Leviticus 25:38 says, I am the LORD your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God. God simply reminded the people of Israel Who He was, and He is still the same God today. Verse thirty-nine adds, And if thy brother that dwelleth by thee be waxen poor, and be sold unto thee; thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bondservant: Verse forty continues, But as an hired servant, and as a sojourner, he shall be with thee, and shall serve thee unto the year of jubile: If a man's brother became so poor that he sold himself to another, then he was to be treated as a hired hand and not a bond servant until the year of jubilee. Verse forty-one states, And then shall he depart from thee, both he and his children with him, and shall return unto his own family, and unto the possession of his fathers shall he return. At the year of jubilee, the man and his family were to be freed to return to his own family and to the possession of his father. Our year of jubilee will be when Christ returns and we go to our heavenly home, the land of our Father. Verse forty-two adds, For they are my servants, which I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: they shall not be sold as bondmen. The people of Israel were God's servants who He had freed from bondage in Egypt and they were not to be bondservants in Israel. We are freed from sin when we put our faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord and we should never again allow ourselves to come under the bondage of sin. Verse forty-three continues, Thou shalt not rule over him with rigour; but shalt fear thy God. The one in power was not to mistreat the one who had sold himself but was to treat him fairly because they were all under God's power. Verse forty-four says, Both thy bondmen, and thy bondmaids, which thou shalt have, shall be of the heathen that are round about you; of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids. Those people from other countries who were in Israel could be bought as bondsmen and handmaids. There was a difference between God's chosen people and the rest of the world, as there should be between Christians and the rest of the world today. Verse forty-five adds, Moreover of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy, and of their families that are with you, which they begat in your land: and they shall be your possession. Verse forty-six continues, And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them for a possession; they shall be your bondmen for ever: but over your brethren the children of Israel, ye shall not rule one over another with rigour. Foreigners bought into slavery would remain the bondsmen forever, even to be inherited by the children of the man who bought them, but the men of Israel were not to be treated the same. Verse forty-seven states, And if a sojourner or stranger wax rich by thee, and thy brother that dwelleth by him wax poor, and sell himself unto the stranger or sojourner by thee, or to the stock of the stranger’s family: Then verse forty-eight adds, After that he is sold he may be redeemed again; one of his brethren may redeem him: If a stranger in the land of Israel became rich and a man of Israel sold himself to that man, he could be redeemed by one of his brethren. If we today find our self once again under the bondage of sin as followers of Christ, we simply have to turn to Him once again for restoration. Of course, we don't have to be redeemed again. Verse forty-nine continues, Either his uncle, or his uncle’s son, may redeem him, or any that is nigh of kin unto him of his family may redeem him; or if he be able, he may redeem himself. The man could be redeemed by a close relative or could even redeem himself. We can only be redeemed by Jesus Christ, and we must accept Him personally in order to be redeemed. Verse fifty states, And he shall reckon with him that bought him from the year that he was sold to him unto the year of jubile: and the price of his sale shall be according unto the number of years, according to the time of an hired servant shall it be with him. The amount paid to redeem the man was going to be determined by the years left until the jubilee; The price paid for our redemption is always the same, and that is the death of Christ on the cross. Verse fifty-one adds, If there be yet many years behind, according unto them he shall give again the price of his redemption out of the money that he was bought for. Verse fifty-two continues, And if there remain but few years unto the year of jubile, then he shall count with him, and according unto his years shall he give him again the price of his redemption. This just restates that the price of redemption was to be based on the years left to jubilee. Verse fifty-three says, And as a yearly hired servant shall he be with him: and the other shall not rule with rigour over him in thy sight. Again, the man of Israel who sold himself into bondage was not to be treated badly. Verse fifty-four adds, And if he be not redeemed in these years, then he shall go out in the year of jubile, both he, and his children with him. If the man was not redeemed before, then at the year of jubilee he and his family were to be freed. Verse forty-five concludes. For unto me the children of Israel are servants; they are my servants whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God. The people of Israel were to be God's servants since he was the one who brought them out of Egypt. We today are God's servants if we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, and we are bought with the price of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross.
No comments:
Post a Comment