"And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the fruits thereof: But the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie still; that the poor of thy people may eat: and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, and with thy olive yard. Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed." – Exodus 23: 10-12

There have been Christian theologists and apologists that have attempted to "rationalize" the account of a 7-day creation of the heavens and earth with modern science – primarily by attempting to say that the concept of "day" in Genesis 1 cannot be reconciled with the concept of day as we understand it today. Scriptures cited in support of that view have been Ps 90:4 ("For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night."), and 2 Pe 3:8 ("But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day."). Well intentioned though those efforts have been – scripture itself refutes those arguments fairly soundly.

We have here in this week's text, the same human scribe of Genesis and Exodus (Moses), under the same divine inspiration, clearly setting forth the concept of years, and days, extremely unambiguously, and right next to each other, so that there can be no confusion on what the words are intended to mean. The word day, "Yom" is the same word used in Genesis, as in the 4th (Sabbath Observance) commandment in Exo 20:8-11, as here (The word for year is "Shaneh/Shana"). The 4th commandment even gives us the reason for a weekly Sabbath – God's rest on the 7th day, further harmonizing the Genesis and Exodus accounts. We have dealt with Sabbath observance in detail in our posts on the 4th commandment on this Page earlier, and will not repeat them here other than to briefly note that:

(a) Sabbath observance reminds us weekly of God's activity in creation, and the promise of rest from our labors.
(b) It is intended for Man, to refresh him and allow him to catch his breath (the Hebrew word literally means "to breathe") and be refreshed from the labors of the week. In this week's text we see it extended to animals, slaves/servants/employees, and immigrant/foreign laborers. Every working life in the land of Israel was to be refreshed by this ordinance.

What is new here is the observance of a Sabbath of Years (every 7th year) – also called the YEAR OF RELEASE. (Deut 15:9, 31:10). All Hebrew slaves were to be set free with presents and gifts by their owners (earlier in Exo 21:2, so also Deut 15:12-18), all Hebrew debts were to be forgiven, and the land itself was to enjoy a time of rest. What grew of itself was to be food for the poor and needy, the beasts of the fields, and the stranger (Lev 25:1-7). The 50th year (after 7 of these 7s) was called the Year of Jubilee, and no agriculture was permitted in that year as well. To this end, God promised the Israelites (Lev 25:20,21) that the sixth year of that last 7 year cycle would bring forth harvest enough for 3 years! Amazing...!!

A very interesting side note in Deut 15:4 regarding the release of debts is, that debts were to be forgiven – "Save when there shall be no poor among you; for the LORD shall greatly bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it". God intended to bless Israel so richly (and also if Israel obeyed the provisions of the Law for the poor) that there was to be no poor among them at one point in time, at which point there would be no need to forgive debts!

Sadly, there was also a consequence of not following this Law. Israel was to be sent into captivity, and then the land would enjoy its accrued Sabbaths, as there would be no one to till the ground. "Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies' land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her sabbaths. As long as it lieth desolate it shall rest; because it did not rest in your sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it."Le 26:34-35). Israel was in Babylon for 70 years as prophesied by Jeremiah for repeated violation of all these laws. (Jer 34:12-22). That equates to about 490 years of non-observance...

God's notion of rest extends to every living creature – and that includes the land and the organisms that live in it.We would do well to provide for rest for those who work for us, rest ourselves, and also be careful to let the land rest (if we are farmers) every 6 years, to ensure that we are good stewards of that which He has entrusted to us. (BTW,if you are actually a farmer that is reading this post, it is quite alright to create a schedule of resting - so that parts of your land lie fallow for a year while you are farming other areas. The conditions of the Law for Israel do not explicitly apply to you, but these are good principles to follow nonetheless.

This is why Peter says a day with the Lord is like a thousand years – every day He is working and superintending His creation, His people, managing events and His plan, listening to prayers, answering prayers, working the miracles of life and healing, saving the lost, and staying the arm of evil. His mercies are fresh every morning and His eyes are on all His children, lovingly directing their steps, and placing good works in their path for His glory and Name's sake. From the smallest minnow to the mighty whale, the ant to the elephant, the seedling to the mighty oak, the sparrow to the eagle, from the king to the pauper – His eye is on all His creatures and His care for all of us is reflected in His Law!