Year 1, Week 15, Day 2 Bible Reading Observations

Year 1, Week 15, Day 2

I have a brief observation for today’s reading of Leviticus 25.

Today’s reading explores some additional features of Israel’s calendar that are rooted in the weekly Sabbath rest. Leviticus 25 introduces a Sabbath Year every seventh year as well as a Year of Jubilee after seven rounds of seven years. Israel was to set aside working their fields after six years: “For six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its fruits, but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the LORD.” (Leviticus 25:3-4a). Then after the forty-ninth year, there was an additional year of setting aside the land: “You shall count seven weeks of years, seven times seven years, so that the time of the seven weeks of years shall give you forty-nine years. Then you shall sound the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet throughout all your land. And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants.” (Leviticus 25:8-10). The start of the fiftieth Year of Jubilee was tied to the annual Day of Atonement.

What struck me in today’s reading is how the instruction of the Sabbath Year as well as the Year of Jubilee reveals the LORD’s ownership of the Land: “The earth is the LORD's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein, for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.” (Psalm 24:1-2). While there are practical implications to the Sabbath Year and the Year of Jubilee, the primary orientation of these occasions were for the purpose of teaching Israel vital realities about the LORD and His plans for His covenant people. Certainly, there are implications of goodness in all of God’s workings and the Sabbath Year and Year of Jubilee are no exception, for they do provide the nation with wise principles of justice both economically and socially. But the ultimate focus of the Sabbath Year and Year of Jubilee is theological, for these occasions looked back to Eden but forward to heaven on earth.

The Sabbath Year provided the land with a year of rest. But that means that Israel was given a year of relief from the curse: “cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:17b-19). Adherence to the Sabbath Year implied trust in the LORD. Without the routine of working the land, how would Israel eat? Israel would need to look to the LORD: “The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing.” (Psalm 145:15-16). It doesn’t make sense to not work the land, unless the LORD said not to: “man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.” (Deuteronomy 8:3b). Israel would be given the opportunity to rely on the LORD by resting the land: “And if you say, ‘What shall we eat in the seventh year, if we may not sow or gather in our crop?’ I will command my blessing on you in the sixth year, so that it will produce a crop sufficient for three years.” (Leviticus 25:20-21). The Sabbath Year served as a preview for an eternal rest: “So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God” (Hebrews 4:9).

The Year of Jubilee provided the land an additional year of rest after seven rounds of Sabbath Years. However, there were even more aspects to the Year of Jubilee than rest; the Year of Jubilee reset the ownership of the land so that it would return to its original owners: “The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine. For you are strangers and sojourners with me. And in all the country you possess, you shall allow a redemption of the land.” (Leviticus 25:23-24). Over the course of time, Israelites, who would find themselves unable to work their land profitably, would sell the land and perhaps even themselves, to the service of others who could work the land profitably. However, these arrangements were not to be permanent. The Year of Jubilee was when the land would be returned and if someone had enslaved themselves, they would be granted their freedom. The redemptive nature of the Year of Jubilee did provide economic opportunity and social support for families, but it also directed Israel to consider the redemptive work of the LORD on their behalf: "And if he is not redeemed by these means, then he and his children with him shall be released in the year of jubilee. For it is to me that the people of Israel are servants. They are my servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.” (Leviticus 25:54-55). The trumpet blast marking the start of the Year of Jubilee served as a preview for an even greater picture of Jubilee: “And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (Matthew 24:31). The final trumpet blast will mark the final reset: “They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (Revelation 7:16-17).

What struck you in today’s reading? What questions were prompted from today’s reading?

Pastor Joe