Simple Living in Practice, Lesson #12
Today's lesson deals with the biblical foundation for the farming time frame. God did not leave His people without command and advice in every area of life because all areas of life are under His authority, and if we follow Him in trust and obedience, He promises that it will be well with us and our children after us, and that we will live long in the land that He gave us (Deu 4:40, and in many other places).
Exodus 23:10-13 spells out the Sabbath laws concerning the land: Just like the seventh day of the week is holy, so is every seventh year, which means that during the six years, you have to be a good steward to what you sow and reap, so that you can let the land rest for a whole year in the seventh, and then have seed to sow anew and do without its fruit for yet another year since you only sow anew in the beginning of the new year one.
Lev 19:23-24, in addition, establishes the rules for trees that bear fruit for food - for three years their fruit shall be considered uncircumcised, in the fourth year the fruit is holy and the Lord's, and in the fifth year, the fruit can be gathered and eaten. This is something to keep in mind when you plant trees for food.
And what happens to whatever does grow on the fields in the seventh year ? The fruit that is does yield without being ploughed and used you can gather as you need them, but they are also for the poor people of the land, and the wild animals. The biblical idea of charity, quite in contrast to what is practiced in churchianity these days, is very straight forward and directed to very specific people: widows and orphans, who are the poor and unprotected people of the land, and everybody who passes by. And the how of charity is as simple, and in terms of food, the biblical farming rules reflect this, not only for the Sabbath year, but for every harvest: Deu 24:20-21 explains that, when you beat your olive tree and gather your vineyard's fruit, you are not supposed to go over them again to glean what is left on the tree and the vine, but you should leave the rest for the strangers, widows and orphans.
As far as thanksgiving is concerned, Exo 23:14-19 tells you that apart from the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which is very early in the year, there are basically two occasions on which the fruit of your field are presented to the Lord as thanksgiving - the time when the first fruits are gathered, and at the end of the season, when the crops are gathered in from the fields. So basically, whenever the land gives you from its wealth, you are to remember that it is not you who makes the crops and the fruit grow, no matter how much you work for it, but it is the Lord, and all our life, including our work life, is under His authority.
Remember this when you plant your garden after you moved onto your new patch of land.
Technorati Tags: simple life, Christian ladies, God's creation, God's Law, farming, nature, homesteading, self sufficiency, separation, SAHM, plural marriage, polygamy, dominion covenant, multi-generational family, Joshuah's House
Exodus 23:10-13 spells out the Sabbath laws concerning the land: Just like the seventh day of the week is holy, so is every seventh year, which means that during the six years, you have to be a good steward to what you sow and reap, so that you can let the land rest for a whole year in the seventh, and then have seed to sow anew and do without its fruit for yet another year since you only sow anew in the beginning of the new year one.
Lev 19:23-24, in addition, establishes the rules for trees that bear fruit for food - for three years their fruit shall be considered uncircumcised, in the fourth year the fruit is holy and the Lord's, and in the fifth year, the fruit can be gathered and eaten. This is something to keep in mind when you plant trees for food.
And what happens to whatever does grow on the fields in the seventh year ? The fruit that is does yield without being ploughed and used you can gather as you need them, but they are also for the poor people of the land, and the wild animals. The biblical idea of charity, quite in contrast to what is practiced in churchianity these days, is very straight forward and directed to very specific people: widows and orphans, who are the poor and unprotected people of the land, and everybody who passes by. And the how of charity is as simple, and in terms of food, the biblical farming rules reflect this, not only for the Sabbath year, but for every harvest: Deu 24:20-21 explains that, when you beat your olive tree and gather your vineyard's fruit, you are not supposed to go over them again to glean what is left on the tree and the vine, but you should leave the rest for the strangers, widows and orphans.
As far as thanksgiving is concerned, Exo 23:14-19 tells you that apart from the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which is very early in the year, there are basically two occasions on which the fruit of your field are presented to the Lord as thanksgiving - the time when the first fruits are gathered, and at the end of the season, when the crops are gathered in from the fields. So basically, whenever the land gives you from its wealth, you are to remember that it is not you who makes the crops and the fruit grow, no matter how much you work for it, but it is the Lord, and all our life, including our work life, is under His authority.
Remember this when you plant your garden after you moved onto your new patch of land.
Technorati Tags: simple life, Christian ladies, God's creation, God's Law, farming, nature, homesteading, self sufficiency, separation, SAHM, plural marriage, polygamy, dominion covenant, multi-generational family, Joshuah's House
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