It takes faith to not work on the Sabbath week, but it takes even more faith to not work on the Sabbath year / Jubilee year. It unthinkable to me how this is achievable in this day and age.
I was reminded from yesterday’s message that the working of the field began after the fall of man. Before that man did not have to sow or prune. I think with the Sabbath, what God is saying essentially is that there will come a time when things will be back to the way it was. Back to Eden. It is both a reminder and a promise. Faith, again, comes into the picture. Are we able to trust in the goodness of God? Are we able to trust that His commands are good? Are we able to say no to the lies when they come? We can practice – strengthen – our faith, by keeping the Sabbath.
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. When you sow in the eighth year, you will be eating some of the old crop; you shall eat the old until the ninth year, when its crop arrives. (Leviticus 25:20-22 ESV)
Of course, God addresses our fears. He knows we’re worried. 3x yield on the 6th year, enough to tide us over on the 7th and 8th, just in time for the harvest of the 9th. How specific! Why not 3x yield on the other years? How can you predict the weather and environmental conditions in the years to come? This is how God displays His power. With man, this is impossible. With God this is very easy.
With this, it makes sense to not be greedy. To be generous – although does it qualify as generosity if it does not belong to you in the first place?
There is still more here about redemption, still more to learn for another day. Thank you Lord for your message.