“A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD.”
~ Leviticus 27:30
Hi James and Ellen,
What does a promise mean to you? A promise is an assurance, pledge or vow to do something. Have you ever made a promise to your dad and/or ma? If you made a promise to your dad and/or ma, did you keep your promise? If you made a promise to your dad and/or ma that you will do something, you assured your dad and/or ma that you will do whatever it is that you promised your dad and/or ma that you will. If you promise God something, do you think that God will expect you to keep your promise? Your grandpaa knows that God will expect your grandpaa to keep a promise that your grandpaa has made to Him. God hears as pledges and vows every promise that is made by each guy, gal and kid who He elected to be His specially chosen guys, gals and kids. No guy, gal or kid who God elected to be one of His specially chosen guys, gals and kids has the right to break a pledge or vow that he or she has made to God. A promise is a vow, oath or guarantee that what you promise to do that you will do as you promised. Where do you think that God is at this moment? Can you see God sitting right next to you? Can you see God sitting on your bed when your go to bed at night? Can you see God sitting on a chair listening to your dad and/or ma as they teach and train you? Ask your dad and/or ma where God is in your house right now. There is never a time when God as God the Spirit is not in your house. God the Spirit lives in the life of each guy, gal and kid who has made a decision of faith to accept Jesus Christ as his or her Lord and Savior. Every guy, gal and kid who has made a decision of faith to accept Jesus Christ as his or her Lord and Savior has realized that all the wrong, disobedient bad things that he or she has done has been keeping him or her from enjoying peace and hope as well as being able to go to heaven. If a kid – like you, believes in what God has done for him or her through what His Son Jesus Christ did on a crude cross, the kid will know that God’s presence is everywhere – just as there is air everywhere.
How would you liked to have been kids 3400 years ago? What do you think that kids did 3400 years ago? If you were Israelite kids 3400 years ago, you would be trying to survive in a desolate desert. Your folks had made about forty years earlier a fatal mistake by not trusting in God when they had the opportunity to go into the land that God had promised them that they would always have to live as their very own land if . . . the Israelite people group’s guys, gals and kids were God’s specially chosen guys, gals and kids. God had about 700 years earlier promised Abraham that his extended family would always live in the land that Abraham was living in at the time. About a hundred years after God promised Abraham that the land that he was living in would always stay in his family, God promised Abraham’s kid – Isaac, the same thing. Within another hundred years after God promised Isaac what He had promised Isaac’s dad, God promised Isaac’s kid – Jacob, the same thing. Because of a destructive famine that made it impossible to grow crops in the land that God had promised to Abraham that . . . Jacob ended up in Egypt. God had Moses about 430 years later lead His specially chosen guys, gals and kids out of Egypt to . . . Moses did not just lead God’s specially chosen guys, gals and kids out of Egypt; God also gave Moses the job of passing on a new belief system to stubborn, disobedient guys and gals who would rather worship idol gods that were made from wood, stone and metal. Are you stubborn? Do you think that you know more than your dad and/or ma?
When God’s specially chosen guys and gals – the Israelite people group’s guys and gals, finally realized that there was a Living God always there with them – helping, teaching, blessing them, these guys and gals began to make promises or vows to God – pledging God a servant or animals or their house or part of their land. God had His specially chosen guys and gals begin to dedicate things to Him. Leviticus 27 is the book of Leviticus’ last chapter. The Leviticus Book – which Moses wrote, was written to all of God’s specially chosen guys and gals. God expected His specially chosen guys and gals to keep their promises, pledges and vows to Him which meant that they were always to do what they said that they would do. Besides keeping their promises, pledges and vows to Him, God expected His specially chosen guys and gals to do other things for Him. God’s expected His specially chosen guys and gals to tithe to Him. Moses wrote in verse 30 “‘“A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD.” Pledging or vowing a servant or animals or house or part of the land would be over and above the tithe that God expected from His specially chosen guys and gals. God made it possible for a guy or gal who had promised Him through a vow or pledge that he or she would give Him one of his or her servants or some of his or her animals or his or her house or part of his or her land that the guy or gal could instead give Him shekels. Life 3400 years ago was very different on planet Earth than what life is like today on planet Earth. Shekels are not used today. A shekel was a weight. One shekel weighed two-fifths of an ounce. It took forty shekels to make a pound. How would you like to pay for something by having to weigh what you are using to pay with instead of paying for something that you are buying with the bills and coins that you have? God also expected His specially chosen guys and gals to do something else that was very important to Him. God expected every boy who was born first in his family to be designated a special role for Him during the kid’s lifetime. God expected every animal that was born first to a ewe, heifer or nanny to be given to the priests for the priests to have. Your grandpaa thinks that it would have been very interesting to live on planet Earth during Moses’ lifetime.
Leviticus 27 (169)