Everyone (with any Bible background at all) knows how the Old Testament carefully teaches that honor is due to the Sabbath day. “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.” Exodus 20:8
But now we are learning that Israel was also to observe a whole “Sabbath Year” … during every seventh year of their national life! Yes, and that’s the subject of Leviticus 25:1-7.
God to Moses: “Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the LORD. Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof; but in the SEVENTH YEAR shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the LORD: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.” Leviticus 25:2-4
Wow!
My first question … how will the people eat during this whole year? Remember, they are farmers for the most part. This is an “agricultural economy!”
The answer: GOD WILL FEED THEM FROM THE VOLUNTEER PRODUCE of that fallow land! This is total dependence upon the Lord! This is faith! (If God fails, starvation ensues!) “And the sabbath of the land shall be MEAT for you; for thee, and for thy servant, and for thy maid, and for thy hired servant, and for thy stranger that sojourneth with thee, and for thy cattle, and for the beast that are in thy land, shall all the increase thereof be meat.” Leviticus 25:6-7
But note too that God will not only feed the Jews from that “resting” (observing the Sabbath) land … but also feed their “servants!” And too the “foreigners” in their midst, “strangers” in our King James Version. Then add the “livestock” as well! (A Lesson could be written on God’s care for the animals here!) But not just the domesticated animals, the wildlife too! This is astounding!
But (today’s emphasis) Deuteronomy 31:9-13 explicitly tells us even more about this Sabbatical Year. “And Moses wrote this law (the Book of Deuteronomy at least, maybe the whole Pentateuch), and delivered it unto the priests the sons of Levi, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and unto all the elders of Israel. And Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of every SEVEN YEARS, in the solemnity of the YEAR OF RELEASE (THE SABBATH YEAR), in the feast of tabernacles (IN THE FALL OF THAT SABBATICAL YEAR). When all Israel is come to appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose, thou shalt READ THIS LAW (THE WORD OF GOD) before all Israel in their hearing. Gather the people together, men, and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may HEAR, and that they may LEARN, and FEAR the LORD your God, and observe to do (OBEY) all the words of this law: and that their CHILDREN, which have not known any thing, may HEAR, and LEARN to FEAR the LORD your God, as long as ye live in the land whither ye go over Jordan to possess it.”
A Bible Conference!
Lasting for seven days, if not eight!
This is what was happening in Nehemiah chapter 8 … when Ezra was reading God’s Law (“And he read therein before the street that was before the water gate from the morning until midday, before the men and the women, and those that could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law”) and explaining the Scripture (“They read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading”) to all the people! (Expository Preaching, now!)
Wow!
Bible Study for a whole Nation!
During the Sabbath Year!
God’s Word … it is that important!
— Dr. Mike Bagwell
Are you studying, learning, obeying that precious old Book (our God-inspired Bible) every day of your life?
Acts 17:11 says of a noble people: “They received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily.”
May we be that noble!
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