L
E V I T I C U S
CHAP. XXVII.
The
last verse of the foregoing chapter seemed to close up the statute-book; yet
this chapter is added as an appendix. Having given laws concerning instituted
services, here he directs concerning vows and voluntary services, the
free-will offerings of their mouth. Perhaps some devout serious people among
them might be so affected with what Moses had delivered to them in the
foregoing chapter as in a pang of zeal to consecrate themselves, or their
children, or estates to him: this, because honestly meant, God would accept;
but, because men are apt to repent of such vows, he leaves room for the
redemption of what had been so consecrated, at a certain rate. Here is, I. The
law concerning what was sanctified to God, persons (ver. 2-8), cattle, clean
or unclean (ver. 9-13), houses and lands (ver. 15-25), with an exception of
firstlings, ver. 26, 27. II. Concerning what was devoted, ver. 28, 29. III.
Concerning tithes, ver. 30, &c.
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The
Law Concerning Vows.
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B.
C. 1490.
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1 And the LORD
spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and
say unto them, When a man shall make a singular vow, the persons shall be
for the LORD
by thy estimation. 3 And thy estimation shall be of the male from
twenty years old even unto sixty years old, even thy estimation shall be fifty
shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary. 4 And if it be
a female, then thy estimation shall be thirty shekels. 5 And if it
be from five years old even unto twenty years old, then thy estimation
shall be of the male twenty shekels, and for the female ten shekels.
6 And if it be from a month old even unto five years old, then thy
estimation shall be of the male five shekels of silver, and for the female thy
estimation shall be three shekels of silver. 7 And if it
be from sixty years old and above; if it be a male, then thy
estimation shall be fifteen shekels, and for the female ten shekels.
8 But if he be poorer than thy estimation, then he shall present himself
before the priest, and the priest shall value him; according to his ability
that vowed shall the priest value him. 9 And if it be a
beast, whereof men bring an offering unto the LORD,
all that any man giveth of such unto the LORD
shall be holy. 10 He shall not alter it, nor change it, a good for
a bad, or a bad for a good: and if he shall at all change beast for beast,
then it and the exchange thereof shall be holy. 11 And if it be
any unclean beast, of which they do not offer a sacrifice unto the LORD,
then he shall present the beast before the priest: 12 And the
priest shall value it, whether it be good or bad: as thou valuest it, who
art the priest, so shall it be. 13 But if he will at all
redeem it, then he shall add a fifth part thereof unto thy estimation.
This is part of the law concerning singular vows, extraordinary ones, which
though God did not expressly insist on, yet, if they were consistent with and
conformable to the general precepts, he would be well pleased with. Note, We
should not only ask, What must we do, but, What may we do, for the glory and
honour of God? As the liberal devises liberal things (Isa. xxxii. 8),
so the pious devises pious things, and the enlarged heart would willingly do
something extraordinary in the service of so good a Master as God is. When we
receive or expect some singular mercy it is good to honour God with some
singular vow.
I. The case is here put of persons vowed to God by a singular vow, v.
2. If a man consecrated himself, or a child, to the service of the tabernacle,
to be employed there in some inferior office, as sweeping the floor, carrying
out ashes, running of errands, or the like, the person so consecrated shall
be for the Lord, that is, "God will graciously accept the
good-will." Thou didst well that it was in thy heart, 2 Chron. vi.
8. But forasmuch as he had no occasion to use their service about the
tabernacle, a whole tribe being appropriated to the use of it, those that were
thus vowed were to be redeemed, and the money paid for their redemption was
employed for the repair of the sanctuary, or other uses of it, as appears by 2
Kings xii. 14, where it is called, in the margin, the money of the souls of
his estimation. A book of rates is accordingly provided, by which the
priests were to go in their estimation. Here is, 1. The rate of the
middle-aged, between twenty and threescore, these were valued highest, because
most serviceable; a male fifty shekels, and a female thirty, v. 3, 4.
The females were then less esteemed, but not so in Christ; for in Christ
Jesus there is neither male nor female, Gal. iii. 28. Note, Those that are
in the prime of their time must look upon themselves as obliged to do more in
the service of God and their generation than can be expected either from
minors, that have not yet arrived to their usefulness, or from the aged, that
have survived it. 2. The rate of the youth between five years old and twenty
was less, because they were then less capable of doing service, v. 5.
3. Infants under five years old were capable of being vowed to God by their
parents, even before they were born, as Samuel was, but not to be presented
and redeemed till a month old, that, as one sabbath passed over them before
they were circumcised, so one new moon might pass over them before they were
estimated; and their valuation was but small, v. 6. Samuel, who was
thus vowed to God, was not redeemed, because he was a Levite, and a particular
favourite, and therefore was employed in his childhood in the service of the
tabernacle. 4. The aged are valued less than youth, but more than children, v.
7. And the Hebrews observe that the rate of an aged woman is two parts of
three to that of an aged man, so that in that age the female came nearest to
the value of the male, which occasioned (as bishop Patrick quotes it here)
this saying among them, That an old woman in a house is a treasure in a
house. Paul sets a great value upon the aged women, when he makes them teachers
of good things, Tit. ii. 3. 5. The poor shall be valued according to their
ability, v. 8. Something they must pay, that they might learn not to be
rash in vowing to God, for he hath no pleasure in fools, Eccl. v. 4.
Yet not more than their ability, but secundum tenementum--according to
their possessions, that they might not ruin themselves and their families
by their zeal. Note, God expects and requires from men according to what they
have, and not according to what they have not, Luke xxi. 4.
II. The case is put of beasts vowed to God, 1. If it was a clean beast, such
as was offered in sacrifice, it must not be redeemed, nor any equivalent given
for it: It shall be holy, v. 9, 10. After it was vowed, it was
not to be put to any common use, nor changed upon second thoughts; but it must
be either offered upon the altar, or, if through any blemish it was not meet
to be offered, he that vowed it should not take advantage of that, but the
priests should have it for their own use (for they were God's receivers), or
it should be sold for the service of the sanctuary. This teaches caution in
making vows and constancy in keeping them when they are made; for it is a
snare to a man to devour that which is holy, and after vows to make enquiry,
Prov. xx. 25. And to this that rule of charity seems to allude (2 Cor. ix. 7),
Every man, according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give. 2.
If it was an unclean beast, it should go to the use of the priest at such a
value; but he that vowed it, upon paying that value in money, and adding a
fifth part more to it, might redeem it if he pleased, v. 11-13. It was
fit that men should smart for their inconstancy. God has let us know his mind
concerning his service, and he is not pleased if we do not know our own. God
expects that those that deal with him should be at a point, and way what they
will stand to.
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Concerning
Things Sanctified.
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B.
C. 1490.
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14 And when a man shall
sanctify his house to be holy unto the LORD,
then the priest shall estimate it, whether it be good or bad: as the priest
shall estimate it, so shall it stand. 15 And if he that sanctified
it will redeem his house, then he shall add the fifth part of the money
of thy estimation unto it, and it shall be his. 16 And if a man
shall sanctify unto the LORD
some part of a field of his possession, then thy estimation shall be
according to the seed thereof: an homer of barley seed shall be valued
at fifty shekels of silver. 17 If he sanctify his field from the
year of jubilee, according to thy estimation it shall stand. 18
But if he sanctify his field after the jubilee, then the priest shall reckon
unto him the money according to the years that remain, even unto the year of
the jubilee, and it shall be abated from thy estimation. 19 And if
he that sanctified the field will in any wise redeem it, then he shall add the
fifth part of the money of thy estimation unto it, and it shall be
assured to him. 20 And if he will not redeem the field, or if he
have sold the field to another man, it shall not be redeemed any more.
21 But the field, when it goeth out in the jubilee, shall be holy unto the LORD,
as a field devoted; the possession thereof shall be the priest's.
22 And if a man sanctify unto the LORD
a field which he hath bought, which is not of the fields of his
possession; 23 Then the priest shall reckon unto him the worth of
thy estimation, even unto the year of the jubilee: and he shall give
thine estimation in that day, as a holy thing unto the LORD.
24 In the year of the jubilee the field shall return unto him of whom it was
bought, even to him to whom the possession of the land did belong.
25 And all thy estimations shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary:
twenty gerahs shall be the shekel.
Here is the law concerning real estates dedicated to the service of God by a
singular vow.
I. Suppose a man, in his zeal for the honour of God, should sanctify his
house to God (v. 14), the house must be valued by the priest, and
the money got by the sale of it was to be converted to the use of the
sanctuary, which by degrees came to be greatly enriched with dedicated
things, 1 Kings xv. 15. But, if the owner be inclined to redeem it
himself, he must not have it so cheap as another, but must add a fifth part to
the price, for he should have considered before he had vowed it, v. 15.
To him that was necessitous God would abate the estimation (v. 8); but
to him that was fickle and humoursome, and whose second thoughts inclined more
to the world and his secular interest than his first, God would rise in the
price. Blessed be God, there is a way of sanctifying our houses to be holy
unto the Lord, without either selling them or buying them. If we and our
houses serve the Lord, if religion rule in them, and we put away iniquity far
from them, and have a church in our house, holiness to the Lord is written
upon it, it is his, and he will dwell with us in it.
II. Suppose a man should sanctify some part of his land to the Lord, giving it
to pious uses, then a difference must be made between land that came to the
donor by descent and that which came by purchase, and accordingly the case
altered.
1. If it was the inheritance of his fathers, here called the field of his
possession, which pertained to his family from the first division of
Canaan, he might not give it all, no, not to the sanctuary; God would not
admit such a degree of zeal as ruined a man's family. But he might sanctify or
dedicate only some part of it, v. 16. And in that case, (1.) The land
was to be valued (as our countrymen commonly compute land) by so many
measures' sowing of barley. So much land as would take a homer, or chomer,
of barley, which contained ten ephahs, Ezek. xlv. 11 (not, as some have here
mistaken it, an omer, which was but a tenth part of an ephah, Exod.
xvi. 36), was valued at fifty shekels, a moderate price (v. 16), and
that if it were sanctified immediately from the year of jubilee, v. 17.
But, if some years after, there was to be a discount accordingly, even of that
price, v. 18. And, (2.) When the value was fixed, the donor might, if
he pleased, redeem it for sixty shekels the homer's sowing, which was with the
addition of a fifth part: the money then went to the sanctuary, and the land
reverted to him that had sanctified it, v. 19. But if he would not
redeem it, and the priest sold it to another, then at the year of jubilee,
beyond which the sale could not go, the land came to the priests, and was
theirs for ever, v. 20, 21. Note, What is given to the Lord ought not
to be given with a power of revocation; what is devoted to the Lord must be
his for ever, by a perpetual covenant.
2. If the land was his own purchase, and came not to him from his ancestors,
then not the land itself, but the value of it was to be given to the priests
for pious uses, v. 22, 24. It was supposed that those who, by the
blessing of God, had grown so rich as to become purchasers would think
themselves obliged in gratitude to sanctify some part of their purchase, at
least (and here they are not limited, but they might, if they pleased,
sanctify the whole), to the service of God. For we ought to give as God
prospers us, 1 Cor. xvi. 2. Purchasers are in a special manner bound to be
charitable. Now, forasmuch as purchased lands were by a former law to return
at the year of jubilee to the family from which they were purchased, God would
not have that law and the intentions of it defeated by making the lands corban,
a gift, Mark vii. 11. But it was to be computed how much the land was
worth for so many years as were from the vow to the jubilee; for only so long
it was his own, and God hates robbery for burnt-offerings. We can never
acceptably serve God with that of which we have wronged our neighbour. And so
much money he was to give for the present, and keep the land in his own hands
till the year of jubilee, when it was to return free of all encumbrances, even
that of its being dedicated to him of whom it was bought. The value of the
shekel by which all these estimations were to be made is here ascertained (v.
25); it shall be twenty gerahs, and every gerah was sixteen barley-corns. This
was fixed before (Exod. xxx. 13); and, whereas there had been some
alterations, it is again fixed in the laws of Ezekiel's visionary temple
(Ezek. xlv. 12), to denote that the gospel should reduce things to their
ancient standard.
26 Only the firstling of
the beasts, which should be the LORD's
firstling, no man shall sanctify it; whether it be ox, or sheep: it is
the LORD's.
27 And if it be of an unclean beast, then he shall redeem it
according to thine estimation, and shall add a fifth part of it
thereto: or if it be not redeemed, then it shall be sold according to thy
estimation. 28 Notwithstanding no devoted thing, that a man shall
devote unto the LORD
of all that he hath, both of man and beast, and of the field of his
possession, shall be sold or redeemed: every devoted thing is most holy
unto the LORD.
29 None devoted, which shall be devoted of men, shall be redeemed; but
shall surely be put to death. 30 And all the tithe of the land, whether
of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD's:
it is holy unto the LORD.
31 And if a man will at all redeem ought of his tithes, he shall add
thereto the fifth part thereof. 32 And concerning the tithe
of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod,
the tenth shall be holy unto the LORD.
33 He shall not search whether it be good or bad, neither shall he change it:
and if he change it at all, then both it and the change thereof shall be holy;
it shall not be redeemed. 34 These are the commandments,
which the LORD
commanded Moses for the children of Israel in mount Sinai.
Here is, I. A caution given that no man should make such a jest of sanctifying
things to the Lord as to sanctify any firstling to him, for that was his
already by the law, v. 26. Though the matter of a general vow be that
which we were before obliged to, as of our sacramental covenant, yet a
singular vow should be of that which we were not, in such circumstances and
proportions, antecedently bound to. The law concerning the firstlings of
unclean beasts (v. 27) is the same with that before, v. 11, 12.
II. Things or persons devoted are here distinguished from things or persons
that were only sanctified. 1. Devoted things were most holy to the Lord, and
could neither revert nor be alienated, v. 28. They were of the same
nature with those sacrifices which were called most holy, which none might
touch but only the priests themselves. The difference between these and other
sanctified things arose from the different expression of the vow. If a man
dedicated any thing to God, binding himself with a solemn curse never to
alienate it to any other purpose, then it was a thing devoted. 2. Devoted
persons were to be put to death, v. 29. Not that it was in the power of
any parent or master thus to devote a child or a servant to death; but it must
be meant of the public enemies of Israel, who, either by the appointment of
God or by the sentence of the congregation, were devoted, as the seven nations
with which they must make no league. The city of Jericho in particular was
thus devoted, Josh. vi. 17. The inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead were put to death
for violating the curse pronounced upon those who came not up to Mizpeh, Judg.
xxi. 9, 10. Some think it was for want of being rightly informed of the true
intent and meaning of this law that Jephtha sacrificed his daughter as one
devoted, who might not be redeemed.
III. A law concerning tithes, which were paid for the service of God before
the law, as appears by Abraham's payment of them, (Gen. xiv. 20), and Jacob's
promise of them, Gen. xxviii. 22. It is here appointed, 1. That they should
pay tithe of all their increase, their corn, trees, and cattle, v. 30,
32. Whatsoever productions they had the benefit of God must be honoured with
the tithe of, if it were titheable. Thus they acknowledged God to be the owner
of their land, the giver of its fruits, and themselves to be his tenants, and
dependents upon him. Thus they gave him thanks for the plenty they enjoyed,
and supplicated his favour in the continuance of it. And we are taught in
general to honour the Lord with our substance (Prov. iii. 9), and in
particular to support and maintain his ministers, and to be ready to
communicate to them, Gal. vi. 6; 1 Cor. ix. 11. And how this may be done
in a fitter and more equal proportion than that of the tenth, which God
himself appointed of old, I cannot see. 2. That which was once marked for
tithe should not be altered, no, not for a better (v. 33), for
Providence directed the rod that marked it. God would accept it though it were
not the best, and they must not grudge it though it were, for it was what
passed under the rod. 3. That it should not be redeemed, unless the owner
would give a fifth part more for its ransom, v. 31. If men had the
curiosity to prefer what was marked for tithe before any other part of their
increase, it was fit that they should pay for their curiosity.
IV. The last verse seems to have reference to this whole book of which it is
the conclusion: These are the commandments which the Lord commanded Moses,
for the children of Israel. Many of these commandments are moral, and of
perpetual obligation; others of them, which were ceremonial and peculiar to
the Jewish economy, have notwithstanding a spiritual significancy, and are
instructive to us who are furnished with a key to let us into the mysteries
contained in them; for unto us, by those institutions, is the gospel
preached as well as unto them, Heb. iv. 2. Upon the whole matter, we may
see cause to bless God that we have not come to mount Sinai, Heb. xii.
18. 1. That we are not under the dark shadows of the law, but enjoy the
clear light of the gospel, which shows us Christ the end of the law for
righteousness, Rom. x. 4. The doctrine of our reconciliation to God by a
Mediator is not clouded with the smoke of burning sacrifices, but cleared by
the knowledge of Christ and him crucified. 2. That we are not under the
heavy yoke of the law, and the carnal ordinances of it (as the apostle
calls them, Heb. ix. 10), imposed till the time of reformation, a yoke which neither
they nor their fathers were able to bear (Acts xv. 10), but under the
sweet and easy institutions of the gospel, which pronounces those the true
worshippers that worship the Father in spirit and truth, by Christ only,
and in his name, who is our priest, temple, altar, sacrifice, purification,
and all. Let us not therefore think that because we are not tied to the
ceremonial cleansings, feasts, and oblations, a little care, time, and
expense, will serve to honour God with. No, but rather have our hearts more
enlarge with free-will offerings to his praise, more inflamed with holy love
and joy, and more engaged in seriousness of thought and sincerity of
intention. Having boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
let us draw near with a true heart, and full assurance of faith,
worshipping God with so much the more cheerfulness and humble confidence,
still saying, Blessed be God for Jesus Christ!
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