Lev. 19 : 9-10 Leaving for the poor

[ginny]

Greetings!

I am working my way, slowly, through the commands in Leviticus that I believe apply to me in this non-tabernacle/temple era. This is one that my beloved and I cannot figure out:

When you harvest the ripe crops produced in your land, don't harvest all the way to corners of your field, and don't gather the ears of grain left by the harvesters. Likewise, don't gather the grapes left on the vine or fallen on the ground after harvest; leave them for the poor and the foreigner; I am YHWH your God.

Okay, we have a small farm and grow quite a variety of crops every year. In the past, I have tried to share with some people and they don't want it. My thought is that it is too difficult for them to prepare it when they can get a microwave burrito at the store. sigh... Anyway, there are people that will come and get it, but they are not poor or foreigners. I don't think I could find anyone who is really needy who will stoop to actually coming out here and picking their own stuff off the ground. They MAY, but probably wouldn't, take it if I picked it for them and delivered it. But, that is not the command. So, if I am unable to find anyone to glean, my thought is to gather it and give it to the chickens, but my beloved says that we are not supposed to be gathering it. Okay, then I would let the chickens in the garden.

Any thoughts?

In the Name of Yeshua the Messiah,

Ginny

[lawrenceofisrael]

As far as i know it can also be left there for wild animals.

[Mark]

Hi Ginny,

First, in the modern society we live in, and the antinomian (lawlesss, with respect to God's commands) culture, you're going to run into this a lot as you seek to obey specific mitvotim (instructions in God's Word). The first question to ask yourself is this: does the response of other people toward your obediece negate your responsibility to obey?

Now, we could stop there and you may codify in your mind that God's Word says to leave it so it is never going to be touched- the question is answered for good. That's not the realtionship with that He desires for you to have. Rather, He wants you to wrestle with the question and prayerfully consider, what is the righteous thing to do with this produce each and every season.

A seemingly flippant question that is rather to the heart of it is this: what would God do with it? I think you'll find that the answer will vary somewhat year to year. My experience has been that when I am seeking an opportunity to give in worship and in obedience and love, He provides it for me. Often in ways that I never would have imagined or could have considered. However, when I am trying to check off the command as having done that, I am usually met with silence.

Just some things to consider.

By the way, I typically allow such questions go silent for a day or two before I post a response as I want to give other folks a chance.

[ginny]

Mark,

I don't really understand your comment, but I will say this:

Thus far, I am understanding the spirit of the commandment to mean that we are to share, so it doesn't really matter if I pick it myself or who I give it to. But, we are to share what we are blessed with. I think that is the spirit of the matter. I like to break things down and analyze them to death before coming to my conclusions and, sometimes, it seems like a waste of time to spend so much time and energy analyzing just to come up with an obviously simple conclusion. A foible of mine, I presume.

Thanks for taking the time to comment. I will probably be posting about all kinds of stuff...

In the Name of Yahshue the Messiah,

Ginny

[Mark]

Hi Ginny,

If it were me, I would be inclined to pick the produce myself and offer it to someone in need. However, I guess what my warning is, is that we don't analyze the question and come to a conclusion so that the question never has to come up again- that we revisit and re-ask the question, season after season, so to grow in our grace and in our knowledge of the Messiah, rather plateau at coming to be an expert on a specific subject.

[ginny]

Mark,

Oh, yes! I see what you mean now. And you would never believe how much I agree with you on that! LOL!

Just the other day I said basically the same thing to my beloved. He was complaining that I seem to change my beliefs so much over the years. I told him that this walk with YHWH is a journey with many twists and turns and I don't ever expect to get it perfectly, but I must be flexible and ready for YHWH to show me where I am wrong on things and change my beliefs, if necessary.

Yes, it is a very dangerous thing to think we now know the truth and shut down.

Thank you very much for the comment.

In the Name of Yeshua the Messiah,

Ginny

[Mark]

Every time I approach the Most High in prayer and every time I open the pages of Holy Writ, I should expect my life to be changed.