Agriculture

[ginny]

I will try asking another question, although this board seems really sleepy, if you know what I mean. LOL! I tried asking a question a few days ago and got so frustrated because no-one even looked at it. So, I deleted it.

I would appreciate it if someone would at least read this, even if you don't want to comment on it. I also get the feeling (and it may be from past experiences coloring my view) that women are seen as not really supposed to be asking questions, studying, debating, etc. about serious subjects like YHWH and His Word.

That last paragraph is what I have come up against in the past and I certainly don't agree with it, myself, but was just wondering if that is what I am dealing with here. I know that I have a little bit of a chip on my shoulder because of it, so it can color my thinking and cause me to see things that do not exist.

Mark said, somewhere, that he likes to just let a post ripen (not his word) before commenting on it, so that someone else will comment. Well, I think it would be nice to have someone comment, even if just to say that they read it and are thinking on it and will give their in-depth comment later. SOMETHING! LOL!

Anyway, on to my question:

I have been debating about having a sabbath year for the land for the last couple of years. This past summer was my seventh on this land. I missed it. I actually am a little fearful of letting the land have a sabbath, because I am afraid that we won't have enough food to make it through two years.

I know that is really stupid. I even tell myself what a faithless, unbelieving idiot I am. I know that the Lord can provide for me. I know that it is Him that is providing for me when I grow my crops. It is not me. YHWH can make my crops successful or a total disaster. How arrogant of me to be afraid of not providing for myself!!! But, that is where I am. sigh...

So, how do you all deal with it? Or do you have this situation at all? I am having a really hard time finding any information on farming/gardening/living off the land according to .

HELP!

In the Name of Yeshua the Messiah,

Ginny

[zionlion]

Hi ginny,

Unfortunately, many (uh...most) are inactive here. If you'll look through the various threads, you'll see that many posts have no response, so don't feel too bad.

I don't farm or garden so I'll let someone else step in and help. Hope they will.

Glad you're here.

[Mark]

Hi Ginny,

This forum has always been a few people activley participating in discussion with a fairly sizeable audience listening in. Typically it has one or two dominant people and a few people asking questions. Lots of folks come in, but few participate. That used to bother me; but I've come to appreciate the accumulation of the people that are being touched and introduced to the ideas of Messianic Judaism and observance.

This forum isn't meant to replace or even stand in the gap of local fellowship- and many people (still active members but no longer active participants) have grown from the need for this board for regular support to becoming active members of their local congregation.

If you have a question (or find a question) that is not being answered, please let me know. I read things and then forget them. This is not my full time job and I have lots of other projects that are taking my attention these days- so please let me know if I've overlooked or neglected something to which you would like me to respond.

Probably the best way that this sort of site grows is by the participation and referral of its members. This means that if this is something you find value in, pass it along and tell others about it. Only 12% of the activity on this site comes through referrals, and those are primarily from two websites that also draw the curious. Almost no activity comes from one person saying to another, "I've found something..." but I think this tells more of the society we live in than anything else. When's the last time anyone has recommended anything to anyone out of the blue, or called a friend to tell them there was a particular sale at the grocery store, or called someone spontaneously to share something they'd just read?

Anyway, the soapbox is back in the closet now.

The Sabbatical year is not a random start anywhere you like and count out seven. It is a specific year in the calendar. The last Sabbatical year began September 2007. It is also a command specific to the land of Israel and not applied to the galut (the exiled from the land).

The command is not issued as a test of blind faith in obedience that Adonai will care for you but as a response to the blessing He has bestowed upon you.

And if ye shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase: Then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, 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 25:20-22 KJV)

The sign that the seventh year is approaching is that in the six year you will yeild three times the crops as normal.

Now, any farmer will tell you that letting the land "lay fallow" is a good idea; but not necessarily to not plant anything. Common practice in this neck of the woods is to plant red clover on the off season, then turn it over before it goes to seed. It re-invigorates the soil and also keeps the weeds from getting hold. Another common crop used for this in the mid-West is buckwheat. Is this the same as letting the ground go? No. And that's a decision for you to make as to what you are trying to accomplish. Remember that in the seventh year, the fields are allowed to do whatever they please- and animals, stranger and owners are allowed to come through and take whatever they wish.

[ginny]

Thank you, Mark. I am sorry I even let it bother me that there is not more activity on this board. And, yes, I recommend things all the time, but most people are not interested...

Anyway, what you have said is what I have been suspicioning (is that a word? LOL!) for a little while. My husband is not in favor of taking a sabbath year on the land, so I suppose I won't, but I wanted to if that was the command.

We do use green manure crops regularly, but we have never skipped a year in planting food crops. I have used buckwheat extensively and some red clover.

I do want to find out all I can from the Master Gardener. I am finding it rather humiliating how much I don't know from the Bible. It has been my experience that I can read the Bible cover to cover and not see half of it. That is why I must study, study, study. And that is why I ask questions. Sometimes other people see things I didn't and then I can go look that up. Sounds lazy, doesn't it?

Anway, thanks, again for taking the time to answer.

In the Name of Yeshua the Messiah,

Ginny

[tonga]

Oct 29, 2009 10:27:41 GMT -8 ginny said:

I will try asking another question, although this board seems really sleepy, if you know what I mean. LOL! I tried asking a question a few days ago and got so frustrated because no-one even looked at it.

I think that is the nature of many forums...lots of lookers, less
that interact.

that women are seen as not really supposed to be asking questions, studying, debating, etc. about serious subjects like YHWH and His Word.

I can't answer for Messianics, but
for Jews everyone is encouraged to study and ask questions.

I have been debating about having a sabbath year for the land for the last couple of years.

This only applies to eretz Yisrael, so it isn't something you need
to observe unless you are living there.

[Mark]

Hi Ginny,

Our goal for study is not for greater knowledge or insight but for more intimate communion with our God. It sounds redundant; but let me explain. If our pursuit is to know more, we can easily do so without knowing God at all. We can be brilliant and scholarly, even pious in our obedience; but not one inch closer to the Messiah. However, if our pursuit is Him, we will gain in our knowledge and understanding as part of that journey.

The difference is that if we are seeking to know more, we have a frustrated craving for more and more knowkledge- study drives us and not knowing something drives us crazy. Perfect knowledge is the destination and we push ourselves to continuously get ever closer. If our pursuit is Him, our study and our research is the road we are walking on; but the destination is not so important because we are travelling companion is our Lord. We walk with Him and it is our pleasure to sit under a green tree together and discuss the things we have seen along the way, to share and participate with and enjoy each moment.

It can't be about being right or being wrong or finding new truths as our agenda. It is about being with God in our daily walk, where ever we are and letting Him show us beauty in the place where we are today.

It's tragic that we spend so mucn energy trying to be what we are not and frustrated with others for not being where we are (and I'm not speaking to you necessarily so much as launching out in my own little diatribe), forgetting who is our travelling companion. It is that while we are screaming from across the road at others to come and join us on the "right path", Messiah can't show them the beautiful thing for them to see right where they are.

We've got to learn to let God be God- and now I'm speaking to myself more than to anyone else.

If I've learned anything, over the course of this journey, it is that God uses our ignorance and our arrogance, our mistakes and our rabbit trails to teach us about Himself probably more effectively than He uses His blessings upon our obedience. The side trips of rebellion are as much about His sovereignty and grace as is our commitment to His Word. The mistakes and the wrong turns I've made are precious. They have shown me the shape and boundaries and the orderly design of truth in ways that I may have never seen had I walked always in the middle of the road of truth. Or, maybe I've just watched a little to much television.

[jimmie]

Oct 30, 2009 3:49:08 GMT -8 Mark said:

Hi Ginny,

It is also a command specific to the land of Israel and not applied to the galut (the exiled from the land).

Then the year of Jubilee doesn’t apply to those exiled from the land and they can hold a fellow Israelite in bondage for life? It dose not make sense to me that the Sabbath year of rest for the land only applies to the land of Israel. The nation of Israel is a sojourner with God and those who want to sojourn with Israel should keep the same laws. I would think.