Deuteronomy 15:1–16:17 – Deuteronomy: Then You Shall Live
Fifth Sunday after Epiphany – February 9, 2020 (am)
 

New covenant believers have always had a difficult time wrapping their minds around the old covenant principle of Sabbath. Should we still observe the Sabbath? And if, no, why only this commandment? We don’t neglect any of the others. Each of the other nine commandments speaks more or less directly to us with words and concepts we can understand, appreciate, even obey. We know we don’t have the same relationship to the law that the old covenant believers had, but it still speaks reliable words to us about what it will look like to obey God, even though we’re now in Christ.

But the fourth commandment may have more to say to us than we’d think, even still today. We’ve already looked at it in a bit more depth than the other nine because the presentation of it is so much different here in Deu. than in Exo. If you recall, the basis for honoring the Sabbath in Exo.20:11 was rooted in God’s pattern in creation week, resting on the seventh day. But in Deu.5:15 it is rooted in God’s deliverance of Israel out of slavery in Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Along with this difference, there were expanded lists of those who should be allowed to observe the Sabbath, both people and animals.

We said at the time that this expanded instruction is suggesting that Israel’s response should show up in how they treat people, especially their servants, and how they treat their animals, even how they treat their land. The grace and favor with which they manage what belongs to them should reflect the grace and favor God has shown to them in delivering them out of [slavery] in the land of Egypt. The blessing of Sabbath that they enjoy in their relationship with God should be extended to all who’re around them, to [everyone and] everything under their charge and in their sphere of influence.

We said there [seemed] to be special emphasis on spreading this blessing to those who [were] vulnerable, those who [were] in need of care, including animals but especially people, their [servants].

It [seemed like] Deu.5’s version of the fourth commandment was setting us up to understand… that God’s people honor Him on His holy Sabbath by treating others with the same mercy and grace that He has shown to them. It’s like Exo.20 is calling Israel to keep the Sabbath as an expression of love and devotion to their great and glorious God, and Deu.5 is calling them to keep [it] by receiving His love and turning it outward toward [others], especially [toward those who are] in some form of dependence or need. That’s what we said then.

Well, here in our passage today, we get to listen in on Moses’ instruction to Israel regarding the application of this fourth commandment. And I think it could bear some fruit in our lives, just by listening to it. Resting from all their labors on the seventh day each week—and making sure their family rested, and their servants and guests and animals—was not the only way for Israel to observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy (5:12). It was surely one of the best ways to display their distinctiveness as a people holy to the Lord (14:2, 21), a people for his treasured possession (14:2). If done from the heart, few things could proclaim better or more clearly that their trust was in the Lord [their] God for their every provision, which is what Sabbath is supposed to proclaim.

But perhaps there’s one thing that could be added to rest one day in seven that would magnify trust and confidence in the Lord even further, an added response that goes beyond the joy that treats rest as a blessing from the Lord rather than as a [grudging] obligation to Him. What is that response? Generosity! If Israel could go beyond merely joyful trust in the Lord to provide for their needs even though they were taking one day off a week, and add to that a spirit of joyful generosity with all that God had provided, then that would express the true heart of the fourth commandment!

We saw the start of this instruction last week as we met the principle of [tithing] (14:22-29). Now it continues on in 15:1-16:17: instruction on honoring the fourth commandment—instruction that could help us know how to honor it today. Let’s hear this teaching under three headings.

A Portrait of Practical Worship

I’m calling this a portrait of practical worship because [observing] the sabbath day to keep it holy is a practical expression of worship. It honors God as God. It doesn’t just make room for Him to be God in our lives, it depends on Him to be God, to provide for our needs, to care for us on the seventh day in affirmation not only of His ability to care for us on the other six days, but of the fact that He actually does! We can rest because God is our Provider! That’s what Moses is teaching Israel here. And He paints a beautiful picture of it, a picture of joyful generosity that displays deep, abiding trust in God.

A quick overview of where he goes here: 1) the teaching on [tithing] (14:22-29) is part of this picture; then 2) comes instruction the sabbatical year (15:1-11), the year of release (1, 2, 3, 9), as it’s called, remission of all debt (Grisanti 633); 3) this release also applies to those whose hardship has landed them in indentured servitude (15:12-18); then 4) there’s a change of gears (15:19-23): the [unblemished] firstborn of [each] herd and flock [should be dedicated] to the Lord; and finally, 5) the three pilgrimage [feasts] are reaffirmed (16:1-17). Each of these tie in with the principle of Sabbath because they’re occasions of tribute presentation (Merrill 256) at the place where God chose. They were times when Israel presented back to God a portion of His [blessings] in acknowledgment of the fact that He was the Source of all their [blessings].

All of this was supposed to work together as an expression from Israel that their trust and full confidence was in the Lord. Moses was calling them to be so sure of God’s provision for them, and so satisfied in it, that they could share it with anyone in need or spend it freely in worship of Him without the slightest fear of lack! That’s what we’re reading in this passage!

4 … [T]he Lord will bless you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance to possess, Moses is saying, 5 if only you will strictly obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all this commandment that I command you today. If you will just trust God in this way when you get in the land, and do all that He says, the results among you will be dramatic! They’ll be almost indescribable!

We see that best in this strange interplay between v.4 and v.11. If you practice this year of release where every creditor shall release what he has lent to his neighbor (2, meaning his fellow Israelite [cf. 3]), then 4 … there will be no poor among you…. But as Moses continues on, telling them of the importance of their faithful commitment to this joyful generosity that will eradicate poverty in the land—as he presses them to make sure they never look grudgingly on [their] poor brother who perhaps has a great need as the seventh year is approaching, such that their sizeable gift might soon be forgiven with little or no repayment—he tells them that 11 … there will never cease to be poor in the land….

So, which is it, no poor among you or [no end of] poor among you? I think it is both! The poor will always be cared for in the land. But it will never get to the place where the joyful generosity that cares for the poor won’t be needed. That is how poverty will be neutralized among you.

That generosity was supposed to flow even to the more desperately needy in the land, to those whose plight had left them unable to profit from their own inheritance such that they had to go to work for a fellow Israelite who would care for their needs (16), provide them a stipend (18), and benefit from their work (12). But even here, the emphasis is not on the work arrangement, or even the fact that this struggling laborer (Hebrew is not… an ethnic designator but… a socioeconomic term referring to a class of people who lived on the fringe of Israelite society [Grisanti 634]) might be so well-treated by his fellow Israelite that he chooses to work for him the rest of his life (17). Rather, the emphasis is on the release of this worker after a maximum of six years, and the generous endowment of him when he leaves (14). After all, the Egyptians lavished gifts on Israel as they left cruel slavery in Egypt (cf.15); how could Israelite masters do any less than that?

Next Moses reminds them that the [unblemished] firstborn males of their herd and flock shall [be dedicated] to the Lord, just like the seventh day. [Blemished firstborns] can be [eaten] (22) just like the [unblemished] (20), but they can’t be [sacrificed] to the Lord (21).

Finally comes the [feasts]. Israel should travel to the central sanctuary three times a year, a week at a time, to celebrate Passover (16:1-8) each spring, their deliverance from Egypt, then Weeks (16:8-12, Pentecost) fifty days later (the day after the seventh Sabbath [Lev.23:15-16], which means Pentecost always a Sunday), and finally Booths (16:13-15, Tabernacles) every fall—Weeks is the first harvest, Booths is the final (Merrill 255). The purpose here, though, is not to explain the details of these celebrations but to identify them as times that belong to the Lord, additional times when Israel would give themselves to the worship of God and the celebration of His goodness and ample provision, and would cease from work to do it! This was a free people, delivered from slavery, and not dependent on the work of their own hands to prosper, all in praise of the presence, power, and provision of their God!

A Problem with Personal Perspective

 So, this instruction is being given so that they won’t lose sight of that! But that struggle is not an easy one. There was a problem with their personal perspective that left them vulnerable to the belief that their provision did depend on their own labors, and that their prosperity was their private property, and that protection of their possessions was their own responsibility. And that perspective was more than enough to produce in them a grudging heart toward any needy brothers (15:10), thus leaving them in great need of hearing this command (15:11): open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land—notice in your land.

So, despite the proven power and abundant provision of their undeniably present God, Israel needed to be called away from being stingy and selfish, from lacking compassion and mercy and all expression of generosity. They could actually [see a brother] in need, yet [close their] heart against him (1Jo.3:17; cf. Jam.5:1-6). And the hardest part to believe is that they might even feel like they were doing the right thing in this, like they were being wise and discerning not to reward someone who was slothful or to enable someone who was lazy.

But what Moses wanted Israel to understand, first, is that it is God Who is the Source of their blessing. They don’t generate blessing by their own wisdom or work. And even if they’re wealthy, it is he who gives [them] the power to get wealth (8:18). And second, once they have wealth, it is so much better to think of it as His rather than theirs, and to use it as though it were His rather than theirs. Have you noticed how much easier it is to spend other people’s money than your own? God has given them this blessing so that it can be used for His purposes. And they need to recognize, therefore, they their wellbeing is tied up with their fellow Israelites such that, as they help their brother in need, they’re blessing both!

Lacking that perspective personally is a tragic problem! But the hard truth is that we still suffer under the same problem today. Our resources, our power to get wealth, is no less God’s doing in our day than it was in theirs. His presence and power and provision are no less ours than theirs. But how many people do you know, even in the church today, the new covenant community, who are joyfully generous, who truly delight to use God’s resources for the wellbeing of His people and the work of His Kingdom? How many?

A Resolution of Epic Proportion

When we hear Moses’ instruction to Israel here, we wish our voices could carry back in time so we could shout from their mountain tops or even just whisper in their ears: Do it! Listen to Moses and obey! Be generous with your resources to take care of the covenant community, to love your brother in need! Do it! Just see how the Lord your God (281 times in Deu.) will pour out blessing on you! He’s shown you so much generous power, love, mercy already! Trust Him!

Don’t you want to say that to them? But what do you think they might want to say to us this morning, now that they’re safely in the presence of the Lord awaiting His return for us all, now that they’ve see how His plan has played out, how His ultimate salvation has been accomplished, His greatest deliverance from slavery performed? What might they say? Oh, believer in Jesus, listen to Moses here! Listen to your Savior! Listen to the Spirit Who’s been given to teach and remind, to enable your understanding of God’s Word and His works. Listen and obey! Don’t store up treasure on earth, store it up in heaven (Mat.6:19-21). Use it to build His Kingdom (Luk.16:9). Lose your life that you might find it (Mar.8:34-35). Sell all that you have and buy the field of treasure (Mat.13:44). Love your brother earnestly from a sincere heart (1Pe.1:22). Present your body as a living sacrifice (Rom.12:1). Render to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s (Luk.20:25). And in so doing, live in the spirit of Sabbath rest! Trust Him to provide and be joyfully generous with it all (2Co.9:6-8). After all: He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? (Rom.8:32) That’s what they might say.

Conclusion

We’ll talk more about this this evening. But for now, let’s come to the Table of the Lord and give thanks for the Provision of God that is so generous even we can see that all the riches in the world could not compensate us if we lose Him to gain them.