4/11/2014
Sermon in a house meeting
Israel
After God brought Israel out of Egypt and into the promised land, He gave them guidelines as to how to live. He gave them a method of agriculture not practiced in surrounding countries. He gave them religious and cultural practices and by these things, Israel would be a witness to surrounding peoples as to the power and love that God had toward His people.
Lev. 25
Lev. 25:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses in mount Sinai, saying,
Lev. 25:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the LORD.
Lev. 25:3 Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof;
Lev. 25:4 But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the LORD: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.
Lev. 25:5 That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed: for it is a year of rest unto the land.
Lev. 25:6 And the sabbath of the land shall be meat for you; for thee, and for thy servant, and for thy maid, and for thy hired servant, and for thy stranger that sojourneth with thee,
Lev. 25:7 And for thy cattle, and for the beast that are in thy land, shall all the increase thereof be meat.
Lev. 25:8 And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years.
Lev. 25:9 Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubile to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land.
Lev. 25:10 And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.
Lev. 25:11 A jubile shall that fiftieth year be unto you: ye shall not sow, neither reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather the grapes in it of thy vine undressed.
When they came to the Promised Land it was a very fertile place and it continued to be. In Lev. 26 we read of what God said would happen if they were wayward or disobeyed the instructions/commandments He had given.
Lev. 26
Lev. 26:14 But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments;
Lev. 26:15 And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant:
Lev. 26:16 I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.
Lev. 26:17 And I will set my face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you.
Lev. 26:18 And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins.
Lev. 26:19 And I will break the pride of your power; and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass:
Lev. 26:20 And your strength shall be spent in vain: for your land shall not yield her increase, neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruits.
Lev. 26:21 And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me; I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins.
Lev. 26:22 I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, and destroy your cattle, and make you few in number; and your high ways shall be desolate.
Lev. 26:23 And if ye will not be reformed by me by these things, but will walk contrary unto me;
Lev. 26:24 Then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven times for your sins.
Lev. 26:25 And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant: and when ye are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you; and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.
Lev. 26:26 And when I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied.
Lev. 26:27 And if ye will not for all this hearken unto me, but walk contrary unto me;
Lev. 26:28 Then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins.
Lev. 26:29 And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat.
Lev. 26:30 And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you.
Lev. 26:31 And I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation, and I will not smell the savour of your sweet odours.
Lev. 26:32 And I will bring the land into desolation: and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it.
Lev. 26:33 And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste.
Lev. 26:34 Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies’ land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her sabbaths.
Lev. 26:35 As long as it lieth desolate it shall rest; because it did not rest in your sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it.
In a nutshell, they would be banished and the land would become infertile.
When the land we now call Israel was given to the Jews in 1948, the land was indeed desolate. Since then the “desert” has bloomed again and the country has become fertile in many different fields, agriculture, medicine, science and technology among others.
They have become a prosperous and a powerful nation once again. However, once again it is beset by enemies in the surrounding countries.
It is understandable then that the nation of Israel vigorously defends itself when attacked by Hamas and others. I do not wish to comment on the debate about proportionality of the Israeli response.
It is the future and future responses that I wish to consider.
Jesus said;
Matt. 5:43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
Matt. 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Matt. 5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
Matt. 5:46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
Matt. 5:47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
Matt. 5:48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
I believe that some time in the not too distant future, there will be a drought and a famine in the Middle East. I have believed this for some time now. The people hit hardest by this will be those living in the West Bank and in the Gaza strip.
It will probably be very tempting for Israeli leaders to sit back and watch their enemies suffer.
However, I have come to the conclusion that it is God’s will that Israel shares water and food and agricultural technology with the inhabitants of these enclaves. Such an act would confound Israel’s enemies and silence the critics around the world who are repeating the Palestinian propoganda, and would do more to bring about a lasting peace in at least one area of the Middle East.
Amen