Daily Scripture Reading Leviticus 25:18-34
Ethan loaded the last box into his old, rusty car and hugged his mother goodbye. At twenty-one, he was moving three hours away from home for his first real job after college. His parents assured him he would do fine.
When he arrived at his new home, he opened utility accounts, bought some used furniture, and went to the grocery store. After putting his food in the refrigerator, it hit him. He was now responsible for paying his own expenses. Also, his car needed some repairs. He felt a weight descend upon him. That night he went to bed worrying that he would not be able to earn enough money to pay all his living expenses.
Humans naturally worry about having enough money to buy the food and clothing that is needed. However, God has consistently promised throughout history that He will provide our needs. Today’s passage is one example.
The first half of Leviticus 25 tells us God instructed the Israelites that upon entering the Promised Land, the land itself must be allowed to rest every seventh year. For six years the Israelites were permitted to sow fields, prune vineyards, and harvest crops, but in the seventh year they were to observe a year-long Sabbath rest.
Also, after seven cycles of sabbath years, they were to observe the Year of Jubilee. Every 50th year, they were to blow a ram’s horn on the Day of Atonement and proclaim liberty throughout the land. Everyone was to return to their ancestral land. Planting, reaping, and harvesting were also prohibited during the Year of Jubilee.
This meant land sales were regulated as temporary leases based on the number of years remaining until the next Jubilee. It prevented exploitation.
Lev. 25:18 ¶ ‘You shall thus observe My statutes and keep My judgments, so as to do them, that you may live securely on the land.
Lev. 25:19 Then the land will yield its fruit, so that you can eat your fill and live securely on it.
Lev. 25:20 But if you say, “What are we going to eat on the seventh year if we do not sow or gather in our produce?”
Take note of the anticipated question. If the Israelites were not allowed to plant or harvest for two years, then they would want to know what they would eat. This is a reasonable question. It is a question humans have asked throughout history. People naturally worry about being able to make ends meet.
Lev. 25:21 then I will command My blessing for you in the sixth year that it will bring forth the produce for three years.
Lev. 25:22 So you shall sow the eighth year and eat old things from that produce, eating the old until the ninth year when its produce comes in.
Yahweh promised that He would provide enough abundance in year six that the Israelites would have enough from that year to last for several years.
Yahweh has always provided what His people need. When the Israelites left Egypt and began wandering through the wilderness, Yahweh provided manna on the ground to feed them (see Exodus 16). David wrote that Yahweh was his shepherd; therefore, he did not want (see Psalm 23). When Elijah went to the brook Cherith, Yahweh sent ravens to sustain him (see 1 Kings 17).
The New Testament speaks on this topic. Jesus commanded us not to worry because, just as our heavenly Father feeds the birds of the air, so too He can feed us (see Matthew 6). Paul wrote that God will meet all our needs (see Philippians 4:19).
Lev. 25:23 ¶ ‘The land, moreover, shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are but sojourners and foreign residents with Me.
Lev. 25:24 Thus for every piece of land of your possession, you shall provide for the redemption of the land.
Lev. 25:25 ¶ ‘If a brother of yours becomes so poor he has to sell part of his possession of land, then his nearest kinsman redeemer is to come and redeem what his brother has sold.
Lev. 25:26 Or in case a man has no kinsman redeemer, but recovers his means and finds sufficient payment for its redemption,
Lev. 25:27 then he shall calculate the years since its sale and return the balance to the man to whom he sold it, and so return to his possession of land.
Lev. 25:28 But if he has not found sufficient means to return it to himself, then what he has sold shall remain in the hands of its purchaser until the year of jubilee; but at the jubilee it shall revert, that he may return to his possession of land.
These provisions provided a way to help those who needed help, but at the same time, the requirement to return all land to its original owner in the Year of Jubilee prevented the exploitation of the poor.
Lev. 25:29 ¶ ‘Likewise, if a man sells a house for habitation in a walled city, then his redemption right remains valid until a full year from its sale; his right of redemption lasts a full year.
Lev. 25:30 But if it is not redeemed for him within the space of a full year, then the house that is in the walled city passes permanently to its purchaser throughout his generations; it does not revert in the jubilee.
The ownership of houses in walled cities could be permanently transferred, but land outside a walled city could not be permanently sold.
Lev. 25:31 The houses of the villages, however, which have no surrounding wall, shall be considered as open fields; they have redemption rights and revert in the jubilee.
Lev. 25:32 As for cities of the Levites, the Levites have a permanent right of redemption for the houses of the cities which are their possession.
Lev. 25:33 What, therefore, belongs to the Levites may be redeemed, and a house sale in the city of their possession reverts in the jubilee, for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the sons of Israel.
Lev. 25:34 But pasture fields of their cities shall not be sold, for that is their perpetual possession.
We humans naturally worry about having enough money to buy the food and clothing we need. However, just as Yahweh promised to provide food even when the Israelites allowed the land to rest, so too God has consistently promised throughout history that He will provide our needs. Jesus commanded us not to worry about our food and clothing. Paul reassured us that God will provide all we need.
How much do you worry about finances?
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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”