually pursuing them.  They would have no power or strength of spirit to oppose their enemies.

(38) "'And you shall perish among the heathen, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up.'"

The people would die among the heathen in their lands that would eat them up, in one way or another, perhaps by the sword or by disease.  Perhaps the meaning is just that they would die in these heathen lands as the graves in these lands would swallow them.

(39) "'And those of you who are left shall waste away in their iniquity in your enemies’ lands; and also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they waste away with them.'"

The children of Israel who remained alive after all this, would waste away in their enemies' lands for their iniquities, the same iniquities of their fathers before them, and they would likewise waste away with them.

(40) "'If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they 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 then their uncircumcised hearts are humbled, and they then accept the punishment of their iniquity, (42) Then will I remember My covenant with Jacob, and also My covenant with Isaac, and also My covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land.'"

Wow!  What a merciful and loving God He was, that no matter how far and long the people rejected and resisted their Lord, if they were to confess their iniquities and the iniquities of their fathers, acknowledging that they had been sinning against their Lord for a long time, admitting they had walked contrary to their Lord, acknowledging that was the reason He, in turn, had walked contrary to them and had brought them to the land of their enemies...  If then their uncircumcised hearts were humbled, "uncircumcised" meaning "exposed", as in the acknowledgment of the sin in their hearts, and if they then bore their punishment without grumbling, realizing it was just punishment for their sins against their God, then He would remember His covenant with their fathers before them.  It's not that He had ever forgotten it, but He would then fulfill and make good all He had promised Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham, and He would remember their promised land.

(43) "'The land also shall be left empty by them, and will enjoy its sabbaths while it lies desolate without them; and they shall accept the punishment of their iniquity because they despised My judgments and because their soul abhorred My statutes.'"

When they accepted their just punishment, and acknowledged their land lay desolate because of their iniquity, they would understand it was all because they had despised and resisted the judgments and statutes of their Lord.

(44) "'And 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.'"

Even after all their wickedness and refusal to reform that would necessitate the ever increasing severity in the punishment of His people in verses 14 through 39 above, God would never totally destroy them thus breaking His covenant with them.  He will always leave a remnant and allow for the repentance of His people and their return to Him, for He is, was, and will always be their Lord God.

(45) "'But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the heathen, that I might be their God; I am the LORD.'"

Not for the sake of their merits, but because He so loved them, for their own good and benefit, He would remember the covenant of their ancestors whom He brought out of bondage to the heathen Egyptians, that He might be their God.  Once again, He was their Lord, THE Lord, whose sovereign power rescued them and continued to save a remnant of them in spite of their sinful ways, ever faithful to His promise to their forefathers, no matter how far these descendants might have strayed.

(46) These are the statutes and judgments and laws which the LORD made between Himself and the children of Israel in Mount Sinai by the hand of Moses.

All the preceding statutes and judgments and laws in this and preceding chapters of the book of Leviticus were part of the covenant made between the Lord and the children of Israel in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, delivered through Moses.  This chapter dealt mainly with God's promises to His people if they kept the commandments laid out in previous chapters, His punishments if they refused to obey them, and His promise to remember those who repented and to always save a remnant.  How wonderful that our sweet Lord saves us in spite of our sinful selves!  Isn't that exactly what He did by sending Jesus to save us?

Year of Jubilee

Continuing a chronological Bible study:

(Leviticus 25:1) 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.'"

After an interruption in the delivering of laws by God to Moses in the last chapter, when a law concerning blasphemy was sought and given and executed, we return to the Lord delivering laws to Moses to pass on to the people.  The Lord spoke to Moses near Mount Sinai where the people were encamped.  The Lord instructed Moses to tell the people that when they came to the land of Canaan that He was giving to them, the land itself was to keep a Sabbath to the Lord, which was explained in subsequent verses.

(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 rest for the land, a sabbath for the LORD; you shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard.'"

For six years the people were to sow their fields and prune their vineyards and gather the fruit of their fields and vineyards, but the seventh year was to be one of sabbath rest for the land, a Sabbath to the Lord, when the people were to do no sowing or pruning.

(5) "'That which grows of its own accord of your harvest you shall not reap, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine, for it is a year of rest for the land.'"

Even that which grew of its own accord without sowing or tending was not to be gathered, as there was to be a complete year of rest for the land.

(6) "‘And the sabbath of the land shall be food for you, for you, for your servant, for your maid, for your hired man, and for the stranger who dwells with you, (7) And for your cattle, and for the beasts that are in your land; all its increase shall be for food.'"

That which grew on its own accord during the sabbath rest of the land was to be food for all, for the people and all connected to them, including the animals.  Exodus 23:11 made it a point to state that during this year the land would provide for the poor and the animals:  "But the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie still, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave, the beasts of the field may eat. In like manner you shall do with your vineyard and with your olive grove."  Here in Leviticus 25:6, it states plainly it would be food for all, but in no way was it to be gathered and stored for the owners, to the neglect of others, including the poor and animals, but was to be left as food for all.

(8) "‘And you shall count seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years; and the time of the seven sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine years.'"

The people were to count for themselves seven such seventh-year sabbaths, seven times seven years, making forty-nine years.

(9) "‘Then you shall cause the trumpet to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement you shall make the trumpet sound throughout all your land.'"

After the end of the forty-nine years, at the beginning of the fiftieth year, specifically the tenth day of the seventh month of Tisri, about September or October, on the Day of Atonement, which was to be on the tenth day of the seventh month (Lev. 23:27), they were to sound the trumpet throughout their land.  Interestingly, the original King James Version of the Bible stated "cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound, but according to Albert Barnes and other Bible commentators, the word "jubilee" did not occur in this verse in the Hebrew.  Since the time the KJV was translated, older manuscripts have been found, and those do not include the word "jubilee".  That apparently was a note made by a scribe and picked up as part of the original scripture by the KJV translators.  This became known as the Year of Jubilee and the time when this trumpet of jubilee would be sounded, but it apparently was not called as such at this particular point in this particular verse.

(10) "‘And you shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants; it shall be a jubilee for you, and you shall return every man to his possession, and you shall return every man to his family.'"

The fiftieth year was to be set aside as holy, and liberty was to be proclaimed throughout the land to all inhabitants.  It was to be a year of jubilee, the original word "yobel" having more to do with the continual sound of the trumpet, than it meant rejoicing or jubilation.  It was a year of liberty for all servants and from all debts.  The ancient historian Josephus said the word "jobel" signified "liberty".  Any possession that had been mortgaged to another or any person who had sold himself into servitude was to be returned.  This was not to be understood as a wrong to the purchaser since the time of the year of Jubilee was always known, and negotiations were made accordingly.

(11) "‘That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee to you; in it you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of its own accord, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine.'"

Just as in the seventh year sabbath rest for the land, in the fiftieth year, the year after seven seven-year periods, called the year of Jubilee, the people were not to sow or reap what grew of its own accord in the fields and vineyards.

(12) "‘For it is the jubilee; it shall be holy to you; you shall eat its produce from the field.'"

The jubilee was to be holy to them.  They were not to gather and store the produce that grew of its own accord, but were rather to go out every day and gather only what was needed for their present consumption.

(13) "'In the year of this jubilee you shall return every man to his possession.'"

This is repeated from verse 10; in the year of Jubilee, every man was to have his possession returned, and have himself returned to his family if he had sold himself into servitude.

(14) "‘And if you sell anything to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor’s hand, you shall not oppress one another.'"

If and when the people sold to or bought anything from their neighbors, they were not to cheat one another.  They were not to take advantage of one another by giving less than an item was worth or selling it for more than it was worth.

(15) "‘According to the number of years after the Jubilee you shall buy from your neighbor, and according to the number of years of the fruits he shall sell to you.'"

The number of years until the next Jubilee was to be taken into consideration when determining a fair market value.  Additionally, in the case of land or crops, it was to be taken into account how many of those years would be fruitful ones, deducting the sabbatical years when the land was allowed to rest.

(16) "‘According to the multitude of years you shall increase its price, and according to the fewness of years you shall diminish its price; for according to the number of the years of the fruits he sells to you.'"

A fair price was to be set according to the number of harvests.  The average value of a yearly crop might be estimated and the sabbatical years were to be deducted from the number.  If the Jubilee to come was far away, the price would be more; if it was soon to come, the price would be much less.

(17) "‘Therefore you shall not oppress one another, but you shall fear your God; for I am the LORD your God.'"

The people were strictly forbidden to cheat one another, but were to fear their Lord God who knew all things done in secret and was well able to avenge the oppressed.

(18) "'Therefore you shall do my statutes and keep my judgments, and do them; and you shall dwell in the land in safety.'"

God promised that if the people observed and performed His commandments, they would dwell in safety.  Some people want to accuse God of simply being authoritarian and if people dare to step out of line, they are punished.  That is not the point.  God's laws are about life and life more abundant, and by choosing to obey God's wise laws, people chose life and safety from the elements and from enemies:

“I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days..." - Deuteronomy 30:19-20a

“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy; I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." - John 10:10

(19) "'And the land shall yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill, and dwell there in safety.'"

If the people adhered to God's wise laws, including the ones regarding how to treat the land, that land would provide for them, not merely in the bare minimum to sustain them, but they would have their fill, and would dwell in their land in safety.  Matthew Henry, in his Commentary on the Whole Bible, pointed out that the original word "betach", translated as "safety", signified "both outward safety and inward security and confidence of spirit, that they should be quiet both from evil and from the fear of evil."  Indeed, Strong's Exhaustive Concordance defines it as "properly a place of refuge; abstractly safety, both the fact (security) and the feeling (trust)."

(20) "‘And if you say, “What shall we eat in the seventh year if 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.'"

God assured the people that if they wondered what they would have to eat in the seventh year if they were not allowed to sow nor gather any produce, that He would indeed bless their obedience, and in the sixth year, they would have produce enough for three years!  I made it a point to say earlier that the wise laws of God were of themselves designed to provide blessing and abundance.  However, in this case, there is nothing so special about the sixth year of harvest that it should produce three times as much as the fourth or fifth year.  This was certainly the providence of the Lord God to bring blessing to those who trusted Him completely and depended on Him alone for their sustenance.  What an awesome truth to remember about our Lord and Savior!  Whereas the world and secular worldly people depend on themselves and other mere men and government, etc., to provide for their needs, those people who love their Lord, follow Him to the best of their ability, and look to Him for their provision, will indeed be taken care of:

"Therefore take no thought, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘How shall we be clothed?’ (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek) for your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." - Matthew 6:31-33

For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly. - Psalm 84:11

The LORD will not allow the soul of the righteous to famish, but He casts away the substance of the wicked. - Proverbs 10:3

 And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. - Philippians 4:19

It must be noted that God supplies our needs, but not necessarily our wants!  We may not even realize what all our spiritual needs are, but we should remember that all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).  If we seek to live our lives according to the will of God, ALL things will work together for good!  However, that doesn't necessarily mean what our puny mortal beings consider good, but what our all-seeing, all-knowing God knows is good!  If we recognize that our Lord is all good and trustworthy, then we can have faith through even the most difficult circumstance and leave it to His greater will.  I believe that is the true meaning of Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."  It's not that we can do all the things we want because He always strengthens us to do them, but rather He gives us the strength to do all things that come our way.

(22) "‘And you shall sow the eighth year, and eat still of old fruit until the ninth year; until its fruits come in you shall eat of the old harvest.'"

In the sixth year before the sabbath rest of the land, because of the Lord's blessing, the land would bring forth so much produce that while they sowed in the eighth year, they would still be eating of the sixth year's produce, even until the ninth year, to sustain them until the fruits of the eighth year's harvest came in.

(23) "'The land shall not be sold forever, for the land is Mine, for you are strangers and sojourners with Me.'"

The land could never be permanently sold, because it was always released during the year of Jubilee.  The reason given for this was that the land was the Lord's and it was He who was giving it to be used by them, strangers, guests invited to dwell in it with Him.  If only we saw all things as belonging to the Lord and to be shared as He has so blessedly shared with us!  The year of Jubilee reminded the people of this fact.  All debts were forgiven then and all things returned to the original owners, so that no person ever bought something permanently.  Obviously, that couldn't pertain to perishable things or things that were totally consumed, but land, people, and I would imagine animals, and maybe even structures, tools, and the like, were considered the Lord's.  It is obvious to us that land and people and animals might be considered as belonging to God, but maybe not so obvious that things "we created ourselves" also belong to God.  We should always remember that it is the Lord who gives us the talents, resources, and conditions, to achieve goals, get wealth, and acquire things (Deut. 8:17-18).

(24) "‘And in all the land of your possession you shall grant a redemption for the land.'"

In all the land of Canaan that the Lord was giving to His people, they were to grant the power to recover the land to the original holder who had parted with it, as the land was never to be permanently sold.

(25) "'If your brother becomes poor, and has sold some of his possession, and if his relative comes to redeem it, then he may redeem what his brother sold.'"

If one of the Israelites became poor and sold some of his possessions through necessity, a relative was permitted to redeem it by buying it back, in the interim between Jubilees.

(26) "'And if the man has no one to redeem it, but he himself becomes able to redeem it, (27) Then let him count the years since its sale, and restore the remainder to the man to whom he sold it, that he may return to his possession.'"

If the poor man had no relative to immediately redeem his possession, but later became able to redeem it himself, then the number of years since the sale were to be taken into consideration, and he was to pay for the rest of the years still to come, and he must be allowed to thus buy back his possession during the interim between Jubilees.

(28) "‘But if he is not able to have it restored to himself, then what was sold shall remain in the hand of him who bought it until the Year of Jubilee; and in the Jubilee it shall be released, and he shall return to his possession.'"

If the poor man was unable to have his possession redeemed either by a relative or by himself at a later date, then his possession was to remain in the hand of the purchaser until the Year of Jubilee, at which time all possessions were to be returned to their original owners.

(29) "'And if a man sells a dwelling house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it is sold; within a full year he may redeem it.'"

It appears that a difference was placed between houses in the city and houses in the country.  If a man sold a dwelling house within a walled city, he had just one year to redeem it.  I believe we can safely surmise the reasons for this.  A house within a city stood a very good chance of housing a business.  If a man bought a house and sought to start a business, it would be most inconvenient to have that business moved in a few years because of Jubilee.  Matthew Henry suggested that perhaps "houses in walled cities were more the fruits of their own industry than land in the country, which was the immediate gift of God's bounty."

(30) "'And if it is not redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house in the walled city shall be established forever to him who bought it, throughout his generations; it shall not be released in the Jubilee.'"

A year was given to the man who sold his property within the city, as he may have had a financial necessity that forced him to sell but planned to buy it back when able within the year.  However, if it was not redeemed within a full year, the property became the permanent property of the man who bought it, and was not to be released at Jubilee.  At this point in scripture, Dr. John Gill, in his Exposition of the Entire Bible, also made it a point to speculate that "houses were not like lands, the gift of God, and held under Him, but were built by men, and were their absolute property, and therefore they could dispose of them..."

(31) "'But the houses of the villages which have no wall around them shall be counted as the fields of the country; they may be redeemed, and they shall be released in the Jubilee.'"

Houses outside the walled city, even those in villages, as long as they were outside the city walls, were to be treated as the open fields of the country, and could be redeemed at any time or released at Jubilee.

(32) "‘Nevertheless the cities of the Levites, and the houses in the cities of their possession, the Levites may redeem at any time.'"

In the case of the Levites, their houses within their cities could be redeemed at any time.

(33) "‘And if a man purchases a house from the Levites, then the house that was sold in the city of his possession shall be released in the Jubilee; for the houses in the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel.'"

If a man bought a house from the Levites, that house was to be released in the Jubilee.  The reason for this was that the Levite priests had no real inheritance of their own in Israel; all they had were the houses in their cities in which to dwell, and the freewill offerings and support they received from the people.

(34) "'But the field of the suburbs of their cities may not be sold, for it is their perpetual possession.'"

Only houses of the Levites could be sold, but never permanently.  The fields surrounding their houses could never be sold.  A Levite's land was not something he personally owned and could add to or improve, but was given to him for sustenance.  The land surrounding Levites' houses was more of a common land in which to keep their cattle, etc., and not individually owned.

(35) "'And if your brother becomes poor, and falls into decay among you, then you shall help him as you would a stranger or a sojourner, that he may live with you.'"

If one of their own people fell into poverty, he was not to be regarded as an outcast, but was to be helped and supported, and treated with the same respect and consideration as they might give a foreigner who could possess no land, but could accumulate personal property and live in comfort among them.

(36) "‘Take no usury or increase from him, but fear your God, that your brother may live with you.'"

There was to be no interest added to the help and support given a brother who had fallen into poverty, but the people were to fear their God who commanded this in His mercy to care for the poor among them.  What a wonderful principle!  People who have fallen on hard times being expected to repay help along with high interest often can never climb out of their destitution.  However, a wealthy man who buys to add to his assets should be expected to pay interest and allow the seller or lender to share in the profit with the buyer or borrower.

(37) "‘You shall not give him your money on usury, nor lend him your food for increase.'"

Speaking of a brother who became poor and borrowed out of necessity (not one who borrowed for gain), the child of Israel was not to charge any interest on money he lent, nor ask for any increase above what he loaned.

(38) "‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.'"

This expounded on the 36th verse which stated the people were to fear their God, their Lord, the One who brought them out of Egypt to give them the land of Canaan.  As God was gracious and merciful to them when they were in bondage, so ought they be to their brethren who fell into "decay" (v. 35).

(39) "'And if your brother who dwells by you becomes poor, and sells himself to you, you shall not compel him to serve as a slave, (40) But as a hired servant and as a sojourner, he shall be with you, and shall serve you until the Year of Jubilee.'"

If a neighboring brother became so poor that he sold himself into service, he was not to be treated as a slave, as property, but as a hired servant who received his wages and went on his way, or as a lodger or guest in his home.

(41) "‘And then he shall depart from you, he and his children with him, and shall return to his own family, and to the possession of his fathers he shall return.'"

Then at the time of Jubilee, that neighbor must be allowed to leave his service, he and any of his family with him, and return to his own family and take possession of the inheritance of his fathers that may have been what he was obliged to sell in his time of desperate poverty.

(42) "‘For they are My servants, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as slaves.'"

The people, those poor neighbors who had sold themselves into servitude, were some of the very people God Himself redeemed and brought out of servitude in Egypt.  They were His people and could never be sold as slaves.

What an awesome scripture!  Although it speaks specifically of God redeeming the people He b(r)ought out of bondage in Egypt, I can't help but think how we are all servants of God, every one of us!  Sure, everyone can accept that a Christian is a servant of God, but all over the Bible are examples of how everyone, people and animals, can be used by God as His servants.  After all, we are all created by Him and for Him:

For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things were created by Him, and for Him. - Colossians 1:16

Even our leaders, it appears, whether they profess to be Christians or not, were created by God and for Him and His purposes.  Consider also:

Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring to themselves damnation. - Romans 13:1-2

That is not to say that every governing authority is good, but not one can come into power outside the power of God.  Every leader we have ever had is either appointed or allowed by God.  That can be very uncomfortable to some when we think of the likes of Hitler.  However, there is a balance of free will and God's will that occurs.  Bad things happen to good people.  I don't say that to trivialize the atrocities that happened under Hitler.  I have come to understand that we live in this bad fallen world, and awful things happen.  But God also uses the bad to bring about good:

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. - Romans 8:28

God may even allow those bad things to bring about greater good.  Think of a parent who would die to save her child.  Is that not what Jesus did for us?  For all of us?  If a child witnessing the faith of his father in a horrific situation brought that child to salvation in Jesus Christ, how many fathers would willingly go through it again to save their children?  How many times has the very worst of circumstances brought out the best in people?  How many times has sinking to the very bottom finally brought a person back to God, His only salvation?  Punishment by God in the Bible was often used to bring His people back to Him, their only salvation:

"I struck you with blight and mildew and hail in all the labors of your hands; yet you did not turn to Me," says the LORD. - Haggai 2:17

Out of heaven He let you hear His voice, that He might instruct you; on earth He showed you His great fire, and you heard His words out of the midst of the fire. - Deuteronomy 4:36

My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the LORD loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? - Hebrews 12:5b-7

It is also important to note that as a perfect being, God's absolutely pure and holy nature cannot tolerate sin.  Not only that, but His absolute love requires that He hate sin and evil.  A lack of wrath against wickedness would be a lack of caring which is a lack of love.  He loved us so much that He saved us in spite of our evil selves! (Romans 5:8)  Because He is absolutely pure, perfect, and completely loving, we can have faith that what He brings or allows is for our ultimate good, and we can trust Him completely.  When good people or small children go through horrific pain and death, we can be assured their reward is great with God:

We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. - 2 Corinthians 5:8

The righteous perishes, and no man takes it to heart; merciful men are taken away, and no one considers that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. - Isaiah 57:1

"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when men revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you." - Matthew 5:10-12

We can trust God!  Because He is perfect and loving and just, He will do the right thing!  He just will!  It's his nature; He can't do anything but what is perfect and right.  Therefore we never have to question Him.  We may not totally understand His ways in our flawed selfish human minds, but we can be sure that He is perfect and loving and faithful and will do the perfect thing.  To be absent from the body and this earth is to be with the Lord in everlasting peace and joy and love and perfection.  I also don't believe anyone will be taken out of this world before his time, and before he would have come to accept the Lord had he lived just a little longer.  Once again, because the Lord is completely just, and because He knows all, He knows the heart of man and whether or not he would have come to accept the saving grace of Jesus Christ, so we can have faith and trust Him completely!

Back to us all being servants of God--although Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem and destroyed the temple, he was called a servant of God:

And now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant; and the beasts of the field I have also given him to serve him. - Jeremiah 27:6

In Numbers 22, we have the story of God opening the mouth of His servant at that particular time, a donkey, to explain to Balaam what he could not see with his eyes:

Then the LORD opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?”...And the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden, ever since I became yours, to this day? Was I ever disposed to do this to you?” And he said, “No.” Then the LORD opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the Angel of the LORD standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand; and he bowed his head and fell flat on his face. - Numbers 22:28, 30-31

Oh, that we would always remember that we are ALL servants of God!  Because we are all God's creations and His servants, we should never enslave one another, nor kill one another, as in murder or through abortion.

Now back to Leviticus 25:

(43) "‘You shall not rule over him with rigor, but you shall fear your God.'"

Referring to the poor brother who was God's servant (v. 42), he was not to be treated with severity or cruelty, but the people were to fear their God and obey Him in this respect, as He was the One who could avenge His people who were treated cruelly.

(44) "'Both your bondmen and your bondmaids whom you shall have, shall be from the heathen that are around you, from them you may buy bondmen and bondmaids.'"

If the people were to have slaves, they were allowed to have them from the heathen nations around them, but not of the people of Israel.  Why would God allow slavery at all if all people were His creations?  All I can say is that slavery existed already in all cultures around the world, but God put forth rules regarding how they should be treated civilly.  The Old Testament world where there were laws that had to be obeyed put a divide between God's people and heathens.  However, in our present New Testament world where God sent Jesus to save us all from our sins and the law, God desires all men be saved (1 Tim. 2:4), not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Pet. 3:9).  Did He not care for all people in the Old Testament?  Of course, He did!  “Do you think that I like to see wicked people die? says the Sovereign LORD. Of course not! I want them to turn from their wicked ways and live." (Ezekiel 18:23 NLT)  In Old Testament times, the Law was all there was.  When Jesus came, He saved us from the Law.  That is not to say He eliminated the law, He just gave us a way to God even though we could not adhere to it; He covered our sins with His precious blood and made us pure and able to be with God.

(45) "‘Moreover you may buy the children of the strangers who dwell among you, and their families who are with you, which they begat in your land; and they shall be your possession.'"

Children of foreigners who dwelt among them and their families that they brought forth in the Israelites' land, were permitted to be owned as slaves.  Once again, all I can say about slavery is that it was the custom of the times.  Although it was not the only way a person could become a slave, one thing about it was that a person always had something of value to sell even when they had sold every possession.  They could sell themselves into servitude and then they would be housed and fed.  In that respect, if done by a person's free will, it wasn't a bad thing, and the Law protected slaves against injustice and cruelty at the hands of their owners.

(46) "‘And you shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them as a possession; they shall be your bondmen forever; but over your brethren, the children of Israel, you shall not rule over one another with rigor.'"

The bondmen or slaves that the people were permitted to own of the groups described above, these would be as their property that could be passed on to their heirs to be their possessions.  They would be their bondmen or slaves forever, meaning they did not have to be released at Jubilee.  However, it was repeated that their Israelite brothers were never to be taken as slaves.

(47) "‘And if a sojourner or stranger close to you becomes rich, and your brother who dwells by him becomes poor, and sells himself to the stranger or sojourner close to you, or to a member of the stranger’s family, (48) After he is sold he may be redeemed again; one of his brethren may redeem him, (49) Either his uncle, or his uncle's son, may redeem him, or anyone who is near of kin to him in his family may redeem him; or if he is able he may redeem himself.'"

In the case of a foreigner who dwelt among them who became rich, and an Israelite brother who had become poor and sold himself into bondage to the rich foreigner or a member of his family, illustrating how a brother might become a slave among them, that slave was permitted to be redeemed.  Any of his near kin could redeem him, or if he was able, he could redeem himself.

(50) "'And he shall reckon with him who bought him from the year that he was sold to him to the year of Jubilee; and the price of his sale shall be according to the number of years, according to the time of a hired servant shall it be with him.'"

The price of the redemption of the brother sold into bondage to a foreigner who dwelt among them (v. 47) was to be calculated according to the years of service until Jubilee.  The brother who sold himself into bondage to a foreigner who dwelt among them was never to be considered permanent property of the foreigner, and that foreigner must take that into account when he "purchased" the Israelite bondmen, knowing he would never be paid back more than that amount.

(51) "‘If there are still many years remaining, according to them he shall repay the price of his redemption from the money with which he was bought. (52) And if there remain but a few years until the Year of Jubilee, then he shall reckon with him, and according to his years he shall repay him the price of his redemption.'"

This is further explanation of the price of redemption for the Israelite brother who had sold himself into bondage.  At the time he was redeemed, if there were many years left until Jubilee, then the redemption price would be higher, according to that number of years remaining, and if there were only a few years left until Jubilee, that was also taken into consideration, and the redemption price would be lower.

(53) "'And he shall be with him as a yearly hired servant, and he shall not rule with rigor over him in your sight.'"

Being able to be redeemed at any time and allowed to go free, the Israelite brother who had sold himself into bondage to the wealthy foreigner who dwelt among the Israelites, was to be treated as a hired servant rather than as a slave, personal property of the owner.  The person he was sold to was not permitted to treat him harshly or cruelly.  I don't believe the meaning here is that he could be treated cruelly in private, but that the people were charged with revealing knowledge of any such cruelty they had witnessed.  Obviously, a foreigner in a foreign land could not be expected to adhere to such rules, but one who wished to dwell with the Israelites was required to obey them.

(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.'"

Being treated as a yearly hired servant, redeemable every year, even if he was not redeemed in any of those years, he was to be released in the Year of Jubilee, he and any of his family 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.'"

Once again, God asserted that the children of Israel were His people, His servants, the ones He brought and redeemed out of the land of Egypt, and He alone was their Lord God, to whom they belonged.  This redemption and Jubilee were beautiful symbols of the Christ to come.  Through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the slave to sin, who was in debt to God's judgment, can have his life redeemed and his debt discharged.  A person who sold himself into bondage to Satan and sin can be redeemed and freed and can become a son of God through faith in the blood of Jesus Christ.  We, all being children and servants of God, forfeit our rights to the Kingdom of God because of our sins, but we are all able to be redeemed by faith in Christ.  Compare a slave released in Jubilee to a life in bondage for decades released and completely free from those bonds of sin in an instant "jubilee" when he accepts Jesus's saving grace.  I also can't help but think of a life on earth that is filled with heartaches and struggles, but because of his faith in Christ, oh what a jubilation there will be when he gets to heaven! 

God Gives Moses the Tablets of Stone

Continuing a Bible study in a chronological order set forth by Skip Andrews here:

(Exodus 31:1) And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (2) “See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah."

In the previous chapters, God had been telling Moses how to build a tabernacle, how to make the various altars and utensils that would be used in the tabernacle, and how to clothe and anoint the priests.  He now told him that he had called a specific craftsman by the name of Bezaleel to do some of the work.  Bezaleel was from the tribe of Judah, the grandson of Hur, who was probably the same Hur that was with Moses and Aaron and helped support Moses's hands during the battle with Amalek (Exodus 17:10-12), and who was left in charge with Aaron while Moses was on the mountain (Exodus 24:14).

(3) "And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, (4) To devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, (5) And in cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship."

God said He had filled Bezaleel with His own Spirit in wisdom, understanding, and knowledge in all sorts of workmanship, to be able to create and construct designs in gold, silver, brass, as well as the cutting and setting of jewels, and wood carving.  This shows how the "natural talents" of a person are gifts from God.  We all have seen the difference between someone who reads and studies to do something, and one who seems to have been born with a natural talent to do the same thing.  That "natural" talent is God-given and God-inspired by His own spirit, and we should be ever thankful to Him for the talents we possess.

(6) “And I, behold I, have appointed with him Aholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and I have put wisdom in the hearts of all who are wise hearted, that they may make all that I have commanded you:"

God also called Aholiab, who was from a different tribe, to work with Bezaleel.  The commentaries that I study suggest in so many words that this was to keep one tribe from getting too prideful.  All parts of the body of Christ are needed and have honor (1 Corinthians, chapter 12).  God once again said that He was the One who put wisdom in all who are wise, and He had put the talents in these two men to carry out all He had commanded Moses to make.

(7) "The tabernacle of the congregation, the ark of the Testimony and the mercy seat that is on it, and all the furniture of the tabernacle, (8) And the table and its utensils, the pure gold candlestick with all its utensils, the altar of incense, (9) And the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the laver and its base, (10) And the cloths of service, the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest's office, (11) And the anointing oil, and sweet incense for the holy place; according to all that I have commanded you they shall do.”

God then gave Moses a recap of all that He had commanded him that these two men should make--the tabernacle itself, the ark with its mercy seat, all the furnishings and utensils of the tabernacle, the candlestick, the altars, the wash basin, the holy garments to be worn by the priests, the incense, and the anointing oil.  All the instructions that God had given Moses in the previous several chapters, He now instructed to be carried out by Bezaleel and Aholiab.

(12) And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (13) “Speak also to the children of Israel, saying, ‘Verily My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you. (14) You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to you; everyone who defiles it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. (15) Six days may work be done, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD; whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.'"

In their work on the tabernacle and its furnishings, God told Moses to warn the people that they were to observe the Sabbaths of the Lord.  That was a sign between God and His people that He had given them as one of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20, that was to be observed throughout their generations, and was not to be skipped even in their zeal to do God's work on the tabernacle.  It was Albert Barnes, in his Notes on the Bible, who pointed out in the last chapter that here was where there was a distinction between being put to death and being cut off from his people.  If you read verse 14 alone, you might assume there was a difference between defiling the Sabbath and working on the Sabbath.  Perhaps defiling it was to do evil on the day or to worship idols on the day set aside for God.  It was Matthew Henry, in his Commentary on the Whole Bible, who referred to Isaiah 56:2, where God said that the man was blessed who kept his hand from doing any evil on the Sabbath.  Defiling, doing evil, on the Sabbath was punishable by death, but perhaps disobeying in one's zeal for God and neglecting the Sabbath, was still disobedience and punishable by excommunication, but perhaps was distinguished from the evil act deserving of death.  However, when you read the verse in context along with verse 15, scripture clearly states that doing work on the Sabbath does defile it, and that act alone was punishable by death.  The Sabbath was a holy day set aside for rest and devoted entirely to God.  Ignoring it was defiling that holy day and was punishable by death.

(16) "‘Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. (17) It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.’”

The children of Israel were admonished to always observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as an everlasting covenant between them and God, at least as long as the Mosaic law continued until the coming of the Messiah.  It was a sign between God and His children, patterned after His creation week when the Lord made heaven and earth in six days, and then rested on the seventh.  Not only did He rest, but He was refreshed.  That is a remarkable statement regarding the God of the universe!  Albert Barnes, in his Notes on the Bible, pointed out that this word "refreshed" was not applied to God anywhere else in the Bible.  Indeed, I found it in only two other verses, one in Exodus 23:12 where it referred to the people being refreshed on the Sabbath day, and one in 2nd Samuel 16:14, where the king and the people refreshed themselves.  Obviously, God did not have need of a rest to be refreshed, but wanted His people to imitate His example because mere humans indeed did need rest.  Jesus Himself said in Mark 2:27 that the Sabbath was made for man, and not man made for the Sabbath.  God made the Sabbath to be a rest and refreshment for man, and He patterned it after His creation week.  In observing the Sabbath, the children of Israel declared to the world that they worshiped the one true God who created the world in six days and rested on the seventh.  It was a sign that they were His people, and He was their Lord. 

(18) And He gave to Moses, when He had made an end of speaking with him on Mount Sinai, two tablets of testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.

At the end of God's conversation with Moses on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses two stone tablets, incredibly written with His own finger, a lasting record of testimony that represented the covenant between God and His people.  Some theologians have suggested that God didn't actually write the tablets Himself; "with the finger of God" meant it was done instantaneously, by His will and power immediately, without the use of any instrument.  Others, like Adam Clarke, in his Commentary on the Bible, citing Dr. Henry Winder in his History of Knowledge, believed that not only did God write the tablets Himself, but that until He did, there had been no writing in alphabetical characters, but only marks or symbols or hieroglyphics.  I don't see that that is confirmed by scripture.  Back in Exodus 17:14, God told Moses to write a memorial in a book.  True, it could have been written with symbols, but I see no need to prove that God invented the alphabet.  I do believe it is confirmed in scripture that God Himself wrote the tablets.  In Exodus 24:12, God told Moses to come up to Him on the mountain where He would give him tablets of stone which He had written.  A little later in Exodus 32:16, it will refer to the writing on the tablets being the writing of God.  As He always does to surely establish a fact (Deu. 19:15, Matt 18:16, 2 Cor 13:1), this was confirmed at least three times in scripture, so I believe that God did indeed write the tablets.  Whether He took the time to painstakingly chisel them into stone, or spoke them and they were instantly written, I don't see that it makes a difference.  God wrote the tablets so that His people would have a permanent record of His Testimony, that is, the written laws of His will concerning His people.  This permanent record written by their Lord Himself emphasized the supreme importance His law was to play in their lives.  I believe the stone tablets "written with the finger of God" is illustrative and representative of the fact that these laws were to be ultimately and even more permanently written on our hearts (2 Corinthians 3:3). 

The Ten Commandments

Continuing a chronological Bible study:

(Exodus 20:1) And God spoke all these words, saying, (2) “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage."

In chapter 19, God told Moses to clean and sanctify the people and bring them to the mountain and He would speak to Moses in the hearing of the people.  He spoke these words in an audible voice out of a thick fiery smoke on top of the mountain.  He began by telling the people that He was their God, the One who had brought them out of bondage in Egypt, perhaps showing them that He alone had the sovereign right to enact the laws He was about to give them, as their part of the covenant with God that they unanimously agreed to obey and keep.

(3) “You shall have no other gods before Me."

God began with the first of what we call the "ten commandments".  His people were to worship Him only.  They had come from Egypt where they had been exposed to many gods.  It was Albert Barnes in his Notes on the Bible, who pointed out that the meaning was more than having no other gods "in front of" or "above" and in that respect "before" God, but rather literally have no other gods "before My face", or in God's presence.  No other god was to be worshiped, period.  I've always learned this to mean that we shouldn't put any idols of worship above God, or more important than God, but God doesn't want us to have any idols at all, but we are to worship only Him.

(4) “You shall not make for yourself any carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; (5) You shall not bow down to them nor serve them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, (6) And showing mercy to thousands of those who love Me and keep My commandments."

This has always been a difficult one for me.  Are we not to have any pictures of Christ or symbols of God in our churches?  I don't want to flippantly disregard a commandment with "just as long as we don't worship it" to fit what I want the commandment to be.  I really want to understand the commandments as they were intended by God.  I do believe it must be a case of not making statues or images of God Himself who has no body, for the sake of bowing down and worshiping this image of God.  God is more awesome and unimaginably wonderful than anything our human minds could conjure up; to make Him into this carved image of our imagination is to greatly diminish Him.  The commandment surely couldn't mean that there could be no images at all of things that are in heaven, etc., because cherubim were instructed to be used in the tabernacle furnishings and for the ark of the Covenant (Exodus 25:18).  Therefore I believe that we may have symbols of our worship, spiritual symbols, but the key is that we don't bow down to a symbol we have made as if we were bowing to our one true God.

Indeed, God commanded that the people not bow down or serve false idols because He was a jealous God!  "Jealous" has a negative connotation these days--envious and resentful, creating bitterness and fear.  There are two other dictionary definitions of "jealous"--"solicitous or vigilant in maintaining or guarding something" and "intolerant of unfaithfulness or rivalry".  I believe these are the more accurate descriptions of God's jealousy for His people.  God loved His people as the most loving husband would love his spouse, actually much more, and He is jealous for their fidelity, solicitous and vigilant in guarding it, because He is always about what is best for His people.

"Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children..." is a little harder to get my head around, but after reviewing other references, it becomes clear that God does not punish children for their father's sins, but they will indeed suffer because of their father's sins.  Deuteronomy 24:16 says, "Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall children be put to death for their fathers; a person shall be put to death for his own sin."  However, there are references to the fact that children suffer because of their father's sins, such as written in Lamentations 5:7, "Our fathers sinned and are no more, but we bear their iniquities."  Likewise, those descendants who come from parents and grandparents who walk in the ways of the Lord and obey His commandments will reap benefits and blessings.  There are definite consequences for actions that will pass down to subsequent generations.  That is not to say that sovereign God never personally blesses or punishes.  Romans 9:18 says, "Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens."  God constantly refines His people, and uses His rod and staff to keep them on the correct path.  I find that His chastisements are usually always about getting His people back to Him and back on the right path, reminding them of where they should put their trust and faith.

(7) “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain."

We have tended to make this commandment about using God's name in profanity, but it is about much more.  The original word "shav" translated as "vain" more completely means "empty, vain, false, worthless".  Actually, Leviticus 19:12, speaks of two distinct abuses of the Lord's name:  "And you shall not swear by My name falsely, nor shall you profane the name of your God: I am the LORD."  God's name is to be used with deep reverence and respect and should never be flippantly used in exclamations, swearing, or appealed to as a witness of the truth.  The LORD "will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain."  We have a tendency to believe that words don't actually harm, so we don't usually give them the same level of importance as we give actions.  Although there may not seem to be any real consequences for abusing the Lord's name, and the abuser himself may say he didn't mean anything by it, the Lord finds it of utmost importance and says He will account him guilty.

(8)  “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy."

The Israelites had already been observing a Sabbath day.  In Exodus 16, they were instructed to gather twice as much manna on the sixth day because the seventh day was the rest of the holy sabbath to the LORD (Exodus 16:23).  God had actually blessed and sanctified the sabbath day in the beginning (Genesis 2:3).  Whether it was something the Israelites had been observing for a long time or something the Lord had begun to institute with the manna, He now told the people that they were to remember the Sabbath day and to keep it holy.  The original word that was translated as "holy" here is "qadash", and it meant something causatively set aside, pronounced or observed, as morally or ceremonially clean.  The day was to be a day set aside and observed as a holy day of God.

(9) "Six days you shall labor and do all your work, (10) But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. (11) For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it."

The Israelites were allowed six days to labor and do their work, but they were to do no work on the seventh day.  I believe by including all other household members, cattle, and strangers, the implication is that they also shouldn't hire out or use their animals to have any work done on the sabbath day.  Exodus 23:12 added, "that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female servant and the stranger may be refreshed."  The day was to be observed as holy by the Israelites, but was also to be considered a day for rest for all people and animals.  Why did the Lord command this?  Verse 11 further explained what had been told us in Genesis 2:3, that the Lord Himself rested on the seventh day and had blessed and hallowed the sabbath day.  It's not as if the Lord was wearied from creating and had to rest, but his created beings do need rest, and He chose to rest and symbolically set aside a day for His people to likewise rest.  It's a day for them to rest in Him; they physically rest, but they also spend time in prayer and communion with the Lord which spiritually feeds them for the tasks of the week ahead.  The Sabbath day is a holy day to the Lord, but it was created for the benefit of the Lord's people.  We must not become legalistic and forget the spirit of the law.  Luke 13:14 spoke of a ruler of a synagogue who was indignant with Jesus because He healed a woman on the Sabbath; he specifically quoted the scripture in verse 9, that there were six days on which men ought to work and therefore could come and be healed on them, but not on the Sabbath day.  Jesus Himself said in Mark 2:27 that the "Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath."  He added that He, Jesus Christ, was Lord of the Sabbath.  I believe the rest on the Sabbath was symbolic of the rest we have in the Lord of the Sabbath, as described in Hebrews 4.  So does there still remain a commandment to observe the Sabbath day and keep it holy?  I have personally struggled with this and wondered if I am justifying myself by saying that Jesus Christ IS the Sabbath and by resting in Him, I obey this commandment.  I will continue to study this as it is written about in scripture, but I thought this quote by Adam Clarke in his Commentary on the Bible, was beautiful food for thought:  "...but the thing signified by the Sabbath is that rest in glory which remains for the people of God, therefore the moral obligation of the Sabbath must continue till time be swallowed up in eternity."

(12) “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God gives you."

The ten commandments have always been considered to be able to be divided into two groups, possibly grouped as such, one on each stone tablet that the Lord wrote (Deut. 4:13).  Jesus summed up the commandments into two:  "Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself." (Matt. 22:37-39)  The first few commandments, and possibly the first tablet, deal with how we honor and love the Lord with all our hearts, souls, and minds, and the last few deal with how we are to love our neighbors.  "Honor your father and mother" has been most of the time considered part of how we deal with others, and would mean the ten commandments were divided into two groups as the first four, and then the last six.  However, I like what Albert Barnes wrote, in his Notes on the Bible:  "According to our usage, the fifth commandment is placed as the first in the second table; and this is necessarily involved in the common division of the commandments into our duty toward God and our duty toward men. But the more ancient, and probably the better, division allots five commandments to each table, proceeding on the distinction that the first table relates to the duties which arise from our filial relations, the second to those which arise from our fraternal relations. The connection between the first four commandments and the fifth exists in the truth that all faith in God centers in the filial feeling. Our parents stand between us and God in a way in which no other beings can."  Mr. Barnes also referenced the Apostle Paul in Romans 13:9, where he summarized just five commandments for how we ought to love our brother, and he did not include honoring our parents.

The Apostle Paul also pointed out that this commandment was the first with a promise (Eph. 6:2), which may tell us how important this commandment is to God.  It is expanded upon a little more in Deuteronomy 5:16, "Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may be well with you in the land which the LORD your God is giving you."  A long life in that good land was promised particularly to obedient children.  Those who do their duty to their parents are most likely to have the comfort of that which their parents gather for them and leave to them.  Besides physical property that parents might leave, there are usually continual prayers for their children.  In this day, there may be some who believe their parents do not deserve such love and respect, but God used those parents as instruments to bring those children into the world, whomever they may be, and for that they are deserving of some degree of honor.  If indeed this commandment is one that teaches us filial respect, then it helps us to learn respect for all authority--parents, government, and ultimately God (Heb. 13:17, 1 Pet. 2:13).  Isn't that usually the way with our sweet Lord?  His laws are generally always about our ultimate good, rather than a commandment just for commandment's sake.

(13) "You shall not kill."

The word translated as "kill" is "ratsach".  It is generally understood to mean "murder".  Strong's says it this way:  "A primitive root; properly to dash in pieces, that is, kill (a human being), especially to murder: - put to death, kill, (man-) slay (-er), murder (-er)."  Discussions can and have been made far and wide over what this actually means.  Does it include war, capital punishment, abortion, suicide, and killing animals?  These will be debated until Jesus returns.  And speaking of Jesus, He said this:  “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not kill, and whoever shall kill will be in danger of the judgment.' But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment; and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council, but whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire." (Matt 5:21-22)  I am not going to try to decipher every word of that passage in Mark just yet, but I believe the gist is that one word might be judged by the council, but another is still judged by Jesus; He said in so many words that it was possible to have murder in our hearts, and that is what is judged by God.  Personally, I believe that we must follow the examples put forth in the Bible regarding what actions constitute murder.  Once again, we can debate whether war is ever justified, but I don't believe it is considered murder and breaks this commandment, as we have many examples of war in the Bible.  Once again, we can debate capital punishment, but it would not be considered murder to lawfully execute someone who had committed a particularly heinous crime; again we have examples in the Bible.  Abortion?  In that case, I believe we have examples to the contrary, that God never condoned the taking of an innocent baby's life.  Suicide?  As we should not take the life of any other living human being, I believe we don't have the right to take our own lives.  The killing of animals for food and clothing is certainly permitted in the Bible, but certainly no torturing of animals for sport would be.

(14) “You shall not commit adultery."

In its strictest sense, committing adultery is having relations outside the marriage relationship, whether it is one married person with a single person, or two people married to others.  However, once again our Lord had stricter guidelines:  “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." (Matthew 5:27-28)  Once again, it is about what's in a man's heart, and notice that Jesus didn't say "whoever looks at a married woman"; he just said "woman".  Consider also the fact that Jesus included fornication when He spoke of the wickedness that comes from the heart: "But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies." (Matthew 15:18-19)  I believe it is no stretch to conclude that the seventh commandment refers to all sexual activity outside the marriage bed.  Sex apart from marriage would be an adulterous act against God's design for marriage and sexual relations in the marriage bed.

(15) “You shall not steal."

The eighth commandment is pretty straight forward.  We are not to take another's property.  This means physically taking by force or taking stealthily or by fraud or deception.  Unjust contracts, withholding a worker's pay, making a slave of a person against his will, not repaying agreed upon debts, not restoring what is borrowed, etc., would all be examples of stealing.

(16) “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor."

I had occasion to study this commandment back when I studied the first chapter of Exodus when the Hebrew midwives lied to Pharaoh and would not kill the baby boys as commanded.  God blessed the midwives, and I had to wonder if God could bless liars.  It was suggested to me that perhaps God blessed them in spite of their lying, but after studying the words of this commandment, I do not believe it is a blanket commandment against all lying.  I honestly believe "white" lies to protect people and their feelings would not be sins against this commandment.  This commandment is about injuring your neighbor by bearing a false witness against him, either a public false charge or private gossip and slander whereby he may suffer in his character, reputation, or in his business.  Rather than a long list of what we must not do, the 1599 Geneva Bible Translation Notes explained this commandment succinctly, "But further his good name, and speak truth."  Further your neighbor's good name and do not speak falsely in a way that will diminish him.  If the commandment is truly about building up your neighbor and not tearing him down, then I honestly don't believe that a "white" lie meant to protect or build up a person could be considered a breach of this commandment.  In the New Testament, Paul went as far to say in Philippians 2:3 that we should esteem others better than we esteem ourselves.

(17) “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his maid servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”

Jesus seemingly took the commandments against killing and adultery to another level by adding that if you even think about those things, you have committed a breach of the commandment.  However, this last commandment in itself does seem to suggest that we not injure our neighbor in thought.  The sixth, seventh, and eighth commandments forbid us to injure our neighbor in deed, the ninth forbid us to injure him in word, and the tenth in thought.  Once again, I point to Matthew 22:37-40, when Jesus summed up all the commandments into two--loving the Lord with all your heart, soul, and mind; and loving your neighbor as yourself.  The last five commandments all pertain to how we are to treat one another.  This final one commands us not to covet or to desire or long after those things belonging to or accomplished by our neighbor.  James in the New Testament explained why this was so important:  "But every man is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it brings forth sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death." (James 1:14-15)  Sinful actions start with our own covetous desires.  I like what Adam Clarke wrote in his Commentary on the Bible.  His words were a little too flowery for my taste, but I will give him credit for his idea that this commandment "is a most excellent moral precept", and that observing it alone would prevent "all public crimes".  I am giving him credit for part of his words, but actually that idea is obviously why Jesus was able to sum up half the commandments with just loving your neighbor as yourself.  Certainly, if we treated everyone the way we wanted to be treated, I can't imagine there would be any crimes against people.

(18) And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. (19) And they said to Moses, “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.”

In the last chapter, before the Lord began speaking in the hearing of the people, there were thunderings, lightnings, smoke, and a loud trumpet.  This statement is either repeated, or these things continued or perhaps just occurred again at the end of the Lord's speaking.  Before God spoke, the people were breaking forth to gaze upon Him, or at least desired to do that which was what the Lord wanted to prevent, lest they die (Exodus 19:21).  After hearing Him, they were so moved with awe and fear, they moved themselves back and stood afar off.  Those same people who would have pushed themselves out front to approach God now realized their need for a mediator and welcomed Moses to speak to them on God's behalf.

(20) And Moses said to the people, “Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin.”

Moses reassured the people not to fear that the Lord had come to destroy them.  He indeed could easily destroy them and it was important that they understood His power and respected it.  Thus they understood their need for a mediator, and they had a reverent awe and fear for the Lord that would make them careful (as opposed to being careless and flippant) to obey His laws.

(21) And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.

At the end of the last chapter, the Lord had sent Moses back down the mountain to insure the people would keep their distance.  However, He had told him at that time that he, Moses, and Aaron, alone, were to come up the mountain.  Moses, having had that prior authorization, now left the people standing afar off and went back to where God was.

(22) And the LORD said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘You have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. (23) You shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall you make for yourselves gods of gold.'"

The Lord told Moses to tell the people the words of the Lord, that He had indeed spoken to them from heaven.  I find it very interesting that the Lord took this opportunity to repeat and more fully describe His commandment that the people not make little gold or silver idols to be representative of Him.  John Wesley suggested this was because "they were more addicted to idolatry than to any other sin."  Perhaps it was just a preface to what was to come afterward, not to make idols for Him, but rather make a simple altar as instructed.  Most likely, the Lord knew that was exactly what the people would do as they did in Exodus 32 when they made a golden calf.  I suppose that indeed suggests the statement of John Wesley is true; the people were so addicted to idolatry and symbols of worship, that the Lord knew they needed this extra reiteration.

(24) "‘An altar of earth you shall make for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen; in all places where I record My name I will come to you, and I will bless you.'"

I believe the point here is that these are directions for constructing temporary altars before the tabernacle was built.  God would have very specific instructions for the tabernacle, but if His people wanted to construct a temporary altar for Him, then it was to be a simple one from the earth.  There they could sacrifice their offerings.  In all places, that is, wherever the Lord was worshiped at this makeshift altar, He would come to them and bless them.  That sentiment was repeated by Jesus Christ in Matthew 18:20, “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”

(25) "‘And if you make Me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stone; for if you use your tool on it, you have polluted it.'"

If the people chose instead to make a stone altar, perhaps because they were in a rocky place, then the altar was still to be a simple one with natural rocks.  They were forbidden to use hewn stones or to use any tools to carve out or make their altars.  Perhaps in carving, they would be tempted to carve idols.  Without God's specific instructions for a more elaborate altar, the people were to keep theirs simple and natural, for as was discussed with the second commandment, the people could in no way imagine and create anything equal to God, and anything they created would diminish Him and become a worthless idol of their worship.

(26) "'Neither shall you go up by steps to My altar, that your nakedness may not be discovered on it.’"

And finally, regarding the building of a temporary altar, it should not be made with steps going up to it.  I feel like partly this was to again keep it simple, but Matthew Henry in his Commentary on the Whole Bible had a reasonable explanation for why this was added.  He wrote they were appointed to "make their altars very low, so that they might not go up by steps to them. That the higher the altar was, and the nearer heaven, the more acceptable the sacrifice was, was a foolish fancy of the heathen, who therefore chose high places; in opposition to this, and to show that it is the elevation of the heart, not of the sacrifice, that God looks at, they were here ordered to make their altars low."

I had a little difficulty understanding the second half of that verse regarding their nakedness, but the old commentaries took that literally.  It has already been discussed and established that it was foolish to make steps going up to a high altar anyway, so in doing so, the only thing accomplished is that you would expose yourself to those underneath.  Dr. John Gill put it this way in his Exposition of the Entire Bible, anyone doing this would "be in danger of discovering those parts which would make them the object of contempt and ridicule with the people", and "all immodesty and indecency, and whatever tends to create impure thoughts and stir up unclean lusts, should be carefully avoided in his worship."  In summation, the altar should be a simple one where God promised to come to them and bless them.  I will close this study with the words of Matthew Henry:

"Afterwards, God chose one particular place wherein to record his name: but that being taken away now under the gospel, when men are encouraged to pray every where, this promise revives in its full extent, that, wherever God's people meet in his name to worship him, he will be in the midst of them, he will honour them with his presence, and reward them with the gifts of his grace; there he will come unto them, and will bless them, and more than this we need not desire for the beautifying of our solemn assemblies."