Lev. 25: The Years Go Down

All right, so the sabbath doesn't just have to be a day. Chapter 25 reveals that it can also be a year.

Whenever the Israelites enter the land, they are to plow and sow for six years, but in the seventh year, it has to lay fallow. The land itself has to rest. Weird. I don't think of the land as working, but I imagine farming it constantly for six years begins to take a toll on the natural resources. I'm no conservationist, but perhaps this law was good for the land moreso than the Israelites. Whatever grows during that seventh year, in the wild, presumably, will be the food for the people. They just couldn't purposefully farm it or prune it.

God's love for his creation doesn't just stop at man. He has rules for the earth, as well. God has apparently put in place this law to preserve the earth as long as possible. I guess.

After seven of these sabbath years...that's 49 years, for those of us who went to public schools, that fiftieth year was The Year of Jubilee.

So what happens in and around this Year of Jubilee?

• Everyone returns to his own original property
• The price of the land relates to number of years since the Jubliee...so it was a benchmark. The more years until the next Jubilee, the higher the price.
• The prior non sabbath year will yield enough for three years. Big time!
• No one should claim ownership of the land, as the people are aliens...its not quite the promised land yet
• People who had to sell land to make a living will receive their land back. Again, an expression of the temporary nature of their dwelling in a certain land
• Levites are returned any house they sell in the year of Jubilee...in their land that is. But their pastureland is not to be sold to begin with.
• People had to help poor people. No interest or profit should be taken in assisting them.
  
• No Israelite could be treated as a slave if he sold himself to someone. Rather, he had to be treated as though he were a hired worker. This was in memory of the Israelite servitude in Egypt. They were allowed to buy their slaves from other nations, and will them as property. However, I'm guessing they were to treat their slaves like people, following the regulations given in Exodus 21 - Recap.
• Any native Israelite who becomes poor, and is purchased by an alien who becomes rich can be redeemed by a blood relative, or himself if he can afford it. The price is based on the years since the last Jubilee. He will not be ruled over ruthlessly. If no such redemption is made, by the next Jubilee he will be released into freedom. Why? Because the Israelites belong to God, and are His people.

Well, what is the significance of the 50 years? This is after seven sets of seven years. 364 Sabbath days.

And slavery. Slavery sucks, of course. But nowhere have a I read a condoning of slavery. And if God wanted it outlawed, He'd have said so. But this doesn't make Him complicit with slavery. Slavery existed, and if anything, the bible recognizes and recounts how slaves held by Israelites were treated differently than slaves held in other nations...remember how the Israelites were treated in Egypt. They were not to return the "favor" to the slaves they took...or bought.

Generally, I guess this Year of Jubilee is a year of justice, of freedom, or charity, and a return to the way things were intended to be. Perhaps this was also a time of spiritual renewal. If only all nations could have a reminder every 50 years just who they are and who brought them to were they are. I think we'd have a different perspective on our place in this world.