God has decreed that every seventh year should be a land Sabbath, during which no crops are to be sown or harvested. If any produce grows by itself, it may be used for daily food by the farmer and the poor of the land. Debts incurred by the poor during the previous six years that have come due are to be canceled at the end of this seventh year. God promises a miracle of abundant crops in the sixth year of the cycle, ensuring bounty suffices until a new crop can be harvested two or three years later. For those unable to rest all land every seven years due to financial obligations, it is suggested to rest the land in rotation so each field receives its rest within a seven-year period. If one can rest the entire farm at once, that is even better. God desires that we care for the soil, recognizing that we are merely tenants on His land, responsible for maintaining its fertility.

The seven-year Shemitah (year of release) cycle begins and ends on the Day of Atonement in the seventh month, so it is an agricultural year distinct from the sacred calendar year that begins in Abib. Deuteronomy 31:10-13 commands that the law be read at the Feast of Tabernacles "at the end of every seven years," which means within the seventh year, shortly after it begins on Atonement. The church had been reading Deuteronomy a year too early, at the start of the cycle, and should have read it at the Feast in 2021, so it will now read it just after the release year ends, with the next reading in 2028. The case rests on Leviticus 25, where the Jubilee trumpet sounds on Tishri 10 and the sabbatical years count back from it. Sowing, pruning, and harvesting for six years and the seventh-year volunteer growth fit only an autumn-to-autumn year. The phrase "at the end of seven years" is parallel to "served you six years" in Jeremiah 34:14. Josephus's records of four sabbatical years, from 164-163 BC to 68-69 AD, form an unbroken seven-year sequence that points to 2021-2022 as a release year. The Shemitah involves rest for the land, release of debts, and changes in work, and it proclaims God's ownership of all things. Keeping it brings abundance, while ignoring it brings upheaval, as seen in current drought, food shortages, inflation, and lost wealth. Christ's ministry, beginning with the Jubilee proclamation in Luke 4 in 27-28 AD, fits this framework.