All Land Belongs to the LORD
October 28, 2020
Commentary
The Lord promised the Israelites that if they obeyed His laws and commands, they would live safely in the land and enjoy its abundant harvests. They were not to worry about having enough food during the seventh year, when they could neither plant nor harvest. God promised to provide a rich harvest in the sixth year, enough to last for three years (vv. 18-22). The land could not be permanently bought or sold because it belonged to the Lord. When land was sold, the original owner had the right to buy it back. If one became poor and had to sell his property, his closest relative was to redeem it for him. If the original owner later gained enough money, he could also buy it back at a fair price, based on the time remaining until the next Year of Jubilee (vv. 23-27).
If the owner could not afford to buy back the land, he had to wait until the Year of Jubilee. Houses in walled cities had different rules. The owner had only one year to buy back a house sold in such a city. If he did not redeem it within that time, the house became the permanent property of its new owner (vv. 28-30). However, houses in villages without walls were treated like fields and could be redeemed at any time. They were also to return to their original owners during the Year of Jubilee (v. 31). The Levites had special rights regarding their homes. If they owned houses in walled cities, they could redeem them at any time. Any houses they could not redeem were to be returned to them during the Year of Jubilee, because these homes were their permanent possession among the Israelites. However, the pasturelands belonging to the Levites could never be sold (vv. 32-34). These laws reminded Israel that the land ultimately belonged to God.
Application
Am I trusting God to provide for my needs, even when the future seems uncertain? Do I use my possessions wisely and fairly? How can I help someone who is struggling financially today? Am I willing to share what God has entrusted to me with someone in need? Do I remember that I am only a steward of anything that I have?
Leviticus 25:18–34 (NET)
18 You must obey my statutes and my regulations; you must be sure to keep them so that you may live securely in the land.
19 “‘The land will give its fruit and you may eat until you are satisfied, and you may live securely in the land. 20 If you say, “What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not sow and gather our produce?” 21 I will command my blessing for you in the sixth year so that it may yield the produce for three years, 22 and you may sow the eighth year and eat from that sixth year’s produce —old produce. Until you bring in the ninth year’s produce, you may eat old produce. 23 The land must not be sold without reclaim because the land belongs to me, for you are foreign residents, temporary settlers, with me. 24 In all your landed property you must provide for the right of redemption of the land.
25 “‘If your brother becomes impoverished and sells some of his property, his near redeemer is to come to you and redeem what his brother sold. 26 If a man has no redeemer, but he prospers and gains enough for its redemption, 27 he is to calculate the value of the years it was sold, refund the balance to the man to whom he had sold it, and return to his property. 28 If he has not prospered enough to refund a balance to him, then what he sold will belong to the one who bought it until the Jubilee year, but it must revert in the Jubilee and the original owner may return to his property.
29 “‘If a man sells a residential house in a walled city, its right of redemption must extend until one full year from its sale; its right of redemption must extend to a full calendar year. 30 If it is not redeemed before the full calendar year is ended, the house in the walled city will belong without reclaim to the one who bought it throughout his generations; it will not revert in the Jubilee. 31 The houses of villages, however, which have no wall surrounding them must be considered as the field of the land; they will have the right of redemption and must revert in the Jubilee. 32 As for the cities of the Levites, the houses in the cities which they possess, the Levites must have a perpetual right of redemption. 33 Whatever someone among the Levites might redeem—the sale of a house which is his property in a city—must revert in the Jubilee, because the houses of the cities of the Levites are their property in the midst of the Israelites. 34 Moreover, the open field areas of their cities must not be sold, because that is their perpetual possession.
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