THE SABBATICAL YEAR
“You shall sow your land for six years and gather in
its yield, but on the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, so
that the needy of your people may eat; and whatever they leave the beast of the
field may eat. You are to do the same
with your vineyard and your olive grove.” (Ex
23:10-11)
Patterned after the weekly
Sabbath, the LORD commanded that the land should be given a Sabbath rest every
seven years, also referred to as, “A
Sabbath to the LORD,” (Lev 25:2). The LORD promised “My blessing for you in the sixth year that it will bring forth the
crop for three years” (Lev
25:21). Crops for three years would
cover the original sixth, the seventh of the Sabbath rest, and eight year while
waiting for the harvest. Observance of
the Sabbatical Year brought the blessing of security in the land of Israel and
bounty from the fields, (Lev 25:18-19).
According to the Talmud, the
Sabbatical Year includes three positive commandments and six prohibitions.[1] The three positive commandments are (1) “On the seventh year you shall let it (your
land) rest and lie fallow, so that the needy of your people may eat,” (Ex 23:11), (2) “During the seventh year the land shall have a sabbath rest,” (Lev 25:4), (3) “At the end of every
seven years you shall grant a remission of debts. This is the manner of
remission: every creditor shall release what he has loaned to his neighbor,” (Deut 15:1-2). The six negative precepts defined by the
rabbis were:
“(1) Thou shalt
neither sow thy field (2) nor prune the vineyard (3) That which groweth of
itself of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, (4) and the grapes of thy undressed
vine thou shalt not gather’ (Lev
25:4-5). (5) ‘He shall not exact it (the loan) of his neighbor’ (Deut 15:2). (6) ‘Beware that there be
not a base thought in thy heart, saying: ‘The seventh year, the year of
release, is at hand’; and thine eye be evil against thy needy brother and thou
give him nought’ (Deut 15:9)”[2]
The obligation to not
cultivate the land is limited to the land of Israel because these laws begin
with the LORD saying, “When you come into
the land which I shall give you,” (Lev
25:2). Some commentators connect the
release of debt to the inability of a fellow Jew (neighbor) to farm the land
during the Sabbatical Year, which was necessary to gain income to pay the
debt. The releasing of debt applied to a
fellow Israelite living inside or outside of the land of Israel, but not to a
foreigner, (Deut 15:3). The rabbis also concluded that the law did
not release an employer from paying a laborer, a customer from paying a
shopkeeper, nor the payment requirements fixed by a court action, (Shvi’it
10:1-2).[3] The releasing of debt was intended to free
the poor restoring them to a level of financial stability. In a debt free condition, Israelites were
able to appear before their brethren as equals.
Produce that occurred
naturally in the Sabbatical Year was considered holy and its use was restricted
to consumption by animals and the poor.
It was not permissible to sell the produce nor remove the produce from
the land of Israel. Produce could also
be utilized to produce vinegar and wine for consumption, but not for
anointing. In addition to all the
commandments related to the Sabbath rest for the land, the people were
commanded to assemble once every seven years, in the Sabbatical Year, to hear
the Torah read,
“Then Moses commanded them, saying, ‘At the end of
every seven years, at the time of the year of remission of debts, at the Feast
of Booths…Assemble the people, the men and the women and children ant the alien
who is in your town, in order that they may hear and learn and fear the LORD
your God, and be careful to observe all the words of this law.’”
(Deut 31:10&12)
In the Sabbatical Year we see a picture of the coming Kingdom of God. The land is given a rest, the people are feed from the previous harvest, and the people
assemble to hear God’s word. What a blessing to live in these conditions. -- Scott
