Leviticus 25

In this chapter we are in general dealing with three sections. The year to honor the LORD, the Jubilee for the land and the jubilee for the people. The over lying them that I see in this chapter is that we must remember who’s we are and who truly owns all that we have. The year to honor the LORD was the first year that they were in the promised land. For this first year they were not to harvest. For the next 6 years they could harvest as normal. The seventh year was to be a year of Jubilee for the land. They were not to harvest or plant during this year. It was to give the land a time of rest. It is similar to working for six days and resting on the seventh. In this case it is a larger scale for the land by working the land for six years and letting it rest in the seventh.

There are many other things connected to this year of Jubilee to include returning land to the one you got if from. The reminder that the Israelite did not have a permanent home but they were travelers with their only permanent home being with God.

The final part of this chapter was the jubilee for the people. No one was intended to remain a slave or servant forever. An individual specifically an Israelite was only to be a servant for a certain period of time and then just like the year of jubilee there was a year of jubilee for the servant and slave. Without getting into the weeds of the chapter the bottom line is that because people are children of God and made in his image we are to treat them with honor and respect.

Application

The application for this chapter is more practical than it is spiritual. I believe that it has spiritual results. We need to remember that all that we have all that we have responsibility for is not ours it or they belong to the LORD. Those we supervise are children of God made in his image. Even if they are not Christians they are still made in God’s image and we are to treat them with respect. We are to care for them and honor them. The land is not ours. We may not have the same standards as far as returning the land but none the less the land belongs to the LORD.

We have a responsibility as Christians to care for the land. It is interesting to me that Christians do more to hurt this land then they do to help. We should be the first to be concerned about what is happening to the land. Not because there is “global warming” (which I don’t believe is the case) but because we have been given the responsibility from God, the creator of heaven and earth, to care for it.