27 Aug The Sabbath of Exile

[Tom Tighe]

Greetings Bible Adventurists

I have pointed this out in previous years, but I find 2 Chronicles 36:21 to be one of the most easily overlooked validations of prophecy: "...until the land enjoyed her Sabbaths. As long as she lay desolate she kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years."

In Exodus 23:10, God gives Moses the command that "you shall sow your land six years and harvest its yield, but the seventh year you shall let it rest"

Then in Leviticus 25 this is restated. "Whenever you come into the land...six years you shall sow your fields, ...but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land." But then the Jubilee year is added (Lev 25:8) "You shall count seven Sabbaths of years for yourselves...forty-nine years... the fiftieth year shall be a Jubilee to you...in it you shall neither sow nor reap.

Not to get carried away with the math, but that means in every 50 year period, there should be 8 years that no one does any farming. This farming rule is probably an easy one to forget, when you wander in the desert for 40 years, then spend 5 or so years of war and conquest before settling down to build your homes and start any actual farming. Plus for the first 300 or so years in the promised land (period of Judges) everyone was individually responsible for following God's laws. It is a solid leap of faith to not actively grow food for your family for an entire year, and if everyone does that, there is no neighbor who might be able to help you out. I would have a hard time quitting my job for a year every seventh year, I even find it hard to take unpaid sick time off even though God has always provided for my needs. A Sabbath year requires a huge amount of faith. There is no record in the Bible of anyone taking a Sabbath year, but to be fair there is also no mention that anyone skipped it either.

Saul became king in 1050 BC. At that point there was somebody responsible to make sure people understood God's laws. The kingdom could have mandated the Sabbath year, or even set up food banks or import treaties to encourage a Sabbath year. They could have created a system like Joseph did in Egypt. That's not the point. Just like the lesson of manna in the wilderness, the point is Faith in God.

I return to the pointless math of 8 years of rest in every 50 year period. Starting with the beginning of the kingdom in 1050 BC, Israel had skipped 70 years of Sabbaths and Jubilees when Jeremiah made his prophecy of 70 years of exile (605 BC). The counting off of the 70 years of rest is much more challenging since not everyone was taken away into exile or returned from exile at the same time and there were years of siege (hiding within the city walls) and years rebuilding in which we have no insight into the farming activity. What we can count is the years from the final fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC to the rededication of the Temple with Ezra in 515 BC. Okay, that is 71 years and it may sound like I'm doing math to try to support the prophecy, but the author of 2 Chronicles recognized God was enforcing the rules He put in place.

There are only 28 reading days until Christmas! On that note, if you are going to invite someone to read next year, this is a good time to get them a chronological Bible. They are always hard to find around the first of the year.

I hope you are enjoying our adventure. Thanks for reading along with me.

Tom

[Tom Tighe]

To me, Shabbat/Sabbath is Creation language.

For any religious Jew or Messianic Jew or Messianic Gentile, Shabbat takes us back to rest when God rested. To chill with Him at His appointed time and to marvel at His plan. His day of rest IS and will always be the 7th day in the creation event forever and ever. The 7th day will forever be observed, even when Yeshua/Jesus returns.

For Christians and Messianic Jews or Gentiles, Sabbath rest is in Jesus and He is celebrated in His day of rising. This is to say, the 1st day.

Yeshua Jesus is the first and the last (the 7th and the 1st day) and b/c of Him we can rest from earning salvation yet we still need a physical day of rest from our work in this world.

We don't judge one another on Shabbats, festivals or food; thus, any day a congregation chooses to gather to rest in Christ and worship Him is good and accepted.

Either way, it all points to creation and God's plan. We get to participate.

So, the fields and farming cycles are just simply the pattern from creation. We are re-living, re-applying creation and the cycle ... just like God.

Shabbat speaks of the beginning of all things and the final rest. We are re-living it all with God. He has gifted us with His cycle of life and to follow in His footsteps. What a wonderful reality.