Respect God and His Creation - Leviticus 19-21

Leviticus 19:23-25 (ESV Strong's)

“When you come into the land and plant any kind of tree for food, then you shall regard its fruit as forbidden. Three years it shall be forbidden to you; it must not be eaten. And in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, an offering of praise to the Lord. But in the fifth year you may eat of its fruit, to increase its yield for you: I am the Lord your God.

Tag: Respect God and His Creation

There are two principles taught in the above passage.  When Israel entered the promise land they were to plant fruit trees.  But, they were not to partake of the tree for the first three years.  The fourth year the tree was to offered to God and given to the priest.  It was only in the firth year that the owner of the tree would be able to eat.   

1.  That which we plant belongs to God.  God is the owner of all we own.  We own nothing that is not first and foremost Gods.   God wants them to remember that what He gives them is first His.   We forget this, often, in our own work.   God is the giver of gifts and resources.   They are first his and we are to honor them with them.  Solomon would tell us teh same things later:

Proverbs 3:9-10

(ESV Strong's) Honor the Lord with your wealth

and with the firstfruits of all your produce;

then your barns will be filled with plenty,

and your vats will be bursting with wine.

2.  That which is planted must be respected.   The fruit tree has agricultural processes to go through.   God is teaching them how to care for His creation.   God wants them to honor Him through their treatment of His creation.   They are not to skip the processes in the growth of fruit and the harvesting process just because they are God’s people.  This would couple in later to give the land a rest every seven years.   But, Israel would not do that.  They would not trust God during these times to honor His word and give the land the rest it needed.   

These might seem like minor acts, but they show great faith when we allow God’s creation to breath and follow that process.  God wants us to truth Him and honor Him.   We can do that by honor and respecting His creation.