We are deep in the thick of discussing how the Lord’s Laws applied to the poor and their survival in society.
In an agricultural-based society, the poor were in a particular bad situation because they didn’t own any land.
In those days, land ownership equaled wealth.
Period.
The only way the poor could survive was to glean their food from the corners of the fields that belonged to others.
Since they literally had nothing to start with, they had no means to store up grains and supplies (the equivalent of putting money in a savings account) during the 6-year period when it was okay to work the fields.
This means they had nothing to draw from (the equivalent of taking money out of a savings account) during the 7th year when the fields were not to be touched.
It was not uncommon for the poor to borrow money during the Sabbatical year just to survive.
We can see just how vulnerable the poor were and how even the slightest economic disruption could in the blink of an eye turn their lives upside down.
One might wonder, why would the Lord decree a forced stoppage of growing crops for a full year?
Being forced to not work the fields every 50 years was bad enough, but imagine not being able to work the fields for a full year every seven years.
The burden is unimaginable.
Imagine if in your country wherever you may live, all economic activity shut down for a whole year.
The consequences would be disastrous.
It would take REAL FAITH to follow God’s instructions to the letter, wouldn’t it?
And that’s the point.
Does one pay lip service to God’s Word but live as the world does?
Or in spite of it seeming like pure insanity from the world’s perspective, does one make the hard decision to obey God’s commandments no matter what?
There are a ton of examples I could give here.
If your boss told you he wanted you to work on the Sabbath, would you risk losing your job by refusing to do so?
Don’t you have enough faith that God could find you another job?
Or I once heard a Rabbi say that one who has true faith or EMUNAH would NOT save for retirement.
Are you socking away money into an IRA or some other type of savings account because you’re afraid you’re not going to have the means to sustain yourself in your old age?
If you are, well according to this Rabbi, your faith is not 100%.
I’m not making any judgements here.
There are probably very few believers in the world who have 100% faith in HASHEM.
Me included.
I’m just as prone as anybody else to worrying about money and all the other things we mortals work ourselves into a fit about like a little sissy crying over spilt milk (probably more than your average person).
And of course, the ancient Israelites were no exception.
Because the truth is…
…there is no record that shows Israel EVER observed the Jubilee year according to HASHEM’s Torah.
However, when Messiah comes, things will be on earth as they are in heaven.
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