God is fully holy, completely good, and entirely loving, and we see all of that in His Word. As we conclude Leviticus, we read more of God's commandments for His people to flourish. Moms are sure to wish we lived in a society with sabbath rest and a year of Jubilee... but we can press into Christ to guide is in wisdom for how we can order our days onto Him.

Today's Scripture: Leviticus 24-27

Verses Read or Referenced:

Leviticus 25:1-21

Leviticus 26:1-12

2 Chronicles 36:21

Hebrews 4:9-11

Psalm 103:14

Hebrews 13:20-21

Free Bible Reading Plan: www.entrustedministries.com/podcast

Find out more about Entrusted with a Child's Heart here: www.entrustedministries.com/studies

Commentaries Referenced: Moody Commentary, MacArthur Commentary

Welcome to the Dwelling Place

from Entrusted Ministries.

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I'm Stephanie Hit Cox, and we're going

through the Bible chronologically.

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you can find our free Bible

reading resources on our podcast

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page on our website, which

I've linked in the show notes.

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If you've already listened, then please

leave a review so that other moms can find

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encouragement from God's word as well.

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today we are concluding

the book of Leviticus

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as we discuss chapters 24 through 27.

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Steph: Leviticus

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talks about holiness More than

any other book of the Bible.

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The word holy is mentioned 152 times.

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But I want to make sure

that we understand.

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That the rest of God's character

is on display here as well.

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I have to confess I started tearing

rereading about the year of Jubilee.

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God's kindness and love

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Blew me away.

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Once again,

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In Leviticus, God isn't just

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setting up guidelines for

them to follow him as God.

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He's laying out a theocracy.

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He is their king and their ruler.

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He doesn't just provide rules for

spiritual flourishing, but for

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flourishing in every area of their

lives, for their health, for their

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finances, for their relationships,

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that distinction is important

for us to understand

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that these aren't just spiritual laws.

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This is establishing a form of government.

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That's why the punishments are

there and the consequences.

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God wisely sets a deterrent for sin.

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He tells the people, don't do

this because if you do, this will

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happen just as a godly parent does.

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They don't just distract their

children from disobeying.

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In love and clarity, they tell

them, don't cross that line.

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It's dangerous,

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And that clarity provides peace

and security for our kids, and it

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also did for the people of God.

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In Leviticus, we only have two narratives.

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The first one, was with Nadab and Abai.

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Who?

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Aaron's sons.

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The second story is given to

us in Leviticus chapter 24 when

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someone blasphemes the name of God.

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his mother was an Israelite,

but his father was an Egyptian.

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And as God has commanded throughout,

other nations and cultures were

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welcomed in to worship him.

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But they still did have to follow

the rules of the God of the Bible.

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Can you imagine if the whole congregation

knew, wow, being put to death.

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is the consequence for blaspheming,

the name, and the reputation of

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God that would've been pretty

effective, don't you think?

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Then in chapter 25, god gives directions.

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For their rest.

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And regarding the year of Jubilee,

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I found it fascinating.

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That the meaning of the word

jubilee means a Rams horn.

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I thought it was going to be more

closely related to joy or celebration,

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but it gets that name because at

the end of the day of Atonement,

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when all the people were fasting

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And solemnly focusing on their sin.

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Then the Rams horn blasted, and

this instituted the year of Jubilee.

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Let me read exactly what that

entailed from Chapter 25.

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The Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai

saying, speak to the people of Israel

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and say to them, when you come into

the land that I give you, the land

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shall keep a Sabbath to the Lord.

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For six years, you shall sow your field

and for six years you shall prune your

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vineyard and gather in its fruits.

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But in the seventh year.

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There shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest

for the land, a Sabbath to the Lord.

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You shall not sow your field

or prune your vineyard.

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You shall not reap what grows of

itself in your harvest or gather

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the grapes of your undressed vine.

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It shall be a year of

solemn rest for the land.

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The Sabbath of the land

shall provide food for you.

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For yourself and for your male and

female slaves, and for your hired

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worker and the sojourner who lives

with you and for your cattle and for

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the wild animals that are in your

land, all its yield shall be for food.

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You shall count seven weeks of years.

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Seven times seven years, so that

the time of the seven weeks of

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years shall give you 49 years.

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Then you shall sound the loud trumpet.

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On the 10th day of the seventh

month on the day of Atonement, you

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shall sound the trumpet throughout

all your land and you shall

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consecrate the 50th year and proclaim

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liberty throughout the land

to all its inhabitants.

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It shall be a jubilee for you when each

of you shall return to his property and

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each of you shall return to his clan.

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That 50th year shall be a jubilee for you.

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In it, you shall neither sow nor

reap what grows, nor gather the

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grapes from the undressed vines.

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For it is a jubilee, it

shall be holy to you.

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You may eat the produce of the field

in this year of Jubilee, each of

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you shall return to his property.

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And if you make a sale to your

neighbor or buy from your neighbor,

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you shall not wrong one another.

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You shall pay your neighbor according to

the number of years after the jubilee,

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and he shall sell to you according

to the number of years for crops.

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If the years are many, you shall

increase the price, and if the

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years are few, you shall reduce the

price for it is the number of the

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crops that he is selling to you.

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You shall not wrong one another,

but you shall fear your God

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for I am the Lord your God.

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Therefore, you shall do my statutes

and keep my rules and perform them.

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And then you will dwell

in the land, securely.

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The land will yield its fruit and you will

eat your fill and dwell on it securely.

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And if you say, what shall

we eat in the seventh year?

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If we may not sow or gather in our crop,

I will command my blessing on you in

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the sixth year so that it will produce

a crop sufficient for three years.

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I really liked the way that my

MacArthur commentary summarized this.

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The seventh year of rest would invigorate

and replenish the nutrients in the soil.

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Whatever grew naturally was

free to all for the taking.

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The year of Jubilee involved a

year of release from indebtedness

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and bondage of all sorts.

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All prisoners and captives were set free

slaves released and debtors absolved all

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property reverted to original owners.

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This plan curbed inflation

and moderated acquisitions.

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It also gave new opportunity Rest

requires faith and preparation.

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But isn't it amazing?

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That God says the land is gonna produce

a crop sufficient for three years.

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Unfortunately, the people of

Israel would not follow this

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command as well as many others.

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And second Chronicles states

to fulfill the word of the

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Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah.

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Until the land had enjoyed its sabbaths,

all the days that it lay desolate,

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it kept Sabbath to fulfill 70 years.

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Initially, my mind was reeling, thinking

about this commandment of resting every

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seven years and then every 50th year, in

which would've been a back to back year

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because the 49th year was a year of rest.

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And we know it doesn't mean

that they didn't do anything.

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They still had animals to

tend to and families to raise.

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but they were trusting God.

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On so many levels.

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I think about the times where I've tried

to contend for rest in my own life, and I

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have constant cultural pressure to cave.

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even this week, there was a situation.

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In which I tried to say no to a

commitment and found resistance,

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and in the end just had to say,

Lord, I trust you for the strength

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to do what you're calling me to do.

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But can you imagine?

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If the entire culture was also

embracing a year of Sabbath rest, what

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if the schools said something like,

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oh, this is a Sabbath year, so

we will do sports next year.

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Kids can just throw the

ball around at home.

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What have churches said?

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We're gonna do a little bit less

this year, sent it to Year Sabbath.

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You can enjoy fellowship

without as many programs.

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I know.

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We'll.

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Never go toward this as a society,

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but it can sure make you long

for the rest of heaven, can't it?

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I I can't tell you what rest

means in your life right now,

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But I can remind you that Hebrews

four tells us that a Sabbath rest

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remains for those who are in Christ.

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That when we remember all

that he has done for us,

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we don't have to strive.

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We can embrace our limitations.

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As Psalms tells us for,

he knows our frame.

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He remembers that we are dust.

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Now let's look at chapter 26.

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And if there was ever a chapter of

the Old Testament that would scare

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you for disobedience, this would be

high on the list, but this chapter

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even begins with the blessings

of obedience for following God.

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26.

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One tells us you shall not make idols for

yourselves or erect an image or pillar.

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And you shall not set up a figured

stone in your land to bow down to it.

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For I am the Lord your God.

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You shall keep my sabbaths

and reverence my sanctuary.

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I am the Lord.

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If you walk in my statutes and

observe my commandments and do them,

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then I will give you your rams in

their season, and the land shall

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yield its increase, and the trees

of the field shall yield their fruit.

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Your thrashing shall last to the time

of the grape harvest, and the grape

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harvest shall last to the time of

sowing, and you shall eat your bread to

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the full and dwell in the land securely.

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I will give peace in the land

and you shall lie down, and

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none shall make you afraid.

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And I will remove harmful beasts

from the land and the sword

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shall not go through your land.

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You shall chase your enemies and they

shall fall before you by the sword.

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Five of you shall chase a hundred

and a hundred of you shall chase

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10,000 and your enemies shall

fall before you by the sword.

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I will turn to you and make you

fruitful and multiply you and

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will confirm my covenant with you.

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You shall eat old store long

kept and you shall clear out

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the old to make way for the new.

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I will make my dwelling among you

and my soul shall not abor you.

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And I will walk among

you and will be your God.

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And you shall be my people.

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And after that long list of

consequences for disobeying the Lord

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40 begins, but if they confess

their iniquity and then in 42,

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then I will remember my covenant.

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he's a God longing to forgive, to restore.

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And to dwell with us.

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As we've looked to the book

of Hebrews so many times

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To see that Jesus and his sacrifice

and his priesthood is far superior

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than what we read in the Old Testament.

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I am gonna close our time in Leviticus

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with this prayer from Hebrews 13,

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and I pray this over you and your kids.

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May the God of peace who brought again

from the dead, our Lord Jesus, the

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great shepherd of the sheep, by the

blood of the eternal covenant, equip you

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with everything good that you may do.

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His will working in us.

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That which is pleasing in his

sight through Jesus Christ, to

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whom be glory forever and ever.

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Amen.