Parashat B'Har
("At the Mountain")

It has been a long time since YHWH mentioned the location, though we have been at this location for the whole book. (7:38) It is therefore important that the contents of this chapter in particular be associated with the fact that Moshe was standing on Mt. Sinai when he heard them. The instructions that follow are not, like some parts of the Torah, a response to particular events or situations that arose somewhat randomly. These were part of YHWH’s original intent regarding His covenant with Israel. Sinai is called the Mountain of YHWH (Ex. 3:1, 12), but so is the Temple Mount (Yeshayahu 2:3). But what connection is there between them, since one is in the wilderness of Arabia and the other in Yerushalayim, the apple of YHWH’s eye? The numerical value of the word Sinai (130) is the same as that of the Hebrew word sullam--a staircase (as seen in Gen. 28:12), and that specific one was at the site of the later Temple. A staircase allows us to ascend higher toward YHWH, and the commands given here are for the same purpose. There is another word that also has this numerical value: moadai ("my appointments", as in Lev. 23:2). These were commanded on Mt. Sinai, but were ultimately to be carried out on Mt. Moryah, at the Temple where He would finally be at Home.

The Land of Israel is topographically diverse, encompassing nearly every climatic zone in a very small area. It has a little bit of everything. But the wind will keep blowing in the desert and the rivers will keep flowing during this time in which the Land rests. So this is speaking of a particular aspect of the Land. Israel is a living land in a way that no other is. It, too, is granted a mandatory time of rest. We must not only possess the Land, but also be the kind of people who can get along with it. His Land is to do what its people do, because it corresponds to us and is symbolic of His covenant people, and it is meant to provide for us. By eating of it, it literally becomes part of us as its nutrients pass through the food grown there into us. One’s body regenerates every seven years, at the same interval as the Land. We literally are what we have eaten in the last seven years. If we have eaten defiled animals, we are made up of unclean things. We must consume what we want to become in the next seven years. Most of the people to whom Moshe was speaking had never had a home. They have been wanderers with only the promise and hope of a new home. They had been eating manna, but it stopped when they began to eat of the produce of this Land, and it therefore became part of them. After seven years, the cells in their bodies would all be replaced with the nutrients from that very ground. In a way they thus "became" that Land. They were formed from it, making the Land and people one in another way. When we cease from working it, we more easily recognize the partnership we have with it. It is feeding us. If we do not observe this Sabbath, the Land will not be able to either. By allowing it to rest, we are give rest as well. It is the Land that He is giving us. He chose it for us, so it must be the best thing for us. It might not be what we would choose, but it is the one He wants His people to have. He could have killed all the Egyptians and given them that wealthy land, with cities already built. But He had something different in mind for us. When we touch the Land, we immediately know it is calling to us. What is wrong with the lands we now live in? They may have snowier mountains, hotter deserts, or mightier rivers than it does. We are certainly grateful for a land that has afforded us the freedom to explore who we really are. But it is not our home. It is like Goshen; it has the purpose of bringing His people together to become a family again and prepare us to go to our true home. That Land is a land of provision (Deut. 8:6). When He speaks of the Land, YHWH always begins with keeping His commandments. YHWH says His eyes are on it the whole year. (Deut. 11:8ff) If we keep our eyes on it as well, we will be one with Him, just as two people sharing the same beautiful view find common ground they might not otherwise have noticed. His Land always has something to teach us. His Land is not like Egypt, where we could count on the Nile to always provide us with irrigation. We cannot always draw water from a river, especially on the terraced farms high up in the mountains. Instead, Israel drinks the water of heaven. We must depend on YHWH to send the rain, and we have a part in determining its fruitfulness through our prayers. The seventh year especially reminds us to ask for His provision. At the feast of Sukkoth each year there is time set aside to specifically pray for the right kind of rains in season. Pay attention to its seasons, because its cycles form the pattern for our lives and provide the framework for the times He has appointed to meet with us. In almost all of His parables, Yahshua spoke of what was going on in the land. Proving we trust YHWH by stopping our work on the Land is what brings this Land its rest. How do we get to this Land? The first step is to recognize that it belongs to Him just as we do. It is His gift to us, though we have work to do in claiming it. It was designed for His people. It is not like any other land we could acquire, or, by extension, anything we would want for ourselves with our limited perspective. (If we acquire what is not what He intends for us, it will end up owning us instead.) Like Avram, we need to leave behind "our own land" to enter His. But how do we then know which path is His? Yahshua said to enter at the "upright" gate, because the way is narrow and difficult or pressing. (Mat. 7:13ff) The Torah teaches us how to judge which is the right way. Proverbs 14:2 defines uprightness as fearing YHWH--the beginning of knowledge (Prov. 1:7), including knowledge of how to get to His Land both literally and figuratively. The narrow gate limits what we can bring with us. We must whittle down what we have to fit the gate, not try to redesign the gate in order to take what we want through it. We can take each other through with us--and really very little else. Let go of what will not fit, or you will find yourself outside the gate when it is locked.

The principle of leaving the land fallow can be beneficial elsewhere, but it is not mandated. But His Land cannot rest until His people are there, because the Kanaanites were defiling it instead of letting it rest. And it can only rest when we rest. Its rest is directly connected to our actions--or rather, ceasing from action. We are the ones who can give it its rest. As with the weekly sabbath, there is a command to indeed work during the other six years; without this, the ceasing in the seventh means little. After any six units of struggle and toil, the pattern always has in the seventh a taste of the Kingdom, the seventh millennium. In Yirmiyahu 31 the sowing is related to the Renewed Covenant, as the sowing had been related to the scattering of the northern kingdom of Israel among the nations in Hoshea 1 and 2.

The six-then-one pattern is just like the weekly one He prescribed for our refreshment. The seventh day is a picture of the Kingdom that comes after a long struggle. 6+1+6 adds up to 13, the numerical value of the word ekhad (one or unified). 1+6+1 totals 8, the value of the word haBa (the coming one). Put together, a three-week pattern therefore tells us, "Unity is coming!" We enter into the Land’s rest by continuing what He started at creation. This practice (called shmittah in Hebrew) would seem unthinkable in an agrarian society! There was not sufficient industry of other sorts to trade with other nations for adequate food, but this was precisely the intent. In order to obey this command especially, one needs a lot of faith--enough to believe that YHWH will indeed provide for three years in one harvest. (See v. 21.) For one with no faith, this is a frightening thought indeed. For one who trusts YHWH, what could be more liberating? We should not look on it so much as something one HAS to carry out, but as a privilege one GETS to experience! A whole year of not having to work in the fields means one has time to study YHWH's word to his heart's content and spend more time with one another. What freedom! Why, while the world lives for "the day off", is the command to cease laboring considered legalism?! What morbid reasoning! What we've always wanted--a respite from the sweat of the brow--is not only permitted, but actually mandated, and this is perceived as bondage?! Yet so few practice it even in Israel, though the number is increasing. He has given us the tools. If we walk in them, we will see His provision. According to Deuteronomy 4:11, the people were actually standing UNDER this same mountain (v. 1), and a rabbinic tradition says the mountain was lifted up and the community of Israel stood beneath it as a bride and groom stand beneath the khuppah (wedding canopy). The Torah, given there on Shavuoth, was the ketubah, or betrothal contract. The mountain hung over their heads as a threat if they did not obey, but Yahshua said that if one had faith, he could say to THIS mountain, "Be removed". (Mat. 21:21) If we have faith, the threatening aspect of the Torah is removed.

Make the grapes...inaccessible: the Hebrew phrase includes the nuance of fencing them off. It also relates to storing them up in any sort of private hoard. This open access is another foretaste of the return to the Garden of Eden. Untrimmed vines: the same word as a Nazirite, who left his hair untrimmed during his vow of separation unto YHWH. Interestingly enough, the Nazirite was not to partake of the fruit of the vine--possibly because he himself represented such a vine.

The Land does not consume its inhabitants, as the evil spies would report. Instead, we consume it--it feeds us. It even feeds the stranger who is passing through it. The tradition of inviting the needy to share one’s Sabbath dinner is based on this also. We may pick and eat enough for one meal--a reminder in itself of the direct provision known in the Garden of Eden. We may not store, sell, or even tithe any of it this year. We stop all "business transactions" with the Land, and eat from YHWH’s hand, increasing our intimacy with Him and the Land in a way we cannot know it when we are working it, just as we have friends at work, but those with whom we relax and spend our free time with are our true friends.

Here is an interesting incentive for obeying the command to leave the corners of the fields ungleaned for the needy and the sojourner: in the sabbatical year, EVERYONE is needy! We are all on equally insecure footing, humanly speaking. Also, what is not gleaned becomes the seed for "what grows on its own", so the more generous one is during the other six years, the more there will be naturally planted for his own security in that year. It is like Yoseyf's preparation for the famine. Yet, in the final analysis, one does not trust in one's storehouses or what one leaves behind, for it is out of his control, and "treasures laid up on earth" can be consumed by vermin or stolen or ruined by disasters. If this is what we trust, it is probably what will take place. Instead, we lay up treasures in heaven by our generosity, trusting YHWH to repay as we need it.

He adds it up for us to make sure we make no mistake in the counting. This event would generally take place at least once in every individual's lifetime. As we have words in English for pairs, decades, etc., in Hebrew years are grouped into sevens, to correspond with the weekly cycle of seven days and the 7,000-year cycle of human history that ends with a sabbatical millennium. This cycle of seven sevens until physical liberation corresponds with the seven weeks of "counting the measure" from the Firstfruits of the Barley Harvest, culminating in Shavuoth (Pentecost), when both the letter of the Torah and the Spirit were given, resulting in spiritual liberty. Scientists have found a similar pattern in nature, which they have termed the "maintenance factor" which "resets all the clocks".

This is the seventh month of the creation calendar, not the "religious" calendar YHWH instated at the Exodus, because the sabbatical pattern also began at creation. Shofar: the horn of an ibex or wild mountain goat or sheep. Resound: or pass through, based on the same root word as "Hebrew"--one who crosses over; LXX, "make a proclamation". During ordinary years the trumpets are sounded only on the Day of the Awakening Blast, while the Day of Atonement is quiet and solemn. But this year it is different. People who are supposed to be fasting are dispatched throughout the Land to make this loud noise, so no one could help but notice. Yom Kippur is prophetically linked with the Day of Judgment, and what could be a better picture of the justice of that day at the commencement of the Kingdom than the restoration of all things to the way they were originally? This also correlates with the day of Yehudah's mourning being turned into a day of feasting.

Liberty: release, emancipation, "running free", or the "free flowing of myrrh" in Hebrew. In practice, the way this was done in ancient times was to declare, "This year is holy!" The Land was divided by lot among the tribes, but each tribe divided its land out by families. As someone’s crops failed or he changed professions, he might move to another part of the Land. But this year one goes home no matter what, to see the same things his ancestors saw and experience the same things they did. The seventh year would not make much difference if one was not a farmer; it does not say the shoemaker should stop making his shoes. But this year, the butcher, baker, and candlestick maker all go home! They will get to know other members of their tribe who might not have lived in their tribal territory their whole lives. The particular strengths of the tribes returns, as all of their energy comes back into one place. We are again required to take responsibility for what we might have once run from. We cannot ignore our families; we need to recognize which tree we are the fruit of. After the ten tribes left the Land, this all fell apart, and the Jews had great difficulty maintaining this order. Yovel: not the blowing of trumpets as an action, but the sound it makes. It is from a term that means "to bring", but this is the year we do not bring any tithes or firstfruits. It is the year we bring ourselves, body and soul, back to our roots, our priorities back to where they should be. From this we derive the word "jubilee". Yoseyf's returning to the place of his birth allowed Yahshua to be born in Beth Lechem, fulfilling Micha's prophecy; the return of the House of another Yoseyf to our roots prepares the way for his second advent. And those "devout Jews" who came to Yerushalayim for that pivotal Shavuot described in Acts chapter 2 never did return to those foreign lands where they had dwelt, but stayed on in community in the holy city--another foreshadowing of the fulness of restoration that will come when Yahshua returns. YHWH told Noach that mankind's limit was 120 years; there have been 120 sets of 50 years since creation, so Man's rule should be considered over; YHWH's "Great Sabbath" will begin.

The need to trust YHWH doubles, because yet another year in a row is added in which there is no crop planted. One might be able to "fake" his way through one shmittah, but two years in a row? If they are actually trusting in something else, this is when it will really show. But after seven cycles one should have learned to trust Him. Awakening blast (teruah, v. 9) can be translated either "alarm" or "shout of joy". The Day of Atonement is the Day of Judgment if you are on the wrong side of the equation. But when we count ourselves dead to sin, and thus dead to self, it is so we can count ourselves alive to YHWH; the Day the slaves go free is the Day we choose whom we will serve; we can never truly serve self. We are no longer slaves to the Land in order to feed our bellies; instead the Land becomes our servant. Following one law makes us free from the other (Romans 6-8). Teruah is the same term used of the Feast of Trumpets, which is associated with the resurrection of the dead. 1 Thess. 4:16 tells us the Messiah's return will be accompanied by a shout and a trumpet blast, which will indeed be a cause for alarm to those who are not ready for it, but an unspeakable joy to those who, being ready, "love his appearing". Likewise, the yovel is a terror to those who, selfishly, want to hold onto their slaves, but a glorious liberation to those who are being set free. Although there is a powerful theme of the restoration of private property during this year, there is also a sense in which no crops are privately owned during this year; everything belongs to the whole community. This is the perfect balance of justice in which there is total shalom--right is done to everyone, wealthy and poor alike. The number 50 is the numeric value of haAdam--the Man--for it is a foreshadowing of our return to our original possession in Eden. It is also the value of "his blood", and the word yovel means, at root, to flow--for it is the flow of Yahshua’s blood that made it possible to one day get back to the Garden.

Aramaic, "eat only the produce directly from the field." Yahshua’s disciples did this one Sabbath, and while some tried to accuse them of "reaping" just to find some way to trap Yahshua, he clearly did not count it reaping if one ate enough for one meal from the field at a time.

Malachi's final statement that before the Great and Terrible Day of YHWH, (the spirit of) Eliyahu would be sent back again to turn the hearts of the children back to the fathers, and the father back to the children, is strongly reminiscent of this verse. Returning from whatever has taken us away will strengthen the ties to our roots and the bonds to our family, since all one’s neighbors will now again be of one’s own tribe. (Remember that Yahshua said His true family, though, is whoever does YHWH’s will, and as we return to our heritage as Israel, this is the company we will keep, for the rest of Israel’s descendants will not return. Being back on the Land allotted to our family also returns us to the particular job YHWH intended for us, since certain areas are only suitable for certain types of crops or pasture.

Oppress: exploit or take advantage of. YHWH is starting to establish standards for what must and must not go on in His Land. Those who try to find loopholes to increase their own profit at their brothers’ expense will defile the Land again.

16. "'You shall increase or lower the price according to whether there are many or few years [left until the next yovel], because he is [really] selling you the number of crops.

In other words, pro-rating is a righteous concept. He can never truly sell the land away, but only its crop potential. So if there are only five years left, one may not sell it at a ten-year value. All business relationships concerning the Land are based on when they expire--on how soon we will go back home, when the owner gets it back. This is essentially sharecropping. It is the basis for Navoth's refusal to sell his vineyard to King Akh’av. (1 Kings 21) He must not have trusted the king to honor the yovel laws. Navoth's name itself means "produce", from a root word meaning "sprout or germinate [abundantly] into increase." YHWH takes it personally if we take advantage of one another.

I am: I.e., by acting this way, we become like Him. We must use His system.

"Carry out...observe...carry out...": Guarding His Torah, not city walls, insurance, retirement plans, or medical benefits, is the recipe for true security. So few in the Land really do this now, so no one is safe. Political processes will not make it secure. Israel would not have security concerns if everyone came back to our heritage and kept the Torah. Why do we waste so much time and money seeking things that are already promised if we obey? Because we want to do things our own way instead. This results in blood flowing in the streets. If we walked in His rulings, the terrorists’ children would play with our own rather than strapping bombs onto themselves. It is not their responsibility to obey the Torah; it is ours. It is not enough to just obey, or just to obey and learn from it, because what we learn from obedience to the Torah's commands is how to more generally love one another as ourselves and how to become a united community that fulfills the image of Elohim that Yahshua, its Head, began. And this entails a new level of acting on His words. Only as we truly become that community can we dwell in the land securely (lit., boldly, with a carefree heart, in confidence that our neighbor will not wrong us because we will not wrong him). If we "labor to enter His rest", letting ourselves be judged by the two-edged sword of His word, we can come boldly before the throne of grace. (Hebrews 4:11-16) Any other sort of "security" is merely a lure into a life of bondage. But if we do our part, our security is YHWH’s problem, not ours. He can handle His problems much better than we can. Observe: also means "guard". I.e., once you realize what a treasure His commands are, we need to fence them off so no one can take them from us. This includes setting limits to remove ourselves from things that encourage the indulgence of our selfish desires.

We will even be satisfied. We will not want to look for security elsewhere, for we will have found it. This cannot take place in its fullness until we live in the Land.

YHWH anticipates the logical question. It is not one of doubt, but of information and request, because "you do not have because you do not ask" (Yaaqov 4:2) We need the pressure that pushes us to depend on Him, but this does not mean we are allowed the luxury of worry. It is the cue to ask Him to provide and be confident that He will.

We have heard firsthand reports of this taking place in the Land today as people begin to deliberately return to His patterns. This is another test, like the Manna on the sixth day, of our obedience, which bespeaks trust in Him. The sixth year's crop is greater than ever--but He will ordain only after we ask. It is only promised if we indeed ask for it. "You have not because you ask not." (Yaaqov 4:2) YHWH places us in situations from which there is no logical way out so that we will give him an open door to show what He can do for those who trust Him enough to obey. Yet those who have taken Him at His word have ample stories to tell of how He fulfilled this promise. If we do not trust well enough that He will only give us beneficial gifts, we prove not to deserve His best. Paul told Timotheos that laws are made for those who are lawless. As the law of aerodynamics can override the law of gravity without canceling it, when we follow YHWH's order and align with His way of escape, we can have a foretaste of the release from the curse (the sweat of the brow) and freedom from the oppression of the "elemental spirits of the world". (See Col. 2:8ff)

We cannot start eating of the new crop until after Passover. Eating of "new fruit" at the wrong time symbolizes doing things our own way rather than the ancient way He established. We are not permitted to substitute His rules with new morality that says that what it takes to please YHWH is to avoid smoking, drinking any alcohol, or "cussing". Yes, the Torah tells us not to be drunk, but these are all adding to YHWH’s word, and they usually go hand in hand with leaving behind the rules He actually did make.

It is His, but we get it back--just like land ownership under a king’s rule. A king owns his people, but is expected to be benevolent. He lets us keep and use the Land as long as we follow the rules of being a tenant. If not, He has every right to evict us, because all of the kingdom ultimately belongs to the king. He did evict us, because we were starting to see it as our own to do what we wanted with. If we start saying things like "You ruined my Sabbath", we are on the wrong track. Yes, it is a gift to us, but with a gift comes the expectation that it will not be abused. If a child used the BB gun you gave him to shoot cars, you would take the gift back from him. We are to take possession of His gifts, but not steal them! Enter into the rest that He once had, by doing it the way He says to.

Grant: or, make provision for.

Sold away: to pay off a debt. Should redeem: in order to keep the Land in the family. This right of redemption is an important Hebraic concept, because it set the stage for our kinsman Yahshua buying us back after we’d sold ourselves into sin and the false security system of being just one more of the nations of the world. We are responsible for one another.

Hand has grown longer: i.e., he finds another way to increase his means and pay his debt; LXX, "if...he prosper with his hand".

An Israelite has not only the right, but the obligation, to fill his proper position. To do so we must return from all the baggage we have acquired that has kept us away from Home so we can reclaim all we have lost. We have to let go of what we have been holding onto so that we can get back to our roots. The adage, "You can never go home" is simply not true if we obey the Torah. If we walk in His cycles, when the time is right, we will.

The property will be restored regardless of whether one attempts to redeem it beforehand. This parallels a great wall of separation that is being built in our day between those who just wait for the "rapture" or say, "We'll still be saved no matter how we live, because of YHWH's grace", and those who want things to be as right as they can be in the meantime, selling all for the "pearl of great price" and "buying back" the land of our own hearts as quickly as we possibly can. As soon as we can "afford" it--as soon as there are enough undefiled stones available, YHWH's altar must be built so the rest may be purified as well. As the yovel approached, it became more affordable to buy back both one's own land and that of his brothers. The apostles, at a Shavuoth long ago, began this process, and they might have been able to "afford" it in their day, but they were mainly only Yehudah. They had to go out and find the rest of the tribes before the Kingdom could really begin. The burden was a tremendous one, but now, as for those hired at the eleventh hour in Yahshua's parable, the task is more within reach, so it must by all means be finished.

Those who buy into the city, like Lot, become part of it, choosing to gain their livelihood through trade rather than agriculture. Nothing can ever make a citizen back out of the city, but once you sell out of it, you cannot get back in either. Those who taste the power of the world to come--who put their hand to the plow, in this season's terms--are not permitted to look back. We have burned our bridges, and given up our rights to one life in order to partake of another. Those who live within a wall are a picture of those who have chosen visible security over living in the open where only YHWH can protect them. We have His promise of protection if we keep His commandments, but these walls are visible, and people tend to prefer that. But this puts us in a position to lose it permanently with no recourse to reclaiming. We lose what we try to wall off by putting in place our own security measures instead of YHWH’s commands. Denominations are also like walled cities. They seem to provide a system of answers, but then they do not let us move when YHWH’s cloud moves on as it so often does, and the energy goes into the "party" structure rather than into serving one another.

Walls matter in this regard. The houses in the city would be more in demand, since they were fewer and the nearest walled city would be the place the villagers would flee to for safety if an enemy army was rampaging through the countryside. In the open country, we are open to the attack of an enemy. But this is how all of Israel is now--a tiny land surrounded by hostility on every side. If you are not willing to trust in YHWH, it is a terrifying place and you will find no rest there. It is foolish even to go. But once we realize that we need miracles to survive there and we cannot defend ourselves, we are free to rest and have our Sabbath, and we will. (Compare Psalm 23:5; Prov. 3:24)

33. "'So whatever anyone purchases from the Levites [as ransom] shall be released in the yovel--the sale of a house or the city of their possession--because the houses and cities of the Levites are their inheritance among the descendants of Israel.

Could this be the reason David moved his capital from Hevron (a priestly city of refuge) to Yerushalayim? If the Torah is being followed, there should never be a time when a Levite is not provided for, but YHWH was realistic about how Israel might be negligent, and set up safeguards for them. Non-Levites did live in the Levitical cities at times. They were scattered all throughout the country, so in many cases they would have been the closest walled city to one’s inherited land, and a convenient place to do business.

"Common land belonging to...": This sounds contradictory, but the land of the Levites was not to grow food on, because they received that as the tithes of the rest of the nation; it was used to raise sacrificial animals. It was "common" because flocks wander from place to place, but only those from that particular city would have grazing rights there. Num. 35:4-5 gives the details about this land. Eternal: The Torah will not permit Israel to give any of it to a Palestinian nation.

Hand has been dislodged: LXX, "fail in his resources"; i.e., no longer be able to afford his obligations. Live: or, be revived. He is given respite from normal responsibilities in order to have space to catch up on his debts, but this is not freeloading either. He must still pay--but only "at cost", with no profit to the lender. With you: Aramaic, "by you". He is not to be a freeloader; this is a loan, not a gift. (YHWH does not want His people to be the kind that people expect to be beggars.) But his brothers are also responsible to see that he does not need to move away from Israel (for the tribes all need each other) nor sell himself to a foreigner in order to pay his debts.

Interest or bonus: Aramaic, "advance or accrued interest". Rashi said these were essentially two ways of saying the same thing, so if one charges his brother interest, he is actually transgressing two commands at once.

A bite: an idiom for usury. He must pay back the loan, but not at interest. One must also be clear that it is a loan rather than a gift, to avoid any confusion. This is part of what it means to fear YHWH:

I.e., "I who was able to distinguish between the firstborn and others in Egypt can also judge and exact punishment for sins committed secretly." (Rashi)

Poor: LXX, "lowered". Sells himself: This is the type of slavery the Israelites practiced--that someone could pay off his debts through work when he was unable to pay with money or products. Our older brother Yahshua was endowed with richness of spirit so that he could redeem us from the bondage to the flesh which we imposed on ourselves by choosing to walk in the ways of the Gentiles instead of living as Israel. The service of a slave: degrading labor, such as making one carry his clothes to the bathhouse or putting on his shoes for him. Do not dominate him in such a way as breaks his spirit, or give him unnecessary jobs just to torment him. (Rashi)

Property of his ancestors: Rashi, status of his fathers; i.e., he is not to be degraded for having been a servant in the meantime. But he is not free to go live some other place of his own choosing. An Israelite is free to be who he is, not who he might wish to be.

The reason given is not that it is wrong to own a slave or that all human beings are to be treated with equal dignity (which is not true according to v .44), but because the Israelites in particular belong directly to YHWH. We are our brother's keepers as well; if it is in our power and we have the right to redeem, we are not to allow anyone of His to remain enslaved (see vv. 47-49). Just like the Land, everything must return to YHWH.

The cycles described here are the longest of any for Israel. We might see some larger patterns--a day is as a thousand years, etc.--but these are the longest cycles actually commanded. The pattern is seven times seven, then the next year is very significant. This parallels the counting of the omer, seven 7’s, culminating in Shavuot. The theme of the fiftieth year is liberty or freedom; "emancipation" might be a better translation. But liberation was the theme of Passover. Shavuoth, instead, seems to be about the giving of the Torah. But the apparent contradiction is a key to understanding a great truth. Israel was liberated from Pharaoh, but as Yahshua said, someone freed from a demon, if his house was not filled with something positive in its place, would end up having seven demons come back, and it would be all that much worse than it had ever been. By paralleling Shavuot rather than Passover with freedom in this structuring of days and years, He was warning us, as Paul said, to stand fast in our freedom and not let ourselves again be subjected to a yoke of slavery. (Gal. 5:1) Israel as the Northern Kingdom certainly did not understand this. They went right back to the path that led straight back to bondage. And why? They forsook the Torah that was given at Shavuot. Yahshua’s brother Yaaqov alludes to this in Yaaqov (James) 2:12 when he says, "So speak and act in this way: as those who are about to be judged by means of the Torah which belongs to freedom." And what is the context in which he says this? One that very much parallels this chapter about how to treat the disadvantaged among Israel. (2:1-11) He then launches right into his well-known passage about faith being evidenced only by works. According to Christians, faith is supposed to be freedom. But just like Moshe here, he says freedom must be expressed in the context of Torah. Paul understood this. He says, "Brothers, you have been called to liberty; only do not [use] liberty as an occasion to the flesh, but through love serve one another." (Galatians 5:13) And that is the Torah in a nutshell. If we don’t see this as what freedom is about, we have not understood it at all.

No Israelite is to be enslaved, but this clearly implies and even expects that others may be. This does not fit modern sensitivities, but it is a sacred cow that needs to be killed. Any morals not supported by the Torah are merely men’s opinions. The value of compassionate treatment of all men does stem from a desire to extend YHWH's blessings to others, but still He never required this; to despise as sinful those who practice otherwise is harsher treatment than He calls for. These are not Jefferson Davis’ words, but YHWH’s. It is perfectly legal in the Torah to own other people as property as long as they are not our fellow Israelites. All people are not counted as equal by YHWH if they do not choose to become part of the community of Israel. A way has been provided for anyone to become an Israelite, but if they feel no need to make this a priority, they do not receive any of the benefits that come with it. The rest of Scripture defines the relationship of a master to slave in an Israelite household. The slave is not to be mistreated at will, but is considered like one of the children--having no authority but treated like one of the family and having all his needs met while he serves. Only a fool would destroy a valuable car he owned, and to cripple one’s slave is no different.

46. "'And you may retain possession of them for your children after you to inherit as property; they may be your slaves for as long [as you wish], but as for your brothers, the descendants of Israel, you must not subjugate them with cruelty.

This would suggest that those today who want to sue for "reparations" for their ancestors being slaves are actually identifying whose descendants they still belong to in YHWH’s eyes. It also implies that one may subjugate others as harshly as he wishes--though he is still required to allow them a day off on the Sabbath. (Ex. 20:10) This command was given above; Rashi says it is repeated to remind kings to treat all their subjects this way as well.

Whatever their customs may have been, the Land has its own rules, and while they live there they must abide by them. True Gentiles who joined the communities of returning Israelites for political reasons did end up dominating us.

The story of Ruth is a vivid example of this, and a foreshadowing of Yahshua, who came to seek out and buy back the lost sheep of the House of Israel, who voluntarily gave up their right to be part of the covenant, and so had to have it bought back by a relative who is in a better position. We must redeem as quickly as possible lest he become assimilated, yet without cheating those who live under Israel’s jurisdiction and respect its laws. Thus we must be meticulous in calculating the redemption price. (Rashi)

An uncle is the closest of kin in Israelite taxonomy; the word "uncle" is the same as "beloved". This order of priority is where the concept of the "nearer kinsman" in Ruth 3:12 is based.

Price: literally, "silver".

Weigh out: or divide; Aramaic, "return".

53. "'As a hired [hand] he shall be with him year by year, and he shall not subjugate him with cruelty in your eyes,

Subjugate him with cruelty: Aram., "work him ruthlessly". It is the responsibility of the rest of the sons of Israel to watch out that no one among them is treated this way.

55. "'because the descendants of Israel are servants unto Me; they are My servants, whom I brought forth from the land of Egypt. I am YHWH your Elohim.

The rabbis summarize this by saying, "My contract came first." Israel is His wife; none of His people may sell themselves off to anyone else permanently. In summary of this chapter, there is a time coming when we must make sure everyone rests or returns home. YHWH’s covenant with Avraham is rooted in a particular Land. His example was to start walking before he even knew where it was, since YHWH said He would tell him when to stop. Many are able to visit there temporarily, and YHWH says He will use this to cleanse and purify His people. (Y’hezq’el/Ezekiel 22:19) But the covenant is about all of us returning, and before that took place the first time, there was Goshen, where those who had been scattered and made into builders of storage cities were abole to learn to be shepherds again. This seems to be a precedent that we need today--a place to build community since most of the time when the Torah addresses "you" it is plural. YHWH’s ultimate intent is not for individuals to go back, but for all of us to go home together. We need to use the remainder of our time in exile to build Torah-based community so that when it is time to go back home, we will no longer be selfish, which would defile His Land yet again.

CHAPTER 26

Make: literally, accomplish. Worthless illusions: one Hebrew term for an idol, rooted in the word for "not". So this could just as well be translated, "things that are not". I.e., though they are depicted with these physical representations, they cannot endure because they do not really exist. They are "smoke and mirrors"; they only appear to be real, but have no substance when put to the test. Either they are all in one's mind or they depend on something else for their existence, and therefore cannot truly help their worshippers. They are delusions, and as such, in our day when physical idols are hardly the vogue, they also represent unrealistic ideas that we worship--security, for example, which always eludes us no matter how skillfully we hunt it down. So while we may "get something done", we have really accomplished nothing. Carved images: the LXX interprets it as "gods made with hands". Memorial pillars: literally, "standing"( or "stood-up") stones, which are not forbidden in all cases, for Yaaqov, Moshe, and Y'hoshua set some up, and in the Kingdom there will be at least one dedicated to YHWH in Egypt (Yesh./Isa. 19:19). They may have words written on them, but may never be carved into images or be worshipped themselves. Instead, YHWH is the only one we may worship. This verse is a continuation of the one before it, which reminds us that we are His servants, and idols take away the honor that we owe to Him. We are not to waste our energies on these other things. When we make something, we expect to be its owner, but when we make idols, they always end up owning us. The litmus test for whether something we have made is becoming an idols is whether we serve it more than it serves us. Establish: literally, give--i.e., not just do them yourself, but teach others to dream about empty things, which makes their effect all the worse. Imaginary showpieces of stone: In Psalm 73:7 the Hebrew term is used of wishful thinking. But they are best exemplified by things we make that give shape to something that we have imagined. Imagination has been the basis for many useful inventions. It is helpful to picture what was going on when we read a story from Scripture, because these things did not take place in a void. The context gives us insight into the words. But great fear can also emanate from our imaginations, making us hesitate to do things that really would not be so difficult as we think. Warriors intimidate those they have no real power to conquer by playing on their imaginations. The root word for these imaginations means "watchtower". The word for "stone" used here means the kind that can be used for building. A stronghold built in our heads or hearts can become our prison if we surrender to such empty threats. The term also stems from a still older root meaning to surmount. A tower built to surmount--that is an allusion to the Tower of Bavel, which aimed to make men impervious to any judgment YHWH might send again. 2 Cor. 10:4-6 paraphrases this very passage: "The weapons of our warfare are not physical, but powerful for YHWH to pull down strongholds, demolishing imaginations and every high thing that raises itself up against the knowledge of Elohim, and bringing every though into captivity to the obedience of Messiah." He is the "strong tower" that YHWH has established; any other needs to be undermined. Instead of these "things that accomplish nothing", what should we spend our energies on? The things that do endure--the unseen realities that do not need to be depicted by an image because they are genuine. Some things that are temporary in themselves have an eternal meaning--a meal eaten in honor of YHWH’s Sabbath, a place to meet in His Name, etc. What does YHWH say lasts forever? His mercy (giving preference to one another, Ps. 100:5); His faithfulness (reliability, Ps. 100:5); His righteousness (doing the things He says are right for the right reasons, Ps. 111:3); His righteous judgments (social rulings by which Israel must live, Ps. 119:160); His praise (Ps. 111:10); the remembrance of His Name (Ps. 135:13); the Word of YHWH (which is both Torah and Yahshua’s life and teachings, 1 Kefa/Peter 1:25); and His kingdom and dominion (Ps. 145:13). Visualizing the eternal things--the Kingdom or Israel in unity, so we can actually get there--instead of following our natural selfish inclinations and merely personal wishes, e.g., imagining a lot of money in the bank. This is the way to pull down the other strongholds that control our minds, and in turn take back the control of our tongue, which Yaaqov/James says means we are in control of our whole bodies. So how do we accomplish these things? He immediately gives us the keys:

This is where to begin to build something eternal. The larger manifestations such as the Temple are not available right now, but we can treat as holy any of the small things He has established, and as we prove faithful, He can give us a "raise". We should not have respect for anything He does not respect, but what He has established, we must recognize and do homage to. Only on the sabbath, the festivals, and the New Moon was the gate opened so that one could see--and thus stand in awe of--His Temple. They are all pictures of the Kingdom. Through them, we learn what His Body--the real temple--is [to be] like.