ON THE VANGUARD

ADONAI’S SLAVE
“For to me the people of Israel are slaves; they are my slaves whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; I am Adonai your God.”
Leviticus 25:55

I know I have been spending quite a bit of time in Leviticus lately, but it is for two reasons. First, I want to understand it better. I want it to be more than just a boring book. I recently read that when Jewish children enter school, the first lessons they are taught come from the book of Leviticus. These are kids who are normally around the age of five or six. Children are taught the details of this book. Here I am at 37 and I am just finally making an effort to understand it. But I find that as I make this effort, God meets me where I am and gives me an understanding. That leads me to the second reason. In 2009, while listening to a pastor speak, I heard him mention that he prayed to be able to read the Bible through Jewish eyes. This was a pastor, not a rabbi. He simply wanted to see the truth of the Word verses the distorted teachings that we so easily take for granted as the truth. When I heard this it too became my prayer. So as I have made a point to go line by line in the Torah, this very thing has happened. I have seen the truth, and my eyes have been opened to many half-truths taught within the church today.
It is with this understanding, then, that I want us to consider one more piece from Leviticus, one concerning the kinsman in Leviticus 25. When I saw this parallel last night I honestly got so excited that I locked my door so I could write down the revelation without the kids bothering me. Here it is. Looking simply to define the term, the word ‘kinsman’ as seen in Leviticus 25:35, is the Hebrew word ACH. Literally translated, the word is defined as ‘brother’. As the land, property, or servant was to be offered within the family, it makes sense to read this as one brother literally offering this item to his brother. However, the word also can be defined as ‘countryman.’ This then also makes sense as the item was to stay within the Israelite race. Probably the most classic example of this played out in scripture is within the story of Ruth. When Ruth came to rest at Boaz’s feet, as instructed by Naomi, Boaz responded that there was a closer next-of-kin that would have the chance before him. When this kinsman passed on the offer, the land then became that of Boaz.
The duty of the kinsman was to redeem a person’s land. Let us not forget that this was an important piece in the role to be played. In each case, he was to redeem his own family member from servitude to a foreigner. This high duty was based on God’s principle that no Israelite should ever be a slave or servant to anyone except Himself. For one of Adonai’s children to be a servant or slave to a non-Israelite was viewed as an abomination and created the reasoning for his redemption.
Can you see it, the connection between a person physically enslaved to a foreigner and a personal spiritually enslaved to sin? A follower of God who sells himself into sin, becoming a slave, is separated from Him. This was first seen in the history of Adam and Eve. It was their sin that separated them from Adonai, creating a wall and placing them into slavery until the wall was broken. Although they and others who followed would eventually find their way back to Adonai, it was not until the Kinsman Redeemer, Jesus, came that the price was paid that gave us back our freedom. We, through Jesus, were redeemed from slavery.
Why should we choose then to return back to the slavery of the world? As children of God, this is an abomination! We are not to be caught up in the sinful way of the world that demotes us from being followers of the Most High to slaves of the accuser. We are to be His servants; His men and women who with purpose and of our own free will obey His command. Perhaps Galatians 5:1 says it better than I can. “What the Messiah has freed us for is freedom! Therefore, stand firm, and don’t let yourselves be tied up again to a yoke of slavery.”