Read Deuteronomy 15 and 16 at Bible Gateway.
The Hebrew paragraph divisions for today’s chapters are:
Deu 15:1-6 {s} Seventh (Sabbath) year release of debts
Deu 15:7-11 {s} Lend generously to the poor even when the Sabbath year approaches
Deu 15:12-18 {p} Seventh (Sabbath) year release of servants
Deu 15:19-23 {p} Firstborn are holy to YHVH
Deu 16:1-8 {s} Passover is holy to YHVH
Deu 16:9-12 {p} Weeks is holy to YHVH
Deu 16:13-17 {s} Tabernacles is holy to YHVH
Deu 16:18-20 {s} Injustice is detestable to YHVH
Deu 16:21-22 {s} Idolatrous groves and pillars are detestable to YHVH
The strong themes so far in Deuteronomy:
Deu 9:1-10:11 {p+p} Israel cannot enter the Land by self- righteousness, but by the mediator of the covenant
Deu 10:12-12:32 {sx7+p} Israel shall worship YHVH in the manner He commands, for her good, to possess the Land
Deu 13:1-14:21 {sx6+p} Israel shall not turn from YHVH to go after idols
Deu 14:22-15:18 {sx4+p} The tithe and Sabbath year of release are holy to YHVH
Deu 15:19-23 {p} The firstborn are holy to YHVH
Deu 16:1-12 {s+p} The spring feast days (Passover + Weeks) are holy to YHVH
We have been seeing how Deuteronomy explains this Torah, or explains how to keep the Ten Commandments:
Deu 6:4-11:25: First: How to have no other gods before YHVH;
Deu 11:26-14:29: Second and Third: How to not make idols or profane the LORD’s name.
I put the 2nd and 3rd together, because I could not see from the text that they were separated, but that both commandments having to do with preserving the sanctity of the LORD’s worship, were intertwined in the explanation; and also, that their chiastic structure encompasses both. Which brings us to today.
In today’s chapters, there is a prevalence of sevens following the paragraph divisions noted above. In the seventh year, the poor are released from debt, or poverty. In the seventh year, the servant is released from service. It is not a coincidence that in the instruction to observe Unleavened Bread and Weeks, the reminder that Israel was released from service to Egypt is mentioned. It is not a coincidence that in the instruction to observe Weeks and Tabernacles, Israel is to rejoice with the Levite, stranger, fatherless, and widow (typically those classes who struggle with poverty, as they do not have their own inheritance in Israel).
This passage is expounding the 4th Commandment, Honor the Sabbath day, the seventh day, to keep it holy – no work shall be done on this day. Work in order to provide bread to eat, is a result of the fall of man (Gen 3:16-19). On God’s hallowed day, the day in which He rested from His work, we are to rest from our work. We are to observe a reprieve from the result of sin! We spend His day trusting in Him and not our own labor or the strength of our flesh. Sabbath, in other words, is a free gift of grace that we enter in to by faith — and is a powerful prophetic picture of the gospel!
Deu 15:1-16:17 chiastic structure:
1a) Deu 15:1-6, Release of debts:
1) Deu 15:1-5, Count seven years and grant a release of debts;
2) Deu 15:6 s, For the LORD your God will bless you just as He promised you;
1b) Deu 15:7-11 s, You shall not withhold from the poor because of the seventh year;
1c) Deu 15:12-18 p, Count seven years and grant a release from slavery;
1d) Deu 15:15, You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and the Lord redeemed you;
central axis) Deu 15:19-23 p, The firstborn males shall not be worked;
2d) Deu 16:1-3, Keep the Passover in Abib that you may remember the day you came out of Egypt;
2c) Deu 16:4-8 s, Count seven days to observe Unleavened Bread;
2b) Deu 16:9-12 p, You shall keep the feast of Weeks with an offering as the Lord has blessed you;
2a) Deu 16:13-17, Tabernacles:
1) Deu 16:13-15a, Count seven days to observe Tabernacles;
2) Deu 16:15b-17 s, Because the Lord will bless you in all the work of your hands.
By linking this section in Deu 15-16 with the Sabbath day (by the prevalence of the sevens and doing no work as the central axis), Scripture is teaching us that the gospel of grace not only grants us rest from our own work(s in order to save us), but also, freedom from debt and bondage (to sin and the flesh)! And that, if we were to release debts in the seventh year, or servants in the seventh year, or observe the LORD’s feast days, we would be likewise observing the 4th Commandment to Honor the Sabbath – Honor rest from work, Honor freedom from debt and bondage, Honor the gospel of grace by faith!
For further study:
ten commandments index of studies
sabbath index of studies
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