Liturgy for Life : WK 2 - WED

Jubilee Rest

Leviticus 25:1-5
While Moses was on Mount Sinai, the Lord said to him, “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. When you have entered the land I am giving you, the land itself must observe a Sabbath rest before the Lord every seventh year. For six years you may plant your fields and prune your vineyards and harvest your crops, but during the seventh year the land must have a Sabbath year of complete rest. It is the Lord’s Sabbath. Do not plant your fields or prune your vineyards during that year. And don’t store away the crops that grow on their own or gather the grapes from your unpruned vines. The land must have a year of complete rest.

Leviticus 25:8-11
“In addition, you must count off seven Sabbath years, seven sets of seven years, adding up to forty-nine years in all. Then on the Day of Atonement in the fiftieth year, blow the ram’s horn loud and long throughout the land. Set this year apart as holy, a time to proclaim freedom throughout the land for all who live there. It will be a jubilee year for you, when each of you may return to the land that belonged to your ancestors and return to your own clan. This fiftieth year will be a jubilee for you. During that year you must not plant your fields or store away any of the crops that grow on their own, and don’t gather the grapes from your unpruned vines.

What we find in Leviticus 25 is the far reaching implications of the rest God calls us to. Every seven years the Israelites were meant to stop farming on a plot of land to allow the land to have complete rest. And on top of that every 50 years was to be a year of jubilee to celebrate 7 sets of 7 years. That is 8 years of rest for the land every 50 years!

The practical side of me wonders how the Israelites were meant to feed themselves during these years. Was it a decline in the economy every 7 years? What did all the farmers do during the year off? But then I am reminded of what modern science has shown us, that land is more productive when it gets rest. That is why farmers rotate their crops, why they plant clover on certain plots to rejuvenate the nitrogen and other elements soil needs to be healthy.

We have seen, during the Covid shutdowns, how the pause of mass transportation provided rest from pollution to allow nature to bounce back. The creator knows what the earth needs. And God knows the rest we need to bounce back. So take sabbaticals, go on vacation, find an airbnb on the weekend, or turn off all electronics for an extended time period. The land needs extended rest to be reach it’s max productiveness. We need rhythms of extended rest to become the full, whole, purpose filled person we are called to be.

1. When is the last time you took a whole day to rest from work, media, distractions, or chores? Would that help?
2. What would it look like to plan a retreat with family or friends? Call someone and start planning!