Land Sabbath - Leviticus 25 and 2 Chronicles 36

Have you seen the news stories of people spotting wildlife in their gardens? The story of the wild goats coming into Llandudno in Wales - enjoying the freedom while there is no traffic. The Times showed a majestic view of the Himalayas from a town in the Punjab region, noting that for many residents it was the first time they had seen the mountains from their town, because until now it had always been covered in smog! Its as if normal creation is being given a time in which it can breathe again.


A side-note on ecology. The leading scientific theory is that the corona virus jumped from wild bats to humans. Ecologists note that the relentless de-forestation keeps reducing the natural barrier between humans and wildlife, which makes these jumps more probable. In fact they believe that all recent outbreaks (SARS, MERS, Ebola, Swine-flu) are through this mechanism. So whilst we can say that God did not 'send' this virus (it emerges from the general brokenness of our world stirred by evil), we should acknowledge that fallen human practices likely increase the chances for these outbreaks.

In Leviticus 25 the wonderful concept of Sabbath is spelt out - with the sense of rest, of pausing, and crucially allowing God to be God. It is more than just a 'day off' or breaking from work: God calls the people to give the land a sabbath! A literal breathing room for nature. This is a rich concept. Sabbath is rest, but it is also trust - trusting in what God will do. Note how there is still provision - things will grow that they can eat.

The episode in 2 Chronicles 36 is troubling. Recall that the Israelites had not kept God as their number one. This hadn't been a minor blip but repeated over and over, through generation after generation. Along with this they had allowed many social injustices to accumulate. So now, after loads of warnings and scares, God allows them to be taken into exile to Babylon.

The chapter makes miserable reading, yet interestingly the chronicler (who is writing like a journalist) writes in v21 'The land enjoyed its sabbath rest'. The journalist knew the scriptures - and knew the Leviticus 25 sabbath concept. They would also know that the following chapter 26 literally contains warnings from God of what will happen if the people ignored God and did their own (unjust) thing - that eventually God would scatter them and the land will be laid waste. See chapter 26 verse 34 says 'then the land will enjoy its sabbath'! So the exile and associated events were horrible, but the flip-side was the sabbath for the land.

Lets now jump back into our time-zone. Can we not learn this principle? If you always squeeze for maximum productivity and profit for the few, you risk creating injustices and you risk becoming blind to them.

What does all this mean for us right now? We are in a kind of exile, a wilderness time ... but the land is having a sort-of sabbath!

Let us learn to make sure our own way of life includes rich sabbath concepts. This isn't just about the Discipline of OFF, but it is also about our fourth habit: Margin for Jesus. This is about how we do our activity and work - it is intentionally leaving space in our schedules and in what we do for Jesus to fill. Our temptation is to always work more, and be more productive. Yet we must learn to leave space, to trust God to be at work ... and see what happens (what fruit God brings for us).

Here is a very simple equation:

Max out with activity = Zero margin for Jesus

This equation is true in lockdown too. We can max out on tech content (zoom calls, live casts etc.) - but if we do this there will be zero margin for Jesus. Let us not do that, but instead learn to intentionally leave space and trust God for the fruit that only He can bring.