Some friends and I recently visited the biblical archaeological site of Maresha which is located in ancient Judea. We explored the magnificent bell caves and underground cisterns which have been discovered there. At one point while we were there, some other visitors approached us and one of the women asked me what was worthwhile to see at this national park. I shared with her my opinion about some of the highlights of the site and then asked her if she and her friends were Jewish, Christian, or other so as to possibly give them more specific insight. The woman answered me and replied that she is Serbian Orthodox.
Since the woman with whom I was talking identified herself as a Christian from the Serbian Orthodox Church, I assumed that she believes in God and in Yeshua as the Messiah, however, I thought I’d check so I asked. Actually, I assumed that she believed in God but was not so certain that she was a true believer in Yeshua so I focused my question on her belief in Him. I simply asked her, “Do you believe in Yeshua (Jesus)?” She looked at me with a rather stern face and replied, “I believe in myself!” I was shocked. I honestly think that this was the first time in my life that someone said this to my face. We continued to talk for a few minutes after this shocking interchange and at one point I encouraged her to read the Bible and discover for herself who God is and the uniqueness of Yeshua as the Messiah.
Identity & Belief
The conversation which I had with this woman deeply impacted me as I reflected on this scenario and how this woman identified herself as an Orthodox Christian but at the same time denied the very One with whom she identified. Obviously she was only culturally identifying herself as an Orthodox Christian while choosing to believe in whatever she wanted, however, it genuinely jolted my naiveté that someone could so closely identify with the God of the Bible and at the same time act as if this same God does not even exist!
Our identity is often made-up of a combination of where we are born, how we are raised, and in the principles or truths which we believe. In my opinion, the woman with whom I had this conversation had an extremely disjointed identity and belief system; on the one hand she identified with Yeshua but on the other hand she seemed to totally reject Him. The way in which we live our lives and the truths that we believe in will ultimately form the identity which makes us who we are. This principle of one’s lifestyle and belief system as connected to one’s identity is taught in this week’s Torah Portion through an understanding of the Sabbatical Year.
The Sabbatical Year
This week’s Torah Portion contains the biblical command of the Sabbatical Year as part of the Law that the Israelites were to keep. The Sabbatical Year is a rest year that is similar to the weekly Sabbath. Just as God commanded that His creation was to work six days and take a weekly day of rest, so too God commanded that the Land of Israel was to be worked for six years and then to cease from working the land every seventh year. This principle of the Sabbatical Year, however, has been redefined as of late and misapplied in our modern era.
It is more and more common today to hear about individuals, especially those in the world of academia, who take a Sabbatical Year. This principle of the Sabbatical Year has come to mean taking a leave of absence from the work place in order to pursue one’s own interests or possibly to focus on a particular course of study. This one-year hiatus from regular employment may or may not include continued payment of one’s salary. The central focus of this principle is that after working for six years at a certain place of employment, one is entitled to a Sabbatical Year: a year free from work to pursue whatever one desires. Many even cite the biblical principle of the Sabbatical Year as support for taking a year off from their regular work. Is this really what God intended for the Sabbatical Year?
In order to better understand the biblical teaching about the Sabbatical Year it is best to go back to the source. We are first introduced to the Sabbatical Year in the book of Exodus:
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
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, humans and beasts alike. There was no command for 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 according to the Scriptures.
Shemitah – A Year of Release
We also see another aspect of the Sabbatical Year in the book of Deuteronomy regarding a release from debts and slavery:
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. – Deut. 15:1-2
The majority of the verses of Deuteronomy chapter fifteen provide details regarding how various debts were to be forgiven and people were to be released from the bondage of slavery.
The Hebrew word for “remission” and “remission of debts” as used in the above two verses is the word שמטה – Shemitah which comes from the original Aramaic word and means “to let down” or “to release.” It is clear from the context of Deuteronomy chapter fifteen that the clear meaning of Shemitah is to release someone from the bondage or obligation of a debt. There is also clear instructions in these verses regarding how a Hebrew slave 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. – Deut. 15:12
The seventh year was to be a year of freedom and a year of release from all debts. The seventh year is called the year of Shemitah and the Sabbatical Year.
From these two references in the Scriptures regarding the Sabbatical Year that we have examined so far, we see a clear teaching that 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 “Rest” Of The Sabbatical Year
We now come to the focus of this week’s Torah Portion in Leviticus chapter twenty-five. In the following verses we read God’s intention for who or what should rest during 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. – Lev. 25:1-5
In these verses, it is the land itself that was to have a rest every seven years. God 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?
Part of the reason that the land was to have a rest every seventh year was to provide equal access of the fruit of the land to all of its inhabitants, including the poor, as we read above in Exodus chapter twenty-three. However, I believe that there is a greater reason that the land was to rest during the Sabbatical Year as stated in the verses which we just read in Leviticus chapter twenty-five: “during the seventh year the land shall have a sabbath rest, a sabbath to the LORD;” The land was to have a sabbath to the LORD. This statement seems to point to ownership.
Who Owns The Land?
The LORD Himself made a distinction between the Land of Israel and all other lands by commanding that the Land of Israel have a rest every seventh year. By commanding a cessation from working the Land of Israel, the Israelites would be reminded that the land that they were working and living on was ultimately God’s property. This principle of ownership is actually stated by the LORD Himself in this same chapter:
The land, moreover, shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are but aliens and sojourners with Me. – Lev. 25:23
By forcing the Israelites to cease from working the land every seventh year, the people were to be reminded that the land ultimately did not belong to them, but rather to the LORD. They were only to live on the land as “aliens and sojourners” together with the LORD.
The Sabbath Principle
Just as the Sabbatical Year was a periodic reminder to the Israelites that the LORD was the ultimate Owner and Master of the land, so too the commandment to keep the weekly Sabbath was a reminder to the Israelites that they belonged to the LORD. Surely there are ecological benefits to letting the land lay fallow every seventh year but beyond this, it was a constant reminder that the true Landowner was and is God. In the same way, we can certainly say that there are physical benefits to taking a weekly Sabbath rest but beyond this, taking a weekly Sabbath rest is a reminder to whom we belong.
This principle of ownership and belonging in connection to the Sabbath was clearly communicated to the Israelites soon after the Exodus from Egypt:
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. – Ex. 31:12-13
The Sabbath was not meant to only be a day of rest but also a day to remember the LORD and to know that it is He who sanctifies His people.
Belonging To God
Just as the Sabbatical Year was a reminder that the land belongs to the LORD, the Sabbath is also a weekly reminder that God’s people belong to Him. The Sabbath reminds us that there is a God in heaven who created the universe in six days and rested on the seventh day. The Sabbath is also a reminder that we belong to the LORD and it is He alone who brings us near to Himself and makes us holy. Part of our identity is knowing and believing that we belong to God. He is our Master and He owns it all. The way in which we live our lives is to be a constant reflection of our identity as sons and daughters of God and a continual reminder that we belong to Him.
Shabbat Shalom!
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Torah Portion: Lev. 25:1 – Lev. 26:2
Haftara: Jeremiah 32:6-27
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