1 5/8/10 AP Behar Bechukotai "On Mount Sinai" "In My Statutes" Lev 25:1-26:2 Lev 26:3-27:24 Jer 32:6-27 Jer 16:19-17:14 Today is the 35 th Day of the Counting of the Omer Acts 1:3 he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: Ac 1:6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? After Lazarus was raised from the dead, the religious leaders feared they would lose their place-the Temple. John 11:47 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, "What shall we do? For this Man works many signs. 48 "If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation. After Pentecost, they still had the same fear when they addressed Stephen: Ac 6:13 They also set up false witnesses who said, "This man does not cease to speak blasphemous words against this holy place and the law; 14 "for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs which Moses delivered to us." The same occurred with Paul: Ac 21:28. "Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against the people, the law, and this place; and furthermore he also brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place." The Pharisees and Sadducees were concerned with losing the place (The Temple) where God s presence was supposed to be manifest, and their Nation. Today Israel is being challenge on the same front, only it s their land they are giving up. Yet there was a spiritual drought some 2000 years ago in Israel that caused the leaders of Israel to misuse the land put in their care.
2 The Dwelling Place that God had designated for himself in the whole earth was again in jeopardy. Behar Lev 25:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses in Mount Sinai, saying, 2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give( nathan) you, then shall the land keep a Sabbath unto the LORD. Give: nathan: Ntn: to appoint, ascribe. assign-but in a sense it was apportioned to and set apart. But the land belonged to God. It was assigned and set apart for Israel, promised to Abraham. Le 25:23 The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land is mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with me. Our Redemption is literally explained in these verses of Leviticus 25. Just as the Sabbath is the 7 th day of rest for us, the land was to rest every 7 years. Every 7 x 7 years would be a Jubilee..on the 50 th year. The focus being on Restoration and Redemption. His plan was for rest and equalization of opportunity. The wealthy might not be as happy, as for the less fortunate, a most welcomed time. Le 25:10 And 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. rwrd deror-literally meant release-from bondage and debt Le 25:13 In the year of this jubilee ye shall return every man unto his possession. Possession- hzxa 'achuzzah land held, or seized The reason for carrying out Shemitah and Jubilee (Yobel) was security in the land. Le 25:18 Wherefore ye shall do my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them; and ye shall dwell in the land in safety. (security and trust) 19 And the land shall yield her fruit, and ye shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety.
3 Le 25:23 The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land is mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with me. 24 And in all the land of your possession ye shall grant a redemption for the land. It could not be sold beyond being reclaimed. This is the Law of God. Luke 4:5 And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered (surrendered) unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. People could also be redeemed Le 25:35 'If one of your brethren becomes poor, and falls into poverty among you, then you shall help him, like a stranger or a sojourner, that he may live with you Brethren: xa 'ach: kinsman Le 25:37 'You shall not lend him your money for interest, nor lend him your food at a 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. They were not to be harshly treated as slaves-more so as an employee until the debt was paid off Le 25:40 'As a hired servant and a sojourner he shall be with you, and shall serve you until the Year of Jubilee. 41 'And then he shall depart from you-he and his children with him-and shall return to his own family. He shall return to the possession of his fathers. Only people under the covenant of God with Israel could be redeemed, released, and freed from debt. But the Jews could buy bondservants from other nations, but not Hebrews. But there was no provision for a foreign bondservant to be released.they were stuck and without hope. Le 25:45 'Moreover you may buy the children of the strangers who dwell among you, and their families who are with you, which they beget in your land; and they shall become your property. 46 'And you may take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them as a possession; they shall be your permanent slaves
4 Eph 2:12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: The only way a foreign slave could be redeemed is if they became a part of Israel which included denouncing their idols and following the covenants, ordinances & statutes of Israel. But as to a fellow Israelite, it fell upon a family member to redeem someone, or the person needed the means themselves to be redeemed. Kinsman Redeemer To redeem land or a family member from debt Ro 6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? A Kinsman Redeemer was also an avenger of death Another aspect of a Kinsman Redeemer was to marry the female family member who lost a husband and didn t have a son-to raise up seed. Thus the story of Ruth Ruth 1:22 So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, (a foreigner) her daughter in law, with her, which returned out of the country of Moab: and they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest. Ruth 2:1 And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband's, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech; and his name was Boaz. Her qualifications to be redeemed: Ruth 1:16 And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: These types of Kinsman Redeemer s are called: lag - Go'el- who redeems land or a family member -and also redeems one who has lost a husband The other type is the Blood Avenger: Go el ha-dam
5 Jesus Christ ( Yeshua) is referred to as our Kinsman Redeemer Isa 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim release (deror) to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; 2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; So who were Yeshua s (Jesus') Kinsman? The Jews that s where the blood relationship is, and who he came to call out. Mark 7:27 But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it unto the dogs. How did the nations get in? who had no hope of Redemption? The full redemptive price had to paid-a pattern by death in the sacrificial system, of which Yeshua had the qualifications..without sin What made an Israelite an Israelite wasn t necessarily their bloodline, but that but their acceptance of Yahweh as their God and His covenant as their guiding commandments. Eph 2:19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God Romans 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. Gal 3:29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. Ro 11:16 For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches. 17 And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; Conditions: Bechukotai Le 26:3 If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them...
6 "If by My commandments you go..." Le 26:12 And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people. Le 26:13 I am the LORD your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bands (bars) of your yoke, and made you go upright (or erect). The sages say that if the Jews keep two Sabbaths consecutively, the Son of David will return. They have never done so. John 4:22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. Romans 3:1 What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? 2 Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.