To our modern way of thinking, many of God’s commands seem
counter-productive. For example,
allowing the land to rest every seventh year seems like it is a waste of time
and money. Let’s look more closely at
the command in Exodus 23:10-11. “And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and
shalt gather in the fruits thereof: But the seventh year thou shalt let it rest
and lie still; that the poor of thy people may eat: and what they leave the
beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy
vineyard, and with thy oliveyard.” Each time we grow the same crop on piece of
land, we deplete certain nutrients that crop needs. Most crops take their nutrients from the top
few inches of soil, making it unproductive in a little while.
Many weeds require different minerals, making them able to
survive on the depleted soil, and
their roots tend to go far deeper. As
they grow, they bring up nutrients from deep in the soil and replace the
nutrients the crops needed, making the soil more fertile again. There will nearly always be some of the seed
from the crops that grows voluntarily, and those plants were to be left for
those who had no land of their own or for the wild animals. There are areas where this method has been
followed for thousands of years and the land is still fertile and productive,
and the ecosystem has been protected as well.
Experiments have shown that little or no fertilizer is required and that
the soil tends to become better in the process.
God promised that if they would follow this procedure, he would cause
the crop the sixth year to be enough to feed them until another crop was
produced, in Leviticus 25:21-22. “Then I will command my blessing upon you in
the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years. And ye shall sow the eighth year, and eat yet
of old fruit until the ninth year; until her fruits come in ye shall eat of the
old store.” If they simply trusted
God, he promised they would not lose financially, but would have and entire
year’s vacation, and there would be no pressure to provide for the poor.
In a similar manner, they were to take the seventh day as a
day of rest, as Exodus 23:12 commands. “Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the
seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son
of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.” Numerous studies have demonstrated that
people and animals are most productive when they have regular breaks from
work. When people get greedy, demanding
people work seven days a week, their workers become increasingly
unproductive.
God repeatedly forbade worship of other gods. At the same time he instructed people not
disrespect other people by making fun of their gods. Exodus 23:12 describes the best way to
prevent doing either thing. “And in all things that I have said unto you
be circumspect: and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it
be heard out of thy mouth.” By just
not mentioning them we take no chance of insulting those who worship them, nor
do we imply any approval of them. If we
wish to reach others, it is far more effective to allow them to see Christ in
us than to run down their beliefs.
God designated three specific feasts for Israel to
celebrate, as Exodus 23:14-17 tells us. “Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me
in the year. Thou shalt keep the feast
of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I
commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest
out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:) And the feast of
harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and
the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast
gathered in thy labours out of the field. Three times in the year all thy males shall
appear before the Lord GOD.”
Each of these feasts was a celebration of what God had done
for them. Passover and the Feast of
Unleavened Bread was a reminder of What God had done in delivering them from
Egypt. The Feast of Harvest, better
known as the Feast of First Fruits was a way of thanking God for making their
crops to grow, giving them something to harvest, while the Feast of ingathering
came at the end of the harvest when they could celebrate how much he had
provided.
Even their worship of God was to be performed in a manner
that placed the emphasis on god rather than what they were doing, as Exodus
23:18-19 instructs. “Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread;
neither shall the fat of my sacrifice remain until the morning. The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou
shalt bring into the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in
his mother's milk.” They were to
follow the rules God had made, not trying to improve on it by making better
tasting bread, by buying nicer fruit than what they had grown, or using milk instead
of water to cook the meat. He wanted
exactly the way he made it so that the glory went to him rather than the chef
of priest who prepared the sacrifices.
It is the same principle as was described in Exodus 20:25. “And if
thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for
if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.”
No comments:
Post a Comment