The equity of the Mosaic laws has striking illustrations in the words now under review. We see it -
I. IN THE KINDNESS ENJOINED TOWARDS THE POOR.
1. Their necessities are to be relieved.
(1) Though they be strangers. The stranger "with" the Hebrew, and so, subject to his law, is recognized as a brother (see verses 35, 36).
(2) Usury is not to be taken from the poor. "That thy brother may live." Rights of property must not override those of existence (Matthew 6:25). "That thy brother may live with thee." The hands of the poor are as necessary to the rich as is the wealth of the rich to the poor.
2. The reasons for mercy are edifying.
(1) "I am the Lord your God." I stand in covenant relationship to you. I have a right to require this of thee.
(2) I "brought thee out of the land of Egypt." The remembrance of thy miseries in Egypt should influence thee to consider those of the poor stranger by thee.
(3) I "gave you the land of Canaan." Gratitude to me should move thee. I can yet more gloriously reward thy mercy in giving thee inheritance in the heavenly Canaan.
II. IN THE KINDNESS ENJOINED TOWARDS THE SLAVE.
1. The Hebrew must show it.
(1) Not to his brother only, but also towards the stranger.
(2) Yet there is a difference. The Hebrew slave goes out in the jubilee; but the power of a Hebrew master over the stranger is not then removed. This law prefigured the dominion which the righteous will have over the wicked in the morning, viz. of the resurrection (see Psalm 49:14).
(3) The stranger, by becoming a proselyte, might claim the privilege of the Hebrew. So may the wicked, by repentance towards God and faith in the Lord Jesus, become a Christian, and enjoy the privileges of the righteous.
2. The stranger must show it.
(1) The stranger is presumed to be not so merciful as the Hebrew. Privileges of grace should make men generous.
(2) The cruelty of the wicked must be restrained by the laws of the good.
III. IN THE DETERMINATION OF THE RANSOM PRICE. In this determination:
1. The rate of wages is an element. The principles of hired service should be remembered by masters in the treatment of slaves.
2. This rate was then multiplied into the years prospective to the jubilee.
(1) This determination of the rate was in favour of the slave; for if the law had not settled it, then it must be settled by agreement, in which case the master would be in a position to drive a hard bargain to the prejudice of the slave. Law should, for the same reason, control the claims of landlords where they prejudice the rights of their tenantry.
(2) In this law there is equity also with respect to the master. Any difference in the value to him of a slave over that of a hired servant is compensated in the risk of life, in which, after the redemption, he has now no pecuniary concern.
IV. IN THE DIFFERENCE OF THE LAW RELATING TO A COUNTRY HOUSE AS COMPARED WITH A HOUSE IN A WALLED CITY.
1. The country house returned to the owner of the land.
(1) This house is presumed to be simply a residence. The inconvenience of removal of residence is not formidable.
(2) To a Christian the removal of residence from this world should not be formidable.
2. The house in the walled city did not so return.
(1) Such a house may be presumed to be a place of business. In this case, establishment in a locality is often of great importance. Landlords should consider the interests of their tenants as well as their own.
(2) But within the first twelve months after the sale of a house in a walled city, the owner bad a power of redemption. This was before the business could be said to be established. It gave the seller an opportunity to repent of a bargain which may have been forced upon him by the pressure of a temporary necessity.
(3) What a mercy that the sinner has space for repentance! - J.A.M.
And if thy brother be waxen poor.
Mr. William Gilbert, describing in
Good Words the cases of mendicancy which he saw appear before the Jewish Board of Guardians, tells of a Prussian Jew, quite blind, who was led into the room by a child of one of the lodgers of the house he lived in. He informed the Board that he had been some weeks in England, and was utterly destitute. On being asked how he had contrived to live, he replied that the poor Jews in Petticoat Lane had made a subscription for him, and he had received about eight shillings a week from the pence they had subscribed.
People
Israelites,
Levites,
MosesPlaces
Canaan,
Egypt,
Mount SinaiTopics
Able, Alien, Becomes, Beside, Brother, Can't, Case, Continue, Countryman, Countrymen, Decay, Fail, Failed, Fallen, Falter, Grow, Hast, Helping, Hold, Kept, Maintain, Poor, Regard, Relieve, Resident, Settler, Sojourner, Stranger, Support, Sustain, Temporary, Though, Unable, Uphold, Waxed, Waxen, Yea, YoursOutline
1. the Sabbath of the seventh year8. The jubilee in the fiftieth year14. Of oppression18. A blessing of obedience23. The redemption of land29. Of houses35. Compassion to the poor39. The usage of bondmen47. The redemption of servantsDictionary of Bible Themes
Leviticus 25:35 5476 property
8243 ethics, social
8262 generosity, human
Leviticus 25:23-43
5504 rights
Leviticus 25:35-36
8337 reverence, and behaviour
Leviticus 25:35-37
5353 interest
5389 lending
5448 poverty, attitudes to
Leviticus 25:35-42
5909 motives, importance
Leviticus 25:35-43
5274 credit
5289 debt
Library
Sojourners with God
'The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land is Mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with Me.' --LEV. xxv. 23. The singular institution of the Jubilee year had more than one purpose. As a social and economical arrangement it tended to prevent the extremes of wealth and poverty. Every fiftieth year the land was to revert to its original owners, the lineal descendants of those who had 'come in with the conqueror,' Joshua. Debts were to be remitted, slaves emancipated, and so the mountains …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy ScriptureGod's Slaves
'For they are My servants, which I brought forth out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as bondmen.' --LEV. xxv. 42. This is the basis of the Mosaic legislation as to slavery. It did not suppress but regulated that accursed system. Certainly Hebrew slavery was a very different thing from that of other nations. In the first place, no Jew was to be a slave. To that broad principle there were exceptions, such as the case of the man who voluntarily gave himself up to his creditor. But even …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture
The Kinsman Redeemer
'After that he is sold he may be redeemed again; one of his brethren may redeem him.'--LEV. xxv. 48. There are several of the institutions and precepts of the Mosaic legislation which, though not prophetic, nor typical, have yet remarkable correspondences with lofty Christian truth. They may be used as symbols, if only we remember that we are diverting them from their original purpose. How singularly these words lend themselves to the statement of the very central truths of Christianity--a slavery …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture
Boniface viii Ad 1294-1303.
PART I In Celestine's place was chosen Benedict Gaetani, who, although even older than the worn-out and doting late pope, was still full of strength, both in body and in mind. Benedict (who took the name of Boniface VIII) is said to have been very learned, especially in matters at law; but his pride and ambition led him into attempts which ended in his own ruin, and did serious harm to the papacy. In the year 1300 Boniface set on foot what was called the Jubilee. You will remember the Jubilee which …
J. C. Roberston—Sketches of Church History, from AD 33 to the Reformation
The Kinsman-Redeemer
'Their Redeemer is strong; the Lord of Hosts is His name: He shall thoroughly plead their cause.'--JER. l. 34. Among the remarkable provisions of the Mosaic law there were some very peculiar ones affecting the next-of-kin. The nearest living blood relation to a man had certain obligations and offices to discharge, under certain contingencies, in respect of which he received a special name; which is sometimes translated in the Old Testament 'Redeemer,' and sometimes 'Avenger' of blood. What the etymological …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture
The Day of Atonement
Now, I shall invite your attention to the ceremonies of this solemn day, taking the different parts in detail. First, we shall consider the person who made the atonement; secondly, the sacrifice whereby the atonement was typically made; thirdly, the effects of the atonement; and fourthly, our behaviour on the recollection of the atonement, as well set forth by the conduct prescribed to the Israelites on that day. I. First, THE PERSON WHO WAS TO MAKE THE ATONEMENT. And at the outset, we remark that …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 2: 1856
Appeal to the Christian Women of the South
BY A.E. GRIMKE. "Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not within thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house more than all the Jews. For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place: but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this. And Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer:--and so will I go in unto the king, …
Angelina Emily Grimke—An Appeal to the Christian Women of the South
Sin and Forgiveness Between Brethren.
(Autumn, a.d. 29.) ^A Matt. XVIII. 15-35. ^a 15 And if thy brother sin against thee, go, show him his fault between thee and him alone: if he hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. [Having warned against giving offense, Jesus now shows how to act when offense is received. The fault is to be pointed out to the offender, but for the purpose of gaining him--not from a desire to humiliate him. The offended is to seek the offender, and the offender is likewise to seek the offended (Matt. xv. 23, 24), …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel
Commerce
The remarkable change which we have noticed in the views of Jewish authorities, from contempt to almost affectation of manual labour, could certainly not have been arbitrary. But as we fail to discover here any religious motive, we can only account for it on the score of altered political and social circumstances. So long as the people were, at least nominally, independent, and in possession of their own land, constant engagement in a trade would probably mark an inferior social stage, and imply …
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life
"And the Redeemer Shall Come unto Zion, and unto them that Turn,"
Isaiah lix. 20.--"And the Redeemer shall come unto Zion, and unto them that turn," &c. Doctrines, as things, have their seasons and times. Every thing is beautiful in its season. So there is no word of truth, but it hath a season and time in which it is beautiful. And indeed that is a great part of wisdom, to bring forth everything in its season, to discern when and where, and to whom it is pertinent and edifying, to speak such and such truths. But there is one doctrine that is never out of season, …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning
The Eighth Commandment
Thou shalt not steal.' Exod 20: 15. AS the holiness of God sets him against uncleanness, in the command Thou shalt not commit adultery;' so the justice of God sets him against rapine and robbery, in the command, Thou shalt not steal.' The thing forbidden in this commandment, is meddling with another man's property. The civil lawyers define furtum, stealth or theft to be the laying hands unjustly on that which is another's;' the invading another's right. I. The causes of theft. [1] The internal causes …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments
Baptism
Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them,' &c. Matt 28: 19. I. The way whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of redemptions, is, in the use of the sacraments. What are the sacraments in general? They are visible signs of invisible grace. Is not the word of God sufficient to salvation? What need then is there of sacraments? We must not be wise above what is written. It is God's will that his church …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments
Leviticus
The emphasis which modern criticism has very properly laid on the prophetic books and the prophetic element generally in the Old Testament, has had the effect of somewhat diverting popular attention from the priestly contributions to the literature and religion of Israel. From this neglect Leviticus has suffered most. Yet for many reasons it is worthy of close attention; it is the deliberate expression of the priestly mind of Israel at its best, and it thus forms a welcome foil to the unattractive …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament
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