Torah Portion BeHar
Torah Portion BeHar
Leviticus 25:1-26:2
The Sabbath years and the Year of Jubilee
Lev 25:1 YHWH said to Moshe in Mount Sinai,
Lev 25:2 “Speak to the children of Yisra’el, and tell them, ‘When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a Shabbat to YHWH.
Lev 25:3 Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather in its fruits;
Lev 25:4 but in the seventh year there shall be a Shabbat of solemn rest for the land, a Shabbat to YHWH. You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard.
Lev 25:5 What grows of itself in your harvest you shall not reap, and the grapes of your undressed vine you shall not gather. It shall be a year of solemn rest for the land.
Lev 25:6 The Shabbat of the land shall be for food for you; for yourself, for your servant, for your maid, for your hired servant, and for your stranger, who lives as a foreigner with you.
Lev 25:7 For your livestock also, and for the animals that are in your land, shall all the increase of it be for food.
It is commendable for those living outside of Eretz Israel to also allow their fields to lie fallow every seventh year. Elohim gave this commandment so that the soil would not be exhausted by over-farming, and land outside of Eretz Israel is no less likely to become depleted.
Leviticus, continued:
Lev 25:8 “‘You shall count off seven Shabbatot of years, seven times seven years; and there shall be to you the days of seven Shabbatot of years, even forty-nine years.
Lev 25:9 Then you shall sound the loud shofar on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the Day of Atonement you shall sound the shofar throughout all your land.
The Sabbath years and Jubilee years follow the “old” yearly calendar, starting from the time of creation when the new year started in Tishri (Nisan was later proclaimed the “new year” at the time of the Exodus, if you recall). The Sabbath years and Jubilee follow the Tribulation Week and Yom Kippur (the second advent) on Elohim’s calendar, as a typeology for us. The new year of salvation (in the spring – and alrealdy fulfilled in prophecy) and the new year of redemption (in the fall – not yet fulfilled in prophecy) have two different theological functions and should not be confused.
Leviticus, continued:
Lev 25:10 You shall make the fiftieth year holy, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee to you; and each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return to his family.
Agricultural land in Israel was never to be permanently sold, but had to be returned to the original family and tribe that owned it every 50th year.
Leviticus, continued:
Lev 25:11 That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee to you. In it you shall not sow, neither reap that which grows of itself, nor gather from the undressed vines.
Lev 25:12 For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you. You shall eat of its increase out of the field.
The Jubilee was also a Sabbath year. So the 49th and 50th years of each Jubilee cycle were both sabbath years, back to back. We see an example of this in Kings:
2Ki 19:20 Then Yeshaiyahu the son of Amotz sent to Chizkiyahu, saying, Thus says YHWH, the Elohim of Yisra’el, Whereas you have prayed to me against Sancheriv king of Ashur, I have heard [you]. 2Ki 19:21 This is the word that YHWH has spoken concerning him: The virgin daughter of Tziyon has despised you and ridiculed you; the daughter of Yerushalayim has shaken her head at you. 2Ki 19:22 Whom have you defied and blasphemed? and against whom have you exalted your voice and lifted up your eyes on high? [even] against the Holy One of Yisra’el. 2Ki 19:23 By your messengers you have defied Adonai, and have said, With the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains, to the innermost parts of Levanon; and I will cut down the tall cedars of it, and the choice fir trees of it; and I will enter into his farthest lodging place, the forest of his fruitful field. 2Ki 19:24 I have dug and drunk strange waters, and with the sole of my feet will I dry up all the rivers of Egypt.
2Ki 19:25 Haven’t you heard how I have done it long ago, and formed it of ancient times? now have I brought it to pass, that it should be yours to lay waste fortified cities into ruinous heaps. 2Ki 19:26 Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded; they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on the housetops, and as grain blasted before it is grown up. 2Ki 19:27 But I know your sitting down, and your going out, and your coming in, and your raging against me. 2Ki 19:28 Because of your raging against me, and because your arrogance is come up into my ears, therefore will I put my hook in your nose, and my bridle in your lips, and I will turn you back by the way by which you came.
2Ki 19:29 This shall be the sign to you: You shall eat this year that which grows of itself, and in the second year that which springs of the same; and in the third year sow you, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of it. 2Ki 19:30 The remnant that has escaped of the house of Yehudah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. 2Ki 19:31 For out of Yerushalayim shall go forth a remnant, and out of Mount Tziyon those who shall escape: the zeal of YHWH shall perform this.
Isaiah told Hezekiah that if he would commit to observe the upcoming 49th year Schmitta and 50th year Jubilee, that would be a sign for them, and Sennacherib would not succeed in his invasion. This also tells us when the last Jubilee year was – because we know not just from the Bible, but also from Assyrian, Egyptian, and Babylonain records when Sennacherib invaded Judea – it was 701 BCE on our calendar. That means starting in the fall of 601 BCE it was the 49th year Sabbath (“this year” Isaiah told him to observe), and then 600 BCE would be the Jubilee (“next year”), and then they could finally plant again in year 1 of the next cycle, which would begin in the fall of 599 BCE. Since Jubilee years fall on “zero” ending years on our western calendar, that means the year starting in 50 BCE would have been a Jubilee – but the next Jubilee would have been 1CE, because we skipped the “zero” year between 1BCE and 1CE. Fast forward, that means the year starting in the fall of 2001 was the last Jubilee. We are now clearly in the end of days at this point. The next cycle of 7 years will either be the “birth pangs” in earnest (I favor this theory) or the Tribulation itself (others favor this theory). Either way, it won’t be any fun. It begins in the fall of 2009. year Sabbath and the 50
Leviticus, continued:
Lev 25:13 “‘In this Year of Jubilee each of you shall return to his property.
Lev 25:14 “‘If you sell anything to your neighbor, or buy from your neighbor, you shall not wrong one another.
Lev 25:15 According to the number of years after the Jubilee you shall buy from your neighbor. According to the number of years of the crops he shall sell to you.
Lev 25:16 According to the length of the years you shall increase the price of it, and according to the shortness of the years you shall diminish the price of it; for he is selling the number of the crops to you.
In other words, agricultural land was just “rented” for however many years were left until the Jubilee, when it would have to be returned free of charge to the original family that owned it.
Leviticus, continued:
Lev 25:17 You shall not wrong one another; but you shall fear your Elohim: for I am YHWH your Elohim.
Lev 25:18 “‘Therefore you shall do my statutes, and keep my ordinances and do them; and you shall dwell in the land in safety.
Lev 25:19 The land shall yield its fruit, and you shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety.
This is a primary reason that Israel does not have safety right now. The Rabbis allow produce to be grown in the land during the Sabbath year, as long as they ceremonially “sell” their land to a foreigner for that season’s harvest. It’s a scam to get around Elohim’s required Sabbath rest for the land – because the commandment doesn’t say it’s just for native-born Israelite farmers, no, the command is for the land itself and all of the land of Israel is supposed to have its Sabbath, not just land that happens to be technically “owned” by Israelites. In the Rabbinic Sabbath year, which ended in the fall of 2008, there were actually some Rabbis that called for a boycott of fruits and vegetables grown in Eretz Israel, but the public outcry drowned out those calls and agricultural production continued as usual.
Leviticus, continued:
Lev 25:20 If you said, “What shall we eat the seventh year? Behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase;”
Lev 25:21 then I will command my blessing on you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for the three years.
Lev 25:22 You shall sow the eighth year, and eat of the fruits, the old store; until the ninth year, until its fruits come in, you shall eat the old store.
The reasons the Rabbis and secular government allow crops to be grown on the Sabbath years and the Jubilee is because they are unwilling to forgo the profit from the crops, and they do not trust Elohim to actually provide sufficient harvest in the 6th year of each cycle.
Leviticus, continued:
Lev 25:23 “‘The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine; for you are strangers and live as foreigners with me.
So we see, Elohim here reiterates that it’s the land that is getting the Sabbath – His land. Whatever earthly party claims to own it is not relevant.
Leviticus, continued:
Lev 25:24 In all the land of your possession you shall grant a redemption for the land.
Lev 25:25 “‘If your brother becomes poor, and sells some of his possessions, then his kinsman who is next to him shall come, and redeem that which his brother has sold.
Lev 25:26 If a man has no one to redeem it, and he becomes prosperous and finds sufficient means to redeem it;
Lev 25:27 then let him reckon the years since the sale of it, and restore the surplus to the man to whom he sold it; and he shall return to his property.
Lev 25:28 But if he isn’t able to get it back for himself, then what he has sold shall remain in the hand of him who has bought it until the Year of Jubilee: and in the Jubilee it shall be released, and he shall return to his propery.
Agricultural land can be bought back from whomever bought it at any time. The family that was given the land by lot has perpetual rights to it, even before the year of Jubilee if they can afford to redeem it. A “kinsman-redeemer” is a near relative who has means to pay your debts and buy back you or your property from your creditors. In all the passages concerning kinsman-redeemers, it is implied that there is an obligation for a relative to pay off the debts of their near kin if they are able to do so. We are not allowed to let our near relatives languish in debt or sell their belongings to others if we have the means to prevent it. In the modern age, this would include loans, credit cards, mortgages, etc.
Ideally, congregations should do their best to act as kinsmen-redeemer to those who have no earthly relatives who can get them out of consumer debt, at least, if not mortgages, too. Collections and savings plans could be instituted by congregations for this purpose – and members would have to agree not to take on more credit-card debt or consumer loans to qualify for such help, of course, unless some emergency (say, a dead car or medical emergency) made it absolutely necessary – with the elders approval.
Leviticus, continued:
Lev 25:29 “‘If a man sells a dwelling house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it has been sold. For a full year he shall have the right of redemption.
Lev 25:30 If it isn’t redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house that is in the walled city shall be made sure in perpetuity to him who bought it, throughout his generations. It shall not be released in the Jubilee.
Lev 25:31 But the houses of the villages which have no wall round about them shall be reckoned with the fields of the country: they may be redeemed, and they shall be released in the Jubilee.
Urban properties are not treated the same as agricultural land. A “wall” is a fixed urban boundary. In this day and age, most Israeli cities have “urban boundaries” clearly marked on maps – land that has been subdivided into housing lots is not likely to return to agricultural use, for example. It is unknown at this time if these rules will be extended to lands of other nations during the millennial kingdom.
Leviticus, continued:
Lev 25:32 “‘Nevertheless the cities of the Levites, the houses in the cities of their possession, the Levites may redeem at any time.
Lev 25:33 The Levites may redeem the house that was sold, and the city of his possession, and it shall be released in the Jubilee; for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Yisra’el.
Lev 25:34 But the field of the suburbs of their cities may not be sold; for it is their perpetual possession.
Levites are a special case. Their agricultural lands may not be sold outside of their tribe and family in the first place. They may redeem the houses of their cities at any time, even after a year has long passed. Their cities were specially appointed places where the Levites families lived and worked year round, and the Levites returned there to operate their businesses and farms after their work rotations at the Temple had ended. Since they acquired a bit of holiness from eating food at the Temple during their rotation, their lands and families also acquired this special status, even their urban properties.
Leviticus, continued:
Lev 25:35 “‘If your brother has become poor, and his hand can’t support him among you; then you shall uphold him. As a stranger and a sojourner he shall live with you.
Lev 25:36 Take no interest from him or profit, but fear your Elohim; that your brother may live among you.
Lev 25:37 You shall not lend him your money at interest, nor give him your food for profit.
Our brothers are our co-religionists and fellow Israelites, both grafted-in and native born. This is a shame, because most credit card companies and corporations and banks that give consumer loans or consumer credit cards have CEOs and Boards full of people who profess Judaism and Christianity, and yet they still charge their fellow co-religionists usury. For this, we will surely be punished. The American, supposedly Christian, economy is built on usury in clear defiance of Elohim’s command not to charge our brethren interst of any kind. Nor has any supposedly Christian or Jewish run company given their customers the required 7th year release of debts either this past Rabbinic sabbath year nor this year, either one. There is nothing in this passage about “the land of Israel” either – we are commanded not to charge our brethren interest anywhere at any time, no matter where we are.
Leviticus, continued:
Lev 25:38 I am YHWH your Elohim, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Kena`an, and to be your Elohim.
Lev 25:39 “‘If your brother has grown poor among you, and sells himself to you; you shall not make him to serve as a slave.
Lev 25:40 As a hired servant, and as a sojourner, he shall be with you; he shall serve with you until the Year of Jubilee:
Lev 25:41 then he shall go out from you, he and his children with him, and shall return to his own family, and to the possession of his fathers.
Lev 25:42 For they are my servants, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt. They shall not be sold as slaves.
Lev 25:43 You shall not rule over him with harshness, but shall fear your Elohim.
A fellow Israelite may not be treated as a slave, but must be treated as a regular employee, no matter how much debt he has. This “indentured servitude” was not slavery as we know it, but was required to pay off debts or “white-collar” crimes and ended either when the debt was paid off or when the Jubilee arrived, whichever came first.
Leviticus, continued:
Lev 25:44 “‘As for your male and your female slaves, whom you may have; of the nations that are around you, from them you may buy male and female slaves.
Lev 25:45 Moreover of the children of the strangers who sojourn among you, of them you may buy, and of their families who are with you, which they have conceived in your land; and they will be your property.
Lev 25:46 You may make them an inheritance for your children after you, to hold for a possession; of them may you take your slaves forever: but over your brothers the children of Yisra’el you shall not rule, one over another, with harshness.
This is hard for modern people to understand, but people of other nations simply do not have the same rights and privileges as Israelites have before Elohim. Only by being grafted into the House of Israel may a foreigner obtain these rights and privileges, and that absolutely involves worshipping Elohim alone, believing in Messiah Yeshua, and obeing the Torah.
Isa 56:1 Thus says YHWH, Keep you justice, and do righteousness; for my Yeshuah is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. Isa 56:2 Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who holds it fast; who keeps the Shabbat from profaning it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil. Isa 56:3 Neither let the foreigner, who has joined himself to YHWH, speak, saying, YHWH will surely separate me from his people; neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree. Isa 56:4 For thus says YHWH of the eunuchs who keep my Shabbatot, and choose the things that please me, and hold fast my covenant: Isa 56:5 To them will I give in my house and within my walls a memorial and a name better than of sons and of daughters; I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off. Isa 56:6 Also the foreigners who join themselves to YHWH, to minister to him, and to love the name of YHWH, to be his servants, everyone who keeps the Shabbat from profaning it, and holds fast my covenant; Isa 56:7 even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples. Isa 56:8 Adonai YHWH, who gathers the outcasts of Yisra’el, says, Yet will I gather [others] to him, besides his own who are gathered.
These are the words of Yeshua, as YHWH Incarnate. They are binding forever.
Leviticus, continued:
Lev 25:47 “‘If a stranger or sojourner with you becomes rich, and your brother beside him has grown poor, and sells himself to the stranger or foreigner living among you, or to a member of the stranger’s family;
Lev 25:48 after he is sold he may be redeemed. One of his brothers may redeem him;
Lev 25:49 or his uncle, or his uncle’s son, may redeem him, or any who is a close relative to him of his family may redeem him; or if he has grown rich, he may redeem himself.
Lev 25:50 He shall reckon with him who bought him from the year that he sold himself to him to the Year of Jubilee: and the price of his sale shall be according to the number of years; according to the time of a hired servant shall he be with him.
Lev 25:51 If there are yet many years, according to them he shall give back the price of his redemption out of the money that he was bought for.
Lev 25:52 If there remain but a few years to the year of jubilee, then he shall reckon with him; according to his years of service he shall give back the price of his redemption.
Lev 25:53 As a servant hired year by year shall he be with him: he shall not rule with harshness over him in your sight.
Lev 25:54 If he isn’t redeemed by these means, then he shall be released in the Year of Jubilee, he, and his children with him.
Lev 25:55 For to me the children of Yisra’el are servants; they are my servants whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt. I am YHWH your Elohim.
If a person should be in such dire straights as to have to sell themselves to a non-Israelite, any of their relatives should redeem them. At worst, they serve only until the year of Jubilee and then are free to go without charge. This presumes, of course, that the person is living still in Eretz Israel and the foreigner is therefore subject to a Torah observant government who can enforce this edict upon those living in the land. A person who sells himself to a foreigner somewhere besides Eretz Israel would have no such ability to have this law enforced.
Leviticus, continued:
Lev 26:1 “‘You shall make for yourselves no idols, neither shall you raise up an engraved image or a pillar, neither shall you place any figured stone in your land, to bow down to it: for I am YHWH your Elohim.
Lev 26:2 “‘You shall keep my Shabbatot, and have reverence for my sanctuary. I am YHWH.
This flip side of this is that the House of Israel should not be patronizing businesses or restaurants owned by goyim or unobservant fellow Jews – because doing so causes their employees to have to wait on us or serve us in voilation of the Sabbath they should be receiving. This is true even of an event that is free of charge – if it’s not a completely voluntary gathering where no one is paid and everything is free, it is a violation of shabbat and you should not attend.
Next: Haftarah BeHar.
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