Feast of Sabbatical Year, the.

From: The New Topical Textbook By: Reuben Archer Torrey

• 1 min. read • grade level: 12

A sabbath for the land. Lev. 25:2²Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the Lord. (Leviticus 25:2).

Kept every seventh year. Ex. 23:11¹¹But the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie still; that the poor of thy people may eat: and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, and with thy oliveyard. (Exodus 23:11). Lev. 25:4⁴But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the Lord: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard. (Leviticus 25:4).

Surplus of sixth year to provide for Lev. 25:20-22²⁰And if ye shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase: ²¹Then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years. ²²And ye shall sow the eighth year, and eat yet of old fruit until the ninth year; until her fruits come in ye shall eat of the old store. (Leviticus 25:20‑22).

ENACTMENTS RESPECTING

Cessation of all field labor. Lev. 25:4, 5⁴But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the Lord: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard. ⁵That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed: for it is a year of rest unto the land. (Leviticus 25:4‑5).

The fruits of the earth to be common property. Ex. 23:11¹¹But the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie still; that the poor of thy people may eat: and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, and with thy oliveyard. (Exodus 23:11). Lev. 25:6, 7⁶And the sabbath of the land shall be meat for you; for thee, and for thy servant, and for thy maid, and for thy hired servant, and for thy stranger that sojourneth with thee, ⁷And for thy cattle, and for the beast that are in thy land, shall all the increase thereof be meat. (Leviticus 25:6‑7).

Remission of debts. Deut. 15:1-3¹At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release. ²And this is the manner of the release: Every creditor that lendeth ought unto his neighbor shall release it; he shall not exact it of his neighbor, or of his brother; because it is called the Lord's release. ³Of a foreigner thou mayest exact it again: but that which is thine with thy brother thine hand shall release; (Deuteronomy 15:1‑3), Neh. 10:31³¹And if the people of the land bring ware or any victuals on the sabbath day to sell, that we would not buy it of them on the sabbath, or on the holy day: and that we would leave the seventh year, and the exaction of every debt. (Nehemiah 10:31).

Release of all Hebrew servants. Ex. 21:2²If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing. (Exodus 21:2). Deut. 15:12¹²And if thy brother, an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee, and serve thee six years; then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee. (Deuteronomy 15:12).

Public reading of the law at feast of tabernacles. Deut. 31:10-13¹⁰And Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years, in the solemnity of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles, ¹¹When all Israel is come to appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing. ¹²Gather the people together, men, and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the Lord your God, and observe to do all the words of this law: ¹³And that their children, which have not known any thing, may hear, and learn to fear the Lord your God, as long as ye live in the land whither ye go over Jordan to possess it. (Deuteronomy 31:10‑13).

No release to strangers during. Deut. 15:3³Of a foreigner thou mayest exact it again: but that which is thine with thy brother thine hand shall release; (Deuteronomy 15:3).

Release of, not to hinder the exercise of benevolence. Deut. 15:9-11⁹Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry unto the Lord against thee, and it be sin unto thee. ¹⁰Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because that for this thing the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto. ¹¹For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land. (Deuteronomy 15:9‑11).

Jews threatened for neglecting. Lev. 26:34, 35, 43³⁴Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies' land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her sabbaths. ³⁵As long as it lieth desolate it shall rest; because it did not rest in your sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it. (Leviticus 26:34‑35)
⁴³The land also shall be left of them, and shall enjoy her sabbaths, while she lieth desolate without them: and they shall accept of the punishment of their iniquity: because, even because they despised my judgments, and because their soul abhorred my statutes. (Leviticus 26:43). Jer. 34:13-18¹³Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel; I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondmen, saying, ¹⁴At the end of seven years let ye go every man his brother an Hebrew, which hath been sold unto thee; and when he hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee: but your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear. ¹⁵And ye were now turned, and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbor; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name: ¹⁶But ye turned and polluted my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom ye had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and brought them into subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids. ¹⁷Therefore thus saith the Lord; Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbor: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the Lord, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth. ¹⁸And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, which have not performed the words of the covenant which they had made before me, when they cut the calf in twain, and passed between the parts thereof, (Jeremiah 34:13‑18).

The seventy years' captivity a punishment for neglecting. 2 Chr. 36: 20, 21.

Restored after the captivity. Neh. 10:31³¹And if the people of the land bring ware or any victuals on the sabbath day to sell, that we would not buy it of them on the sabbath, or on the holy day: and that we would leave the seventh year, and the exaction of every debt. (Nehemiah 10:31).

Click here to show subject links in the text for more information.

The New Topical Textbook

• Example of Christ, the.

• Excellency and Glory of Christ, the.

• Excellency and Glory of the Church, the.

• Eye, the.

• Faith.

• Faithfulness.

• Faithfulness of God, the.

• Feast of Dedication, the.

• Feast of Jubilee, the.

• Feast of Pentecost, the.

• Feast of Purim, or Lots, the.

• Feast of Sabbatical Year, the.

• Feast of Tabernacles, the.

• Feast of the New Moon, the.

• Feast of the Passover, the.

• Feasts of Trumpets, the.

• Feasts, the Anniversary.