Podcast: Play in new window | Download (4.0MB)

This week’s Torah portion is named, B’har, meaning “In the mountain.”  It covers Leviticus 25:1 to 26:2 and highlights the majesty of God and His compassion for His people and the Land.  The Sabbath, Sabbatical year and the Year of Jubilee are just a few of God’s gracious provisions.  In case you didn’t know it, our Lord is very serious about rest.  He wishes for us to knit the rhythm of rest into our lives.  The Supreme Creator modeled it Himself when He shaped the world in six days and rested on the seventh day.  He commanded it for His people in Exodus when He said, “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.  Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God.”

This world has lost a true understanding of a God-given rest.  God’s desire was for the Sabbath to be a blessing, a time of genuine rest from normal labors, rather than a burdensome duty – something to be enjoyed, not endured.  He created the Sabbath for the benefit of all mankind, and here in Leviticus 25, Israel is reminded that on the seventh day, each week the nation was commanded to rest.  Adonai extended the principle of rest even to the land.  The land is to be worked for six years, sowing the fields and gathering in crops, but on the seventh year, it is to rest completely.  The land is to have its own year of Sabbath rest to the Lord.

Can you imagine how scary this must have seemed to the people when they first heard it?  After all, they depended on the land for their food; for their survival.  So, how would they eat during that seventh year?  These are reasonable questions to which God gives the perfect answer. That answer: He will provide!

Let’s look at all the supernatural ways in just these few verses of chapter 25 that Adonai promises to provide for Israel as the people gave the land its year of rest:

Verse 18 – He promises safety in the land;

Verse 19 – He promises the people will eat their fill and again promises safety;

Verse 21 – He promises that the harvest of the sixth year will yield not just enough for the present year of rest, but enough provision for three years!

Would you be able to trust the Lord in this way?  For most, it would be difficult. Sadly, we have too little trust, and too much fear of failure, the apprehension of not having enough.  But if we take a good look, we will find that many of our anxieties are based on “what-if’s?” things that might happen.  But these fears are totally unnecessary if we will trust in God in all things.  That is why Psalm 55 reminds us to cast our cares upon the Lord for He will sustain us. When we find the faith to follow Him completely, trusting that He knows what is best for us, we find new strength.  This trust in God is what will sustain us through the struggles of each day.

And the same is true for us during the weekly Sabbath.  It is understandable that some find it hard to take a day off of work, but try it out.  It’s awesome, really…to be able to relax, to read the Scriptures, have edifying conversation and fellowship with others, take a nap…a very nice, long nap.  Allow yourself to be physically and spiritually refreshed.  Let God give you His supernatural provision as you honor His design for your rest.

God loves His people so much, He wants them to understand the all-important measure of resting.  He modeled it.  He commanded it.  He illustrated how He will provide through it.  And most of all, He blesses it.

 

In addition to the weekly and yearly Sabbath, Leviticus 25 also outlines a year-long Sabbath that was set to take place every 50 years, called Shanat Yovel – the Jubilee Year.

As we read through the chapter and the requirements of the Sabbath and the Jubilee years, we are reminded of God’s grace and concern for the poor and the oppressed.  These laws were put in place to keep the rich from accumulating land and money at the expense of the poor.

The Jubilee Year was a God-designed reset button of forgiveness and restoration.  It provided for a double-portion of rest every 50th year.  Each 49th year would be a Sabbatical year, followed by the Jubilee Year in the 50th, so that for two consecutive years the people would be required to allow the land – and themselves, to experience personal and economic freedom and, most importantly, to depend on God.

In summary, the Jubilee Year was intended to be a joyful celebration of God’s sovereignty in which, for His people, there would be:

• Liberation: Redeemed by God, no child of Adonai can forever remain a slave.  The Jubilee was meant to restore equality among the people, and,

• Social Justice: Equality meant lifting up, as well, those who were in need.  God’s kindness towards us is the motivation by which we should show kindness to others.  By all rights, Yeshua’s people ought to be the most generous of all!

It is important and unfortunate to note at this point that according to 2 Chronicles 36, the people of Israel, to their own detriment, neglected to observe their Sabbatical years (70 times they neglected it) and there is no record, no record at all of Israel even once observing the Jubilee Year.  Some of Adonai’s greatest blessings, were met with that “fear of failure” and that “apprehension of not having enough.”  Again…how will you fare in your trust in Him?

The final two verses of this Parasha warn against setting up any foreign image or sacred stone for ourselves, and bowing down to them, and to observe God’s holy Sabbath and to show reverence for His sanctuary.  Perhaps these warnings were included at the end of this section to warn us against the subtlety of allowing idols to pervert our Sabbath rest.  We need to remain focused on Yeshua and give HIM our attention during these times of relaxation.

We, just like the people and the Land of Israel, need Sabbath rest.  We must physically and spiritually recuperate; remembering the God of Israel and these great times of rest that He freely gave us.  We should give abundant thanks for this rest and, more importantly, for the future rest we will have through our Messiah, Lord Yeshua.