Yesterday’s article focused on the cultic calendar of Leviticus 23. Chapter 25 expands on these verses by introducing the larger category of festival years, which occur every seven and fifty years.
Now, we’ll examine the sabbatical year and the Year of Jubilee.
The Sabbatical Year
Much like the Sabbath day, the sabbatical year is a designated period of rest.
The Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving you, the land shall observe a Sabbath for the Lord.
Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in their yield,
But in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of complete rest for the land, a Sabbath for the Lord: you shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard” (Leviticus 25:1-4).
This special time offers a blessing to all: the spontaneous growth from untended fields and vineyards will provide sufficient sustenance for the people.
You shall not reap the aftergrowth of your harvest or gather the grapes of your unpruned vine: it shall be a year of complete rest for the land” (Leviticus 25:5).
Instead of bringing an offering to the sanctuary, the Israelites will use the untended land itself as an offering. This act will be their confession that Yahweh, not Baal, is their Lord. Through this, Israel will worship God and reject the materialistic greed that seeks to extract every possible product from the land.
Reflection
We often see notices at gas stations stating that our fuel contains a certain percentage of ethanol. But have you ever considered just how much of the American corn crop goes into producing that ethanol for your gas tank?
The answer is roughly 38% to 45% of U.S. corn production goes into ethanol fuel.
When the Israelites worshiped the one true God instead of Baal, they not only declared their confidence in God’s goodness and provision, but they also ensured that everyone in the community could glean from the fields and eat.
What if America adopted this perspective? How would the world benefit if we chose to follow God’s direction and share our resources with those in need, rather than using food to fuel our vehicles?
The Year of Jubilee
You’ve probably seen news reports about the Roman Catholic Church designating this year as a Jubilee Year. I checked the Internet to discover their emphasis on this special observance.
The current Jubilee, for 2025, is themed “Pilgrims of Hope.” Its core purposes include:
- Spiritual Renewal: Encouraging Catholics to deepen their faith, seek forgiveness, and reconcile with God and others.
- Pilgrimage: A central element involves making pilgrimages, especially to Rome, to pass through designated “Holy Doors” at major basilicas, symbolizing a journey of conversion.
- Emphasis on Hope: Pope Francis has emphasized hope as a guiding principle, encouraging believers to rekindle their faith in God amidst global challenges.
- Social Justice: The Jubilee also calls for concrete actions of solidarity, such as advocating for debt relief for poor nations, promoting peace, and supporting vulnerable populations.
Here are God’s directions for the Jubilee.
“You shall count off seven weeks of years, seven times seven years, so that the period of seven weeks of years gives forty-nine years.
Then you shall have the trumpet sounded loud; on the tenth day of the seventh month—on the Day of Atonement—you shall have the trumpet sounded throughout all your land.
And you shall hallow the fiftieth year, and you shall proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants.
It shall be a Jubilee for you: you shall return, every one of you, to your property and every one of you to your family” (Leviticus 25:8-10).
The principle of sevens permeates Israelite timekeeping, from the weekly Sabbath to the festivals of the seventh month, the sabbatical year, and finally, the Jubilee year (every seven times seven years).
This means that all periods used by the Israelites to measure their lives, from a week to a fifty-year cycle, contain specially designated periods to be devoted to God.
Reflection
God’s commands about time consistently prioritize the remembering and serving of God. The various sabbaths remind us that every segment of our lives should be set aside for devotion to God, acknowledging His precious gift of life.
God designed the Israelite system to rescue all His people from the bonds of debt servitude and to ensure each family a fresh start with their land every 50 years.
This built-in social justice, guaranteeing freedom from crushing debt and the possession of land (their primary source of wealth), was integral to their societal framework.
Income inequality is a major global issue. It’s not just about the vast wealth disparity within America, where some have immense riches while others live in abject poverty.
It also extends to the imbalance between developed, thriving nations and those barely surviving under massive debt to wealthier countries.
I don’t have a solution to this problem, but God does. It’s my responsibility to pray about it occasionally, rather than simply forgetting it.
YouTube Discussion
Rudy Ross, Bruce Kirby, and I discussed this passage on YouTube today.
Real Voices 