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Deuteronomy Chapter 15 "Sabbatical Year [1-18]." This
Bible Study is written by Roger Christopherson, and it's
transcription/ location Deuteronomy 15:1 "At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release." This is a continuation of the chapter fourteen. In the prior chapter there were two three year periods, which made it six years of service. Then during this seven year period when you brought your produce to God, this event took place during the feast of tabernacles. Then within this there would be a "release". This "release" in the Hebrew text is "Shemittah, shem-it-ah; a remission of debt, suspension of labor-release." [# 8059 in the Strong's Hebrew dictionary] Deuteronomy 15:2 "And this is the manner of the release: Every creditor that lendeth ought unto his neighbour shall release it; he shall not exact it of his neighbour, or of his brother; because it is called the Lord's release." There is a lot of controversy with this verse and the next two or three that follow, as to whether or not this release meant any action could be taken against the borrower. Some say that this is not in reference to the freeing of the obligation, but of a time of collection of that obligation. Then in the first year of the next first three year cycle that burden would be placed back upon you. So we see that there are different schools of thought, and of course, it all depends on the man's heart as to whether he follows the spirit of the law, or sets out to draw the very last cent or minute out of the debtor. If we apply this to the New Testament, we would have to liken it to our Lord and Savior, and his three year reign here on earth, of His ministry. This then would have fallen on the year of release, that being when He died on the cross and shed His blood for you, which would have taken the place of all these sacrificial offerings to God. At the end of that three and one half years, Our Father released us to choose for ourselves whether we desired to be released of not. The debt that we owe is to our Father for our sins. When we choose to be set free, that debt is stamped "paid in full", and we are free. This is the greatest gift that was ever given to man. However, many desire to remain in the household of bondage to the law, and God will allow you to that also, at your own choosing. However, these verses dealing with the freeing of a person from their debt does not apply now, for we are under a civil law, and its statutes that binds you to a contract for the life of a contract. Very few people have the money to pay for a house in cash, and most contract for mortgage loans for houses run over this periods of time and up to thirty years. They will remain in bondage to that loan over a third of their lifetime, and civil law allows for this in matters dealing with major purchases that are necessary to our lives. We as Christians are expected to abide by these laws, and when the debt can't be paid, than the courts step in. Most loans of today are by commercial companies, and I assure you that there are no sabbatical years to their contracts. You will pay on the note exactly as written, or you will pay the penalty under the written contract. There is no usury fixed to this verse, it simply means that you had to pay back to your neighbor or relative what you had borrowed from him, or something of equal value. Today, when we borrow we also pay back the usury that goes right along with it. This is why God tells us to stay out of usury. Deuteronomy 15:3 "Of a foreigner thou mayest exact it again: but that which is thine with thy brother thine hand shall release;" This verse is why I feel that any loan must be paid back, even if it is after the sabbatical year of release from payment. The foreigner is one that is not of you, nor will he remain in your community. Moses is saying that if one of these foreigners come into your community and borrows from you, press him for the return of the payment. Why? There will be no sabbatical to him, for he will be long gone. If it is your brother or relative that borrows, than you must respect the release for the sabbatical year. Deuteronomy 15:4 "Save when there shall be no poor among you; for the Lord shall greatly bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it:" If you were a farmer and you borrowed to purchase cattle, and those cattle were with you for one extra year of release, those cattle would calf, than you would have an increase. Than the next year you would have the pay back, and you would be left with the calves, and by this blessing of God, this would put the poor back on their financial feet. It would help to eliminate the poor from amongst you. The sabbatical year of grace from your depts., and the usury that is collected, should give you a year to build your inheritance with wealth, and take you off from the roles of the poor. To relate this to our present day in business, if a person could go into business, and borrow what ever money that was necessary. Then for one year that business was free from paying that debt back nor be faced with the interest on that capital or loan for that year, there would be very few business that would go under. This is why the sabbatical year was set up, to give all the people the right to an inheritance, to have wealth to pass on to their sons and their son's sons. God has a wonderful plan, if it would be followed. In that plan He separates the neighbors from the foreigners, and the brother from the rest of the kin. A "brother" is one that is born into the lineage of the seed of Israel, while the "neighbor" is one that has spiritually joined with Israel. However the "foreigner" is one that does not accept Christ, or in Old Testament times, an outsider that did not accept God's laws and follow those ways in his life. Deuteronomy 15:5 "Only if thou carefully hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all these commandments which I command thee this day." God expects you not only to listen and study these instructions that God has given us, but that we follow them and apply them in our lives. Deuteronomy 15:6 "For the Lord thy God blesseth thee, as He promised thee: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shalt not borrow; and thou shalt reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over thee." You can always count on God's promises for He never goes back on His Word. God is talking here to the nation "Israel". This is talking about Israel, the tribes that would carry the blessing promises of Abraham. Leave the house of Judah out of this for a moment, for Judah [Jews, along with the Kenites mixed in with them] will always remain as one people or nation. These tribes of the "house of Israel" were scattered by the Assyrians about 745 to 722 B.C. and they migrated through the Caucasus mountains to many areas of the world, and became knows as the Caucasian peoples. Our nation is one of those nations, as is England, France, and so on. Our nations have lended money to may nations in the world through the years, However God's instruction to us is that we are not to borrow from other nation, or become beholding to them through debt. God will bless us as long as we follow His lead. This is why it is critical to our nation that we get out of debt, and stay debt free to heathen nations. God knew that our nation would become a superpower, and He knew of our wealth far before the first pilgrims arrived on our shores. Remember these instruction from Moses are to be passed on to a thousand generations, and we have only arrived at about two hundred and fifty generation from Moses to our present time. We are part of that nation that was known as the "house of Israel", and this is written to our nation. We are a blessed nation and at a point of danger morally, even at this moment, and if abominations are forced upon the people, God could withdraw those blessings that we have. Our constitution is taken from the Word of God by our great leaders, and today many of those freedoms are under danger of being removed by very evil people. They would try to remove us from God's laws, statutes and Commandments. Our people had better wake up to what is going on around us. Deuteronomy 15:7 "If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethern within any of thy gates in thy land which the Lord thy God giveth thee thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother:" This is directed to the poor man that is one of your brethren, not a foreigner that is in your midst. We are talking about Christian nations, and our people within those nations. They are our brother "Israel". Again we are not talking about the "house of Judah", and the Jews which represent only one tribe out of thirteen. The Jews are a very small part of Israel, and had a very little part to the blessings that were passed on to Joseph's two sons. Judah was given the right to rule and enforce the law. But this is written to all the tribes of Israel. Genesis 49:10 "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be." The coming of Shiloh is at the seventh trumpet, and that is when the gathering of the people will be. Judah and the offspring of Judah will not be gathered until the coming of Shiloh, or Jesus Christ. Judah has been given the right to reign, over Israel, and it was Ephraim and Manasseh that was given the blessings, and become the nations that Judah will carry the scepter over. We know that Queen Elizabeth II can trace her linage all the way back to David, and to Judah, and this is why it is so important for all the Royals of the Christian nations to trace their lineage to Judah. God gave Judah the right to rule and make the laws. They will also answer to God for the way that they govern God's people. So this is addressing our giving to those of our own kind that are of our own family, and fulfilling his need. This could apply to one man giving to another, or one brother nation of Israel to another, such as the United States to Canada, England, or France which are other Christian nations of the house of Israel. Deuteronomy 15:8 "But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth." When God blesses you and your brother comes to you in need, we are to open our hand wide to him. We are to give more than just a handout, but give what is necessary to fill the need that is pressing to him. If you are not a Christian, than this does not apply to you. It requires God's blessings to make it all work. When you give, than God replaces what you have given with a gain. Deuteronomy 15:9 "Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, `the seventh year, the year of release, is at hand;' and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry unto the Lord against thee, and it be sin unto thee." The word "thought" in the Hebrew text is "a worthless thought expressed". This verse is directed to the giving from one person to his poor brother. What this is saying is that if your poor brother comes to you on the sixth year. You know that the next year is the sabbatical and he will not have to pay back in the sabbatical year, and you withhold from him because of the closeness of the sabbatical year, than it is a sin on your part. This goes both ways, for if the poor brother has just taken bankruptcy and the sabbatical year is approaching. Then he runs to his brother for a loan, knowing full well that he will not have to pay back on the next year. If that poor brother planned to go bankrupt and hit his brother for the loan without paying back, it is just as much a sin to the poor brother. God is telling you that no matter which side of the contract you are on, the lender or the borrower, God will still bless you if you fulfill your part of this law. You will not see a decrease in your blessings from God anyway. The whole process of giving has to be done God's way for God to bless both the lender and the borrower. Deuteronomy 15:10 "Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because that for this thing the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto." When you give to your brother to fill His needs, with a pure heart and mind, God is promising you that He will bless you for it. That is a promise that you as a Christian can count on. When you care for others and are willing to give to take care of their needs, than God will see to it that your needs will also be taken care of. God is promising that not only will this item of giving turn out to your favor, but everything else that you touch will turn out to your favor also. Has it ever happened to you that it seemed that nothing could go wrong for you? That what ever happened the outcome was always to your favor? That is how God blesses those that do things His way. Deuteronomy 15:11 "For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, `Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.' " The full thought from the manuscripts is not brought out here in the King James, so lets look at it more closely. The point that is not brought out here in the English is that God said: "because I punish some, I chastise them by causing their wealth to flee from them when they are disobedient to Me." These poor shall always be in the land, and there will always be a poor brother in need. Remember what the prophet Haggai wrote of this? Haggai 1:5 "Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways." Haggai 1:6 "Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enought; ye dirnk, and be are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wage to put it into a bag with holes." When you do not follow God's ways and instructions, God has a way of taking your wages earned and letting it slip right through your fingers. As fast as you can put it into your money bag, another problem comes up to let it be taken from you. The water heater goes out, the car breaks down, the food prices go up, and the insurance comes due. No matter what you earn there seems to be an immediate need for that money. However when you are within God's plan or Word, the car holds up and all the bills seem to be much smaller than what you thought, and there is money left over to take the lady of the house out for a meal, and see some of the pleasures in life. So this is why the manuscripts state that you will always have the poor. Jesus even stated this in Mark 14:7 in remarking about the woman that anointed God with the ointment of spikenard. Mark 14:6 "And Jesus said, "Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on Me." Mark 14:7 "For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but Me ye have not always." Even though these poor are with you, you are not to write them off but we are to help them. We are to help our brethren when those times get a rough. Deuteronomy 15:12 "And if thy brother, an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee, and serve thee six years; then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee." "An Hebrew man" is in reference to any person that is from any of the tribes of Israel. This is applied to all the Christian nations that are of tribes of Israel, including the Jews or Judah. It was not unusual that because of a persons debt, that a Israelite would have to sell a child, or even themselves into bondage to settle the debt to another person. Sometimes for the sake of a entire family, the entire family would be taken into bondage for their own well being. However, in that "the seventh year" is mentioned here, it is not applied to the sabbatical year, but to the seven full years of service to that owner. By serving seven years in bondage, the debt would be paid in full. The "year of release" does not apply here, and the full seven years must be satisfied. Deuteronomy 15:13 "And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty:" When this person has been a faithful servant to you for seven years, when you release this person back into the public life for his or her freedom, you are required to give that person provision to start a new life. Deuteronomy 15:14 "Thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out of thy winepress: of that wherewith the Lord thy God hath blessed thee thou shalt give unto him." After that person has given themselves to creating your wealth for you, you are in turn to give a portion to that bond servant as God has blessed you. In a sense what you give to them is tied to how he worked for you and allow your wealth to grow. If he was lazy and refuse to work, than there would be very little gain from their work, and their pension fund would be very little. If you don't do your business God's Way, you will not succeed, but by doing it God's way brings success. Deuteronomy 15:15 "And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the Lord thy God redeemed thee: therefore I command thee this thing to day." The reason for the release of the bond servant after he or she has fulfilled their commitment, is the same reason that God freed the Israelites while they were in Egypt. All of our forefathers were bondsmen down in Egypt, but with the help of our kinsman Redeemer, we became free from those bonds. God redeemed us at the "Passover", and the Pharaoh allow the Israelites to walk as free men out of Egypt. the Passover was when the death angel came upon Egypt and killed the firstborn of each family from the poorest in Egypt, to the household of the Pharaoh. Those with the blood of the lamb on the door post of their home were passed over by the death angel. To us living in this generation, Christ became our "Passover", and allowed us to walk as free men. Jesus Christ became our Passover for one and all times. When the Israelites, or forefathers walked out of Egypt, they took the wealth of Egypt with them, the gold and silver, and the cattle and sheep to provide for their new start. What happened once, happens again and again, over and over for there is nothing new under the sun. Deuteronomy 15:16 "And it shall be, if he say unto thee, `I will not go away from thee;' because he loveth thee and thine house, because he is well with thee:" If this person has been with you for the past seven years and he has become a member of the family, and he enjoys doing those things to provide for the family, and it became time to go and be free, however that person does not want to go. Deuteronomy 15:17 "Then thou shalt take an aul, and thrust it through his ear unto the door, and he shalt be thy servant for ever. And also unto thy maidservant thou shalt do likewise." This is given also in Exodus 21:5, 6. "And if the servant shall plainly say, 'I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free:' " "Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him for ever." The judge at this time was a religious court of law. This act would make this the same order of commitment as a marriage between a man and his wife. Whereby one is committed to the well being of the other. When one man committed himself to his owner, it was like when we commit ourselves to the company that we work for today that provides all our livelihood. That company provides for the wages, the health programs and sees to the safety to the workers. This is to show that someone is not forcing this man to stay with the owner, but because of the goodness and provision of the owner to the man and his family, he wants to stay with that company or owner all his working life. This is a commitment that is contractual before God and the courts of men, and is common today. The judge would hear the commitment made before to God. He or she would witness the boring of the aul on the man or woman's ear, which was to show people of his commitment to the owner. Most of this was symbolic, and whether the boring took place or not, the commitment was so that the people knew that physical binding was there. Remember that even a needle was an aul, and a hole in the ear provided an ear ring to be warn in the ear. It showed that a little blood of the servant was shed in the commitment. However, you don't need to shed blood to keep an commitment to your boss or company. The door post is symbolic of your home, and that is why we are to anoint the door post when someone within our family is ill. By doing this, they made themselves a permanent part of the family of that household, and this showed that they were no longer staying as slaves, but as members of that household. In this way they share in it's riches, and eat the food of the blessings of that household. This commitment today would be similar to the commit that a missionary or pastor gives to his church, that he will do what is necessary to teach, preach and provide the necessary services that the spiritual household needs. In return to that commitment, the church or body of believers commit themselves to him and his family to maintain that person, and to his family in all their needs. However, it is a commitment that binds him forever and he will be in the service of the King Jesus Christ, and the household of the Father. So we see that what Moses is talking about is a type of what we are to commit ourselves to today. Deuteronomy 15:18 "It shall not seem hard unto thee, when thou sendest him away free from thee; for he hath been worth a double hired servant to thee, in serving thee six years: and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all that thou doest." Again we have to go back to the Hebrew text to get the meaning of this. What this is saying is that once this servant has forgone His right to leave your household and he has made the commitment to you, his worth becomes more than double the value. When you bring in a day servant, one that is brought in from the outside to do labor. When you hire a man and the hours of his labor are finish, he is out the door, and even the thought of you is gone. This man that stayed with you will be with you day and night, and all those things that bother you, bother him as sell. The things that are of value to you are of value to him, and if you are blessed by God, so is he. He becomes in part of your household, your servant and a servant that will stay within your household, and he is to be elevated within the household. You are going to get in twice the time as the day worker gives, and you can be generous with him and his family that depends on you. You give more to him because he has earned it. It is like being a Christian. You don't serve Christ eight hours and go home, but you serve Christ every moment of your life. Every thought is directed to His service, and when you speak of Christ it is the words and a commitment of love. Because of the commitment and love that you give to Him, you can expect to receive God's blessings to be coming your way, for all that He has is part of yours in kind, for you are a part of God's household. Deuteronomy 15:19 "All the firstling males that come of thy herd and of thy flock thou shalt sanctify unto the Lord thy God: thou shalt do no work with the firstling of thy bullock, nor shear the firstling of thy sheep." This gets back to the tithe. The firstling of your herds and flocks is the tithe and belong to the Father. You are going to give it to the service God, and in our generation it means to the spreading of the gospel of Christ. What ever gain that animal has, is not for you, but for God's service. Deuteronomy 15:20 "Thou shalt eat it before the Lord thy God year by year in the place which the Lord shall choose, thou and thy household." This is to show us the need for obedience as to how we respect and treat the first fruits or your income and wages. Today the purpose of our tithe is to promote the great commission, the sending of the gospel to others. We are to be very careful to where we send our tithe, and to what it will be used for. Is it going to a work to promote the gospel of Christ, and teaching other as they should be taught, or is it going into the pockets of a hireling and beggar in priest's robes. God wants you to pay attention to where and what is done with your tithe money. Your not to use your tithe to advance something for yourself, your business, or any other motive, but for the service of our Father and His Word. This gets back into the word "corban". Mark 7:10 "For Moses said, 'Honor thy father and thy mother;' and, 'Whosoever curseth father or mother, let him die the death;" " Moses commanded us to honor our father and mother, and to take care of them when they can't take care of themselves. This order is in Exodus 20:12. The Kenite scribes and Pharisees that had taken over the priesthood and the duties of the scribes had changed this to meet with their traditions. Those traditions went against the Word of God and the law. The Kenite religious leaders held their traditions above the Word of God through the prophets. Mark 7:11 "But ye say, 'If a man shall say to his father or mother, 'It is Corban, (that is to say, a gift), by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me;' he shall be free'." Jesus is reminding these Kenites that they have twisted what Moses said, and their "Corban" is not what Moses taught. "Corban" is a gift that is given to the elders of a church. When "Corban" is given to an elder it is by freewill and there is no responsibility or requirement that it be given. So what Christ is saying here is that you take mom and pop's money, or that which should be set aside for their safe keeping, and you give it to the elders of the temple or church, and throw your mom and dad out on the street to shift for themselves. Jesus told these Kenite leaders that through your traditions you have voided the law of God, and you dedicate their land and all their money and goods to the church and let your parents starve. You say that it is okay that mom and dad starve, because I have given it all to the church. Your [the Kenite] traditions say God smiles on your "Corban", and because it went to the church, it makes it right. However Jesus is telling you here that it is not right in the eyes of God. "Corban" is the reasoning away of your actions of doing something that is wrong and trying to make it appear to be right, when it goes against what God's Word clearly states is wrong. For a pastor to bless any act of Corban goes against God's Word and is as much a sin as breaking any of the other laws listed in God's Word. The point here is that when something doesn't belong to you, than the personal gain is not yours or your to give away. When something belongs to God and you mishandle it, it is just like throwing your mom and dad out on the street to starve. That is Corban. Deuteronomy 15:21 "And if there be any blemish therein, as if it be lame, or blind, or have any ill blemish, thou shalt not sacrifice it unto the Lord thy God." This applies directly to Christ who was perfect and to our tithe today, it is telling us not to give God our leftovers, or seconds. Deuteronomy 15:22 "Thou shalt not eat it within thy gates: the unclean and the clean person shall eat it alike, as the roebuck, and as the hart." Deuteronomy 15:23 "Only thou shalt not eat the blood thereof; thou shalt pour it upon the ground as water." This again gets to the bleeding of an animal before we eat the meat of it. So why would it say that both the clean and unclean alike could eat of this precious gift that was given to God. This goes into the Levitical priesthood which we will not cover here. However, for us living today in a time when we have the right to approach the throne of God directly by faith and in the name of Jesus, one is a type of the other. You have heard Christian's say that they just won't go around sinners [the unclean], for they are to good for them. God is telling us through this verse that the blood of Christ is just as important for the clean as for the unclean, and the only way that the unclean will hear the truth is for the clean to go to them and tell them of the love of God, and the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the way that the great commission works, my friend, you must go amongst the unsaved to give them the Word so that they will hear of God's love and believe. The sacrifice meal that the clean and unclean shared alike was to show the unclean the love of our Father, so that they would hear and believe. The "sacrifice meal" after the death of Christ is the great commission. Earlier we stated that great commission from the book of Mark, however lets go to the gospel of Matthew for another view of the great commission. Matthew 28:18 "And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, "All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth." Matthew 28:19 "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost [Spirit]:" Matthew 28:20 "Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." Amen." If you only went to the saved of this world, you would be serving Satan more than you would be serving God. Your works would die because you would not be pleasing to God. The good Christian will expose his gospel to non-Christians, and allow themselves to be questioned by others, for that is the way that the unclean will learn of Christ and by faith come to Jesus.
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