There were two cases in the hallowing of the field, which are here distinguished, a field of the Israelite's possession, and a field which he bought. Descent or purchase involved a marked difference.
“16 And if a man hallow to Jehovah out of a field of his possession, thy valuation shall be according to the seed thereof: the homer of barley seed at fifty shekels of silver. 17 If he hallow his field from the year of jubilee, according to thy valuation it shall stand; 18 but if he hallow his field after the jubilee, then the priest shall reckon unto him the money according to the years that remain until the year of the jubilee, and there shall be a reduction from thy valuation. 19 And if he that hallowed the field will in any wise redeem it, he shall add the fifth of the money of thy valuation unto it, and it shall be assured to him; 20 but if he do not redeem the field, or if he sell the field to another man, it cannot be redeemed any more; 21 and the field when it goeth out in the jubilee, shall be holy to Jehovah as a field devoted; the possession thereof shall be the priest's. And if he hallow to Jehovah a field that he hath bought, which [is] not the field of his possession, the priest shall reckon to him the amount of thy valuation unto the year of the jubilee; and he shall give thy valuation on that day, holy unto Jehovah. In the year of the jubilee the field shall return to him of whom it was bought, to him to whom the possession of the land [belonged]. And all thy valuations shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary: twenty gerahs shall be the shekel” (vers. 16-25).
God will not allow His people to forget that the land of Canaan is His peculiarly, as they were to whom He gave it in possession. This was their special favor. Israel were His people as no other nation could be then, and their land too was His that He might secure it to them forever, unless they apostatized, for which He drove them out and made them the slave and butt of their enemies' malice and contempt. So it was for their idolatry when the mother of idols led the Jew captive, as Assyria led away Ephraim long before; and so it was to be again as Isaiah foretold both (chaps. 40-48 and chaps. 49-57) when the Roman should take away both their place and nation because they rejected the Messiah.
But here it is an Israelite while acknowledged of Jehovah sanctifying to Jehovah a part of a field of his possession. The valuation was to be according to the seed required, a homer of barley being rated at fifty shekels of silver. Here the jubilee rules, the standard for rectifying man's weakness or fault and for restoring divine order. If he sanctified his field from the year of jubilee, it must stand according to the valuation. The jubilee proclaimed Jehovah's rights unmistakably; and if the field were devoted to Him, there could be no change. The estimation allowed no abatement, nor meddling.
But if after the jubilee the Israelite sanctified it, “then the priest shall reckon to him the money according to the years that remain to the year of the jubilee,” and thus equitable abatement ensues. Yet the case does not end there. “If he that sanctified the field will in any wise redeem it,” he must submit to the usual forfeit required in thus departing from his original purpose of devotedness to Jehovah. The fifth part has to be added of the valuation money to that valuation price, in order to gain back the portion devoted.
It is also laid down that, if he will not redeem the field, or if he have sold the field to another man, it “shall not be redeemed any more.” Further still, the rights of Jehovah are repeated by the provision that “the field, when it goeth out in the jubilee, shall be holy to Jehovah as a field devoted.” The terms of re-acquiring it had not been complied with. Jehovah was the real Landlord; and His title is not to be any longer subject to human caprice. “The possession thereof shall be the priest's.” Thus Jehovah would exercise His people in a due regard for His majesty and word, who sought thereby the best blessing for His people, and the restitution of the land as well as of the people.
On the other hand, if one sanctified to Jehovah a field which he had bought, outside the field of his possession, the priest must reckon unto him the worth of the valuation unto the year of jubilee; and this valuation was then and there to be given, a holy thing to Jehovah. There was no forfeit of the fifth part to be added to the price. Nor did it abide holy to Jehovah beyond the year of jubilee; for then it must return to its original possessor of the land who had sold it. Jehovah's gift held good: if man changes, He does not.
Another law was applied inflexibly throughout these transactions. “And all thy valuations shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary: twenty gerahs shall be the shekel” (ver. 25). Israel might desire to purchase by what coin was most convenient in their dealings with the nations. But as in relation to the temple service and their redemption price, so here they must make their payments “according to the shekel of the sanctuary.”
We are under grace, not law; but what a profound error that we as Christians are left to our own will or wisdom! We are bought with an infinite price, and are in no wise our own. Undoubtedly all things are ours, life or death, things present or things to come. But we are Christ's by the same title which makes all to be ours; so that the bondman if called in the Lord is His freedman; and the free man if called is Christ's bondman. Such is Christian liberty. Humbled at our sins, we rejoice in His grace which has set us free to be all the more His servants, as He was the lowliest of all and the only efficacious One in love without measure to God's glory.