“Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the Lord.”
Speak to the Israelites and say to them: when you enter the land I am going to give you, the land itself must observe a sabbath to the Lord. The sabbatical year for the land — the land must observe a sabbath to the Lord — extends the Sabbath principle from the weekly rhythm to the agricultural year. The land that produces the community's food is itself given a year of rest. The land observing a Sabbath to the Lord communicates the theological claim: the land belongs to the Lord who rested on the seventh day. The community that rests every seventh day also rests the land every seventh year.
COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS
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