And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the fruits thereof:
This law belongs to the statutes, judgments and instruction given on Sinai, on the mount in Exodus 19-24, written in a book, and those statutes are not a lower order of law. It was given to Moses by Christ Jesus Himself, the same Teacher who afterward spoke in human flesh.
For six years the land is to be sown and cultivated and its fruit and harvest gathered in. Then comes a sabbatical seventh year when sowing, planting and tending the vineyard stop and the land lies fallow. Its spontaneous growth comes without cultivation and is left to be available to the poor, the stranger, and even the wild animals.
Taken together with what follows it, this six-year command gives the agricultural principle that after several years of cultivation portions of land should be allowed to rest and crops should be changed. Neglecting proper preparation of the soil can cause a failed harvest.
The cycle declares that God owns the land and gives people only temporary use of it. In the rest year planting and sowing were to stop and the people were to depend on His providence. In this God and not nature is shown to control the land and its produce, with power to withhold or bestow its blessings.
The requirement displays God's care for His people, His impartiality and the high standard of His requirements, with special concern for the poor. Making provision for the needy was made part of religious obligation, alongside the third-year tithe for the poor. The seventh-year sharing, letting the poor gather what grew by itself, was intended to ease their suffering and give them hope.
The six-year pattern provides rest for the land and leisure for the people for rest, prayer and instruction. It gives time for broader study, social life and worship, and for acts of benevolence that ordinary work can crowd out. Faithfulness in devoting these offerings to relief of the poor and other benevolent uses keeps fresh before the people the truth of God's ownership of all and their opportunity to be channels of blessing.
Its purpose is training that eradicates selfishness and develops breadth and nobility of character.
This instruction must be fully studied and obeyed now just as truly as by the children of Israel, obeyed from the heart and carried out in practice and character. Moses left the example to follow, gathering God's truth, light and grace and setting it before the people in life. Obedience is the condition for God to communicate with His people and to make them kings and priests unto God, a reward still given to the obedient now. Israel publicly agreed with lifted voice and hands to comply with the conditions, then broke them in idolatry while Moses was away.
As one of the laws written in a book, it guards against doing injustice and guides dealings with one another. Presenting it calls for ceasing all contention and loving as brethren with softened and subdued hearts.
This law belongs to the statutes, judgments and instruction given on Sinai, on the mount in Exodus 19-24, written in a book, and those statutes are not a lower order of law. It was given to Moses by Christ Jesus Himself, the same Teacher who afterward spoke in human flesh.
For six years the land is to be sown and cultivated and its fruit and harvest gathered in. Then comes a sabbatical seventh year when sowing, planting and tending the vineyard stop and the land lies fallow. Its spontaneous growth comes without cultivation and is left to be available to the poor, the stranger, and even the wild animals.
Taken together with what follows it, this six-year command gives the agricultural principle that after several years of cultivation portions of land should be allowed to rest and crops should be changed. Neglecting proper preparation of the soil can cause a failed harvest.
The cycle declares that God owns the land and gives people only temporary use of it. In the rest year planting and sowing were to stop and the people were to depend on His providence. In this God and not nature is shown to control the land and its produce, with power to withhold or bestow its blessings.
The requirement displays God's care for His people, His impartiality and the high standard of His requirements, with special concern for the poor. Making provision for the needy was made part of religious obligation, alongside the third-year tithe for the poor. The seventh-year sharing, letting the poor gather what grew by itself, was intended to ease their suffering and give them hope.
The six-year pattern provides rest for the land and leisure for the people for rest, prayer and instruction. It gives time for broader study, social life and worship, and for acts of benevolence that ordinary work can crowd out. Faithfulness in devoting these offerings to relief of the poor and other benevolent uses keeps fresh before the people the truth of God's ownership of all and their opportunity to be channels of blessing.
Its purpose is training that eradicates selfishness and develops breadth and nobility of character.
This instruction must be fully studied and obeyed now just as truly as by the children of Israel, obeyed from the heart and carried out in practice and character. Moses left the example to follow, gathering God's truth, light and grace and setting it before the people in life. Obedience is the condition for God to communicate with His people and to make them kings and priests unto God, a reward still given to the obedient now. Israel publicly agreed with lifted voice and hands to comply with the conditions, then broke them in idolatry while Moses was away.
As one of the laws written in a book, it guards against doing injustice and guides dealings with one another. Presenting it calls for ceasing all contention and loving as brethren with softened and subdued hearts.