Leviticus 25:35-55 (CLICK HERE FOR BIBLE VERSES)
Hi GAMErs,
Today’s passage is Leviticus 25:35-55. With a humble heart, see what sticks out to you in this passage. Is there a verse, a phrase, or a lesson you think the Holy Spirit may be highlighting for you in this passage? After you’ve thought about the passage yourself a bit, read the GAME sharing below. Let’s go!
Leviticus 25:35-38 (NIV)
35 “‘If one of your countrymen becomes poor and is unable to support himself among you, help him as you would an alien or a temporary resident, so he can continue to live among you.
36 Do not take interest of any kind from him, but fear your God, so that your countryman may continue to live among you.
37 You must not lend him money at interest or sell him food at a profit.
38 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.
On verses 35-38: Just as God showed undeserved kindness to the Israelites, God expected the Israelites to show undeserved kindness to one another. Likewise, just as God has shown undeserved kindness to us, may we show undeserved kindness to one another as brothers and sisters in Christ.
Leviticus 25:39-55 (NIV)
39 “‘If one of your countrymen becomes poor among you and sells himself to you, do not make him work as a slave.
40 He is to be treated as a hired worker or a temporary resident among you; he is to work for you until the Year of Jubilee.
41 Then he and his children are to be released, and he will go back to his own clan and to the property of his forefathers.
42 Because the Israelites are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt, they must not be sold as slaves.
43 Do not rule over them ruthlessly, but fear your God.
44 “‘Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves.
45 You may also buy some of the temporary residents living among you and members of their clans born in your country, and they will become your property.
46 You can will them to your children as inherited property and can make them slaves for life, but you must not rule over your fellow Israelites ruthlessly.
47 “‘If an alien or a temporary resident among you becomes rich and one of your countrymen becomes poor and sells himself to the alien living among you or to a member of the alien’s clan,
48 he retains the right of redemption after he has sold himself. One of his relatives may redeem him:
49 An uncle or a cousin or any blood relative in his clan may redeem him. Or if he prospers, he may redeem himself.
50 He and his buyer are to count the time from the year he sold himself up to the Year of Jubilee. The price for his release is to be based on the rate paid to a hired man for that number of years.
51 If many years remain, he must pay for his redemption a larger share of the price paid for him.
52 If only a few years remain until the Year of Jubilee, he is to compute that and pay for his redemption accordingly.
53 He is to be treated as a man hired from year to year; you must see to it that his owner does not rule over him ruthlessly.
54 “‘Even if he is not redeemed in any of these ways, he and his children are to be released in the Year of Jubilee,
55 for the Israelites belong to me as servants. They are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.
On verses 39-55: These verses provide ways that a man who has sold himself to slavery can be set free and in some cases even redeem himself. In our case, we have no way of redeeming ourselves. As Psalm 49:7-9 says, “No man can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for him– the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough– that he should live on forever and not see decay.” Whereas we cannot redeem ourselves from sin, God can. And that is what He did through Jesus Christ. Jesus is our Year of Jubilee by whom we are declared free and no longer slaves to sin.
Also, these verses remind us of the special favour and grace (undeserved kindness) with which God saw and treated the Israelites, as God’s chosen servants. Remember that God had just rescued the Israelites from 400 years of slavery in Egypt. He had no intention of letting them become slaves again. Likewise, we too have been rescued by Jesus Christ from slavery to sin. The last thing God wants is for you to become a slave once again to sin. That’s why Galatians 5:1 says, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”
Jesus, thank You for being my Redeemer, my Year of Jubilee who sets me free. Thank You that it is for freedom that You have set me free. May I not go back to being a slave to sin, but live to serve You. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
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