Worthy of Consideration

1 Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, 2 who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God’s house. 3 For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. 4 (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) 5 Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, 6 but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope. – Hebrews 3:1-6 ESV

The Jews had high regard for angels as heavenly messengers sent from God. But the author of Hebrews wanted his Jewish readers to know that angels were nothing when compared to Jesus, the Son of God, the greatest of divine messengers with the greatest of messengers.

When it came to the topic of salvation, the Jews knew of no greater savior than Moses, who had single-handedly rescued their forefathers from captivity in Egypt. As a result, they held Moses in high esteem. So the author of Hebrews asks his audience to “consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession” (Hebrews 3:1 ESV).

The Greek word for “consider” means “to fix one’s eyes or mind upon” (Thayer’s Greek Lexicon). It would be like saying, “take a long, hard look at Jesus.” Jesus was the apostle or messenger, sent by God with the good news regarding salvation by faith in Him alone. But He was also our high priest, a title the author will elaborate on in greater detail later in his letter. As high priest, Jesus offered a better sacrifice, a one-time, never-to-be-repeated sacrifice that completely satisfied the just demands of a holy God and provided complete forgiveness of sins and a way for man to be restored to a right relationship with God.

As God’s messenger and high priest, Jesus was faithful to His divinely ordained assignment. And the author compares His faithfulness to that of Moses, who was chosen and sent by God to the people of Israel with a message of deliverance. God had told Moses to go to the people of Israel who were living in captivity in Egypt and announce the good news of their pending deliverance.

“Yahweh, the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—has appeared to me. He told me, ‘I have been watching closely, and I see how the Egyptians are treating you. I have promised to rescue you from your oppression in Egypt. I will lead you to a land flowing with milk and honey.’” – Exodus 3:16-17 NLT

Moses did what God commanded, although somewhat reluctantly. He obeyed God and, as they say, the rest is history. God delivered His people through the faithful leadership of Moses, with the assistance of Aaron, Moses’ brother whom God would later appoint the high priest of Israel. But as great as Moses was considered by the people of Israel for what he had done, “Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses” (Hebrews 3:3 ESV). Why? Because Moses was a faithful servant, but Jesus was the faithful Son.

It is important to recognize the seriousness of what is going on here. For the Jew, Moses was the founder and architect of their entire religion. While Abraham was the father of the nation, it was through Moses that they received the Law, the sacrificial system, and the Tabernacle. They believed that without Moses, they would never have escaped Egypt and become a nation. So when the author gives Jesus greater glory than Moses, he is treading on sacred ground for the Jew. But his point seems to be that Jesus, as the Son of God, the divine messenger, and the high priest of the faith, has ushered in something far greater and more significant than the law, the sacrificial system, or the Tabernacle. And he will spend the rest of his letter expounding on and explaining why he believes that to be so.

The author makes a strong statement regarding the deity of Christ when he compares Moses, the servant of God, with Jesus, the Son of God. Moses deserved honor for what he accomplished, much like a newly constructed home deserved honor for its beauty. But the real glory should go to the builder, not that which was built. Moses, though faithful, was an instrument in God’s hands. None of what he accomplished would have happened without God’s help. But Jesus, as the Son of God, is different, because “the builder of all things is God” (Hebrews 3:4 ESV). Jesus was divine, the Son of God and the creator of the universe. Remember how the author opened his letter? “…he [God] has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world” (Hebrews 1:2 ESV). Jesus was not just a messenger sent from God, He was God in human flesh. As such, He deserves the same degree of glory as God the Father.

The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. – Hebrews 1:3 NLT

Moses had helped establish the house of Israel. That is not only a reference to the covenant community of Israel but to Moses’ oversight of the construction of God’s house, the Tabernacle. Moses had been given detailed plans for building God a dwelling place on earth, where He promised to reside among His people. So, when the author states that Moses “was faithful in all God's house,” he is emphasizing Moses’ unparalleled example of faithfulness among God’s people but he is also pointing out Moses’ faithful project management over the construction of God’s dwelling place. Every aspect of God’s house was carefully and faithfully carried out down to the last detail.

The author recognizes that Moses was due honor and glory for having helped make the house of God possible. Had Moses not done his job, the Tabernacle would have never been started or completed. So, in that sense, “the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself” (Hebrews 3:3 ESV). But ultimately, “the builder of all things is God” (Hebrews 3:4 ESV). The Tabernacle had been God’s idea and Moses had simply carried out the plans that God had established for His earthly dwelling place.

But Moses had been more than a builder; he had been a leader. He had played a significant role in leading the people of God to the land promised to Abraham, their father in the flesh. But Jesus had come to establish a new household of faith, a family of God that would be made up of both Jews and Gentiles and based on a righteousness that comes from faith, not works.

Paul referred to it as “the household of faith” (Galatians 6:10). He told the Gentile believers in Ephesus, “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God” (Ephesians 2:19 ESV).

The Jewish Christians to whom the letter of Hebrews was addressed needed to be reminded that their allegiance was no longer to Moses and the law. Their hope was not to be in the sacrificial system or some earthly dwelling place like the Tabernacle or Temple. They were to consider Jesus. They were now part of His household of faith. But the author warns them that they must “hold fast” their confidence in Jesus. They must boast in the hope they have in Him. There was nothing and no one else worth boasting about or placing their hope in. They were to keep their eyes fully focused on Jesus, “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2 ESV).

Moses had built a Tabernacle in which God could dwell among His people. But Jesus became the ultimate tabernacle when He left His Father’s side and came to earth in human form. John writes, “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us” (John 1:14 BSB). The Greek word John used is σκηνόω (skēnoō), which means “to fix one’s tabernacle, have one’s tabernacle, abide (or live) in a tabernacle (or tent), tabernacle.”

In His incarnation, Jesus became God’s dwelling place on earth. He was “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15 ESV). As the second person of the Trinity, Jesus took on human flesh so that He might make God visible to mankind. The Tabernacle, built by Moses, held the glory of God but it was invisible and unapproachable to anyone but the high priest, who could enter the Most Holy Place once a year on the Day of Atonement. But Jesus made God visible to all, and He was not only the “tabernacle” of God’s presence, but the builder.

Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.
    He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,
for through him God created everything
    in the heavenly realms and on earth.
He made the things we can see
    and the things we can’t see—
such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world.
    Everything was created through him and for him.
He existed before anything else,
    and he holds all creation together.  – Colossians 1:15-17 NLT

Jesus came to expand God’s house. The Tabernacle was long gone and it would not be long before the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed. But Jesus came to build a new house of God made up of Jews and Gentiles, slave and free, male and female. Moses had been faithful in God’s house (the earthly Tabernacle), but Jesus was faithful over God’s new house, the church.

Christ, as the Son, is in charge of God’s entire house. And we are God’s house, if we keep our courage and remain confident in our hope in Christ. – Hebrews 3:6 NLT

Like the Jews reading this letter, we can easily find ourselves considering something other than Jesus. We can end up placing our hope in our religious upbringing, our spiritual accomplishments, or the fact that, at some time in the past, we placed our faith in Jesus as our Savior. But the walk of faith is always looking forward, not backward. It is about the hope that lies ahead. It is always considering Jesus, the founder, and perfecter of our faith. In other words, we are always living expectantly and hopefully, trusting that God will finish what He started in us. The work of Christ in our lives will not be fully complete until He glorifies us. We are works in process. And we must hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope – in Him.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Solidarity, Suffering, and Salvation

10 For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. 11 For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, 12 saying,

“I will tell of your name to my brothers;
    in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.”

13 And again,

“I will put my trust in him.”

And again,

“Behold, I and the children God has given me.”

14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. 16 For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. 17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. – Hebrews 2:10-18 ESV

God made His Son a man. Through the miracle of conception and the power of the Holy Spirit, Mary gave birth to a baby boy whom she would name Jesus. But He was not just any boy. He was the incarnate Son of God, the second person of the Trinity in human flesh. This is why the writer of Hebrews describes Him as he “who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus” (Hebrews 2:9 ESV).

He became our brother in the flesh. In His incarnation, Jesus became like us so that He could live among us and share the earthly experience of living as a human being in a fallen world. And just a few chapters later in this same letter, we read that Jesus “understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin” (Hebrews 4:15 NLT).

He didn’t live some kind of charmed, country-club lifestyle because He was the Son of God. His deity didn’t protect Him from harm, weariness, temptation, testing, or trials. In fact, it was His divinity that got Him into trouble. His claims to be the Son of God brought about the greatest degree of suffering. And suffer He did. In fact, the author of Hebrews says that God made Jesus, the founder of our salvation, “perfect through suffering” (Hebrews 2:10 ESV).

Before Jesus could be perfected or glorified by His Father, He had to take the path of suffering. He could only experience glorification by passing through persecution and pain. And it’s interesting to realize that Satan, when he tempted Jesus in the wilderness, attempted to get Jesus to bypass the suffering and go straight to glorification.

Next the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. “I will give it all to you,” he said, “if you will kneel down and worship me.” – Matthew 4:8-9 NLT

But God’s path for Jesus took Him through humiliation, rejection, pain, suffering, and death. The apostle Paul reminds us that Jesus took His earthly mission seriously and obeyed His Father’s will completely, even to the point of death.

…being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. – Philippians 2:8-11 ESV

It was only after He had walked that path in faith and obedience, that God raised Him up and glorified Him. The sinless Son of God took on human flesh just like us. He became one of us. Jesus didn’t take on the appearance of a man. Unlike the Greek pantheon of gods, who were believed to appear on earth disguised in human form, Jesus was 100 percent human. He wasn’t masquerading as a man; He was a “Son of Man.” That was one of Jesus’ favorite descriptions of Himself.

“And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God.” – Luke 12:8 ESV

He was born of a woman, just like every other person who has ever lived. He had to grow from infancy to adulthood and experience all the phases of maturation that every human being goes through. Early in His life, He had to be breastfed, cared for, comforted, and protected. In His adolescent years, He had to do the will of His earthly father and mother. He attended the synagogue. He learned the Torah. He did chores around the family home. He endured ridicule from those who believed Him to be an illegitimate son because Joseph was not His real father.

Without these early phases of Jesus’ life, He would never have left Nazareth and begun His earthly ministry. But those 30-plus years of relative anonymity had to precede the last three years of His life. He didn’t appear on earth in the form of a full-grown man. He grew up.

Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man. – Luke 2:52 ESV

Jesus put Himself through all of this so that He could save us. “…that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery” (Hebrews 2:14-15 ESV).

That was His ultimate mission. Jesus was born to die. But unlike every other human being, Jesus’ death served an eternal purpose. His death was the key to humanity’s deliverance from the power of death. His life became a payment for the sins of mankind.

But not only did Jesus become one of us so that He might die for us, He invites us to become one with Him. He extends an invitation to every man and woman to accept Him as their personal Savior, their redeemer. His suffering and death provided a way for men to be made right with God. Sin separates us from God and we are incapable of bridging the gap because even our best works on our best day are still marred by sin. There is nothing we can do to earn or merit a right standing before God, but when we place our faith in the sacrifice that Jesus made on our behalf, we become one with Him.

We are made His brothers and sisters, His fellow heirs, and sons and daughters of God. But the path to our glorification, like His, includes suffering. When we accept Jesus as our Savior, we become aliens and strangers in this world. We remain in it but are no longer to be part of it. That doesn’t mean we are to isolate ourselves from it, but that we should live in it according to a different set of standards and as if it is no longer our home.

Jesus told His disciples, “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world” (John 16:33 NLT). The apostle Paul understood that suffering and solidarity with Christ went hand in hand.

In everything we do, we show that we are true ministers of God. We patiently endure troubles and hardships and calamities of every kind. – 2 Corinthians 6:4 NLT

There is a purpose behind our suffering. Paul reminds us, “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love” (Romans 5:3-5 NLT).

Our suffering on this earth is not pointless. It has a God-ordained purpose behind it. God is perfecting us and producing in us the very character of His Son. Suffering should not produce in us a spirit of resentment but should make us more dependent. Our weakness should remind us of our need for God’s strength and assistance. Our pain should cause us to desire God’s comfort and healing. Our loneliness should drive us to God for His companionship. We have a “merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God” (Hebrews 2:17 ESV) – Jesus Christ, our brother. He has made propitiation for our sins, having satisfied the just demands of a holy God. But He is also making intercession for us, sitting at the right hand of the Father, and reminding Him that our sins are paid in full and our future glorification is guaranteed.

Solidarity, suffering, and salvation. We have each of these in common with Christ because of what He has done. And we can rest assured that one day we will also share in His glorification.

…we are already God's children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. – 1 John 3:2 NLT

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Out of Sight, But in Full Control

5 For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. 6 It has been testified somewhere,

“What is man, that you are mindful of him,
    or the son of man, that you care for him?
7 You made him for a little while lower than the angels;
    you have crowned him with glory and honor,
8     putting everything in subjection under his feet.”

Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. 9 But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. – Hebrews 2:5-9 ESV

After His death, burial, and resurrection, Jesus ascended into heaven, returning to His rightful place at His Father’s side. The old saying, “Absence makes the heart grow fonder” can be true, but so can the adage, “Out of sight, out of mind.” The longer Jesus, the resurrected Messiah, was gone from the face of the earth, the easier it became for the believers living when this letter was written to forget about Him.

Most, if not all of the recipients of this letter, would never have seen Jesus face to face. They would have come to faith in Him sometime after His death and resurrection. And it would appear, based on the author's emphasis on drifting away, that there were those who were having second thoughts regarding either His deity or the exclusivity of the gospel message. They were running the risk of taking lightly what Jesus had done for them, which is why the author warned them not to “neglect such a great salvation” (Hebrews 2:3 ESV).

This entire letter is a defense of Jesus – His divinity, incarnation, mission, message, sacrifice, ascension, exaltation, and coming return. Using the Old Testament Scriptures to point the way, the writer presents Jesus as the divine agent of redemption for mankind. Quoting from Psalm 8:4-6, he writes, “You made him for a little while lower than the angels” (Hebrews 2:7 ESV). Jesus, the Son of God, the creator of the universe, left His place at the right hand of God the Father and took on human flesh. He humbled Himself by becoming a man in order that He might accomplish what no man had ever been able to do: Live in sinless, selfless obedience to the commands of God.

Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death.  Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying. – Hebrews 2:14-15 NLT

But the author of Hebrews wants his readers to understand that Jesus, while He was a man, was also fully divine. He was God in human flesh. He was the God-man. And after He had accomplished His Father’s will and given His life as a sacrifice for the sins of mankind, He was raised from the dead by the power of the Spirit of God and returned to His rightful place at His Father’s side. His time on this earth, when He was made “a little lower than the angels,” was relatively short. Yet, as a result of having accomplished His Father’s will, God “crowned him with glory and honor, putting everything in subjection under his feet” (Hebrews 2:7-8 ESV). Paul writes in his letter to the Philippians:

Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. – Philippians 2:6-11 ESV

Jesus may be out of sight, but He is far from out of control, and He should never be out of mind. We read that, “in putting everything in subjection to him, he [God] left nothing outside of his control” (Hebrews 2:8 ESV). Yes, it’s true that, from our perspective, it can sometimes appear that some things are outside of His control. The world does not appear to be living in submission and obedience to Christ. But we must never forget that God’s plan is not yet complete. Christ's job is not yet finished. When He said on the cross, “It is finished” (John 19:20 ESV), He was speaking of His God-ordained mission to become the atoning sacrifice for the sins of mankind. He had accomplished that part of His assignment. But He was not done. He is still at work. And one day He is coming back to fully complete the assignment given to Him by His Father from before the foundation of the world.

One day, everything and everyone will be under His subjection. He will rule and reign over all. He will be King of kings and Lord of lords. But we must never grow cavalier or complacent regarding His subjection on our behalf. It was His suffering that led to His glorification.

But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death. – Hebrews 2:9 ESV

He suffered for our sake. Paul puts it this way, “He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God” (Romans 4:25 NLT). His resurrection and exaltation made possible our justification. We are right with God because Jesus satisfied the just demands of His heavenly Father. He fully paid the debt we owed with His own life, and God raised Him from the dead as proof of His acceptance of that payment. By the grace of God, Jesus tasted death for everyone, so that we might have life – eternal life.

The apostle Peter reminds us that Jesus’ current absence should make our hearts grow fonder because we know that He will return one day.

You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls. – 1 Peter 1:8-9 NLT

Rather than allow doubt to cause us to drift away, we should rejoice in the fact that Jesus, the Son of God, will finish what He began. He will keep the promise He made to His disciples.

“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.” – John 14:1-3 NLT

The Jewish Christians to whom this letter was written were having second thoughts. They had never met Jesus personally and the more time that passed caused them to wonder if He was ever going to return. Would they ever meet their Messiah? Would His kingdom ever come? And as their fears and doubts increased, they began to question whether they should return to their former lives as adherents to the Mosaic Law. Had they been wrong to abandon Judaism for this new movement called The Way? Were the hopes they had placed in Jesus misplaced?

For the author of Hebrews, the answer to all those questions was a simple, yet emphatic, “No!” He was going to exhaust every effort and argument to reinforce their belief in Jesus and their faith in the life-transforming power of the gospel. Jesus was enough. And while He was out of sight, He was anything but out of control.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Slip-Sliding Away

1 Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. 2 For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, 3 how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, 4 while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. – Hebrews 2:1-4 ESV

As the author of Hebrews made clear in the opening of his letter, angels were “ministering spirits” sent by God “to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation” (Hebrews 1:14 ESV). It was an angel who declared the coming of the Messiah to a young Hebrew girl named Mary.

“Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” – Luke 1:30-33 ESV

It had been a host of angels that declared the birth of the Messiah to a group of trembling shepherds outside the town of Bethlehem.

“Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” – Luke 2:10-11 ESV

And 30 years later, it was two angels who encouraged Jesus’ stunned disciples as they stood on the outskirts of Jerusalem, staring into the sky where their Lord and Savior had just disappeared out of sight.

“Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” – Acts 1:11 ESV

Angels were messengers but they weren’t the Messiah. As ministering spirits, they could encourage, inform, and deliver good news,  but they were unable to provide forgiveness from sin or victory over death and the grave. Both Paul and Peter described the essential role that angels played in the deliverance of the Mosaic Law.

Why, then, was the law given? It was given alongside the promise to show people their sins. But the law was designed to last only until the coming of the child who was promised. God gave his law through angels to Moses, who was the mediator between God and the people. – Galatians 3:19 NLT

The Jewish people believed that angels were present when God gave Moses the law on Mount Sinai and they base this belief on a verse found in the Torah. In this passage, Moses records his recollection of that day.

“The Lord came from Sinai
    and dawned over them from Seir;
    he shone forth from Mount Paran.
He came with myriads of holy ones
    from the south, from his mountain slopes.” – Deuteronomy 33:2 NIV

And centuries later, Stephen preached a sermon to a gathering of Jews in the city of Jerusalem, in which he reminded them of the role that God’s ministering servants had played on that memorable day.

“This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers.’ This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. He received living oracles to give to us.” – Acts 7:37-38 ESV

And as Peter wrapped up his sermon, he confronted his unbelieving Jewish audience about the danger of dismissing the message concerning the new covenant. They were running the risk of rejecting God’s message of hope and deliverance yet again.

“You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.” – Acts 7:51-53 NLT

This bold declaration by Stephen was not well received. The angry mob, offended by his words, dragged him out of the city and stoned him to death. As Stephen made clear in his sermon, the Jews had a habit of killing the messenger. Over the centuries, they had shown their predisposition for rejecting the word of God delivered through His messengers. The law had been delivered to Moses through the mediation of angels, but the people had ended up rejecting it. The prophets had delivered God’s call to repentance, but the people had rejected it. And Jesus, the penultimate messenger from God, had delivered the news of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Him alone. But they had not only rejected His message but they eventually killed the messenger.

In the book of Hebrews, the author is writing to Hebrew Christians who find themselves under pressure to reject the good news regarding Jesus and return to their former status as covenant-keeping, law-abiding Jews. But He warns his readers against slipping away from the truth regarding salvation. That message of salvation came from the lips of Jesus Himself and was fulfilled by His bodily sacrifice on the cross. Jesus had clearly taught, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6 ESV).

He claimed, “I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved” (John 10:9 ESV). He had told Martha, just before he raised Lazarus from the dead, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die” (John 11:25-26 ESV). And Jesus told Nicodemus, the Pharisee, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 ESV).

So, the author tells his readers, “…we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard” (Hebrews 2:1 ESV). The message of Jesus, carried on by His disciples after His ascension into heaven, had been circulated among both Jews and Gentiles, resulting in many people coming to faith in Him as their Savior. But there was always the real possibility of drifting away by those who had embraced the good news of the gospel.

The Greek term the author uses is pararreō and it means to “let slip, glide by.” Rather than remain anchored to the truth regarding their salvation, they were beginning to drift away, carried by a current of moral subjectivity and doctrinal heresy.

In chapter six of this same letter, the author reminds his readers, “So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary” (Hebrews 6:18-19 NLT).

We will not drift as long as we remain firmly attached to the truth of the gospel. Those who fled to Jesus for refuge from condemnation and the penalty for sin can have great confidence that He will one day return for them. Drifting always begins with doubt. When our assurance weakens, the likelihood of our drifting increases.

That church’s experience 2,000 years ago intersects our lives in this way: drifting is the besetting sin of our day. And as the metaphor suggests, it is not so much intentional as from unconcern. Christians neglect their anchor—Christ—and begin to quietly drift away. There is no friction, no dramatic sense of departure. But when the winds of trouble come, the things of Christ are left far behind, even out of sight. – R. Kent Hughes, Hebrews

The author compares the message concerning Jesus with “the message declared by angels,” which refers to the Mosaic law. Look closely again at the words of Moses recorded in the book of Deuteronomy.

The Lord came from Sinai and revealed himself to Israel from Seir. He appeared in splendor from Mount Paran, and came forth with ten thousand holy ones. With his right hand he gave a fiery law to them. – Deuteronomy 33:2 NET

The author of Hebrews says that message, the law, proved to be reliable. What it said about sin and punishment was accurate, just, and righteous. It revealed that all men are sinners and incapable of living up to God’s holy standard. So, the author asks, “So what makes us think we can escape if we ignore this great salvation that was first announced by the Lord Jesus himself and then delivered to us by those who heard him speak?” (Hebrews 2:3 NLT).

This passage is not suggesting that Christians can lose their salvation. It is talking about drifting away from the truth and the hope found in the gospel. It is talking about allowing doctrinal drift to subtly creep into your life, causing you to doubt the veracity of God’s promise of eternal life through faith in Christ.

The message of salvation declared by Jesus was carried on by the apostles. It was supported by signs and wonders. It was proven by the gifts of the Holy Spirit given to the church. But despite all this, there is always the temptation to lose our grip on the solid rock of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. The issue has to do with doctrinal drift that begins with doubting the promises attached to the gospel message.

When we begin to wonder if faith alone is enough, we will begin to add to the gospel. This usually begins when we allow present circumstances to define the veracity of the gospel message. If things don’t appear to be going quite the way we expected, we begin to wonder if something is missing. We question whether there is more that we need to be doing. Difficulties can bring doubt. Doubt can lead to drift. Drift can result in shoddy doctrine. And we end up neglecting or discounting the “great salvation” made possible through faith in Christ. As soon as we start doubting our salvation, we will find ourselves prone to doctrinal drift, a subtle, but dangerous unmooring of our faith in the one thing that can truly provide us with hope. It doesn’t mean we lose our salvation, but we will most certainly lose our ability to enjoy peace in the storm, joy in the midst of sorrow, hope in spite of setbacks, and assurance in the face of uncertainty.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Better Than…

7 Of the angels he says,

“He makes his angels winds,
    and his ministers a flame of fire.”

8 But of the Son he says,

“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,
    the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.
9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has anointed you
    with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”

10 And,

“You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning,
    and the heavens are the work of your hands;
11 they will perish, but you remain;
    they will all wear out like a garment,
12 like a robe you will roll them up,
    like a garment they will be changed.
But you are the same,
    and your years will have no end.”

13 And to which of the angels has he ever said,

“Sit at my right hand
    until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”?

14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation? – Hebrews 1:7-14 ESV

For the author of Hebrews, the theme of his letter is simple, yet profound. He spends the vast majority of his treatise supporting his premise that Jesus is superior to anything that has come before Him, including every aspect of the Levitical system. He is attempting to dissuade the Jewish audience to whom he wrote from abandoning their faith in Christ and returning to their former dependency upon the Mosaic Law and their vain attempts to earn favor with God through human effort. At the core of his message is a warning to avoid any attempt to supplement their faith in Jesus.

These Jewish converts to Christianity were under a lot of pressure from their Hebrew peers to return to Judaism. But to do so would require these new Christians to demote and devalue the worth of Christ and His gift of salvation. It was only natural for these Jewish believers to hold their former faith system in high esteem. After all, they had spent the majority of their lives attempting to keep the Mosaic Law and fulfilling the various sacramental and sacrificial requirements placed upon them by God. Yahweh had clearly told them, “if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (Exodus 19:5-6 ESV).

These people had been raised to believe that their obedience was the key to their ongoing relationship with God. Strict adherence to His laws and a faithful commitment to the covenant they had made with Him were essential to remaining in good standing with Yahweh. But when Jesus appeared on the scene, all of that had changed. He offered another way and, according to the author of Hebrews, a superior way. In fact, he will spend the rest of his letter comparing Jesus to every other element of Judaism that they tended to revere and to which they were tempted to return.

He began his letter with an unapologetic defense of Jesus superiority, even placing Him on a higher plane than the angelic beings. These divine creatures had played a significant role in the history of the people of Israel. They had served as God’s messengers and even as agents of destruction. But the author wants his readers to understand that Jesus, as the Son of God, was far superior to any angel.

Angels are ministers. They are servants of God. Like the wind, they blow according to His will. They are worshipers and are never to be worshiped by men. But the Son of God is different. As the author expressed earlier, “The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God” and “he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command” (Romans 1:3 NLTa).

He holds a “place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven” (Romans 1:3b NLT), and as a result, “the Son is far greater than the angels” (Romans 1:4 NLT).

Using the Old Testament Scriptures as a proof text for his thoughts, the author of Hebrews presents the Son of God as having a royal pedigree, ruling over an everlasting kingdom that is marked by righteousness. He is eternal, having always existed as God and having no beginning or end. Rather than having been created, He is the creator of all that exists. And, as God, His nature is unchanging. The fact that He came to earth and took on human flesh in no way diminished or altered His divinity in any way. He sits at the right hand of God the Father, ruling in righteousness over all that exists.

For the writer of Hebrews, the deity of Jesus is essential and non-negotiable. He is the Son of God and, as such, He shares the nature and character of God. He is royal, immutable, all-powerful, sovereign, righteous and, ultimately, the victor in the battle over sin, death, and Satan.

Part of what the author is attempting to do is promote the superiority of the new covenant over the old one. And since the average Jew believed the old covenant was brought to them from God by angels, they held angels in high regard. But the point of this letter is to establish the superiority of Christ in all things. He is greater than angels. The new covenant in His blood is superior to the old covenant which was based on works. His service to men through the offering of His life as a payment for sin is far superior to any service the angels may offer up.

The angels, while important, pale in significance when compared with Christ. In fact, they exist “to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation” (Hebrews 1:14 ESV). In other words, they exist to serve God’s people, and we serve Christ. He is the head of the body of Christ. He alone deserves our worship and full attention.

Angels could bring “good news of great joy that will be for all the people” (Luke 2:10 ESV). But they could not save anyone. They could announce the arrival of Jesus on the scene, but He would still have to sacrifice His own life to make salvation possible to men. And while angels were the ones who told the women at Jesus’ empty tomb, “He is not here, for he has risen, as he said” (Matthew 28:6 ESV), they were simply messengers of some very good news. Without Jesus, there would have been no news at all.

Apart from Jesus, salvation would be impossible for all men. Had Jesus not died and rose again, there would have been no victory over sin, Satan, and the grave. But Jesus DID come. He DID die. He WAS resurrected from death to life. He HAS ascended back to heaven. And He WILL return one day.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Our Incomparable Savior

5 For to which of the angels did God ever say,

“You are my Son,
    today I have begotten you”?

Or again,

“I will be to him a father,
    and he shall be to me a son”?

6 And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says,

“Let all God's angels worship him.”

7 Of the angels he says,

“He makes his angels winds,
    and his ministers a flame of fire.” – Hebrews 1:5-7 ESV

For the author of Hebrews, it seemed important to establish Christ’s uniqueness and complete sufficiency. Writing to a Jewish audience, he wanted to ensure that they understood that Jesus was much more than just a man, so he presented seven facts concerning Jesus. 1) He was appointed the heir of all things by God. All that belongs to God, which includes everything, belongs to Jesus as His Son. 2) He created the universe. All that exists in time and space was made possible by Jesus as the second person of the Trinity. Paul wrote to the believers in Colossae:

Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see—such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together. – Colossians 1:15-17 ESV

Jesus wasn’t created by God. He is the God who created all things. 3) He is the radiance of the glory of God. In His incarnation, Jesus made God visible to man. During His incarnation, He shone forth the glory of God; but in a veiled sense. Yet His words and works revealed the power and majesty of God to man. 4) He is the exact imprint of God’s nature. In seeing Jesus, men were able to see the nature of God revealed. He made God’s goodness, wisdom, glory, and righteousness visible to men. 5) He upholds the universe by the word of His power. His very word sustains and maintains the universe. His word has power beyond that of any other source. 6) He made purification for sins. By sacrificing His own life, Jesus made it possible for mankind to experience both the cleansing from and removal of sin and its deadly consequences. 7) He sat down at the right hand of God. Having faithfully and obediently completed His God-appointed task, Jesus ascended back to heaven and retained His rightful place next to God the Father, where He rules and reigns at this very moment.

All of this puts Jesus on a different plane than anyone and everything else. There is nothing that can compare with Him, including angels. These heavenly beings, who played a vital role in the history and religious understanding of the Jews, were not to be compared with Jesus.

In Judaism, angels were viewed as divine messengers from God. In fact, the Jews closely associated angels with the giving of the Law of Moses. We read in Deuteronomy 33:

The Lord came from Sinai and revealed himself to Israel from Seir. He appeared in splendor from Mount Paran, and came forth with ten thousand holy ones. With his right hand he gave a fiery law to them. – Deuteronomy 33:2 NET

Paul tells us that the law “was administered through angels by an intermediary” (Galatians 3:19 NET). So angels were venerated by the Jews, and it would seem that there were some in the early days of the church who took the veneration of angels and turned it into worship. Paul warned about it in his letter to the church in Colossae:

Don’t let anyone condemn you by insisting on pious self-denial or the worship of angels, saying they have had visions about these things. Their sinful minds have made them proud, and they are not connected to Christ, the head of the body. For he holds the whole body together with its joints and ligaments, and it grows as God nourishes it. – Colossians 2:18-19 NLT

The author of Hebrews wants us to understand that angels, while superior beings in many ways are not to be compared with Jesus. And to support his point, he provides four Old Testament passages as evidence. Quoting from Psalm 2:7, he asks if God had ever said to any angel, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you?” And the answer is no. The Jews in his audience would have understood this Davidic psalm as speaking of the Messiah. And while angels were often referred to in the Old Testament Scriptures as “sons of God,” no angel was ever called “the Son of God.”

Quoting from 2 Samuel 7:14, the author asks whether God ever said of any angel, “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son” (Hebrews 1:5 ESV). Again, the Jews would have recognized this as a promise of God given to David the king. It was a Messianic passage, partially fulfilled in the life of Solomon, David’s son, but ultimately fulfilled in Christ, “who was descended from David – according to the flesh” (Romans 1:3 ESV). Using Deuteronomy 32:14 as his reference, the author reminds his readers that God said even the angels would one day worship Jesus.

Finally, using Psalm 104:4, the author presents angels as nothing more than divine messengers. The psalmist compares them to wind, invisible and at the mercy of a far greater power. There were created by God and were designed for His glory, not their own. Like flames of fire, they sometimes brought illumination and, at other times, judgment. But they were never meant to be worshiped.

In the book of Revelation, John was visited by an angel and given words from God that he was to write down. John's response was to fall down and worship the angel, but he was told, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God” (Revelation 19:10 ESV). And then the angel gave John an important point of clarification: “For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (Revelation 19:10 ESV). All that John was being shown in his vision concerning the end times revolved around the person of Christ. In fact, in the very next verses of John’s revelation, we read:

Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. – Revelation 19:11-16 ESV

Jesus is superior to angels. He alone is to be worshiped and revered. It is He who sits at the right hand of God and who will one day return as the King of kings and Lord of lords. There is nothing and no one to compare with Jesus. He alone is worthy of our praise, worship, glory, honor, and love.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Jesus is Enough

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. – Hebrews 1:1-4 ESV

There is probably no other New Testament book that contains so many Old Testament references, especially those related to the Tabernacle and the entire Levitical system associated with it. For anyone who has read the book of Leviticus, its detailed account of all the laws, rituals, sacrificial rites, and yearly festivals can be difficult to read and even harder to understand. The degree of specificity used when describing the mandatory sacrifices can leave modern readers perplexed and a bit put off by all the gory details involving blood, entrails, and burnt offerings.

“Then he shall kill the bull before the Lord, and Aaron's sons the priests shall bring the blood and throw the blood against the sides of the altar that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting. Then he shall flay the burnt offering and cut it into pieces, and the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire. And Aaron's sons the priests shall arrange the pieces, the head, and the fat, on the wood that is on the fire on the altar; but its entrails and its legs he shall wash with water. And the priest shall burn all of it on the altar, as a burnt offering, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord.” – Leviticus 1:5-9 ESV

To our modern sensibilities, it all sounds so barbaric and cult-like. But the author of Hebrews takes those very same unsettling descriptions and instills them with new meaning so that his more “modern” readers can grasp their significance in light of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. – Hebrews 9:11-14 ESV

While do not know who the author of the Letter to the Hebrews was, we can almost certainly conclude that his audience was made up primarily of Jewish believers. Throughout the letter, he makes references to facts regarding Judaism, apparently assuming his readers were well-versed in them. He takes little time to explain details regarding the sacrificial system, the office of the high priest, the history of Israel, or the identity of the individuals listed in chapter 11, who were primarily Hebrews.

The fact that the author was also addressing Jews whose faith in Christ might be in question is evidenced by his repeated warnings against drifting away, neglecting so great a salvation, having an unbelieving heart, and failing to enter into the rest God has promised. Even in the opening line of his letter, the author tells his readers that, “in these last days he [God] has spoken to us by His Son” (Hebrews 1:2 ESV). He appears convinced that his audience is very familiar with the words of Jesus and the message of the gospel. Interestingly enough, he does not mention the name of Jesus anywhere in this first chapter but simply refers to Him as God’s Son. That Jesus was inferred and understood by his readers as the one being talked about is quite clear. The original recipients of this letter would have known exactly who was being discussed.

That the writer would delay the mention of Jesus’ name until the ninth verse in chapter two is intriguing. But it would seem that he felt no need to use the name of Jesus, but simply referred to His unique designation as the Son of God. That term would have been very familiar with his Jewish audience and would have brought to mind the very reason for which the Jews had rejected Jesus, to begin with. It was Jesus’ claim to be divine, the very Son of God, that led the Jewish leadership to accuse Him of blasphemy and to seek His death.

At one time Jesus said, “My Father has entrusted everything to me. No one truly knows the Son except the Father, and no one truly knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him” (Matthew 11:27 NLT). These kinds of statements did not endear Jesus to the Jewish religious authorities of His day. In fact, when He was arrested and brought before them on the night He was betrayed, Caiaphas, the high priest, questioned Jesus asking, “I demand in the name of the living God—tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.” (Matthew 26:63 NLT). Jesus answered, “You have said it. And in the future you will see the Son of Man seated in the place of power at God’s right hand and coming on the clouds of heaven” (Matthew 26:64 NLT). And Caiaphas, in shock and horror, responded, “Blasphemy! Why do we need other witnesses? You have all heard his blasphemy. What is your verdict?” (Matthew 26:65-66 NLT). And his fellow religious leaders shouted out, “Guilty! He deserves to die!” (Matthew 26:66 NLT).

It was Jesus’ claim of divine Sonship that got Him in trouble – not the miracles, signs, and wonders He performed. It was not His teaching that drove the high priest and his cohorts mad with rage, but it was His insistence that He was divine. And the writer of Hebrews eagerly supports Jesus’ bold claim by stating that God had “spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things” (Hebrews 1:2 ESV).

He attributes to Jesus the divine role of creator of the universe. According to the author of Hebrews, Jesus was and still is God. In fact, he boldly claims, “The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command” (Hebrews 1:3 NLT).

This man from Nazareth, who was murdered at the hands of the Romans at the insistence of the Jews, was the Son of God. And it was this very fact that made His sacrifice on the cross acceptable to His Heavenly Father. As the Son of God, He was completely sinless, making Him the perfect sacrifice and the only acceptable payment for the sins of mankind. And, the writer of Hebrews reminds his readers, “When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven” (Hebrews 1:3 NLT).

Jesus returned to where He had come from, the very throne room of God. The apostle Paul writes about this very reality in his letter to the Philippians.

When he appeared in human form,
he humbled himself in obedience to God
and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor
and gave him the name above all other names,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. – Philippians 2:7-11 NLT

Over the next chapters, we will see the author go out of his way to insist on the superiority of Christ. He is superior to angels, Moses, and any earthly high priest or institution. His sacrifice was greater and more effective than anything man could ever hope to accomplish through the sacrifice of bulls and goats. Jesus was and is incomparable. There was nothing in Judaism that could compare. There was no reason for those who had placed their faith in Jesus as their Savior and Messiah, to return to the old covenant of laws and ritualistic rule-keeping. Christ was sufficient. The good news was good enough. There was nothing missing and no man-made requirements necessary to complete or complement what Christ had done on the cross.

Peter reminds us, “By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires” (2 Peter 1:3-4 NLT).

In Christ, we have all we need for salvation, sanctification, and our ultimate glorification. Nothing is missing. Nothing needs to be added. As the old hymn, Rock of Ages, so aptly puts it, “Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to the cross I cling.” Jesus is enough.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Holy to the Lord

26 “But a firstborn of animals, which as a firstborn belongs to the Lord, no man may dedicate; whether ox or sheep, it is the Lord’s. 27 And if it is an unclean animal, then he shall buy it back at the valuation, and add a fifth to it; or, if it is not redeemed, it shall be sold at the valuation.

28 “But no devoted thing that a man devotes to the Lord, of anything that he has, whether man or beast, or of his inherited field, shall be sold or redeemed; every devoted thing is most holy to the Lord. 29 No one devoted, who is to be devoted for destruction from mankind, shall be ransomed; he shall surely be put to death.

30 “Every tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is the Lord’s; it is holy to the Lord. 31 If a man wishes to redeem some of his tithe, he shall add a fifth to it. 32 And every tithe of herds and flocks, every tenth animal of all that pass under the herdsman’s staff, shall be holy to the Lord. 33 One shall not differentiate between good or bad, neither shall he make a substitute for it; and if he does substitute for it, then both it and the substitute shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed.”

34 These are the commandments that the Lord commanded Moses for the people of Israel on Mount Sinai. – Leviticus 27:26-34 ESV

These last nine verses almost appear to be an afterthought, as if Moses ran out of steam or couldn’t come up with a better ending. But with this closing, he records God’s final words concerning the need for His chosen people to behave with integrity. Throughout the book, Yahweh’s expectations that the Israelites live up to His holy standards have been clearly and repeatedly articulated. He has left little to the imagination and nothing up to their discretion. When it came to maintaining their relationship with Him, there were rules to be followed that were intended to govern virtually every area of life.

But God knew that those whom He had set apart to be His royal priesthood and a holy nation would find it difficult to walk according to His ways. They would be constantly tempted to reject His authority and question His faithfulness. In fact, they had already proven their propensity for apostasy with their worship of the golden calf. And the omniscient Yahweh knew that His children remained just as obstinate and stiff-necked as ever, even after having received all His laws contained in the Decalogue and the Book of the Covenant. While they had eagerly vowed to keep all His commands, God knew that they would fail to follow through on their commitment. 

That seems to be why God ends this book with an entire chapter on the need for His people to maintain their vows and avoid any hint of hypocrisy. When it came to fulfilling their vows, cutting corners or seeking loopholes was strictly forbidden. They were not to seek workarounds or ingenious ways to game the system.

Yet, God knew that was exactly what His people would tend to do. The prophet Jeremiah provides Yahweh’s less-than-flattering assessment of the human heart.

“The human heart is the most deceitful of all things,
    and desperately wicked.
    Who really knows how bad it is?
But I, the Lord, search all hearts
    and examine secret motives.
I give all people their due rewards,
    according to what their actions deserve.” – Jeremiah 17:9-10 NLT

That’s why God ends this book with a series of warnings involving “secret motives.” The first involves attempting to give something to God that already belonged to Him. According to the Mosaic Law, all firstborn children and animals belonged to the Lord.

“Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine.” – Exodus 13:2 ESV

Yet, a clever Israelite might come up with the idea to rededicate a firstborn as a fulfillment of a vow or pledge. This would have been a cost-saving measure, giving to God what was already rightfully His. But this would have been nothing less than an attempt to cheat God. In a sense, anyone who tried to do this was trying to scam God, using His own property to pay off their vow. It would be like stealing flowers from someone’s garden and then giving them back as a gift. 

God also makes it clear that those firstborn animals were unredeemable. In other words, they could not be purchased back. They were the permanent possession of the Almighty and considered wholly consecrated to Him. But unclean animals could be redeemed as the valuation price and the 20 percent tax were paid in full. 

The next area of emphasis involved those things that had been devoted to God. The Hebrew word (ḥērem) refers to a “devoted thing, proscribed thing, banned thing, cursed thing.”

“The basic idea of the Hebrew word is that the person or thing was devoted to God; it could either be sanctified for use in his service or utterly destroyed. But it was banned from possession or use by humans.…So if anything had been devoted to the Lord b some such means, it could not then be vowed as a gift to him. The devoted thing could not be sold by a priest and could not be redeemed by the owner.” – Allen P. Ross, Holiness to the Lord: A Guide to the Exposition of the Book of Leviticus

God makes it perfectly clear.

“However, anything specially set apart for the Lord—whether a person, an animal, or family property—must never be sold or bought back. Anything devoted in this way has been set apart as holy, and it belongs to the Lord.” – Leviticus 27:28 NLT

Once something was devoted to God, there was no going back. You could not renege on the commitment. This stipulation involved not only people and animals dedicated to God, but also individuals and entire communities that had been devoted to destruction.

“The word ‘devoted’ in the text is the same word used for ‘putting something or someone under the ban.’ This was true of cities, person, and things committed to total destruction because they were an offense to the Lord.” – Kenneth A. Matthews, Exodus: Holy God, Holy People

Once again, God is setting up boundaries that were intended to keep the Israelites from making unwise and unholy decisions. If something or someone belonged to God, whether as a gift or as that which had been devoted to destruction, there was no going back. According to the law, “If an ox gores a man or woman to death, the ox must be stoned, and its flesh may not be eaten” (Exodus 21:28 NLT). The owner was not allowed to dedicate that condemned ox as a gift to God and the animal was unredeemable. In essence, it belonged to God, and because God had ordered its destruction, that was the only option available.

The final section involves the giving of a tithe. God had ordered His people to give a tenth of all their produce and flocks as an offering to Him. This was used to care for the needs of the Levites, who received no inheritance of land in Canaan.

“You must set aside a tithe of your crops—one-tenth of all the crops you harvest each year. Bring this tithe to the designated place of worship—the place the Lord your God chooses for his name to be honored—and eat it there in his presence. This applies to your tithes of grain, new wine, olive oil, and the firstborn males of your flocks and herds. Doing this will teach you always to fear the Lord your God.” – Deuteronomy 14:22-23 NLT

But God knew that the Israelites would find this command to be onerous and difficult to keep. So, He reminds them that this tithe belonged to Him and was to be treated as holy.

“Every tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is the Lord's; it is holy to the Lord.” – Leviticus 27:30 ESV

They were forbidden from holding it back. To do so would have been like robbing God. And centuries later, the prophet Malachi recorded Yahweh’s stinging indictment of His people.

“I am the Lord, and I do not change. That is why you descendants of Jacob are not already destroyed. Ever since the days of your ancestors, you have scorned my decrees and failed to obey them. Now return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

“But you ask, ‘How can we return when we have never gone away?’

“Should people cheat God? Yet you have cheated me!

“But you ask, ‘What do you mean? When did we ever cheat you?’

“You have cheated me of the tithes and offerings due to me. You are under a curse, for your whole nation has been cheating me.” – Malachi 3:6-9 NLT

Knowing their predisposition, God provided His people with a concession. While all animals that had been dedicated to God were unredeemable, a portion of the produce that had been tithed could be redeemed. God allowed His people to redeem back a portion of the grain they had dedicated to Him so that they might feed their flocks or their families. He was gracious and kind in this respect, but all animals that had been dedicated to Him remained His and were to be considered holy.

The book of Leviticus ends with the simple statement: “These are the commandments that the Lord commanded Moses for the people of Israel on Mount Sinai” (Leviticus 27:34 ESV). As they stood at the base of Mount Sinai, the people were in possession of the Decalogue and the Book of the Covenant. They had the Tabernacle standing in their midst, which assured them of God’s constant presence among them. They had been given the sacrificial system as a means of receiving forgiveness and atonement for their sins. And God had renewed His covenant promise to lead them to the land of Canaan where they would receive their inheritance. They were Yahweh’s chosen people and they could expect to receive great blessings from Him, but those blessings would be directly tied to their obedience to His commands. He would continue to lead them, provide for them, and reside among them as long as they remained faithful to Him. The road to Canaan lay before them and the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was committed to going with them. But He expected His people to trust and obey – in all things. They were considered holy to the Lord but their lives needed to reflect that reality. Holiness is not a label; it is a way of life. 

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

A People of Their Word

9 “If the vow is an animal that may be offered as an offering to the Lord, all of it that he gives to the Lord is holy. 10 He shall not exchange it or make a substitute for it, good for bad, or bad for good; and if he does in fact substitute one animal for another, then both it and the substitute shall be holy. 11 And if it is any unclean animal that may not be offered as an offering to the Lord, then he shall stand the animal before the priest, 12 and the priest shall value it as either good or bad; as the priest values it, so it shall be. 13 But if he wishes to redeem it, he shall add a fifth to the valuation.

14 “When a man dedicates his house as a holy gift to the Lord, the priest shall value it as either good or bad; as the priest values it, so it shall stand. 15 And if the donor wishes to redeem his house, he shall add a fifth to the valuation price, and it shall be his.

16 “If a man dedicates to the Lord part of the land that is his possession, then the valuation shall be in proportion to its seed. A homer of barley seed shall be valued at fifty shekels of silver. 17 If he dedicates his field from the year of jubilee, the valuation shall stand, 18 but if he dedicates his field after the jubilee, then the priest shall calculate the price according to the years that remain until the year of jubilee, and a deduction shall be made from the valuation. 19 And if he who dedicates the field wishes to redeem it, then he shall add a fifth to its valuation price, and it shall remain his. 20 But if he does not wish to redeem the field, or if he has sold the field to another man, it shall not be redeemed anymore. 21 But the field, when it is released in the jubilee, shall be a holy gift to the Lord, like a field that has been devoted. The priest shall be in possession of it. 22 If he dedicates to the Lord a field that he has bought, which is not a part of his possession, 23 then the priest shall calculate the amount of the valuation for it up to the year of jubilee, and the man shall give the valuation on that day as a holy gift to the Lord. 24 In the year of jubilee the field shall return to him from whom it was bought, to whom the land belongs as a possession. 25 Every valuation shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary: twenty gerahs shall make a shekel.” – Leviticus 27:9-25 ESV

God now turns His attention to vows involving animals, houses, and land. In this section, the emphasis is on the proper protocol for dedicating gifts to God. These voluntary votive offerings were to be taken seriously and faithfully fulfilled. To renege on a vow made to God was unacceptable and worthy of judgment. If an Israelite vowed to dedicate one of his animals to the Lord, he was legally bound to fulfill his commitment. Failure or refusal to do so would result in serious consequences.

God takes time to differentiate between the two types of animals that may be used as vows. The first involved any “animal that may be offered as an offering to the Lord” (Leviticus 27:9 ESV). This is a reference to a “clean” animal, one which would be acceptable as a sacrifice in the Tabernacle. Once that animal was dedicated to God, it became holy or set apart for His use. If the one who gave the votive offering changed his mind, He could not substitute that gift with an animal of lesser quality and, most certainly, he could not attempt to redeem it with an “unclean” animal. God strictly forbade any attempts to substitute an animal that had been dedicated to Him. If someone tried to do so, they would lose both animals.

“He shall not exchange it or make a substitute for it, good for bad, or bad for good; and if he does in fact substitute one animal for another, then both it and the substitute shall be holy.” – Leviticus 27:10 ESV

Both animals would become the property of God. When the first animal was vowed, it immediately became holy to the Lord. If the giver attempted to take it back and replace it with another animal of greater or lesser quality, he would end up forfeiting both animals as a penalty for going back on his vow.

But if someone offered an unclean animal as a votive offering, it was redeemable because it was not acceptable as a sacrifice. These animals would become the property of the priests and could be sold or used for other purposes, therefore they were redeemable. If the giver decided he wanted the animal back, the priest would determine its value and add an additional 20 percent surcharge as the redemption price.

This same calculation was used to determine the redemption price of a home. If someone made a vow to God pledging to give Him their house in return for some act of divine deliverance, there were expected to keep their word. But God did allow the giver a way of retaining their home through a similar process of redemption. The giver was allowed to change their mind, but the decision would not be without cost.

“If the person who dedicated the house wants to buy it back, he must pay the value set by the priest, plus 20 percent. Then the house will again be his.” – Leviticus 27:15 NLT

It seems that God made this provision because of the importance of the home in the Hebrew culture. It would be rash for a man to make a vow that would involve the loss of his family’s source of shelter. So, God provided a way for that individual to keep his commitment without penalizing his entire family in the process. He could redeem his home but at a high price. This penalty was probably intended to serve as a form of deterrent, keeping any Israelite from making a vow he was not willing to keep.

The next form of votive offerings involved the dedication of property. This section gets far more complicated because of a number of factors. First, there was the issue of rightful ownership. If someone dedicated a portion of their property to God, it must be determined whether they had legal rights to that land. Secondly, consideration must be made for the Year of Jubilee. Every fiftieth year the land was to return to the possession of its original owner. This divine decree had to be factored in when determining the redemption value of any property dedicated to God.

Once again, God made provision for the redemption of any land that was dedicated as a votive offering to Him.

“If the person who dedicated the field wants to buy it back, he must pay the value set by the priest, plus 20 percent. Then the field will again be legally his.” – Leviticus 27:19 NLT

In order to make their determination of the land’s value, the priests would have to take into account the years left until the Year of Jubilee. Once they came to a fair valuation, the giver could redeem the property by paying the price along with a 20 percent surcharge. But if the giver did not redeem the land, it became the property of the priests, who were free to sell the land to someone else. During the year of Jubilee that property would no longer revert back to the original landowner but to the priests.

“When the field is released in the Year of Jubilee, it will be holy, a field specially set apart for the Lord. It will become the property of the priests.” – Leviticus 27:21 NLT

If someone purchased a piece of land that was not part of his family’s inheritance, and that person decided to pledge it as a votive offering to God, the priests were to “assess its value based on the number of years left until the next Year of Jubilee” (Leviticus 27:23 NLT). When the Year of Jubilee arrived, the landowner was obligated to “give the assessed value of the land as a sacred donation to the Lord” (Leviticus 27:23 NLT). But the land would no longer be his. It reverted back to its original owner. This regulation was intended to keep someone from dedicating land that he knew would no longer be his in the Year of Jubilee. If someone bought a piece of land with just two years remaining until the Year of Jubilee, he might be tempted to use it as a votive offering, knowing that he was going to forfeit his rights to the land anyway. That’s why God placed a price on the land. When the Jubilee year arrived, the giver was obligated to pay the redemption price even though the land was no longer his. God would not allow any kind of deceit or underhandedness when it came to making vows. His people were to keep their commitment at all costs.

“Making and faithfully keeping one’s vows was a sign of a person's spiritual condition. Vows were considered holy gifts to the Lord that were to be given out of a holy motivation and for a holy purpose.” – Kenneth A. Matthews, Leviticus: Holy God, Holy People

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Let Your Yes Be Yes

1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, If anyone makes a special vow to the Lord involving the valuation of persons, 3 then the valuation of a male from twenty years old up to sixty years old shall be fifty shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary. 4 If the person is a female, the valuation shall be thirty shekels. 5 If the person is from five years old up to twenty years old, the valuation shall be for a male twenty shekels, and for a female ten shekels. 6 If the person is from a month old up to five years old, the valuation shall be for a male five shekels of silver, and for a female the valuation shall be three shekels of silver. 7 And if the person is sixty years old or over, then the valuation for a male shall be fifteen shekels, and for a female ten shekels. 8 And if someone is too poor to pay the valuation, then he shall be made to stand before the priest, and the priest shall value him; the priest shall value him according to what the vower can afford.” – Leviticus 27:1-8 ESV

As has been made clear from the rest of the book of Leviticus, God places a high priority on keeping one’s commitments. He is a God who keeps His word, and who never fails to follow through on all His promises.

God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through? – Numbers 23:29 NLT

In making His covenant with the people of Israel, God clearly communicated the non-negotiable requirements that came with their preferred status as His chosen nation.  In the first 26 chapters of this book, Moses records all the laws, statutes, and holy days that the Israelites were required to keep, then he closes with these words:

These are the statutes and rules and laws that the Lord made between himself and the people of Israel through Moses on Mount Sinai. – Leviticus 26:46 ESV

In the very next verse of the closing chapter, Moses records yet one more divine communication that addresses the topic of vows. Some scholars believe chapter 27 was a later addition to the book because it doesn’t seem to fit the prevailing narrative of the preceding chapters. It appears to veer off-topic, dealing with voluntary vows when the rest of the book has been focused on the mandatory laws ordained by God. Yet, upon closer examination, these closing verses provide an appropriate ending to the book.

From the day the people of Israel arrived at Sinai and began receiving God’s divine decrees from the mountaintop, they had repeatedly expressed their intentions to obey His commands.

“…if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”

So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him. All the people answered together and said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.” – Exodus 19:5-8 ESV

Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the rules. And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do.” – Exodus 24:3 ESV

Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” – Exodus 24:7 ESV

“Go near and hear all that the Lord our God will say, and speak to us all that the Lord our God will speak to you, and we will hear and do it.” – Deuteronomy 5:27 ESV

The people of Israel had vowed to keep the commands of God. They had verbally declared their commitment to do all that God had said and to remain obedient to His revealed will. But it is interesting to note how God responded to their overwhelming vow of faithfulness.

“I have heard the words of this people, which they have spoken to you. They are right in all that they have spoken. Oh that they had such a heart as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, that it might go well with them and with their descendants forever!” – Deuteronomy 5:28-29 ESV

God knew His people would have a difficult time keeping their commitments. He doesn’t question their sincerity, but He has serious doubts about their ability to keep their word. God understood that their hearts were in the right place, but He also knew that their hearts had been infected by sin. They fully intended to do the right thing but lacked the inner capacity to carry out their commitment. Yet, rather than simplify His laws or dumb down His requirements, God went on to stress their need for unwavering obedience.

“You shall be careful therefore to do as the Lord your God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. You shall walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess.” – Deuteronomy 5:32-33 ESV

It is important to remember that while the law was given to regulate the behavior of God’s people, it was also designed to expose their sinfulness. The apostle Paul points out this fact in several of his letters.

Why, then, was the law given? It was given alongside the promise to show people their sins. – Galatians 3:19 NLT

…it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet.” – Romans 7:7 NLT

Paul understood that the law was holy, righteous, and good. It revealed God’s holy expectations for His chosen people. But sin took advantage of the law, using those divine decrees as a tool to condemn and defeat God’s people.

Sin took advantage of those commands and deceived me; it used the commands to kill me. – Romans 7:11 NLT

God knew that His people could not live up to His commands. That’s why He provided them with the sacrificial system as a means of receiving forgiveness and atonement for sin. He had made provision for their hard hearts and sin-prone dispositions. And even when it came to the making of vows, God provided a gracious means by which they could keep their word even when their hearts weren’t in it.

The topic of vows was important to God because it involved the keeping of one’s commitments. He had provided Moses with clear instructions regarding the making and keeping of vows.

“When you make a vow to the Lord your God, be prompt in fulfilling whatever you promised him. For the Lord your God demands that you promptly fulfill all your vows, or you will be guilty of sin. However, it is not a sin to refrain from making a vow. But once you have voluntarily made a vow, be careful to fulfill your promise to the Lord your God.” – Deuteronomy 23:21-23 NLT

A vow was a voluntary oath, a verbal commitment or promise to do or not do something. In many cases, the one making the vow would invoke the name of God as a witness or guarantee. It would be something like the phrase we hear so often today: “I swear to God…” But God warned His people about swearing oaths of any kind, either to Him or to others. These verbal commitments were to be taken seriously and the name of God was to be treated with reverence at all times.

In the opening verses of Leviticus 27, God addresses the issue of vows made specially to Him. These would have involved promises to be kept should God fulfill a request. The book of Judges gives an example of just such a vow.

Jephthah made a vow to the Lord. He said, “If you give me victory over the Ammonites, I will give to the Lord whatever comes out of my house to meet me when I return in triumph. I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.” – Judges 11:30-31 NLT

When God provided Jephthah with the victory he requested, the exuberant warrior returned home to find his young daughter coming out of the door of his house to greet him.

When Jephthah returned home to Mizpah, his daughter came out to meet him, playing on a tambourine and dancing for joy. She was his one and only child; he had no other sons or daughters. When he saw her, he tore his clothes in anguish. – Judges 11:34-35 NLT

Vows were not to be treated lightly or flippantly. It was a dangerous thing to attempt to bargain with God. But God, in His mercy and grace, provided His people with a way to fulfill their commitments when their hearts were no longer in it. In verses 1-7, God focuses His attention on those cases in which an individual vowed to dedicate someone to the Lord in return for divine intervention. The book of 1 Samuel contains a record of this type of vow. It involves a barren woman named Hannah. Unable to bear her husband a child, Hannah took her problem to the Lord.

Hannah was in deep anguish, crying bitterly as she prayed to the Lord. And she made this vow: “O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, if you will look upon my sorrow and answer my prayer and give me a son, then I will give him back to you. He will be yours for his entire lifetime…” – 1 Samuel 1:10-11 NLT

God graciously fulfilled her request and gave her a son, whom she named Samuel. And when the day came for her to fulfill her vow, Hannah did as she had promised to do. When Samuel had been weaned, she brought him to the Tabernacle and presented him to the priest, saying, “I asked the Lord to give me this boy, and he has granted my request. Now I am giving him to the Lord, and he will belong to the Lord his whole life” (1 Samuel 1:27 NLT). 

But God had provided an option. Had Hannah had second thoughts about dedicating her only son to the Lord, she could have purchased his freedom. According to Leviticus 27, Hannah could have given the priest 5 shekels of silver and returned home with her child. But it should not be overlooked that this exchange rate was very high. The average income of a common laborer in biblical times was about one shekel per month. So, this payment would have required five months' wages.

And God outlined the various valuations based on the age and gender of the person whose life had been vowed. Extrabiblical texts reveal that these amounts reflected the going rate for slaves in those days. These purchase prices were high in order to discourage the making of rash vows. In His sermon on the mount, Jesus addressed the topic of vows, stating, “You have also heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not break your vows; you must carry out the vows you make to the Lord.’ But I say, do not make any vows!” (Matthew 4:33-34 NLT). 

He discouraged the making of vows altogether, encouraging His listeners to simply do what they promise to do.

“Just say a simple, ‘Yes, I will,’ or ‘No, I won’t.’ Anything beyond this is from the evil one.” – Matthew 5:37 NLT

Vows were dangerous. They could result in divine judgment. And even when God provided a gracious way of fulfilling a vow you had no intention of keeping, it came with a high price. God values truth. His word is truth. He does not lie and He expects His children to follow His example. But He also knows that they are incapable of living up to His holy standards. So, He graciously provides them with ways to fulfill their commitments even when they lack the heart to do so.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Yet For All That…

40 “But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers in their treachery that they committed against me, and also in walking contrary to me, 41 so that I walked contrary to them and brought them into the land of their enemies—if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their iniquity, 42 then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and I will remember my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land. 43 But the land shall be abandoned by them and enjoy its Sabbaths while it lies desolate without them, and they shall make amends for their iniquity, because they spurned my rules and their soul abhorred my statutes. 44 Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not spurn them, neither will I abhor them so as to destroy them utterly and break my covenant with them, for I am the Lord their God. 45 But I will for their sake remember the covenant with their forefathers, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am the Lord.”

46 These are the statutes and rules and laws that the Lord made between himself and the people of Israel through Moses on Mount Sinai. – Leviticus 26:40-46 ESV

The final judgment the people of Israel will face for breaking their covenant commitment with God will be their defeat by a foreign power and their expulsion from the land. It was during their captivity in Egypt that they had become a nation, and God had led them out of Egypt and was in the process of leading them to their promised land. Yet, at their temporary camp at the base of Mount Sinai, God was warning them about their need to remain faithful and keep the covenant He had made with them. If they failed to do so, they would end up the way they began – as captives in a foreign land. God would keep His promise to give them the land of Canaan as their inheritance, but they would be required to walk in His statutes and observe all His commandments (Leviticus 26:3). As long as they were faithful, Yahweh would continue to dwell among them and provide for and protect them.

Yet, God made it perfectly clear that their future would be filled with pain and suffering if they chose to disobey Him. He had set them apart as His own, but they were going to have to live up to that preferred status. Their behavior would need to come in line with the expectations of Yahweh. All the blessings and benefits that came with being God’s treasured possession came with conditions. There was a commitment and a cost to being God’s “kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6 ESV).

One of the greatest points of difference between Israel and all the other nations on earth was to be their behavior. God’s commandments provided His people with a blueprint for living as His set-apart people. The Decalogue and the Book of the Covenant contained all the rules and requirements that would regulate their lives and separate them from the rest of fallen humanity. The Israelites were no different than any other people group on the planet. They were just as sin-prone and wired to pursue self-reliance. Yet, God had set them apart to live in communion with Him. But to do so, they would need to live in compliance with His holy and righteous laws. If they did, they would reflect His nature and honor His name among the pagan nations of the world.

But as this chapter has shown, if they failed to keep His commands, their actions would be seen as an act of rebellion and a personal affront to the character of God. Rather than honoring God through their obedience, they would bring shame to His name by treating His laws with contempt. And God swore to bring judgment upon His covenant people if they persisted in violating their covenant commitment.

“…if you break my covenant by rejecting my decrees, treating my regulations with contempt, and refusing to obey my commands, I will punish you…” – Leviticus 26:15-16 NLT

But as harsh as God’s punishments would be, His grace would never fail, and His covenant commitment would remain firm. Despite their future rebellion, God would not abandon or forsake them. There was one last condition that would dictate the fate of God’s people. Verse 40 opens with two simple words: “But if….”  They begin a conditional statement that outlines what God will do in response to an action on the part of His exiled people.

This section fast-forwards to the future when God’s people are living in adverse conditions in a foreign land because of their refusal to keep His commands. It is a time of great suffering and sorrow.

“You will die among the foreign nations and be devoured in the land of your enemies. Those of you who survive will waste away in your enemies’ lands because of their sins and the sins of their ancestors.” – Leviticus 26:38-39 NLT

Yet despite those desperate conditions, God provides His people with a glimmer of hope. If they will only confess their sins and humble themselves before Him, He will remember the covenant He made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It is not as if God will somehow forget what He promised to the patriarchs and need to be reminded. It is that He will hear their confession, see their humility, and renew His commitment to do all that He had promised to do. Their time in exile will function as a temporary delay in God’s covenant commitment. His blessings will be put on hold but He will remain firmly committed to keeping His covenant promises.

What is interesting to note is God’s promise to remember the land. During their time in exile, the land will go fallow and unattended. With no one to occupy them, many of the cities and villages will become virtual ghost towns. Fields will go unplowed and cultivated. Vineyards will return to their wild and untended states. But this imagery is in keeping with God’s commands concerning the Sabbath Year. When the people finally occupied the land of Canaan, they were commanded to set apart every seventh year as a time to allow the land to rest.

“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.” – Leviticus 25:3-5 ESV

This law was just as binding as any other, but it seems that the Israelites failed to honor this command during their time in the land of Canaan. And God later warned the Israelites that their disobedience to all His commands would result in their expulsion from the land.

“Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: Because you have not obeyed my words, behold, I will send for all the tribes of the north, declares the Lord, and for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants, and against all these surrounding nations. I will devote them to destruction, and make them a horror, a hissing, and an everlasting desolation. Moreover, I will banish from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the grinding of the millstones and the light of the lamp. This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.” – Jeremiah 25:8-11 ESV

This future judgment is in perfect alignment with the warning God issued in Leviticus 26:33. He had predicted their failure to obey and had warned of the ramifications. And in the book of 2 Chronicles, we have recorded the fulfillment of these prophecies.

He took into exile in Babylon those who had escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and to his sons until the establishment of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days that it lay desolate it kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years. – 2 Chronicles 36:20-21 ESV

For more than 490 years, the Israelites failed to keep God’s commands concerning the Sabbath Year. They refused to allow the land to rest, choosing instead to treat that year just like any other year, plowing, cultivating, and harvesting as they always did. Ignoring God’s command, they decided to do what they deemed best, greedily gathering as much produce as they could and, in doing so, revealing their unwillingness to view God as their ultimate source of provision. 

So, God decrees that the land will rest for 70 years and “enjoy its Sabbaths while it lies desolate without them, and they shall make amends for their iniquity, because they spurned my rules and their soul abhorred my statutes” (Leviticus 26:43 ESV). The land will rest while they suffer unrest. God’s land will be restored while God’s people endure hardship.

But when they finally come to an end of themselves and bow in humility before God, confessing their sins and crying out for deliverance, God promises to restore them as well.

“But despite all this, I will not utterly reject or despise them while they are in exile in the land of their enemies. I will not cancel my covenant with them by wiping them out, for I am the Lord their God. For their sakes I will remember my ancient covenant with their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of all the nations, that I might be their God. I am the Lord.” – Leviticus 26:44-45 NLT

Seven decades of suffering will be followed by forgiveness, restoration, and renewal. Despite their serial unfaithfulness, God will redeem His people from captivity yet again and return them to the land of Canaan. It was a God-ordained famine that led Jacob and his family to seek refuge in Egypt, and it was there that God transformed them into a mighty nation, causing Pharaoh to enslave them in an attempt to control them. But God heard their cries and delivered them from their suffering. He eventually led them to the land of Canaan, just as He had promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But as Leviticus 26 predicts, God’s people would eventually suffer a spiritual famine, failing to nourish themselves on the blessings of God and choosing instead to feast on the tempting but malnourished delights of the world. And their decision to reject the food of God as revealed in the law of God would result in the judgment of God. But their actions would never negate the promises of God.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” – Matthew 5:6 ESV

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

And Now, the Bad News

14 “But if you will not listen to me and will not do all these commandments, 15 if you spurn my statutes, and if your soul abhors my rules, so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant, 16 then I will do this to you: I will visit you with panic, with wasting disease and fever that consume the eyes and make the heart ache. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. 17 I will set my face against you, and you shall be struck down before your enemies. Those who hate you shall rule over you, and you shall flee when none pursues you. 18 And if in spite of this you will not listen to me, then I will discipline you again sevenfold for your sins, 19 and I will break the pride of your power, and I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze. 20 And your strength shall be spent in vain, for your land shall not yield its increase, and the trees of the land shall not yield their fruit.

21 “Then if you walk contrary to me and will not listen to me, I will continue striking you, sevenfold for your sins. 22 And I will let loose the wild beasts against you, which shall bereave you of your children and destroy your livestock and make you few in number, so that your roads shall be deserted.

23 “And if by this discipline you are not turned to me but walk contrary to me, 24 then I also will walk contrary to you, and I myself will strike you sevenfold for your sins. 25 And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall execute vengeance for the covenant. And if you gather within your cities, I will send pestilence among you, and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy. 26 When I break your supply of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in a single oven and shall dole out your bread again by weight, and you shall eat and not be satisfied.

27 “But if in spite of this you will not listen to me, but walk contrary to me, 28 then I will walk contrary to you in fury, and I myself will discipline you sevenfold for your sins. 29 You shall eat the flesh of your sons, and you shall eat the flesh of your daughters. 30 And I will destroy your high places and cut down your incense altars and cast your dead bodies upon the dead bodies of your idols, and my soul will abhor you. 31 And I will lay your cities waste and will make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will not smell your pleasing aromas. 32 And I myself will devastate the land, so that your enemies who settle in it shall be appalled at it. 33 And I will scatter you among the nations, and I will unsheathe the sword after you, and your land shall be a desolation, and your cities shall be a waste.

34 “Then the land shall enjoy its Sabbaths as long as it lies desolate, while you are in your enemies’ land; then the land shall rest, and enjoy its Sabbaths. 35 As long as it lies desolate it shall have rest, the rest that it did not have on your Sabbaths when you were dwelling in it. 36 And as for those of you who are left, I will send faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. The sound of a driven leaf shall put them to flight, and they shall flee as one flees from the sword, and they shall fall when none pursues. 37 They shall stumble over one another, as if to escape a sword, though none pursues. And you shall have no power to stand before your enemies. 38 And you shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up. 39 And those of you who are left shall rot away in your enemies' lands because of their iniquity, and also because of the iniquities of their fathers they shall rot away like them.” – Leviticus 26:14-39 ESV

After having listed the manifold blessings that accompany obedience, God now addresses the less attractive topic of divine discipline for disobedience. In these verses, God provides a five-stage outline of how things will turn out for His people should they refuse to remain faithful to Him, and the list of potential judgments is grim and intended to deter them from considering disobedience as a course of action. God wanted them to understand the gravity of the situation. He had set them apart as His chosen people and made a binding covenant with them.

“Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” – Exodus 19:5-6 ESV

This agreement between God and His people sometimes referred to as the Mosaic Covenant, was conditional in nature. In other words, it was binding and required the full compliance of both parties. Through their obedience to His covenant conditions, the Israelites would be guaranteed their status as God’s chosen people and assured of ongoing presence, power, and provision. 

“If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them, then…I will make my dwelling among you, and my soul shall not abhor you. And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people.” – Leviticus 26:3, 11-12 ESV

But the people needed to know that there was a potential downside to this covenant that they had so eagerly ratified (Exodus 19:8). Failure to keep all the conditions of the covenant came with serious consequences, and the list of judgments God describes in these verses goes from bad to worse. It will begin with divine attacks on their bodies in the form of “wasting diseases” and assaults by their enemies that will leave them defeated and demoralized. Other nations will plunder their crops and treat the Israelites as little more than slaves. The land that God had given the Israelites as their inheritance would no longer provide for their needs. Instead, it would fall into the hands of their enemies, leaving God’s people defeated and destitute. 

Continued rebellion will result in drought and famine, “making the skies as unyielding as iron and the earth as hard as bronze” (Leviticus 26:19 NLT). Rain will be withheld and crops will cease to grow. The fruitfulness of the land of promise will become a distant and fading memory. And yet God forewarns His people that this judgment will not produce repentance and obedience. Despite all that they suffer, they will continue to spurn His calls to obey, forcing Yahweh to punish them “seven times over” (Leviticus 26:18 NLT) for their sins. God vows to break their proud spirit and bring them to their knees. Yet, God predicts that His people will prove to be stubborn and unwilling to give up their rebellious ways. That will usher in the next phase of their punishment.

“I will send wild animals that will rob you of your children and destroy your livestock. Your numbers will dwindle, and your roads will be deserted.” – Leviticus 26:22 NLT

The creation itself will turn against God’s people. Not only will they face the threat of enemy attacks, but wild animals will rise up against them. Their lawlessness will result in chaos. No one will be safe. The first judgments primarily affected the fruit of their fields, but this punishment will target the fruit of the womb: Their children.

To grasp the full effect of this judgment, one must understand that God has always called His people to “be fruitful and multiply.” It was the command given to Adam and Eve and passed down to Noah and his sons. And while the Israelites had been slaves in Egypt, God had miraculously multiplied their number. But now, God was warning them that because of disobedience, they could expect to see their number diminish. As King Solomon would later record, children were to be seen as a gift from God.

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,
    the fruit of the womb a reward. – Psalm 127:3 ESV

But the Israelites needed to understand that their fruitfulness as a nation was directly tied to their faithfulness. At this point, it’s important to note what God said when He prepared to create man.

“Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.” – Genesis 1:26 NLT

And God gave the first man and women a mandate:

“Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.” – Genesis 1:28 NLT

Now, in the case of His chosen people, God was warning that their fruitfulness and dominion over creation would come to an end should they choose to disobey His commands.

But God was far from done because He knew that His people would find it difficult to repent and return to Him. So, He outlines the next phase of His divine judgment. In response to their ongoing disobedience, God will get personally involved.

“I myself will be hostile toward you. I will personally strike you with calamity seven times over for your sins.” – Leviticus 26:24 NLT

God vows to deal with their rebellion on an intimate level, sending armies against them to mete out His divine judgment. If the people attempt to escape God’s wrath, they’ll only find themselves facing the devastation of a plague they can’t outrun. God’s judgment will be inescapable and unavoidable. God vows to inflict on the people of Israel what had been reserved for the nation of Egypt. This time, the plagues would be directed at God’s people, not their enemies. And God adds insult to injury by promising to destroy Israel’s food supply. No more protection. No more provision.

As the people of Israel heard Moses impart these dire warnings, they must have been dumbstruck and appalled at the severity of God’s words. But the worst was yet to come. In a foreshadowing of Israel’s less-than-stellar future, God predicts their stubbornness and obstinacy in the face of overwhelming judgment, and matter-of-factly states, “I will give full vent to my hostility” (Leviticus 26:28 NLT). And what He describes next is difficult to read and even harder to comprehend. Focusing His attention on the sin of idolatry, God promises to pour out His judgment with unfathomable and unrelenting fury. He describes Israelite cities filled with the destroyed altars of their false gods and the corpses of those who once worshiped them. Those left alive will have been taken captive by their enemies. But before their cities fell, the people of God would have resorted to cannibalism just to survive.

In the midst of their suffering and pain, the apostate people of Israel will attempt to call on God for rescue, but their efforts will prove too little, too late. He will not listen to their cries or accept their sacrifices for forgiveness and atonement. They will be forcibly removed from the land and returned to their former status as exiles and slaves. And God drops the final bombshell in His escalating prediction of future judgment.

“You will die among the foreign nations and be devoured in the land of your enemies. Those of you who survive will waste away in your enemies’ lands because of their sins and the sins of their ancestors.” – Leviticus 26:38-39 NLT

God was serious. His call to obedience was not a suggestion but a command. His blessings were real and fully realizable, but they would require obedience. And if His people chose to break their covenant commitment, they needed to understand that the consequences were equally real and worse than anything the could ever imagine.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

It Pays to Obey

1 “You shall not make idols for yourselves or erect an image or pillar, and you shall not set up a figured stone in your land to bow down to it, for I am the Lord your God. 2 You shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.

3 “If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them, 4 then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. 5 Your threshing shall last to the time of the grape harvest, and the grape harvest shall last to the time for sowing. And you shall eat your bread to the full and dwell in your land securely. 6 I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid. And I will remove harmful beasts from the land, and the sword shall not go through your land. 7 You shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. 8 Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall chase ten thousand, and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. 9 I will turn to you and make you fruitful and multiply you and will confirm my covenant with you. 10 You shall eat old store long kept, and you shall clear out the old to make way for the new. 11 I will make my dwelling among you, and my soul shall not abhor you. 12 And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people. 13 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves. And I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect.” – Leviticus 26:1-13 ESV

After all that God has said and done since their arrival at Sinai, the Israelites are now given the conditions surrounding their covenant relationship with Yahweh. They have received His Decalogue and Book of the Covenant and agreed to keep all the laws and regulations contained within them. Moses delivered to them all of God’s instructions concerning the sacrificial system and the Levitical priesthood. Moses also provided them with God’s detailed plans for the construction of the Tabernacle which was to serve as Yahweh’s earthly dwelling place. God had provided them with instructions concerning all the holy days and feasts that were to celebrate each year throughout their generations. And all along the way, it seems that the people quietly agreed to do all that God had commanded them. They showed no signs of disagreement and displayed no hint of disobedience. But God knew that it wouldn’t be long before His people found His laws and regulations to be a burden rather than a blessing. When they arrived in the land of Canaan, they would see other nations that were not required to live up to God’s exacting standards. The Canaanites would be free to do as they pleased, unhampered by God’s restrictive legal code.

But all throughout the book of Leviticus, God had called His people to live in obedience to His will. He would not let them forget that He had saved them and had great plans for them, but their submission and obedience were non-negotiable requirements if they wanted to experience the full extent of His blessings.

“I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. You shall not defile yourselves with any swarming thing that crawls on the ground. For I am the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.” – Leviticus 11:44-45 ESV

“You shall follow my rules and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.” – Leviticus 18:4-5 ESV

“So keep my charge never to practice any of these abominable customs that were practiced before you, and never to make yourselves unclean by them: I am the Lord your God.” – Leviticus 18:30 ESV

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. And you shall observe all my statutes and all my rules, and do them: I am the Lord.” – Leviticus 19:36-37 ESV

“They shall therefore keep my charge, lest they bear sin for it and die thereby when they profane it: I am the Lord who sanctifies them.” – Leviticus 22:9 ESV

“They shall not profane the holy things of the people of Israel, which they contribute to the Lord, and so cause them to bear iniquity and guilt, by eating their holy things: for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.” – Leviticus 22:15-16 ESV

“So you shall keep my commandments and do them: I am the Lord. And you shall not profane my holy name, that I may be sanctified among the people of Israel. I am the Lord who sanctifies you, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I am the Lord.” – Leviticus 22:31-33 ESV

God had made His expectations perfectly clear. Obedience was an obligation, not an option. But their adherence to His commands was not to be viewed as a burden. He wanted them to understand that their faithful commitment to the covenant He had made with them was designed to be a blessing, and in chapter 26 He outlines all the amazing benefits they can expect to receive as a result of their obedience to His commands.

And God opens up the chapter with a reminder of the two most fundamental and foundational laws He had given them.

“You shall not make idols for yourselves or erect an image or pillar, and you shall not set up a figured stone in your land to bow down to it, for I am the Lord your God.” – Leviticus 26:1 ESV

According to the Decalogue, the Israelites were forbidden from worshiping any other deity but Yahweh. They were not to follow the polytheistic ways of the Canaanites, willfully worshiping a host of assorted deities of their own making. Yahweh was the only true God and they were to revere and honor Him alone. And because He had set apart the Sabbath as a day of rest and a sign of their reliance upon Him, they were to honor it at all times. This applied to the Tabernacle as well. God had ordered its construction so that it might serve as His earthly dwelling place and guarantee His presence among them. They were to treat His sanctuary as holy and give it the honor it deserved as the house of Yahweh.

What the Israelites needed to understand was the truly unique nature of their relationship with Yahweh. He had chosen them to be His treasured possession. He had singled them out among all the nations of the earth to become His chosen people. And His laws were designed to regulate their lives and distinguish them from every other people group on the planet. By obeying His commands they would demonstrate their distinctiveness and prove their status as “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6 ESV).

But their status as God’s treasured possession came with a condition: Obedience.

“…if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, [then] you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine.” – Exodus 19: 5 ESV

This is a conditional statement. To continue to enjoy their one-of-a-kind status as His chosen people, they would have to remain fully committed to and in compliance with His covenant commands. The covenant was conditional. But the good news was that obedience was well worth it. If they chose to keep their covenant commitments, God would pour out His blessings upon them – abundantly and in every area of their lives.

God was going to bless their land with rain and produce an abundance of crops – well beyond anything they could have imagined. They would experience prosperity in the form of fruitfulness in their fields and vineyards. God promised to extend their growing seasons so that they were able to harvest long after their neighbor’s fields had gone barren. This was a promise of divine intervention and sovereign provision.

But not only did God promise them fruitful fields and full stomachs, but He also guaranteed their safety in the land.

“I will give you peace in the land, and you will be able to sleep with no cause for fear. I will rid the land of wild animals and keep your enemies out of your land. In fact, you will chase down your enemies and slaughter them with your swords.” – Leviticus 26:6-7 NLT

God would provide for them and protect them. He would feed them and defend them. And along with fruitful fields, they would experience the blessing of fruitful wombs.

“I will look favorably upon you, making you fertile and multiplying your people. And I will fulfill my covenant with you.” – Leviticus 26:9 NLT

God would see to it that the land was filled to overflowing with His chosen people. Their number would increase exponentially but never outstrip the ability of the land to provide because God would supernaturally and sovereignly supply all their needs.

But the greatest blessing they stood to gain from a life of obedience was the ongoing presence of Yahweh. He promised to remain with them and to live among them – as long as they remained faithful to Him.

“I will live among you, and I will not despise you. I will walk among you; I will be your God, and you will be my people.” – Leviticus 26:11 NLT

God guaranteed His ongoing provision, protection, and presence but it was conditioned upon their obedience. He would not tolerate unfaithfulness or turn a blind eye to idolatry. He would not and could not dwell among those who refused to honor Him and treated Him with disdain. His presence was the key to His provision and protection, and His ongoing presence was directly tied to their obedience. They stood to gain greatly if they would simply remain faithful to their covenant commitments. And lest they forget, God reminded them once again of all that He had done for them.

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so you would no longer be their slaves. I broke the yoke of slavery from your neck so you can walk with your heads held high.” – Leviticus 26:13 NLT

Obedience was not to be viewed as a burden. It was not a “yoke” of oppression like they had experienced in Egypt. God was not their slave master, but their liberator. He had released them from bondage so that they might walk in freedom. No longer weighed down by the unjust laws placed upon them by Pharaoh, the Israelites were free to walk in the light of God’s glorious presence and in keeping with His life-transformative laws. And as long as they did, they would be blessed.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

If You Won't, God Will

47 “If a stranger or sojourner with you becomes rich, and your brother beside him becomes poor and sells himself to the stranger or sojourner with you or to a member of the stranger’s clan, 48 then after he is sold he may be redeemed. One of his brothers may redeem him, 49 or his uncle or his cousin may redeem him, or a close relative from his clan may redeem him. Or if he grows rich he may redeem himself. 50 He shall calculate with his buyer from the year when he sold himself to him until the year of jubilee, and the price of his sale shall vary with the number of years. The time he was with his owner shall be rated as the time of a hired worker. 51 If there are still many years left, he shall pay proportionately for his redemption some of his sale price. 52 If there remain but a few years until the year of jubilee, he shall calculate and pay for his redemption in proportion to his years of service. 53 He shall treat him as a worker hired year by year. He shall not rule ruthlessly over him in your sight. 54 And if he is not redeemed by these means, then he and his children with him shall be released in the year of jubilee. 55 For it is to me that the people of Israel are servants. They are my servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.” – Leviticus 25:47-55 ESV

God provides one final example of an Israelite who has hit upon hard times and has been forced to seek recourse by selling himself to a “stranger or sojourner” living among them. This is a reference to a non-Israelite or foreigner. What God describes here would have been considered a travesty because it revealed that this destitute Israelite had no other options. No one within the community of faith had come to his aid (verse 35). There wasn’t even a fellow Israelite willing to make this man his indentured servant. Desperate to alleviate his own debt and care for his family, the man was forced to sell himself to someone outside the family of God.

“This would be on the face of it an embarrassment and the opposite of what God had in mind for his people. Foreigners in God’s economy were not to rule over the covenant people. Foreigners were welcomed and well treated by the Hebrews, but they were to be under the social orbit of the native Israelites. Israelites were permitted to purchase slaves who were foreigners but never fellow covenant members.” – Kenneth A. Matthews, Leviticus: Holy People, Holy God

In the Book of the Covenant, God had given His commands concerning the treatment of strangers and sojourners living among the Israelites.

When a foreigner resides with you in your land, you must not oppress him. You must treat the foreigner living among you as native-born and love him as yourself, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God. – Leviticus 20:33-34 BSB

But while foreigners were welcome to live among the Israelites, these “strangers” were never considered part of the covenant community. Many of them may have been proselytes to the Hebrew religion or what became known as “God-fearers,” but they were never allowed to share in the inheritance of the land of Canaan. These “God-fearing” pagans were Gentiles who had chosen to attach themselves to Yahweh and His people but had not fully converted to Judaism. Many of them may have been Egyptians who chose to accompany the Israelites when they were delivered by God (Exodus 12:38).

These God-fearing foreigners were allowed to dwell among the Israelites, but they were never to possess any of the lands that had been given by God as an inheritance to His covenant people. But if a foreigner had somehow been able to accrue enough wealth to purchase an Israelite as his slave, he might well end up with rights to that man’s property. This would have been unacceptable to God. So, to protect His people and the land He had given them, God made special provisions for this kind of situation.

“If any of your fellow Israelites fall into poverty and are forced to sell themselves to such a foreigner or to a member of his family, they still retain the right to be bought back, even after they have been purchased. They may be bought back by a brother, an uncle, or a cousin. In fact, anyone from the extended family may buy them back.” – Leviticus 25:47-49 NLT

Even in this worst-case scenario, God gave His people a second chance to do the right thing. If one of their own became so desperate that they sold themselves to a foreigner, the rest of the Israelite community was expected to step in and rectify the situation. Not only was the land considered sacred, but it also belonged to Yahweh (Leviticus 25:23). The people had no right to sell it in order to profit from it. And they were to do everything in their power to see that the land remained occupied by God’s chosen people. Foreigners were welcome but they were not allowed to possess what rightfully belonged to God. And to ensure that the land of God and the people of God remained His possessions, God provided the Year of Jubilee as a final form of restitution and redemption.

“Set this year apart as holy, a time to proclaim freedom throughout the land for all who live there. It will be a jubilee year for you, when each of you may return to the land that belonged to your ancestors and return to your own clan.” – Leviticus 25:10 NLT

When the Year of Jubilee arrived, any lands that had been leased or mortgaged were returned to their original owners, and all slaves and bonded laborers were provided with their freedom. If the people did not redeem their own, God would do it.

But God did not want His people to treat the Year of Jubilee like some kind of divine lottery system. They were not to wait around until the 50th year, living as slaves to one another or outsiders. Each individual was expected to do whatever was necessary to settle his debts and seek freedom. Redemption was the focus. They were not to bide their time and settle for a life of slavery while waiting for the redemption of God. No, they were to do everything in their power to seek redemption.

“…they still retain the right to be bought back, even after they have been purchased. They may be bought back by a brother, an uncle, or a cousin. In fact, anyone from the extended family may buy them back. They may also redeem themselves if they have prospered.” – Leviticus 25:48-49 NLT

During the 49 years that led up to the Year of Jubilee, the Israelites were to be pursuing their own redemption and that of their neighbors. There were no shortcuts and workarounds. To settle their debts, they were required to calculate the value of their services based on the time remaining until the Year of Jubilee.

“If many years still remain until the jubilee, they will repay the proper proportion of what they received when they sold themselves. If only a few years remain until the Year of Jubilee, they will repay a small amount for their redemption.” – Leviticus 25:51-52 NLT

Restoration and redemption came with a price. They had to pay back what they owed. And anyone who had purchased the debt of an Israelite was to treat their “servant” with dignity and respect. The debtor, despite his dire circumstances, remained a child of God and deserved to be treated that way. No foreigner was allowed to mistreat an Israelite. No Israelite was permitted to denigrate a brother by taking advantage of his impoverished condition and abusing him like a slave. The people of God were never to forget their former condition as slaves in Egypt.

“Always remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God redeemed you from your slavery. That is why I have given you this command.” – Deuteronomy 24:18 NLT

And God reminded His people that each of them belonged to Him. The rich and the poor, the social elite, and the common peasant were all considered God’s possessions.

“For the people of Israel belong to me. They are my servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.” – Leviticus 25:55 NLT

The land belonged to God and so did the people, and that is why God expected the Israelites to treat both with equal honor and dignity. The land was not theirs to sell, profit from, abuse, or neglect. God had given them the land to provide for their needs and to serve as their permanent homeland. But God had also chosen the entire nation of Israel as His treasured possession (Deuteronomy 14:2). Each of them, from the greatest to the least, was considered holy in the eyes of God.

“…you are a holy people, who belong to the Lord your God. Of all the people on earth, the Lord your God has chosen you to be his own special treasure.” – Deuteronomy 7:6 NLT

There was to be no hierarchy or caste system within the people of God. The rich were not to lord it over the poor. The destitute were not to be treated as second-class citizens. And God provided His people with plenty of examples of how He expected this to unfold in daily life.

“If your neighbor is poor and gives you his cloak as security for a loan, do not keep the cloak overnight. Return the cloak to its owner by sunset so he can stay warm through the night and bless you, and the Lord your God will count you as righteous.” – Deuteronomy 24:12-13 NLT

“Never take advantage of poor and destitute laborers, whether they are fellow Israelites or foreigners living in your towns.” – Deuteronomy 24:14 NLT

“True justice must be given to foreigners living among you and to orphans, and you must never accept a widow’s garment as security for her debt.” – Deuteronomy 24:17 NLT

“When you are harvesting your crops and forget to bring in a bundle of grain from your field, don’t go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigners, orphans, and widows. Then the Lord your God will bless you in all you do.” – Deuteronomy 24:19 NLT

The land and the people belonged to God. They were His possessions and were to be treated as holy. And when His people inevitably failed to honor that which belonged to God, He would see to it that redemption was achieved. The Year of Jubilee was designed to remedy the sins of man and restore that which belonged to God to its rightful place as His possession. 

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Guidelines for Living in a Fallen World

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. 36 Take no interest from him or profit, but fear your God, that your brother may live beside you. 37 You shall not lend him your money at interest, nor give him your food for profit. 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.

39 “If your brother becomes poor beside you and sells himself to you, you shall not make him serve as a slave: 40 he shall be with you as a hired worker and as a sojourner. He shall serve with you until the year of the jubilee. 41 Then he shall go out from you, he and his children with him, and go back to his own clan and return to the possession of his fathers. 42 For they are my servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as slaves. 43 You shall not rule over him ruthlessly but shall fear your God. 44 As for your male and female slaves whom you may have: you may buy male and female slaves from among the nations that are around you. 45 You may also buy from among the strangers who sojourn with you and their clans that are with you, who have been born in your land, and they may be your property. 46 You may bequeath them to your sons after you to inherit as a possession forever. You may make slaves of them, but over your brothers the people of Israel you shall not rule, one over another ruthlessly.” – Leviticus 25:35-46 ESV

In this section, God deals with the issue of poverty among the people of Israel. It was an inevitable and unavoidable reality that some within the Israelite community would end up impoverished and in need of assistance. God has already addressed the future scenario of someone having to sell their land to pay off debts. Now, He deals with how the community was to respond to the less fortunate among them. The poor were to be treated fairly and with compassion.

“If one of your fellow Israelites falls into poverty and cannot support himself, support him as you would a foreigner or a temporary resident and allow him to live with you.” – Leviticus 25:35 NLT

The Hebrew word that is translated as “brother” in the ESV is ('āḥ), which can refer to a brother of the same parents, a half-brother, a member of the same clan or tribe, or, more broadly, a fellow Israelite. Since God’s focus throughout this chapter has been on the national celebration of the Year of Jubilee, it would seem that He is dealing with the much broader level of the Israelite community and not just a familial relationship. The same terminology is used in the book of Deuteronomy where God prohibits the Israelites from charging of interest to a “brother.”

“You shall not charge interest on loans to your brother, interest on money, interest on food, interest on anything that is lent for interest. You may charge a foreigner interest, but you may not charge your brother interest, that the Lord your God may bless you in all that you undertake in the land that you are entering to take possession of it.” – Deuteronomy 23:19-20 ESV

It makes more sense to view this from the much broader perspective of the brotherhood that existed between all Israelites. As the chosen people of God, they were to care for their own. God expected His people to show mercy and extend grace to one another. The poor were never to be treated as second-class citizens or to be taken advantage of because of their unfortunate circumstances. Instead, the Israelites were to provide them with assistance which include food and shelter, as well as interest-free loans. God commanded that they treat these individuals like family.

“…show your fear of God by letting him live with you as your relative.” – Leviticus 25:36 NLT

God reminds His people that there was a time when they were poor and enslaved, but He had shown them mercy and graciously provided for all their needs. 

“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.” – Leviticus 25:38 NLT

When they were living as nothing more than slaves in Egypt, God treated them like family and provided them with freedom, food, and the promise of a land to call their own. He welcomed them with open arms and guaranteed them a part of His inheritance. Now, He was asking the Israelites to do the same with one another.

When the Israelites arrived in the land of Canaan, they would each receive their portion of the inheritance. But despite the graciousness and goodness of God, some would still end up in poverty. Human nature and sin would combine to create less-than-ideal outcomes that left some among the people of God destitute and desperate. Financial ruin would drive some to take drastic measures, such as selling themselves as servants to their wealthier Israelite neighbors. But God had already made provision for such circumstances in His diving of the Book of the Covenant.

“If you buy a Hebrew slave, he may serve for no more than six years. Set him free in the seventh year, and he will owe you nothing for his freedom. If he was single when he became your slave, he shall leave single. But if he was married before he became a slave, then his wife must be freed with him.” – Exodus 21:2-3 NLT

And God would later reiterate this command and provide further conditions concerning the release of these indentured servants.

“If a fellow Hebrew sells himself or herself to be your servant and serves you for six years, in the seventh year you must set that servant free.

“When you release a male servant, do not send him away empty-handed. Give him a generous farewell gift from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress. Share with him some of the bounty with which the Lord your God has blessed you. Remember that you were once slaves in the land of Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you! That is why I am giving you this command.” – Deuteronomy 15:12-15 NLT

The Israelites were never to exploit the less fortunate among them. They were to recognize that the rich and the poor were all equal in the eyes of God. He showed no partiality but treated all His children fairly and justly, and expected them to do the same.

“For the Lord your God is the God of gods and Lord of lords. He is the great God, the mighty and awesome God, who shows no partiality and cannot be bribed. He ensures that orphans and widows receive justice. He shows love to the foreigners living among you and gives them food and clothing. So you, too, must show love to foreigners, for you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt.” – Deuteronomy 10:17-19 NLT

God wanted the Israelites to remember that He considered each of them His servants and, as such, they were not to enslave one another. Pharaoh had attempted to enslave God’s people and suffered deadly consequences for his actions, and the people of Israel were not to avoid repeating his mistake. An indentured servant was never to be treated as a slave, and they could not be sold like property. While an individual was paying off his debt in the employment of a fellow Israelite, he was to be treated fairly and justly. And when the sabbatical year came, he was to be set free and provided with a generous gift to assist him in rebuilding his life within the community.

But in verses 44-46, God deals with the highly uncomfortable and unpopular topic of slavery. And, in this case, He is not talking about Israelites paying off their debts as indentured servants; He is dealing with foreign slaves.

“However, you may purchase male and female slaves from among the nations around you. You may also purchase the children of temporary residents who live among you, including those who have been born in your land. You may treat them as your property, passing them on to your children as a permanent inheritance. You may treat them as slaves, but you must never treat your fellow Israelites this way.” – Leviticus 25:44-46 NLT

Passages like this one are difficult to reconcile and explain. They seem to fly in the face of our more modern and enlightened sensibilities. They appear to paint God in a negative light, portraying Him as supportive of the institution of slavery. But is God actually sanctioning the enslavement of human beings or is He attempting to regulate what had become a ubiquitous and inevitable part of the fallen world?

“Because men and women are sinners and live in a fallen world, such things as divorce, and we can add for our purposes, slavery, occur. It is sadly a part of the human experience, and the Bible sets out to first regulate treatment of slaves and the to set the grounds for slavery’s elimination. The Bible makes is clear that slaves were not mere chattel but had God-given protections and certain rights (e.g., Exodus 21:7-11). For example, a runaway slave from a foreign country was not to be returned to his master (Deuteronomy 23:15, 16). The motivation for gentler treatment of slaves was theological: The Israelites had once been slaves in Egypt whom God had delivered. The cruelty that they experienced in Egypt was not tolerated in Israel.” – Kenneth A. Matthew, Leviticus: Holy God, Holy People

Over the centuries, many have expressed disappointment and even disdain for the Bible’s lack of an outright ban on the institution of slavery. After all, in His declaration of the Decalogue, God clearly outlawed murder. But consider the fact that He did not prohibit war. In fact, God would later sanction and even participate in the battles between His people and the nations of the earth. God also declared the marriage union to be indissoluble and binding (Genesis 2:24; Matthew 9:5-6). Yet, despite God’s hatred for divorce (Malachi 2:16), He made concessions for it because He knew that, because of sin, it was inevitable (Deuteronomy 24:1-4). God, who never changes, did not alter His view on divorce but made provisions for its inevitable presence among His people. Because of their sinful natures, they would follow the ways of the world and choose to disobey His commands regarding everything from divorce, murder, sexual immorality, and slavery. And when these egregious activities showed up among His people, God provided guidelines for dealing with them. He did not eradicate all sin among His people but provided them with wise and righteous laws to regulate how they were to live in a fallen world filled with all kinds of ungodly temptations.

Fast forward to the New Testament and the apostle Paul provides a new perspective on the issue of slavery based on the death and resurrection of Jesus. With Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross, He leveled the playing field, making salvation available to any and all, regardless of their ethnicity, gender, or social standing.

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. – Galatians 3:28 ESV

Paul did not call for the elimination of all slavery. It was an accepted part of the social fabric of his day. But Paul was not an advocate of the institution of slavery. Instead, he was a proponent of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which was accessible to all people from every walk of life.

It is interesting to note that God had allowed His own people to live as slaves for centuries before He released them from their captivity. And even after their miraculous deliverance from the evils of slavery, the Israelites would find it tempting to enslave others. Their release did not naturally create a revulsion for the institution of slavery. Just as they were predisposed to lying, cheating, sexual immorality, and idolatry, they would be drawn to the allure of slavery as a form of power and control. God knew His people would follow the ways of the world, so He provided them with stringent guidelines that were intended to separate them from all the other nations.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Right of Ownership

23 “The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine. For you are strangers and sojourners with me. 24 And in all the country you possess, you shall allow a redemption of the land.

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. 26 If a man has no one to redeem it and then himself becomes prosperous and finds sufficient means to redeem it, 27 let him calculate the years since he sold it and pay back the balance to the man to whom he sold it, and then return to his property. 28 But if he does not have sufficient means to recover it, then what he sold shall remain in the hand of the buyer until the year of jubilee. In the jubilee it shall be released, and he shall return to his property.

29 “If a man sells a dwelling house in a walled city, he may redeem it within a year of its sale. For a full year he shall have the right of redemption. 30 If it is not redeemed within a full year, then the house in the walled city shall belong in perpetuity to the buyer, throughout his generations; it shall not be released in the jubilee. 31 But the houses of the villages that have no wall around them shall be classified with the fields of the land. They may be redeemed, and they shall be released in the jubilee. 32 As for the cities of the Levites, the Levites may redeem at any time the houses in the cities they possess. 33 And if one of the Levites exercises his right of redemption, then the house that was sold in a city they possess shall be released in the jubilee. For the houses in the cities of the Levites are their possession among the people of Israel. 34 But the fields of pastureland belonging to their cities may not be sold, for that is their possession forever.” – Leviticus 25:23-34 ESV

As God continues to expand His regulations concerning the Year of Jubilee, He addresses the issue of land ownership. Keep in mind that this information reached the ears of the Israelites long before they ever entered the land of Canaan or took actual possession of it. They were still encamped at the base of Mount Sinai and had a long journey ahead of them. Currently living in tents, they could only speculate about the full impact these regulations would have on their lives. For four centuries, the Israelites had been living on land that belonged to the Egyptians. While they had prospered during their time in Egypt and grown in number, they never owned any property. In fact, during much of their time in Egypt, they had been forced to serve as slaves.

Now, as they stood in their temporary tent city, they must have been excited and a bit confused as they listened to the words of God delivered to them by Moses. The thought of owning their own property would have been music to their ears. But God’s discussions about the Year of Jubilee when property rights reverted back to the original owner must have been difficult to comprehend. But God attempts to assuage all their confusion by informing them that “the land is mine” (Leviticus 25:23 ESV). He wanted them to know that their inheritance of the land of Canaan was going to be less about ownership than about stewardship. The whole concept of an inheritance conveys the idea that God was graciously giving His chosen people the right to live in and care for the land that was rightfully His to give. It was His possession. That meant it did not belong to the Canaanites either. They were little more than squatters, having claimed the land as their own without ever consulting the One to whom it belonged.

Yet God was going to remedy the situation by evicting the illegal tenants and replacing them with His chosen people. But when the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob arrived in the land and took up residence in its cities, villages, and towns, they were to understand that the land remained God’s possession.

“The land belongs to God! The people of God did not own the land – or anything else for that matter. They were given the use of the land by God’s goodness and mercy. And so on the basis of this, no land could be sold forever (ṣmṯṯ in25:23 means “beyond reclaim’). With the sale of property they had to grant its redemption. This means that sellers always had the right to buy the property back whenever they were able to do so.” – Allen P. Ross, Holiness to the Lord: A Guide to the Exposition of the Book of Leviticus

While God remained the rightful owner of all the land in Canaan, He was going to allow the Israelites to treat the land as their own. During the 49 years the preceded each of the Jubilee years, the Israelites were able to transfer the rights to their allotted land. But He reminded them that they were “strangers and sojourners” (Leviticus 25:23 ESV). In other words, each of them was to understand that they were literal guests of the One to whom the land belonged.

God knew that the people would end up using the land for their own benefit. Some would attempt to profit from the sale of the land given to them by God. Others would prove to be poor stewards of their God-given resources and end up in poverty, and forced to sell their land to pay off debt. So, God wanted them to understand that, in His eyes, the land never really changed ownership because it all belonged to Him. That’s why God told them, “in all the country you possess, you shall allow a redemption of the land” (Leviticus 25:24 ESV). The New Living Translation puts it this way: “With every purchase of land you must grant the seller the right to buy it back.”

God knew His people well. He understood that life was going to happen and that the Israelites would make poor decisions. Greed would prompt some to sell that which God had given them to steward. Consumerism and coveteousness would cause others to live beyond their means, resulting in debt and poverty. The psalmist reminds us that God gave the land to the people of Israel so that He might bless and enrich them.

Faithfulness springs up from the ground,
    and righteousness looks down from the sky.
Yes, the Lord will give what is good,
    and our land will yield its increase. – Psalm 85:11-12 ESV

Yet, the Israelites would end up treating the land as a commodity. Later in the book of Leviticus, God will assure His people that the land of Canaan will more than provide for all their needs.

“I will send you the seasonal rains. The land will then yield its crops, and the trees of the field will produce their fruit. Your threshing season will overlap with the grape harvest, and your grape harvest will overlap with the season of planting grain. You will eat your fill and live securely in your own land.” – Leviticus 26:4-5 NLT

The land wasn’t just a gift to be sold and bartered at will. It was God’s means of providing for the needs of His people. But God didn’t want His people to treat that gift with contempt by using it for dishonorable or purely selfish purposes. If a man found himself in a position where he was forced to liquidate his property to pay off debt, God provided a way for him to redeem what he had lost.

“If one of your fellow Israelites falls into poverty and is forced to sell some family land, then a close relative should buy it back for him. If there is no close relative to buy the land, but the person who sold it gets enough money to buy it back, he then has the right to redeem it from the one who bought it.” – Leviticus 25:25-27 NLT

If this plan failed, God provided the Year of Jubilee as a way of redeeming the land and restoring it back to the one who had lost it. The one interesting exemption to all of this involved a house that lay in a walled city. Because the house did not include farmable land, it could only be redeemed within the first year after its sale. After that, it was a permanent possession of the new owner. The real focus of this passage is on arable land that was suitable for farming and capable of producing crops. The farmland of Canaan was intended to meet the needs of the people. It was to be considered communal land, with the edges of the fields reserved for the poor and needy of the community (Leviticus 23:22). When an Israelite sold his land, he was potentially jeopardizing the well-being of the entire community. God had intended the land to provide for the needs of all, not just its designated landowner.

In the case of the tribe of Levi, they were given their own exemption concerning houses owned in walled cities. As part of their designation as God’s priestly caste, they received the possession of homes located within cities belonging to the other tribes. In other words, they were given no land as their inheritance.

“Remember that the Levitical priests—that is, the whole of the tribe of Levi—will receive no allotment of land among the other tribes in Israel.…They will have no land of their own among the Israelites.” – Deuteronomy 18:1, 2 NLT

In time, God would command the Israelites to set aside 48 cities within their allotted lands to serve as housing for the Levites.

“Command the people of Israel to give to the Levites from their property certain towns to live in, along with the surrounding pasturelands. These towns will be for the Levites to live in, and the surrounding lands will provide pasture for their cattle, flocks, and other livestock.” – Numbers 35:2-3 NLT

And God provided the Levites with an exemption for these homes within walled cities. Unlike all the rest of the Israelites, the Levites would be given the right to repurchase any home they had sold – at any time.

“The Levites always have the right to buy back a house they have sold within the towns allotted to them. And any property that is sold by the Levites—all houses within the Levitical towns—must be returned in the Year of Jubilee. After all, the houses in the towns reserved for the Levites are the only property they own in all Israel.” – Leviticus 25:32-33 NLT

God would care for the needs of His priests. He would ensure that they had a place to live and access to the farmland that surrounded these cities. God had given them no inheritance in the land, but He had provided for all their needs, even designating an area around each of the 48 cities to serve as pastureland for their flocks and farmland to raise crops.

“The pastureland assigned to the Levites around these towns will extend 1,500 feet from the town walls in every direction.” – Numbers 35:4 NLT

The land was to be God’s gift to His people – ALL of His people. It was to be viewed as a source of provision, not a means of profit. It was to be treated with dignity and honor because it actually belonged to God. The people of Israel were never to forget that they were guests in this land. They had been graciously invited to share in the bounty and blessings of God’s possession and were never to forget that the land belonged to God, not them.

The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.
    The world and all its people belong to him. – Psalm 24:1 NLT

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Year of Jubilee

8 “You shall count seven weeks of years, seven times seven years, so that the time of the seven weeks of years shall give you forty-nine years. 9 Then you shall sound the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet throughout all your land. 10 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. 11 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. 12 For it is a jubilee. It shall be holy to you. You may eat the produce of the field.

13 “In this year of jubilee each of you shall return to his property. 14 And if you make a sale to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor, you shall not wrong one another. 15 You shall pay your neighbor according to the number of years after the jubilee, and he shall sell to you according to the number of years for crops. 16 If the years are many, you shall increase the price, and if the years are few, you shall reduce the price, for it is the number of the crops that he is selling to you. 17 You shall not wrong one another, but you shall fear your God, for I am the Lord your God.

18 “Therefore you shall do my statutes and keep my rules and perform them, and then you will dwell in the land securely. 19 The land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill and dwell in it securely. 20 And if you say, ‘What shall we eat in the seventh year, if we may not sow or gather in our crop?’ 21 I will command my blessing on you in the sixth year, so that it will produce a crop sufficient for three years. 22 When you sow in the eighth year, you will be eating some of the old crop; you shall eat the old until the ninth year, when its crop arrives.” – Leviticus 25:8-22 ESV

Beginning in verse 9 and ending in verse 55, God begins to unpack yet another national religious observance that He is adding to Israel’s calendar. But this regularly occurring event would only take place every 50 years. The Jubilee Year would occur after seven “weeks” of years which equates to 49 years. The 50th year was supposed to be another sabbatical year, but one that had a greater level of significance.

The Hebrew term for “Jubilee“ is (tᵊrûʿâ) and it can mean “joy, shouting, loud noise, rejoicing.” God’s instructions were that on the tenth day of the seventh month in the 50th year, the ram’s horn was to be blown to start a year of universal redemption. In other words, the Year of Jubilee was to begin on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 23:26-32). This year was special because it was marked by rest but also by new beginnings that featured a year-long emphasis on release and renewal.

Like any other sabbatical year (every seventh year), the Year of Jubilee featured a divine prohibition against labor. For the entire year, the people of Israel were to rest from all their work in the fields and vineyards, allowing the land itself to rest and be restored.

“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.” – Leviticus 25:4-5 ESV

But God decreed that the 50th year would be a time of community-wide restoration that provided release from indebtedness and freedom from bondage. In a sense, it provided every Israelite citizen with a do-over, an opportunity to start anew in life. Old debts were forgiven. Land that had been lost because of bad decisions or financial setbacks was to be returned to its original owner.  Prisoners and captives were to be released. Slaves were to be set free. All labor contracts were to be absolved.

“It provided a general overhaul of economic and social life to restore people and properties to their rightful conditions. It was meant to be a new beginning, a time when all who had failed to maintain their place in society were given a chance to start over and when all who had benefited from such failures released what they had gained.” – Allen P. Ross, Holiness to the Lord: A Guide to the Exposition of the Book of Leviticus

At first glance, this passage seems to carry socialist overtones that seem unfair and even unproductive. Why would God decree that land, rightfully purchased, be returned to its original owner? What reason could God have for releasing prisoners who were rightfully tried and justly condemned? It all seems so disruptive and counterproductive. But God states that it is to be a time to “proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants” (Leviticus 25:10 ESV).

It’s important to consider how much life would transpire in the space of 50 years. During those five decades, people’s fortunes would ebb and flow. Some would experience financial loss and be forced to sell their land in order to pay off debt. Those without property to liquidate would have no choice but to become the indentured servant of their creditor. Some would commit crimes that resulted in their imprisonment. During this 50-year period of time, a lot of life would occur – some good and some bad. So, God ordained a royal reboot to return things to their original condition. It was, in essence, a year-long festival of freedom.

The Year of Jubilee was not designed to look back or commemorate some past event in Israel’s history. If anything, it was a time to look forward and recognize that God was both just and the justifier of all men. In a large community like that of ancient Israel, there would be countless individuals who found themselves on the losing end of life. They would sin and suffer the consequences. Others would make bad decisions and have to endure the ramifications of those poor choices.

There is an old proverb that states, “But for the grace of God go I.” It carries the idea that no one is immune from making mistakes or committing sins that result in judgment. It conveys a sense of humility that acknowledges one’s own sinful nature but also an awareness of the role that God’s grace plays in the life of every man. None of us are above reproach or impervious to failure. On any given day, anyone could find themselves in a place of suffering, loss, or bondage. When we see another human being suffering, we are to refrain from judgment and, instead, we are to recognize the grace of God in our lives. The apostle Paul was fully aware that he was not above reproach or immune from committing iniquity. In fact, he described himself in rather unflattering terms.

For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. – 1 Corinthians 15:9-10 ESV

Paul understood that his work ethic was not the reason for the radically altered status of his life. It had been the work of God and was based solely on the grace of God. And he would later encourage the believers in Rome to consider the amazing nature of God’s grace that transformed their lives by providing them freedom from sin and release from the debt they owed.

…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. – Romans 3:23-26 ESV

That is the heart behind the Year of Jubilee. God was not instituting a socialist makeover of Israelite society; He was reminding His people that everything they had belonged to Him. The land was His. The produce in the fields was His. The flocks and herds they cared for belonged to Him. He had graciously shared these divine possessions with His people and now it was time to allow all within the community to enjoy the benefits and blessings of His goodness.

“The relationship of land and people under God is of fundamental importance for understanding the Old Testament and the Jewish people. . . . The Promised Land was a gift from God, not an inalienable right of anyone’s to sell or incorporate as they wished.” – Walter Higgins, Numbers

The people of Israel were supposed to live their lives with the Year of Jubilee in mind. When buying and selling land, they needed to consider the time until the Year of Jubilee when determining the sales price. The proximity of the Year of Jubilee would determine the price of the land because when the 50th year arrived, the land would automatically revert to the seller. Everything was to be negotiated with the Year of Jubilee in mind. And God makes it clear that in the Year of Jubilee, all land was to return to the original owner, which would ensure that the land remained within the tribe to which it was initially given by God. He had divinely ordained the division and distribution of the land and the Year of Jubilee was intended to restore property rights so that each tribe and clan retained their original apportionment.

There was to be no subterfuge or attempts to swindle one another. Everything was to be done fairly, justly, and above board.

“You shall not wrong one another, but you shall fear your God, for I am the Lord your God.” – Leviticus 25:17 ESV

God expected His people to treat one another with dignity and respect. The rich were not to take advantage of the poor. Someone who owned property was not to attempt to unjustly profit from its sale by charging an exorbitant price. If the Year of Jubilee was near, the value of the land was significantly lower and the price should reflect that reality.

God knew His people would struggle with this new statute. It would have sounded as unreasonable and unfair to them as it does to us. It raised all kinds of questions in their minds, such as how they were to survive if they were forced to return land that they had legally and legitimately bought. So, God assured His people that He would meet all their needs. No one would go hungry or homeless.

“The land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill and dwell in it securely.” – Leviticus 25:19 ESV

God would provide. That is the major theme conveyed by this new statute. By obeying God’s commands, the people would enjoy the providence and provision of God. Every sixth year, God would bless the people with twice as much harvest, ensuring that they had plenty of grain for the sabbatical year. And the same would be true for the 50th year. God would take care of His people. Even with the somewhat disruptive nature of the Year of Jubilee, the people would discover that God could and would take care of every one of His children. By following His commands, they would learn that He alone was their provider. The land was simply a tool He used to accomplish His will. The one who had to relinquish his land would find that his needs were fully met by God. The one who had been forced to sell his land would discover the joy of having his fortunes restored by a gracious and forgiving God. Everyone in Israel would discover the goodness and greatness of their God as they celebrated the Year of Jubilee – the year of restoration and renewal.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Sabbatical Year

1 The Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, 2 “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. 3 For six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its fruits, 4 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. 5 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. 6 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, 7 and for your cattle and for the wild animals that are in your land: all its yield shall be for food.” – Leviticus 25:1-7 ESV

The concept of rest is important to God. He established the seventh day of the week as the Sabbath, a day of rest when the normal activities of labor were set aside in order to worship Him.

“Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you.  For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.” – Exodus 20:8-11 NLT

In a real sense, every day of the week was set aside for the worship of God, because sacrifices were made daily at the Tabernacle. But what set the seventh day apart was the complete cessation of work. Rather than performing their normal routines, the Israelites were to take 24 hours to rest in the provision of Yahweh.

The origin of the Sabbath day can be found in Exodus 16. One month after leaving Egypt, the people of Israel entered the wilderness of Sin and began to grumble about their lack of adequate food. They took their complaint to Moses and Aaron, who responded, “The Lord will give you meat to eat in the evening and bread to satisfy you in the morning, for he has heard all your complaints against him. What have we done? Yes, your complaints are against the Lord, not against us” (Exodus 16:8 NLT). And God delivered on that promise.

That evening vast numbers of quail flew in and covered the camp. And the next morning the area around the camp was wet with dew. When the dew evaporated, a flaky substance as fine as frost blanketed the ground. The Israelites were puzzled when they saw it. “What is it?” they asked each other. They had no idea what it was. – Exodus 16:13-15 NLT

God gave them exactly what they needed, but His gift came with conditions. Each family was told to “gather as much as it needs” (Exodus 16:16 NLT) but God put a limit of two quarts for each person in the household. And the text tells us that “Those who gathered a lot had nothing left over, and those who gathered only a little had enough. Each family had just what it needed” (Exodus 16:18 NLT). This gathering of food was to take place every day of the week, except for the seventh day. God had other plans for that day of the week.

On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much as usual—four quarts for each person instead of two. Then all the leaders of the community came and asked Moses for an explanation. He told them, “This is what the Lord commanded: Tomorrow will be a day of complete rest, a holy Sabbath day set apart for the Lord. So bake or boil as much as you want today, and set aside what is left for tomorrow.” – Exodus 16:22-23 NLT

There would be no gathering of quail or manna on the seventh day, but God made more than adequate provision for that day’s needs. He gave a double portion on the sixth day. Moses provided the people with clear instructions regarding the seventh day.

“Eat this food today, for today is a Sabbath day dedicated to the Lord. There will be no food on the ground today. You may gather the food for six days, but the seventh day is the Sabbath. There will be no food on the ground that day.” – Exodus 16:25-26 NLT

Yet, despite Moses’ warning, the people went out on the seventh day in search of food, only to find that none was there. They labored in vain. There was no need for them to search for food because God had already provided all that they needed. This led God to reiterate His regulation concerning the Sabbath.

“How long will these people refuse to obey my commands and instructions? They must realize that the Sabbath is the Lord’s gift to you. That is why he gives you a two-day supply on the sixth day, so there will be enough for two days. On the Sabbath day you must each stay in your place. Do not go out to pick up food on the seventh day.” – Exodus 16:28-29 NLT

God later codified this command by making it a permanent statute in the Decalogue. The seventh day was to be a perpetual and permanent law among His chosen people. By resting on the seventh day, the people were placing all their trust in God. They were acknowledging His role as their provider and resting in His promise to meet all their needs. And in Exodus 25, God expands the concept of sabbath rest to include the seventh year. But this command would not take effect until the people entered the land of Canaan. By articulating this new law while the people were still in the wilderness of Sinai, God was assuring them of His plans to fulfill the covenant promise He had made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He was going to keep His word and give them the land of Canaan as their inheritance, and when the arrived in the land, they would be expected to practice a sabbatical year.

“When you have entered the land I am giving you, the land itself must observe a Sabbath rest before the Lord every seventh year. For six years you may plant your fields and prune your vineyards and harvest your crops, but during the seventh year the land must have a Sabbath year of complete rest. It is the Lord’s Sabbath” – Leviticus 25:2-4 NLT

Just as He had met their needs in the wilderness by providing twice as much food on the sixth day of the week, so too He would meet their needs for every seventh year. This command must have sounded strange to the ears of the Israelites. The thought of allowing the land to sit idle for an entire year would have come across as odd and nonsensical. What would they do for food? How would they survive an entire year without doing their normal activities of planting, pruning, and harvesting? Yet God was simply taking the concept of the sabbath day and applying it on a much grander scale. What He would do in a week could be done in terms of years as well. But this command was going to require even greater faith on the part of the people.

What sets this command apart is its emphasis on the land itself. Not only were the Israelites to be the beneficiaries of the Lord’s gracious provision of rest, but so too was the land.

“…during the seventh year the land must have a Sabbath year of complete rest.” – Leviticus 16:4 NLT

“The land must have a year of complete rest.” – Leviticus 16:5 NLT

The land belonged to God and He was protecting it from overuse and abuse. In another sense, He was letting the Israelites know that He was their provider, not the land. He was the one who met all their needs. Their labor was not necessary. Their help was not needed. And to prove His point, God ordered that the people of Israel cease all labor during the seventh year.

“Do not plant your fields or prune your vineyards during that year. And don’t store away the crops that grow on their own or gather the grapes from your unpruned vines.” – Leviticus 25:4-5 NLT

Some Israelites probably saw this as a kind of extended vacation and looked forward to the arrival of that first sabbatical year. It’s safe to assume that others were perplexed by this command and worried about how they would survive an entire year without doing their part to cultivate and care for the land. God’s command must have come across as illogical and impossible to many of the Israelites. The whole concept of receiving something for doing nothing was as strange to them as it is to us. We live by the old adage, “You don’t get something for nothing.” We adhere to the idea that nothing is free in this life. Phrases like, “No pay, no play” and “No pain, no gain” permeate our vocabulary. In our world, everything comes with a price, so you have to either work, pay, or contribute something for anything you want to have.

But in God’s economy, things work differently. He told the Israelites that the land would meet all their needs without any help from them.

“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, and for your cattle and for the wild animals that are in your land: all its yield shall be for food.” – Leviticus 16:6-7 NLT

Their lack of labor would have no impact on the fruitfulness of the land. Crops would continue to grow. Vines would still produce grapes. Trees would still yield more than enough fruit to meet their needs. Their flocks would find ample grass on which to feed and grow fat. The land belonged to God and He was its ultimate caretaker. This chapter points back to the early days of creation when God placed the first man and woman in the garden He had created for them.

Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he placed the man he had made. The Lord God made all sorts of trees grow up from the ground—trees that were beautiful and that produced delicious fruit. – Genesis 2:8-9 NLT

God had created the garden to meet the needs of man, and He gave man the responsibility of tending the garden. 

The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. – Genesis 2:15 NLT

But Adam and Eve didn’t actually produce the fruit of the trees. They had not created the garden or any of the plants that existed within it. They were simply stewards of God’s creation. Their ability to work was never to be seen as the source of their sustenance. The garden belonged to God and He would use it to sustain and bless His children – as long as they obeyed.

And as long as the people of Israel kept God’s command regarding the sabbatical year, they would continue to enjoy His faithfulness as expressed in the fruitfulness of the land. Their needs would be met. While resting from their labors they would learn to rest in the provision of God, and He would not let them down.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

What’s In a Name?

10 Now an Israelite woman’s son, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the people of Israel. And the Israelite woman’s son and a man of Israel fought in the camp, 11 and the Israelite woman’s son blasphemed the Name, and cursed. Then they brought him to Moses. His mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan. 12 And they put him in custody, till the will of the Lord should be clear to them.

13 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 14 “Bring out of the camp the one who cursed, and let all who heard him lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him. 15 And speak to the people of Israel, saying, Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin. 16 Whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him. The sojourner as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.

17 “Whoever takes a human life shall surely be put to death. 18 Whoever takes an animal’s life shall make it good, life for life. 19 If anyone injures his neighbor, as he has done it shall be done to him, 20 fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; whatever injury he has given a person shall be given to him. 21 Whoever kills an animal shall make it good, and whoever kills a person shall be put to death. 22 You shall have the same rule for the sojourner and for the native, for I am the Lord your God.” 23 So Moses spoke to the people of Israel, and they brought out of the camp the one who had cursed and stoned him with stones. Thus the people of Israel did as the Lord commanded Moses. – Leviticus 24:10-23 ESV

The entire book of Leviticus stresses the holiness of God and promotes a lifestyle of holiness among His chosen people. As His treasured possession, they were to emulate His divine nature by faithfully observing all the rules for holy living He had decreed and that were intended to set them apart from the rest of the nations. In obeying His commands, observing His holy days, and offering the ritual sacrifices He required, they would be honoring Him as the one true God. Their obedience was to be a sign of obeisance or homage. It was the primary means by which they could prove their submission to His will and reverence for His name.

Throughout the book of Leviticus, God is referred to by His name Jehovah, which means “the existing one.” In the Hebrew Scriptures, God’s name is recorded as YHWH because the vowels were not included in written form. This is what’s known as the tetragrammaton, which simply means “four letters.” Some versions of the Bible translate the tetragrammaton as “Yahweh” by adding in the missing vowels. Others choose to translate it as “LORD” using all capital letters. Others still, choose to replace YHWH with Jehovah.

“Any number of vowel sounds can be inserted within YHWH, and Jewish scholars are as uncertain of the real pronunciation as Christian scholars are. Jehovah is actually a much later (probably 16th-century) variant. The word Jehovah comes from a three-syllable version of YHWH, YeHoWeH. The Y was replaced with a J (although Hebrew does not even have a J sound) and the W with a V, plus the extra vowel in the middle, resulting in JeHoVaH. These vowels are the abbreviated forms of the imperfect tense, the participial form, and the perfect tense of the Hebrew being verb (English is)—thus the meaning of Jehovah could be understood as ‘He who will be, is, and has been.’” – www.gotquestions.org

The Jews developed such a reverence for the name of God, that they eventually stopped trying to say it aloud. Instead, they replaced YHWH with the word Adonai, which means “Lord.” While it is almost impossible to know the exact pronunciation of YHWH because we don’t know the identity of the missing vowels, we do know that the Jews treated the name of God with great reverence.

As we saw earlier, the book of Leviticus repeatedly identifies God speaking to His people by using the phrase, “The LORD spoke to Moses…” (Leviticus 24:1 ESV). This is the name YHWH or Jehovah and it is meant to accentuate the unique relationship between God and His people. This is not just any god, but the one true God, the self-existing one, and the people were expected to listen to what He had to say and do exactly what He commanded them to do. Their obedience would prove their reverence for His name.

That brings us to this section of Leviticus 24, where Moses includes a narrative involving a real-life situation that was meant to illustrate the sanctity and holiness of God’s name. In all the talk of feasts, holy days, celebrations, sacrifices, and sabbath rest, the people were never to allow themselves to treat God’s name with disrespect. What made the Tabernacle holy was the One who dwelled within it. What made the people of Israel holy was the One whose name they bore. And they were to treat that name with reverence and awe at all times.

So, at his point in the narrative, Moses includes an example of a young man who chose to take God’s name in vain, in direct violation of the third commandment: “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” (Exodus 20:7 ESV). God’s name was a representation of His divine nature. It embodied all of His attributes and was meant to convey the totality of His being, especially His glory. This led the psalmists to write:

O LORD, our LORD, how majestic is your name in all the earth! – Psalm 8:1 ESV

Holy and awesome is his name! – Psalm 111:9 ESV

In providing His disciples with what has become known as The Lord’s Prayer, Jesus opened with the words, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name…” (Matthew 6;9 ESV). This might better be translated, “Let your name be kept holy” or “Let your name be treated with reverence.”

Yet, Moses describes a real-life scenario where a young man chose a different tact. The son of an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father, this young man got into an altercation with another Hebrew. Moses provides no details regarding the cause of their fight but it would be easy to assume that it had something to do with the young man’s mixed-race background. But whatever happened between these two men, Moses did not include the cause because there was no justification for the young man’s actions. Moses simply states, “the Israelite woman's son blasphemed the Name, and cursed” (Leviticus 24:11 ESV).

In the heat of their argument, the young man “blasphemed” God’s name. The Hebrew word, nāqaḇ, can mean “to bore a hole, pierce” or “to declare distinct by specifying the name.” It seems that this young man used God’s name in an unholy and derogatory manner. He treated it with contempt. And not only that, he “cursed.” The Hebrew word is qālal, and it means “to curse, treat lightly, treat with contempt, consider unimportant.” In his anger, this young man denigrated the holy name of God. He used it as a weapon against His Israelite opponent. And for his actions, the young man was condemned to death.

“Bring out of the camp the one who cursed, and let all who heard him lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him.” – Leviticus 24:14 ESV

Evidently, this altercation took place before witnesses and these individuals were not only expected to testify against the guilty party but to take part in his execution. They were to stand before the entire congregation and lay their hands on the young man, signifying his guilt and justifying his death. While this story may offend our modern sensibilities, it should provide us with a powerful lesson on the holiness of God. Even the misuse of His name is grounds for judgment because everything about Him is to be treated with appropriate reverence and awe. In God’s economy, the punishment fit the crime. This young man had chosen to treat God’s name in a disrespectful manner and he paid dearly for it. And his death served as a stark reminder to the rest of the nation of Israel that YHWH demanded that He be treated with the reverence He so rightly deserved. And anyone who chose to disregard this command was to suffer the consequences.

Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin… – Leviticus 24:15 ESV

This story provided a natural segue to the next section, in which God outlines the law of retribution, also called the law of retaliation or lex talionis. It is sometimes referred to by the phrase, “an eye for an eye.” These verses outline God’s divine principle concerning justice: The punishment should fit the crime. 

When it came to the unlawful taking of life, God prescribed a just punishment for such a crime.

“Whoever takes a human life shall surely be put to death. Whoever takes an animal's life shall make it good, life for life.” – Leviticus 24:17-18 ESV

Anyone who willfully took the life of another human was to pay with their own life. If they caused the death of another individual’s livestock, they were to make restitution by providing a substitute animal. When it came to other crimes or abuses, God outlined a principle of equitable recompense.

“If anyone injures his neighbor, as he has done it shall be done to him, fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; whatever injury he has given a person shall be given to him.” – Leviticus 24:19-20 ESV

These verses seem to be teaching a need for balance in all things. In truth, they were designed to prohibit unlawful and unbalanced vengeance. Capital punishment would be an unjust punishment for bodily injury. Anger over an injustice suffered could easily result in payback that was way out of proportion and a sin in its own right. These regulations were meant to control unjust vendettas and police vigilantism. Back in chapter 19, Moses records God’s admonition concerning improperly motivated revenge or retribution.

“Do not nurse hatred in your heart for any of your relatives. Confront people directly so you will not be held guilty for their sin. Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against a fellow Israelite, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.” – Leviticus 19:17-18 NLT

After the rather strange aside involving the young man who blasphemed and cursed God’s name, Moses concludes chapter 24 with the stark summary: “and they brought out of the camp the one who had cursed and stoned him with stones. Thus the people of Israel did as the Lord commanded Moses” (Leviticus 23:23 ESV). The guilty party was dealt with according to God’s command. The people obeyed and gave the young man what he justly deserved. And this difficult assignment must have made an indelible impact on the entire Hebrew community. It would have been impossible to walk away unmoved or unimpressed by the severity of the judgment and the seriousness with which God took the holiness of His name. All the laws, rules, regulations, and religious rituals they had received from God would mean nothing if they failed to honor and revere His name. Without a proper respect for His character, as displayed by His very name, the peoples’ obedience would be meaningless and their observance of His feasts and holy days would be in vain. One of the greatest demonstrations of obedience is a reverence for the character of God as illustrated by His very name.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

No Detail Too Small

1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Command the people of Israel to bring you pure oil from beaten olives for the lamp, that a light may be kept burning regularly. 3 Outside the veil of the testimony, in the tent of meeting, Aaron shall arrange it from evening to morning before the Lord regularly. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. 4 He shall arrange the lamps on the lampstand of pure gold before the Lord regularly.

5 “You shall take fine flour and bake twelve loaves from it; two tenths of an ephah shall be in each loaf. 6 And you shall set them in two piles, six in a pile, on the table of pure gold before the Lord. 7 And you shall put pure frankincense on each pile, that it may go with the bread as a memorial portion as a food offering to the Lord. 8 Every Sabbath day Aaron shall arrange it before the Lord regularly; it is from the people of Israel as a covenant forever. 9 And it shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place, since it is for him a most holy portion out of the Lord's food offerings, a perpetual due.” – Leviticus 24:1-9 ESV

At first glance, the content of chapter 24 seems to be misplaced. It seems to have no logical relationship with the chapters that precede and follow it. After outlining the various annual feasts and holy days the Israelites were to celebrate, God appears to abruptly shift His focus and begins discussing the oil and bread used in the Tabernacle. But there is nothing in the text that suggests these instructions were given in direct or unbroken sequence with the ones concerning the annual festivals. Chapter 24 opens with the statement, “The Lord spoke to Moses, saying…” (Leviticus 24:1 ESV).

This same phrase was used in verses 1, 9, 23, 26, and 33 of chapter 23. They each serve as breaks in the narrative where God changes the emphasis from one point to another. Sometimes the changes are subtle, while at other times they are more abrupt. And chapter 23 ends with the statement: “Thus Moses declared to the people of Israel the appointed feasts of the Lord” (Leviticus 23:44 ESV). This verse provides a closing to God’s instructions regarding the annual feasts.

Now, in chapter 24, God speaks to Moses once again, but concerning a different but not wholly unrelated matter. Every one of the annual feasts that God decreed involved the use of the Tabernacle. And while these holy convocations were to take place on an annual basis, the Tabernacle was to be in service throughout the entire calendar year. There is a sense in which God wanted His people to properly revere these once-a-year sacred assemblies, but not forget the daily care and maintenance of His dwelling place. It would be easy for the Israelites to give these holy days (holidays) greater significance because they were festive occasions when the entire community gathered together at the Tabernacle. But God suggests that the day-to-day operations of the Tabernacle were not to take a backseat to these higher-visibility events.

While the Passover and the various feasts of Firstfruits, Weeks, Trumpets, and Booths were important, they did not take precedence over the daily care and maintenance of God’s house. The Day of Atonement may have been the most important annual event on Israel’s calendar, but it was not to overshadow the peoples’ obligation to literally “keep the lights burning” in the sanctuary of God. When God had given Moses the instructions for building the Tabernacle, He had included the following command concerning the oil for the Golden Lampstand.

“Command the people of Israel to bring you pure oil of pressed olives for the light, to keep the lamps burning continually. The lampstand will stand in the Tabernacle, in front of the inner curtain that shields the Ark of the Covenant. Aaron and his sons must keep the lamps burning in the Lord’s presence all night. This is a permanent law for the people of Israel, and it must be observed from generation to generation.” – Exodus 27:20-21 NLT

Aaron and his sons were responsible for keeping the light of the lampstand burning 24 hours a day throughout the entire calendar year. This elaborate piece of furniture, fashioned in the form of a tree, was intended to bring light into the inner recesses of God’s house. The author of Hebrews provides us with details concerning the exact placement of the lampstand.

There were two rooms in that Tabernacle. In the first room were a lampstand, a table, and sacred loaves of bread on the table. This room was called the Holy Place. Then there was a curtain, and behind the curtain was the second room called the Most Holy Place. In that room were a gold incense altar and a wooden chest called the Ark of the Covenant, which was covered with gold on all sides. – Hebrews 9:2-4 NLT

This lampstand was the sole source of light within the Holy Place and made it possible for the priests to fulfill their duties within the Tabernacle. Each morning, the seven bowls of the lampstand were to be filled with fresh oil and the wicks were to be trimmed so that their flames would burn brightly and perpetually. This ritual was to be repeated each evening so that the lamp continued to give off light throughout the night. 

But none of this was possible if the people failed to obey God’s command. In order for the light to burn continually, the people were required to bring “pure oil from beaten olives for the lamp” (Leviticus 24:1 ESV). This perpetual light was a symbol of God’s glorious presence. In its location just outside the veil that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies, the lampstand provided light in the darkness. It illuminated the veil that led into the place where God’s glory dwelled above the mercy seat. In that place, God’s Shekinah glory was always present in the Holy of Holies but was off limits to all but the high priest, and even he was restricted from entering that sacred space except on the Day of Atonement.

But the light outside the veil was to be kept burning at all times. It was to be a representation and a reminder of God’s glorious presence within the Holy of Holies. He was there, not just on the Day of Atonement, but throughout the entire calendar year. His glory never diminished. The light of His presence never faded. And the priests were responsible for maintaining the light of the lampstand as a perpetual reminder that God was still among them. Yahweh had promised to dwell with the people of Israel but He had also placed on them the requirement to obey His commands. And while bringing in fresh olive oil each day was a relatively simple and inexpensive task to fulfill, it was essential that the Israelites never fail to follow through on their commitment. If they did, the lights would go out. That simple act of disobedience would have dramatic consequences. The priests would have no oil to light the lamps and, as a result, the lamps on the lampstand would go out, leaving Aaron and his sons in the dark and incapable of doing their jobs. Worse yet, that simple act of disobedience would result in God’s glory departing the Holy of Holies. His presence was tied to their obedience.

And the same thing was true of the 12 loaves of bread that were to be placed on the golden table within the Holy Place every seventh day. These loaves of freshly baked bread, sometimes referred to as the bread of the presence, were to be placed on the Table of Showbread every Sabbath day. Representing the 12 tribes of Israel, these loaves were placed on the golden table in the Holy Place, where they were illuminated by the light from the Golden Lampstand. For six days, they sat just outside the veil that separated them from God’s glorious presence. Symbolically, they represented God’s people, basking in the light of His glory and grace. And each Sabbath, the old loaves would be replaced with freshly baked new loaves, symbolizing the transformative power of God’s presence among His people. The Sabbath was a day of rest and renewal when the people made Yahweh their highest priority. It was a day set apart for Him, and during which no work was done. During the other six days of the week, the people would work and labor, and by the seventh day they would need a time of refreshing from God.

These loaves were also intended to be a gift given to God in gratitude for His gracious provision of all their needs. The 12 tribes of Israel existed because of God’s grace, and they continued to exist for the very same reason. He had set them apart for His use. They belonged to Him and were to live their lives in keeping with His will. Every seventh day, the people of God were to provide the flour that was used to bake the bread that sat before the presence of God. It was to be a perpetual sign of their ownership by God and their willingness to place themselves at His disposal to do with as He wished.

Another point that should not be missed is that the oil and the bread were essential for the priests to do their jobs. These verses stress the integral nature of the priesthood. They were vital to the everyday well-being of the nation. They had been set apart by God and tasked with caring for the Tabernacle but also with overseeing the spiritual health of His people. Yet, they could not do their job if the people failed to obey God’s commands. The provision of oil and bread was the sole responsibility of the people. Everyone had to do their part. The oil provided light so that the priests could do their job. And the bread eventually became nourishment for the priests so they could have the strength to serve God’s people (Leviticus 24:9).

This entire operation was finely tuned and intricately ordained by God to be self-sustaining and mutually beneficial. Every facet of His divine plan was vital and required obedience on the part of all those involved. The priests and the people were obligated to perform their respective responsibilities on time and in keeping with God’s will. Even the smallest details of God’s plan had to be obeyed if the nation wanted to continue to enjoy His presence, power, and provision. What good would the feast days be if the people allowed the lights to go out in the Holy Place? Why would God be obligated to provide atonement and access into His presence if the people were unwilling to provide the bread of the presence?

Everything mattered to God. No feast was greater than any other. No command was more important than any other. The will of God was righteous and worthy of their obedience, from the daily provision of oil to the yearly celebrations of the feasts.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.