Leviticus 25:2
Speak 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. Speak 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.
When Israel came into the land God was giving them, Canaan, after they settled there, the land itself was to keep a Sabbath to the Lord, observed every seventh year as a sabbatical year. Keeping it meant stopping agricultural work and intermitting all farming processes, with no planting, sowing, or cultivation permitted, leaving the soil to lie in its spontaneous growth. What grew by itself was to be shared with free access for food by the poor, strangers, servants, and animals, including flocks, herds, and livestock.
The rest invigorates worn-out productive soil and renews its capacity for growth. The command teaches that God is the owner and householder of the land and its provider, the people are only His tenants, and they are not free to manage it as their own or deny it its rest. It calls for whole trust in and dependence on God's provision and teaches that nature is not divine but is managed and supervised by God under His control, so that all produce depends on His providential care to withhold or bestow blessing. When the people obey, God under His supervision makes the sixth year yield enough for three years, as a constant lesson of His ownership and care.
The arrangement teaches liberality and care for the poor by special provision, to overcome stinginess, selfishness, and covetousness, showing the Lord over the whole earth taking care of the poor. Obeying God's directions for cultivating the soil can restore the land's prosperity and beauty, while selfishly refusing it a Sabbath drains its vigor and brings dearth and sickness as results of disobedience. The verse embodies the gospel of the Old Testament in practical missionary work and duties to one another, a heavenly communication showing that era was not a time of darkness. It stands as a standard of obedience and compassion to be acted out in practical life toward fellow workers in hard fields, an arrangement that would be wonderful in this age of great light. The land's Sabbath rest is the jubilee, which begins at the deliverance of God's people when the land rests, when the godly slave rises in victory and is freed from chains while the wicked master is confused and unable to discern God's voice.