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what current human practices might be equivalent to 'over sowing' or 'over pruning' the earth?

The passage, plainly, with room to sit with it.

Leviticus 25:3-5

“Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather in its fruits; but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to Yahweh. You shall neither sow your field, nor prune your vineyard. You shall not reap that which grows of itself in your harvest, and you shall not gather the grapes of your undressed vine. It shall be a year of solemn rest for the land.”

This passage is part of a larger set of laws given by God to Moses for the people of Israel as they prepared to enter the Promised Land. It outlines the practice of the Sabbatical year (shemitah), where agricultural land was to lie fallow every seventh year, connecting it to the larger rhythm of a Sabbath rest.

What systems or rhythms might help us balance productivity with rest, for both ourselves and the resources we depend on?

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Read alongside it

  • Exodus 23:10-11

    This earlier law also commands a seven-year cycle for land, emphasizing rest for the poor and wild animals.

  • Deuteronomy 15:1-2

    This chapter extends the Sabbatical principle to debts, requiring their cancellation every seven years.

  • Isaiah 58:13-14

    This prophet connects observing the Sabbath not just to rest, but to delight and a renewed relationship with God.

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