Jeffrey Aalvik✊️ (@jcrew756)

Wasn't There Also a Sabbath of Years, a Seventh Year Sabbath of/for - the Land? What exactly was That Sabbath? And did Israel faithfully Keep It all the time? Was This Sabbath IMPORTANT in God's eyes? What were the Blessings or Curses associated with Keeping or NOT Keeping This 7th-Year Sabbath?? And If I'm correct about This, Where is it mentioned in the Bible? https://share.google/aimode/wS4Amr6hWRBDXJ0ij Yes, you are completely correct: the Bible commands a seventh-year Sabbath for the land, known as the Sabbatical Year or Shemitah. [1, 2] What Exactly Was That Sabbath? Agricultural Rest: For Six Consecutive Years, Israelites sowed fields and pruned vineyards, But in the Seventh Year, the Land was to Experience a Year of Complete, Solemn Rest. No Planting or Harvesting: Farmers could not actively sow, prune, or gather crops into storage. Shared Food: Whatever grew naturally (volunteer crops) on its own could be eaten freely on the spot by anyone—the landowners, servants, hired workers, neighbors, foreigners, livestock, and wild animals. Release of Debts: Alongside the fallow land, every seventh year also required the canceling or releasing of debts owed by fellow Israelites. [1, 5] Did Israel Faithfully Keep It All the Time? No. Historically and textually, the people of Israel failed to faithfully observe the Shemitah over centuries. Greed, lack of faith in God's provision, and a desire for continuous economic output led them to ignore the command. [6, 7, 8] Was This Sabbath Important in God's Eyes? Yes, it was deeply important. It served as a vital test of national trust: obeying it demonstrated that Israel recognized God as the true owner of the land and provider of their daily needs. Disobeding It was Treated as a Direct Breach of The Covenant. [8, 9, 10] What Were the Blessings or Curses? The Blessing of Provision: God promised that if they trusted Him and obeyed, He would send an abundant, triple-crop harvest in the sixth year that would naturally sustain them through the seventh (fallow) year and into the eighth year until the new crops grew. The Curse of Exile and Desolation: God warned that if they refused to let the land rest, He would scatter them among the nations and make the Land Desolate so that it could Finally "Enjoy Its Sabbaths" by Force While Empty. This Unkept Sabbath Tally Culminated in the 70-year Babylonian Captivity, Balancing Out 490 Years of Neglected Sabbath Years. [7, 8, 11, 12] Where Is It Mentioned in the Bible? ● Leviticus 25:1–7: Gives the Foundational Law for the Sabbath of the Land, followed by Rules for the Jubilee Year. ● Exodus 23:10–11: Introduces the basic principle of letting the field Rest in the Seventh Year for the poor and the wild beasts. ● Deuteronomy 15:1–11: Details the related seventh-year release of debts. ● Leviticus 26:33–35, 43: Outlines the Explicit Warning and Curse of the Land being made Desolate during Exile to Make Up for Missed Sabbaths. ● 2 Chronicles 36:20–21: Records the Historical Fulfillment of this Judgment, noting how the Babylonian Exile lasted 70 Years Specifically So the Land could Catch Up on its Unkept Sabbath Rests. Explore the foundational text in Leviticus 25. Review the theological context on the Theology of Work. Read a historical analysis of the exile connection at First Baptist Church of Rockford. [5, 8, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18] AI responses may include mistakes. [1] https://www.katrinadhamel.com/post/14-facts-you-might-not-know-about-the-sabbath-year [2] https://thirdmill.org/articles/jl_duncan/lig_duncan.Lev_28.html. [3] https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/leviticus-25/ [4] https://stonebrook.org/resources/sermons/exodus-31-the-sabbath. [5] https://www.sabbath.org/index.cfm/library/bqa/id/158/how-do-land-sabbath-jubilee-years-work-leviticus-25.htm. [6] https://www.youtube.com/shorts/vET8Sjr9LLs. [7] https://servantofmessiah.org/times-and-seasons/prophetic-studies/daniel-70-weeks-israel/ [8] https://biblehub.com/topical/ttt/t/the_feast_of_sabbatical_year--the_seventy_years_captivity_a_punishment_for_neglecting.htm. [9] https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/2024/why-was-there-a-sabbath-year. [10] https://www.ccsh.com.au/2025/10/daily-devotion-why-the-70-years-captivity-in-babylon/ [11] http://jeremiahstudybible.com/Second_Chronicles/seventy-years-captivity/ [12] https://sld.saconnects.org/sabbath-a-singular-focus/ [13] https://www.godwhospeaks.uk/the-sabbath-and-the-sabbatical-year/ [14] https://superiorword.org/leviticus-25-1-7-the-sabbath-o-the-land/ [15] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus+25&version=NIV [16] https://www.theologyofwork.org/old-testament/leviticus-and-work/the-sabbath-year-and-the-year-of-jubilee-leviticus-25/ [17] https://fbcrockford.org/resources/blog/jeremiah-s-prophecy-of-judah-s-exile-in-babylon-for-seventy-years/ [18] https://seminary.bju.edu/theology-in-3d/so-was-it-70-years-or-not/