ESOCS Devotional 4 January 2022
TEXT: LEVITICUS 25:1-24
MEMORY VERSE:
“And if ye shall say, what shall we eat the seventh year? Behold we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase: Then will I command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years.” Lev. 25: 20-21
The institution of the Sabbath is one that God placed premium on right from the beginning: “And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his works which God created and made” (Gen. 2:3). Further to the sanctification of the Sabbath, at the giving of the Ten Commandments God made the Sabbath the object of the fourth commandment: “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy” (Exod. 20:8). In Exodus 23:10-11, God instituted the Sabbath of the land, being every seventh year for the land to rest without being cultivated; yet it produced fruit for the poor, the stranger, and beasts to eat unchallenged. In the passage under consideration, the Ordinance of the Sabbath of the land is reinforced, and the year of Jubilee is instituted in the fiftieth year, at the end of the observance of seven Sabbaths of years (49 years).
The implication was that in the 49th and 50th years, they were not to cultivate their farms, neither were they to claim ownership of the produce of their farms in the uncultivated period, as it was meant for all, especially for the poor and beasts (vs. 11-12). Following the perceived question in verse 20, God replied stating that He will multiply the yield of the sixth year to suffice for the 6th, 7th and 8th year. Not that they were to sow more in the 6th year but that by divine providence the miracle of bumper harvest was going to be released upon them for their obedience in keeping the Sabbath of the land. The miracle of manna was such that the faithless and disobedient gathered more than required in order to store up for the next day; but by dawn they were rotten and stank. However, it is noteworthy that the extra gathered on the 6th day for the Sabbath day remained fresh. This was also the providential miracle of the Sabbath. By the ordinance of the sabbatical year and jubilee, they were taught; let us also learn from them that:
- God owns both the land and the persons (both our businesses and us). He is the real Landlord.
- That some persons may not swallow up others perpetually but that we may learn to share with the poor.
- The jubilee foreshadowed our redemption by Christ from sin and Satan, and restoration of our eternal inheritance, which we sold for nothing.
God is capable and ready to make up for the time you spend serving Him away from your business. He has promised to do so, and will do so. On your part, you need to trust and obey Him, and be in church on worship days. On His part, God will give you the miraculous providence for the Sabbath.
- Are you still wrestling with the Sabbath instead of resting?
- Say this prayer: Almighty Father, I beseech thee, help me to trust and obey you and to keep the Sabbath day holy. I look up unto you for that miraculous provision as of old, in the name of Jesus Christ.
Read Other ESOCS Devotional here
FURTHER READING: Isaiah 1:18-31; Luke 6:20-26; 1 Corinthians 3:10-23
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ESOCS Devotional 4 January 2022
