The word of God was to shape Israel’s conception of how the Sabbath was an act of obedience and also how such obedience was a blessing to the land. As long as God’s people faithfully kept the Sabbath principle that God had established—including resting one day a week—the land would be fruitful and inhabitable. In the same chapter, however, God warns them that if they ignore the Sabbath, he will “scatter” them and their land will be “laid waste.” “Then the land,” God says, “will enjoy its Sabbath years all the time that it lies desolate and you are in the country of your enemies; then the land
...more
