Obrázky na stránke
PDF
ePub

The sabbath year. 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 you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the LORD. 3 Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof;

4 But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the LORD: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.

5 That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed: for it is a year of rest unto the land. 6 And the sabbath of the land shall be meat for you; for thee, and for thy servant, and for thy maid, and for thy hired servant, and for thy stranger that sojourneth with thee,

7 And for thy cattle, and for the beast that are in thy land, shall all the increase thereof be

meat.

8 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.

9 Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubile 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.

The year of jubile.

10 And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family. 11 A jubile 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.

12 For it is the jubile; it shall be holy unto you: ye shall eat the increase thereof out of the field.

13 In the year of this jubile ye shall return every man unto his possession.

14 And if thou sell ought unto thy neighbour, or buyest ought of thy neighbour's hand, ye shall not oppress one another:

15 According to the number of years after the jubile thou shalt buy of thy neighbour, and according unto the number of years of the fruits he shall sell unto thee:

16 According to the multitude of years thou shalt increase the price thereof, and according to the fewness of years thou shalt diminish the price of it: for according to the number of the years of the fruits doth he sell unto thee.

17 Ye shall not therefore oppress one another; but thou shalt fear thy God: for I am the LORD your God. LECTURE 227.

The uncertain tenure of earthly possessions.

The "sabbath of rest unto the land," here described at some length, had been previously ordained in the book of Exodus, 23. 11.

When the Israelites should have obtained possession of Canaan, they were on every seventh year to desist from all pains in cultivating their fields, and pruning their vines. And as to what corn or fruit might grow without the usual cultivation, the owners were to refrain from gathering it as their property; but they and their servants, and their slaves, and the strangers sojourning amongst them were to use it as belonging to all in common. Here at first sight is a provision of rest for the land itself. And we know, that under ordinary husbandry that soil which is allowed due respite yields upon the whole the largest produce. But further we have here provision of leisure for the husbandmen, as well as for the land. And how they were to use their leisure we learn from another passage in the law, where the priests are directed to read to the assembled people, every seventh year, the law which God revealed by Moses. See Deut. 31. 10, 11. have now no such seventh year of rest from necessary work, we have yet reason to be thankful to God, that owing to his blessing on diligence and skill, our country is so abundantly supplied with all the comforts of life, that every one whose heart is really set on heaven, may secure in every year, nay every day, much of leisure for learning the way of life.

If we

But besides the year of rest every seventh year, "seven sabbaths of years," or "forty and nine" were to be numbered; and in the midst of the forty ninth, on the tenth day of the seventh month, the great day of atonement," the trumpet of the jubile" was to sound, and the year of jubile to commence. And in this year, now reckoned as the fiftieth, besides the sabbath for the soil, there was to be a general restoration of all the lands throughout the realm to the original possessors, or their rightful heirs, according to the distribution which would be made at the first settlement of the Israelites in Canaan. So that no one could sell or buy the interest of another, in any portion of the territory to be divided, except for fifty years, or so much of that space as had to run out from the time of purchase, up to the year of jubile. And the people are here especially warned to make the proper allowance in all such purchases; lest otherwise they should be guilty of oppression. This statute would lead each family to preserve its genealogy with no common care. It would tend to maintain a general distribution of wealth. And above all it would perpetually remind the Israelites that the land was the Lord's, and that they held it as tenants at his will. And shall not we learn the same profitable lesson from the uncertain tenure of our own possessions, which though we may buy and sell for time unlimited, we can hold only for life? Oh that this thought may lead us to prefer for our inheritance the boundless riches of eternity! Oh that whether we buy or sell, whether we abound or want, we may do all in reference to our Christian jubile; the day when the last trump shall sound; see 1 Cor. 15. 52; "the times of restitution of all things!" Acts 3. 21.

A twofold crop every sixth year. The redemption of the land.

18 Wherefore ye shall do my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them; and ye shall dwell in the land in safety. 19 And the land shall yield her fruit, and ye shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety. 20 And if ye shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase:

21 Then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years.

22 And 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.

23 The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land is mine; for ye are strangers and sojourn ers with me.

24 And in all the land of your possession ye shall grant a redemption for the land.

25 If thy brother be waxen poor, and hath sold away some of his possession, and if any of his kin come to redeem it, then shall he redeem that which his brother sold. 26 And if the man have none to redeem it, and himself be able to redeem it;

27 Then let him count the years of the sale thereof, and restore the overplus unto the man to whom he sold it; that he may return unto his possession.

28 But if he be not able to restore it to him, then that which is sold shall remain in the hand of him that hath bought it until the year of jubile: and in the jubile it shall go out, and he shall return unto his possession.

29 And if a man sell a dwelling house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it is sold; within a full year may he redeem it.

30 And if it be not redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house that is in the walled city shall be established for ever to him that bought it throughout his generations: it shall not go out in the jubile.

31 But the houses of the villages which have no wall round about them shall be counted as the fields of the country: they may be redeemed, and they shall go out in the jubile.

32 Notwithstanding the cities of the Levites, and the houses of the cities of their possession, may the Levites redeem at any time.

33 And if a man purchase of the Levites, then the house that was sold, and the city of his possession, shall go out in the year of jubile: for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel.

34 But the field of the suburbs of their cities may not be sold; for it is their perpetual possession.

LECTURE 228.

Our spiritual advantages must be ascribed to God, through Christ.

The ordinances of the sabbatic year and the jubile were sure to give rise to the question, "what shall we eat the seventh year?"

Who but God Himself, that giveth the increase, in both the natural and spiritual world, who but He could answer, “I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years?" enough for the latter end of the sixth year, the whole of the seventh, and the beginning of the eighth. This would be to the Jews one of the most manifest proofs that God did of a truth reign over them, as their ever present King, that He who made the heavens and the earth did really order all things for their good, and for the furtherance of his own revealed will. But this blessing was promised on condition that the chosen people of God should keep the commandments of their heavenly King. No wonder that they soon lost their advantages; they so speedily fell away from their obedience! No wonder that we ourselves enjoy not all the fulness of grace and peace, which God has provided for us in the Gospel; we do not all the duties which our Lord has therein commanded! The condition was revealed to them as expressly as the promise: "Wherefore ye shall do my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them; and ye shall dwell in the land in safety. And the land shall yield her fruit, and ye shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety." In proof that our advantages also are conditional, hear our Lord Himself declare, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it but whosoever will lose his life for my sake the same shall save it." Luke 9. 23, 24.

In the year of jubile, all the lands of Israel were to revert to the first owners, or their heirs. But further there was in every sale a power of redemption; that is to say, the person who had sold the land, or any of his kin, might buy it back again, on paying the value, according to the number of years still to run before the jubile. In the case of houses within a walled city, this power of redemption lasted only for a year. And these also did not revert, like the land, in the year of jubile. For the cities were of man's building; whereas the land was the grant of God to the Israelites. But this did not affect the houses of the Levites. For their cities, and the suburbs, were their only possessions; by the special appointment of God. See Num. 35. 2. Thus all these regulations united to remind the Israelites of what God had said, "The land is mine;" and again, "Ye are strangers and sojourners with me." May we have grace to apply these sayings to that better inheritance which God has given to believers in Christ Jesus! May we bear in mind that He and He alone is "the author and finisher of our faith!" Heb. 12. 2. And whilst we enjoy on earth the outward seal and inward testimony of "the Holy Spirit of promise;" may we ever remember that this is but "the earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of his glory!" Eph. 1. 13, 14.

The redemption of the Israelite bondservant.

35 And if thy brother be waxen 45 Moreover of the children of poor, and fallen in decay with the strangers that do sojourn thee; then thou shalt relieve among you, of them shall ye him: yea, though he be a stranger, buy, and of their families that or a sojourner; that he may are with you, which they begat live with thee. in your land: and they shall be your possession.

36 Take thou no usury of him, or increase: but fear thy God; that thy brother may live with thee.

37 Thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury, nor lend him thy victuals for increase.

38 I am the LORD your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God.

39 And if thy brother that dwelleth by thee be waxen poor, and be sold unto thee; thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bondservant:

40 But as an hired servant, and as a sojourner, he shall be with thee, and shall serve thee unto the year of jubile:

41 And then shall he depart from thee, both he and his children with him, and shall return unto his own family, and unto the possession of his fathers shall he return.

42 For they are my servants, which I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: they shall not be sold as bondmen.

43 Thou shalt not rule over him with rigour; but shalt fear thy God.

44 Both thy bondmen, and thy bondmaids, which thou shalt have, shall be of the heathen that are round about you; of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids.

46 And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them for a possession; they shall be your bondmen for ever: but over your brethren the children of Israel, ye shall not rule one over another with rigour. 47 And if a sojourner or stranger wax rich by thee, and thy brother that dwelleth by him wax poor, and sell himself unto the stranger or sojourner by thee, or to the stock of the stranger's family:

48 After that he is sold he may be redeemed again; one of his brethren may redeem him:

49 Either his uncle, or his uncle's son, may redeem him, or any that is nigh of kin unto him of his family may redeem him; or if he be able, he may redeem himself.

50 And he shall reckon with him that bought him from the year that he was sold to him unto the year of jubile: and the price of his sale shall be according unto the number of years, according to the time of an hired servant shall it be with him.

51 If there be yet many years behind, according unto them he shall give again the price of his redemption out of the money that he was bought for.

52 And if there remain but few years unto the year of jubile, then he shall count with

« PredošláPokračovať »