Leviticus 25:1-55

The Lord cared very deeply about the land that He was giving to the children of Israel as well as the people to whom He was giving the land.  He did not want the land or the people to be abused so He established laws that would help the land to remain in the possession of the families to whom it was given.  He also made provision for those who were poor to be able work for those who were rich without losing the hope of freedom.

GOD ESTABLISHED A YEAR OF REST FOR THE LAND: Just as men were to work for only six days of the week and then rest on the Sabbath, God determined that the land would only be planted and harvested for six years and then the seventh year it would rest.  This law seems to have two purposes.  First, it seems that this is sound agricultural practice as the land needed time to rest in order to retain its fertility.  This was before the days of fertilizers and modern equipment used for tilling the soil.  Second, it was an opportunity to trust God.  He promised to provide an abundance of crops in the sixth year that they would be able to save enough for the seventh year when there was to be no harvest.  Of course it would be very tempting to think that the farmers themselves were responsible for the abundant crop and become filled with greed and to go ahead and plant in the seventh year as well.  There are always opportunities for us to test and see if we truly believe God and His Word by the way that we order our lives.

GOD PROVIDED FOR THE RETURN OF THE LAND: After seven periods of seven years or forty nine years, God established the year of Jubilee.  This was a time when any land that had been sold would be returned to the original owner.  God wanted to make it very clear that He was the only owner of this land and that He had designated certain families as being responsible for caring for certain parts of it.  Any land that was sold would be sold at a price based on the number of years left before it would be returned to the original owner.  The maximum amount of time that a property could be owned by another person was fifty years.  This was God’s means of making provision for families who became poor.  They could use the value of their land to have money with which to survive without losing their rights to land in Israel all together.  It provided hope and prevented despair.

GOD PROVIDED FOR THE RELEASE OF THE PEOPLE: If a person was poor and had sold his land and still needed help to survive, he could sell himself as a slave.  Slaves were not to be mistreated but to be cared for as a hired man.  The “slave” was required to work in obedience to the person who had purchased him, but the “owner” was to treat these people with dignity and respect.  In return for their work they were to be provided for in a physical way so that they could survive.  A family member or the person himself had the right to redemption by returning the funds that were paid and therefore be set free.  However, even if it was not possible for the person to be redeemed, at the year of Jubilee, the person would be set free.  God makes it very clear the both the land and the people belonged to Him and that His property and people were not to be exploited by those who had more wealth.  God is gracious and always provides hope for His people.