Thru the Bible - #166-Deuteronomy 15 - The Sabbatic Year

Transcript

Welcome And Settle In

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Welcome to Bereen's Corner, the podcast where we go through books of the Bible chapter by chapter and verse by verse. Wherever you are in the world, thank you for joining. Grab a glass of water, a cup of coffee or tea, and let's get into today's lesson. Alright, thank you for joining me and welcome back to Berean's Corner. Open

Opening Deuteronomy 15 Together

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your Bible to Deuteronomy chapter 15. The title of today's lesson is The Sabbatic Year. And let me get this out the way before we get started. Welcome to those of you who are listening over on our YouTube channel, Berean's Corner. Finally got the RSS feed to work. So now all of the podcasts that you get here on your favorite podcast app, you can now get on our YouTube channel, Berean's Corner. So thank you for joining me over there. Okay, Deuteronomy 15, the sabbatic year, and let's read.

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Deuteronomy 15. At the end of every seven years, you must cancel debts. This is how it is to be done. Every creditor shall cancel the loan he has made to his fellow Israelites. He shall not require payment from his fellow Israelite or brother, because the Lord's time for canceling debts has been proclaimed. You may require payment from a foreigner, but you must cancel any debt your brother owes you. However, there should be no poor among you, for in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you. If only you fully obey the Lord your God and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today. The Lord your God will bless you as he has promised. And you will lend to many nations, but will borrow from none. You will rule over many nations, but none will rule over you. If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted toward your poor brother. Rather be open-handed and freely lend him whatever he needs. Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought. The seventh year, the year for cancelling debts, is near, so that you do not show ill will toward your needy brother and give him nothing. He may then appeal to the Lord against you, and you will be found guilty of sin. Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart. Then, because of this, the Lord your God will bless you in all your work, and in everything you put your hand to. There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore, I command you to be open-handed toward your brothers, and toward the poor and needy in your land. If a fellow Hebrew, a man or a woman, sells himself to you and serves you six years, in the seventh year you must let him go free. And when you release him, do not send him away empty-handed. Supply him liberally from your flock, your threshing floor and your wine press. Give to him as the Lord your God has blessed you. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you. That is why I give you this command today. But if your servant says to you, I do not want to leave you, because he loves you and your family and is well off with you, then take an awl and push it through his earlobe in the door, and he will become your servant for life. Do the same for your maidservant. Do not consider it a hardship to set your servant free, because his service to you these six years has been worth twice as much as that of a hired hand, and the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do. Set apart for the Lord your God every firstborn male of your herds and flocks. Do not put the firstborn of your oxen to work, and do not shear the firstborn of your sheep. Each year you and your family are to eat them in the presence of the Lord your God at the place he will choose. If an animal has a defect, is lame or blind, or has any serious flaw, you must not sacrifice it to the Lord your God. You are to eat it in your own towns. Both the ceremonially unclean and the clean may eat it, as if it were gazelle or deer. But you must not eat the blood, pour it out on the ground like water.

Obedience Leads To Blessing

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Reflecting God's generosity, that's one thing we have seen repeatedly throughout Deuteronomy, and that is this God promises to bless his obedient people. In fact, that very truth is emphasized four times in this chapter. It's emphasized in verse 6, or excuse me, 4, 6, 10, and 18. God's formula is simple. Obedience to God's word equals God's blessings. The more we know God's word and the more we seek to obey it, the more we position ourselves to experience his blessings. And one of those key subjects God develops in this chapter is generosity. The central truth of this chapter is this since God has been so generous in what he has given to his people, his people are to be generous to others and to God in what they give. Many people mistakenly view giving as losing something. God views giving differently. See, giving in obedience to God is one of the greatest investments a believer can make because it demonstrates God's love, it demonstrates trust in God, and it demonstrates reverence for God. See, God never overlooks generous obedience. When he knows that people are doing things for others out of their loving and generosity, the Lord does not overlook that. And this is the manner of remission. Every creditor shall release what he has loaned to his neighbor. He shall not exact it of his neighbor and his brother, because the Lord's remission has been proclaimed. From a foreigner, you may exact it, but your hand shall release whatever of yours is with your brother. However, there shall be no poor among you, since the Lord will surely bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess. If only you listen obediently to the voice of the Lord your God, to absorb carefully all this commandment which I am commanding you today, for the Lord your God shall bless you as he has promised. And you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow, and you will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you. If there is a poor man with you, one of your brothers, in any of your towns, in your land which the Lord your God has given you, you shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand from your poor brother, but you shall freely open your hand to him, and surely excuse me, and shall generously lend him sufficient for his need and whatever he lacks. Beware, lest there is a base thought in your heart saying, The seventh year, the year of remission is near, and your eye is hostile towards your poor brother, and you give him nothing, then you may cry to the Lord against you. Excuse me, then he may cry to the Lord against you, and it will be sin in you. You shall generously give to him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him, because for this thing the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all your undertakings. For the poor will never cease to be in the land. Therefore I command you, saying, You shall freely open your hand to your brother, to your needy, and poor in your land.

Debt Release And Open Hands

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One thing that immediately stands out in this section is that God cares deeply about every member of his covenant family, both the wealthy and the poor. According to verse 1, every seventh year debts between fellow Israelites were to be canceled. I see. Now I want you to imagine that. If a brother had borrowed money and still owed part of the debt when the seventh year arrived, the lender was required to release him from his obligation. This will this was called the Lord's remission. That makes this more than a financial matter. It becomes a theological picture. Just as debts were forgiven, God forgives the debt of sin through his redeeming grace. Now, that debt cancellation applies specifically within the covenant family of Israel. The foreigner outside the covenant was not included in this particular uh provision. I want you to remember that. Let's go back. Verse 3 said, From a foreigner you may exact it, but your hand shall release whatever of yours is with your brother. The foreigner outside of the covenant, he wasn't included in that. Moses tells Israel that if they obeyed God in this area, God would bless them abundantly. Uh, you know, see, God says obedience would produce four results. The first was you will have enough to lend to many. Go back to verse six. For the Lord your God shall bless you as he has promised you, and you will lend to many nations. The next order of blessing was you will not borrow. Uh, see, God's blessing would produce abundance, that's why they will lend to nations. But the second result was you will not borrow. Uh, verse six also says, but you will not borrow. So, God's provision would remove dependency. Number three, you will rule over many nations. Also, in verse six, it says, You will not borrow, and you will rule over many nations. Part four said, You will not be ruled by other nations. Also, in verse six, it says, But they will not rule over you. See, God's people will experience freedom and strength. Moses then turns to another situation. What if a poor brother comes asking for help? God says, Do not harden your heart. God said, Do not close your hand, do not become stingy because the year of debt release is approaching. Verse 9 warns against looking at needy people through selfish eyes. Let's look at that again. Beware lest there is a base thought in your heart, saying the seventh year, the year of remission is near, and your eye is hostile towards your poor brother. See, God wants his people to be generous and careful in helping others. Verse 10 says that when we give with the right heart, God blesses us with it. And that's the thing that God wants. He wanted you to bless with a right heart. And then verse 11 reminds us that there will always be poor people around us. Verse 11 said, For the poor will never cease to be in the land. Therefore, God's people should always be willing to help those with legitimate needs. Which brings us to the second principle.

Freeing Servants After Six Years

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Slave owners are to free slaves after seven years. We see this in verses 2, I'm excuse me, 12 through 18. If your kinsman, a Hebrew man or woman, is sold to you, then he shall serve you six years. But in the seventh year you shall set him free. And when you set him free, you shall not send him away empty-handed. You shall not furnish him liberally from your flock and from your threshing floor and from your wine vat. You shall give to him as the Lord your God has blessed you. And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you. Therefore I commend you this day. And it shall come about if he says to you, I will not go out from you because he loves you, you and your household, since he fares well with you, then you shall take in oil and pierce it through his ear, and in the door, and you shall uh excuse me, and he shall be your servant forever. And also you shall do likewise to your maid servant. It shall not seem hard to you when you set him free, for he has given you six years with double the service of a hired man. So the Lord your God will bless you in whatever you do. At times an Israelite might experience financial hardship and voluntarily place himself in servitude to another Israelite. This was not the picture of a lazy person unwilling to work. This was someone trying to survive, trying to repay, trying to repay their debts or trying to meet needs. God did establish a limit. After six years of service, the servant was to be set free in the seventh year. But God gives even further. See, God goes even further than that. The master was not merely to release the servant, he was to bless him generously uh generously when he left. Verse 14 says the master was to provide resources from his flock, from the threshing floor, and from the wine press. The servant was not to leave empty-handed. Why? Because God wanted Israel to remember their own story. And I want us to learn something here. This was not slavery as some folks know slavery or some folks see slavery. This was indentant servitude. So don't try to get all ruffled up and get in your emotions when you hear that word slave. See, what would happen back in this time in Israel was this. I owe my brother money, I owe my brother things that I loan from him, but I cannot pay him back. So in order for me to pay him back, I I literally owe this man, let's just call it $100,000. And I say, look, I will go into servitude for you and do whatever it is you need me to do, basically for six years. So what I'm doing is I'm working for him to pay back what I owe him. But in the seventh year, you were to set your brother free. He was free of the things that he owed. But the Lord said, Because he is your brother, you don't just send him away and say, Okay, man, we're going into the seventh year, the year of remission, you're free to go. No, you were you were to put things in his hands, you were supposed to bless him. And this was to be a sign to show how you love your brother and that you're generous to your brother, and you want him to leave better than he came. Which brings us to the motivation of generosity. In verse 15, it said, And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt. Oh, see what the Lord did to him? Remember, you were a slave at one point. Remember, you were slaves in Egypt. Remember when God redeemed you, remember when God delivered you. God wanted his people treat to treat others with the same generosity he had shown them. Redemption should reproduce generosity. I'm a big believer in that. When we remember how gracious God has been to us, it becomes easier to be gracious to others. That is a principle that I use in my everyday life. I remember the things the Lord did for me. So before I get on my high horse with others, I always look back, I look in the mirror and say, Hey, remember what the Lord did for you. Remember the things the Lord brought you through. How dare you look down your nose at someone else? I always remember the things that the Lord did for me. And now we are going to look at a lifelong servitude option, which we see in verse, which we saw in verses 16 and 17. It shall come about if he says to you, I will not go out from you because he loves you and your household, since he fares well with you, then you shall take in all and pierce it through his ear and into the door, and he shall be your servant forever. And also you shall do likewise to your maidservant. See, sometimes a servant loved his master and his household so much that he did not want to leave. If that happened, a permanent commitment could be made. The servant's ear would be pierced as a visible sign that he willingly chose lifelong service. This temporary ceremony symbolize a permanent relationship. So, in other words, I'm with one of my brothers and I'm serving him for six years. But listen, he's treated me great. I'm working off my debt, but listen, I'm eating good with him. You know, we're riding horses, we're doing all of these great things, you know, we're going out and I love him. He's treating me very well. I can say, look, I know that you are to let me go in the seventh year, but bro, I'm not trying to go anywhere. It's just too good here. You treat me too good. Then we were to take a make take a temporary ceremony and make it a lifelong relationship. Then we get God's promise in verse 18 it shall not seem hard to you when you set him free, for he has given you six years with double the service of a hired man. So the Lord your God will bless you in whatever you do. God again reminds his people, if you obey me in this matter, I will bless you. Generosity always places us in a position to experience God's blessing. Let us remember that. Which brings us to the third generous principle.

Giving God The First And Best

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Worshipers must set apart the first and the best for God. Verses 19 through 23 say, You shall consecrate to the Lord your God all the firstborn males that are born of your herd, and your flock you shall not work with the firstborn of your herd, nor shear the firstborn of your flock. You and your household shall eat it every year before the Lord your God in the place which the Lord chooses. But if it has any defect, such as lameness or blindness or any serious defect, you shall not sacrifice it to the Lord your God. You shall eat it within your gates. The unclean and the clean alike may eat it as a gazelle or a deer. Only you shall not eat his blood. You are to pour it out on the ground like water. One of the cleanest ways we demonstrate love for God is by how we give to him. The love of money creates all kinds of spiritual problems, and we know that. One way we show that God is more important than money is by giving him the first and the best of what he has provided. And Moses gives four principles. The first is God wants the firstborn offering. Go back to verse 19 and notice what it says. God wanted his people thinking about him first. The firstborn belong to him. This principle reminds us that God deserves first place in all of our lives. So, to give you the picture, if you haven't already got it, imagine me as a sheep herder, and I'm bringing my sheep through, and the first one through, he's big and healthy. That one belongs to the Lord. I'm not to play a game and wink and go, hey, I didn't see that. Put that one, you know, to the right. But this next one, you know, slide that one to the Lord. No, I was to give my best to the Lord to show my generosity to him and in remembrance of what he did for me, and to remember that he did these things for me. That's why I'm blessed in the first place. The second principle is God does not want leftover offerings, which is what we were just talking about. Verse 19 says, You shall not work with the firstborn of your herd, nor share, excuse me, nor shear the firstborn of your flock. God did not want people bringing offerings after they had already used and enjoyed them for themselves. The offering was to be set apart for him from the beginning. God deserves our priority, not our leftovers. Principle number three, God does not want defective offerings. Verse 21 says, But if it has any defect, such as lameness or blindness or any serious defect, you shall not sacrifice it to the Lord your God. Animals that were blind, lame, or defective were not acceptable as offerings. The issue was not that God cared less about flawed animals. The issue was that God's people needed to give him their best. Giving God our best reflects gratitude for all he has done. And uh let me uh touch on a principle there when it comes to our a day and time. Now, most of us do not give out of our agriculture, most of us give out of our paychecks. So, what that about what that means is that the Lord wants you to tap into what you're going to give to him first. So he's saying, you know, before you go out to eat that day, and you know, before you, you know, go do and do your your pleasures, whether that's your haircut or your manicure or you know your your weekly Sunday, whatever it is, the Lord wants you to remember him and he wants you to give give that to him. Which brings us to the fourth principle God's people may enjoy what is not dedicated to the Lord. In verses 22 and 23, again, he said, You shall eat it within your gates. What is he talking about? That lame and defective animal. The unclean and the clean alike may eat it as a gazelle or a deer. Only you shall not eat the blood, you are to pour it out on the ground like water. Now the people were free to enjoy the abundance God had provided. The animals not dedicated to God could be used for personal consumption. Again, the only restriction was that they were not to consume the blood. God's commands uh were designed to teach his people reverence, gratitude, and obedience.

Practical Lessons On Christian Giving

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And you know, there are some practical applications that we can take uh from this. The first is God has been extremely generous towards us. See, every blessing we have all to me comes from him. When we remember that, generosity becomes much easier. The next thing is giving is best when it is given first, not last. God deserves priority. We should not wait until everything else is paid before concerning what belongs to him. Like I said earlier, we want to give the Lord our first and our best. Generosity reflects the character of God. A generous believer reflects a generous God. Number four, everything we have comes from God. Nothing we possess is ultimately self-made. God is the source of every blessing. That job you got, uh, that that promotion, all of those blessings, they come from the Lord. The fifth thing is we should look for opportunities to help those with legitimate needs. God wants his people attentive to the needs of others. Listen, it's nothing wrong with helping out others and being gracious and uh generous to your uh brothers and sisters. Number six, we should continually evaluate our giving. Reveres how much, excuse me, it reveres much about our priorities, our fate, and our relationship with the

What The Blood Command Means

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Lord. And I want to touch on something about verse number 23 again. Only you shall not eat his blood, you are to pour it out on the ground like water. Let me be clear one more time. The Lord is not saying that you can't eat red meat, and he's not saying that you can't eat a medium uh steak. When he's talking about the blood, he's talking about the actual blood that's in the animal. What the Lord is saying is that you are to behead the animal, you are to string it up, and if you don't beheaded, you are to cut it down the middle, and you are to let the blood drain out from the animal. That's what the Lord is talking about. When an animal is hung up for a couple of days, there is no more blood in the animal. I like to say that because there are people who like to play games and say if you eat a medium rare or uh a medium steak or a medium rare steak that somehow you eat in blood. As I've told you before, that is not blood. The blood has already been drained out. Let's move on to our conclusion.

Final Takeaways On Generosity

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Deuteronomy 15 teaches a powerful lesson. God's people are to be generous because God has been generous to us. Let us remember that where there is forgiving debts, helping the needy, treating workers fairly, supporting ministry or giving to God, our generosity should reflect the grace that we have received. The God who redeemed Israel from Egypt and the God who redeemed us through Christ causes people to live open-handed lives. And throughout this chapter, God repeatedly reminds us that obedience brings blessings. When God's people generously obey his word, they display the heart of the God that they serve. The Lord wanted Israel to remember this, and he wants you and I to remember this as well. Alright, that brings us to the end of Deuteronomy chapter 15. I hope as always that you got something out of this lesson. As always, I ask you to pray for me that I stay steadfast in the Scripture, that uh I stay in good health, that I stay on a straight and narrow path, that the Lord is always a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. It would mean a great deal to me. And as always, I am praying for you. I make it no secret. I appreciate it dearly that you take time out of your morning, your afternoon, and your evening to go through the word of God with me. I appreciate it more than you will know. Some of you I may not even see or be until we get into eternity, but I do want you to know on this side of eternity that I appreciate you a great deal. And I'm praying for you as well. I'm praying that you are doing well. I'm praying that you are in good health. I'm praying that you are in good spirits, and I'm praying that these lessons are a blessing to you. All right, that brings us in. That brings us to the end of today's lesson, Deuteronomy 15. That is all for now. God bless.

Prayer Requests And How To Connect

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