Before Israel entered the Promised Land, God gave Israel very detailed instructions on how they were to farm in the new land. For both livestock and crops; from the field to the vine and orchard; God wanted Israel to lay a foundation for His blessings. It was through the land, that God would bless the children or Israel and through Israel that God would bless all of the nations of the world. Thus God would fulfill his promise to Abram.
Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: (2) And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: (3) And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” (Genesis 12:1-3).
One detail was land Sabbaths. The land needed to be preserved as an inheritance forever; handed down generation to generation. Preserving the land would preserve and keep the family strong, build solid community and unify a nation.
"And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the fruits thereof: (11) But 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” (Exodus 23:10-11).
Asking an Albanian friend, a restaurant owner in Chicago; “Where is your family?” He replied; “My wife and children are in Albania. They live in our home that has been passed down for over five hundred years. I will return to Albania one day and live on that land again.” That is utterly amazing. Americans have quite the opposite view. A Google search reports that 1 in 6 Americans move every year and that the average American will move 11.7 times in their lifetime. Moving to Crystal Lake is my twelfth residence in my life time, at age 51. What lies ahead? Surely this is not my final move!
God caused Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Israel) to wander as nomads. Then the Lord placed Israel in Egypt as sojourners for four hundred and thirty years. He then had them wander forty years in the wilderness. There were many lessons to learn from their history. Undoubtedly, learning to appreciate owning land where they could put down lasting roots was one such lesson.
Protecting the inheritance by preserving the land was so important that God had them rest the land every seventh year. Modern agricultural research has proven the benefits of this scientifically. The U.S. Government pays American famers to rest certain fields every year and to rotate crops in order to not deplete the land.
The inheritance was so important to God that he commanded a year of Jubilee be observed every fifty years, to restore lost inheritances (the land) to their original owners.
“(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. (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: (Leviticus 25:8-9 & 11-14).
Jesus Christ will return and restore all things. Israel will return to their land and once again God’s light will shine upon them. God’s work through a physical nation is so important, that in the eternal plan of God, access to the throne of God, in the Holy City, will be through twelve gates, each named after one of the twelve tribes of Israel. Does this excite you? God called one man, Abram, through whom the Mighty God came to earth; Emmanuel, God with us to restore the inheritance lost in Eden. Jesus was born through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David and Joseph; to be our Savior and Lord. We are called to share in that inheritance for all eternity.
Prayer: Father in Heaven, I can call you Father because I am in your image. As your children, men and women alike are heirs to the promise; an inheritance that started in Eden, was materialized in Israel and then lost; yet redeemed by the second Adam, Christ Jesus; and will be restored at your coming. I claim the blood of Christ that entitles me to an inheritance beyond my wildest imagination. Keep me steadfast, hold me in your arms until your glory in me will allow me to see you face to face. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment