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Patriarchs and Prophets
of property; yet so long as they followed the instruction given by God,
there were no beggars among them, neither any who suffered for food.
The law of God gave the poor a right to a certain portion of the
produce of the soil. When hungry, a man was at liberty to go to his
neighbor’s field or orchard or vineyard, and eat of the grain or fruit to
satisfy his hunger. It was in accordance with this permission that the
disciples of Jesus plucked and ate of the standing grain as they passed
through a field upon the Sabbath day.
All the gleanings of harvest field, orchard, and vineyard, belonged
to the poor. “When thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field,” said
Moses, “and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to
fetch it.... When thou beatest thine olive tree, thou shalt not go over
the boughs again.... When thou gatherest the grapes of thy vineyard,
thou shalt not glean it afterward: it shall be for the stranger, for the
fatherless, and for the widow. And thou shalt remember that thou wast
a bondman in the land of Egypt.”
Deuteronomy 24:19-22
;
Leviticus
19:9, 10
.
Every seventh year special provision was made for the poor. The
sabbatical year, as it was called, began at the end of the harvest. At
the seedtime, which followed the ingathering, the people were not to
sow; they should not dress the vineyard in the spring; and they must
expect neither harvest nor vintage. Of that which the land produced
spontaneously they might eat while fresh, but they were not to lay up
any portion of it in their storehouses. The yield of this year was to be
free for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and even for the
creatures of the field.
Exodus 23:10, 11
;
Leviticus 25:5
.
But if the land ordinarily produced only enough to supply the wants
of the people, how were they to subsist during the year when no crops
were gathered? For this the promise of God made ample provision. “I
will command My blessing upon you in the sixth year,” He said, “and
it shall bring forth fruit for three years. And ye shall sow the eighth
year, and eat yet of old fruit until the ninth year; until her fruits come
in ye shall eat of the old store.”
Leviticus 25:21, 22
.
[532]
The observance of the sabbatical year was to be a benefit to both
the land and the people. The soil, lying untilled for one season, would
afterward produce more plentifully. The people were released from
the pressing labors of the field; and while there were various branches
of work that could be followed during this time, all enjoyed greater