seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Leviticus 25:1 The Lord said to Moses at 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 year of sabbath 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. 6 Whatever the land yields during the sabbath year will be food for you—for yourself, your male and female servants, and the hired worker and temporary resident who live among you, 7 as well as for your livestock and the wild animals in your land. Whatever the land produces may be eaten.
Rather than just jump over all this stuff, it's probably important to read it. After all, it occurs to me that the Jews who do not believe Christ is the Messiah are still trying to live up to these laws in order to remain obedient.
Here's what the easy English commentary has to say about the verses.
This chapter continues the list of special times and days that began in Leviticus chapter 23. As well as Sabbath Days, there must be Sabbath Years. Also, after 7 Sabbath Years, there must be a very special year on the 50th year. This is called a Jubilee Year. All this is about freedom. On the 7th year, the land is free from seeds and harvests]. On the 50th year, people are free. The idea of the Jubilee Year reminds the Jews of these things.
So the Jews had to prepare for Sabbath Years and Jubilee Years. They had to keep enough food for them. Life would be simple in the Sabbath Years, as it was on the way from Egypt to Israel. Most people would not live through more than one Jubilee Year.
These rules about Sabbath Years and Jubilee Years help us to understand the real meaning of the Sabbath. The Sabbath is not only about a pause from our usual work. It is about the special time when we worship God. And especially, it is about the rest and the freedom that God gives to his people (Hebrews 4:9-11).
Real Christians have already started to receive that rest and freedom (Matthew 11:28-30). But this is just the beginning. In the future, God will defeat all his enemies (1 Corinthians 15:20-28). And then he will establish his rule in the New Jerusalem. There God’s people will always have perfect rest and freedom as they worship him (Revelation 21:1-5).
But only the people who really are God’s people will know that rest and freedom. The freedom that God gave in the Jubilee Year was only for God’s people, the Israelites. God gave them freedom because, as he said, ‘They are my servants’ – verses 42 and 55.
We do not know whether a proper Jubilee Year has ever happened. The Bible does not mention any such occasion. The Jubilee Year was part of God’s perfect plan for the Israelites. But perhaps it will not happen until God has created the New Earth. Then he will live among his people. And all these things will be possible.
Verses 1-7 The Sabbath Day was the 7th day in the week. It reminded people that God rested on the 7th day. This was after he had made everything. So the Sabbath for the land was every 7th year. And it was a year when the land rested. In other words, people did not plant their usual crops. The agricultural workers did not do their usual work. People did not harvest and store crops from the land. So in this year, the people would have more time for rest and for worship.
Vineyards were the gardens where people produced fruit. The fruits were called grapes. They grow on plants called vines. People made wine from grapes. The rule about the Sabbath Year also included other fruits. The Jews could eat any fruit that grew. But it must be fruit that they had not sown. This would remind them of their journey from Egypt. They could not gather crops during the Sabbath Year. So ‘all that (the land) gives you’ means the food that they ate fresh from the fields. They could eat it immediately, but they could not store it.
· The LORD had made them free from Egypt.
· The land belonged to the LORD, and the Jews could not always own it.
· The Jews must trust God to provide their food.
· The land itself must be free from seeds and harvests in some years.
· The land belonged to the LORD, and the Jews could not always own it.
· The Jews must trust God to provide their food.
· The land itself must be free from seeds and harvests in some years.
So the Jews had to prepare for Sabbath Years and Jubilee Years. They had to keep enough food for them. Life would be simple in the Sabbath Years, as it was on the way from Egypt to Israel. Most people would not live through more than one Jubilee Year.
These rules about Sabbath Years and Jubilee Years help us to understand the real meaning of the Sabbath. The Sabbath is not only about a pause from our usual work. It is about the special time when we worship God. And especially, it is about the rest and the freedom that God gives to his people (Hebrews 4:9-11).
Real Christians have already started to receive that rest and freedom (Matthew 11:28-30). But this is just the beginning. In the future, God will defeat all his enemies (1 Corinthians 15:20-28). And then he will establish his rule in the New Jerusalem. There God’s people will always have perfect rest and freedom as they worship him (Revelation 21:1-5).
But only the people who really are God’s people will know that rest and freedom. The freedom that God gave in the Jubilee Year was only for God’s people, the Israelites. God gave them freedom because, as he said, ‘They are my servants’ – verses 42 and 55.
We do not know whether a proper Jubilee Year has ever happened. The Bible does not mention any such occasion. The Jubilee Year was part of God’s perfect plan for the Israelites. But perhaps it will not happen until God has created the New Earth. Then he will live among his people. And all these things will be possible.
Verses 1-7 The Sabbath Day was the 7th day in the week. It reminded people that God rested on the 7th day. This was after he had made everything. So the Sabbath for the land was every 7th year. And it was a year when the land rested. In other words, people did not plant their usual crops. The agricultural workers did not do their usual work. People did not harvest and store crops from the land. So in this year, the people would have more time for rest and for worship.
Vineyards were the gardens where people produced fruit. The fruits were called grapes. They grow on plants called vines. People made wine from grapes. The rule about the Sabbath Year also included other fruits. The Jews could eat any fruit that grew. But it must be fruit that they had not sown. This would remind them of their journey from Egypt. They could not gather crops during the Sabbath Year. So ‘all that (the land) gives you’ means the food that they ate fresh from the fields. They could eat it immediately, but they could not store it.
According to the studylight.org commentary, the Sabbath Year law posed a problem for the Israelites.
It was also just plain good ecology! Giving the land a rest every seven years would help restore vital nutrients to the soil that normally would be depleted.
Israel’s failure to keep this command determined the length of their captivity; Leviticus 26:34 says that if Israel is not obedient, God will make sure the land gets its Sabbaths by exiling the nation to an enemy land; this was fulfilled in the Babylonian captivity of Israel (2 Chronicles 36:20-21).
Today, many observant Jews find a way around the Sabbath year law; on the seventh year, they “sell” their land to a Gentile, work it, and then “buy” it back from the Gentile when the Sabbath year is over. The Gentile makes a little money, and the Jew can say, “It wasn’t my land on the Sabbath year, so it was all right if I worked it.”
Israel’s failure to keep this command determined the length of their captivity; Leviticus 26:34 says that if Israel is not obedient, God will make sure the land gets its Sabbaths by exiling the nation to an enemy land; this was fulfilled in the Babylonian captivity of Israel (2 Chronicles 36:20-21).
Today, many observant Jews find a way around the Sabbath year law; on the seventh year, they “sell” their land to a Gentile, work it, and then “buy” it back from the Gentile when the Sabbath year is over. The Gentile makes a little money, and the Jew can say, “It wasn’t my land on the Sabbath year, so it was all right if I worked it.”
I know all this is boring compared to great plagues and major wars.... but it's part of the story and it'll make sense when I see it again.
