The eighth commandment

Exodus 23.10, 11

“For six years you shall sow your land and gather in its yield, but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave the beasts of the field may eat. You shall do likewise with your vineyard, and with your olive orchard.”

During the seventh year people were not to work the land. It was to be allowed to rest and to produce naturally whatever God was pleased to draw forth from it. The poor, as well as the wild beasts (note the conservationist thrust of this) were allowed to wander the fields for a year of “gleaning” in order to meet their needs, whereas landowners were expected to store up food from the sixth year to last all the way to the eighth. God promised that He would allow their harvests to be ample for this institution, but the people had to be faithful and obey.

Modern farmers understand the wisdom, for their fields’ sake, of allowing a section to lie fallow for a season. These are often sown with clover and other plants that re-enrich the soil for subsequent years fruitful sowing. Even the earth needs a rest in this time of sin, as it groans and travails under the demands of men and other creatures that it faithfully and fruitfully supply their needs.

This series of In the Gates we present a detailed explanation of the Law of God, beginning with the Ten Commandments, and working through the statutes and rules that accompany each commandment. For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the practice of ethics, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.ailbe.org and click on our Book Store.