The LORD then spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you come into the land which I shall give you, then the land shall have a sabbath to the LORD. Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its crop, but during the seventh year the land shall have a sabbath rest, a sabbath to the Lord; you shall not sow your field nor prune your vineyard. Leviticus 25:1-4.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלוהים) says:
Draw close to Me and I will draw close to you. And I will draw you into My rest and to remain there you need the double portion.
But first I want to give direction here. How do you draw close to Me? Well, how do you draw close to anyone? You talk with them. Two strangers in an elevator or in line at the market, if they begin talking to each other in a friendly way are no longer strangers. And if you want to get to know someone better, you ask them to join you for a meal or just to meet and talk.
Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. Revelation 3:20.
Notice it is mutual, He dines with you and you with Him,
Many people do not hold conversations with Me. They either read from a “prayer book,” recite prayers they have learned, or talk to Me but do all the talking, often begging, and do not seek My input. It should not be like that with you. I want to have fellowship with you. I listen to you and you listen to Me. It is a constant flow of exchange between the two of us. I tell you to pray without ceasing but that means a constant exchange between us.
One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the delightfulness of the LORD and inquire of Him in His temple. Psalm 27:4.
And in that same Psalm, David tells you how to seek Me, “Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice, and be gracious to me and answer me. When You said, “Seek My face,” my heart said to You, “Your face, O LORD, I shall seek.” Psalm 27:7-8.
When you speak with someone in conversation, you speak face to face. You do not speak to someone’s back if you are drawing near to exchange conversation.
Moses was faithful in all My household. He knew My Words and My ways. I called Moses My friend and spoke with Him face to face. Numbers 12:7-8. Jesus called you who follow Him and know His Words, and keep them, His friends as well.
I provide for those who know My ways and keep My Words. And there are times that call for the double portion so that you can be doing My words and walking in My ways with no lack. It is the life of good deeds I have prepared for you in advance that you might walk in them. These are the works I created you for in Christ Jesus. They are all there, like the path through the sea when I brought the Israelites out of Egypt to take them to the land I had promised Abraham for his descendants. That path was there from the foundation of the world but only I knew about it until the moment it was needed. That is hidden Manna, the provision that is there for you hidden deep in My heart.
I instructed Moses for My people about different times of rest. One was the Shabbat or Sabbath rest one day each week (every seventh day) for My people whereby I sanctified them. The next was the Shabbat or Sabbath for the land (every seventh year). And the final one was the Jubilee which was every forty-nine years and followed right after the Sabbatical year for the land. Jesus fulfills all these for you. He is your Shabbat, Sabbatical year, and your Jubilee forever. In Him you find your peace.
Today, let us study the Sabbatical year.
The LORD then spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you come into the land which I shall give you, then the land shall have a sabbath to the LORD. Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its crop, but during the seventh year the land shall have a sabbath rest, a sabbath to the LORD; you shall not sow your field nor prune your vineyard. Your harvest’s aftergrowth you shall not reap, and your grapes of untrimmed vines you shall not gather; the land shall have a sabbatical year. All of you shall have the sabbath products of the land for food; yourself, and your male and female slaves, and your hired man and your foreign resident, those who live as aliens with you. Even your cattle and the animals that are in your land shall have all its crops to eat. Leviticus 25:1-7.
Just like the eve of the Shabbat day, it was a leap of faith for the Israelites in the desert to gather a double portion, set some aside, and not go out and gather the next day. Indeed, at first many tried to go out and gather on the Shabbat, but there was nothing there. It showed no trust that I would provide enough so they did not have to work for it on the Shabbat day.
The Sabbath for the land was even a bigger leap of faith for it was not just one day but an entire year. For six years the land was to be worked, sown, harvested, and all the produce of the land was to be gathered in year to year. Every seventh year the land was to have a rest and the natural produce of the land was to be available to everyone, man and beast alike. There was no command for My people not to work during the Sabbatical Year, but rather only that the land should not be worked. It was the land that was to have a Sabbatical Year.
Besides the rest for the land, I gave further instructions on the Sabbatical Year to Moses regarding a release from debts and slavery for My people:
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; he shall not exact it of his neighbor and his brother, because the LORD’s remission has been proclaimed. Deuteronomy:15:1-2.
The Hebrew word for “remission” and “remission of debts” as used in the above two verses is the word שמטה – Shemitah which means “to let down” or “to release.” Shemitah (Shmita) thus is to release someone from the bondage or obligation of a debt. This also included the release of slaves from among the people. A Hebrew was to work for no more than six years as a slave:
If your kinsman, a Hebrew man or woman, is sold to you, then he shall serve you six years, but in the seventh year you shall set him free. When you set him free, you shall not send him away empty-handed. You shall furnish him liberally from your flock and from your threshing floor and from your wine vat; you shall give to him as the LORD your God has blessed you. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this today. Deuteronomy 15:12-15
The seventh year was to be a year of rest from working the land, a release of debts, and a release of Hebrew slaves, however, there is no commandment to not work during the seventh year. Being set free from slavery and ceasing to work are two different things. A Hebrew slave could be set free at the end of the sixth year and then allow him or herself to be hired to work in whatever capacity he or she chooses. The commandment of the Sabbatical Year is specifically focused on a release from debts, a release from slavery, and a release from working the land.
The land itself that was to have a rest every seven years. I commanded the Israelites to work the land for six years and then to give the land a sabbath rest every seventh year. Why did the land need to rest for an entire year? It is true that this helped the land to produce better crops and have a chance to replenish itself. It is also true that the seventh year was to provide equal access of the fruit of the land to all its inhabitants, including the poor, during the seventh year. It was also a reminder that the land itself, though you have a leasehold, belongs to Me.
The land, moreover, shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are but aliens and sojourners with Me. Leviticus 25:23.
But the real reason behind the Shabbat, the Sabbatical year, and the Jubilee year was to show you it is not solely by your toil and sweat that your livelihood is earned but is provided by Me. If you are a Kingdom seeker, all is added to you. It is My Blessing that makes rich and adds no sorrowful toil with it. The manna fell on the dewfall every day in the wilderness for forty years and a double portion every day before Shabbat. The year before the Sabbatical Year the fields produced a bumper crop that provided for two years, first for the year of resting the land and then for the year they planted again. Thus becoming a beautiful testimony of provision as a periodic reminder to the Israelites that I am the source of their supply and that belonging to Me they would have no lack. In other words, that it is I who care for you and you can count on that. If you are willing and obey you will eat the best of the land.
The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “But as for you, speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘You shall surely observe My sabbaths; for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you. Exodus 31:12-13.
The Sabbath was not meant to only be a day of rest but also a day to remember Me and to know that it is I who sanctifies you. Man was not made for the Sabbath, the Sabbath was made for man. Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath day. He is your rest. He is your good Shepherd.
I love you. Shabbat Shalom! Shabbat is the celebration of family, My family. A family united in love where no one is missing, no one is broken, and no one is alone.
“If there is a poor man with you, one of your brothers, in any of your towns in your land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand from your poor brother; but you shall freely open your hand to him, and shall generously lend him sufficient for his need in whatever he lacks. Beware that there is no base thought in your heart, saying, ‘The seventh year, the year of remission, is near,’ and your eye is hostile toward your poor brother, and you give him nothing; then he may cry to the LORD against you, and it will be a sin in you. You shall generously give to him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him, because for this thing the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in all your undertakings. For the poor will never cease to be in the land; therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall freely open your hand to your brother, to your needy and poor in your land.’ Deuteronomy 15:7-11.