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Dear Brothers and Sisters in
IAUA
(ee-ah-oo-ah) our Father,
Greetings on this day of preparation for the weekly Sabbath. I hope this newsletter finds you in good health and happy in the service of the Lord. This is the 25th day of the first month. It is five weeks and four days until the evening of Pentecost Sabbath (Wednesday May 23).
An interesting topic related to the yearly Sabbaths was brought to my attention recently. The pattern of the seventh day of rest in the week for the weekly Sabbath which continues with the seven yearly Sabbath days in a year leads to the seventh year which is a Sabbath year to the land.
Leviticus 25:1-7
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.
There was no explicit command not to work but in an agrarian society much work was effectively eliminated. Depending on God's providence during this year is a valuable lesson in faith.
"Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible" is fascinating reading on this subject.
Continuing God's pattern based on the number seven, the seventh Sabbath year was followed by the additional Jubilee year of release and rest to the land.
Leviticus 25:8-13
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.
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.
After these startling and difficult to comprehend statutes comes one of the beautiful statute keeping promises.
Leviticus 25:18-19
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.
Those who do not readily understand God's intent are given special detailed explanation.
Leviticus 25:20-22
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.
This pattern of seven leads directly to one of the reasons why I believe in the six thousand years of sin before the millenium of rest. My understanding is that Israel never properly observed the Sabbath year and this triggered this warning.
Leviticus 26:14-16
14 But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments;
15 And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant:
16 I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.
Leviticus 26:33-35
33 And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste.
34 Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies' land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her sabbaths.
35 As long as it lieth desolate it shall rest; because it did not rest in your sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it.
This is part of the reason for the Babylonian captivity.
Jeremiah 25:11
11 And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
This is fascinating topic. There is so much more I could say.
What lessons do you see and learn from pondering God's statutes?
I pray that we may all continue to strive for peace and unity in truth preparing for the soon coming of IAUShUO (ee-uh-oo-shoo-oh) Messiah, the Son of God.
Shabbat Shalom,
Frank T. Clark
Webmaster@IAUA.name
www.IAUA.name
Next:
2007-04-20
Jubilee Part II
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