Intro: Welcome to the Spoken Gospel Podcast. Spoken Gospel is a nonprofit dedicated to the idea that every part of the Bible, Old Testament and New, is about Jesus. And this podcast is our experiment to publicly test that belief. Every episode, hosts David Bowden and Seth Stewart work through a Biblical text to see how it helps us see and savor Jesus. Let's jump in.
David: Well, welcome everyone to the Spoken Gospel podcast.
Seth: Happy New Year!
David: Happy New Year!
Seth: Yeah, yeah.
David: How are you this New Year, Seth?
Seth: I, uh, I'm great. Yeah, great. I, I rested really well.
David: That's always good.
Seth: I— today is not New Year's Day, but many days after, and I got a Christmas tree for 75% off, dude.
David: I got one for the Spoken Gospel offices for 90% off.
Seth: What?
David: Yes, it was like $6. It's amazing.
Seth: It's amazing. Yeah. Yeah. It's like a 7.5-foot tree, pre-lit. It like unfurls itself. Yeah, I'm super excited.
David: That's amazing. So, I mean, I got little blue and gold ornaments for it for the Spoken Gospel colors. It'll be great next year. So I'm excited. But yeah, new year and we are still in the book of Deuteronomy. We are, thankfully and wonderfully. It's a, it's a great book, especially like, uh, I read one commentator on this, on this section, and he was like, as we move into chapter 15 and 16, it like becomes a little bit more like beautiful and idyllic as opposed to the harsh like commands that have kind of come before.
Seth: Yeah.
David: And so it's kind of like this nice little respite. So it's a good place to begin.
Seth: A new— he starts describing the new world that the Israelites are going to be in. It's this beautiful place with these great laws, that there's justice and equity, and there's no poor people.
David: And like, yeah, it's like a great place for a New Year podcast, I think. It's like a fresh start, the sabbatical year. So last podcast, we talked about Israel's distinctiveness and like the clean and unclean animals and some of the things that they would do to make them distinct from the nations. And we ended with a short little touch on the sabbatical year. But I said on that last podcast that I wanted to spend a whole episode on it. And it's really good too that it links in with the first half of the next chapter, chapter 16, which also talks about, you know, holy time rhythms, festivals, eating, celebrating. So we're going to talk about the Sabbath year and everything that entails. And then we're going to talk about—
Seth: I think it's three or four. Yeah, Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread is like incorporated into the Passover feast, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Booths. And that's what we're talking about. Booths.
David: Yep.
Seth: And it's hard to say and enunciate that word. Well, yep.
David: Yeah, we'll stop there. And then next week we'll look at leadership in Israel. So like judges and kings and stuff, which will be really interesting.
Seth: So it will be super interesting. Yeah.
David: So anyway, so Seth, explain to us what is the sabbatical year? Like what happens? When does it occur? All that kind of stuff.
Seth: So we talked about a little bit this time. So Israelites were supposed to live in rhythms of 7. So you had a 6-day workweek and 1 day of rest. But then like when you expand that out to the year, you have rhythms that happen throughout a 7-year cycle, right? So on the first year and the second year, you're supposed to bring a tenth of your earnings, your first fruits, and you're supposed to bring them to the temple and have a huge feast to the Lord. Every third year, you're supposed to take all those first fruits, all that 10%, bring it into like a big central kitty, and then allow all those who are poor, who don't have an inheritance, to come and feast for themselves. So 2 years of celebration, 1 year of sacrifice. So you do that twice. So 3 years, 3 years. And then on the 7th year, you were supposed to not work your land at all. So this assumes everybody has a plot of land that they're farming and using to like make food for their families and to sell to others. But the 7th year, you're not supposed to use that land at all and allow the poor of Israel to come in and use that land. Um, and you wouldn't take anything from it. So that's the Sabbath year. It's a provision for the people of Israel, the, the impoverished, the poor, those without an inheritance to provide for themselves.
David: Yeah.
Seth: And even here in verse— I think it is verse 4— the idea is there will be no poor among you, for the Lord will bless you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance to possess. Like, all these are provisions so that poverty would not be an issue in the new kingdom.
David: Mm-hmm. Yeah. And I think also in the year of Jubilee, or I guess this isn't the year of Jubilee, this is the Sabbath year. I'm getting ahead of myself. But in, in the Sabbath year, every 7 years, it's also supposed to be a year of release, is what it's called, this year of release. So you're releasing the land from its toil, you're letting the land rest, right? You're giving the land its Sabbath. You are releasing people from debt. So if you have a debt that's been carrying over, let's say that in year 2 in this cycle, you know, someone owes you $100,000 and they pay it off bit by bit but at the year of Jubilee— man, I keep saying that— the 7th year, the Sabbath year, the Sabbatical year, on the 7th year they get there. And let's say they still owe you $20,000. Well, the idea here is that that debt would be released. And we can talk about exactly what that means. But I just want to say, like, it's, it's, it's something happens that something happens. Yeah, it's argued, and we'll talk about it. And then also the other thing that's released are slaves. So if in the course of those 6 years in between each Sabbath year, someone has to sell themselves themselves into indentured slavery in order to pay off a debt, then that person is released on the 7th year and allowed to go free back to their land. And not only— and not only are people sometimes given in place of money for a debt, but land is given, property, clothing, anything that was given as a kind of collateral for that. Yeah, that loan that you got is returned back to its original owner. So that can include—
Seth: they say they're— because you were once slaves in the land land of Egypt, and when they left their slavery in Egypt, they were given the plunder of the Egyptians. So even when you take on slaves for yourself, you're supposed to treat them in such— so this is not the same slavery in America, no, chattel slavery. That was a denial of the image of God. That's not what's happening. This was a voluntary choice. Voluntary is probably too strong of a word since it was like normally brought about by their own poverty, but it was an accepted way for you to, to pay back a debt or to earn money for yourself. And if you would put yourself in that position of a slave, you would be given the riches of that person, like of your master, generously, because you were— they were once a slave in Egypt. So like even all that is like tied back to the redemption they experienced, the salvation and the rescue they experienced in Egypt, right?
David: Yeah. And so, um, I mean, that's kind of what's supposed to happen. Maybe we should talk a little bit about like why this should happen, um, in a few— in a few ways to look at it. Like I think we talk about like the heart of God and why he cares about this. And then also, like, it's just interesting that it ties into this smaller rhythm, right? That like, of like weekly Sabbath, that then extends into like, there's the monthly moments of rest. And then there's this mega, like year of rest. But then even every time, every 7 times 7 years, there's a mega Sabbath. And then we look at Jesus, and he comes and he brings the actual Sabbath. So like, there's these little like, spiraling circles that start with weekly rhythms that spiral out into a life and a society and then a world that gets renewed through rest. So I'm just thinking of like days of creation, Sabbath rest in the wilderness, all of that stuff is kind of converging to a head here to kind of give us a glimpse of what are all of these mini rests pointed towards and aiming at. I mean, is that what we're supposed to be seeing? Like, why the 7 Why does it tie in with the Sabbath? Like, have you thought much about that?
Seth: Um, I don't think so. I think I was, I was kind of focusing more on like each of these mini moments. Like, what does it mean for debts to be released? What does it mean for slaves to be given, to be generously let go? Like, what does it mean for— so I was kind of like looking at it more like in the micro lens. Yeah. So as you think about it, then answer the question for yourself. Like, why sevens? Why rest at all? And then why, like, compounding moments of rest? So it's not just once a week, it's also 7 times a year during the feast. And it's not just 7 times a year to the feast, it's once every 7 years to do no work on the land, like, and then every 49 years do something else. Like, what is— like, why sevens?
David: I mean, I know it has to do with something about, like, how God operated in creation, that he worked for 6 days and then rested on the 7th, and that that is an ideal that he set up that we should follow in it. Um, and so I know it has to do with like patterning God, right?
Seth: Yeah. So is that really— it's like we just want to pattern our lives in sevens because God patterned the world in the 7? Or just maybe— I mean, that's not bad. I mean, it's not bad.
David: I mean, there's all— I mean, obviously there's like the whole idea of like that 7 is perfection and all of that. But I just don't know how that ties in with 6 days of work and a 7th day of rest, or if it's just coincidental. But I know it has something to do with like, this is how God operates. He works and rests, you know. And I think that's, that's part of that balance that he wants us to have is a lot of us are kind of disposed to work and never rest or rest and never work. And to have that balance. And there's something about 6 of one and 1 of the other, you know, that I guess is in his wisdom, like God just provided to us. Um, but I think it's also like, uh, why does it spiral out? Why does it start with a weekly rest every seventh day, and then there's little mini rests throughout the year, and then a year, you know, like you just— yeah, like you just articulated? I think it's that— that makes sense to me because it's like, I, I, if I was ever going to take this huge mega year Sabbath and actually rest, like let my work rest— like I remember we talked last episode, like What would it actually look like for us to take a year off work and donate all our salary? Or like, how would I ever get to that point? Well, I would have to start with baby steps of like, I've been doing a small version of this every week. I've been, you know, and so I've been doing that for 52 weeks times 6 years. You know, I've been being trained into how to be a man who can rest, but not only rest for just rest's sake, but rest in the providence of God. So like, you know, 52 weeks times 6 years, I've been seeing God provide for me on that seventh day.
Seth: Like, I've been, I've been not trying to rest in my own work, but trusting the time that you finally give up your salary for a year is not the first time you've had to trust God.
David: No.
Seth: For your daily bread. Right.
David: I've seen him be very faithful over and over and over again. So I think that's why the spiraling circles kind of make sense to come out of.
Seth: And I think God's ratcheting up the people's dependence on him. Like, you trusted me with the man in the wilderness daily. You can trust me once a week to rest and not do any work. You can now trust me during the festivals to not do any work. And now you can trust me for a whole year's worth of, uh, labor and like, um, provision. Like, you can trust me for a whole year's worth of provision, right?
David: And, and I think it goes— I think it should throw us back. Why the sevens? I think it's supposed to throw us back to creation. That why can we trust God? Why is God trustworthy? Well, it's because he's the God who made absolutely everything. He's the God who in 6 days made everything that is stars and earth and animals and man. And then he said, I'm done. And he rested. And like, we can trust a God who is, who is that powerful to create everything out of nothing. And so I think that's probably why we're thrown back to the sevens, is that it's supposed to be rooted in God's creative power, that he can bring food when there is none. He can bring provision when there is none, you know, because that's right. He creates everything.
Seth: And they're going into a land where there's the potential for all those things, but they actually haven't experienced it yet. They've been told there's milk and honey. They've been told the rain will— like, the rain will fall on the hills and they won't need to irrigate like they did back in Egypt. They've been told all those things, but it's still kind of like they're still trusting that it might be true.
David: Yeah.
Seth: And so the reason why you're saying is it going— it's going back to creation is because God's making a new creation, and you— he can— in the same way that God provided food and animals and land and water He's going to do the same thing again in the new land.
David: And I see what you're saying. It's not only— the 7 doesn't only point us back to remember that God is a creative God who made everything out of nothing. It also points us forward to what God's going to do again in the new— in the new land. He's going to make a new creation, a new Eden. Why do we live out this 7-fold, like, repetition of trusting God? It's because we want to see Eden again. We want to live in paradise with God again. That's how we do that. So that's cool.
Seth: And even thinking too, like, knowing that there's 7, 6, and 1, after the 7th day of rest or the 7th year of rest, what are you expecting? God to start working again on the first day. It's like there's always gonna— like, there's another day after the 7th day, and the Lord's gonna begin working again. So when you're in the land and you're resting, part of what you're ex— part of it is not just resting in God's provision. It's the expectation of God's future provision, the expectation of God's future coming, his future presence, his future, um, provision, uh, and his future new works of creation going forward.
David: That's really good. That's really good. Um, is there something that, like, because I know we'll get into some really amazing ways to see how Christ has fulfilled, um, all these different elements of the Sabbath year, but in this mega kind of looking back and looking forward, is there a way that we need to be seeing Jesus in just the Sabbath year and like these cycles of dependence? And is there anything that's coming to your mind as we think about Jesus and how he fulfills just this whole system of Sabbath rest?
Seth: I mean, we've—
David: I mean, we've talked a lot about Sabbath rest.
Seth: Yeah, we have. Like, he is the Lord of the Sabbath. And so— but he's also the Lord of work as well. And so I'm trying to— I don't know if I can add anything to what we've already said previously except to say it again. Like, if Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath, that means not only is your work empowered by God himself, not only that new creation work that you're doing as you go to your job, as you go to school, as you like sweep the floor, take care of your kids, not only is that empowered by God himself, when you do decide to rest, he's still upholding the world by his power, and he can take control of the things that you're not. He is Lord of your work and he is Lord of your rest, and you can trust him to provide for you.
David: Yeah, I think that's, that's beautiful. And I also think of like looking back and looking forward. I was thinking about like the 6-in-1 thing where you have this life of Jesus recorded in the Gospels of him living perfectly, fulfilling the law, fulfilling the covenants, fulfilling all the types and everything that we read about in the Old Testament. All this work he does, it's so perfect. And then he goes to the cross and he rests in death. And right before he rests, he says, "It is finished." He was finished with his work and he rested. And we look back and that's the moment that we look to in order to obtain our Sabbath rest today. That's our new Exodus that we look to in order to obtain our Sabbath rest. But then we also look forward that God is working right now. He's working to create his new world and to, to bring new creatures and, you know, make new creation out of slaves to sin, and then he will come, he will remake all things to do a final new work. And then he will say, behold, I've made all things new. It's done. Now come and rest eternally. Enter into my rest, he says. It's an eternal Sabbath rest that we get to enter into.
Seth: When Jesus says, it is finished on the cross, that is the end of week 1. And then when he rises from the dead, a new week begins. Where God is doing a creative work in the world. This is the Great Commission. All authority has been given to me. I'm sitting on the throne again, ready to do a new work of creation on the earth. And he invites us to join us. Therefore, go and make disciples. Like, the new work of creation that Israel here is doing by conquering the land, expanding their territories, planting farms, and trusting the Lord is what we do when we go and make disciples. We trust in God's authority to push back darkness, and we join him in seeing the world come to know him and his rest in the new creation.
David: Yeah, definitely. And I think about this like spiraling circles where it starts small and gets bigger. And I just think about these like weekly rhythms of Sabbath, these, these monthly feasts, this year of Sabbath, and then ultimately it ends in this mega Sabbath that Jesus brings on the final Day of Atonement when he dies on the cross. But then it keeps spiraling. Like, it gets bigger than even the cross moment, which just blows my mind. I'd always kind of terminated the Sabbath cycles there, but it keeps spinning until he remakes the whole world into his image. And we actually get the new kingdom of God come to earth, bringing final rest and, um, like no poverty, no sickness, no tears, no crying, once and for all perpetual rest.
Seth: So I think one of the things that I've heard— I have heard a criticism of the idea that like When we— when Jesus is remaking the world through his death and resurrection, we become his co-heirs. We are working with him in order to do that. And even in heaven, we continue to work to bring about his new creation along with him. The world is restored and redeemed, so there's no sin, but like the emphasis is on us working with him. I heard a criticism of that recently where it's like, you know, when people are 80 years old and and it's just difficult to stand up. They don't want, uh, the good news that there's more work on the horizon. They want to hear that there will be actual true rest for them, that they can actually sit and enjoy the Lord and enjoy their family. Yeah, I think that's— I think in like these— like, I want to just make sure we end on the rest part of this because this is about the Sabbath rest. Yeah, like there will be good meaningful work for us to do, but there will also just be sweet moments where we get to sit back and do nothing, like, and rest. The work has been done.
David: Hey friends, it's David. I wanted to remind you that this podcast is actually part of a larger ecosystem of resources. Uh, we at Spoken Gospel have things like book introduction videos, which outline books of the Bible. We also make short 3-minute devotional videos on passages of scripture. We even have reading plans on apps like YouVersion, the Bible app. So if you like this podcast, please make sure to check out what else we make and let us know what you think about it. You can find all of these resources on our Spoken Gospel YouTube channel or on our website at spokengospel.com. Okay, back to the show. Okay, so now we can kind of jump in and get a little bit more granular. We've done the meta thing, now we can kind of come in. And so we want to look at some distinctives that actually happened in the year of the Sabbath. And that was the canceling of debts, or the releasing of debts, I should probably more accurately say, and then the releasing of slaves. And so let's talk about the releasing of debts first, because, okay, right, what are the two options that are on the table for us, Seth?
Seth: So the very first verse says, at the end of every 7 years you shall grant a release. And what— and it says in the next verse, and this is the manner of the release: every creditor— so anybody who has lent money— shall release what he has lent to his neighbor. So what's being assumed here is that there is somebody who owes somebody else money, and the person who owes that person money is supposed to let his land lay fallow for one year. He's not supposed to farm it. He's not supposed to get income from it because the poor of the land are using it instead. So the problem is, if he has a legitimate debt to pay, how can he pay it if he's legitimately intentionally not taking an income? So the creditor is being— so there's two options. Either the creditor is being told every 7 years to cancel that entirely and just not collect any more money on the debt. Or he's supposed to postpone payments on the debt for one year, right? So he legitimately can't pay because he's following God's law. So it would be wrong of him as a lender to exact payment when God has told him not to make money on that year. I see. So that makes sense.
David: Yeah, I think so. So what you're saying is, let's say that like this person has a yearly payment of $20, right? And so every year they're supposed to pay their creditor $20. But on the Sabbath year they aren't making any money, so they don't have an extra $20 to pay towards their line of credit. And so there is a releasing of the scheduled payment. Basically, yes, you get to take a break. But then in the new year, one after the Sabbath year, the $20 payment comes back.
Seth: That's what you're saying. That's exactly right.
David: The other option, the other option is, is they had a total of $100 to pay and they've been paying it down and there's $10 left. And the Sabbath year comes and they say your debt is canceled, you're back to net zero, go in peace.
Seth: Yes.
David: Okay.
Seth: So my— it makes more economical sense for the first option. Like, it would make it really hard to trust that you could ever get your money back. You'd always be operating at a loss. Like, economically, it makes more sense for the debt to be postponed by a year because that would require this— a level of faith from the creditor as well as the borrower. Does that make sense? Like, the lender has to actually, uh, be confident that the Lord will sustain them because they're not receiving income from their land, their tenants, right? And then the person borrowing the money has to also trust the Lord because they are not working the land like they should. How are they going to get their income? How are they going to feed their family? So postponing it allows both people to use the way that they receive income to trust the Lord in similar ways. Does that make sense?
David: It does make sense.
Seth: I think I've actually never heard that until I studied it this week.
David: Yeah. And, and, and it's— and just so our listeners know, this is still very debated. So one side's not like winning, and there's not just a clear answer to this, because the other side makes a lot of sense textually and theologically. So I think you've made the economic argument. I think the other one is the natural reading of the text and kind of the theological thrust of this is forgiveness and absolute release. Because you hear, like, it says, like, now if someone needs to borrow money from you and it's like deep in year 6 and they ask for $100 and they're only gonna be able to pay you like $10 back by the time the Sabbath year comes, don't withhold from them. You know, why would that really be that big of a deterrent if they know that, well, it'll pick back up in one more year and you'll still get my money?
Seth: Verse 9, when it says, take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart, and you say, well, the seventh year, the year of release, is next, and your eye looks grudgingly on your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he cries out to the Lord against you, and you'd be found guilty of sin. There's this, like, if you were like, somebody's asking you for money, like, no, no, I don't want to give it because I'm gonna have to, like, forgive that debt. 90% of this debt is not gonna get back to me. Yeah, exactly.
David: It becomes a gift, really. And I think that's the point. And he even later on repeats this idea. And talks about how, like, the Lord brought you out of Egypt, you know, and he didn't do like a, I brought you out for a little bit, and then you go, you went back in. It was a complete release of slavery, a complete salvation. And, and then, you know, especially if we see Christ as a fulfillment of this, he doesn't, you know, forgive us part of it, and then we pay him back. Or, you know, it just seems to be theologically and textually, it's more of a forgiveness. Because also, when we compare it to the slaves, and we'll talk about that next, when they're released, they're just released. They don't come back on year 1 again.
Seth: They're just released by choice, right?
David: Except by choice, but that's a whole different provision.
Seth: Yeah.
David: And so I just think— I think I put my foot down if I was to choose one, that it's a complete forgiveness, which is one of the reasons why probably the Jews never actually followed this, you know, law historically. We never really have a record of the Sabbath year being ritually followed. And because it's a hard— it's a hard word.
Seth: Yeah. And so let me ask this question. So I was confused as I was reading this. So this is a forgiveness of debt on year 7, but isn't there also forgiveness of debt on year 49, the mega Sabbath, the year of Jubilee?
David: Yes.
Seth: And so my assumption was like the cancellation of debts happened— like that was the big cancellation of debts. But if you're forgiving it every 7 years, The 49th year doesn't feel like that big of a deal, but if it's a postponement every 7 years, then the forgiveness of debt on the 49th year feels like true release from— I mean, a mortgage, right?
David: Yep.
Seth: Yep. So I think what we can say now is that you should study and figure it out for yourself. Read Levites on either side. It shouldn't affect too much how you see Jesus in the passage. No. Either way, it's grace and mercy towards people who are debtors, people who owe people money. Are forgiven or passed over for a period of time based on a proclamation of God. So verse 2 says, he shall not exact it of his neighbor, his brother, or his brother, because the Lord's release has been proclaimed. So I kind of circled that word proclaimed in my Bible because it's not— it's— that's how we're also saved. Like, our forgiveness of sin is based on the declaration of God. Like, right? Like, it's, it's by his proclamation that his son is sufficient, right? That the forgiveness of our sin is declared over us. That's what imputed righteousness means, that we have been given a righteousness, a goodness, a debt-freeness that's not our own but belongs to somebody else. That doesn't happen like by like some kind of contractual agreement where we shake hands and we do a certain thing and they do a certain thing, or we pay enough good works in order to get that. It's by God's proclamation alone. So in the same way here in the sabbatical year, the way that our forgiveness is, or that our debt is canceled or postponed, is not by us earning it, because in fact we're delinquent on our payments. Yeah, but because God has proclaimed that we would be debtless. Like, that is the good news of the gospel and the good news of Jesus Christ. Yeah. Oh, I love that.
David: I love that. It's just a proclamation. I, I think It's amazing how, like, the gospel is so multi-prismatic that you can look at it from this, like, it's this proclamation that happened. And but then the Lord proclaimed the year of the Sabbath and the year of release, but then it still had to cost someone something, right? Like, right. Like there was this, this kind of proclamation, but then there was like economic ramifications that came out of it. And I love that Jesus does both of those. He comes to us and he says, You are forgiven. And then he pays our debt for us. Like, he took our full 49 years of debt and said they're canceled. Not because I just said they are, even though that's how I proclaim it over you, but because I wrote the check myself with my body and my blood. I paid it.
Seth: There's a great Bon Iver lyric in Skinny Love where he says, I'll, I'll be holding all the tickets, but he be owning all the fines. What a great line. I love that. That's this. It's like, I hold the tickets, I hold the debt, but Jesus pays for it.
David: Yeah, that's so good. And so, um, so then let's also talk about the, the release of the slave too. So, um, like we said, um, sometimes it would happen when you just couldn't put anything up for collateral in order to get a loan, that you would indenture yourself to a neighbor, even a family member, and say, I'll work your field, uh, if you can just like provide for my family in this season, because we're just— we got a rough time right now.
Seth: Right. Would this be— would like Rachel and Jacob be a good example of this? When he says, I'll work 7 years for you, for your daughter's hand in marriage?
David: No, I don't. I don't think that would be okay, because that— he's— that's a very unique situation where he's like, he couldn't put up a dowry. And so I guess he could have. It's a weird situation.
Seth: So I would say that might be an odd one, but that when we read that story, we don't automatically assume injustice on Laban's part. Right. Like, it's like, no, he's like, there's work, right? There's like an equal, there's an exchange happening that we recognize, like 7 years of labor should be equivalent to a dowry. Like we understand that and it's not being injustice. Cause I think whenever I read the word slavery, I'm like injustice, wrong, this is bad. This is a problem. But no, this is like a legitimate way. To either pay a debt or to earn a living for yourself.
David: That's right. And you— and we know that it's not this horrible miser-type relationship because of the provision that we mentioned earlier. Um, for if the seventh year comes and your master says, okay, you're released, you know, go back to your land, go back to your family, your debts are forgiven or postponed or whatever, you, you no longer owe me your labor debt that you owed me. It's done. That person, that slave, if they loved their master so much— and it actually says that, that they loved him so much— they could willingly submit themselves to be his slave forever. And there was this little sweet ceremony that would happen where they would take them to the front door of their house, pierce their ear, and that would be like a kind of like a marriage ceremony with the exchanging of rings, and they would be their slave forever. And like being someone's slave forever in our brain sounds real bad, but in this situation it's this like master— like, bro, or not master, I think it's like brotherly care. And it's like the reason that you would commit yourself to someone is because you have loved them so much and they love you so much that you just— you'd rather work for them than be free because you love them so much. Like, they're such a good master to you.
Seth: And we have no parallel to that in the modern world. I was thinking like you have a— you sign a contract or a 5-year like contract with with your company, maybe. Yeah, but like, that's always assumed that it'll be broken, you know? Like, right, I don't know of anybody saying like, you guys have treated me so well here at IBM that I just want to work here for the rest of my life. Can I like sign that in blood, please? Like, I've never—
David: like, so true.
Seth: I've never heard that. But I think the marriage ceremony is helpful because like there's this like physical union between the slave and like the doorpost of the master's house. Like, they are joined physically to the master's home. Do you get that little detail? He's like, yes, he's pierced. Like the, whatever they use for leverage was the, that was the door. Yeah. The door was used as leverage cuz we had the little pincers that, you know, Sunny wants to get her ears pierced and she's 7. Oh no. And like, you know, they had that little pincer thing where they, yep. It functions as a cantilever. Anyway, the door was the leverage to make the, the all go through and like he's joining himself to his master's home. Because of his care for him. And I mean, again, this is what it means to be a slave to Christ. Like, we have like categories for this in the New Testament. We're called bond servants, slaves to Christ.
David: Yep.
Seth: Yes. And we are like, we don't physically unite ourselves to Jesus in that same way, but there is like the spiritual union that happens where we crucify ourselves with Christ.
David: And we do it because we— he's such a good master. Because we would rather be a lifetime eternal slave to him than be free and autonomous. Because it's better to have a great master like Jesus and be a slave than to not have him and be free. Like, that's what's amazing is that we are slaves to Christ. And yeah, go read Romans 6 and kind of like ponder this and meditate on this. If you're listening, I would, I would encourage you to talk like, go, go read Romans 6 and think through. We are no longer— we've been freed from the slave master of sin. But then we're not just autonomous out there. We are now slaves to righteousness and slaves to Christ. So it really is a beautiful picture here of what it means. But let's also talk about the releasing of slaves. So we've talked about the eternal slave. But what about the fact that the slaves are released every 7 years? Like, like, what's going on here? And how do we see Jesus in it? Is always a good question to ask.
Seth: Yeah, I mean, the assumption, the assumption on the masters that they treat their slaves kindly, Uh, but that doesn't mean even if you had a good master, you'd want to work for them forever. And so the idea is that you can hire somebody for a maximum of 7 years, and then they must— that you must go. You don't own another person.
David: That's right.
Seth: And I think that fundamentally why slavery in the Old Testament, uh, is different from slavery that we've seen in America's history or through colonialism is that modern slavery denied the image of God in people. And you have in here in the Old Testament an honoring and a protection of the dignity of humans. And so you see that in the fact that there— you can't own somebody forever. Like, it's a temporary arrangement in order to pay off a debt. It's not a diminishment of their humanity. So anyway, what does it mean to like— so I just wanted to say that out loud. No, it's important.
David: That's good.
Seth: And then also say like, it means that you— I don't know, what do you think? I was going to start just talking off the top of my head.
David: I don't know. I think that like we— because we have such a different view of slavery, and, um, and so many of us now live in a world that is completely devoid of traditional slavery, um, when, when we hear passages like Romans 6, Ephesians 2 that talk about us being slaves to sin and that we had a master that was the prince of this world, Satan, and that we served his kingdom and were subject to his rule, and that we are freed from that because Jesus died in our place. Like, he paid the debt that we were indentured to, like, and we're then freed. I just think we— I know that I have a very deficient view of my past condition as a slave to sin and my current condition as free in Christ. I, and I think it's because I haven't spent enough time meditating on this culture and what it meant to be a slave and what it meant to be free.
Seth: Yeah.
David: And, and I think for most of us in the West, it's hard for us to think through those categories because we don't live in that world. But like, that is some of the best news the gospel has to offer us is that we were slaves. We did not have our own autonomy. We could not make our own choices. We cannot work to like grow our own fruit, you know, both physically and spiritually that, you know, the New Testament picks up on that. And then we're free. Like, anyway, I don't know, what are you thinking? That's kind of like—
Seth: well, I think, I mean, this is a literal parallel to the Year of Jubilee. So like the same message that applied to the Year of Jubilee applies to the slaves here. Like, you have a debt and it's been canceled by the proclamation of God. Like, that's— I think that's the simplest way to say it. Like, those are— you have a corporate, a corporate release and an individual release, and it's two sides of the same coin. When God provides forgiveness of debt for the nation and for the individual, and both of those things are found in Jesus. Yeah, and it's really simple to say that. Yeah.
David: Okay, well, let's, let's wrap up by turning our attention then to Deuteronomy.
Seth: One more thing. Oh yeah, an actual quotation of scripture from this part of the New Testament.
David: So great idea.
Seth: So in verse 4, it says, but there will be no poor among you because the Lord will bless you in the land. So all these provisions are for the poor so that there would be no poor people. But in verse 11 it says, for there will never cease to be poor people in the land. So there's a contradiction here— well, not a contradiction, but a seeming contradiction. And actually, Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 15:11 whenever Mary breaks her expensive ointment and pours it over his head and feet and washes his feet with her hair. Jesus quotes this passage. And he says, you will all— it— because of Judas's, um, greediness and begrudgingness, which is the same thing described here. He says like, we should have given this to the poor. And John tells us that's not because he actually cared about the poor, but because he was stealing money and like keeping it for himself. And so what's interesting about all that is Jesus says, you will always have the poor with you, but I will not always be with you. So I wanted to do here for for you and for me, as I haven't figured this out yet, like I haven't figured out why this is good news.
David: I haven't either.
Seth: So we have Judas who's begrudging the money given to Jesus in preparation for his burial because he was intending to steal it.
David: Yeah, he would rather— he would have rather that jar of perfume be donated and then he could have sold it and pocketed the money, probably.
Seth: Yes, something like that. Or just to keep that. Yeah, yeah, whatever it was. And here you have people who are in charge of the money bags, just like Judas was, who would be sinning if they did not give up some of their money in order for the poor to be cared for. So you have this like greediness, this begrudging like release of money, both in Judas and in these people here in Israel. God calls it both sin. And then Jesus, as the fulfillment of that thing, he said, as his fulfillment of this passage, is there will always be poor people, but I will not always be with you. I don't know why I can't tell if like Jesus is fulfilling this command or this or, or not. What do you think?
David: I think when you read that, the first thought I had was, was that, you know what, that's a good impulse even though your motivations are bad, but you'll be able to do this treatment for the poor after I'm gone. And he's like, but right now I'm here. And what I'm wondering is, you know, this might tie into what Jesus says later about how whatever you do to the least of these, you done to me, right? And he talks about like, you know, we were— you were poor and in prison and hungry, and then you came and visited me and clothed me and gave me what I needed. And you did that to me, even though it was just a poor person or a person in prison or a naked person. But when you do something to the poor, you are actually doing it to Jesus. And so what I'm wondering if he's saying here, he's like, I'm here right now and I am the proper recipient of all generosity. So that's why this ointment should be poured out on me. Now, when I'm gone, you can continue to act generously toward me by acting generously toward the poor. But know that I'm actually the recipient of that. It's like you are anointing my feet with oil when you go and serve the poor and the marginalized. It's a— it's actually a way to directly honor me when you're generous toward the poor. Maybe that's what's going on here.
Seth: Whenever— so that story where Jesus pours the oil, or Mary pours oil on Jesus, is right after the story of Lazarus. And he tells Mary, um, do you believe in me? And then he said— and he says, if you do, you will see my glory. So he tells her, and then she baptized— knowing what that means, she like puts this ointment on her to prepare him for burial, knowing that his death and resurrection will be the means to his glory, would be what leads to his glory. Yeah. So I was thinking, as the seventh year approaches, the expectation is that you actually give more extravagantly as the seventh year approaches. Any debt that you— any money that you give away, you'll get less of a return on investment, right? Because like, they can't— they don't have as long to, to pay.
David: So another way of saying what you're saying is the closer you get to the year of Jubilee, And the closer a gift gets to the Sabbath year, the more generous it is.
Seth: Yes. Or at least the riskier it is because there's less time for you. So it's more generous, it's more risky. And if you do that, if you give generously, if you give extravagantly, you will see God's glory. You will see a true year of release. You will see provision. Even when you don't work your own land. You will see rest even though your year should be full of rest. You should— you will see forgiveness, even though— forgiveness of your debts, even though you owe money to others. But if you do not do that, if you're begrudging with your money, if you don't want to give generously, you'll end up like Judas. You'll end up killing, like, killing yourself. You'll end up not experiencing the rest that God has for you. That's what I was thinking.
David: I think— yeah, I think what I'm picking up on that you're saying is like this, uh, we've kind of gotten very spiritual with this in a good way. I don't think there's anything wrong with that, that we're talking about the fact that our heavenly spiritual debts have been paid and our sin and its reign has been toppled and we've been freed, but also in a very real experiential sense the more generous we are towards the poor, the more openly we give, the more we trust on God's provision over our own, the more free we will be from like being begrudging and being like, you know, a miser. And we'll actually live better lives in the here and now too.
Seth: Yeah, we'll experience the Sabbath rest, the year of rest like God intended for Israel, but they never experienced, right? Yep. Like, and it says here, you will have no poor people among you. Like, if all this happens, there will be no poor people among you, right?
David: And when did that— and we actually see a picture of that happen, right, in Acts 2? In Acts 2:5, I think.
Seth: Yes, that's right, that's right, that's right.
David: Yeah, it says they gave to everybody who had need and there was no needy person among them. You're like, hold on, this is Deuteronomy 15, it's happening. Which is really interesting that that came right after the Festival of Weeks. Pentecost.
Seth: Fascinating.
David: Which we're about to read about.
Seth: And so to boil that down, it's not a contradiction to say there will be— there will not be poor people and there will be poor people. The ideal is that there would be no poor people if no one's begrudging, if everyone is generous, everyone takes care of the people around them, that if they follow God's law, there will be no poor people. But knowing people are like Judas, people, people that will hate God's law, the Sabbath, that's not going to be the case. Both of those things can be true— the expectation, the hope, and, and then that. And then for us today, I think what that most clearly means is like, if there's a needy person in your church, they shouldn't be— like, your church should provide for them. That's right.
David: You—
Seth: right, that's on you. That's on you.
David: Yeah, definitely.
Seth: And you shouldn't begrudge the fact that you have to give up a couple hundred dollars to make sure that that family has groceries, right? Because that's what God has called you to. Like, he's forgiven your debts.
David: Oh, what's interesting is when Jesus comes and gives the new law in the Sermon on the and he talks about giving. When Jesus talks about giving, he doesn't say give and then only exact returns on that gift for 6 years. He says give and do not, like, do not expect a return. Like, and he says go and give to people who cannot give back to you. Like, right, he like, he makes it to where it's like, you, the way that Christians give is like every day is the day before the Sabbath year because it's here.
Seth: Jesus has arrived.
David: The Sabbath is every day. And so every gift we do not exactly return on. So anyway, that's interesting.
Seth: Okay, that's really good. That's really good. Okay, so chapter 16 moves into 3 feasts that the, the God's people are supposed to keep once they get into the land of Canaan. Passover, uh, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, they're combined. Festivals, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Booths. We talked about all these before in the book of Leviticus, um, and so I was hard-pressed to find new things to say, but I did find something that I thought was super interesting.
David: Okay, what's that?
Seth: So in, in Passover, it says in— well, the unique thing about this instance, the Passover, is that 6 times it says you're supposed to celebrate it in one place. Oh, so back when the Passover was instituted you were supposed to celebrate it in your homes, and even as you were wandering, you were supposed to celebrate it in your tents.
David: Mm-hmm.
Seth: So the new thing here is now that you're going into the land and God's gonna name a place where his presence is gonna dwell, you actually have to travel to that presence.
David: Yep.
Seth: Like, God's presence isn't following you through the wilderness anymore. It's actually gonna be located in one place, and you actually have to go there in order to celebrate it. That's the major emphasis of this. That is huge.
David: Yep.
Seth: So that's unique about this. What's also interesting is verse 3. So you shall eat no leavened bread with it. 7 days you should eat it with unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, because you came out of the land of Egypt in haste. So they had to leave quickly because they had to leave quickly so the bread didn't have time to rise, didn't have time to be leavened by the yeast. So what's interesting about that is that phrase Eden haste is only used 3 times in the Old Testament. The first time is in the book of Exodus, the second time is right here, and the third time is in the book of Isaiah, in Isaiah 52:12. And so in Isaiah 52:12, he's describing the exodus that will come because of the Messiah. So the next verses after Isaiah 52:12 is about Jesus, uh, like, uh, being pierced for our transgressions, being like, by his stripes we're healed. So It's a messianic text, and it uses the same phrase, in haste, except he says, you will eat the Passover lamb and it will not be in haste. And the idea is, I think what's happening here is you had to leave the threat of the Egyptians quickly. Yeah, even in the wilderness, you had to leave the threat of coming judgment for your disobedience, or the other armies that wanted to swallow Israel. Even in the Promised Land, you had the Girgashites and the Amishite— Amishites and the Canaanites Even once they established their kingdom, they were under threat of the Babylonians and the Assyrians and the Greeks and the Persians. Passover was always done hurriedly because there was always another enemy threatening, right? But when the Messiah comes, you will not eat in haste anymore because death is defeated. Mm-hmm. There's no sin to tempt you away from the Lord. There's no death to scare you. To other gods. Your enemies are destroyed.
David: When Isaiah even says the final enemy is death and he will swallow it up. And so it's like, yes, well, even if I live in perfect peace and there's nothing in this world to bother me, at some sense I have a sense of time and hurriedness because one day my life's going to end. And so even when I retire, I'm like, oh, okay, how long do I have to knock off my bucket list before I kick the bucket? It, you know? Yeah, there's always a sense of hurry in enjoying the things of God in this earth. Yeah, but whenever the final kingdom comes and not even the final enemy of death remains, we will be able to take our time and enjoy him forever. Yes, that's so good.
Seth: Isn't that good? I love that.
David: That's really beautiful. Oh, I like the gospel, man.
Seth: It's great news. And also, like, I love eating, so like a meal that lasts forever, that I don't have to hurry, I don't have to hurry through, I don't have to go back to babysitter, like I can just sit and enjoy. That doesn't happen very often. Like, I can't remember the last time I was able to not eat with a clock running in the back of my mind.
David: Right.
Seth: Definitely. You know what I mean? Like, I've got to be somewhere else. Yeah.
David: Or even like, I wonder if my waiter's mad at me, like for taking so long to turn the table over. Yeah. There's always a clock. Uh, or even like, I'm getting tired. Like there's always a clock. Anyway, uh, the other thing I read about for the Feast of, uh, of, uh, Unleavened Bread and its combination here. With Passover is it's kind of a unique conjugation of the two. So when we first read about them, these two feasts in Exodus, they're separated. First we get the Passover meal, and then later, several chapters later, the Feast of Unleavened Bread is discussed. Now, of course, it's looking back to the Passover event. So is this passage.
Seth: So the 7 days after Passover, right?
David: Yeah. And then in Leviticus, the order's flip-flopped. So it's— you have the Feast of Unleavened Bread that then leads to Passover. And at least in its— in how it's described, in the order in which it's described. But here, what's interesting is they're, they're, they're kind of shoved together, right? And so you have the Passover, and then you have the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And that's probably the order it continued in throughout Israel's history. But what I found interesting in a commentator that I read said that Passover looked back at the event of God saving them and passing over their judgment. They were saved both from Egypt and from the angel of death. And so this is like a huge deal. But then the Feast of Unleavened Bread also pointed them forward because they wouldn't be able to truly celebrate this until they were in the land and could grow their own crops. This was like interesting. And so, so what? By, by organizing these two feasts the way that the author has here, he has placed them decidedly where they are in history. He has put them on the banks of the Jordan, about to enter the Promised Land, where they are literally looking backwards and remembering the Exodus and forward remembering that they're about to enter the Promised Land. So this is a very locative text for me, where it's like, this is their cultural moment, right? Where they are looking back and looking forward. And isn't that the attitude that they were to have even once they were in the land, that they were to always be sojourners? Because like, this wasn't their final home. And yet they forgot that. And so anyway, I just thought that was very interesting.
Seth: That is cool. I like that. I like how even just the literary beauty of like reflecting their position geographically in the literature of the text, it's kind of brilliant.
David: Yeah, it's amazing. And so anyway, and that's kind of Jesus, I think, picks up on that when he brings this, these two meals together in his Lord's Supper, right? He brings these two meals together. And what does he tell us to do? He says, I want you to look back and remember that this is my body and this is my blood. But then I want you to look forward and remember that I will come and eat this with you again. And so he places us decidedly on that same bank of the Jordan River, looking back at the completed work on the cross, but waiting until the inaugurated kingdom finally comes.
Seth: So in that meal with him that will not be hurried. Yeah, not—
David: so there it is. So that's, that's really cool. So then we have the Feast of Weeks, right?
Seth: So you would probably better know this as Pentecost.
David: So it's 50 days after, which is based on a based on the translation of the Septuagint, which is the Greek version of the Hebrew Bible. That's where the word Pentecost comes from, is based on translation there. And so they're supposed to count 7 weeks from the first time a sickle hits a piece of grain. So you go, and I'm going to make my first cut of the harvest in the whole land and start the clock. And you count 7 weeks from that moment. And that's whenever the Feast of Weeks is celebrated is 7 weeks after.
Seth: And you again, we have 7 just for— is it not just for Hebrews? It's for all people to come and celebrate God's provision. Like he gave you the first fruits and he's going to give you, give you more. Like the first fruits, like the first, like the first, the first harvest is ready. Yeah, it goes to God.
David: Yeah. And what's interesting about this one is there's not, there's not a what's the word I'm looking for here, like a statute given or command given for how much of their harvest they're supposed to bring. Did you notice that?
Seth: I didn't notice. Yeah.
David: And so it's not— it's actually not the whole first harvest that they collect over those 7 weeks or anything.
Seth: Is that said anywhere else? Like 10%? Like first fruit is like given as like—
David: yes, it's a number. Yeah, it is back in Leviticus with the grain offering. It talks a little bit about the first fruits. But the first fruits thing isn't a huge, like, thing here, really. The first fruits is mainly about the firstborn of a flock, which was actually at the end of chapter 15. We talked— it talks about that. Yeah, we kind of skipped over that. But here, what's happening is what's called a free will offering. And so verse 10 of Deuteronomy 16: Then you shall keep the Feast of Weeks to the Lord your God with the tribute of a free will offering from your hand, which you shall give as the Lord your God blesses you. So it's in proportion with how God has blessed you. That is how you give. And so there's so much happening there. It's like, so do I give generously only when I feel like I've reaped more than normal? No, the idea here is there's this cycle of giving and receiving that's been all throughout the Levitical— or sorry, the Sabbath year cycle, where, you know, you give because you know God is going to give back to you. You know, you have received from God, therefore you give. And so this is—
Seth: there's always an uncertainty too about how much the first fruits could actually be.
David: That's right.
Seth: You could wake up one morning and realize a quarter of your field has sprouted and is ready to be harvested. Like, that's a big— that's a big first fruits for the year, right?
David: But it's up to you to give out of that what you want. It's a free—
Seth: what it says.
David: Yeah, it's a free will offering. There's no— there's the words first fruits aren't here. And so this is, this is a free will offering. So you go and you reap your fields for 7 weeks, and then you come together 50 days later. Basically, you come together and you give a free will offering. Whatever your heart wants to give, you give based on what, how the Lord has blessed you.
Seth: Yeah.
David: And so it's really an interesting thing here. And I feel like the Apostle Paul picks up on this in the New Testament. He does, when he says, decide in your heart what you want to give. You know, and be generous as Jesus has been generous to you, you know. And like, so it's like, I feel like this Feast of Weeks, this Pentecost, is kind of the way in which we as Christians are supposed to treat our gifts, of our financial gifts to the Lord. Is we, you know, like everyone wants to talk about a tithe. We talked about the tithe recently, so I don't bring that up again. But this, this becomes the standard that Paul sets for his churches, is give as the Lord has given to you.
Seth: Be a cheerful giver.
David: Yeah, it's a free will offering. So other things to point out here are the fact that this is a celebration for everybody. So when these gifts are given, all the marginalized people come in, the servants come in, the Levites come in, the people within their towns, people who are just visiting, sojourners, aliens, the fatherless, the widows, everyone comes in and feasts here on these gifts. And so it's also definitely a social play that these are one of those big times where the poor and marginalized are to be cared for because of the generosity of people.
Seth: I have noticed that going through Deuteronomy this time, like all these major feasts, like they're not without provisions.
David: No.
Seth: For people that are poor.
David: That's right.
Seth: Passover doesn't, but that's specifically for God's chosen people, which is why the outsider is not necessarily included, but also God's chosen people includes widows and stuff like that. But the number of times that's mentioned has been really powerful. It's like, man, there's no feast that's celebrated that's like— or no like cycle that's set up without like a mind towards those who are poor.
David: So here's— I got a question for you. So it makes a lot of sense to me that Jesus died on the Day of Atonement. That makes so much sense that the Passover was there. And then the Day of Atonement comes, and he is our atoning lamb. He is our Passover lamb. He's our goat of atonement. All those things, we've talked about that before.
Seth: Back in— it's not called that here, but on verse 8, it says, you shall do no work on that solemn assembly of the Day of the Lord. Yeah, like after the—
David: so yeah, why then did God— if God sovereignly worked all things together so that his Son would be offered up as a sacrifice on the Day of Atonement, Why did he then orchestrate all things so that 50 days later, on the day of Pentecost, his Holy Spirit would fall? Like, that just— it seems like so orchestrated that I feel like I'm missing something here. That's like, okay, we have the, the harvest has come in, and we're offering our freewill offerings, the poor cared for. Why does the Holy Spirit come on that day?
Seth: It's because it's a celebration of God's gifts. Hmm. Oh, you—
David: well, dang it.
Seth: Yep.
David: That's good.
Seth: Yeah. Like, like 50 days after God has saved you, you bring your harvest and you celebrate the gifts that God has given you. Yeah. And so on Pentecost, what happens? It is a celebration of the Spirit, the gift of the Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit, who not only preaches the gospel but gives gifts to others for the furthering of the gospel. Yeah. It's like, it's a celebration of God's gifts.
David: Yeah. And it's like that, like you kind of said, like the first fruits of the harvest come with that gift of the Holy Spirit. And then like you said, he gives us gifts to then go grow the rest of the harvest, to go out into all the world and continue the harvest.
Seth: Right. You were supposed to trust that God's gifts that he gave you during the— your harvest time would be sufficient to plant and to cultivate the harvest next year. The same thing happens. You celebrate God's gift, and then you go out and you sow again. There you go.
David: Commission the gift of the Holy Spirit. Okay, that makes a lot of sense then. Okay, let's, let's wrap up with the Feast of Booths. So the Feast of Booths is, is a week-long feast. It lasts for a week, and that is when the gathering is done. Is that right? Like once all the harvesting is done, that's when the Feast of Booths takes place. Is that right?
Seth: It says, yeah, you've got— you shall keep the Feast of Booths when you have gathered in the produce from your threshing floor and your winepress. So it's at the end of the harvest season.
David: Yep. And so what they're supposed to do then is kind of spend a week rejoicing that God has provided for them.
Seth: And they're to dwell in booths, which obviously goes like a carnival stall, but it would be like— but it was like an actual tent Right. Like, I think more like a permanent tent. It was supposed to like look like what they did in the wilderness. It was a celebration of God's provision in the wilderness.
David: Yeah. And it also— yep. And it also should probably remind people of the workers. The field laborers would dwell in these little temporary shelters out in the fields as they're harvesting. They would kind of work the rows and kind of harvest up to a point, camp for the night, keep harvesting. And so they lived in these little temporary moving shelters. So it's also about the harvest, but it's also—
Seth: why don't they just walk back to their house? I don't know. I don't know, because I would have assumed they're not like super far out.
David: Maybe they weren't allowed in the house during harvest season.
Seth: I don't know. That's funny. Or it's like you had to like harvest quickly. Yeah, you work in shifts, and so one guy's sleeping and like—
David: probably. We see, these are things we don't know because we're not farmers.
Seth: Yeah.
David: Yeah.
Seth: And so, Farmer—
David: yeah, ask a farmer, why do people live in little booths while they're harvesting? And be like, I'll tell you, son. That was my farmer voice.
Seth: That was your farmer.
David: That was very derogatory. That was very rude of me.
Seth: I wonder, I've got it. We've got to have like, I would remember whenever I was in Kenya and like everybody had a farm, like, yeah, like in rural Kenya, like they're always harvesting, they're always doing something on the land. So I'm wondering if there's like, anyway, continue.
David: Okay. And so this is just another time to celebrate the fact that God has brought a harvest and this is just to be a time where we are thanking God. For providing. And it's just a time of celebration where you eat and you feast. Literally, the word feast is in here. You shall keep the feast, and you just are partying for a week. Like, this—
Seth: Jesus attends this festival, and yes, he does. And so what was last—
David: what miracle does he perform there, or what does he say there that's so significant?
Seth: Yeah, so one of the things that they did during this festival once the temple was established is that they would take a cup of water from a particular pool in the city and bring it up to the temple, uh, and they would pour it out. And I forget what the priest said. I used to know. I should have looked that up before today's podcast. But essentially it was a symbol of the Holy Spirit being poured out, but also God's provision of water in the wilderness. So it was just a celebration of God's provision. They would pour it out near the altar, like the Holy Spirit was poured on our people then, may his Holy Spirit be poured out on our people now. And then Jesus says this in 7. You have to give me a second to find it.
David: Yeah, go ahead.
Seth: Um, on the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out as the water is being poured out, 'If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scriptures have said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.' Now he said this about the Spirit whom those who believed in him were to receive, because at that point the Spirit had not yet come.
David: Mm-hmm.
Seth: So Jesus, on the climactic day at the Feast of Booths, as the crowds are gathered packed into the temple complex watching the priest proclaim God's provision in the Old Covenant, in the Old Testament, he pours out the water as a symbol of the Holy Spirit, and Jesus interrupts the party and says, if anyone thirsts Let him come to me and drink. It's really, it's like a really, really powerful—
David: and so if, if, if the Feast of Booths was all about thanking God for his provision, and this pouring out of the water was this final climactic event that says like, look, the Lord provides for our land and for our spirit, like, and for our bodies, like he gives us his spirit, he gives us food. And then Jesus says, that is me. Me, like I provide that. Um, he's saying that the ultimate provision that we celebrate is himself, like he is our provision. Is that what you're kind of getting at?
Seth: Yes, he is. Well, I think yes, Jesus is our provision. Like, I am— if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and speak to drink. But he says Jesus said this about the Spirit, so I think it probably points back to Pentecost. I see where Jesus sends the Spirit. So it's like, if you're thirsty, come to me and I will send the Holy Spirit. If you need something, come to me and I will provide for you. If you need whatever you need, come to me and I will give it to you. I will send a spirit to meet your needs. It's amazing.
David: Okay, one final question. It's just kind of like a general observation about all of this that's really interesting that I'm just curious if there's any kind of modern parallel we can make. And, and that is the, that, that these, these festivals do such a good job. But also, it's so interesting that they, that God has tied in to Israel's agricultural calendar, these feasts that point back to their redemptive history. So often these feasts and types of festivals were very common in the ancient world. Israel was not the only ones that celebrated the beginning of the harvest and the end of the harvest and all those things. But those were practiced by pagan cultures, and they were known as fertility cults.
Seth: And they would—
David: the, the fest— or the festivals would kind of come in order to bring about the harvest, and not necessarily the other way around. Like, in God's economy, the festival become— comes because of the harvest, not the harvest because of the festival. So it's not about trying earn God's provision. It's celebrating God's provision. So anyway, as they're doing that, though, they're not— they're not to be reminded only of what's happening that year. Like with the bringing in of the harvest, he always uses it as a picture to point them back to Israel over and over again. He says, and remember, you were slaves in Egypt. It's like, what? Like, why? Like, why? Why does God tether physical calendar moments that are so integrated into how am I going to survive? How am I going to eat? Right. So like, what if every day you got a paycheck, there was something that you did that reminded you of, you know, God's past faithfulness on the cross? It's just interesting how he ties in agricultural calendars to their redemptive history. And I'm just wondering, it's like, what's the question? Do we do anything like that today, or does the New Testament call us to, or would it just be wise to figure that out? Is it just an interesting observation? I just didn't know.
Seth: Yeah, I mean, I think the tithe— you know, tithe and offerings, you know, in church are supposed to be that. It's supposed to be a celebration of God's provision for you. Yeah. Not just like physical provision of a paycheck, but also like his self— like his salvation. You're not— you're giving tithes to the church to like sustain its pastoral staff and provide ministries and kids ministries and whatever else, but like Jesus, like God, Paul says that this is a way to show honor to him and to remember his sacrifice. I mean, I think you can say it simply that way. Yeah, I think it also like manifests itself. Um, I don't know, I'm just trying to have another example.
David: What are the, like, what are the cultural rituals and like calendars that are, that our world follows outside the church that we could map our redemptive story? Yeah, that we could like map our redemptive story onto. Like, that's kind of what I— because like, he just had all these fertility cults out there that practice these types of festivals. He's like, I'm going to leverage these pagan festivals in order to repeat my Exodus story to my people. I just thought that was really creative of God.
Seth: I think in modern— like today, we celebrate, um, not like to forget, or we celebrate as catharsis or escape or escape. Like TGI Friday, like it's like it's because the week— finally the work week's over. Yeah. And it's a way for us just to not worry anymore, like, or it's a way for us to just forget about something and just have fun. Yeah. I think vacations function the same way, right? They're not about what God has provided— the gods or God has provided. They're about us feeling some sense of relief from just a weary, like, a life full of weariness and hurry and haste. So I think if we're going to say, like, if that's how we celebrate the good news that we have in these festivals, is that God is providing for us a feast and a rest. I don't know, I'm trying to try to put that on my mind. I'm not trying to— I want to think about that more.
David: Yeah.
Seth: What are you thinking as I say all that?
David: Oh man. Well, I thought you were like really on to something there, but it's like, I think we need to learn how to celebrate, to remember. Like, how can we co-opt everything from the weekend to when our paycheck comes in to bedtime, to, you know, just things that we do throughout our day that we can map our redemptive story onto and use them as excuses to celebrate the gospel. Like, I just think that's all I'm trying to get at. I think is like there are these normal rituals in life that everyone did in all around the world, and God is like, I'm going to co-opt those so that you have excuses to repeat my redemptive work. Over yourself.
Seth: Yeah.
David: And so I'm just like, what if we use that? What if you use vacation for that? And the weekend? And when our paycheck arrives? And, you know, all these different things, the start of school, the summer break, like all these different things that just happen. What if we were like, what if we learned to creatively approach those with ways that we could map the gospel story onto them?
Seth: If we're celebrating to remember, and I think the other side is we also celebrate to expect God's coming provision.
David: We're both sides. We're on the Jordan River.
Seth: I mean, do what Deuteronomy says, invite the poor into your home. Like, there's a really, like, like, when you get— if you know, and you get your paycheck that, or you get a bonus, spend that bonus on throwing an awesome Christmas party for your neighbors. Like, or, like, or, yeah, and, you know, or going and, um, if you have time off, use that time off to go volunteer. Like, those are really way, like, easy ways to do what Deuteronomy saying.
David: I think another— yeah, and I think that's very— I think it's spot-on, super, super good. I think there's another way to look at it too that's not necessarily like more— like more of like a social provision way. I think another thing to do is like celebrate. So like a lot of times people go grocery shopping on payday, you know, like they wait till payday and they go grocery shopping. And so it's like, what if on payday you had a big feast with your family and you celebrated? And it's like, hey guys, today was payday. The Lord provided another couple of weeks of a job. Let's have a feast at home and you just get together.
Seth: Yeah, that doesn't mean steak. No, it could just mean cake mix. Yeah, it's like, hey, payday, we eat cake.
David: Yeah, it could just, just, just some way to mark that. Anyway, I was just like, I just wanted to challenge myself, you, our listeners to kind of just go like, how could I creatively map the gospel story onto the normal rhythms of life? And be thankful for them, celebrate them, invite the poor and the marginalized into them, but ultimately remind myself of the gospel through them. I think is ultimately what we want to do there.
Seth: So if your money leads you to both sacrifice and celebrate, and you're intentionally sacrificing, and you're— because of Jesus' sacrifice for you, intentionally celebrating because of the rest that Jesus has provided, you're doing something right.
David: Yeah, definitely.
Seth: That's good.
David: All right, well, next week we'll take a look at, um, leadership in Israel. We'll judges and kings, which I'm very excited about. It'll be, it'll be good. So anyway, thank you guys so much for listening. Have a great week.
Seth: So much happy New Year.
David: Happy New Year. We'll see you next week.
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