https://esv.literalword.com/?q=Leviticus+25
Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Thursday, 13 March 2025:
Leviticus 25:1-7 – The Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you, the land shall keep a Sabbath to the Lord. For six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its fruits, but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the Lord. You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard. You shall not reap what grows of itself in your harvest, or gather the grapes of your undressed vine. It shall be a year of solemn rest for the land. The Sabbath of the land shall provide food for you, for yourself and for your male and female slaves and for your hired worker and the sojourner who lives with you, for your cattle and for the wild animals that are in your land: all its yield shall be for food.”
We observed previously it took great faith for the Israelites to take a day off from working and collecting food every week. Perhaps it took even more faith to let land rest for one year out of seven. However, not only did this demonstrate and validate complete dependence on the Lord and His perfect provision, it also proved to be beneficial to the land itself, rendering it more fruitful during the other six years. In the modern era, science revealed that the year of rest helps restore vital nutrients to the soil that are depleted by constant use.
Leviticus 25:9-12 — On the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet throughout all your land. And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to his property and each of you shall return to his clan. That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you; in it you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of itself nor gather the grapes from the undressed vines. For it is a jubilee. It shall be holy to you. You may eat the produce of the field.
Listen to this message from Michael Reeves on how Jesus will fulfill the ultimate Jubilee and restore all things anew: https://learn.ligonier.org/conferences/the-gospel-2016-national-conference/all-things-new-the-return-of-christ
It took great faith and trust in the Lord to rest one day a week on the Sabbath and to let land rest one year in seven. How much more faith and trust in the Lord did it take a nation to take one year off every 50 years, while also cancelling all debts? Can you even imagine a year when no one worked and focused on grateful, hopeful worship before the Lord? What would that be like?
Leviticus 25:17 – You shall not wrong one another, but you shall fear your God, for I am the Lord your God.
Reverent worship of God changes the way you deal in business with other people.
Leviticus 25:23-28 – In the jubilee it shall be released, and he shall return to his property.
God’s standards keep the land equally divided among the people with no one able to gain control and exploit others.
Leviticus 25:25 — If your brother becomes poor and sells part of his property, then his nearest redeemer shall come and redeem what his brother has sold.
“Thus far, we have seen that the atonement of Jesus accomplished many things. First and foremost, the atonement satisfied God’s justice. In Christ, the Father punished the sin of His people, revealing Him as just and the justifier of those who trust Jesus (Rom. 3:21–26). The cross also represents our Savior’s victory over the power of sin and Satan (Col. 2:15; Heb. 2:14). We have also been introduced to the atonement as a ransom paid to God that fulfills our obligations and forgives our debt (Mark 10:45). But more can be said about the ransom view of the atonement, especially in light of its Old Testament background.
Exodus 21:1–16 is one of many passages that regulated slavery under the old covenant. Typically, one Israelite could not enslave another. However, Israelites who incurred debts that they were unable to pay could enslave themselves to their Israelite creditors and work off the debt. Such slavery was temporary indentured servitude, not the harsh chattel slavery the Israelites suffered in Egypt.
Verse 4 says a freed Israelite slave could not take his wife with him if he had become a slave as a single man and received a wife from his master. Keeping the wife in bondage seems cruel, but in ancient Israel a husband had to pay a sum to his wife’s father in order to marry her. The slave could not take the wife with him when he was freed if he had not paid the bridal price, even if the debt he incurred as a single man had been paid off. To keep his wife, the slave could earn enough money elsewhere to pay his father-in-law (or master) or remain enslaved (vv. 5–6).
Leviticus 25:23–28 is also pertinent to the concept of paying a ransom. This law of the kinsman redeemer was put in place to protect families in Israel. Families were supposed to retain the property allotted to them under Joshua, but sometimes people became poor and had to sell their land. The kinsman redeemer was a close relative who bought the property back for the family in such cases. This protected the inheritance and made sure the poor relative would not be absolutely destitute.
Jesus is our Kinsman Redeemer, who paid the bridal price for us and also satisfied our debt so that we would not lose our inheritance. The debt He paid was a moral one, and such payment was possible only through God’s amazing grace.
We are accustomed to thinking of a sibling or a parent as our closest relative. For those who are in Christ, however, Jesus is our closest relative, our closest kinsman who paid our debt when we could by no means pay it ourselves. This willingness to pay the price for our salvation is evidence of His great love for us, love that He showed when we were unlovely. We must therefore love Him more than our spouses, siblings, parents, or children.” (Ligonier Ministries)
Leviticus 25:35 — If your brother becomes poor and cannot maintain himself with you, you shall support him as though he were a stranger and a sojourner, and he shall live with you.”
God has a very high expectation of how we should treat the poor around us.
Leviticus 25:36-37 – “Take no interest from him or profit, but fear your God, that your brother may live beside you. You shall not lend him your money at interest, nor give him your food for profit.”
There are several verses in the Bible which state that God’s people should not earn money from lending money with interest.
“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 13 March 2025: Rejoice humbly in your salvation today and demonstrate your gratitude by sharing the Truth of Jesus Christ to as many as you can today.
Defenders Bible Reading Plan 