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This week’s parasha is called Behar.  It covers Leviticus, Chapter 25:1 through Leviticus, Chapter 26:2.  This is one of the shortest parashas of the year as it only covers one chapter, but yet it contains information about some very important observances for the Jewish people.  For some of the information used in this parasha, I referenced the excellent book by Kevin Howard and Marvin Rosenthal, titled The Feasts of the Lord.

The word, Behar, means “on the mount,” referring to the fact that God was speaking to Moses at Mount Sinai.  In verse 2, God instructs Moses that when the Israelis were to come into the land that God was to give them, at a certain time, the land was to experience a Sabbath rest.  Just as the people were only supposed to work 6 days and then rest on the 7th, so too, the land was to be worked for 6 years, but during the 7th year, the land was to experience a complete rest.  This special year is known by some different names.  It could simply be called The Seventh Year due to the time of its observance.  It was also called the Sabbath of the Land since no work was to be done on the land and it was to have a complete rest.  Finally, it was called the Year of Release, since debt payments were discontinued during this year.  This did not mean that the debt was forgiven, but that the payment was discontinued for that year since the debtor would very likely not have the means to continue the payment due to inability to work the land.  This is noted in places like Deuteronomy 31:10.

There were several requirements for this year of rest.  First, since it was a Sabbath year, no work could be done, so it meant that people had what was basically a Sabbath year, a year of rest to the Lord.  Second, nothing could be done to the land, which meant no sowing, no tending of crops, no gathering of the crops and no selling of crops.  This applied to both crops of the field, like barley and wheat and also to fruit trees such as fig trees and date trees, for example.  Third, if some crops or fruit were to come up naturally, these could be eaten by anyone; however, they could not be gathered and stored for later.  Fourth, as I mentioned earlier, debt payments were postponed since people would not have the means to make the payments.  Lastly, during this seventh year, the word of the Law was to be read to the people (Deuteronomy 31:10 – 11).

So, you are probably thinking, “Wow, a whole year off sounds pretty good, but what are we going to eat.”  Later in this chapter, beginning with verse 20, God says that in the 6th year, He will provide enough abundance in the 6th year that it would be enough to cover three years.  This was necessary since people would need food in the year before the Sabbath year, year 6.  They would of course need food in the Sabbatical year, year 7.  They would also need the food from year 6 in the year that followed the Sabbath year since they would be planting crops but would have to wait to be able to harvest them.  Therefore, 3 years of provisions would be required.

In Chapter 25, we are also given instructions about another very special year, referred to as the Year of Jubilee.  This year of Jubilee took place every 50 years, on the year following a Sabbath year, 7×7 years plus one.

In addition to the requirements of the Sabbatical years, there were some extra requirements for the Year of Jubilee.  First, to announce the Jubilee year, the shofar was to be blown on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement, v. 9).  Second, all land was to be returned to the original owner.  Finally, if an Israeli had become poor and hired himself out, he was not to be treated as a slave, but as a hired worker.  If he could raise the money to pay off his debt, he could purchase his freedom, but if not, he would be automatically freed even if the debt had not been paid off in the Jubilee year.

Let me make a few additional comments about the restoration of property.  If a piece of property was sold by the owner to another person, the more years away from the Year of Jubilee, the higher the price.  For example, a piece of property sold 40 years before the Year of Jubilee would command a higher price than if the same property was sold 10 years before the Year of Jubilee.  This was because the property would be returned to the original owner at the Jubilee year.  This allowed the person who bought the land to benefit from its use, but did not allow the original owner to lose the land.  In a way, this both encouraged capitalism and equality at the same time.  Aspiring entrepreneurs could build up opportunities, for example, by buying and using additional land, but this ownership was temporary and the seller would get the property back at the Jubilee year to have another opportunity to use the land

In this chapter, we also read about the regulations for buying and selling houses.  There are three categories for this.  The first is if the house was in a walled city.   If this house was sold, it could be redeemed, in other words, purchased back within a period of 1 year.  If the house was not purchased back in one year, it permanently became the property of the buyer.  However, if the house was in an area that did not have a wall around if, this was considered open fields and there were redemption rights and the dwelling needed to be returned at Jubilee.  Lastly, in the cities of the Levites, those consecrated to serving God, even though these dwellings were in walled cities, the Levites retained permanent redemption rights and their houses would automatically revert back to them at the year of Jubilee.

The rest of chapter 25 deals with people who become so poor that they need to go into some type of servitude.  For an Israeli, he was not to be treated as a slave, but as a hired servant.  Even if he could not pay off his debt, both he and any family that were with him would be able to leave that service at the Jubilee year.  However, for the slaves that were acquired from the surrounding pagan nations, they would not have the right of freedom at Jubilee and could even be passed down from one generation to another.  The worst category of servitude for an Israeli at this time would be one who was an Israeli and sold himself, not into the service of a fellow Israeli, but to a resident alien, in other words, a gentile living in Israel.  This person could be redeemed by any family member, and was not allowed to be treated as a slave.  He would command a higher price for his service for more years remaining before the Year of Jubilee and a lower price if there were less years remaining before the Year of Jubilee.  This parasha ends with God reminding Moses to not make any idols or worship anything else but God and to also remember to keep the Lord’s Sabbaths.

Sadly, it does not seem like Israel kept the Sabbath year for much of its initial history, and this was one of the reasons for the Babylonian captivity (Leviticus 26:34).  However, after the Babylonian captivity, the records seem to indicate that Israel faithfully kept the observance of the Sabbatical year (Nehemiah, Chapter 10 as well as other sources like the Antiquities of the Jews) up until the Roman destruction of Jerusalem, in 70 AD.   However, there is no record of the Year of Jubilee ever being celebrated.

I think some of the lessons we can take away from this parasha are as follows:

1.  The Sabbath year made great sense.  It allowed the land of Israel to rest and rejuvenate.  This observance was given approximately 3,500 years ago; however, it is only the last 50 to 100 years that agriculturalists have “discovered” that over-cultivation of land is harmful.  Just another demonstration of biblical wisdom.   This year of rest also allowed the people to have extended time of worship to God since they were unable to work the fields thus drawing them closer to God and His care for them.

2.  God’s wisdom is demonstrated so wonderfully.  The land belonged to God, not to any individual.  The people were, in a sense, borrowing the land to till and make their livelihood.  Land could not be purchased and holdings increased at a never-ending rate.  It would have to be returned to the original owner at Jubilee.  This allowed the Israeli people to maintain the land that God had given them when he divided the land among the tribes as God did in Joshua 15 – 21.

3.  The Sabbath Year and the Year of Jubilee also remind us of the Messiah.  In the Gospel of Matthew, we read that Yeshua was called, The Lord of the Sabbath.”  We are reminded that all those who are weary and heavy laden should come to Yeshua for rest (Matthew, Chapter 11, verse 28).  The Messiah is truly the One who gives us the satisfying rest and peace we desire.  Likewise, Messiah restores us, just as property and individuals in bondage were restored at the Year of Jubilee.  He restores us with the most important relationship we can have, our relationship with God, by taking away our sins and making us right with the One who provides eternal salvation.