Leviticus 19:23 “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. 24 And in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, an offering of praise to the Lord. 25 But in the fifth year you may eat of its fruit, to increase its yield for you: I am the Lord your God. 26 “You shall not eat any flesh with the blood in it. You shall not interpret omens or tell fortunes. 27 You shall not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard. 28 You shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves: I am the Lord.
At first glance this paragraph on fruit trees sounds strange, until you put it in context. Besides the following verses about eating blood and cutting oneself, this passage is surrounded by prohibitions against other practices involved in idol worship: immorality, prostitution, calling up the dead, etc. It was all about cleansing the land of the sins of the past and setting a new course distinguished from the way things had been. There is a consistent pattern of cleansing, consecration, and then enjoying the fruits of the land. It sounds strange, but God has a reason.
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