Shalom!

 
This week's Torah portion has some very interesting commandments in it, most of which can only completely be performed in the Covenant Land of Israel. When we follow the history of the ancient Israelites, we can see that they never did follow these commandments. First we have YHWH marking off time in epochs of seven-year intervals. Just as every 7th day is a Sabbath day, so every 7th year is a Sabbath year. The Sabbath year is called the Sh'mittah, when the Covenant Land rests. After the end of the 7th Sh'mittah, there is a special Sabbatical year called the Yovel, or the Year of Jubilee, proclaiming the law of redemption and the return of property to its original stewards. All debts are cancelled and all slaves go free.
 
Supernaturally speaking, the Israelites were being provided for. The manna was falling from heaven, the water was gushing from the rock. They were protected from their enemies as they were sheltered under the protection of His Wings. However, once they entered the Land, things would change. Keep in mind that these instructions were being given to a generation of people who were still at Mount Sinai, still having a wilderness experience and would never enter the Promised Land to fulfill the commandments of Sh'mittah and Yovel! However, the Land of Covenant was meanwhile groaning with eager expectation for the coming of the sons of Abraham and for the Sabbath it would enjoy when all of Israel would return!
 
So at this juncture, the Mighty One of Israel chooses to speak about how He will give the Israelites stewardship over a particular piece of Land, complete with blessings and curses which apply based on their obedience to the Laws of Sh'mittah and Yovel. It is true that their disobedience brought about the vengeance of the covenant, but that's a topic for another time.
 
YHWH is King and He has the right and the authority to set the parameters of stewardship for the Kingdom Land, which He makes clear belongs to Him. Just as He declares a "set apart" (holy) people, He also declares a "set apart" (holy) Land.
 
Vayikra/Leviticus 25:23 ...the land is Mine; for you are strangers and sojourners with Me.
 
At this time, Canaanites were in the Covenant Land. They were about to be 'vomited' out for committing horrifying abominations. The Land needed its Sabbath and would be very happy to see the Sons of Israel arrive.
 
Vayikra/Leviticus 25:2 "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a Sabbath to YHWH.
 
Let's go on with quotes from Day 2 of Mr. William Bullock's commentary on Behar (Behar - Day 2) -
 
"Ah, Beloved -- there is something we must understand about our relationship with Eretz Yisrael (land of Israel). It is a first fruits land....Eretz Yisrael is unlike any other land on earth. Israel's arrival in Eretz Yisrael under Y'hoshua, you see, brought Shabbat to the land - the way the arrival of the seventh day of the week brings Shabbat to us....it is to be a prophetic rehearsal of the Shabbat all Creation will receive upon the manifestation of the sons of God in the Holy One's appointed time.
 
All of Creation will likewise experience the manifestation of the 'sons of God', in due time -- according to the Holy One's prophetic timetable. Eretz Yisrael is merely the first fruits. Through the sanctification of the 'first fruits' land will in time come the fullness of the harvest, which will in the day of Messiah's Kingdom spread to all the continents and outermost islands of the earth. And when that happens truly "all the earth shall be filled with the glory of He Holy One" (Numbers 14:21), and "all the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Holy One as the waters cover the sea." Habakkuk 2:14.
 
...We are called to sanctify His Land as well as His Name!
 
...We have learned already that as a holy people...the Redeemed Community is to sanctify TIME (through the Feasts and Sabbath)...we are to sanctify His NAME. The Sh'mittah however takes us into another dimension of holiness - the dimension of the sanctification of SPACE. We are to treat the Land - Eretz Yisrael with the same respect as we treat the Holy One's Name and His Torah. We are to consider the Land He promised to Avraham, to Yitschak, and to Ya'akov and to us their descendants as Holy Geography. It is indeed for us "the holy land". The Holy One therefore introduces the Sh'mittah with the following words:
 
Vayikra/Leviticus 25:2 "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a Sabbath to YHWH. 3 'Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather its fruit; 4 'but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to YHWH. You shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard. 5 'What grows of its own accord of your harvest you shall not reap, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine, for it is a year of rest for the land.
 

Some view the Sh'mittah as merely good "land management' - i.e. letting the land lie fallow one year of seven so as to allow it to replenish itself. That however is only one small and virtually insignificant aspect of what the Sh'mittah is all about.

 
The Sh'mittah is about acknowledging the Holy One's ownership of the Land, and about re-affirming and perpetuating in each generation the covenant the Holy One made with Avraham our father regarding that Land.
 
The Sh'mittah is, you see, about honoring Ya'akov's promise that if the Holy One would bring him (i.e. us, his descendants) safely back to the land after his (i.e. our) sojourn in the land of Lavan (or Pharaoh, or Nebuchadnezzar, or Torquemada, or James II, or the Czar, or Hitler, or a thousand others), he (i.e. we) would make the Holy One his (i.e. our) God, would make Eretz Yisrael a special place of habitation for the Holy One, and would return to the Holy One a tithe of all He places in our hand. See Genesis 28:20-22.
 
...The Holy One wants the world to know that every 7 years He tells His people to trust solely in His provision, and neither work nor toil to produce a crop.
 
For further study on the Yovel, or Year of Jubilee, see Mr. Bullock's Day 3 study here - Yovel
 
This week in his newsletter, Tommy Waller from HaYovel ministry gave an interesting perspective on the number 50 as it pertains to Israel. Mr. Waller's website and opportunity to subscribe to their newsletter can be found here - HaYovel. It's interesting that the name of their ministry translated from the Hebrew means "The Yovel"!
 
 
From Tommy's Desk
 
Dear Friends,
 
Harvest 2016 is quickly approaching. This year, as in every year, the season marks a very special prophetic event. The prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, and Zechariah all spoke about the restoration of the vineyards to Israel, and now we are experiencing the miraculous fulfillment of their dreams first hand.
 
Over 11 years ago this month I came face to face with the irrefutable evidence of God's spoken word to restore the desolate soil of Israel. As I stood in a vineyard on the Mount of Blessing in the heart of Samaria, I listened as Nir Lavi, an orthodox Jew, read with great zeal, the vision of Jeremiah, "You shall yet plant vines on the mountains of Israel." As he spoke these words it was as if I had heard them for
the first time. I was speechless.
 
Really? Was it possible to bring the Word of God beyond the clouds and set them right in front of me?
 
Since that moment, I have had many eye opening revelations on the mountains of Israel. Since that moment, there have been thousands who have encountered those same revelations - and more.
 
A Prophetic Celebration
 
Something very special is set to begin this fall, and I believe every Christian should find a way to be a part of it.
 
Rosh Hashanah (Yom Teruah) will mark the beginning of the 50th year since the liberation of Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria in the Six Day War. Do you believe Israel's victory in 6 days, against all odds, was a miracle of God? If so, then you must believe that anyone or any nation that would set for themselves an initiative to undo this miracle would be in opposition to God's plan. Let's choose to rejoice in God's plan - not oppose it.
 
On top of this, Israel will also celebrate the 100th year since the Balfour Declaration bravely recognized the Jewish right to the land of Israel.
 
As the nations continue to stand against Israel and Jewish sovereignty over Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, we who claim to hold dear the Word of God need to enthusiastically join this celebration. It is time to shake off the chains of replacement theology once and for all. Let us choose, right now, to yield ourselves to the overpowering Word of our Creator.
 
Will we allow, once again, the Jewish people to dance alone as God continually shows Himself faithful to His promises? Will this be the moment we come out of our 2000 year captivity and recognize the actual reason the Creator reveals to us His name, "The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?"
 
Go to our website and get your application today to join me and my family in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria for this historic celebration.
 
 
 
 
Tommy Waller
 
President and Founder, HaYovel - www.hayovel.com
 
Shabbat Shalom!
Ardelle