Catablog

The Sabbath Year & the Year of Jubilee

February 19, 2010


sabbath yearNestled in the sometimes tedious book of Leviticus is the extremely interesting and exciting commands of the Sabbath year & the year of Jubilee:

Leviticus 25:
The LORD said to Moses on Mount Sinai, 2 "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'When you enter the land I am going to give you, the land itself must observe a sabbath to the LORD. 3 For six years sow your fields, and for six years prune your vineyards and gather their crops. 4 But in the seventh year the land is to have a sabbath of rest, a sabbath to the LORD. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards. 5 Do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the grapes of your untended vines. The land is to have a year of rest. ... 20 You may ask, "What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not plant or harvest our crops?" 21 I will send you such a blessing in the sixth year that the land will yield enough for three years. 22 While you plant during the eighth year, you will eat from the old crop and will continue to eat from it until the harvest of the ninth year comes in.

Wow, that's inspiring! Why would you not take the Lord up on this? Turns-out the Israelites never did & were exiled for the number of sabbath years they never observed. Foretold here, IN THE NEXT CHAPTER (so interesting!):

Lev 26:
33 I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out my sword and pursue you. Your land will be laid waste, and your cities will lie in ruins. 34 Then the land will enjoy its sabbath years all the time that it lies desolate and you are in the country of your enemies; then the land will rest and enjoy its sabbaths. 35 All the time that it lies desolate, the land will have the rest it did not have during the sabbaths you lived in it. // DANG!

The year of Jubilee is even better! All the slaves are freed. All debts are forgiven. All the land goes back to the original owners (the land was divided by clan originally). Go read about it! Unfortunately, they never did it, but what a concept!

What does this say about God?