Year 4, Day 112: Leviticus 23

Theological Commentary: Click Here 

Discipleship Focus: Rhythm, Work, Rest

• Rhythm: We are designed to work from rest, not rest from work.  God has created us to be a people of rhythm in which we rest (abide), grow, work (bear fruit), and prune.  The better we understand this natural rhythm in life, the more satisfied we will feel in life and the more we will be able to be in tune with succeeding in what God desires our life to be about.

At first glance, Leviticus 23 seems to be about special religious holidays.  This is absolutely correct.  God does want the Hebrew people to remember significant days throughout the year.  He wants them to remember Passover – when they were brought out of Egypt.  He wants them to remember Pentecost – when the first fruit of the harvest should just be coming in.  He wants them to remember the Day of Atonement, when the whole community makes atonement for their sinfulness.  He wants them to remember the feast of Tabernacles as a remembrance of the time spent in the wilderness – especially since it occurred as the last of the harvest would be brought in from their fields.

However, on a more deep level we can see that this passage is about rhythm.  In this chapter we hear about the Hebrew yearly rhythm.  But we also hear about a daily rhythm as well.  Ordinary work can be done for six days of the week, unless there is a special Sabbath or festival.  But on the seventh day, there is not supposed to be any kind of ordinary work.  Here we can hear of another rhythm: God’s work verses the world’s work.

God knows that there is work in the world that needs to get done.  God knows that there needs to be time dedicated to working.  But He also knows that we need to rest from the work of this world and work at the work He has called us to do as well.  In order to be healthy, we need to establish healthy rhythms that allow for us to accomplish work but then rest from the work of the world while we grow closer to God.

<><