SABBATHS: A MERE TASTE OF EDENIC GARDEN DOMINION
August 14, 2011
MF
Blume
Leviticus
25:2-7
MKJV Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, When you come
into
the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath to
Jehovah. (3) You shall sow your field six years, and you
shall prune
your vineyard six years, and gather in the fruit of it. (4)
But in
the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest to the land, a sabbath for
Jehovah. You shall neither sow your field, nor prune your
vineyard.
(5) You shall not reap that which grows of its own accord of your
harvest, neither gather the grapes of your undressed vine. It is a year
of rest to the land. (6) And the sabbath of the land shall
be food
for you, for you and for your servant, and for your slave woman and for
your hired servant, and for your stranger who stays with you,
(7) and
for your cattle, and for the beast that is in your land, shall all the
increase of it be for food.
The Lord teaches Israel about JUBILEE year next.
· But after that, he responds to the obvious
question about Sabbath years.
Leviticus 25:20-22 MKJV (20) And if you shall say, What
shall we eat the seventh year? Behold, we shall not sow nor gather in
our increase! (21) Then I will command My blessing on you
in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three
years. (22) And you shall sow the eighth year, and eat of
old fruit until the ninth year; until its fruits come in, you shall eat
the old fruit.
God said he would command a blessing on Israel in the sixth year.
· The sixth year shall bring forth food for
THREE YEARS!
· It would take care of the sixth year,
itself, as each year took care of itself.
· But it would also take care of the 7th year
since no work could be done then.
· And it would ALSO take care of the 8th year
when they had to start sowing all over again.
Just as man worked six days and rested the seventh, man sowed six years
and not sow the seventh.
More food would visibly result from the ground in the sixth year they
sowed than any other year!
THE SAME THING HAPPENED WITH MANNA.
Exodus 16:12-15 KJV I have heard the murmurings of the children
of Israel: speak unto them, saying, At even ye shall eat flesh, and in
the morning ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I am
the LORD your God. (13) And it came to pass, that at even
the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew
lay round about the host. (14) And when the dew that lay
was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small
round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground. (15)
And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is
manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is
the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat.
IT IS MANNA is literally saying, “WHAT IS THIS?”
Exodus 16:14-15 MKJV And when the layer of dew had gone up,
behold, there was a small round thing upon the face of the wilderness,
small as the hoar-frost upon the ground. (15) And when the
sons of Israel saw, they said each one to his brother, What is that?
For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, This is the
bread which Jehovah has given you to eat.
And for the seventh day:
Exodus 16:22-26 MSG On the sixth day they gathered twice as much
bread, about four quarts per person. Then the leaders of the company
came to Moses and reported. (23) Moses said, "This is what
GOD was talking about: Tomorrow is a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to
GOD. Whatever you plan to bake, bake today; and whatever you plan to
boil, boil today. Then set aside the leftovers until morning."
(24) They set aside what was left until morning, as Moses had
commanded. It didn't smell bad and there were no worms in it.
(25) Moses said, "Now eat it; this is the day, a Sabbath for GOD.
You won't find any of it on the ground today. (26) Gather
it every day for six days, but the seventh day is Sabbath; there won't
be any of it on the ground."
Look back in the text and notice this detail:
Exodus 16:19-20 MKJV And Moses said, Let no man leave of it until
the morning. (20) But they did not listen to Moses, but
some of them left of it until the morning. And it became rotten with
maggots, and stank. And Moses was angry with them.
(24) They set aside what was left until morning, as Moses had
commanded. It didn't smell bad and there were no worms in it.
Not only did twice as much fall on the Sabbath day, but after they ate
their fill of one portion, the remainder they left over for the Sabbath
DID NOT DECAY!
It had the nature of IMMORTALITY AND INCORRUPTION!
· This was the state of man before sin in the
Garden!
Exodus 16:29 MKJV See, because Jehovah has given you the sabbath,
therefore He gives you the bread of two days on the sixth day. Each one
stay in his place. Let not any one go out of his place on the seventh
day.
This is analogous to THE GARDEN OF EDEN state of things.
Genesis 2:8-10 MKJV And Jehovah God planted a garden eastward in
Eden. And there He put the man whom He had formed. (9) And
out of the ground Jehovah God caused to grow every tree that is
pleasant to the sight, and good for food. The tree of life also was in
the middle of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and
evil. (10) And a river went out of Eden to water the
garden. And from there it was divided and became four heads.
Genesis 2:16-17 MKJV And Jehovah God commanded the man, saying,
You may freely eat of every tree in the garden, (17) but
you shall not eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. For in the
day that you eat of it you shall surely die.
Man did not work in the Garden of Eden before the fall into sin.
He did not DIE!
Genesis 3:17-19 MKJV And to Adam He said, Because you have
listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree, of which
I commanded you, saying, You shall not eat of it! The ground is cursed
for your sake. In pain shall you eat of it all the days of your
life. (18) It shall also bring forth thorns and thistles to
you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. (19) In the
sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall
return.
Sabbath day and Sabbath year saw a miracle of a blessing that was a
temporary restoration to the GARDEN OF EDEN.
· There, MAN WAS A KING, NOT A LABOURER!
GOD planted a garden and caused trees to grow.
· He planted the Garden.
· Caused trees to grow.
· And rivers watered the Garden.
· ….NOT MAN.
It’s as though the blessing on the 6th day and 6th year reminds
us of man’s creation ON THE SIXTH DAY!
· Man was created to be a KING AND RULE THE
EARTH.
· SUBDUE THE EARTH, NOT WORK IT!
· It’s like earth began ruling man in
one sense.
· Earth commanded man what to do instead of
man commanding earth.
Genesis 1:26 MKJV And God said, Let Us make man in Our image,
after Our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the
sea, and over the fowl of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over
all the earth, and over all the creepers creeping on the earth.
So the SABBATH DAY and SABBATH YEAR was a temporal GARDEN OF EDEN
BLESSING on Israel.
Man was created the sixth day, the very day before the day of rest.
· He was created not on the first day with all
the works of creation to follow that, with the light spoken on the
second, etc.
· He was created on the sixth day.
· And the work week was formed with this in
mind.
· In other words REST BEFORE YOU WORK.
· If Adam’s first full day of existence
was a day of rest, then it shows a message of not working UNTIL AFTER A
DAY OF REST.
But we are going further than this with the picture of work.
· We continue in secular jobs and careers.
· But when we think in spiritual terms,
consider the implications.
· This kingdom is SPIRITUAL.
· SPIRITUALLY, we lost DOMINION and law of
Moses came for man to WORK in order to deal with sin.
· Man suffered under the toil of sin in a
sinful world.
· Man was not in CONTROL any more.
· Jesus restores us to KINGDOM SPIRITUAL
DOMINION.
A similar picture is found in Joshua’s guidance of Israel into
the promised land.
Recall we read this about SABBATH YEAR AND HARVEST:
Lev. 25: (22) And you shall sow the eighth year, and eat of old
fruit until the ninth year; until its fruits come in, you shall eat the
old fruit.
Compare this with words from Joshua…
Joshua 5:11-12 MKJV And they ate of the old grain of the land on
the next day after the Passover, unleavened cakes and roasted grain in
the same day. (12) And the manna stopped on the next day
after they had eaten the old grain of the land. And there was no more
manna to the sons of Israel, but they ate the fruit of the land of
Canaan that year.
OLD GRAIN of the land was the grain from the previous year’s
harvest left by the inhabitants of the land of Canaan.
· No more manna to eat.
· They graduated from manna to FRUIT OF
THE LAND.
· Passover started a new year, so they ate
harvest of Canaan for that whole year onward.
IT WAS ALREADY HARVESTED!
Joshua 5:13-15 MKJV And it happened, when Joshua was beside
Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked. And, behold, there stood a
Man in front of him with His sword drawn in His hand. And Joshua went
to Him and said to Him, Are You for us, or for our foes?
(14) And He said, No, but I have come as the Commander of the
army of Jehovah. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth. And he
worshiped and said to Him, What does my Lord say to His servant?
(15) And the Commander of Jehovah's army said to Joshua, Take
your shoe off your foot, for the place on which you stand is holy. And
Joshua did so.
JUST LIKE THE ENTRANCE TO THE GARDEN OF EDEN, JOSHUA SEES AND ANGEL
WITH A SWORD!
Genesis 3:23-24 MKJV therefore Jehovah God sent him out from the
garden of Eden to till the ground from which he had been taken.
(24) And He drove out the man. And He placed cherubs at the east
of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to
guard the way to the tree of life.
Notice this is significant of WORK AND TILLING THE GROUND.
· The cherubims and sword are not mentioned
until after we read God cast man out to TILL THE GROUND from where he
was taken.
· So the sword at the entrance to the Garden
is ASSOCIATED WITH tilling the ground – standing in a fallen
state from KING OVER EARTH to a labourer and worker.
When Israel graduates from MANNA, (which in itself showed an EDENIC
BLESSING of twice as much on the sixth day that did not spoil), to OLD
CORN OF THE LAND that THEY DID NOT HARVEST (DID NOT WORK FOR), Joshua
sees a similar picture of the cherubim in the Garden of Eden.
· They were there to keep man out of BLESSINGS.
· They were there in the Garden entrance to
show man was no longer KING.
· Man had to work for his food.
· And now Joshua sees this angel with a sword.
· BUT THE ANGEL IS NOT TO KEEP HIM OUT, but to
do as follows…
Recall the last words of Chapter 5 were about Joshua obeying the angel.
· And just like Moses saw the Angel of the
Lord in a burning bush, where he was told to take his shoes off, GOD,
HIMSELF, SPEAKS FROM THIS ANGEL and gives directions to Joshua.
· Instead of giving directions about going to
Pharaoh and commanding him to let Israel god, GOD tells Joshua to do
the following:
Joshua 6:1-4 MKJV And Jericho was completely shut up because of
the sons of Israel. None went out and none came in. (2) And
Jehovah said to Joshua, See, I have given Jericho into your hand, and
its king, and the mighty men of war. (3) And you shall go
around the city, all the men of war. Go around the city once. So you
shall do for six days. (4) And seven priests shall bear
seven trumpets of ram's horns in front of the ark. And the seventh day
you shall go around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow
with the trumpets.
GOD GAVE JERICHO INTO THEIR HAND!
· HE GAVE THEM ITS KING!
· They would not raise a sword or spear, BUT
BLOW TRUMPETS!
· SHOFARS!
· Like SOUNDING THE JUBILEE TRUMPET YOBEL!
· SEVEN OF THEM!
Joshua 6:5 MKJV And it shall be when they make a long blast with
the ram's horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the
people shall shout with a great shout. And the wall of the city shall
fall down flat, and the people shall go up, each man straight before
him.
TALK ABOUT EDENIC RESTORATION OF KINGDOM DOMINION!
· The God who planted the Garden grew the
trees and watered the Garden, where Adam DID NOT WORK, FIGHTS AGAINST
JERICHO!
· Israel DOES NOT FIGHT!
· (No wonder the FIRSTFRUITS of
Jericho’s spoil is for God, since GOD DID THE WORK!)
And an angel standing at that PROMISED LAND ENTRANCE, just as cherubims
stood in the GARDEN ENTRANCE IN GENESIS, is telling this to Joshua!
· In other words, the emblem of man being cast
from the garden and unable to return, since his sin caused a curse of
labour to come upon him, is once again in view, BUT THIS TIME ESCORTING
MAN IN AND INFORMING HIM THAT HE NEED NOT FIGHT, BUT SIMPLY BLOW SEVEN
TRUMPETS AND SHOUT!
· It might as well have been MAN WALKING BACK
INTO THE GARDEN TO NOT WORK ANY MORE for all intents and purposes!
· ENTRANCE OF PROMISED LAND – ENTRANCE
OF GARDEN.
· SWORD HELD TO BLOCK THE WAY in both cases.
· ISSUE OF GOD WORKING AND NOT MAN in both
cases.
As the Garden was a kingdom, where MAN WHO WORKS CANNOT ABIDE, the
promised land was introduced to Israel with only a temporary moment of
EDENIC BLESSING OF DOMINION.
· But it was nevertheless an EDENIC BLESSING.
From SABBATH YEAR blessings of the sixth year tripling of harvest,
· To the Sabbath year’s double portion
of REST FOR THE LAND (49th and 50th years were Sabbath rests)…
· To the sixth day’s double portion of
manna…
· To eating the OLD GRAIN OF THE LAND
HARVESTED BY SOMEONE ELSE…
· To the SWORD at the ENTRANCE that only
allowed in THOSE WHO DO NOT WORK…
· We see over and over again the message of a
RETURN to the EDENIC BLESSING OF KINGDOM DOMINION instead of laboring
work and sweat.
No wonder Paul said in Gal 5:1 that there is LIBERTY – a
spiritual jubilee – even from LAW, where one was required to
commit WORKS FOR SALVATION, for the believer!
We do not have a Sabbath day where there is only a temporal blessing
for twenty four hours of the REST God had for man.
· WE HAVE A SABBATH FOREVER!
· And it does not even start after we die and
go to heaven.
· IT STARTED ALREADY.
But it’s as it was with Israel.
· Israel got greater glimpses of KINGDOM
DOMINION and REST.
· First they are set free from bondage in
Egypt.
· Then they gather manna they did not plant.
· Then, to make it better, the manna comes in
double the amount on the sixth day, the same day man was created (A
REMINDER OF EDEN).
· THEN IT CEASES once they eat OLD GRAIN OF
THE LAND THAT WAS HARVESTED BY SOMEONE ELSE.
· THEN AN ANGEL WITH A SWORD, REMINISCENT OF
THE SWORD IN THE GARDEN’S ENTRANCE ESCORTS THEM IN.
· And the Lord tells Joshua NOT TO FIGHT, but
blow trumpets and holler.
ONCE IN THE LAND, after it is divided it only gets better.
· SABBATH YEARS commence to give rest to the
land.
· JUBILEE YEARS come when all is restored to
original owners and people to their families.
We see a progressive, increasing revelation of REST and GARDEN DOMINION
in Israel’s history with Exodus into Canaan.
