{"id":18733,"date":"2021-11-22T22:00:20","date_gmt":"2021-11-23T05:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/leviticus_27_1-15-copy\/"},"modified":"2021-11-18T23:36:01","modified_gmt":"2021-11-19T06:36:01","slug":"leviticus_27_16-34","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/leviticus_27_16-34\/","title":{"rendered":"What Belongs to God"},"content":{"rendered":"

Leviticus 27:16-34\u00a0\u00a0Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Leviticus 27:16-34, and it’s full of lessons for us.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Leviticus 27:16 (NIV)\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“‘If a man dedicates to the\u00a0LORD\u00a0part of his family land, its value is to be set according to the amount of seed required for it–fifty shekels of silver to a homer of barley seed.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 16:\u00a0\u00a0Notice that the land is be valued based on \u201cthe amount of seed required for it\u201d, that is, how much harvest that land is able to produce.\u00a0\u00a0Why didn\u2019t God base the value of the land on the things real estate agents look at, like desirability of location, quality of the surrounding neighborhood, safety of the area or what schools or public transit are nearby?\u00a0It\u2019s because the land ultimately belonged to God anyway (see Leviticus 25:23) and the Israelites were to see themselves as tenants on that land.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a lesson in this:\u00a0\u00a0it is true that we are all of great worth to God, such that God gave His only Son Jesus Christ just for the chance to be in relationship with you.\u00a0\u00a0But\u00a0just as God focuses here on how much a particular piece of land is able to produce, so God focuses on our development potential.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0God sees us not just for what we are now, but what we can become.\u00a0\u00a0His vision for us is that we would bear maximum fruit for God\u2019s glory.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Leviticus 27:17-21 (NIV)\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0If he dedicates his field during the Year of Jubilee, the value that has been set remains.
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But if he dedicates his field after the Jubilee, the priest will determine the value according to the number of years that remain until the next Year of Jubilee, and its set value will be reduced.
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0If the man who dedicates the field wishes to redeem it, he must add a fifth to its value, and the field will again become his.
\n20\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0If, however, he does not redeem the field, or if he has sold it to someone else, it can never be redeemed.
\n21\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When the field is released in the Jubilee, it will become holy, like a field devoted to the\u00a0LORD; it will become the property of the priests.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 17-21:\u00a0\u00a0In Leviticus 25, we learned that in the Year of Jubilee, Israelite families got their originally inherited lands back.\u00a0\u00a0So if an Israelite sold a piece of land that belonged to his family from the beginning, that piece of land would return to him in the Year of Jubilee (see Leviticus 25:23-28).\u00a0\u00a0There was an exception to this rule though: if an Israelite dedicated that \u201cfamily land\u201d (v16) to God, saying, \u201cGod this land belonged to my family but now it belongs to You\u201d, and if before the Year of Jubilee that Israelite did not redeem the dedicated land by paying to the priests an amount equal to 120% of the land\u2019s value (v19), that dedicated land permanently became \u201cGod\u2019s property\u201d, the property of the priests.<\/p>\n

It reminds me that when we receive Jesus into our lives as Saviour and King, we\u2019re effectively dedicating our lives to Him.\u00a0\u00a0But after that moment of dedication, God still entrusts us with those lives, such that if we really wanted to, we have the freedom to (foolishly) take those lives back and use them for our own selfish purposes, albeit paying a higher price to get our life back.\u00a0\u00a0But when our \u201cyear of jubilee\u201d comes, i.e. when we die and the opportunity to go to heaven is now before us, if we didn\u2019t take our lives back, we belong to God forever.\u00a0\u00a0What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0After giving your life to Jesus that first time, instead of taking your life back for yourself, keep surrendering your life to Jesus until that day of jubilee when you get to see Jesus face to face when you get to be God\u2019s forever.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Leviticus 27:22-29 (NIV)\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>
\n22\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“‘If a man dedicates to the\u00a0LORD\u00a0a field he has bought, which is not part of his family land,
\n23\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0the priest will determine its value up to the Year of Jubilee, and the man must pay its value on that day as something holy to the\u00a0LORD.
\n24\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0In the Year of Jubilee the field will revert to the person from whom he bought it, the one whose land it was.
\n25\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Every value is to be set according to the sanctuary shekel, twenty gerahs to the shekel.
\n26\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“‘No one, however, may dedicate the firstborn of an animal, since the firstborn already belongs to the\u00a0LORD; whether an ox or a sheep, it is the\u00a0LORD’s.
\n27\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0If it is one of the unclean animals, he may buy it back at its set value, adding a fifth of the value to it. If he does not redeem it, it is to be sold at its set value.
\n28\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“‘But nothing that a man owns and devotes to the\u00a0LORD–whether man or animal or family land–may be sold or redeemed; everything so devoted is most holy to the\u00a0LORD.
\n29\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“‘No person devoted to destruction may be ransomed; he must be put to death.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 22-29:\u00a0\u00a0While certain things that a person\u00a0dedicated<\/em>\u00a0to God could be bought back (as described in verses 22-27), things that a person\u00a0devoted\u00a0<\/em>to God could not be ransomed or bought back (v28-29).\u00a0\u00a0What\u2019s the difference between dedicating (qadash<\/em>\u00a0in Hebrew) and devoting (haram<\/em>\u00a0in Hebrew) something to God?\u00a0\u00a0It seems that in ancient Israelite culture, \u201cdevoting\u201d something took on a higher level of seriousness than \u201cdedicating\u201d something.\u00a0\u00a0When you\u00a0devoted<\/em>\u00a0something, most likely it came with a vow that you could not revoke later on.\u00a0\u00a0For example, in Judges 11:30-31 when Jephthah vowed that if God gave him victory, he would sacrifice the first thing that met him at the door of his house (Judges 11:30-31), this was most likely him\u00a0devoting<\/em>something to God.\u00a0\u00a0You could buy back something you dedicated to God but you couldn\u2019t buy back something you devoted to God.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0God takes our vows seriously.\u00a0\u00a0Just as God is faithful to His Word, we must be people who keep our word and who make good on our promises.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Leviticus 27:30-33 (NIV)\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>
\n30\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“‘A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the\u00a0LORD; it is holy to the\u00a0LORD.
\n31\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0If a man redeems any of his tithe, he must add a fifth of the value to it.
\n32\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The entire tithe of the herd and flock–every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd’s rod–will be holy to the\u00a0LORD.
\n33\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He must not pick out the good from the bad or make any substitution. If he does make a substitution, both the animal and its substitute become holy and cannot be redeemed.'”\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 30-33:\u00a0\u00a0Here God commands the Israelites to tithe, that is, give to God the first 10% of what they harvest.\u00a0\u00a0A tithe literally means \u201cone tenth\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0As followers of Jesus today, we are to tithe as well.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Why?\u00a0\u00a0Here are four reasons why it is essential for Christians to tithe:<\/p>\n

1. Because God commands us to tithe. \u00a0<\/strong>Leviticus 27:30 says that the first 10% of what we earn belongs to God.\u00a0 When we tithe, we’re not tipping God or giving him a bonus for good performance. Tithing is giving God what already belongs to Him.\u00a0 In fact, Malachi 3:8 tells us that when we fail to tithe, we are robbing God.<\/p>\n

Malachi 3:8 (NIV)\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>“Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How do we rob you?’ “In tithes and offerings.”<\/em><\/p>\n

The New Testament affirms the call for followers of Jesus today to tithe too (for example, see Matthew 23:23; Luke 11:42).\u00a0 Tithing is not an option. It’s a command.\u00a0 When I refuse to tithe, I’m disobeying God’s word.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0 Because\u00a0tithing shows that God has first\u00a0place in my life<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0If a person says, \u201cI put God first\u201d, but they\u2019re not willing to tithe the first part of their income to God as He commanded, are they really putting God first?\u00a0 The answer is no.<\/p>\n

Deuteronomy 14:23 (TLB) says “…The purpose of tithing is to teach you always to put God first in your lives.” \u00a0Tithing helps us put our priorities in order and reminds us of who we belong to and what’s most important in life.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0 Because tithing gives God a chance to prove\u00a0He exists and wants to bless you!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Malachi 3:10 is the only place in Scripture where God encourages us to test Him.\u00a0 It says,<\/p>\n

Malachi 3:10 (NIV)\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.\u00a0Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

In other words, God promises that when we are faithful in tithing, He will provide us with everything we need and more than we contain.<\/p>\n

Tithing is an exercise in faith.\u00a0 Our faith grows when we tithe, and with greater faith, God is able to bless us even more.<\/p>\n

4. Because we need to take good care of the church God has given us.<\/strong><\/p>\n

As we have been learning repeatedly in Leviticus, God wants to make sure that those who work in the church are well taken care\u00a0of by the people they serve. \u00a0\u00a0Tithing is not only a spiritual exercise; it also serves a practical purpose: to equip the church with a regular supply of resources to accomplish its mission and to provide materially for those who dedicate their working lives to serving the church.\u00a0\u00a0As Malachi 3:10 (NIV) says, “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.”<\/p>\n

So here’s the question: are you tithing? \u00a0As followers of Jesus, let’s be faithful in our tithes and offerings, so that we can live out God’s command, experience His blessing on our lives, and take good care of the church He has given to us.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Leviticus 27:30-33 (NIV)\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>
\n34\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0These are the commands the\u00a0LORD\u00a0gave Moses on Mount Sinai for the Israelites.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 34:\u00a0\u00a0This completes our look at Leviticus.\u00a0\u00a0These commands which God gave Moses for the Israelites in Leviticus are also pictures by which we can appreciate more of God\u2019s heart and what Jesus would later do for us.<\/p>\n

Heavenly Father, You are the source of every good thing I have in life.\u00a0 Since it all belongs to You, may I not hesitate to give You what is Yours, knowing that You are faithful to provide for all my needs.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Leviticus 27:16-34, and it’s full of lessons for us.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Leviticus 27:16 (NIV)\u00a0
\n16\u00a0\u00a0“‘If a man dedicates to the\u00a0LORD\u00a0part of his family land, its value is to be set according to the amount of seed required for it–fifty shekels of silver to a homer of barley seed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On verse 16:\u00a0\u00a0Notice that the land is be valued based on \u201cthe amount of seed required for it\u201d, that is, how much harvest that land is able to produce.\u00a0\u00a0Why didn\u2019t God base the value of the land on the things real estate agents look at, like desirability of location, quality of the surrounding neighborhood, safety of the area or what schools or public transit are nearby?\u00a0It\u2019s because the land ultimately belonged to God anyway (see Leviticus 25:23) and the Israelites were to see themselves as tenants on that land.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a lesson in this:\u00a0\u00a0it is true that we are all of great worth to God, such that God gave His only Son Jesus Christ just for the chance to be in relationship with you.\u00a0\u00a0But\u00a0just as God focuses here on how much a particular piece of land is able to produce, so God focuses on our development potential.\u00a0\u00a0God sees us not just for what we are now, but what we can become.\u00a0\u00a0His vision for us is that we would bear maximum fruit for God\u2019s glory.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18736,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18733"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18733\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18734,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18733\/revisions\/18734"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}