1

God's Love for Commanding His People to Rest

2

[Leviticus 25:10]

Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants.

It shall be a jubilee for you; each one of you is to return to his family property

and each to his own clan.

3

God created this world. God created this world with the Word.

God created everything in this world in 6 days.

4

On the sixth day, the last day of creation, He made all kinds of living things, livestock,

and wild animals on the earth according to their kinds. Lastly, God completed his 6-day creative

work by creating Adam and Eve in the image of God.

5

God has blessed them with special blessings. And he commanded them to rule over this world

that God created.

[God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."(Genesis 1:28)]

This command that God gave to humans is called the “cultural command”.

6

God, who created everything in the world for 6 days, took a rest on the 7th day.

God gave special blessings and sanctified the seventh day of having a rest.

This day that God has set apart is called the “sabbath day”.

7

The Sabbath is a day of true rest that God has set for us.

When God gave the Ten Commandments, He told us how to keep this day.

[Early the next morning Abimelech summoned all his officials, and when he told them all

that had happened, they were very much afraid.

Then Abimelech called Abraham in and said, "What have you done to us?

How have I wronged you that you have brought such great guilt upon me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should not be done."

And Abimelech asked Abraham, "What was your reason for doing this?" Abraham replied,

"I said to myself, 'There is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of

my wife.' (Genesis 20: 8-11)]

8

In addition to this, there are more God's special commands for rest in the Bible.

One of them is called the 'a year of rest'.

This law was given directly by God through Moses in 'Sinai Mountain'.

9

This law is the law that the Israelites must observe when they enter Canaan.

God's command is this.

“Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you,

the land itself must observe a sabbath to the Lord.“(Leviticus 25:2)

God is commanding people to give the earth time to rest.

10

The Israelites can sow and farm the land for six years.

And He allowed them to live by harvesting in the land.

They can also cultivate vineyards and harvest fruit.

11

However, in the seventh year, he forbidden them to sow seeds or cultivate vineyards.

12

However, there are grains from unseeded land or fruits from uncultivated vineyards.

These were forbidden by the owner of the land to harvest.

He made it impossible for the owner of the land to claim to be his own as to everything

that came out of the land in the seventh year.

13

During the rest of the year, everything from the ground was made so that anyone who needed it could take it and eat it. God specifically told the poor and foreigners to make the food

available to them.

“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,”(Leviticus 25:6)

14

Besides the sabbatical law, there is another special law called 'jubilee'.

The jubilee year was observed in the 7times of after 7years (7*7=49), in the next year, that is,

the ‘50 years.’ At the jubilee year, the trumpet was blown on a day set by God.

The Jubilee Year was said to be the year of proclaiming freedom to both earth and people.

15

At that time, if someone couldn't pay back by lending money to another,

he had to live as a slave in the creditor's house.

Some people left their hometown and went to other places to be slaves.

16

However, at the Jubilee Year, all servants become free and no longer have to live as slaves.

As a free body, he was able to return to his hometown and home.

They are no longer slaves, they can start over as free men.

17

Not only the people, but also the land went back to their original owners.

When they first arrived in Canaan, God gave the land to each tribe through Joshua.

In the Jubilee Year, the lost lands were told to restore each tribe as it was initially allocated by God.

God restored all people and land through the Jubilee Year, giving them an equal opportunity

to start again.

18

The Sabbath, rest year, and jubilee system that God has instituted shows us what

God wants and desires. God hoped that all the creatures He created would enjoy true rest

and stay healthy. He didn't want the land to remain in an unequal state.

He freed all things to start over and gave them new opportunities.

19

We, who believe in Jesus and become children of God, must strive to remember and keep this will of God. You must not be a slave to greed and break the law God has commanded you to rest.

Also, as people who know the law of the jubilee, we should be those who strive to do good deeds that free others and help them start anew.

(This is the sample conclusion provided by CTM. Please feel free to change the conclusion to best suit the listeners of your sermon.)