Deuteronômio 15
Warren Wiersbe · Citado em PreceptAustin
Deuteronômio 15
Wiersbe - Those who think that it takes a great deal of faith to give God a tithe of their income will probably be shocked when they read this section of the law. Just as every seventh day of the week was set apart for God as the Sabbath Day, so every seventh year was to be set apart as a Sabbath Year. During that year, the Jews were not to cultivate the land but allow it to rest. The people would have to trust God to produce the grain, vegetables, and fruits they needed for themselves and for their flocks and herds and farm animals. (See Lev. 25:1–7.) Every fiftieth year was a “Year of Jubilee” (vv. 8ff) when the land lay fallow for another year! It would really take faith on the part of the people to trust God for what they needed for two long years! (Be Equipped) Meredith Kline - verses 1-18 elaborate the subject of love toward needy brethren, which came up in the exposition of tithing procedure (14:27ff.). Specifically, these stipulations deal with the remission of debts (vv. 1-11) and the manumission of bonds servants (vv. 12-18). A further element of continuity is found in the sabbatical frame work for this program of mercy (cf. 14:28). (Wycliffe Bible Commentary on Deuteronomy) Leviticus 25:4 had given Israel the instruction that "during the seventh year the land shall have a sabbath rest, a sabbath to the LORD; you shall not sow your field nor prune your vineyard." "After six years of sowing and harvesting the land was to rest for one year. What grew of itself that year, that is without being sown, pruned, or tended, was to be food for all the people. The poor, the widows, and the needy could gather what had grown, as could the owners of the fields or vineyards. In this way provision would be made for all the people, and for all the flocks and herds, as what grew by itself would be considerable. Just as the weekly sabbath was given so that men and women would not exhaust themselves with overmuch labour, so the sabbath year was given that the land would not be exhausted and thus be diminished in its ability to produce the harvest. There was no thought that this year was intended simply to give the people a year of ease. But there was another reason for this seventh year rest for the land. It was a reminder to Israel that the land did not belong ultimately to them. It was the possession of the Lord and He had the right and the authority to determine its use. The Lord gave it to them but they must submit to His ultimate ownership of it. They had to treat it in manner that He ordained. This principle still has to be acknowledged. Christians must recognise that all that they have has come from the Lord and that He has the right to determine how these possessions will be used." (Grant) John
Deuteronômio 15
Wiersbe - the Sabbath Year involved much more than rest for the land (Ex. 23:10–11). It also meant canceling debts (Deut. 15:1–11) and setting free the servants who had served for six years (vv. 12–18). Bible students don’t agree on whether the entire debt was cancelled or just the interest on the loan for that year (31:10). “He shall not require payment from his fellow Israelite or brother” (15:2, NIV). However, they could collect interest from foreigners. Since people weren’t getting any income from their land, they wouldn’t be able to pay their debts easily. But what was a test of faith for some would be an answer to prayer for the poor and the needy. They were permitted to eat freely from the fields and orchards and were given an extra year to raise money to pay their debts. (Be Equipped) Remission (08059)(shemittah) {shem-it-taw'} feminine noun meaning a remission, a release, a suspension. (1) letting drop of exactions, (temporary) remitting, release (from debt) canceling debts, remitting of a debt, i.e., the act. of restraint from exacting an amount of money which is owed to a lender, so releasing a debtor from an obligation. Shemittah is attached to the designation of the seventh year of Sabbath, that is, the year of remission in which all debts were released (Deut. 15:1-2, 9; Dt 31:10). The Year of Jubilee was the forty-ninth year, the seventh of a series of seven Sabbath years. The fiftieth year was then hallowed, the fields were to be left fallow, all debts were to be released and every person would return to the property of his family. Thus, an Israelite could buy another’s land for a maximum of forty-nine years and then must return it to the family (similar to a long-term leasing of land rather than a modern sales contract; see Ex. 23:10; Lev. 25:1–38). This word signifies the cancellation of a debt that was owed to another person. This was a debt which a person would, under ordinary circumstances, be obligated to pay back. In Israel, at the end of every seven years, the people were to release and forgive their fellow people from debts owed to them. The thought of forgiveness is significant as it is picked up in the Lxx's use of aphesis which speaks of forgiveness of our sin debt in the NT (cf uses in Mt 26:28; Mk 1:4; Lk 1:77; 3:3; 24:47; Ac 2:38; 5:31). This word was used in this context of the seventh year to show that the debtor was released from any obligation to pay back what had been loaned to him before that time (Deut. 15:1, 2, 9; 31:10). In the Old Testament, this noun was used only in the context of forgiving debts at the end of every seven years. Deut. 15:1; Deut. 15:2; Deut. 15:9; Deut. 31:10 NET NOTE The Hebrew term שְׁמִטָּה (shémittah), a derivative of the verb שָׁמַט (shamat, “to release; to relinquish”), refers to the procedure whereby debts of all fellow Israelites were to be canceled. Since the Feast of Tabernacles/Booths celebrated God’s own deliverance of and provision for his people, this was an appropriate time for Israelites to release one another. See note on this word at Deut 15:1 = The Hebrew term שְׁמִטָּת (shémittat), a derivative of the verb שָׁמַט (shamat, “to release; to relinquish”), refers to the cancellation of the debt and even pledges for the debt of a borrower by his creditor. This could be a full and final remission or, more likely, one for the seventh year only. Shemittah - Deut. 15:1; Deut. 15:2; Deut. 15:9; Deut. 31:10 QUESTION - What is a sabbatical year? | ANSWER - The Sabbath is the seventh day of the week, a day of rest for the Hebrew people under the Mosaic Law. But the Law also spoke of a sabbatical year. Leviticus 25:1–7 provides instructions for the sabbatical year to be observed after the Israelites moved into the Promised Land. Leviticus 25:3–5 explains what to do—or, rather, what not to do—on the sabbatical year: “For six years sow your fields, and for six years prune your vineyards and gather their crops. But in the seventh year the land is to have a year of sabbath rest, a sabbath to the Lord. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards. Do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the grapes of your untended vines. The land is to have a year of rest.” Every seventh year, then, was to be a time of no planting or pruning of crops. The Sabbath day was a rest every week, and this rest was applied to farmland once every seven years (the sabbatical year is also mentioned in Exodus 23:10–11). If the Israelites were not to plant during the sabbatical year, what were they to eat? Leviticus 25:6–7 explains: “Whatever the land yields during the sabbath year will be food for you—for yourself, your male and female servants, and the hired worker and temporary resident who live among you, as well as for your livestock and the wild animals in your land. Whatever the land produces may be eaten.” The food for the Israelites, their servants, and livestock was to come from harvesting the sabbatical year’s “volunteer” crop—reaping the harvest that grew on its own accord in the seventh year. Leviticus 25:20–22 anticipates the people’s question: “You may ask, ‘What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not plant or harvest our crops?’ I will send you such a blessing in the sixth year that the land will yield enough for three years. While you plant during the eighth year, you will eat from the old crop and will continue to eat from it until the harvest of the ninth year comes in.” In other words, the Israelites had no reason to worry. God promised to take care of them, if they would only trust Him. Deuteronomy 15 also speaks of the sabbatical year. In this passage, a further command is given: forgive all debt and release all Hebrew servants. If the Israelites obeyed this command, they had another promise: “The LORD your God will bless you as he has promised, and you will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. You will rule over many nations but none will rule over you” (Deuteronomy 15:6). Observing the sabbatical year was an important sign of trust in the Lord, and it was accompanied by great blessings. Refusing to obey this command, God warned, would lead to a curse: “I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out my sword and pursue you. Your land will be laid waste, and your cities will lie in ruins. Then the land will enjoy its sabbath years all the time that it lies desolate and you are in the country of your enemies; then the land will rest and enjoy its sabbaths. All the time that it lies desolate, the land will have the rest it did not have during the sabbaths you lived in it” (Leviticus 26:33–35). Sadly, Israel failed to observe the sabbatical years. They continued cultivating and harvesting their land on the seventh year just as they had the other years. As a result of that and other sins, God brought the Assyrians and the Babylonians against Israel, and God’s people were removed from the Promised Land for a period of time. The biblical historian notes the significance of the deportations: “The land enjoyed its sabbath rests; all the time of its desolation it rested” (2 Chronicles 36:21). GotQuestions.org Related Resources: What is the Feast of Tabernacles / Booths / Sukkot? | GotQuestions.org What are the different Jewish festivals in the Bible? | GotQuestions.org What are the Lord’s appointed times (Leviticus 23)? | GotQuestions.org Deuteronomy 15:2 "This is the manner of remission: every creditor shall release what he has loaned to his neighbor; he shall not exact it of his neighbor and his brother, because the LORD'S remission has been proclaimed. exact it: Ne 5:7-11 Isa 58:3 Am 8:4-6 Mt 6:12,14,15 18:25-35 Lu 6:34-38 Lu 7:42 Jas 2:13 Deuteronomy 15 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Related Passages: Amos 8:4-6 (THE RESULT OF NOT LISTENING TO THIS DIVINE INSTRUCTION) Hear this, you who trample the needy, to do away with the humble of the land, 5 saying, “When will the new moon be over, So that we may sell grain, And the sabbath, that we may open the wheat market, To make the bushel smaller and the shekel bigger, And to cheat with dishonest scales, 6 So as to buy the helpless for money And the needy for a pair of sandals, And that we may sell the refuse of the wheat?” Colossians 3:12-13+ (NT APPLICATION OF FORGIVING DEBTS) So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. THE NATURE OF THE CANCELLATION This is the manner of remission - NLT = "This is how it must be done." Every creditor shall release (remit) what he has loaned to his neighbor - Now the qualifier is clearly stated - EVERY creditor. That means no exceptions, but whether this was a permanent release or temporary release is not known. Creditor is ba'al which means in a sense he was master or lord of the loan, so that the lender-borrower relation was not one of equality. Grant adds "The lender was the master of the transaction and it was he alone who determined the terms. But overriding this was the right of the Lord. Just as the land at rest was an indication of submission to His word, so the treatment of debtors was to be a further acknowledgement of His Lordship." (WBT-Dt) NET NOTE - Heb “his neighbor,” used idiomatically to refer to another person. Kline feels this is most likely permanent - ‘The fact that the seventh year of release and the Year of Jubilee of liberty belonged to one symbolical unity indicates that a permanent cancellation of debts is meant.’ In Ex 23:11 release is applied to the land in the sense of lying fallow. Hence the year of release is “a sabbath of rest unto the land” (Lev 25:4). Here it is applied to debts in the sense of remission. Creditor (lord, master, owner, possessor)(01167) ba'al means lord, owner (Ex 21:22, 28, 29, 34, 36, et al), possessor, husband (Pr 12:4), master, leader (as of a city - Jdg 9:2, 51). This Hebrew word is often combined with another Hebrew word but the English translation only gives one word, so it can be confusing. E.g., in Pr 24:8 the word "schemer" is actually two Hebrew words - possessor (baal) of schemes. Baker - A masculine singular noun meaning lord, husband, owner, possessor, the title of a Canaanite deity (Baal). It can also denote rulers and leaders (Isa. 16:8). Commonly, it refers to legally owning something such as an ox or bull (Ex. 21:28); house (Ex. 22:8[7]; or land (Job 31:38). The word can also describe possessing a quality, attribute, or characteristic like anger (Prov. 22:24); wrath (Prov. 29:22); hair (2 Kgs. 1:8); appetite (Prov. 23:2); wisdom (Eccl. 7:12). When Joseph is called a dreamer, he is literally a possessor of dreams (Gen. 37:19). Further, the word can connote husband as used of Abraham (Gen. 20:3) and elsewhere (Ex. 21:3; Deut. 22:22). (The Complete Word Study Dictionary:OT)Deut. 15:2; Deut. 22:22; Deut. 24:4; he shall not exact it of his neighbor and his brother - NET = "he must not force payment from his fellow Israelite." NIV = "Every creditor shall cancel the loan he has made to his fellow Israelite." because the LORD'S remission has been proclaimed - NET = for it is to be recognized as "the LORD's cancellation of debts." The primary purpose was to help minimize poverty in Israel. The LORD'S remission took on a greater meaning when the Lord Jesus made the following proclamation regarding the far greater release, the release from sin... “THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, 19TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.” (Lk 4:18-19+)
Deuteronômio 15
Wiersbe - The blessing of God ought to motivate us to be a blessing and a help to others. Note how often Moses mentions the blessing of God (Dt 15:4, 6, 10, 14, 18). God has opened His hand generously to us, and we should open our hands widely to others (Dt 15:8). He blesses us so that we might be a blessing (Gen. 12:2). Not only must we have generous hands, but we should cultivate glad hearts as we share (v. 10). Giving is an occasion not for shrewd calculation (v. 9) but for jubilation! Paul may have had this verse in mind when he wrote “not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Cor. 9:7) (With the Word)
Deuteronômio 15
Wiersbe - The Sabbath Year was a test of faith, but it was also a test of love (Deut. 15:7–11). Suppose a poor Jew needed a loan and the Sabbath Year was only two years away. The borrower would then receive an extra year for paying back the loan and the loaner would lose the interest for one year! If the loaner looked at the loan strictly as a business proposition, he would turn it down; but that’s the very attitude the Lord wanted to correct. It wasn’t a business proposition; it was a ministry to a brother. If the wealthier Israelite closed his heart and his hand to the needy man, he would hurt his brother and grieve the Lord who had given him all the wealth he had. Therefore, he was to open both his heart and his hand to help his brother, and the Lord would see to it that he was compensated for his generosity. See Proverbs 14:21, 31; 19:17; 21:13; 28:27; Ephesians 4:28; 1 Timothy 6:17–19; 1 John 3:14–18. (Be Equipped) John
Deuteronômio 15
Wiersbe - Jewish debtors unable to repay their loans could become indentured servants in the household of the man to whom they were indebted and in that way work off the debt. The Jews were not allowed to enslave their fellow Jews, although they could have slaves from other nations (Lev. 25:39–43). Male servants were to be released after six years of service, whether the seventh year was the Sabbath Year or not. This law assumes that the man’s six years of service without a salary had adequately repaid the loan. But once again, the Lord commanded generosity, for the masters were to send their servants away bearing gifts that would help them start life over again, including livestock, grain, and wine. After all, when the Jews left Egypt, they received expensive gifts in return for their years of enslavement (Ex. 11:2; 12:35–36), so why shouldn’t a Jewish brother be rewarded for six years of faithful labor to a fellow Jew? (Be Equipped) Deuteronomy 15:16 "It shall come about if he says to you, 'I will not go out from you,' because he loves you and your household, since he fares well with you; Ex 21:5-6 Ps 40:6,8 Deuteronomy 15 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries MOTIVATED BY LOVE It shall come about if he says to you, 'I will not go out from you,' because he loves you and your household, since he fares well with you;
Deuteronômio 15
Wiersbe - Certainly there’s a spiritual message here for God’s people today. We should love our Lord so much that we should want to serve Him willingly and gladly all our lives. We must never look upon our service as “slavery” but as privilege. “I love my master and don’t want to go free” is a wonderful confession of faith and love (Ex. 21:5). Granted, the servant’s love for his wife and children entered into the picture, but even those blessings came because of his master’s kindness, and the master was caring for them as well as his servant. What we all need is the open ear to hear God’s will (Ps. 40:6–8; Isa. 50:4–5) and a pierced ear that announces we love Him and are ready to obey His every command. The emphasis in this section is on faith that produces generosity. If we are “hardhearted or tightfisted” (Deut. 15:7, NIV), it’s evidence that we don’t really believe that God keeps His promises and provides for those who give to the needy. Jesus became poor that He might make us rich (2 Cor. 8:9) and He blesses us that we might be a blessing to others. (Be Equipped) Deuteronomy 15:18 Gracious Dealing - Faith's Checkbook - Spurgeon “And the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all that thou doest.”—Deuteronomy 15:18 AN Israelitish master was to give his bond-servant liberty in due time, and when he left his service he was to start him in life with a liberal portion. This was to be done heartily and cheerfully, and then the Lord promised to bless the generous act. The spirit of this precept, and, indeed, the whole law of Christ, binds us to treat work people well. We ought to remember how the Lord has dealt with us and that this renders it absolutely needful that we should deal graciously with others. It becomes those to be generous who are the children of a gracious God. How can we expect our great Master to bless us in our business if we oppress those who serve us? What a benediction is here set before the liberal mind! To be blessed in all that we do is to be blessed indeed. The Lord will send us this partly in prosperity, partly in content of mind, and partly in a sense of His favor, which is the best of all blessings. He can make us feel that we are under His special care and are surrounded by His peculiar love. This makes this earthly life a joyous prelude to the life to come. God’s blessing is more than a fortune. It maketh rich and addeth no sorrow therewith. Deuteronomy 15:19 "You shall consecrate to the LORD your God all the firstborn males that are born of your herd and of your flock; you shall not work with the firstborn of your herd, nor shear the firstborn of your flock. the firstborn: Ex 13:2,12 34:19 Lev 27:26 Nu 3:13 18:17 Ro 8:29 Heb 12:23 you shall not work: De 12:5-7,17 14:23 16:11,14 Nu 18:15 Deuteronomy 15 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries FIRSTBORN MALE LIVESTOCK TO YAHWEH Currid has an interesting comment - A basic principle of the Sabbath is that there is a day set apart to Yahweh. This is a day in which the believer performs acts of necessity, piety and mercy. He is not to work as he does the other six days. It is a day that is unique among the seven; it belongs especially to Yahweh. That principle weaves its way through all aspects of Israelite life, culture and society. In our present passage we see that the firstborn of Israel, whether of man or beast, have been especially set apart to Yahweh. They belong to him. (Ibid) Deere - The law regarding firstborn animals may have occurred here in Moses’ sermon because, like the laws of canceling debts and releasing servants, it involved giving up one’s possessions. This law was first recorded in Exodus 13:11–15. It was pedagogical: sacrificing firstborn animals reminded the Israelites of their redemption from Egypt when all the firstborn Egyptian sons died. It was an occasion for the Israelites to teach their children about God’s redemption of their nation. According to Exodus 22:29–30 the firstborn were to be sacrificed on the eighth day after birth. Firstborn animal sacrifices were also used to help support the priests (Num. 18:15–18). (Ibid) You shall consecrate (set aside, devote) to the LORD your God all the firstborn males that are born of your herd and of your flock - God demands and deserves the best. Other variations of this law are recorded in Ex 13:11–16; Ex 22:29 and Nu 18:15–18.