Day 44: Leviticus 24-27 - The finishing touches

Keep the fire burning (Chapter 24)

The burning bush implied a fire in the midst of Israel that never died, yet never consumed. The zeal of God's house is best reflected in the golden candlestick, whose branches symbolized a bush.

It has an echo in Revelations 2-3 as the fire that sustains the church. Those candles were at risking of being removed through the loss of their first cause or first love, or by deviating from His ways. It also implies that we still fuel the flame, but Jesus is our light.

That is confirmed in the parables of the virgins. Their lights did not have an independent life, but had to be maintained. The foolish virgins did not do enough to keep their light burning to the end. God help the church and believers, to not be a light that fades too early.

The nation perpetually supplied olive oil and wheat, even though Numbers 20 says that there was no wheat in the desert (no olive groves either). In Exodus 29: 35-41, we see that they used 14 liters of flour and 7 liters of oil per week. Either they found wild sources or they traded for it.

The oil was used to keep the candlestick burning, perpetually. The wheat was for the table of shewbread. Given its scarcity I see it as symbolic of God's sustaining grace. It was not miraculous, but provided by and through a people whom God sustained.

Intimacy is the thermometer of a marriage as it reveals all the time and stress variables needed to make intimacy possible, just as the volumes of flour and oil revealed the much bigger processes that made that possible. In other words it revealed the heart-beat and health of the nation.

Nations have memorials to their unknown soldiers, which are always centered around a perpetual flame. When I got stuck in the circle around the Arc de Triumph, I wondered if their flame wasn't to the unknown tourists who died trying to get out of there. 

It speaks of the light that is instilled in us by the abiding presence of God’s Holy Spirit, which was always symbolized by olive oil and fire. However, whilst the Holy Spirit is the fuel, we "supply" or facilitate His flow, while the flame is the elusive Savior that He reveals to us.  

The bread of His presence (Chapter 24)

The Shewbread remains somewhat of a mystery to commentators.

There is no evidence that the bread was unleavened. It was likely raised bread. In that context the fermentation alluded to the change wrought by the spirit of God. It confirms the earlier points of hearts being able to ensure enough for God - a heart change.

Today, a struggling church and a struggling congregation may well be as much a sign of hearts that are not in a right place with God. A giving church is always blessed. 

We have to turn to the New Testament to get insights into what was called “Lechem” or bread as in Bethlehem (House of Bread), rather than Matzah, meaning unleavened.

Clearly Jesus is the bread of life, but they laid out a cake for each tribe. A special recipe kept it going for a week.

That implies Jesus in community.  1 Cor 10 adds, “we are all one bread because we partook of the one bread”. That confirms the idea of one cake per tribe.

The bread of fellowship or communion sustains the New Testament community of saints. And to my earlier point, the implied self-examination reveals our state of spiritual health.

Other regulations

What followed from there was the broad principle of eye for eye, tooth for tooth. It is misunderstood as retribution. That is a wrong interpretation of God’s intent. He merely set the price of a life, as life itself. It could not be valued in time (jail) or money (compensation), only in life itself.

The Sabbath years (Chapter 25)

The land had to remain fallow in every seventh year. Today we use rotational farming, a practical interpretation of the principle. Letting all land rest, completely, rejuvenates it. The 70 years of exile, directly related to their failure to keep the Sabbath years.

In addition to the regular Sabbath years, every seventh cycle of seven years was celebrated as a Jubilee year. In the 50th year, debts were cancelled, property returned and slaves redeemed. It was a precious reset moment for the nation - a time of national renewal.

God provided bumper harvests to facilitate the cessation of harvesting or work in the Jubilee year.

It included redemption of property, slaves, and more subtle losses, mistakes and regrets, the way that God will redeem your years: to crown them with His loving-kindness.

Blessings and curses (Chapter 26)

This is examined in Deuteronomy 28, but in this section as a simple contrast. If they kept His commandments, their harvests would be abundant, their vineyards would reach vintage, the rains would fall and they would prevail against their enemies.

If they didn’t, they would face all kinds of consequences, the reverse of all of the blessings.

God foresaw a future exile, but assured them that He would never forsake them.

Vows to God and men (Chapter 27)

The last verse of Chapter 26, seems to conclude the book, but there is as an appendix.

It deals with freewill offerings or vows to God and to their fellow men, of property, animals and wealth, even children to service in the tabernacle. It was binding unto death, as in for life, so that they would not take such oaths and vows lightly, as Jesus also cautioned.

However, such vows could be redeemed at a price of 1/5^th its value. The price of redemption is laid out but could be adjusted by the priests for poorer souls.

The principles of redemption are explored in Chapter 25 and are rooted in the idea that "the land is God's". That is right in our contemporary order and it was applied to Egypt by Joseph.

It brings perspective to tithing, which is not about bringing a bit back or a deposit on a future blessings, but is more about a present-continuous contribution to the kingdom, for the lives we have on loan from God. It is our reasonable service. 

Once vowed, property was sold and its proceeds then reverted to the tabernacle. Similarly any beast offered as a vow to God, had to be sacrificed and not be misused for some other purpose. It is a noble principle of using vowed things as originally intended.

The right to sell off land was restricted to ensure that all land remained within families and thus within the nation, without being taken up by aliens.

Tithes were also prescribed as a kind of rent paid to God for the usage of land, the way we do in tribute of the lives He loans to us, which are not our own but for His glory.

It too is a precious and ancient principle, that makes us all subjects of God. That is what Joseph did in Egypt to ensure a single nation under one head (just in case anyone thinks this is unrealistic and religious excess), and it is similarly prescribed for Israel.

Conclusion

That concludes a fascinating study into the only book personally dictated by God, in His own words. It is remarkable for many reasons, but notably because it is the recorded word of God.

(c) Peter Missing @ bethelstone.com