The Sabbath Year

The Book of Genesis Day 14 Ge 2:2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. The seventh day, the Sabbath. This was and always has been a very special day to God. Not only were His children to rest on the seventh day, but other days were set aside as Sabbaths as well! There were special holy days and feast days set aside. Sometimes, entire weeks were set aside as Sabbaths, indeed even a Sabbath year was established by God! This “year” was celebrated every seven years and it was a time when the soil was given complete rest. The people were not to sow seed, nor prune their vineyard. ( Le 25:3,4) in that year however, anything that grew on it’s own could be gleaned (not systematically harvested) and eaten by those who had need. God took this Sabbath year very seriously and according to the Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary, the Israelites were justly punished for ignoring this Sabbatical year for 490 years! (from the reign of Saul to the reign of Jehoiakim.) Add them up! That’s a total of 70 years of missed Sabbath years! Jeremiah prophesied of the punishment that would come to the people for their neglect of the Sabbath years in Jer 25:11 'And this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. God was telling the people, “if you don’t give My created land rest….I will!” And He did! Rest is important to God and Sabbaths are meant to be a blessing for His creation! As Jesus said in Mr 2:27 "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. In light of this, why do we seemingly have such a flippant attitude about this day? It seems to be the forgotten command of the Ten! We remember the Sabbath for one hour on Sunday and then treat the day as any other. Has God changed? Have the Ten become Nine? God knows His land needs rest and He knows we need it to. The Sabbath is a day of rest, not a day to get caught up with our work from the rest of the week. “Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy!” (Ex 20:8) Reflect: What’s your favorite holiday and why? Do you think God likes celebrations? How might a gardener practice the principle of a sabbatical year? What kind of boundaries do you need in your life right now so you can get adequate rest? Pray: Lord we live in a fast-paced nation. It seems we have to have everything and we have to have it now! Teach us to rest. Teach us to live in accordance with the way You created us.