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The Sabbatical Year
Topic Started: May 9 2011, 05:05 AM (196 Views)
MarkStaneart
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To answer the first question on many minds is that the last "Shemitah" (Sabbatical Year) was 5768 (September 13, 2007 till September 29, 2008). The next Sabbatical Year will begin 5775 (September 25, 2014).

The Shemitah requires an absolution of all outstanding debts. (Deuteronomy 15:1-2). This is a poignant reminder that we are not to hold so tightly onto the things of this world. Everything belongs to Adonai and we are His. Those things we have been blessed with, even the debts we incur, are a product of His abiding grace and presence in our lives. As a creditor, this seems a bit flagrant. Yet, it would disallow any from incurring a debt that would require greater than seven years to pay- such would preclude the trouble our economy has gotten us into today.

It’s unfortunate; but all too common among Messianic believers to minimize the significance of Sabbath to their Christian brothers in our response to their aversion of the command. We say, "Who doesn’t like to take a day off?" Yet, if I told my wife that I was going to take mer birthday off from work, she’d probably beam with excitement that I considered her special day so important to me. But if I then, spent that day, sitting in my hammock reading a book or watching a ball game, she’d be crushed. Verse two tells us that the Sabbath year is not for the agricultural benefit of revitalizing the soil, nor for protecting the integrity of the seed crop, nor for simply demonstrating to us that we are taken care of by Adonai (and not as the result of our labor). The purpose of the Sabbath and the Sabbatical Year is to remind us that we are His and that our possessions are His: we are but guests and sojourners.

The command is not that we keep a Sabbath for ourselves but that we keep the Sabbath unto Him. It is His day, His year, His cycle. Everything within it belongs to Him though He gives us great liberty to enjoy and make decisions and reap the rewards of His blessing. The Sabbatical Year is to remind us not to hold on too tightly to these things which we are so inclined to call our own.
Visit Mark Staneart at www.renewourdays.com
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MarkStaneart
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Visit Mark Staneart at www.renewourdays.com
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MarkStaneart
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Visit Mark Staneart at www.renewourdays.com
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MarkStaneart
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Visit Mark Staneart at www.renewourdays.com
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