Context No. 3312 of 4322 · Leviticus

Leviticus 23:22-32: in context

22“‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you must not wholly reap into the corners of your field. You must not gather the gleanings of your harvest. You must leave them for the poor and for the foreigner. I am the LORD your God.’” 23The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 24“Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, there shall be a solemn rest for you, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. 25You shall do no regular work. You shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD.’” 26The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 27“However on the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement. It shall be a holy convocation to you. You shall afflict yourselves and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. 28You shall do no kind of work in that same day, for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement for you before the LORD your God. 29For whoever it is who shall not deny himself in that same day shall be cut off from his people. 30Whoever does any kind of work in that same day, I will destroy that person from among his people. 31You shall do no kind of work: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 32It shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall deny yourselves. In the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall keep your Sabbath.”

Two commands sit side by side in the calendar of Israel's worship. First, the harvest law: when you reap, do not reap to the very corners of your field or gather the gleanings, but leave them for the poor and the foreigner. And second, the Day of Atonement: a day to afflict yourselves and do no work, for on it atonement is made for you before the LORD.

Provision for the needy is woven right into the rhythm of Israel's harvest and worship; caring for the poor is not an afterthought but a command of God. And on the Day of Atonement the people did nothing but humble themselves and receive atonement, resting entirely on what God provided rather than on their own effort. The pairing is telling: generous care for the poor, and utter dependence on God's atonement, belong together in a life of true worship. We are to leave the edges of our harvest for others, and to rest wholly on the atonement God gives, not on our own works.

Do I both leave the "edges of my field" for those in need and rest wholly on the atonement God provides, rather than on my own works?

Sources

Leviticus 23:22: "You must not wholly reap into the corners of your field... You must leave them for the poor and for the foreigner."
Leviticus 23:27: "On the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement... You shall afflict yourselves."
Leviticus 23:28: "You shall do no kind of work in that same day, for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement for you."