Thursday, January 29, 2009
THE LAW AS OUR CHIEF WEAPON OF OUR WARFARE
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Tuesday, January 20, 2009
WHAT COMMANDMENT?
Introduction
To properly understand case law, one needs to recognize which of the Ten Commandments it falls under. In other words, the Ten Commandments are summary law, whereas case law is the summary law applied to specific examples. No matter what laws man may seek to legislate, the bottom line is that we are solely judged by God’s law. This is His world and He governs it. This is why it is important to study and obey His law, so that we do not commit sin against Him. Romans 13:8-10 is a summing of up the purpose of the law, "Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. 9For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 10Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." The Amplified Bible renders Romans 13:10 as, "Love does no wrong to one’s neighbor (it never hurts anybody). Therefore love meets all the requirements and is the fulfilling of the Law." One who follows the law of God allows the proper authorities to carry out a sentence against a law breaker. In other words, he himself does not commit sinful acts against his neighbor. Love can only be defined through the law. In the same manner, hatred can also be defined as those who rebel and break the law of God. This is what Exodus 20:5-6 explains, "Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; 6And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments." Love toward God is keeping and obeying His commandments. Anything else is hatred.
Application
To properly understand the Bible, we need to use what is known as applied theology.
Leviticus 20:14 reads, "And if a man take a wife and her mother, it is wickedness: they shall be burnt with fire, both he and they; that there be no wickedness among you." Sinful man always wants to make up his own rules and laws. He does not see anything wrong with the above situation. To him, this is a good thing. God’s law has a prohibition against it. This, of course, makes the natural man angry. He does not want anyone telling him what to do. He is determined to be his own god (Genesis 3:5), determining for himself what is acceptable or not.
Paul wrote the following in Romans 7:7-13 to explain what happens when a sinner hears the law.
The chosen text falls under the Seventh Commandment. Exodus 20:14 says, "Thou shalt not commit adultery." All sexual sin falls under this summary commandment. It is interesting to note that prior to our modern dictionary definition of the word "sex," merely meant either male or female and nothing more. This shows how depraved our society has become. This summary commandment therefore, regulates when sexual union is permissive and where it is not. Only in marriage is the marriage bed allowable as Hebrews 13:4 makes clear, "Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge." The Amplified Bible gives this verse as, "Let marriage be held in honor (esteemed worthy, precious, of great price, and especially dear) in all things. And thus let the marriage bed be undefiled (kept undishonored); for God will judge and punish the unchaste (all guilty of sexual vice) and adulterous. Leviticus 20:14 certainly falls under such defilement of the marriage bed and God gives the civil authorities the power for the death penalty by fire.
Conclusion
The only acceptable Biblical sexual behavior is abstinence until marriage and then purity in the marriage relationship. When we are married, we are to forsake all others. Why is this? Malachi 2:14-15 explains, "Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant. 15And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth." To have offspring not legitimately conceived i.e. through the marriage bed is to have a bastard. God does not look kindly to such. A bastard did not have a social standing in the congregation of the Lord as in Deuteronomy 23:2, "A bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to his tenth generation shall he not enter into the congregation of the LORD." A long time had to pass to make something illegitimate, legitimate.
To properly understand case law, one needs to recognize which of the Ten Commandments it falls under. In other words, the Ten Commandments are summary law, whereas case law is the summary law applied to specific examples. No matter what laws man may seek to legislate, the bottom line is that we are solely judged by God’s law. This is His world and He governs it. This is why it is important to study and obey His law, so that we do not commit sin against Him. Romans 13:8-10 is a summing of up the purpose of the law, "Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. 9For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 10Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." The Amplified Bible renders Romans 13:10 as, "Love does no wrong to one’s neighbor (it never hurts anybody). Therefore love meets all the requirements and is the fulfilling of the Law." One who follows the law of God allows the proper authorities to carry out a sentence against a law breaker. In other words, he himself does not commit sinful acts against his neighbor. Love can only be defined through the law. In the same manner, hatred can also be defined as those who rebel and break the law of God. This is what Exodus 20:5-6 explains, "Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; 6And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments." Love toward God is keeping and obeying His commandments. Anything else is hatred.
Application
To properly understand the Bible, we need to use what is known as applied theology.
Leviticus 20:14 reads, "And if a man take a wife and her mother, it is wickedness: they shall be burnt with fire, both he and they; that there be no wickedness among you." Sinful man always wants to make up his own rules and laws. He does not see anything wrong with the above situation. To him, this is a good thing. God’s law has a prohibition against it. This, of course, makes the natural man angry. He does not want anyone telling him what to do. He is determined to be his own god (Genesis 3:5), determining for himself what is acceptable or not.
Paul wrote the following in Romans 7:7-13 to explain what happens when a sinner hears the law.
This is their reaction to it, "What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. 8But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead. 9For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. 10And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. 11For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me. 12Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. 13Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful." The Amplified Bible presents Romans 7:8 as, "But sin, finding opportunity in the commandment (to express itself), got a hold on me and aroused and stimulated all kinds of forbidden desires (lust, covetousness). For without the Law sin is dead (the sense of it is inactive and lifeless thing)." When sinful man hears that he is not supposed to do something, it intensifies his desire to do those very things. Sin is most of all, deceitful.
The chosen text falls under the Seventh Commandment. Exodus 20:14 says, "Thou shalt not commit adultery." All sexual sin falls under this summary commandment. It is interesting to note that prior to our modern dictionary definition of the word "sex," merely meant either male or female and nothing more. This shows how depraved our society has become. This summary commandment therefore, regulates when sexual union is permissive and where it is not. Only in marriage is the marriage bed allowable as Hebrews 13:4 makes clear, "Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge." The Amplified Bible gives this verse as, "Let marriage be held in honor (esteemed worthy, precious, of great price, and especially dear) in all things. And thus let the marriage bed be undefiled (kept undishonored); for God will judge and punish the unchaste (all guilty of sexual vice) and adulterous. Leviticus 20:14 certainly falls under such defilement of the marriage bed and God gives the civil authorities the power for the death penalty by fire.
Conclusion
The only acceptable Biblical sexual behavior is abstinence until marriage and then purity in the marriage relationship. When we are married, we are to forsake all others. Why is this? Malachi 2:14-15 explains, "Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant. 15And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth." To have offspring not legitimately conceived i.e. through the marriage bed is to have a bastard. God does not look kindly to such. A bastard did not have a social standing in the congregation of the Lord as in Deuteronomy 23:2, "A bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to his tenth generation shall he not enter into the congregation of the LORD." A long time had to pass to make something illegitimate, legitimate.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
THE LAW AND WISDOM
Introduction
Wisdom in the principle thing. We are encouraged by Proverbs 4:5-7, "Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. 6Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee. 7Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding." Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. We must have true knowledge to in turn have true wisdom. Wisdom presupposes knowledge. Not many in our day and time have this true wisdom because they do not seek it at its true source. This is what 1 Corinthians 1:24 says in regard to wisdom, "But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God." Christ is the wisdom of God. This is the true source of all wisdom. God’s word is what makes us wise as Psalm 119:97-100, "O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day. 98Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me. 99I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation. 100I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts." Being wise is a definite asset.
Application
To properly understand the Bible, we need to use what is known as applied theology.
Leviticus 20:22-26 reads, "Ye shall therefore keep all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do them: that the land, whither I bring you to dwell therein, spue you not out. 23And ye shall not walk in the manners of the nation, which I cast out before you: for they committed all these things, and therefore I abhorred them. 24But I have said unto you, Ye shall inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land that floweth with milk and honey: I am the LORD your God, which have separated you from other people. 25Ye shall therefore put difference between clean beasts and unclean, and between unclean fowls and clean: and ye shall not make your souls abominable by beast, or by fowl, or by any manner of living thing that creepeth on the ground, which I have separated from you as unclean. 26And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine." All the prohibitions of the law of God, the people of the land of Canaan were guilty of committing. Because of this God abhorred them. In other words, He absolutely despised them and their actions. His people were to be different by not committing such abominable acts. They were to be a holy that is separate people ethically from those around them, in the same way we are to be today.
If we are to be a wise nation, we will have to follow all of God’s precepts. This is the message of Deuteronomy 4:5-10, "Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. 6Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. 7For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for? 8And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day? 9Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons; 10Specially the day that thou stoodest before the LORD thy God in Horeb, when the LORD said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children." It should be obvious that those who do not obey and follow God’s law are foolish. Those who obey and teach their children God’s law are considered to be wise.
Proverbs 6:23 says, "For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life: 24To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman." These commandments and statutes give us light that we may avoid all the works of darkness. Law keepers are considered wise as Proverbs 28:7 says clearly, "Whoso keepeth the law is a wise son: but he that is a companion of riotous men shameth his father." These covenant keepers will avoid being friends with evil men. They understand that one becomes like those he associates with. Likes beget likes. Proverbs 28:9 states plainly what God thinks about those who do not love the law, "He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination." Their very words are detestable to God. They lack good sense.
Conclusion
Many in our day and time believe that the Old Testament law has been abrogated. This is not what the Lord Jesus Christ said in Matthew 5:17-20, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 18For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. 19Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven." The only Scriptures available at the time the Lord was speaking would have been the Old Testament. He was not seeking to undo it but to uphold it by fully obeying its dictates and encouraging us to do the same. This is true wisdom. Man must live by law. It comes down to which law? God’s law or man’s law which he derives from his own mind. What is your wisdom and ultimate reference point? Mine is the law of God.
Wisdom in the principle thing. We are encouraged by Proverbs 4:5-7, "Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. 6Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee. 7Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding." Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. We must have true knowledge to in turn have true wisdom. Wisdom presupposes knowledge. Not many in our day and time have this true wisdom because they do not seek it at its true source. This is what 1 Corinthians 1:24 says in regard to wisdom, "But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God." Christ is the wisdom of God. This is the true source of all wisdom. God’s word is what makes us wise as Psalm 119:97-100, "O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day. 98Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me. 99I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation. 100I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts." Being wise is a definite asset.
Application
To properly understand the Bible, we need to use what is known as applied theology.
Leviticus 20:22-26 reads, "Ye shall therefore keep all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do them: that the land, whither I bring you to dwell therein, spue you not out. 23And ye shall not walk in the manners of the nation, which I cast out before you: for they committed all these things, and therefore I abhorred them. 24But I have said unto you, Ye shall inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land that floweth with milk and honey: I am the LORD your God, which have separated you from other people. 25Ye shall therefore put difference between clean beasts and unclean, and between unclean fowls and clean: and ye shall not make your souls abominable by beast, or by fowl, or by any manner of living thing that creepeth on the ground, which I have separated from you as unclean. 26And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine." All the prohibitions of the law of God, the people of the land of Canaan were guilty of committing. Because of this God abhorred them. In other words, He absolutely despised them and their actions. His people were to be different by not committing such abominable acts. They were to be a holy that is separate people ethically from those around them, in the same way we are to be today.
If we are to be a wise nation, we will have to follow all of God’s precepts. This is the message of Deuteronomy 4:5-10, "Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. 6Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. 7For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for? 8And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day? 9Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons; 10Specially the day that thou stoodest before the LORD thy God in Horeb, when the LORD said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children." It should be obvious that those who do not obey and follow God’s law are foolish. Those who obey and teach their children God’s law are considered to be wise.
Proverbs 6:23 says, "For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life: 24To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman." These commandments and statutes give us light that we may avoid all the works of darkness. Law keepers are considered wise as Proverbs 28:7 says clearly, "Whoso keepeth the law is a wise son: but he that is a companion of riotous men shameth his father." These covenant keepers will avoid being friends with evil men. They understand that one becomes like those he associates with. Likes beget likes. Proverbs 28:9 states plainly what God thinks about those who do not love the law, "He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination." Their very words are detestable to God. They lack good sense.
Conclusion
Many in our day and time believe that the Old Testament law has been abrogated. This is not what the Lord Jesus Christ said in Matthew 5:17-20, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 18For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. 19Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven." The only Scriptures available at the time the Lord was speaking would have been the Old Testament. He was not seeking to undo it but to uphold it by fully obeying its dictates and encouraging us to do the same. This is true wisdom. Man must live by law. It comes down to which law? God’s law or man’s law which he derives from his own mind. What is your wisdom and ultimate reference point? Mine is the law of God.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
WORK AND REST
Introduction
When someone is productive, they can afford to take a day off. The key is to live within one’s means. Staying out of debt enables one to be able to relax and take time off without worrying about the future. In America, we have become consumer driven rather than productive. People work to consume. They do not work to be productive and have an abundance. When a husband and a wife go off to work, they generally end up deep in debt. With the wife at home, it forces the family to have to economize and live within what is being provided. Man cannot, however, work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, without breaking down. He is not a machine. He needs a day off. The wicked, however, do not know how to rest as Isaiah 57:20-21 declares, "But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. 21There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked." If this is the case of the wicked, just the opposite applies to the saints of God.
Application
To properly understand the Bible, we need to use what is known as applied theology.
Exodus 23:10-12 reads, "And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the fruits thereof: 11But the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie still; that the poor of thy people may eat: and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, and with thy oliveyard. 12Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed." When reading these verses, it should be apparent that the pattern is work and then rest. In the New Testament, because the Lord’s Day is the first day of the week, the pattern is reversed, rest and work. Either way work and rest are involved. This is a case law of the fourth commandment to Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy.
Someone who will not work is just as guilty of breaking the Sabbath as those who labor unnecessarily on the Lord’s Day. In this portion of scripture, we have the introduction of the sabbatical year. The land was to rest every seventh year. There was also the introduction of the Jubilee year. This was to be the year after the seventh year times seven (49 years) or the fiftieth year. Leviticus 25:8-13 says about this year of release, "And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years. 9Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land. 10And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family. 11A jubilee shall that fiftieth year be unto you: ye shall not sow, neither reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather the grapes in it of thy vine undressed. 12For it is the jubilee; it shall be holy unto you: ye shall eat the increase thereof out of the field. 13In the year of this jubilee ye shall return every man unto his possession." It is a time of rest from labor and release from debt bondage.
How could the Israelites afford to take a whole year off from working the land? Leviticus 25:18-22 explains this phenomenon, "Wherefore ye shall do my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them; and ye shall dwell in the land in safety. 19And the land shall yield her fruit, and ye shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety. 20And if ye shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase: 21Then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years. 22And ye shall sow the eighth year, and eat yet of old fruit until the ninth year; until her fruits come in ye shall eat of the old store." If they obeyed the Lord, the Lord would give them such an increase that they could afford to take time off from their labors. If we obey the Lord and are diligent in our callings, then the Lord will ensure that we can take a day off each week. By taking a day off, we are foregoing the income that we could have earned. Obedience to the Lord will make this up to us through His provision.
Were the Israelites obedient in regard to the Sabbatical year and the Jubilee year? Daniel 9:2 reads, "In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem." Jeremiah had prophesied that this was going to happen but obviously his word was not heeded. 2 Chronicles 36:21 says, "To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years." God punished the Israelites for their disobedience to His sabbatical year provision. They went into captivity for seventy years. They disregarded the sabbatical years for 490 years.
Conclusion
We are to walk in covenant with God. The fourth point of the covenant model is sanctions. Blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. God expects us to take a weekly sabbatical. Failure here results in cursing. For the people of God, He will abundantly supply enough that we have to only work six days and not seven. It is down payment on eternity.
When someone is productive, they can afford to take a day off. The key is to live within one’s means. Staying out of debt enables one to be able to relax and take time off without worrying about the future. In America, we have become consumer driven rather than productive. People work to consume. They do not work to be productive and have an abundance. When a husband and a wife go off to work, they generally end up deep in debt. With the wife at home, it forces the family to have to economize and live within what is being provided. Man cannot, however, work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, without breaking down. He is not a machine. He needs a day off. The wicked, however, do not know how to rest as Isaiah 57:20-21 declares, "But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. 21There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked." If this is the case of the wicked, just the opposite applies to the saints of God.
Application
To properly understand the Bible, we need to use what is known as applied theology.
Exodus 23:10-12 reads, "And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the fruits thereof: 11But the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie still; that the poor of thy people may eat: and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, and with thy oliveyard. 12Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed." When reading these verses, it should be apparent that the pattern is work and then rest. In the New Testament, because the Lord’s Day is the first day of the week, the pattern is reversed, rest and work. Either way work and rest are involved. This is a case law of the fourth commandment to Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy.
Someone who will not work is just as guilty of breaking the Sabbath as those who labor unnecessarily on the Lord’s Day. In this portion of scripture, we have the introduction of the sabbatical year. The land was to rest every seventh year. There was also the introduction of the Jubilee year. This was to be the year after the seventh year times seven (49 years) or the fiftieth year. Leviticus 25:8-13 says about this year of release, "And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years. 9Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land. 10And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family. 11A jubilee shall that fiftieth year be unto you: ye shall not sow, neither reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather the grapes in it of thy vine undressed. 12For it is the jubilee; it shall be holy unto you: ye shall eat the increase thereof out of the field. 13In the year of this jubilee ye shall return every man unto his possession." It is a time of rest from labor and release from debt bondage.
How could the Israelites afford to take a whole year off from working the land? Leviticus 25:18-22 explains this phenomenon, "Wherefore ye shall do my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them; and ye shall dwell in the land in safety. 19And the land shall yield her fruit, and ye shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety. 20And if ye shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase: 21Then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years. 22And ye shall sow the eighth year, and eat yet of old fruit until the ninth year; until her fruits come in ye shall eat of the old store." If they obeyed the Lord, the Lord would give them such an increase that they could afford to take time off from their labors. If we obey the Lord and are diligent in our callings, then the Lord will ensure that we can take a day off each week. By taking a day off, we are foregoing the income that we could have earned. Obedience to the Lord will make this up to us through His provision.
Were the Israelites obedient in regard to the Sabbatical year and the Jubilee year? Daniel 9:2 reads, "In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem." Jeremiah had prophesied that this was going to happen but obviously his word was not heeded. 2 Chronicles 36:21 says, "To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years." God punished the Israelites for their disobedience to His sabbatical year provision. They went into captivity for seventy years. They disregarded the sabbatical years for 490 years.
Conclusion
We are to walk in covenant with God. The fourth point of the covenant model is sanctions. Blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. God expects us to take a weekly sabbatical. Failure here results in cursing. For the people of God, He will abundantly supply enough that we have to only work six days and not seven. It is down payment on eternity.
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