God commands that every seventh year the land keep a Sabbath, with no sowing or harvesting, and that the fiftieth year, the jubilee, also be a rest from cultivation. Whatever grows by itself may feed the farmer and the poor. God promises a miraculous bumper crop in the sixth year to carry the people until a new harvest two or three years later, a witness that He is Provider. The rest teaches that God is the true Owner of the land, that man is merely a tenant responsible for maintaining its fertility, and that the earth's good things are to be shared with the less fortunate. It also frees time for education, travel, community service, and spiritual reflection. The world's materialism drives farmers to squeeze the last production from tired soil and livestock, and these laws counter that greed. Since a farmer cannot keep every national detail alone, he should keep the spirit of the law. A farmer burdened with mortgage payments may rest his land in rotation so that each field gets its rest sometime within seven years, though resting the whole farm at once is better. He may count his seventh year from baptism or from when he learns of the land rest. Crop rotation, periodic pasture or cover crops, and sound soil conservation measures are also to be practiced, because God is concerned with how we use the resources He lets us manage.