Lev 25:1-7 | KingComments | STEP | Leviticus 23 is about the restoration of Israel as a people. But it is not only the people who God has in mind; His eyes are also on the land. Land and people belong together ( ). This chapter is about the land: “The land is Mine” ( ). If the people are so impoverished that the land has to be sold, this will not disrupt God’s plans. He promises a year of jubilee. Everything will return to its original owners. These verses are about the sabbatical year, not the year of jubilee. The sabbatical year is once every seven years, the year of jubilee once every fifty years. There is a correspondence. Both are a picture of the kingdom of peace. The difference is that the sabbatical year speaks of rest ( ) and the year of jubilee of restoration ( ) and freedom ( ). Just as the people have to work six days and rest on the seventh day, so the land in which they will live must be worked for six years and be given a year’s rest in the seventh year. What the LORD has to say about the sabbatical year and the year of jubilee, he says “to Moses at Mount Sinai” ( ; ). In the foregoing we find above all that the LORD speaks to Moses from the tent of meeting ( ). That emphasizes more that God wants to come together with His people to share the thoughts of His heart with them about what He has for them. Here it is about what God has in His heart regarding His land. He already spoke about this with Moses on Mount Sinai, where He also showed Moses the tabernacle, which shows His desire to dwell with His people. People and land belong together. The sabbatical year is marked by God’s faithfulness and the faith of the people in that faithfulness. In the sixth year the people may not sow, but they may reap ( ). In the seventh year they will eat of what grows naturally. God will make sure that there is enough. In the sixth year He will give so much in the land that the people will have enough to eat in the sixth, seventh and eighth year. That He promises this must be sufficient for the people. In the seventh year they are not allowed to do anything. Only in the eighth year do they sow again, so that they can harvest again in the ninth year. The Israelites are tenants of the land. They are servants of the LORD ( ). God wants His people to realize this well. For six years they can enjoy all the benefits of the land. But as to the seventh year it is: “The land is Mine” ( ). This is not a punishment, but a blessing: they do not have to work. We also see this in the gathering of the manna. On the sixth day the people can gather twice as much, so that they do not have to gather on the seventh day. It is “a sabbath to the LORD” ( ), not only for the people or for the land. It is about the rest of God. Keeping this sabbatical year for the land means that the people acknowledge God’s rights to the land. This acknowledgment will give great blessing: rest and prosperity for three years ( ). Israel has never celebrated those sabbatical years, as it has never kept any commandment of God. Then God makes sure that His land gets rest by sending the people into exile ( ). God lets us share in His rest. It is the only rest that can really be called rest. Nothing but what is God’s rest can be our rest. God rests in the Lord Jesus and His work, and that is also our rest. We may already know this rest in our hearts. Soon it will be all over the earth. The Lord desires that we may already know times of rest, to enjoy with Him the inheritance. For us, that means: Enjoy the blessings in the heavenly places. A further provision is added to the use of the food that comes up naturally in the sabbatical year: that food is for everyone, not just for the owner of the land. This provision teaches them that they must be merciful and generous and share in the kindness of God which is expressed in what the earth itself produces.

‏ Leviticus 25:1-7

Introduction

Leviticus 23 is about the restoration of Israel as a people. But it is not only the people who God has in mind; His eyes are also on the land. Land and people belong together (Gen 15:1-21). This chapter is about the land: “The land is Mine” (Lev 25:23). If the people are so impoverished that the land has to be sold, this will not disrupt God’s plans. He promises a year of jubilee. Everything will return to its original owners.

The Sabbatical Year

These verses are about the sabbatical year, not the year of jubilee. The sabbatical year is once every seven years, the year of jubilee once every fifty years. There is a correspondence. Both are a picture of the kingdom of peace. The difference is that the sabbatical year speaks of rest (Heb 4:9) and the year of jubilee of restoration (Acts 3:21) and freedom (Rom 8:21). Just as the people have to work six days and rest on the seventh day, so the land in which they will live must be worked for six years and be given a year’s rest in the seventh year.

What the LORD has to say about the sabbatical year and the year of jubilee, he says “to Moses at Mount Sinai” (Lev 25:1; Lev 7:38 ; Lev 26:46 ; Lev 27:34). In the foregoing we find above all that the LORD speaks to Moses from the tent of meeting (Lev 1:1). That emphasizes more that God wants to come together with His people to share the thoughts of His heart with them about what He has for them. Here it is about what God has in His heart regarding His land. He already spoke about this with Moses on Mount Sinai, where He also showed Moses the tabernacle, which shows His desire to dwell with His people. People and land belong together.

The sabbatical year is marked by God’s faithfulness and the faith of the people in that faithfulness. In the sixth year the people may not sow, but they may reap (Lev 25:21-23). In the seventh year they will eat of what grows naturally. God will make sure that there is enough. In the sixth year He will give so much in the land that the people will have enough to eat in the sixth, seventh and eighth year. That He promises this must be sufficient for the people. In the seventh year they are not allowed to do anything. Only in the eighth year do they sow again, so that they can harvest again in the ninth year.

The Israelites are tenants of the land. They are servants of the LORD (Lev 25:55). God wants His people to realize this well. For six years they can enjoy all the benefits of the land. But as to the seventh year it is: “The land is Mine” (Lev 25:23). This is not a punishment, but a blessing: they do not have to work. We also see this in the gathering of the manna. On the sixth day the people can gather twice as much, so that they do not have to gather on the seventh day.

It is “a sabbath to the LORD” (Lev 25:4), not only for the people or for the land. It is about the rest of God. Keeping this sabbatical year for the land means that the people acknowledge God’s rights to the land. This acknowledgment will give great blessing: rest and prosperity for three years (Lev 25:20-22). Israel has never celebrated those sabbatical years, as it has never kept any commandment of God. Then God makes sure that His land gets rest by sending the people into exile (2Chr 36:21).

God lets us share in His rest. It is the only rest that can really be called rest. Nothing but what is God’s rest can be our rest. God rests in the Lord Jesus and His work, and that is also our rest. We may already know this rest in our hearts. Soon it will be all over the earth. The Lord desires that we may already know times of rest, to enjoy with Him the inheritance. For us, that means: Enjoy the blessings in the heavenly places.

A further provision is added to the use of the food that comes up naturally in the sabbatical year: that food is for everyone, not just for the owner of the land. This provision teaches them that they must be merciful and generous and share in the kindness of God which is expressed in what the earth itself produces.