Have you noticed how little God’s people were to be concerned about money and wealth?
The first month of the year was the month of the Passover, to be observed on the 14th day of the month. But at some point about that time, the barley harvest was to begin. Once the harvest began, no one could eat any grain or anything made from grain until God had been given his portion – the wave of the first sheaf of harvest. This meant that if the harvest began on a Monday, no grain could be eaten until the following Sunday.
No matter when the harvest began, no harvesting was to be done on the Sabbath. Period.
If the harvest began before the 14th of the month, it would be interrupted by a day of rest on the 15th of the month and 21st (along with any Sabbath in between). Fifty days after Passover would be the day of Pentecost, and no work could be done on that day either – nor on any of the Sabbaths in between). And so, during fifty day harvest season, when it became critical to get the crops in, Israel was forced to take possibly 10 days off.
As you read chapter 25 you discover that every seven years Israel was to take a whole year off, and every fifty years, she was to take two years in a row off (the 49th and 50th).
How are you supposed to make a living with all these forced days off?
You aren’t. A living is not “made.” It is “given.” God’s people must work to be sure, but their trust is not in “making hay while the sun shines,” but in the Lord who owns all things.