Throw Those Seeds Down, Boy, It's Jubilee
Welcome to parasha BeHar. This portion begins in Leviticus 25:1-26:2. It begins by instructing the Children of Israel when they come into the land, give the land a Shabbat. Generally, we wouldn't think of the land keeping a Shabbat, only people keeping one. But YHVH says, even the land needs to keep a Shabbat unto Him every seven years! Are we any less valuable than a section of dirt to Him? If the land should keep a Shabbat every seven years, shouldn't we keep a Shabbat every week, since we are made in His image? It sounds contradictory in the next passages where it says in that seventh year you shall not sow, nor reap, nor gather the grapes from your vineyard. Then it says the Shabbat of the land will be grain for you and your cattle and etc. What we are dealing with here is not that they couldn't eat of the fruit of the field, which grew on its own, but they could not gather and "sell" any of it. But what we forget is, if Israel had left the land barren on that seventh year, YHVH would have given enough increase on the sixth year to last them for three growing seasons. If you could not plant the seventh year, that means you couldn't plant the seeds until the eight year and the harvest would not come in until the 'end' of the eighth growing cycle. So the sixth year would have to feed you the sixth year, the seventh year, plus until the food came in on the eight year. We have no record that Israel ever kept that commandment.
Then after forty nine years, they were to give the land another rest on the fiftieth year. Now in this particular time span they were not to eat of the fields, but it was the jubilee year for all the land to return back to its previous owner. The land was bought and sold according to how many crops could be produced from it before the Jubilee year. If the Jubilee came in, let's say two years after you purchased the land, it was worth much less than if you had purchased it and there were forty years left until the Jubilee year. You will notice YHVH made a statement twice in chapter twenty five. That statement plainly stated to the people, that if they would keep His chukim and guard his mishpatim, "they would eat their fill and dwell in safety." But we see they never did that, just as we are not doing it today. Then we see the commandment where YHVH tells the people the land belongs to Him and is not to be sold. Again, this may seem contradictory as we just talked about selling the land according to the Jubilee years. But this was a temporary selling, not a permanent one. You might say they were "renting" the land, but they never owned it. Let's look at the Levites for a minute. They never received certain parcels of land like the other tribes. But they were given forty-eight towns scattered around the country, each of which was surrounded by a ring of open land. There were time spans on redeeming other property, but the Levites could redeem their houses at any time. But their 'fields' could not be sold.
So one might say this parasha is all about "property management":. Not only of the buying and selling of the land and houses, but how to let the land rest in the seventh year and the fiftieth year. However, it does end on the commandment concerning making idols when they enter the land. But as we all know, the Israelites struggled with that one too. Year before last, we did not plant our usual vegetable garden. We decided that year was going to be "our" seventh year to let the land rest. Did we know for sure that year was the real seventh year, oh course not! No one really knows when that actual year is except YHVH himself. But you know what, I firmly believe that in trying to keep that commandment, YHVH honored our effort. I believe when we make a sincere effort to try and keep His commandments, something is better than nothing. If we haven't a way to calculate the real seventh year, tell me, is it better to just say, oh well and go on with life as usual? Or would you say it would be better in YHVH'S eyes if you kept some year, even if it's right or wrong timing, in an effort to please Him and keep his commandment? Remember, it's the heart motive He looks for, not if you're right on target in timing. We'd better be glad of that, or about a third or more of us out here are in big trouble! After all, the Christians say the day is Sunday, the Jews say it's Saturday and the Lunar people have rotating days, someone has to be wrong! So which is better, a person who doesn't honor any day of the week unto the Lord, or someone who faithfully honors one in his heart, but it's the wrong one because of misinformation he or she received in life? I think you know the answer! You can keep "your" seventh/Sabbath year this year, if you haven't done so before. Sooner or later when Yeshua comes back, we will all know which is the correct year to honor the land. Until then, let's try and keep the commandments as best we know how. Now where did I put those seeds, I've got planting to do:. Shalom
Then after forty nine years, they were to give the land another rest on the fiftieth year. Now in this particular time span they were not to eat of the fields, but it was the jubilee year for all the land to return back to its previous owner. The land was bought and sold according to how many crops could be produced from it before the Jubilee year. If the Jubilee came in, let's say two years after you purchased the land, it was worth much less than if you had purchased it and there were forty years left until the Jubilee year. You will notice YHVH made a statement twice in chapter twenty five. That statement plainly stated to the people, that if they would keep His chukim and guard his mishpatim, "they would eat their fill and dwell in safety." But we see they never did that, just as we are not doing it today. Then we see the commandment where YHVH tells the people the land belongs to Him and is not to be sold. Again, this may seem contradictory as we just talked about selling the land according to the Jubilee years. But this was a temporary selling, not a permanent one. You might say they were "renting" the land, but they never owned it. Let's look at the Levites for a minute. They never received certain parcels of land like the other tribes. But they were given forty-eight towns scattered around the country, each of which was surrounded by a ring of open land. There were time spans on redeeming other property, but the Levites could redeem their houses at any time. But their 'fields' could not be sold.
So one might say this parasha is all about "property management":. Not only of the buying and selling of the land and houses, but how to let the land rest in the seventh year and the fiftieth year. However, it does end on the commandment concerning making idols when they enter the land. But as we all know, the Israelites struggled with that one too. Year before last, we did not plant our usual vegetable garden. We decided that year was going to be "our" seventh year to let the land rest. Did we know for sure that year was the real seventh year, oh course not! No one really knows when that actual year is except YHVH himself. But you know what, I firmly believe that in trying to keep that commandment, YHVH honored our effort. I believe when we make a sincere effort to try and keep His commandments, something is better than nothing. If we haven't a way to calculate the real seventh year, tell me, is it better to just say, oh well and go on with life as usual? Or would you say it would be better in YHVH'S eyes if you kept some year, even if it's right or wrong timing, in an effort to please Him and keep his commandment? Remember, it's the heart motive He looks for, not if you're right on target in timing. We'd better be glad of that, or about a third or more of us out here are in big trouble! After all, the Christians say the day is Sunday, the Jews say it's Saturday and the Lunar people have rotating days, someone has to be wrong! So which is better, a person who doesn't honor any day of the week unto the Lord, or someone who faithfully honors one in his heart, but it's the wrong one because of misinformation he or she received in life? I think you know the answer! You can keep "your" seventh/Sabbath year this year, if you haven't done so before. Sooner or later when Yeshua comes back, we will all know which is the correct year to honor the land. Until then, let's try and keep the commandments as best we know how. Now where did I put those seeds, I've got planting to do:. Shalom