Chapter 24
1-4 - the priests (not Aaron personally, but his sons...) were to ensure the lampstand had enough oil through the night. The light was not to go out.
Here is a Psalm addressed to those priests:
Psalm 134
Behold, bless the Lord, / All you servants of the Lord, / Who by night stand in the house of the Lord! 2Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, / And bless the Lord. 3The Lord who made heaven and earth / Bless you from Zion!
5-9 - showbread
The priests were bakers! They made 12 loaves, probably representing the 12 tribes, and set them out anew each Sabbath. This bread was only for the priests to eat, yet David and his men ate it when they were in need, with Jesus' approval. Also, note here the priests "working" on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:4-5).
10-23 - someone is heard blaspheming the name of Yahweh. Everyone knows they are not to do this (Ex 20:7; 22:28), but the punishment has not been spelled out. God responds not only to the specific situation but with principles of punishment. An eye for an eye, meaning, let the punishment fit the crime. Don't be disproportionate in dealing justice. If someone insults you or hurts you, you can't go kill him, nor can the state do so.
Note the importance of words here. Blasphemy is as heinous in God's eyes as murder. We have become desensitized to this these days.
Chapter 25 - Sabbath and Jubilee years
Just as the 7th day of rest in our week reminds us that it is God's time, not ours; so the 7th year of rest for the land reminds Israel that the land is God's, not theirs. We are stewards of what God gives, not ultimate owners.
I'm not sure how to fit verses 5 and 6 together. Help, anyone? Could they eat of the land in the 7th year, or not? If Israel questioned the practicality of not planting for a whole year, God would provide while they waited 2 years for a harvest, instead of one.
After 7 Sabbath years, 49 years total, the next 50th year was a Year of Jubilee. Any land sold during that 50 years went back to its original tribal owner. God effectively forbids the permanent sale of the promised land, even between tribes of Israel. You can RENT it, but you get it back in the 50th year.
Anything you have to sell - your land, your house or yourself as a slave - you get back in the Jubilee, with the remaining debt you haven't paid forgiven. The one exception is a house in a city. This remains permanently with the one who buys it, unless the debtor can repay it within 1 year. While this was allowed, the prophets still condemned those who collected houses in excess (Isaiah 5:8). A large portion of the acreage of Jerusalem at the time of Jesus was owned by the high priestly families, who had a small number of 5000 sq ft homes while most of the population had 800 sq ft homes crammed into the lower city. (Those numbers aren't historically accurate, but designed by me to give you an idea from modern comparison of the extremes involved then.)
One may not take advantage of the poor in their need. Don't opportunistically fleece them when they have no other options. Don't raise the price when they have to buy from you. Don't charge interest for necessities. Be generous instead of selfishly opportunistic.
The issue of servitude among Israel and non-Israelites is addressed:
An Israelites cannot be a permanent slave of anyone. At the Jubilee, he goes free. This is because Israel is God's servant, and no one else's, ultimately. He CAN be a temporary servant, but may not be treated harshly. An Israelite may have a permanent, non-Israelite slave, and a non-Israelite may have a temporary Israelite slave. This is all in the context of economic debt, not stealing and selling lives, as we are accustomed to thinking of slavery in the American south. Note verse 47 for proof of that economic context: "Now if a sojourner or stranger close to you becomes rich, and one of your brethren who dwells by him becomes poor, and sells himself..." The reason this is allowed is to provide impartially for the creditor who finds himself with a debtor who has nothing with which to pay. The creditor may not unjustly be jilted, just because the debtor may have been irresponsible with his money. Such irresponsibility has consequences. And if it wasn't his fault, there are protections built in: he can't be treated harshly, and it is only temporary. This sounds horribly unjust to us today, but I have faith that, not understanding all the details of this system, God's ways are better than even our modern ways of dealing with things through banks and bankruptcy courts, etc. It seems a personal relationship with the creditor who is held accountable to be kind is better than bureaucratic hoops to jump through.
The first thing Jesus taught publicly in His ministry, was that the Jubilee had come. He proclaimed release to the captives (Luke 4:18-19). Israel went into exile because of her disobedience, partially to allow the land its Sabbaths, which Israel had denied the land (Lev 26:43; 2 Chronicles 36:21). The 70 years of exile, 1 year for each Sabbath year denied, would multiply by 7 to 490 years, plus 10 Jubilee years takes us to 500. 500 years before the exile (586BC) is about when Israel took complete control of the land (Saul and David's time), after the period where the land went back and forth during the Judges between Midianites, Ammonites, and Israel. So during all the time Israel COULD have obeyed this law, they did not.
There may be a loose connection in the numbers to Jesus' response on forgiveness: 70 times 7. The Greek word for release and forgiveness is the same word. We pray "forgive us our debts." Jesus would symbolically have said, "For as long as you live, forgive. Remember the release of the land and the people which you denied from David to exile. I've come to set them free. Now you live it out. 70 times 7. Do it right this time. Forgive."
No comments:
Post a Comment