And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, nor shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God. - Leviticus 23:22 (ESV)
Summary of Leviticus 23:
Announcement of the appointed feasts (vv 1-2)
The Sabbath (v 3)
The Passover (vv 4-8)
The Feast of the Firstfruits (vv 9-14)
The Feast of Weeks (vv 15-21)
Our passage above
The Feast of Trumpets (vv 23-25)
The Day of Atonement (vv 26-32)
The Feast of Booths (vv 33-43)
Thus Moses declared to the people of Israel the appointed feasts of the Lord. (v 44)
The questions is: why do you have this command in the middle of a list of appointed feasts, celebrations, and ceremonies? This is the perfect opportunity to remind people to be godly, that is like God. You see the Israelites were provided for by the Lord: through creation (remembered by the Sabbath), deliverance from slavery (the Passover), provision in harvest (Firstfruits and Weeks) - and they are to extend kindness and provision to those who are among them that do not have land, the poor and the foreigner.
The Lord is the one who provides to everyone. We can be used as a vessel of God's grace to others. Extending provision to the poor and the foreigner is not simply a means to have an 'in' on someone's life - it is the way that God will give to others. You can look at it like a command (such as not lying or having sexual purity/fidelity) or you can see it as something the reflects the very character of the Lord. Being a man or woman of God means we act as God would act if He were in our place. In the listing of Israel's celebrations, God reminds the nation to care for those who don't have.
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