Leviticus 25:2

When ye come into the land So as to be settled in it: for the injunction neither could nor was intended to be observed during the time of the wars, nor till Joshua's distribution of the land among them. The land shall keep a sabbath That is, enjoy rest from ploughing and tilling; unto the Lord In obedience and unto the honour of God. This was instituted, 1st, For the assertion of God's sovereign right to the land, in which the Israelites were but tenants at God's will. 2d, For the trial of their obedience. 3d, For the demonstration of his providence, as well in general toward men, as especially toward his own people. 4th, To wean them from the inordinate love and pursuit of worldly advantages, and to inure them to depend upon God alone, and upon God's blessing for their subsistence. 5th, To put them in mind of that blessed and eternal rest provided for all good men.