Leviticus 25 – 27
As I started reading I forgot to mention a verse from the previous reading, verse 24:20:
fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; whatever injury he has given a person shall be given to him.
Justice and the “eye for eye” quote is Biblical. Just found it interesting.
Verses 25:3 – 4 deals with a “Sabbath Year” and “crop rotation”:
3 For six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its fruits, 4 but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the LORD. You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard.
Again is this something that Moses picked up wandering the “wilderness” or did God actually teach him proper farming techniques. I find it interesting how some 3 to 4000 years ago God was teaching us things that science has now proven. We have removed this and have not focused on high yield farming techniques. No longer do we allow the earth to “rest” but try to work it year round.
The nutrients that God intended to replenish over the years are trimmed down to 6 macronutrients and 8 micronutrients. Ironically most do not include additional ones that God intended; we now search to find them in a pill since our bodies are deprived of them. Additionally the chemical fertilizers which make the land useable without a “Sabbath Year” pollute our water supply and make it dangerous. Granted those chemicals being absorbed into the food we eat would NEVER cause us harm.
“Don’t mess with Mother Nature” was a catch phrase in the 70’s to sell processed margarine that “tasted like” butter. Now we are chemically reproducing taste for saving a buck and assuming these chemical concoctions are better than “natural.” Which reminded me of “Franken food” or GMO’s which are taking over the store shelves.
Now profit is driving our food to “engineer” something better than what God provided. Consider the GMO corn from Monsanto that is toxic to the touch, which improves farming yields. This GMO has created mutated weeds which are resistant to the chemicals and have driven up food prices since if that seed “cross pollinates” with a neighbors fields, Monsanto has rights to the product and will destroy the farm that this happened to, unless they pay.
Verse 26:12 should give us all comfort:
And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people.
I read this as a possible foretelling of Jesus or as a promise of an intimate relationship with His people. Think about this universe and infinity, and how God is over it all. Now think about the significance of His relationship with us on a daily basis! How cool is that! We can access the God of infinity without restraints. He is over everything and has the time for YOU!! Can’t top that ever.