fruitfulness

The Fruitfulness of Faith

/ kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. – Galatians 5:16-26 ESV

Not only are we free to love others, but we are free to live under the power and influence of the Holy Spirit. But if we’re not careful, we are also free to live according to the desires of our own sinful flesh — our sin nature. It’s a choice. I can choose to let the Holy Spirit guide and direct my life, or I can give in to the constant cravings of my sinful nature. It’s not only a choice, but it’s also a daily battle. Paul puts the contentious nature of these two options on full display when he writes, “These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions” (Galatians 5:17b NLT).

The Holy Spirit directs us one way, while our sin nature prompts us to take an opposite and radically dangerous path. Allowing ourselves to get enslaved to the law only feeds our sin nature. Paul pointed out his own personal experience with this reality in Romans Chapter 7.

…it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet.” But sin used this command to arouse all kinds of covetous desires within me! – Romans 7:7-8 NLT).

Paul asserts that the law tells us what we should not do, and then our sinful natures respond by tempting us to do those very things. It’s like telling a young child not to touch a hot stove; that “law” becomes the one thing they want to do. Their sin nature creates a desire for the very thing that has been denied or placed out of bounds.

Like Eve in the garden, we can’t seem to stay away from the one thing God has told us is off limits. When you attempt to live according to laws, decrees, rules, and standards, your sin nature will always resist, tempting you to break those rules or justify your decision to ignore them. When you try to keep God’s commands in your own strength, you will fail. But when you live empowered and guided by His Spirit, you will have all the strength you need and the motivation to do what needs to be done. The apostle Peter explains the life-transforming power that God has made available to every believer.

By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires. – 2 Peter 1:3-5 NLT

But again, we have a choice to make. We can choose to follow the desires of our sinful nature or rely on the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. They both produce unavoidable outcomes that stand in stark contrast to one another, and Paul provides a comprehensive list for both. Relying on our sin nature produces “sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these” (Galatians 5:19-21 NLT).

Notice the diverse nature of his list. He includes sexual immorality alongside jealousy. Drunkenness makes the list right there beside envy. All of these things, from the dramatic to the seemingly inconsequential, have one thing in common: they are focused on the self. They are self-centered and driven by selfish desires. This list contains destructive behaviors that are anything but conducive to community and selfless servanthood.

Attempting to live your life according to some set of standards or rules will feed your sin nature and produce an unhealthy and destructive list of “fruits.” You’ll end up comparing yourself with others. You’ll compete and attempt to outdo others in rule-keeping. You’ll justify your own insufficiencies and expose those of others. All of this will lead to division, dissension, quarreling, jealousy, anger, and more.

When we try to produce the fruit of the Spirit on our own, we end up with results that look nothing like what we were aiming for. Rather than producing love that is focused on others, we end up loving ourselves. In place of joy, we find ourselves displaying discontentment and dissatisfaction. Instead of producing patience, we become irritable, judgmental, and angry. Kindness gets replaced with pettiness and an overwhelming need to find fault in others so that we can feel better about ourselves. Goodness gets trumped by selfishness. Faithfulness manifests itself as unreliability and an unattractive penchant for self-promotion. Gentleness becomes harshness. And self-control goes out the window, as love of self takes over our lives, turning our attention inward rather than outward.

Only the Spirit of God can produce the fruit God is interested in; they cannot be self-produced. We are incapable of manufacturing any of them on our own. When we try, we only end up with cheap imitations that are like those knock-off perfumes you can buy at the local drug store. They may cost less, but they are nothing like the real thing. Paul encourages us to live by the Spirit, according to His power and not our own. Rather than living enslaved to the desires of our old sinful nature, we are free to live in the Spirit’s power, allowing Him to produce in and through us what we could never have done on our own.

The Spirit supernaturally produces in us what we could never have produced naturally. Just as with our salvation, this is the work of God, not our own self-effort. It is no longer about trying to live up to some set of standards, rules, or laws. It is not about trying to behave in such a way that somehow makes God happy and satisfied with us. There is no longer any need to compare ourselves with others or measure our righteousness based on some arbitrary standard that makes us look good.

Paul is emphasizing the fact that we must learn to recognize that our righteousness is the work of God from beginning to end. It is the fruit of His Spirit and not our flesh. It is made possible by the work of Christ, not anything we do or don’t do. That is why Paul so emphatically states, “Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives” (Galatians 5:25 NLT).

Let’s live in His power and operate according to His agenda. Let’s seek His will, not our own. Let’s watch Him produce His fruit in us, rather than trying to produce it on our own. Paul encouraged the believers in Rome to place their hope for true life change in the power of the indwelling Spirit of God.

So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. – Romans 8:1-2 NLT

We are free to live in the power of the Spirit and to bear the fruit of the Spirit — for the good of others and not ourselves.

Father, I want to live increasingly in the power of Your Spirit. I want to say no to my sin nature and yes to Your Spirit’s leading. I desire to see His fruit produced in and through me. My attempts at fruitfulness always fall short and never produce what You’re looking for. My sin nature tends to make everything about ME. But I want to live for You. Continue to patiently show me how to live in Your power, according to Your will, and expressing Your love for others through my life. Amen.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Choose Your Way Wisely

/ kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

1 Blessed is the man
    who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
    nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and on his law he meditates day and night.

3 He is like a tree
    planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
    and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
4 The wicked are not so,
    but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
    nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
6 for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked will perish. – Psalm 1:1-6 ESV

The Psalms are a collection of lyrical poems intended to be accompanied by stringed instruments when read. Written over a period of 1,000 years by a variety of different authors, the Psalms reflect Israel’s rich history and provide a backdrop to their relationship with God. The Psalms come in a range of styles, from laments to hymns of praise. Some are songs of thanksgiving, offering gratitude to God for His protection and provision. Others are “songs of ascent” to be sung by faithful Israelites as they made their way to Jerusalem for one of the three annual festivals prescribed in the Law of Moses. There are also psalms of wisdom, victory psalms, royal psalms praising Israel’s Messiah, and songs of Zion

The authors include well-known characters such as Moses, David, and Solomon, as well as lesser-known individuals like Asaph, Heman, and Ethan. In the Hebrew Bible, this book is called Tehillim, which means “praise songs.” When the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek (Septuagint), the translators used the Greek word psalmos, which means “song sung to a harp. The English title of the Book of Psalms comes from the Greek title Psalmoi.

This first of the 150 Psalms is a mere six verses long but serves as a powerful preface for the rest of the book. The author’s name is unknown, but many have speculated that it may be one of the 70-plus Psalms penned by King David. Regardless of who wrote the Psalm, its content is simple and straightforward, providing a stark contrast between the way of the righteous and that of the wicked. The former delights in the law of the LORD, while the latter faces judgment from God for their godless behavior.

The blessed man is the one who refuses to emulate the ways of the wicked, choosing instead to focus his attention on pleasing God by faithfully meditating on and adhering to His law. The imagery contained in this Psalm is important because it portrays the godly life as a journey. Verse one states, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked…” (Psalm 1:1 ESV). The Hebrew word for “walk” is hālaḵ which means “to go.” It can be used literally or figuratively to convey the idea of motion or progress. A blessed man does not conduct his life based on ungodly counsel or advice. His actions are not influenced by input from the wicked. Verse 1 describes three kinds of potentially distractive and destructive characters. The first is the wicked (rāšāʿ). The second is sinners (ḥaṭṭā’).  Finally, there are the scornful (lûṣ). Each word is designed to provide a different shade of color or hue intended to paint the least-attractive portrait of the prevailing cultural norm. The wicked are the godless masses who operate according to secular philosophies and humanistic values. Their worldview is man-centered and focused on standards of morality that promote personal pleasure over sacrifice and compromise and convenience over conviction and commitment. These individuals live their lives in an atmosphere of self-deluded autonomy and personal preference.

The term “sinners” was often used of criminals or lawbreakers. These were the kind of people who violated the commands of God either knowingly or unintentionally. Their lifestyle was marked by godless behavior that stood in direct opposition to His rules for righteous conduct. A blessed man refuses to associate with such people. To stand among them is to make a conscious decision to consider their godless behavior as not only acceptable but worthy of imitation.

The scornful refers to the arrogant and prideful who refuse to view their behavior through the lens of God’s righteousness. Rather than exhibiting shame for their actions, they mock their detractors and boast about their spiritual superiority.

The author seems to be addressing the issue of guilt by association. Godly people choose to surround themselves with people who share their values and encourage God-honoring behavior. It is no small matter that the author emphasizes “delight in the law of the LORD” (Psalm 1:2 NLT). This isn’t about rule-keeping or forcing oneself to obey a set of onerous and unpleasant regulations. It’s about delight (ḥēp̄eṣ) – a pleasurable and pleasing determination to do what God prefers rather than obeying the desires of the flesh.

Godly people choose to be godly because they know it results in blessedness. It is preferable because it is profitable. It not only brings joy to God, but it results in blessings on all those who choose to live in obedience to His will. The psalmist described the benefits of such a life.

They are like trees planted along the riverbank,
    bearing fruit each season.
Their leaves never wither,
    and they prosper in all they do. – Psalm 1:3 NLT

The prophet Jeremiah picked up on this idea.

“But blessed are those who trust in the Lord
    and have made the Lord their hope and confidence.
They are like trees planted along a riverbank,
    with roots that reach deep into the water.
Such trees are not bothered by the heat
    or worried by long months of drought.
Their leaves stay green,
    and they never stop producing fruit.” – Jeremiah 17:7-8 NLT

The fruitfulness is not a reward for good behavior; it is the outcome of a of a deeply rooted, God-centered lifestyle. His emphasis is not on the actions done but on the fruit produced, which only God can make happen. Jesus taught this concept when He said, “I am the vine and you are the branches. The one who remains in Me, and I in him, will bear much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5 BSB). Fruitfulness is the byproduct of faithfulness, not hard work.

But the psalmist uses the wicked as a counterpoint. Their lifestyle produces nothing of lasting value. Their “fruit” is worthless and of no benefit to anyone. He compares them to “worthless chaff” (Psalm 1:4 NLT). Chaff was the part of the grain that was separated during the threshing process and discarded because of its non-nutritive value. The apostle Paul described these fruits as “the works of the flesh” and he goes on to describe them in graphic detail.

When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures,  idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. – Galatians 5:19-21 NLT

It’s not that the godless are fruitless, but that their fruit is devoid of quality and value. It is damaging rather than life-giving. It kills rather than fills. It tears down but can’t build up. The path of the godless is a lteral dead-end that results in judgment and condemnation.

They will be condemned at the time of judgment.
    Sinners will have no place among the godly. – Psalm 1:5 NLT

The Psalms could not have started in a more in-your-face, attention-getting manner. From the very beginning, this collection of worship songs established the stark contrast between two lifestyles that result in two distinctly different outcomes. The way of the wicked results in judgment and not just death, but eternal separation from God the Father and those who chose the path of righteousness.  The psalmist couldn’t have made the contrast any more vivid and threatening.

For the Lord watches over the path of the godly,
    but the path of the wicked leads to destruction. – Psalm 1:6 NLT

Those who choose the narrow path of righteousness will one day reap a reward; not for their behavior but for their faithfulness to trust God’s will and obey His Word. But those who choose the broader and more appealing path of personal gain and unbridled pleasure will find themselves headed to a dark and deadly destination.

There are only two paths to choose in this life. One leads to eternal life and the other to death and destruction. Once again, the apostle Paul preached the reality of this two-path choice that every person faces in this life.

For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ. They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth. But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control. – Philippians 3:18-21 NLT

But Paul was not alone in his assessment of the two paths. The apostle Peter concurred and painted a rather dark picture of those who claimed to be Christ followers but who were misleading the faithful with their pious-sounding lies and lives that produced death rather than life.

These false teachers are like unthinking animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed. They scoff at things they do not understand, and like animals, they will be destroyed. Their destruction is their reward for the harm they have done. They love to indulge in evil pleasures in broad daylight. They are a disgrace and a stain among you. They delight in deception even as they eat with you in your fellowship meals. They commit adultery with their eyes, and their desire for sin is never satisfied. They lure unstable people into sin, and they are well trained in greed. They live under God’s curse. They have wandered off the right road and followed the footsteps of Balaam son of Beor, who loved to earn money by doing wrong. – 2 Peter 2:12-15 NLT

The Proverbs speak to this matter of paths and choices, and warns that the decision one makes has eternal ramifications. So choose carefully and wisely.

The house of the wicked will be destroyed,
    but the tent of the godly will flourish.

There is a path before each person that seems right,
    but it ends in death. – Proverbs 14:11-12 NLT

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Abide In Me

/ kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. – John 15:1-5 ESV

8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.” – John 15:8-10 ESV

The context of this command is essential for understanding its meaning. Jesus and His disciples have departed the upper room where they shared the Passover meal together. He is resolute in His determination to keep His providentially preordained rendezvous with the cross and death prepared for Him by His Heavenly Father. But the 11 remaining disciples are still trying to get their heads around all that Jesus has revealed to them. Even as they make their way into the night, He continues to expand their understanding and prepare them for what lies ahead.

This passage is part of Jesus’ ongoing farewell discourse and provides one of the most powerful descriptions of what it means to experience eternal life with God through the Son. Jesus borrows from the familiar imagery of the vineyard to create an extended metaphor designed to convey the non-negotiable dependency His followers must have on Him. As a result of His death, burial, and resurrection, these men will no longer be independently minded followers; they will be totally reliant reflections of God’s glory as expressed through His Son.

Over three years, these men had expressed their allegiance to Jesus by choosing to follow Him and sacrifice all else on behalf of Him. They had given up their careers, left their families, exposed themselves to ridicule, gone hungry, suffered life-threatening storms at sea, traveled countless miles, and listened to more lessons than they could even remember. They were dedicated men who loved Jesus greatly. On several occasions, they had even expressed their willingness to lay down their lives for Him. But Jesus knew that the key to their continued faithfulness and fruitfulness would be through His death and resurrection. The very thing they feared the most would be the one thing that would transform their lives and transcend all their expectations of greatness and glory.

So much of what Jesus has taught His disciples has escaped them, and His continued discussions regarding His death frightened and frustrated them. They couldn’t understand why He had to die. They couldn’t bear the thought that He was going to leave them. But Jesus had told them that His death would prove to be life-giving and fruit-bearing.

“Now the time has come for the Son of Man to enter into his glory. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels—a plentiful harvest of new lives. Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity. Anyone who wants to serve me must follow me, because my servants must be where I am. And the Father will honor anyone who serves me.” – John 12:23-26 NLT

Extending this earlier discussion of death, life, and fruitfulness, Jesus declares, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser” (John 15:1 ESV). This will be the last of His “I am” statements and, with it, Jesus conveys to His disciples that everything is about to change, including their relationship with Him.

The imagery of the vine would have been very familiar to the disciples, not just because they lived in an agrarian culture where vines were ubiquitous, but because the vine was a symbol of Israel’s relationship with God. Every time they passed by the temple in Jerusalem, they would have seen the golden vines that adorned its walls. But according to the prophets, the nation of Israel, planted by God to produce abundant fruit, ended up producing wild grapes.

Let me sing for my beloved
    my love song concerning his vineyard:
My beloved had a vineyard
    on a very fertile hill.
He dug it and cleared it of stones,
    and planted it with choice vines;
he built a watchtower in the midst of it,
    and hewed out a wine vat in it;
and he looked for it to yield grapes,
    but it yielded wild grapes. – Isaiah 5:1-2 ESV

And Isaiah made it painfully clear that this lovingly cultivated vine that produced less-than-quality fruit represented the people of God.

For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts
    is the house of Israel,
and the men of Judah
    are his pleasant planting;
and he looked for justice,
    but behold, bloodshed;
for righteousness,
    but behold, an outcry! – Isaiah 5:7 ESV

Now, Jesus was declaring Himself to be the vine. In doing so, He let His disciples know that He had replaced Israel as the sole source of fruitfulness. He would be the fulfillment of all that Israel should have been. His life would yield abundant fruit and bring glory to God.

Israel had failed to remain faithful and refused to keep their preferred status as God’s chosen people, choosing instead to worship false gods. The prophet Jeremiah declared to them God’s displeasure.

“But I was the one who planted you,
    choosing a vine of the purest stock—the very best.
    How did you grow into this corrupt wild vine?” – Jeremiah 2:21 NLT

With this final “I am” statement, Jesus lets His disciples know that He is the true vine. He has been faithful and fully obedient to the will of God, the vinedresser. He had been “planted” by God with a purpose in mind: to bear much fruit. And by sacrificing His life, He would fulfill that purpose by producing a “plentiful harvest of new lives” (John 12:24 NLT).

The most amazing aspect of Jesus’ fruit-bearing ministry is the vital role His disciples would play. They would become the branches through which His life-giving, fruit-bearing ministry would flow. But it would require constant abiding on their part. The key to their role in producing fruit would be their ongoing dependence upon the vine.

The Greek word for “abide” is menō and it means “to remain, tarry, not to depart, to be held, kept, continually.”It is the same word the apostle John used in describing a true disciple’s relationship with Jesus.

Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. – 1 John 2:4-6 ESV

And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him. – 1 John 2:28-29 ESV

John associates abiding with actions. There is a symbiotic relationship between the vine and the branch characterized by closeness and interdependence. Notice his emphasis on walking as Jesus walked and practicing righteousness just as Jesus did. Abiding can sometimes be confused with resting. But while rest can be a byproduct of abiding, it is not the primary goal. A branch “rests” in the vine in that it relies on the vine to produce the grapes it bears. It doesn’t strain to be fruitful. It doesn’t grow weary in the process of bearing fruit.

Jesus extended an invitation to follow Him that promised rest for the weary but in the context of work.

“Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” – Matthew 11:28-30 NLT

He extends His invitation to those who are worn out from bearing the weight of trying to produce the fruit of righteousness on their own. They have exhausted themselves with their futile attempts to earn favor with God through self-effort. But notice that Jesus invites them into a shared work relationship characterized by the yoke. Jesus’ offer of salvation is not the promise of an extended vacation or a trouble-free life. The life of a disciple is characterized by effort and demonstrated by action. Jesus told His disciples to “go and make disciples” (Matthew 28:19 NLT). They had work to do and effort would be required. But He promised to be with them.

“And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” – Matthew 28:20 NLT

Jesus utilizes the imagery of the vine and the branch to convey this shared work relationship between Him and the disciple. The goal is fruitfulness. But fruitfulness cannot take place without fruit-bearing. In other words, the vine is dependent upon the branches to make the fruit possible. Abiding is the process by which the branch becomes productive and beneficial.

It is important to remember that Jesus is addressing the 11 disciples who have chosen to remain with Him. They are walking with Him as He makes His way across the Kidron Valley from the city of Jerusalem to the Garden of Gethsemane. These men represent all those who have placed their faith and hope in Jesus. But Jesus is revealing that the real key to their future fruitfulness and faithfulness will be the indwelling presence of the Spirit of God. As a result of His coming death, resurrection, and ascension, they will find themselves the recipients of the gift of the Holy Spirit. He will permanently attach them to the vine, allowing them to play a vital role in the fruit-bearing plans of God.

The emphasis in this passage is on fruitfulness, not fruitlessness. It is on the vinedresser’s purpose to reap a harvest of fruit through the vine and its branches. Jesus was not threatening His disciples with a loss of salvation. He was simply conveying that their future relationship with Him would be all about fruit-bearing. To not bear fruit would be illogical and unacceptable. The very fact that He describes God as the vinedresser who “prunes” the branches so they can bear even more fruit reinforces His point.

He calls His disciples to remain or abide in Him.

“Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.” – John 15:4 NLT

This had immediate application, as the disciples faced the uncertainty of the circumstances surrounding them. Jesus knew that the next few hours were going to be trying and He was calling them to remain faithful and to continue believing in who He was. In a sense, they were about to be pruned, as God cut away all their preconceived notions regarding the Messiah. In just a matter of hours, all their lofty hopes and aspirations that Jesus would establish His Kingdom on earth would be shattered. But Jesus pleads with them to remain.

From the other gospel accounts, we know that the disciples would end up deserting Jesus. When the authorities came to arrest Jesus, they fled into the night. But there is a sense in which they remained. They stayed nearby. They stayed together. They maintained a faint flicker of hope as they faced an unknown and uncertain future.

But Jesus was assuring them that their days of fruitfulness were not over. He would still use them to do great things. But the primary lesson they were going to learn from it all was their total reliance upon Jesus for all things. Without Him, they could do nothing. They could produce no fruit apart from Him, and their lives after His return to heaven would be marked by complete dependence upon Him.

Even today, the disciple’s life is one of waiting, working, resting, cooperating, and relying on the “Vine” to produce the fruit that the “Vinedresser” longs to see.

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

A Preview of Coming Attractions

/ kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land you are to inhabit, which I am giving you, 3 and you offer to the Lord from the herd or from the flock a food offering or a burnt offering or a sacrifice, to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering or at your appointed feasts, to make a pleasing aroma to the Lord, 4 then he who brings his offering shall offer to the Lord a grain offering of a tenth of an ephah of fine flour, mixed with a quarter of a hin of oil; 5 and you shall offer with the burnt offering, or for the sacrifice, a quarter of a hin of wine for the drink offering for each lamb. 6 Or for a ram, you shall offer for a grain offering two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a third of a hin of oil. 7 And for the drink offering you shall offer a third of a hin of wine, a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 8 And when you offer a bull as a burnt offering or sacrifice, to fulfill a vow or for peace offerings to the Lord, 9 then one shall offer with the bull a grain offering of three tenths of an ephah of fine flour, mixed with half a hin of oil. 10 And you shall offer for the drink offering half a hin of wine, as a food offering, a pleasing aroma to the Lord.

11 “Thus it shall be done for each bull or ram, or for each lamb or young goat. 12 As many as you offer, so shall you do with each one, as many as there are. 13 Every native Israelite shall do these things in this way, in offering a food offering, with a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 14 And if a stranger is sojourning with you, or anyone is living permanently among you, and he wishes to offer a food offering, with a pleasing aroma to the Lord, he shall do as you do. 15 For the assembly, there shall be one statute for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you, a statute forever throughout your generations. You and the sojourner shall be alike before the Lord. 16 One law and one rule shall be for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you.”

17 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 18 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land to which I bring you 19 and when you eat of the bread of the land, you shall present a contribution to the Lord. 20 Of the first of your dough you shall present a loaf as a contribution; like a contribution from the threshing floor, so shall you present it. 21 Some of the first of your dough you shall give to the Lord as a contribution throughout your generations. – Numbers 15:1-21 ESV

Even though God had condemned an entire generation of Israelites to wander in the wilderness for 40 years as punishment for their rebellion, He would not abandon them. The Lord would continue to guide them, provide for and protect them, and even give them further instructions regarding their eventual occupation of the land of Canaan. While that generation would never experience the joy of crossing over the Jordan and experiencing God’s rest, their children would. And God used the four-decade-long detour through the wilderness as a training opportunity for the next generation of Israelites, providing them with detailed instructions for their eventual entrance into the land of promise.

Though the adult population had allowed the fear-laden advice of the ten spies to deter them from keeping God’s command to enter and conquer the land of Canaan, God refused to renege on His promise. He remained committed to the covenant He had made with Abraham and assured Moses that the offspring of the rebellious generation would inherit the land.

But God made it perfectly clear that the adults in the room had blown their chance.

“…not one of these people will ever enter that land. They have all seen my glorious presence and the miraculous signs I performed both in Egypt and in the wilderness, but again and again they have tested me by refusing to listen to my voice. They will never even see the land I swore to give their ancestors. None of those who have treated me with contempt will ever see it.” – Numbers 14:22-23 NLT

Yet, despite their blatant display of disobedience, He would not hold the children responsible for the sins of their parents. During the 40-year delay, things would continue just as they had since the Israelites departed Egypt. The tabernacle would remain in the center of the camp with the Shekinah glory of God located above the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies. The sacrificial system would continue just as God had prescribed it on Mount Sinai. Sacrifices would be offered and sins atoned for. Life would go on as it had before. And each year, children would be born into the Israelite community and members of the older generation would die off. There would be a slow but steady changing of the guard as the infants grew into adolescents who eventually became adults.

And God provided Moses with the assurance that a new group of Israelites would eventually enter the land.

“Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. When you finally settle in the land I am giving you, you will offer special gifts as a pleasing aroma to the Lord.” – Numbers 15:2-3 NLT

The faces and names of the people would change, but the covenant would be fulfilled. And this message from God must have been a painful reminder to the older generation that their disobedience had been costly. They would never have the joy of crossing the Jordan River into the land of promise with their children and grandchildren. Their lives would end in death in the wilderness. They were close but yet so far. Canaan was within reach but completely off-limits because they refused to obey God.

This chapter contains additional instructions regarding the sacrificial system and it focuses on the changes God would require once they entered the new land. It is interesting to note that this addendum includes additional sacrifices involving grain, oil, and wine. When the next generation finally enters the land, they will be required to supplement their meat offerings with “a grain offering of two quarts of choice flour mixed with one quart of olive oil” (Numbers 15:4 NLT). And for each lamb offered, they would add “one quart of wine as a liquid offering” (Numbers 15:5 NLT).

This appears to be a reference to the fruitfulness of the land of Canaan. When the spies returned from their expedition within the borders of Canaan, they reported that it was “a land flowing with milk and honey” (Numbers 13:27 NLT). It was so rich and bountiful that the spies produced “a single cluster of grapes so large that it took two of them to carry it on a pole between them! They also brought back samples of the pomegranates and figs” (Numbers 13:23 NLT).

In the book of Deuteronomy, Moses describes just how bountiful the land of promise would be.

“The LORD your God will soon bring you into the land he swore to give you when he made a vow to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It is a land with large, prosperous cities that you did not build. The houses will be richly stocked with goods you did not produce. You will draw water from cisterns you did not dig, and you will eat from vineyards and olive trees you did not plant.” – Deuteronomy 6:10-11 NLT

For people who were living in the wilderness, surviving off of manna and quail, this description must have been highly attractive. The prospect of enjoying the comforts of a real house instead of the cramped confines of a tent would have been difficult to imagine. Ever since leaving Egypt, they had eaten no fruit, raised no crops, baked no bread, or enjoyed any of the comforts of “home.” They were nomads wandering through a godforsaken wilderness.

But God assured them that upon entering the land of promise, all that would change. They would have plenty of grain, oil, and wine. So much so, that these bountiful resources would become a part of the sacrificial system. According to the book of Exodus, the Israelites had left Egypt with “great flocks and herds of livestock” (Exodus 12:38 NLT). So, they had no shortage of animals to use for their required sacrifices, even in the wilderness. But they had no access to grain, oil, and wine. The only bread they had to eat was in the form of the manna which God miraculously provided. Since there were few olive trees or vineyards in the wilderness, oil and wine were in short supply. But things would be different in Canaan.

This entire passage is meant to emphasize God’s faithfulness and to assure the Israelites of His unfailing commitment to providing for all their needs. Their response to His faithfulness was to be one of gratitude, expressed through the offering of meat, grain, oil, and wine. These gifts were intended to honor God for His goodness and grace, and together produced “a pleasing aroma to the Lord” (Numbers 15:3). These detailed instructions for the grain and drink offerings were meant to ensure the Israelites that their time in the land would be marked by blessing and abundance. God would care for them and they would be expected to express their thanks through the giving of offerings.

It’s important to remember that these instructions were given before the people entered the land when they had no access to the oil, grain, and wine. But God was assuring them that the day would come when the bounty of the land would become readily available. In fact, He was guaranteeing its availability.

“When you arrive in the land where I am taking you, and you eat the crops that grow there, you must set some aside as a sacred offering to the Lord. Present a cake from the first of the flour you grind, and set it aside as a sacred offering, as you do with the first grain from the threshing floor. Throughout the generations to come, you are to present a sacred offering to the Lord each year from the first of your ground flour.” – Numbers 15:18-21 NLT

To the rebellious generation who had decided that the conquest of Canaan was impossible, this word from God must have been difficult to hear. They must have been filled with regret as they considered the ramifications of their fateful decision to disobey God. Not only would they fail to enter the land, but they would never enjoy its fruit or experience the joy of standing alongside their children and grandchildren as they offered God gifts of gratitude for its bounty.

But God underscores His own faithfulness when He states that these offerings will take place “throughout the generations to come” (Numbers 15:21 NLT). The next generation will conquer and occupy the land. The land will provide for all their needs. And the people will be expected to offer up their thanks to God for His goodness and graciousness – for generations to come.

These instructions were given as the people were about to begin the 40-year sentencing handed down by God. For the next four decades, they would wander in the wilderness as punishment for their refusal to obey God, and they would never get the opportunity to obey any of these sacrificial requirements. So, they would need to pass on these instructions to their children, grandchildren, and all those who would be born over the next 40 years. The guilty and condemned were required to prepare their offspring to respond appropriately to God’s future blessings. While this generation had blown their opportunity to enter God’s rest and experience His blessings, they could help prepare their progeny to respond to God’s blessings with gratefulness and faithfulness.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Fruitfulness and Faithlessness

/ kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

25 At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land. 26 And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 And they told him, “We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28 However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan.”

30 But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.” 31 Then the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.” 32 So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. 33 And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”

Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. 2 And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! 3 Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” 4 And they said to one another, “Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.” – Numbers 13:25-14:4 ESV

For 40 days, the people of Israel anxiously awaited the return of the 12 men who had been sent to reconnoiter the land of Canaan, and each passing day must have fueled their growing doubts and concerns. The longer the delay, the more they must have wondered whether the spies had met an untimely demise at the hands of the land’s current occupants. Had they been captured and enslaved? Worse yet, had they been tortured and forced to disclose the location of Israel’s camp in the wilderness of Paran? Was a heavily armed force headed their way with plans to annihilate the rest of the Israelites before they could cross the Jordan River?

But much to the relief of the Israelites, the spies eventually returned, bearing news and “the fruit they had taken from the land” (Numbers 13:26 NLT). Rumors of their return spread quickly through the camp and soon everyone had gathered to hear their long-anticipated report. And as the people stood in breathless silence, they heard the spies deliver their findings.

“We entered the land you sent us to explore, and it is indeed a bountiful country—a land flowing with milk and honey. Here is the kind of fruit it produces.” – Numbers 13:27 NLT

The spies had not returned empty-handed. According to verse 23, they had gathered tangible evidence of the land’s fruitfulness and now used these props as a kind of show-and-tell.

When they came to the valley of Eshcol, they cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes so large that it took two of them to carry it on a pole between them! They also brought back samples of the pomegranates and figs. – Numbers 13:23 NLT

It was as if the spies knew that their words would not be enough. Any attempts to describe the land’s abundance would fall short and be met with skeptical ears, so they brought proof. And it was like nothing the Israelites had ever seen before. A single cluster of grapes had to be carried on a pole between two men. This land was super-abundant and more than adequate to meet the physical needs of the Israelites. It’s interesting to remember that, just recently, the Israelites had been reminiscing about the wonderful cuisine they had enjoyed in Egypt.

“We remember the fish we used to eat for free in Egypt. And we had all the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic we wanted. But now our appetites are gone. All we ever see is this manna!” – Numbers 11:5-6 NLT

While their memories of the food they enjoyed in Egypt were probably a bit cloudy and far from accurate, they couldn’t argue with the evidence right before their eyes. Canaan was a virtual cornucopia of culinary delights, and it was just across the Jordan River.

But before the Israelites had time to take in the wonderful news about the fruitful land of Canaan, the spies poured a bit of cold water on their enthusiasm. They delivered the bad news.

“But the people living there are powerful, and their towns are large and fortified. We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak! The Amalekites live in the Negev, and the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country. The Canaanites live along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and along the Jordan Valley.” – Numbers 13:28-29 NLT

If the size of the grapes had been enough to make their mouths water, this news must have made them sick to their stomachs; it was the last thing they wanted to hear. After all, what good was a fruitful and abundant land if it was filled with frightful and formidable enemies?

As soon as the Israelites heard the downside of the spies’ report, they went into a panic. As fear gripped the camp, Caleb, one of the 12 men who had seen the land with his own eyes, tried to calm them down. He didn’t attempt to dismiss or discredit the report of enemies in the land. He didn’t refute their existence or diminish the claims of their superior power. Instead, he simply encouraged the people to do what God had commanded them to do.

“Let’s go at once to take the land,” he said. “We can certainly conquer it!” – Numbers 13:30 NLT

The spies had done exactly what Moses had instructed them to do.

“Go north through the Negev into the hill country. See what the land is like, and find out whether the people living there are strong or weak, few or many. See what kind of land they live in. Is it good or bad? Do their towns have walls, or are they unprotected like open camps? Is the soil fertile or poor? Are there many trees? Do your best to bring back samples of the crops you see.” (It happened to be the season for harvesting the first ripe grapes.) – Numbers 13:18-20 NLT

They had returned with a report and samples. But at no point were their findings intended to play a role in whether or not the Israelites entered the land. Their mission had been a fact-finding one. And when their report turned out to be a combination of good news and bad news, it should have had no bearing on God’s plans for Israel. It provided proof that the land was fruitful but it also provided evidence that the land was already occupied. While the people found the first fact encouraging, they considered the second one to be disheartening and ample reason to call off the conquest of Canaan. But both reports were intended to remind the people that God was their provider. Not only was He giving them a fruitful land for their future inheritance, land, but He was about to give them victory over its more powerful occupants.

But for ten of the spies, the thought of the Israelites defeating the Canaanites was a pipe dream. There was no way a rag-tag army of former shepherds and slaves was going to conquer a land filled with “giants.” The Israelites would find themselves up against Amalekites, Hittites, Jebusites, Amorites, and Canaanites. They would be outnumbered and under-equipped for the task, and the ten spies made their views plainly known.

“We can’t go up against them! They are stronger than we are!” – Numbers 13:31 NLT

These men were more than scared. They were absolutely petrified and determined to convince the people to disobey God’s command to enter the land of Canaan.

“The land we traveled through and explored will devour anyone who goes to live there. All the people we saw were huge. We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak. Next to them we felt like grasshoppers, and that’s what they thought, too!” – Numbers 13:32-33 NLT

Notice how they conveniently left God out of the picture. It was all “us-versus-them.” It was giants against grasshoppers, the powerful against the weak. The odds were completely lopsided and any hope of victory was wishful thinking. God didn’t factor into their equation, and their words had the desired effect. The people were devastated and demoralized. They wept and mourned. They regretted ever having left Egypt. And any encouragement they may have received from the sight of oversized fruit was crushed by the prospect of annihilation at the hands of their enemies.

Fueled by the disheartening rhetoric of the ten spies, the people railed against Moses and Aaron, questioning why they had ever left the land of Egypt in the first place. It was a familiar theme.

“If only we had died in Egypt, or even here in the wilderness!” they complained. “Why is the Lord taking us to this country only to have us die in battle? Our wives and our little ones will be carried off as plunder! Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?” – Numbers 14:2-3 NLT

They had regrets, and they suffered from a severe case of the good-old-days syndrome. When confronted with the less-than-ideal option of entering the land of Canaan, they began to long for their days back in Egypt. They preferred slavery to possible slaughter at the hands of the Canaanites. Their view of the promised land was anything but promising. Filled with pessimism and fueled by fear, they lashed out at Moses and Aaron, and anxious to derail any plans these two men may have had to lead them into Canaan, the people began to plot their overthrow.

“Let’s choose a new leader and go back to Egypt!” – Numbers 14:4 NLT

Little did they know that they were thumbing their noses in the face of God Almighty. They were rejecting the gift of an inheritance that He had promised to Abraham. The land was theirs by right. But now, they were declaring their intention to return to slavery rather than obey the word of their gracious deliverer. They were rejecting the will of the One who had redeemed them from captivity and refusing to believe that He could provide them with victory over their enemies. And they were about to learn just how deadly that decision would be.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Fear, Faithfulness, and Fruit

/ kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel. From each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a chief among them.” 3 So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran, according to the command of the Lord, all of them men who were heads of the people of Israel. 4 And these were their names: From the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur; 5 from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori; 6 from the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh; 7 from the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph; 8 from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun; 9 from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu; 10 from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi; 11 from the tribe of Joseph (that is, from the tribe of Manasseh), Gaddi the son of Susi; 12 from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli; 13 from the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael; 14 from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi; 15 from the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi. 16 These were the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun Joshua.

17 Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan and said to them, “Go up into the Negeb and go up into the hill country, 18 and see what the land is, and whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many, 19 and whether the land that they dwell in is good or bad, and whether the cities that they dwell in are camps or strongholds, 20 and whether the land is rich or poor, and whether there are trees in it or not. Be of good courage and bring some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes.

21 So they went up and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, near Lebo-hamath. 22 They went up into the Negeb and came to Hebron. Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, were there. (Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) 23 And they came to the Valley of Eshcol and cut down from there a branch with a single cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a pole between two of them; they also brought some pomegranates and figs. 24 That place was called the Valley of Eshcol, because of the cluster that the people of Israel cut down from there. – Numbers 13:1-24 ESV

After a brief seven-day delay in which Miriam was punished for attempting to lead a coup against her own brother, God led the people to Kadesh-Barnea. They were now on the edge of the land of Canaan. This had been their destination all along; the place that God had promised to give them as their inheritance. Now they stood on the banks of the Jordan River, ready to cross over and begin their conquest of the land.

But as a test of their resilience and reliance upon Him, God instructed Moses to select one man from each of the twelve tribes to go on a recognizance mission. These 12 men were to sneak into the land of Canaan to spy out the enemy’s strength and verify the agricultural quality of the land itself.

“Go north through the Negev into the hill country. See what the land is like, and find out whether the people living there are strong or weak, few or many. See what kind of land they live in. Is it good or bad? Do their towns have walls, or are they unprotected like open camps? Is the soil fertile or poor? Are there many trees? Do your best to bring back samples of the crops you see.”  (It happened to be the season for harvesting the first ripe grapes.) – Numbers 13:17-20 NLT

According to Moses’ account of this event, recorded in the book of Deuteronomy, the sending of the spies had actually been the people’s idea.

“But you all came to me and said, ‘First, let’s send out scouts to explore the land for us. They will advise us on the best route to take and which towns we should enter.’

“This seemed like a good idea to me, so I chose twelve scouts, one from each of your tribes. They headed for the hill country and came to the valley of Eshcol and explored it. They picked some of its fruit and brought it back to us. And they reported, ‘The land the Lord our God has given us is indeed a good land.’”  – Deuteronomy 1:22-25 NLT

They petitioned Moses to send in spies and God went along with the plan but it appears that God had a different agenda than that of the people. Their reason for sending in spies was to determine whether there was any hope of defeating the nations that already occupied the land. But God agreed to send in spies so that they might give witness to the truth concerning the abundance and fruitfulness of the land. In other words, as far as God was concerned, this was a fact-finding mission. This was not a specially formed committee to determine or decide whether or not the land was hospitable or conquerable. That was not an option. The conquest of the land was not up for debate and therein lay the test.

So, the spies went and they saw, and when they returned they reported the facts just as they had witnessed them. They even brought back physical evidence of the land’s long-rumored fruitfulness.

When they came to the valley of Eshcol, they cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes so large that it took two of them to carry it on a pole between them! They also brought back samples of the pomegranates and figs. – Numbers 16:23 NLT

When the 12 men returned to the Israelite camp, they brought good news. They verbally and unanimously affirmed the land’s fruitfulness and provided a jaw-dropping show-and-tell that gave irrefutable proof that the land was bountiful and rich just as God had said it would be. The people’s mouths must have watered at the sight of the giant cluster of grapes that required two men to carry it. And to convince their fellow Israelites that there was more fruit where this came from, they declared that they had named the spot where they found the grapes the “Valley of Clusters.” It was an entire region filled with oversized bunches of sun-ripened grapes.

To a people who had spent a year living at the base of Mount Sinai in the relatively barren Arabian peninsula, this news must have sounded like music to their ears. They could already envision the overflowing vats and the sweet taste of the wine that awaited them in the promised land. For people who had already proven to be driven by their appetites, this news must have been too good to be true. Having just come off their month-long diet of nothing but quail, the thought of quenching their thirst with fine wine must have been irresistible.

Things were looking up. The long journey to the promised land was about to come to an end and the final destination sounded like it was going to be all that they had hoped for. But what the people didn’t realize was that there was going to be bad news mixed with the good news, and that is where the test would come in. The land was fruitful, just as God had told them it would be. But God had also warned that the land would be occupied.

When God initially issued His call for Moses to deliver His people from their captivity in Egypt, He declared, “I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into their own fertile and spacious land. It is a land flowing with milk and honey—the land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites now live” (Exodus 3:8 NLT). He let Moses know that their future inheritance would be filled with good things to eat but that it would also be overflowing with nations that were going to be far from hospitable or accommodating.

He had never told them that conquering the land of Canaan would be easy. In fact, long before they arrived at the border of Canaan, God had told them what would be required of them.

“For my angel will go before you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and Jebusites, so you may live there. And I will destroy them completely. You must not worship the gods of these nations or serve them in any way or imitate their evil practices. Instead, you must utterly destroy them and smash their sacred pillars.” – Exodus 23:23-24 NLT

From day one, He had warned them that the land would be filled with other inhabitants. He told them that they would have to remove those inhabitants from the land but He also assured them that His presence would assure them of certain victory.

God never told them that occupying the land would be a cakewalk. But He did assure them of victory – as long as they obeyed Him. So, as they heard the report of the agricultural superiority of the land, they were ready to break camp and head to the Valley of Clusters. But little did they know that the good news was about to take a bad turn. All their dreams of fine wine and blissful days basking in the bounty in Canaan were about to be dashed by the distasteful news of insurmountable foes and impregnable fortresses. So, what would they do? How would they respond? Would they display trust in God and enter the land or allow fear to get the best of them? Would the promise of fruitfulness trump their fear of failure?

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

And Now, the Bad News

/ kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

14 “But if you will not listen to me and will not do all these commandments, 15 if you spurn my statutes, and if your soul abhors my rules, so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant, 16 then I will do this to you: I will visit you with panic, with wasting disease and fever that consume the eyes and make the heart ache. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. 17 I will set my face against you, and you shall be struck down before your enemies. Those who hate you shall rule over you, and you shall flee when none pursues you. 18 And if in spite of this you will not listen to me, then I will discipline you again sevenfold for your sins, 19 and I will break the pride of your power, and I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze. 20 And your strength shall be spent in vain, for your land shall not yield its increase, and the trees of the land shall not yield their fruit.

21 “Then if you walk contrary to me and will not listen to me, I will continue striking you, sevenfold for your sins. 22 And I will let loose the wild beasts against you, which shall bereave you of your children and destroy your livestock and make you few in number, so that your roads shall be deserted.

23 “And if by this discipline you are not turned to me but walk contrary to me, 24 then I also will walk contrary to you, and I myself will strike you sevenfold for your sins. 25 And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall execute vengeance for the covenant. And if you gather within your cities, I will send pestilence among you, and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy. 26 When I break your supply of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in a single oven and shall dole out your bread again by weight, and you shall eat and not be satisfied.

27 “But if in spite of this you will not listen to me, but walk contrary to me, 28 then I will walk contrary to you in fury, and I myself will discipline you sevenfold for your sins. 29 You shall eat the flesh of your sons, and you shall eat the flesh of your daughters. 30 And I will destroy your high places and cut down your incense altars and cast your dead bodies upon the dead bodies of your idols, and my soul will abhor you. 31 And I will lay your cities waste and will make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will not smell your pleasing aromas. 32 And I myself will devastate the land, so that your enemies who settle in it shall be appalled at it. 33 And I will scatter you among the nations, and I will unsheathe the sword after you, and your land shall be a desolation, and your cities shall be a waste.

34 “Then the land shall enjoy its Sabbaths as long as it lies desolate, while you are in your enemies’ land; then the land shall rest, and enjoy its Sabbaths. 35 As long as it lies desolate it shall have rest, the rest that it did not have on your Sabbaths when you were dwelling in it. 36 And as for those of you who are left, I will send faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. The sound of a driven leaf shall put them to flight, and they shall flee as one flees from the sword, and they shall fall when none pursues. 37 They shall stumble over one another, as if to escape a sword, though none pursues. And you shall have no power to stand before your enemies. 38 And you shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up. 39 And those of you who are left shall rot away in your enemies’ lands because of their iniquity, and also because of the iniquities of their fathers they shall rot away like them.” – Leviticus 26:14-39 ESV

After having listed the manifold blessings that accompany obedience, God now addresses the less attractive topic of divine discipline for disobedience. In these verses, God provides a five-stage outline of how things will turn out for His people should they refuse to remain faithful to Him, and the list of potential judgments is grim and intended to deter them from considering disobedience as a course of action. God wanted them to understand the gravity of the situation. He had set them apart as His chosen people and made a binding covenant with them.

“Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” – Exodus 19:5-6 ESV

This agreement between God and His people sometimes referred to as the Mosaic Covenant, was conditional in nature. In other words, it was binding and required the full compliance of both parties. Through their obedience to His covenant conditions, the Israelites would be guaranteed their status as God’s chosen people and assured of ongoing presence, power, and provision.

“If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them, then…I will make my dwelling among you, and my soul shall not abhor you. And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people.” – Leviticus 26:3, 11-12 ESV

But the people needed to know that there was a potential downside to this covenant that they had so eagerly ratified (Exodus 19:8). Failure to keep all the conditions of the covenant came with serious consequences, and the list of judgments God describes in these verses goes from bad to worse. It will begin with divine attacks on their bodies in the form of “wasting diseases” and assaults by their enemies that will leave them defeated and demoralized. Other nations will plunder their crops and treat the Israelites as little more than slaves. The land that God had given the Israelites as their inheritance would no longer provide for their needs. Instead, it would fall into the hands of their enemies, leaving God’s people defeated and destitute.

Continued rebellion will result in drought and famine, “making the skies as unyielding as iron and the earth as hard as bronze” (Leviticus 26:19 NLT). Rain will be withheld and crops will cease to grow. The fruitfulness of the land of promise will become a distant and fading memory. And yet God forewarns His people that this judgment will not produce repentance and obedience. Despite all that they suffer, they will continue to spurn His calls to obey, forcing Yahweh to punish them “seven times over” (Leviticus 26:18 NLT) for their sins. God vows to break their proud spirit and bring them to their knees. Yet, God predicts that His people will prove to be stubborn and unwilling to give up their rebellious ways. That will usher in the next phase of their punishment.

“I will send wild animals that will rob you of your children and destroy your livestock. Your numbers will dwindle, and your roads will be deserted.” – Leviticus 26:22 NLT

The creation itself will turn against God’s people. Not only will they face the threat of enemy attacks, but wild animals will rise up against them. Their lawlessness will result in chaos. No one will be safe. The first judgments primarily affected the fruit of their fields, but this punishment will target the fruit of the womb: Their children.

To grasp the full effect of this judgment, one must understand that God has always called His people to “be fruitful and multiply.” It was the command given to Adam and Eve and passed down to Noah and his sons. And while the Israelites had been slaves in Egypt, God had miraculously multiplied their number. But now, God was warning them that because of disobedience, they could expect to see their number diminish. As King Solomon would later record, children were to be seen as a gift from God.

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,
    the fruit of the womb a reward. – Psalm 127:3 ESV

But the Israelites needed to understand that their fruitfulness as a nation was directly tied to their faithfulness. At this point, it’s important to note what God said when He prepared to create man.

“Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.” – Genesis 1:26 NLT

And God gave the first man and women a mandate:

“Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.” – Genesis 1:28 NLT

Now, in the case of His chosen people, God was warning that their fruitfulness and dominion over creation would come to an end should they choose to disobey His commands.

But God was far from done because He knew that His people would find it difficult to repent and return to Him. So, He outlines the next phase of His divine judgment. In response to their ongoing disobedience, God will get personally involved.

“I myself will be hostile toward you. I will personally strike you with calamity seven times over for your sins.” – Leviticus 26:24 NLT

God vows to deal with their rebellion on an intimate level, sending armies against them to mete out His divine judgment. If the people attempt to escape God’s wrath, they’ll only find themselves facing the devastation of a plague they can’t outrun. God’s judgment will be inescapable and unavoidable. God vows to inflict on the people of Israel what had been reserved for the nation of Egypt. This time, the plagues would be directed at God’s people, not their enemies. And God adds insult to injury by promising to destroy Israel’s food supply. No more protection. No more provision.

As the people of Israel heard Moses impart these dire warnings, they must have been dumbstruck and appalled at the severity of God’s words. But the worst was yet to come. In a foreshadowing of Israel’s less-than-stellar future, God predicts their stubbornness and obstinacy in the face of overwhelming judgment, and matter-of-factly states, “I will give full vent to my hostility” (Leviticus 26:28 NLT). And what He describes next is difficult to read and even harder to comprehend. Focusing His attention on the sin of idolatry, God promises to pour out His judgment with unfathomable and unrelenting fury. He describes Israelite cities filled with the destroyed altars of their false gods and the corpses of those who once worshiped them. Those left alive will have been taken captive by their enemies. But before their cities fell, the people of God would have resorted to cannibalism just to survive.

In the midst of their suffering and pain, the apostate people of Israel will attempt to call on God for rescue, but their efforts will prove too little, too late. He will not listen to their cries or accept their sacrifices for forgiveness and atonement. They will be forcibly removed from the land and returned to their former status as exiles and slaves. And God drops the final bombshell in His escalating prediction of future judgment.

“You will die among the foreign nations and be devoured in the land of your enemies. Those of you who survive will waste away in your enemies’ lands because of their sins and the sins of their ancestors.” – Leviticus 26:38-39 NLT

God was serious. His call to obedience was not a suggestion but a command. His blessings were real and fully realizable, but they would require obedience. And if His people chose to break their covenant commitment, they needed to understand that the consequences were equally real and worse than anything they could ever imagine.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

It Pays to Obey

/ kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

1 “You shall not make idols for yourselves or erect an image or pillar, and you shall not set up a figured stone in your land to bow down to it, for I am the Lord your God. 2 You shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.

3 “If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them, 4 then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. 5 Your threshing shall last to the time of the grape harvest, and the grape harvest shall last to the time for sowing. And you shall eat your bread to the full and dwell in your land securely. 6 I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid. And I will remove harmful beasts from the land, and the sword shall not go through your land. 7 You shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. 8 Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall chase ten thousand, and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. 9 I will turn to you and make you fruitful and multiply you and will confirm my covenant with you. 10 You shall eat old store long kept, and you shall clear out the old to make way for the new. 11 I will make my dwelling among you, and my soul shall not abhor you. 12 And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people. 13 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves. And I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect.” – Leviticus 26:1-13 ESV

After all that God has said and done since their arrival at Sinai, the Israelites are now given the conditions surrounding their covenant relationship with Yahweh. They have received His Decalogue and Book of the Covenant and agreed to keep all the laws and regulations contained within them. Moses delivered to them all of God’s instructions concerning the sacrificial system and the Levitical priesthood. Moses also provided them with God’s detailed plans for the construction of the Tabernacle which was to serve as Yahweh’s earthly dwelling place. God had provided them with instructions concerning all the holy days and feasts that were to celebrate each year throughout their generations. And all along the way, it seems that the people quietly agreed to do all that God had commanded them. They showed no signs of disagreement and displayed no hint of disobedience. But God knew that it wouldn’t be long before His people found His laws and regulations to be a burden rather than a blessing. When they arrived in the land of Canaan, they would see other nations that were not required to live up to God’s exacting standards. The Canaanites would be free to do as they pleased, unhampered by God’s restrictive legal code.

But all throughout the book of Leviticus, God had called His people to live in obedience to His will. He would not let them forget that He had saved them and had great plans for them, but their submission and obedience were non-negotiable requirements if they wanted to experience the full extent of His blessings.

“I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. You shall not defile yourselves with any swarming thing that crawls on the ground. For I am the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.” – Leviticus 11:44-45 ESV

“You shall follow my rules and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.” – Leviticus 18:4-5 ESV

“So keep my charge never to practice any of these abominable customs that were practiced before you, and never to make yourselves unclean by them: I am the Lord your God.” – Leviticus 18:30 ESV

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. And you shall observe all my statutes and all my rules, and do them: I am the Lord.” – Leviticus 19:36-37 ESV

“They shall therefore keep my charge, lest they bear sin for it and die thereby when they profane it: I am the Lord who sanctifies them.” – Leviticus 22:9 ESV

“They shall not profane the holy things of the people of Israel, which they contribute to the Lord, and so cause them to bear iniquity and guilt, by eating their holy things: for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.” – Leviticus 22:15-16 ESV

“So you shall keep my commandments and do them: I am the Lord. And you shall not profane my holy name, that I may be sanctified among the people of Israel. I am the Lord who sanctifies you, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I am the Lord.” – Leviticus 22:31-33 ESV

God had made His expectations perfectly clear. Obedience was an obligation, not an option. But their adherence to His commands was not to be viewed as a burden. He wanted them to understand that their faithful commitment to the covenant He had made with them was designed to be a blessing, and in chapter 26 He outlines all the amazing benefits they can expect to receive as a result of their obedience to His commands.

And God opens up the chapter with a reminder of the two most fundamental and foundational laws He had given them.

“You shall not make idols for yourselves or erect an image or pillar, and you shall not set up a figured stone in your land to bow down to it, for I am the Lord your God.” – Leviticus 26:1 ESV

According to the Decalogue, the Israelites were forbidden from worshiping any other deity but Yahweh. They were not to follow the polytheistic ways of the Canaanites, willfully worshiping a host of assorted deities of their own making. Yahweh was the only true God and they were to revere and honor Him alone. And because He had set apart the Sabbath as a day of rest and a sign of their reliance upon Him, they were to honor it at all times. This applied to the Tabernacle as well. God had ordered its construction so that it might serve as His earthly dwelling place and guarantee His presence among them. They were to treat His sanctuary as holy and give it the honor it deserved as the house of Yahweh.

What the Israelites needed to understand was the truly unique nature of their relationship with Yahweh. He had chosen them to be His treasured possession. He had singled them out among all the nations of the earth to become His chosen people. And His laws were designed to regulate their lives and distinguish them from every other people group on the planet. By obeying His commands they would demonstrate their distinctiveness and prove their status as “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6 ESV).

But their status as God’s treasured possession came with a condition: Obedience.

“…if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, [then] you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine.” – Exodus 19: 5 ESV

This is a conditional statement. To continue to enjoy their one-of-a-kind status as His chosen people, they would have to remain fully committed to and in compliance with His covenant commands. The covenant was conditional. But the good news was that obedience was well worth it. If they chose to keep their covenant commitments, God would pour out His blessings upon them – abundantly and in every area of their lives.

God was going to bless their land with rain and produce an abundance of crops – well beyond anything they could have imagined. They would experience prosperity in the form of fruitfulness in their fields and vineyards. God promised to extend their growing seasons so that they were able to harvest long after their neighbor’s fields had gone barrren. This was a promise of divine intervention and sovereign provision.

But not only did God promise them fruitful fields and full stomachs, but He also guaranteed their safety in the land.

“I will give you peace in the land, and you will be able to sleep with no cause for fear. I will rid the land of wild animals and keep your enemies out of your land. In fact, you will chase down your enemies and slaughter them with your swords.” – Leviticus 26:6-7 NLT

God would provide for them and protect them. He would feed them and defend them. And along with fruitful fields, they would experience the blessing of fruitful wombs.

“I will look favorably upon you, making you fertile and multiplying your people. And I will fulfill my covenant with you.” – Leviticus 26:9 NLT

God would see to it that the land was filled to overflowing with His chosen people. Their number would increase exponentially but never outstrip the ability of the land to provide because God would supernaturally and sovereignly supply all their needs.

But the greatest blessing they stood to gain from a life of obedience was the ongoing presence of Yahweh. He promised to remain with them and to live among them – as long as they remained faithful to Him.

“I will live among you, and I will not despise you. I will walk among you; I will be your God, and you will be my people.” – Leviticus 26:11 NLT

God guaranteed His ongoing provision, protection, and presence but it was conditioned upon their obedience. He would not tolerate unfaithfulness or turn a blind eye to idolatry. He would not and could not dwell among those who refused to honor Him and treated Him with disdain. His presence was the key to His provision and protection, and His ongoing presence was directly tied to their obedience. They stood to gain greatly if they would simply remain faithful to their covenant commitments. And lest they forget, God reminded them once again of all that He had done for them.

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so you would no longer be their slaves. I broke the yoke of slavery from your neck so you can walk with your heads held high.” – Leviticus 26:13 NLT

Obedience was not to be viewed as a burden. It was not a “yoke” of oppression like they had experienced in Egypt. God was not their slave master, but their liberator. He had released them from bondage so that they might walk in freedom. No longer weighed down by the unjust laws placed upon them by Pharaoh, the Israelites were free to walk in the light of God’s glorious presence and in keeping with His life-transformative laws. And as long as they did, they would be blessed.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Sabbatical Year

/ kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

1 The Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you, the land shall keep a Sabbath to the Lord. 3 For six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its fruits, 4 but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the Lord. You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard. 5 You shall not reap what grows of itself in your harvest, or gather the grapes of your undressed vine. It shall be a year of solemn rest for the land. 6 The Sabbath of the land shall provide food for you, for yourself and for your male and female slaves and for your hired worker and the sojourner who lives with you, 7 and for your cattle and for the wild animals that are in your land: all its yield shall be for food.” – Leviticus 25:1-7 ESV

The concept of rest is important to God. He established the seventh day of the week as the Sabbath, a day of rest when the normal activities of labor were set aside in order to worship Him.

“Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you.  For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.” – Exodus 20:8-11 NLT

In a real sense, every day of the week was set aside for the worship of God, because sacrifices were made daily at the Tabernacle. But what set the seventh day apart was the complete cessation of work. Rather than performing their normal routines, the Israelites were to take 24 hours to rest in the provision of Yahweh.

The origin of the Sabbath day can be found in Exodus 16. One month after leaving Egypt, the people of Israel entered the wilderness of Sin and began to grumble about their lack of adequate food. They took their complaint to Moses and Aaron, who responded, “The Lord will give you meat to eat in the evening and bread to satisfy you in the morning, for he has heard all your complaints against him. What have we done? Yes, your complaints are against the Lord, not against us” (Exodus 16:8 NLT). And God delivered on that promise.

That evening vast numbers of quail flew in and covered the camp. And the next morning the area around the camp was wet with dew. When the dew evaporated, a flaky substance as fine as frost blanketed the ground. The Israelites were puzzled when they saw it. “What is it?” they asked each other. They had no idea what it was. – Exodus 16:13-15 NLT

God gave them exactly what they needed, but His gift came with conditions. Each family was told to “gather as much as it needs” (Exodus 16:16 NLT) but God put a limit of two quarts for each person in the household. And the text tells us that “Those who gathered a lot had nothing left over, and those who gathered only a little had enough. Each family had just what it needed” (Exodus 16:18 NLT). This gathering of food was to take place every day of the week, except for the seventh day. God had other plans for that day of the week.

On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much as usual—four quarts for each person instead of two. Then all the leaders of the community came and asked Moses for an explanation. He told them, “This is what the Lord commanded: Tomorrow will be a day of complete rest, a holy Sabbath day set apart for the Lord. So bake or boil as much as you want today, and set aside what is left for tomorrow.” – Exodus 16:22-23 NLT

There would be no gathering of quail or manna on the seventh day, but God made more than adequate provision for that day’s needs. He gave a double portion on the sixth day. Moses provided the people with clear instructions regarding the seventh day.

“Eat this food today, for today is a Sabbath day dedicated to the Lord. There will be no food on the ground today. You may gather the food for six days, but the seventh day is the Sabbath. There will be no food on the ground that day.” – Exodus 16:25-26 NLT

Yet, despite Moses’ warning, the people went out on the seventh day in search of food, only to find that none was there. They labored in vain. There was no need for them to search for food because God had already provided all that they needed. This led God to reiterate His regulation concerning the Sabbath.

“How long will these people refuse to obey my commands and instructions? They must realize that the Sabbath is the Lord’s gift to you. That is why he gives you a two-day supply on the sixth day, so there will be enough for two days. On the Sabbath day you must each stay in your place. Do not go out to pick up food on the seventh day.” – Exodus 16:28-29 NLT

God later codified this command by making it a permanent statute in the Decalogue. The seventh day was to be a perpetual and permanent law among His chosen people. By resting on the seventh day, the people were placing all their trust in God. They were acknowledging His role as their provider and resting in His promise to meet all their needs. And in Exodus 25, God expands the concept of sabbath rest to include the seventh year. But this command would not take effect until the people entered the land of Canaan. By articulating this new law while the people were still in the wilderness of Sinai, God was assuring them of His plans to fulfill the covenant promise He had made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He was going to keep His word and give them the land of Canaan as their inheritance, and when the arrived in the land, they would be expected to practice a sabbatical year.

“When you have entered the land I am giving you, the land itself must observe a Sabbath rest before the Lord every seventh year. For six years you may plant your fields and prune your vineyards and harvest your crops, but during the seventh year the land must have a Sabbath year of complete rest. It is the Lord’s Sabbath” – Leviticus 25:2-4 NLT

Just as He had met their needs in the wilderness by providing twice as much food on the sixth day of the week, so too He would meet their needs for every seventh year. This command must have sounded strange to the ears of the Israelites. The thought of allowing the land to sit idle for an entire year would have come across as odd and nonsensical. What would they do for food? How would they survive an entire year without doing their normal activities of planting, pruning, and harvesting? Yet God was simply taking the concept of the sabbath day and applying it on a much grander scale. What He would do in a week could be done in terms of years as well. But this command was going to require even greater faith on the part of the people.

What sets this command apart is its emphasis on the land itself. Not only were the Israelites to be the beneficiaries of the Lord’s gracious provision of rest, but so too was the land.

“…during the seventh year the land must have a Sabbath year of complete rest.” – Leviticus 16:4 NLT

“The land must have a year of complete rest.” – Leviticus 16:5 NLT

The land belonged to God and He was protecting it from overuse and abuse. In another sense, He was letting the Israelites know that He was their provider, not the land. He was the one who met all their needs. Their labor was not necessary. Their help was not needed. And to prove His point, God ordered that the people of Israel cease all labor during the seventh year.

“Do not plant your fields or prune your vineyards during that year. And don’t store away the crops that grow on their own or gather the grapes from your unpruned vines.” – Leviticus 25:4-5 NLT

Some Israelites probably saw this as a kind of extended vacation and looked forward to the arrival of that first sabbatical year. It’s safe to assume that others were perplexed by this command and worried about how they would survive an entire year without doing their part to cultivate and care for the land. God’s command must have come across as illogical and impossible to many of the Israelites. The whole concept of receiving something for doing nothing was as strange to them as it is to us. We live by the old adage, “You don’t get something for nothing.” We adhere to the idea that nothing is free in this life. Phrases like, “No pay, no play” and “No pain, no gain” permeate our vocabulary. In our world, everything comes with a price, so you have to either work, pay, or contribute something for anything you want to have.

But in God’s economy, things work differently. He told the Israelites that the land would meet all their needs without any help from them.

“The Sabbath of the land shall provide food for you, for yourself and for your male and female slaves and for your hired worker and the sojourner who lives with you, and for your cattle and for the wild animals that are in your land: all its yield shall be for food.” – Leviticus 16:6-7 NLT

Their lack of labor would have no impact on the fruitfulness of the land. Crops would continue to grow. Vines would still produce grapes. Trees would still yield more than enough fruit to meet their needs. Their flocks would find ample grass on which to feed and grow fat. The land belonged to God and He was its ultimate caretaker. This chapter points back to the early days of creation when God placed the first man and woman in the garden He had created for them.

Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he placed the man he had made. The Lord God made all sorts of trees grow up from the ground—trees that were beautiful and that produced delicious fruit. – Genesis 2:8-9 NLT

God had created the garden to meet the needs of man, and He gave man the responsibility of tending the garden.

The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. – Genesis 2:15 NLT

But Adam and Eve didn’t actually produce the fruit of the trees. They had not created the garden or any of the plants that existed within it. They were simply stewards of God’s creation. Their ability to work was never to be seen as the source of their sustenance. The garden belonged to God and He would use it to sustain and bless His children – as long as they obeyed.

And as long as the people of Israel kept God’s command regarding the sabbatical year, they would continue to enjoy His faithfulness as expressed in the fruitfulness of the land. Their needs would be met. While resting from their labors they would learn to rest in the provision of God, and He would not let them down.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Don’t Forget to Remember

/ kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

9 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest, 11 and he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, so that you may be accepted. On the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. 12 And on the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb a year old without blemish as a burnt offering to the Lord. 13 And the grain offering with it shall be two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, a food offering to the Lord with a pleasing aroma, and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, a fourth of a hin. 14 And you shall eat neither bread nor grain parched or fresh until this same day, until you have brought the offering of your God: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.” – Leviticus 23:9-14 ESV

God adds another element to His list of sacred days and observances, but this one would not go into effect until the people occupied the land of Canaan. This celebration was known as firstfruits, which in Hebrew (רֵאשִׁית – rē’šîṯ) translates as “beginning, first, or best.” It was to be held in the early spring at the beginning of the grain harvest, on Nissan 16, the third day after Passover, and the second day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. According to the book of Deuteronomy, the feast of firstfruits was intended to commence after the Israelites had brought in their first official harvest in the land God had promised as their inheritance.

“When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you as a special possession and you have conquered it and settled there, put some of the first produce from each crop you harvest into a basket and bring it to the designated place of worship—the place the Lord your God chooses for his name to be honored.” – Deuteronomy 26:1-2 NLT

God had promised to give them a land of fruitfulness and abundance. In his call of Moses, God had described the land in glowing terms:

“So I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into their own fertile and spacious land. It is a land flowing with milk and honey—the land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites now live.” – Exodus 3:8 NLT

Now, from their vantage point at the base of Mount Sinai, the Israelites were being reminded by God that the land of Canaan would one day be theirs. Despite all the setbacks and difficulties they had faced up to this point, He was still going to honor His commitment to give them the land of Canaan as their inheritance. And when they got there, He expected them to express their gratitude for His goodness.

When they brought the first produce from each crop they had harvested, they were to present it to the priest at the Tabernacle and declare, “With this gift I acknowledge to the Lord your God that I have entered the land he swore to our ancestors he would give us” (Deuteronomy 26:3 NLT). The gift was meant to serve as proof of the fact that God had kept His word and that the land was just as He said it would be. In other words, God was faithful and the land was fruitful.

As part of the ceremony, the Israelites were to recount how God had miraculously delivered them from bondage in Egypt and delivered them to Canaan.

“You must then say in the presence of the Lord your God, ‘My ancestor Jacob was a wandering Aramean who went to live as a foreigner in Egypt. His family arrived few in number, but in Egypt they became a large and mighty nation. When the Egyptians oppressed and humiliated us by making us their slaves, we cried out to the Lord, the God of our ancestors. He heard our cries and saw our hardship, toil, and oppression. So the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand and powerful arm, with overwhelming terror, and with miraculous signs and wonders. He brought us to this place and gave us this land flowing with milk and honey! And now, O Lord, I have brought you the first portion of the harvest you have given me from the ground.’” – Deuteronomy 26:5-10 NLT

The gift of firstfruits was meant to be an expression of thanksgiving, but also an acknowledgment of God’s sovereignty over all things. Not only did they belong to Him but so did the land in which they lived and all the produce it provided. By giving to God the best of what the land had given them, they were declaring their allegiance to Him. Their fruitfulness had been the result of God’s faithfulness.

As part of the ceremony, the Israelites would place their gift before the Lord, then bow down and worship Him. Only after celebrating the goodness and graciousness of God could the people rejoice in the bounty of the harvest He had given them.

“Afterward you may go and celebrate because of all the good things the Lord your God has given to you and your household.” – Deuteronomy 26:11 NLT

The Leviticus passage adds another vital element to the ceremony. The Israelites were also to bring a sheaf of grain gathered from the first harvest in the land. What is interesting to note is that the Israelites were forbidden to eat “any bread or roasted grain or fresh kernels on that day until you bring this offering to your God” (Leviticus 23:14 NLT). As they presented the best of their grain to God, they would be in the midst of a fast. It was not until they had demonstrated their gratefulness to God and given Him the best of all that they had gathered that they could break their fast and enjoy the blessings He had bestowed upon them. God had to come first.

Along with these offerings, the Israelites were to sacrifice a one-year-old unblemished lamb as well as a burnt offering. This was accompanied by a grain offering consisting of four quarts of choice flour moistened with olive oil. The lamb and the grain offering were burned on the altar and the smoke would rise as “a pleasing aroma to the Lord” (Leviticus 23:13 NLT). The final part of the ceremony was “one quart of wine as a liquid offering” (Leviticus 23:13 NLT). In a sense, the people were serving God a sacred “meal” to celebrate all that He had done for them. It was a visible expression of thanksgiving to their divine provider and protector.

The real purpose behind this ceremony was to remind the people of Israel that they were completely dependent upon God at all times. Even in the midst of fruitfulness, they were expected to maintain their faithfulness to God and never allow His gracious gifts to distract from their reliance upon Him. In fact, Moses would later warn the Israelites of the dangers the bounty of Canaan would present.

“When you have eaten your fill, be sure to praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. But that is the time to be careful! Beware that in your plenty you do not forget the Lord your God and disobey his commands, regulations, and decrees that I am giving you today. For when you have become full and prosperous and have built fine homes to live in, and when your flocks and herds have become very large and your silver and gold have multiplied along with everything else, be careful! Do not become proud at that time and forget the Lord your God, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt.” – Deuteronomy 8:10-14 NLT

If they weren’t careful, God’s blessings could actually become a curse. The fruitfulness of the land could end up making the Israelites self-sufficient rather than God-dependent. As their crops grew, their flocks expanded, and their fortunes improved, they might be tempted to see themselves as the masters of their own fates. The real threat they faced in the promised land was not the Canaanites but spiritual apathy brought on by physical prosperity.

Moses would go on to warn the people of the dual perils of affluence and forgetfulness.

“Do not forget that he led you through the great and terrifying wilderness with its poisonous snakes and scorpions, where it was so hot and dry. He gave you water from the rock! He fed you with manna in the wilderness, a food unknown to your ancestors. He did this to humble you and test you for your own good. He did all this so you would never say to yourself, ‘I have achieved this wealth with my own strength and energy.’” – Deuteronomy 8:15-17 NLT

Forgetfulness would be a real and present danger. If they weren’t careful, their wilderness experience and God’s miraculous provision all along the way could become a fading memory. Once they arrived in Canaan and got settled in their new homes, their success in the land could produce gratefulness and a greater dependence upon God or it could result in an unhealthy sense of self-reliance. That’s why Moses warned them: “Remember the Lord your God. He is the one who gives you power to be successful, in order to fulfill the covenant he confirmed to your ancestors with an oath” (Deuteronomy 8:18 NLT).

God’s blessings were intended to produce greater dependence upon Him. By giving God the firstfruits of their harvest, the Israelites would be acknowledging their reliance upon Him. He had blessed them with freedom, and soon He would bless them with land, houses, fields, flocks, and vineyards. Their days as slaves and nomadic wanderers would be far behind them. But that would become the greatest test of their allegiance to God. Forgetfulness would lead to ungratefulness and ungratefulness would eventually result in unfaithfulness.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.