Kingdom Economy
By Terance Clark May 24, 2025 6 Minute Read
Week 32 – 33
This Weeks Passage: Leviticus 25:1 – 27:34
This week we learn that God’s idea of an economy is unlike anything we’ve ever seen, but will be the basis for the Kingdom age that is to come. The foundation for everything is that God owns the land and the resources, Psalm 24:1 says the earth is the LORDs and all its fullness. In Gods economy, faith is valued over profit, Sabbaths are placed before harvests, the value of the individual takes priority over the bottom line. Family is greater than expansion and growth and there are loans without interest. Debts are forgiven after seven years and most importantly the poor and needy occupy the center of concern. That’s a huge difference over what we experience today.
One reason why this week is so important to understand is because we often pick elements of Gods economy and try to insert it into our own without realizing or understanding the basis and/or the purpose it placed within society. Tithing is one of those elements. We’re not discussing tithing this week, but this is the first lesson in understanding that the tithe was intertwined within a very complex economy to care for the poor and when we try to pull it out of that system and require it in another system it fails to adequately fulfill the purpose for which it was created. Enough said. Let’s understand the basis for God’s system of provision and how it applies to our lives today.
Gods System of Sevens
God’s economy operated through a series of sevens. Every seventh day we are to rest and every seven years is a year of rest for the land. After seven years of seven or forty-nine years on the fiftieth year is a year of celebration or jubilee. This cycle of sevens was deeply rooted into society so that the costs of goods were based on the year within the cycle. If you purchased property in year ten it cost a lot more than if you bought it in year forty because all land reverted back to the original family in year fifty. Why? Because all the land was God’s and He didn’t want people to gain power through owning land. He didn’t want His people to become slaves to the rich and this guaranteed that even if you lost your house you would get it all back in the fiftieth year. It was a system to keep everyone level to some degree.
“God didn’t want His people to become
slaves to the rich“
The system was meant to value people and to teach people that they needed to trust God for everything. Resting was required on the seventh day as a means to help remind people that it wasn’t their own efforts which provided for their needs. We can say we trust God, but resting one day a week helps us put that trust into action. On the seventh year the land rested, but that is only a small part of the story. Everyone was required to share food and eat from the same supply. If you had a farm it remained open for others to come and eat freely from during that year. Everyone had to trust God for food in the seventh year and then again in the eighth year because it would have taken a year to renew the ground and plant again and receive a harvest. Once again God was teaching them to live in community and trust Him for food. There were other elements to the process as each year had a different set of guidelines that coordinated with their tithe and offerings to enhance faith, community and dependency on God.
The Jubilee Year
The jubilee year was the culmination of seven sevens. A year of reset so to speak. Remember the poor often had to borrow to survive so each seven years canceled their debts and allowed them to start fresh. We live in a society that thrives through debt, but debt is a form of slavery and God does not want us to live in slavery so His system kept debt to a minimum. Also, remember that debt is associated with sin and there are many spiritual truths associated that God is teaching. God forgives debt and He wants us to forgive debts as well so His system places a large value on forgiving debts. Jesus is the Jubilee! It’s a time of complete restoration and the shofar was blown on the day of atonement to proclaim everyone’s freedom and the entire system was reset. No debt, no captives and all property returned to original owners. What a great day it will be when He returns!
As we finish this weeks lesson there is so much more than we could possibly tell in such a short writing, but the lasting picture for us should be that God is interested in people and helping them to live trusting him and in relationship with others. Forgiveness is key and people always take priority over things. Most importantly the society should not be bent towards enhancing the wealthy, but instead in helping those who are weak and challenged. It’s a huge shift from what we are used to and clearly needs the Lord reigning to walking out in real time. If we can walk away from this weeks lesson with a heart that desires to love others and help whenever and wherever we can especially to those who are hurting we are making a huge shift towards the Kingdom that Jesus taught about. That is why the people cried out Hosanna! They knew they needed the true king to come and save them from this worlds system. May His kingdom come soon!
