God Provided Order [Leviicus 27]

18'If he consecrates his field after the jubilee, however, then the priest shall calculate the price for him proportionate to the years that are left until the year of jubilee; and it shall be deducted from your valuation.

 19'If the one who consecrates it should ever wish to redeem the field, then he shall add one-fifth of your valuation price to it, so that it may pass to him.

 20'Yet if he will not redeem the field, but has sold the field to another man, it may no longer be redeemed;

 21and when it reverts in the jubilee, the field shall be holy to the LORD, like a field set apart; it shall be for the priest as his property.


 

This chapter is one that it is easy to sleep through as you try to wade through all of the information that makes little sense to us today.  However, to the Jews, it was a handbook for creating an orderly society. Natural man without God tends to live in a more chaotic way focused solely on self interest. Through the law and all of these governing rules, God provided a structure for a God centered society that had order and proper dealings between people in that community. In that way, the Jewish society lived in stark contrast to all of the other people groups surrounding them.

God is a God of order and peace (in addition to so many other things!). And because of His guidance and law, His people have learned an orderly and peaceful way of living that defies natural man who doesn't embrace His ways. So the next time you are tempted to sleep through or skip over these seemingly endless rules and regulations, consider how precious they were and how living by them made so much difference to God's people through the ages.


 

We praise you, God, that you knew that  Your people needed to be given structure to live in peace with You and with one another. Thank you for providing all of the necessary instructions in your Word. Cause us to appreciate the order and peace You provide to us and to embrace You and Your ways by Your abundant grace.


 



 

Beth Warlick, 7/5/2010