Sermon Central
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Spreading The Wealth
Contributed by Bishop Johnathan Hester on Jul 22, 2009 (message contributor)
Summary: The title of the subject is Spreading the Wealth, and the subject comes from one of the many observances the Israelites were supposed to practice:
Spreading the Wealth
Spreading the Wealth
Introduction
The title of the subject is Spreading the Wealth, and the subject comes from one of the many observances the Israelites were supposed to practice:
Every seven days the Israelites observed the Sabbath.
Every seventh year the Israelites observed the Sabbath Year. During that year they planted no crops among other things.
Every seventh Sabbath Year (7 Sabbath Years=49 years) the Israelites observed Jubilee.
Recall that in the Bible, the number seven represents perfection or completion. So seven times seven is complete perfection, or perfect completion. This year of Jubilee appears to be a special Sabbath year, every 50 years. While this is a different picture, many of the connotations are similar to the three seventh-month feast we discussed earlier -- and so God has the Year of Jubilee proclaimed on the Day of Atonement.
In they were commanded to blow the trumpet throughout the whole land and begin a year long period of rest, remembering, and redemption.Among other things it was to be a time to reflect ,and forgive ...
I’m not sure if God ever meant for the Year of Jubilee to be compared to the joys of New Testament salvation,,, but I see many parallels worth noting... It seems appropriate,,, to me at least, to say that ever since the day I was saved my life has been a Year of Jubilee...
Not that everything has been perfect or easy, because it hasn’t, but spiritually speaking there has been rest, remembering, and redemption…exactly the effects of Israel’s Jubilee.
So this morning ,,,my aim is to move you towards gratification, inspiration, and ,,,and obedience...
I want you to be thankful for all the Lord has done,,,And
I want you to be inspired to live your life to the fullest in faith,,,
And,, and I want you to be obedient as a result of the two...
All of this comes from looking at…the Year of Jubilee
Let us notice our text,,, Leviticus 25 :8-9 and we will see first of all that this was a time of atonement… 8 "’Count off seven sabbaths of years-- seven times seven years-- so that the seven sabbaths of years amount to a period of forty-nine years. 9 Then have the trumpet sounded everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement sound the trumpet throughout your land.
Note that the year is proclaimed on the Day of Atonement. On the very day which symbolizes our forgiveness of sins through the blood of Jesus,,, God proclaims ,,,ahh,,, ahh, liberty and freedom... You see the importance of this ?
As Ray Stedman says, "All liberty arises out of redemption." Liberty and freedom do not mean doing whatever we want,,, following our own selfish desires. That’s slavery, not freedom! True liberty arises from us acknowledging who we are before God, and becoming,,, what He intends us to be.(aman)
A Year of Rest
Leviticus 25:10-12 says, “You shall thus consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim a release through the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, and each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return to his family. 11You shall have the fiftieth year as a jubilee; you shall not sow, nor reap its aftergrowth, nor gather in from its untrimmed vines. 12For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you. You shall eat its crops out of the field.”
The,,, the Rest was Rewarding,,,
Notice the phrases: “proclaim a release through the land,” “each of you shall return to his own property,” and “each of you shall return to his family.”
This is called the Year of Jubilee for good reason! Everyone is blessed when the Jubilee is observed, but notice something interesting: it couldn’t have been easy. Farmers had to stop farming, and the people couldn’t even reap the aftergrowth. The reward of the rest was coupled with hardship...
God here ordains not only the Sabbath day, celebrated every week, but a Sabbath year -- a year in which no agricultural work is to be done...
Remember now that Israel in 1400BC is almost exclusively an agricultural economy. And,,,and God here is calling a halt to all productive work for a year....
Can you imagine that?
Elsewhere in this chapter he says they are not even to pick the fruit from the volunteer crops that might spring up from seeds left in the fields.
They are to depend completely on God’s provision... God promises in verses 21-22 that he will provide them with such an abundant harvest in the sixth year that they will have enough to live on without working for the Sabbath year.
Think of the faith that would be required to fulfill this commandment! God says, "Don’t work for a full year! Don’t depend on your own strength! Trust me; I will provide!"
