Day 26 of self-isolation and basically country shutdown, if not lockdown. There are three basic feelings that people are experiencing as shown by the following diagram:
You can see how very confusing it is for people. Based on my conversation with many others, I am deducing that most would put themselves in the top left circle primarily, followed by the bottom circle, followed by the top right – that is, in order of their priority concerns. I personally am most concerned about the top right, then the top left, and finally the bottom circle – in that order.
Based on the words of our federal leader here and some new data – we can be expected to have the country shutdown for approximately until June 21-23. Happy isolating and hand in there. Good time to read and to study God’s Word. And so we continue with our study of Leviticus.
The Passage
25 The Lord then spoke to Moses [a]at Mount Sinai, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you come into the land which I shall give you, then the land shall have a sabbath to the Lord. 3 Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its crop, 4 but during the seventh year the land shall have a sabbath rest, a sabbath to the Lord; you shall not sow your field nor prune your vineyard. 5 Your harvest’s [b]aftergrowth you shall not reap, and your grapes of untrimmed vines you shall not gather; the land shall have a sabbatical year. 6 All of you shall have the sabbath products of the land for food; yourself, and your male and female slaves, and your hired man and your foreign resident, those who live as aliens with you. 7 Even your cattle and the animals that are in your land shall have all its crops to eat.
Footnotes:
- Leviticus 25:1 Or on
- Leviticus 25:5 Lit growth from spilled kernels
Thoughts on the Passage
We first note that this Sabbath was to be one year in length. It was not like a regular Sabbath (being the seventh day after six days of work). Nor was it to be measured in weeks. It was indeed following six years of sowing fields, pruning vineyards, and gathering crops.
Secondly, we learn it was to begin once they were to arrive at the promised land, and not during their forty years in the wilderness.
Their job was to farm and ranch as normal for six years. But in the seventh year, they were to give their fields a rest, a breather as you like. (Many think that what we are going through in this Covid-19 pandemic is doing just that – a forced ‘breather’ for the earth.) No sowing, no pruning, no harvesting. The leftover grapes on the vines are not to be gathered.
Then verse 6 says during that year the Israelites were to have the “sabbath products of the land” as their food. And this was to be shared by all including employees, slaves, and foreigners. And verse 7 tells us that the animals are expected to do the same.
Chuck Smith suggests that God was expecting them to trust Him to give them bumper corps in the sixth year that will allow them to survive in the seventh, or sabbath, year. Of course, today we have land left “fallow” or in some cases, we use “crop rotation” – both intended to optimize the ability of the land to yield good crops.
There were likely some disobedient Israelites that figured that if they had a bumper crop in the sixth year of the cycle, they would have a bonanza crop in the seventh. How wrong they were. Often, we try to outsmart God and disregard His instructions for our lives and because He has blessed us in following Him so far, we assume He’ll be okay with us doing our own thing next. Wrong. You can’t outsmart God, people.
David Guzik also reminds us that this instruction was to let the people know that while they used the land, it belonged to the Lord. We need to remember that as we walk about our house, or our business and not to forget, our church building. They are God’s. We are His maintenance staff. Forget that and see what happens.
Matthew Henry reminds us that this was a sabbath of rest “for the land” as suggested by verse 4. There is no reference to you and I getting a sabbath year and those that have come up with it using this as their basis are, in my personal opinion, just looking for an excuse to get a year off work. Now, I know you’ll all argue with me especially since many pastors pursue sabbatical years in their ministry. I have no problem with that if it is not at the expense of their congregations. Alternatively, it can be pre-arranged, in the manner that a number of school boards apply it for their teachers – the staff get paid six years of salary over seven years to minimize taxes and keep a steady income, but only work six years. My rationale is that nowhere in Scripture do I see the idea of a Sabbatical Year be applied to work. It may be argued that the Israelites did have the year off by virtue of the fact that they could not work their land. Perhaps so, but there was no prohibition that stopped them from doing other types of work as there was for their weekly Sabbath day.
He also indicates that God’s calling for a rest or sabbath of the earth is indicative of His love and care for the world He created. We should do likewise, for sure, but we should not try to wrest that responsibility out of His hands and take charge of it as some are attempting to do today and force the rest of us into submission.
Once again, we find that what we may otherwise consider “dry stuff” in the Old Testament, can, like the fruit of the field, yield some incredible gems for us to ponder about how then we shall live.
It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.
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