The Fourth Commandment states:

8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God [Exodus 20:8-10]

In Deuteronomy 15, Yahweh sets aside a sabbatical YEAR, a time of releasing those Israelites in debt and slavery, offering them all a fresh start. Why? Let’s dig in and find out!!!

[Deuteronomy 15.1-23]

15.1 “At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release. 2 And this is the manner of the release: every creditor shall release what he has lent to his neighbor. He shall not exact it of his neighbor, his brother, because the Lord's release has been proclaimed. 3 Of a foreigner you may exact it, but whatever of yours is with your brother your hand shall release. 4 But there will be no poor among you; for the Lord will bless you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance to possess— 5 if only you will strictly obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all this commandment that I command you today. 6 For the Lord your God will bless you, as he promised you, and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow, and you shall rule over many nations, but they shall not rule over you.

7 “If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, 8 but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be. 9 Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart and you say, ‘The seventh year, the year of release is near,’ and your eye look grudgingly on your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he cry to the Lord against you, and you be guilty of sin. 10 You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. 11 For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’

12 “If your brother, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you, he shall serve you six years, and in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you. 13 And when you let him go free from you, you shall not let him go empty-handed. 14 You shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, out of your threshing floor, and out of your winepress. As the Lord your God has blessed you, you shall give to him. 15 You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this today. 16 But if he says to you, ‘I will not go out from you,’ because he loves you and your household, since he is well-off with you, 17 then you shall take an awl, and put it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your slave forever. And to your female slave you shall do the same. 18 It shall not seem hard to you when you let him go free from you, for at half the cost of a hired worker he has served you six years. So the Lord your God will bless you in all that you do.

19 “All the firstborn males that are born of your herd and flock you shall dedicate to the Lord your God. You shall do no work with the firstborn of your herd, nor shear the firstborn of your flock. 20 You shall eat it, you and your household, before the Lord your God year by year at the place that the Lord will choose. 21 But if it has any blemish, if it is lame or blind or has any serious blemish whatever, you shall not sacrifice it to the Lord your God. 22 You shall eat it within your towns. The unclean and the clean alike may eat it, as though it were a gazelle or a deer. 23 Only you shall not eat its blood; you shall pour it out on the ground like water.

[ WHAT ] is this passage saying and what is a key truth or thought that we learn?

+ Based on this system of “the Lord’s release”, no Israelite would ever been in debt or held in slavery for more than six years. What are the practical purposes of such a law? Is this a command Christians are obligated to follow today? Why or why not?

+ What do you think of God about applying this system to only “brothers” and not “foreigners”? [Read Galatians 6.10]

+ How do you reconcile v. 4 “there will be no poor among you” with verse 11 “there will never cease to be poor in the land”?

+ Does v. 9 insinuate it is a sin not to help those who ask for it in times of need? Why or why not?

+ What is the reason and purpose of furnishing liberally the slave that has been set free after six years of service? What is God promising in verse 18? [Read Matthew 6.1-4 and 25-34]

+ How can we practically apply to our lives today the teaching in vv. 19-23?

[ HOW ] is the Lord calling me to action/obedience?

+ Is there sin to confess or a next step to take? How has it gone since last time?

+ Numerous times in the Old Testament, God tells the Israelites to remember their time of slavery in Egypt. This is usually followed by instructions to take care of people in need. Even “the world” can see the application of this in life. Those who have means should be willing to share with those who don’t, especially if you were ever in a situation when you were once poor and in need yourself. Doing this is hard enough as humans are not very willing to give away their resources, both time and money.

But the New Testament uses language such as being in bondage and slavery as synonyms for those who have not surrendered their life to Christ. How much more do these people need our help? What type of future is in store for them unless we do our part? We need to remember our time in Egypt, when we were in bondage and slavery, to fuel us to help those now caught in the same position we once lived.

[Ephesians 2:1-10]

1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

“So remember your chains
Remember the prison that once held you
Before the love of God broke through
Remember the place you were without grace
When you see where you are now
Remember your chains
And remember your chains are gone

Imagine what your life would be
If Jesus had not set you free
Remember your chains are gone
Remember the prison that once held you
Before the love of God broke through
Remember your chains
And remember your chains are gone”

Songwriters: Steven Chapman

[ WHO ] am I walking with and praying for to discover Jesus?

+ What is my next step?